I’m Going to Shoot Old Joe Smith
The following is taken from a talk given at BYU by Robert H. Daines, 20 June 2000. Click here to see the entire talk.
The Prophet Joseph was a great exemplar, not only of this principle but also of having total faith and confidence in the promises of the Lord. I should like to share with you an entry from the diary of my great-great grandmother. This is a record of a little-known experience of the Prophet Joseph--little known because this diary was lost for 30 to 40 years in my mother's home in New Jersey. It was only rediscovered as they were preparing to move back to Utah in the late 1970s. This is a diary entry of Sister Sarah Stoddard. Her son Charles, my great-grandfather, as a boy of 14, was asked by the Prophet Joseph to serve as a houseboy for William Law, an enemy of the Prophet, and to inform him of any of the Laws' devious plans. It was, I guess, an early form of counterintelligence.
Note the date of the diary entry: April 1844. It was just two months before the Martyrdom of the Prophet.
Dear Diary,
Charles had another faith-promoting experience last night.
Early this morning, even while the darkness still hemmed out the light of the day, Mr. Law, after he had been drinking and planning with his associates through the night, got Charles out of bed to clean and oil his gun. He said he was going to shoot the Prophet, only William Law called him "old Joe Smith." Poor Charles was frightened beyond description, but Mr. Law stood over him and prodded him with his foot when Charles hesitated through fright and anxiety. Finally, when Mr. Law was satisfied with the way the gun was working, he put one bullet in. (He boasted he could kill the Prophet with one shot.) He sent Charles to bring the Prophet.
He ran as fast as he could and delivered the message, but he begged the Prophet not to go to Mr. Law's as Mr. Law was drunk and Charles was afraid he would carry through on his threat to shoot the Prophet in cold blood.
As they walked the few blocks from the Mansion House to the Law residence, the Prophet assured Charles that no harm would come to him that day. Charles was frightened, and he said that it kept racing through his mind, "I am the one that cleaned the gun that is going to be used to kill the Prophet," until he was sick with fear. The Prophet in a final attempt to calm my dear son uttered the fateful words, "Mr. Law may someday kill me, Charles, but it won't be today."
As they approached their destination, Mr. Law came staggering out of the house shouting out what he intended to do.
The Prophet said kindly and unafraid, "You sent for me, Mr. Law?" to which Mr. Law replied with oaths that now he was doing the whole a favor by disposing of the Prophet with one shot.
Calmly the Prophet unbuttoned his shirt and bared his chest, then said, "I'm ready now, Mr. Law." Charles said at this point he nearly fainted. Sick fear strangled him until he was speechless and paralyzed, unable to move a muscle.
Mr. Law paced a few steps, turned, aimed, and pressed the trigger. There was complete silence. Then the air rang with profanity, and Mr. Law turned on Charles, accusing him of fixing the gun so it would not go off and threatening to kill even Charles--my innocent, frightened, but faithful son.
The Prophet, to divert Mr. Law's blame of Charles, suggested that a can be placed on a fence post for Mr. Law to take a practice shot. Relieved, Charles ran for a can and laid it on its side on the post. Mr. Law paced back, took aim, and fired. His "one shot" streaked through the exact center of the can.
Even Mr. Law was quiet, as if stunned.
The Prophet buttoned up his shirt, gave Charles a meaningful look, and then said, "If you are finished with me now, Mr. Law, I have other things needing to be done. Good morning. [Diary of Sarah Stoddard; text modernized]
I shall ever be grateful for the remarkable example of the Prophet Joseph Smith. He endured faithfully not only to the end of his life but to the end of each one of his many trials. He also demonstrated in this situation total faith and confidence in the promises that the Lord had made to him as well as to righteous men and women everywhere that they would not be taken before their work was completed.
August 16th, 2009 - 11:19
I’ve never read this story…
Thank you for posting it.
August 16th, 2009 - 18:30
All I can say is, wow.
August 16th, 2009 - 22:14
Bruce Johns–
I’m glad you enjoyed it.
Are you related to a David Johns, a Stake President in the 1800′s in Utah County?
August 16th, 2009 - 22:15
Hi Michaela–
I agree. Thanks for coming by.
August 19th, 2009 - 06:11
Great story – I think it’s a total fabrication.
August 19th, 2009 - 10:53
David Johnson–
Would you mind sharing your reasoning that brought you to feel this way?
August 23rd, 2009 - 16:22
This has all the earmarks of a typical fabrication. “Dear Diary”? “faith-promoting experience”? Seriously?
If you want some reasoning, check out:
http://www.mormonapologetics.org/index.php?showtopic=12333&view=findpost&p=337018
August 23rd, 2009 - 17:10
Ryan P–
A person can choose to believe or disbelieve this account. But I don’t think the reasoning you use to declare it a fabrication makes sense. If someone begins a journal account using the term “Dear Diary” what does that have to do with it being a fabrication or not? I fail to see the logic you are using.
August 24th, 2009 - 20:44
You didn’t read the argument that I linked to, did you? Do I have to copy and paste it here? Have you ever heard of the term “anachronism”?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anachronism
You say “a person can choose to believe or disbelieve this account” as though the truthfulness of the story did not matter at all. A person can certainly choose to believe any kind of made up fabrication they want to. Gullibility is free and undiscriminating among persons.
Unless you’re going to tell me that the Holy Ghost witnessed the truthfulness of this anecdote to you, I don’t understand why it doesn’t “make sense” to use a little probabilistic reasoning.
August 24th, 2009 - 21:37
Ryan P–
I reread the first link you provided. Based on what I read there, and your concerns, I’ve decided to contact Robert H. Daines and see what he has to say.
I’ll follow up when I hear back from him.
September 3rd, 2009 - 21:34
I don’t necessarily agree with Ryan. After all, it says the text was modernized: {Diary of Sarah Stoddard; text modernized}
Unless I’m missing something, I’m willing to take it as a credible account until proven otherwise.
September 17th, 2009 - 22:37
To Ryan P.:
It was a very common practice in the nineteenth century for young women to keep diaries and not that unusual for them to begin an entry with, “Dear diary”. Since the account is taken from a journal history, I feel confident in saying that it is located somewhere in the Church collections. You can find the most important and/or fragile records in the new Church History Library and Archives in Salt Lake City, or the diary/journal could reside in the special collections of Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. (Both of these institutions will open their collections to serious inquiry from an honest individual at no expense. However, if you are a rabid anti-Mormon we reserve the right to withold our records.) Since it is very likely that the diary is in a bound book form with sequential entries it would be extra-ordinarily difficult to forge such an entry and make it look in situ. This lends additional veracity to the incident. Lastly, the General Authorities of the L.D.S. Church have access to an extremely qualified group of historians who can, and do, research such accounts before they are quoted in any discourse given before the Church membership and the world. This ‘vetting’ as it can be termed is rigorous and thorough as our enemies are ever eager to seize upon anything to attack our Faith and our Church. Brother Daines was a professor of Biology at Rutgers University before this speech was given which leads me to believe that he is already well acquainted with the strident standards of academic research. I truly doubt that he would be so cavalier as to quote a myth. Lastly, Jared is absolutely correct, you are indeed free to believe or not believe anything you wish. But if you are so exercised over the account there are academic means at your disposal to check it for yourself. Also, feel free to write and ask Brother Daines himself for the particulars on his reference.
September 22nd, 2009 - 19:56
et al,
I sent an email to Brother Daines and so far haven’t received a reply. I don’t know him. This is the email I used: rhdaines@mstar.net.
October 11th, 2009 - 11:01
Charles Stoddard is an ancestor of mine (my great-great-great grandfather). This story has always been told in our family. It was handed down through the generations. We did not even know a journal existed.
October 11th, 2009 - 21:10
Elizabeth,
Thank you for leaving a comment. Your experience as a relative who has heard this story adds credibility to the account.