The History of Mormonism: Joseph Smith, Tarred and Feathered

Throughout the history of Mormonism--and the history of religion in general for that matter--there have been many willing to sacrifice everything for their dearly held beliefs. When pinpointing the Mormon faith, this is perhaps most evident in the case of Joseph Smith, the founding Prophet of the Church. On April 6, 1830, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was officially founded, with Smith presiding as Prophet, Seer, and Revelator. The Church, though steadily gaining followers, had some bumps along the way. As with all religions, some of the new converts were not as devoted as others, and some even left the Church shortly after joining. They all had their reasons. There are accounts of a man leaving the Church because his horse died on the journey to Missouri, and another of a man leaving because his name was spelled wrong in a Church document. One such man was Ezra Booth. Booth had converted to the Church in 1831, and was soon sent out to serve as a missionary soon after. The mission was not what Booth expected it to be, and he soon grew bitter, and began to spread lies and express his hate for the Church, instead of preaching the gospel as he had been asked to do. Booth was later excommunicated for his misconduct. Upon returning to Ohio, Booth started writing letters to the local newspaper condemning Mormonism and its followers. These letters intensified the suspicions of the locals, and relations were somewhat strained. These events came to a head on March 24, 1832, when a group of men who had read Ezra Booth's letters got very, very, drunk. Joseph Smith and his wife Emma had recently adopted a pair of twin baby boys. Joseph had been up much of the night, tending to one of his new sons, who had the measles. Just as Joseph was falling asleep, the mob stormed into the Smith home and dragged Joseph from his bed and carried him out of the house. With a bucket of molten tar, the men began to smear Joseph's skin, covering all over his body, and gutting one of his pillows, covered him with the contents. Some of the men tried to force feed Joseph a vial of nitric acid. There were many angry threats to the Prophet's life and he was beaten severely. Joseph said a prayer for safety and mercy, and just then, an alarm sounded, scaring the mob away. Struggling back inside, Joseph showed himself to Emma, who fainted when the lighting made the tar look like blood. Thus began the long, arduous process of painfully removing the tar. During the struggle, the cold night air had been let in, and the Smith's new baby sadly perished from exposure. The very next day, Sunday, Smith got out of bed, and attended his Church meetings as usual. Beaten raw, covered in bits of tar, bruises, and more, Joseph got up before the congregation and gave a sermon as powerful as ever. He never mentioned the elephant in the room, skipping over the previous night's events entirely, even as some of the very men from the mob who attacked him sat among the congregation. In this trial, Joseph Smith displayed not only resilience in the face of adversity, but also a great capacity for forgiveness to those who had so viciously hurt him. I consider him a wonderful role model, and a man who very faithfully followed the example of his savior Jesus Christ.

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For another story of an early Latter-day Saint overcoming great trial, please read this story about John Rowe Moyle, a stone-cutter for the Salt Lake Temple.
Read about the lifestyle of the Mormon pioneers.