Fourteen (1819)Timothy’s Protection of Joseph Jr.—the Shooting Incident
It was Timothy’s personal assignment to ensure the well-being and safety of the true
messenger, Joseph Smith, Jr., insuring that his personal and family circumstances were fully
prepared for what was yet to come and for many years thereafter. One such example of
Timothy’s assistance was included, in an obscure way, by Lucy Mack in her biography, without
her ever knowing the full truth of the situation. This was one of the few incidents she could
remember from that time period (which event took place in 1820, after Joseph’s). She wrote:
At the age of fourteen an incident occurred which alarmed us much, as we
knew not the cause of it. Joseph being a remarkably quiet, well-disposed child,
we did not suspect that any one [sic] had aught against him. He was out one
evening on an errand, and, on returning home, as he was passing through the
dooryard[,] a gun was fired across his pathway, with the evident intention of
shooting him. He sprang to the door much frightened. We immediately went
in search of the assassin[,] but could find no trace of him that evening. The next
morning we found his tracks under a wagon, where he lay when he fired; and
the following day we found the balls which were discharged from the gun,
lodged in the head and neck of a cow that was standing opposite the wagon, in
a dark corner. We have not as yet discovered the man who made this attempt
at murder, neither can we discover the cause thereof.^2Lucy Mack didn’t know “the cause thereof” because Joseph never told her the full
details of what had happened on April 6th of his fifteenth year (when he had seen an
advanced human being), which was at the heart of the trouble. Neither did he ever give her
the details of the shooting experience, as mentioned through Lucy’s own perception above.
The man who tried to kill Joseph did so while drunken with rage and alcohol. The cow,
instead of Joseph, took the bullet in the head when Timothy, who “happened” to be present
at the scene of the shooting, shooed the cow into the line of fire, protecting young Joseph.
What follows next was how the incident transpired, first, in Joseph’s original published
words, followed by the real account of the incident in greater detail and fullness from the
real-time account and descriptions available to this author.
The Lesser Details of the Shooting Incident
In the “lesser part” of the “official history” that Joseph published of the event, he wrote:Some few days after I had this vision, I happened to be in company with
one of the [M]ethodist preachers who was very active in the before
mentioned religious excitement, and conversing with him on the subject of
religion, I took occasion to give him an account of the vision which I had
had. I was greatly surprised at his behavior, he treated my communication
not only lightly, but with great contempt, saying it was all of the devil, that
there was no such thing as visions or revelations in these days; that all such
things had ceased with the apostles, and that there never would be any
more of them. I soon found however that my telling the story had excited a