THIRTY-SEVEN
(1842)
This year set the stage, both the motivation and the events, for Joseph’s martyrdom. Joseph sought to
protect women and to challenge the egos of men. He addressed the true nature of priesthood authority.
Responding to the LDS people’s desire for temples and glory, he designed and presented the temple
endowment, which included rich symbolic meaning that they could not understand.Leading Up to the End
Historians, both for and against Joseph, think they know his story. But the only thing
both sides know for sure is how it ended. Joseph was killed in the early evening hours at the
main jail in Carthage, Illinois on Thursday, June 27, 1844. There were about thirty-six armed
men among the nearly 150 men with black-painted faces who gathered at the jail with the
intent to hang Joseph. Nearly half the mob was former or current members of the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and most of them had been close friends or associates with
Joseph. Startled as they encountered the armed prophet, the resolute men opened fire on
him once they realized he was prepared to fire at them. As mentioned previously, it was the
lead mobster, John C. Bennett, whose bullet stopped Joseph’s heart. To get to the point
when Bennett’s bullet would stop the beating heart of one of the last true messengers to live
upon earth, we have to go back to the time when events were set in motion that hardened
the hearts and motivated the men who wanted Joseph dead. That year was 1842.
Power and Sex: Masonry, Brothels, and Booze
Throughout the history of the world, two main motivating factors have caused
humans—usually men—to rise up against other humans, ignore their own humanity, and
kill each other, namely: 1) sex, and 2) power. While wealth is inclusive of the latter, both
include ego and personal value. The men who wanted Joseph killed had either lost the
opportunity for sex, or the power they felt they had received over others, mainly LDS
priesthood power. In 1842, Joseph took steps that devalued the egos of the boundless
LDS/Mormon men and limited their chances at having more than one wife.
On March 15, 1842, Joseph “officiated as grand chaplain at the installation of the
Nauvoo Lodge of Free Masons, at the Grove near the Temple.”^1 The next day he “rose to the
sublime degree.”^2 The day after, on March 17, Joseph countered the male-based Masonic
fraternity with the organization of “the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo,”^3 to effectually
juxtapose the LDS women with just as much priesthood power and authority as the men.
Less than two months later, on May 4th, Joseph introduced the presentation of the final and
greatest stumbling block for the Saints—the LDS Temple Endowment.^4
Many of the Masonic temple rituals were incorporated in Joseph’s presentation—not
to condone the Masonic ritual, but to mock it. Just a couple of weeks later, Joseph took away
all the power, authority, and good standing of John C. Bennett^5 who, as a Mason, was
greatly upset that Joseph had used secret Masonic symbols in his endowment presentation.