Joseph Smith stands trial on a Missouri writ in Springfield before Judge Pope who is accompanied by several ladies, possibly his response to the rumors of polygamy. Joseph Smith is acquitted.
[Source: Hales, Brian C., Joseph Smith's Polygamy: History and Theology, 2 vols., Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2013 (www.JosephSmithsPolygamy.com)]
HC 5:220 states "and 10 ladies by his side."
ReplyDeleteJudge Pope comes in the courtroom accompanied by several ladies. (Some say that this was the judge's joke about the rumors of polygamy.)
ReplyDeleteMr. Butterfield, Joseph's attorney, jokingly announces, "It is a momentous occasion in my life to appear before the Pope, in defense of a prophet of God, in the presence of all these angels." (Donna Hill, Joseph Smith: The First Mormon 321-22.)
Joseph Smith Papers, Journals Vol.2:216, has the following entry not found in the HC:
ReplyDelete"court opened---while Docket was reading the Ladies came in & took their seats by the side of the Judge--[illegible] 6〈Ladies〉By court ..."