Updated ARC release (Dec 10, 2015)

Today I made an updated ARC available. It can be ordered directly from CreateSpace and will be available on Amazon.com within 3-5 business days.

If you’d be happy with a pdf (free, after all), please email me at stoutmtc@gmail.com for the password and file. You can’t print or select text in this pdf, but you can comment. There is also a hidden link in the bottom right of each page that on enabled devices will open an e-mail pre-addressed with the subject “RP ARC Feedback”.

In the original ARC, I had said:

In some of the chapters that have been heavily reworked since my initial blog posts of 2013-2014, the notes will not have received the same scrutiny as the body of the text, with some currently included in the body of the text. Please pardon this digital dust.

Since November 30, then, I have been updating the mechanics of the ARC in the following manner:

1. Linking the endnotes to the references to the endnotes in the text. For the original ARC, the starting point was the blog posts at Millennial Star. When the posts were originally written, the notes were embedded in the midst of the text, using the ^[1] tags. However in copying the text to a word document, the embedding was lost. For many chapters, the numbers in the chapters did line up with the endnotes. In chapters I reworked early on, additional endnotes were inserted by adding a letter (e.g., 4a and 4b would fall between original notes 4 and 5). However in the chapters related to John Bennett’s decline into spiritual wifery and the chapter talking about eradicating spiritual wifery, any agreement between the number in the ARC text and the endnote for the chapter was mere serendipity.
2. I found that I didn’t like having the timeline at the front of the book, particularly when looking at the book on some kindle reading devices. Therefore I moved it to an Appendix.
3. I changed the headings so that you can tell which chapter you are reading.

I identified and made the following minor changes:

1. Various punctuation, spelling, and grammar errors.
2. Removing contractions from my words.
3. Breaking down exceptionally long and confusing sentences.

Most importantly, I identified the following content updates:

1. KA made comments on the timeline, particularly questioning the simplification that the Mormons gathered to Provo during the Utah War. I clarified that Brigham had the people take shelter south of the Transverse Mountain pass, a pass that gave the Mormons a similar topographic advantage to that enjoyed by the Revolutionaries at Saratoga.
2. Reader pointed me to the a recent 42 page pdf asserting that Joseph Smith was a monogamist, with all the polygamy items being late additions made at the behest of an apostate Brigham Young. Though I disagree with the conclusion, there were a few useful references that I felt worthy of inclusion, such as Francis Higbee’s 1842 support of Joseph, James Whitehead’s arguments regarding D&C 132, and Joseph’s journal entry of October 5, 1843. These have been folded into the text.
3. KA asked which daughter of Brigham Young had cast the first vote. I realized I had misremembered (the timeline being a late addition done from memory). The first female vote in the fight for female suffrage was cast by Sarah Young, grand-niece to Brigham Young.
4. Along that line, I realized I had referred to Orson F. Whitney as Heber C. Kimball’s son-in-law. Horace Whitney was Kimball’s son-in-law, with Orson F. Whitney being Heber C. Kimball’s grandson.
5. In reconfirming the names of Martha Brotherton’s sisters, I found an article Elizabeth Brotherton Pratt had written specifying that she left England on September 21, 1841, with Joseph Fielding the presiding Elder of their company. This required me to alter discussion of the timing of Martha Brotherton’s reported experience. It appears that the interview Martha asserted occurred three weeks after her arrival in the vicinity of Nauvoo occurred in early December. I still am persuaded that John McIlwrick was born in Ohio, but he engendered a child with Mary Brotherton McIlwrick long before the November 1841 arrival in Nauvoo, based on her child’s May 1842 birth. I would be delighted if additional data confirms the nature of his role in the British mission, whether he was British convert or American missionary.
6. I updated the text to reflect that Lyman Royal Sherman had been called to be an apostle, though he died before ever learning of the call. This elevates Delcena Johnson Sherman from mere widow to widow of a high church leader, suggesting this may have been a reason she was an early addition to the quorum of Celestial wives.
7. In discussing the men who were possibly involved in spiritual wifery rather than legitimate Celestial marriage, I clarified that John E. Page was an apostle and expanded on the information given. I also included Lyman Wight and Orange Wight in that section. In the case of Lyman Wight it isn’t that we have proof that he was involved in Bennett’s variant of spiritual wifery, but his son’s involvement in spiritual wifery and knowledge that Joseph had plural wives led Lyman Wight to think he could administer to himself and his congregation while alone up in Wisconsin.

I have not updated footnotes where the reference is a stub, because I didn’t want to increase the cost of the ARC. As it is, the other modifications added 7 pages, increasing the cost by a few pennies. This will only be noticed by those applying the discount X2WKPKUV at CreateSpace, which was eroded from $1.75 to $1.70. For those with Amazon Prime, the least expensive option is likely to order from Amazon.

1. ^[1] and ↩