The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1907-10-15
THE CHAMPION
POLYCAMy Y.
FIGHTER

Sheehy, of the Reorganized Church O.
Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, In
Producing a representative OF the Ad'
vertiser to President Joseph Smith, the
ecclesiastical leader of the church ano
the eldest son of Joseph Smith, the
Prophet. president Smith has writ
ten. preached and lectured more
against that crime than any man liv-
ing"
And in the lengthy interview which
followed with the president the main
topic was the question of polygamy
as taught today and formerly practis-
ed by the Mormon church of Utah, a
church with which the Reorganized
church is frequently confused by the
pubic.
President Smith is seventy-fve years
old, but carries his years well, being a
man of magnificent physique, straight,
tall and broad shouldered. He has a
strong but a kindly face and is most
affable and pleasant in his manner. In
some respects he resembles his cousin,
Joseph F. smith, the Prophet, Seer and
Reyelator of the Utah Mormons, but
his features are less stern than his
Cousins.
And why shouldn't they be less
stern?' he asked, when this fact was
mentioned He has six wives to lcok
after and 1 have only one. And find
that looking after one is quite task"
The president summarized his long
life last night by saying that he had
been born a Buckeye, raised Sucker
and was now a Puke. He was born
in Ohio, at the time his father, Joseph
Smith, was just beginning to be noticed
by the world at large; he went from
one state to another as the Mormons
were driven first from one locality to
another, the members of the new sect
finally building their city of Nauvoo
in Illinois, where his father met his
death at the hands of a masked mob.
AT that time the present president was
a lad in his twelfth year and his re-
membrance of that tragedy is as vivid
today as it was during those days
when the death of their leader throw
the Mormons into confusion, resulting
in the split in the church, when the
majority followed Brigham Young
across the plains to found the city Of
st. Lake and reclaim the arid lands
of Utah. In Nauvoo, except for the
year following the death of his father,
the president lived with his mother
and Immediately family for many
years, finally moving back to Missouri,
where the first temple of the church
had been built.
In 1860 he took his present position rs
head of the church, succeeding his
father, having received the authority
to do so from his father prior to his
death. His life's work has been to
combat the claims of the leaders of
that section of the Mormons who To-
Gated in Utah, founding their church
upon the doctrine of polygamy and
claiming as authority revelation sup
posed to have been received by Joseph
Smith. That. such a revelation was
ever received by his father or that
his father was ever a polygamist is
denied emphatically by his son. The
alleged revelation was not promulgat-
ed by Brigham Young until some years
after the death of the Prophet and,
according to the assertions made by
President Smith last night, was never
proven in any way nor properly SUBJ
mitted to the church membership as
was done with any other of the num-
erous revelations which go to make up
the bulk of the Mormon theology. The
revelation was not included among the
revelations in the Doctrine and Coven-
ants, the official Mormon publication,
until 1876, and then on the arbitrary
dictation of Young.
The legal status of the Reorganized
church as the successors of the Nauvoo
organization has been established IN
several lawsuits and is a c1nstaI.t
source of dispute between the two
branches. President Smith and his son
Frederick NJ. Smith, who will be the
next president, have issued numerous
challenge to the leaders in Utah to
meet them in debate on the many
questions at issue between the church,
but their challenges have passed un-
answered.
"I was only twelve years old at
the time that Brigham Young claimed
the leadership of the church. I was
only a lad but my memory of the
is clear. 1t is altogether
too good for those fellows and they
know it. I have visited Utah many
times, however, and I have many
friends among the people there, but
none of our challenges have ever been
accepted. I make the same challenge
now to President Woolley. 1 knew
either his father or his grandfather
when 1 was boy, but 1 know that he
won't accept the challenge. We are
the successors of the church founded
by my father and are ready to prove
1t either in a polemic discussion or in
the courts. 1 have never diverged
from the faith that my father an
and died for. When they say
that 1 am an apostate / challenge proof
and none is forthcoming. When they
say that my father was polygamist
challenge proof and 1 can get none
My father was an active. athletic man,
standing six feet in his socks, weighing
two hundred and ten pounds and in the
prime of his youth, being between
twenty-eight and thirty years old at
the time they claim be was practising
polygamy, but not one child was ever
boru to him except by my mother, his
legally welded wife. If he were a
would there not be some
children born?"
President Smith Is a charter MEM |