Here is his 1st person testimony. It is long, but such an amazing witness of Joseph Smith, A witness of what it was like to be called into Polygamy, and interesting thoughts about when he is called to be judged, he hopes Abraham is there.
We have been greatly blessed in our family.
My wife has had nine sons and six daughters. One son was killed coming down the mountain with a load of lumber which was a great trial
to us, the only death we
have had and we have never had a doctor to
any of our children as long.
as they lived at home, although we have had
seven down with diphtheria
and at another time we had seven down with
the measles and at another
time, two down with small pox. My children
have all been taught from
their childhood to have faith in the anointing with oil and administering
to the sick and the Lord has always heard
our prayers and we got
through all right but then mother was a good doctor and used all means
at her command and had great faith and courage and my wife
though not
a strong woman, never had a doctor but once and that was of very short
duration. Myself up to this time have needed no doctor for which I feel
grateful to my Heavenly Father for His protecting care that has been
over me. Know as I do of the prejudice that almost universally
exists
against the people called Mormons and knowing the prejudice
produced by false statements and misrepresentations I ask the kind reader to lay
down his notion (if any he has) and go with me a short time while I ask
a few questions and make a few statements that have come
under my observation during the last 60 years of my life
, I am now nearly 82 years of age and knowing it will be but a short time before I shall be leaving this earth as far as I know. For the benefit of my fellow creatures. I
have been a member of this church for nearly 60 years and I have either embraced the faith or had my eyes blinded
and following a delusion all these years. I will admit it was a sweeping declaration
when
Joseph Smith declared he saw the Father and the Son
when he was between 14 and 15 years of age· and they told him the
sectarian
world was all wrong and to unite with none
of them. He made such a
plain statement of this manifestation that one would think that if there was a ray of hope to
establish the fact, that God
lived and revealed to His Beloved Son that the whole world would be delighted
after so many
ages of darkness wherein there has been no such sign
given direct from the great Creator of Heaven and Earth and the great blow it would be given to the skeptic and infidel to know there was a God that
lived and that His Beloved Son the Redeemer of the world who did
once come to the earth and become the Redeemer of the world and to now have all doubt removed with regards to the
Jewish Scriptures , to know that He was
the same
God of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob and all of the Prophets I say again if this Truth can
be established, the doubt and uncertainty
with regards to the true and
living God
would all be swept away, no more
sectarianism, No more heathenism and
infidelity, no more worshiping the works of mankind but all be brought into unison of worship the only one true God, the maker
of Heaven and earth.
Now kind reader I want you to go with me while I try to establish a few facts to prove that Joseph Smith did actually see
and commune with the Father and the Son, had there not have been any
subsequent events transpire after this manifestation,
seeing he was
only a youth, we might have been left in doubt, suspicious
without any
further testimony but he says the Son told him if he was faithful the
Lord would make him an instrument in
bringing about a great and marvelous work and after awhile an Angel would visit
him and make known
to him the true
G0speL Now the question
is, was that promise fulfilled, now Joseph Smith positively declares that an Angel did come to him
and talked and communed with him
most of the night;
giving his instructions and portrayed before his vision where certain Gold Plates were hid up in the earth not far from his
father’s house. Next day he went
to the place, met the Angel there and saw the plates with his
natural eyes and told him to meet him there for four years in succession at the end of which they would be delivered into
his hands.
The Angel
told among other things that these plates contained the true Gospel
as was taught by the Saviour when on earth. Now I have
not time to go into
all the details, you can get them in other books but I just want to ask a few
questions. Then
the Angel first
visited him he was not 18 years of age,
uneducated farmer boy. Now I ask the question, is it
reasonable to suppose that a
boy at that age could make up
such a program
and carry it
out systematically and so
successfully, all so straight forward, agreeing
in every
particular with the Scriptures and that without the aid or
subjection of any individual on earth? How he must have had it all
planned and
laid out at this time. Now the plates are translated, the
next step, he must organize the Church or before
this must have eleven honorable men
beside himself
to testify to all
the world that they had seen and
handled the plates and now
before the Church is organized he discovers there is no one on the earth who has authority
to officiate in
the ordinance
of the Church and it must come from cane from above,
then he brings
in John the Baptist who had authority- to
baptize the
Saviour with the Aaronic Priesthood, to confer it upon
him so that he
could Baptize for the remission of sins. Then he asked Peter, James
and John whom the Saviour gave the
keys of the Kingdom, to come and
lay their hands upon his head that he might have the same power to
give the Holy Ghost to those
who were baptized. Now he has to organize
the Church exactly after the same pattern that the Saviour gave, with
Apostles, High Priests , Bishops, Seventies etc. Now the prophecy must
be fulfilled and Israel must be gathered and there must be a place to
gather to and
here I will build a new Jerusalem and establish the Zion
of Our God upon the earth and have a people so educated and prepared
to meet the Saviour when He comes in the clouds of Heaven. But before
this takes place
I must have a Temple built and have Moses confer upon
me the keys of
the gathering
of Israel.
I must have Elias confer upon
me the Patriarchal order of the Gospel as conferred on Abraham and
then I must have Elijah as spoken of by Malachi, confer upon the keys
of the
Restitution in turning the hearts of the fathers to the children
and the children to their fathers and here I must have baptism for
the dead and temples erected
to officiate
for the same.
Now I ask the
question again, is it possible for a boy 14 years and six months old to
commence making his arrangements and then the
next step to declare
that the Angel spoken of by John should bring the
everlasting Gospel
to the earth, did really come and give him instructions concerning the
great program before him and in connection with other Heavenly messengers
and even from the voice of his Heavenly
Redeemer himself he went forth with that faith and confidence, until today
we see the great
structures reared
and the perfect organization
of which is admitted by
all well informed
people and now
there is no man on
earth (this
least
of all churches)
that ever
did pretend to say that
they assisted him
in getting
up this
organization or dictated one
line in the Book
of
Mormon or Doctrine
and Covenants.
Of course they assisted him in writing but he did all the dictating and he
declared that all his knowledge
and information were given him by the angel from Heaven and gift
of the Holy Ghost.
Mormonism is a reality from beginning to end. There
has nothing been
hid, it has all been open and above board, nothing
clothed with obscurity
and deception and every thing partaking of the
spirit of truth and righteousness. Now what is the result of all these
items of which I have been speaking (with many other things) which,
were revealed unto him from Heaven before
he was 25 years old. Now if
he is an imposter he must have been successful in blinding the
eyes of his aged father and mother, his nine brothers and sisters also
Martin Harris who furnished him money and Oliver Cowdery, who wrote while he translated month after month and then the Whitmer family
where he finished his book, five honorable sons and a good father who gave
board and lodging free and then told one of the sons in connection with the
others that he should have the privilege of seeing the plates which he declared
he did when on his dying bed I ask you again, does it look reasonable that only
18 years of age he could have carried out such deception without being
detected, from 1820 to 1830? The very
part of his giving the dates when the angel appeared and told him to meet him
there for four years in succession, then the plates were to be delivered into
his hands, this would have given him away if it did not take place but his
father, mother and family knew positively that he had the plates and some of
them had the privilege of seeing and handling them. Now as I said, we will look at results of all
these manifestations that were given at that early day. The church was organized when he was a little
over 24 years of age with Apostles, Prophets, the Seventies in their order, the
Elders, High Priests, Bishops, Priests, Teachers and Deacons, these were all
organized after a perfect pattern given him by revelation which has never been
changed from that day to this. Could an
imposter get up anything so perfect? The
gathering of Israel, another item; this principle is demonstrated before the
eyes of the whole world and the grand object was set forth why they should
gather. One was that they should build
temples and he declared that Elijah that was to come in the last days did lay
his hands upon him an confer upon him the authority to officiate in these
temples for those who died without hearing the Gospel. Has this been fulfilled and carried out? Where can the people ever expect to see a
more literal fulfillment of the prophet Isiah.
Here is the great Temple in Salt Lake City among the tops of the tops of
the mountains and people from every nation under Heaven have gathered unto and
received their blessings there in and million of our kindred an friends have
been officiated for. I myself have
officiated for many hundreds of my friends and have had so many manifestations
from them that my labors have been accepted by them, as well as hundreds of
others. I will here testify that I have
lived with this people for nearly 60 years and a more honorable, honest and
virtuous God fearing people can not be found anywhere. Of course we are not perfect and there are
some as in all other communities who do not do as well as they should. The Gospel that we have received is the
Gospel of peace and good will to our fellow men and the command was given to
Joseph Smith at the very beginning to send forth Elders to all nations of the
earth which has been carried out from the time and today we have 2,000 out at
an expense of one and one half million to two million dollars a year. Leaving their parents, wife, and children at
a good sacrifice and what for? For the love of the souls of men. I ask you the question the Saviour asked, “Do
men gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles”? Now let me ask my old
Methodist friends and all others to cease circulating these lying reports
because when you do so you are fighting against God and His Truth and it does
seem to me as I said at the beginning, if there was a key of hope to establish
the fact that our Heavenly Father and his Beloved Son had again communed with
men on earth as well as the angel from Heaven, it should be sought after with the
most earnest desire to ascertain the truth of the same.
But says one, Mr. Claridge, your principle of
polygamy spoils it all, for if he was such a good man how could he feel
justified in telling men it was their privilege to have more wives then one as
this is one of the great weapons that our enemies bring up to fight Mormonism
with. Bear with me while I explain a
little, tis true we do believe that Joseph Smith did have such a revelation
give to him but in as much as this Government has passed a law to prohibit it,
we have complied with that law to the very letter and expect to. I will here say that I have a great deal of
charity for our opponents bringing up this question knowing that all the Christian
world for so many generations past have been raised under the one wife system
it so naturally comes in contact with former traditions and bringing up. I put it o myself, how would I feel if I was
a boy to see my father bring another wife into the family. I should naturally rebel notwithstanding I
was taught by my mother that the Bible was the word of God and that Abraham and
others were among the best men that ever lived and the special favorites of
Heaven, I would skip that all over. My
tradition would not allow me to do that what they did and now let me say when
the revelation was first give to Joseph Smith, it was one of the greatest trials
of his life. I remember at one time
talking to a brother by the name of Benjamin Johnson who was a confidential
friend of Joseph Smith and he said Brother Joseph came to him one day when he
was working and said to him “I am in trouble” he then told him that the Lord
had commanded him to take another wife.
On the same principle as the Lord had commanded Father Abraham and he
said “I have put it off and put it off knowing how it would come in contact
with the feelings of the people and the great trial of their faith it would be,
but now just recently an angel of the Lord stood before me with a drawn sword in
his hand and said if he did not go forth and obey that command he would be cut
off and another one would be put in his place.
Under these conditions he went forth saying he would do the best he
could. When he mentioned it to Brigham
Young, Brigham made the reply “Joseph, if you can excuse me I would rather take
my valise on my back and go preach the Gospel the remainder of my days”. Now we ask, what was the object in the Lord
giving such a command, please read the 132 section of the Doctrine and
Covenants and that will explain it.
Now I will give a little of my experience,
the principle was explained to me in this way; there are two particular objects
the Lord had in view with many others.
The one is to bring about ta more perfect way of living. The human family have been degenerating for
many generation sand the Lord has designed to give laws that will establish a system
to bring about that lineage that has been lost and that will be done by men and
women governing their passions and feelings and live in every way according to
the principles of charity, cleanliness and to bring forth children that will be
better developed in every way. Another
grand object is this, there are millions of noble spirits in the spirit world
who are anxiously waiting to take bodies through channels that are pure and
uncontaminated and the more such bodies prepared, the greater rejoicing there
ins in the spirit world. There were
other pure principles that were taught me by the Apostles of the church and
said it was one of the most sacred principles that had ever been revealed from
Heaven, and could not be trifled with in the least. Without bringing the displeasure of the lord
upon me under these conditions, I took me a plural wife and one asked did you
not have difficulties, yes the greatest I ever had in my life and when the
great day of reckoning comes and the books are opened and you see what men and
women passed through to keep the commandments of the Lord, you would never more
persecute the polygamist but the Lord said those that enter into it with pure
motive, they should be visited with blessings and they should have a testimony
to the truth of the principle. Fortunately
for me I had one of the most patient noble hearted wives who knew this was the
work of the Lord, and under a conscientious sense of her duty, she consented
for me to take another wife and has acted a noble part in helping me to carry
it out but was it not a trial to her? Indeed and she shed many a bitter tear
but she prayed to her Heavenly Father to give her strength to over come and her
prayers were answered and she was a mother to my second wife an her children
and gained the victory over herself and has gone to her Eternal rest some 25
years ago.
My second wife Is the mother
of nine sons and six daughters, thirteen of which are raised to man and
womanhood, eleven of them married an living close by, all of them respectable
men and women, all raising large respectable families. I never had a doctor in my life not to any of
my family as long as they lived with me, and a more healthy robust lot of men
and women would be hard to find in one family and we are not ashamed of our
polygamist family. All comfortably
situated in life but today I stand a monogamist in the eyes of the law and
would be fined and imprisoned for doing today what I did 45 years ago. Now I am nearly 82 years of age and most
likely I shall be ushered into the presence of the Great Judge of all the
earth, that cannot look upon sin with any degree of allowance and now seeing I
have committed a crime so heinous before the eyes of the nation, the penalty of
which is fine and imprisonment, what will be my situation when I receive my sentence
from the righteous Judge. I am in hopes
that Father Abraham will be there, maybe he will help me out a little, and way
I think that I shall stand as good a chance as some of our most prominent law
makers who never had courage enough to take one wife and then the rest of them
(or nearly so) who do take a wife do shirk the responsibility large families,
one or two is sufficient and the unnatural causes that are exerted to, to
prevent offspring coming into the world, why should we complain at the
commandments to better these conditions and no greater testimony could have
given that the Mormon people are actuated by a God like principle in carrying
out the first great commandment given to Father Adam, to be fruitful and
multiply and replenish the earth.
Now the other great weapon that is
brought forth to prejudice the minds of the people is the Mountain Meadow
Massacre. You will find all the
particulars of this sad event plainly set forth in a little tract already
published but as I was living at that time and familiar with all the
circumstances connected with it. I will
just write a few words and will say it was a most shaky affair and was a great
trial to all the Mormon people, Before
it happened, word came to Brigham Young that the Indians were very mad on
account of some of the company shooting some of the Indians and poisoning their
spring which they did a short distance from where I lived and there was a great
danger of blood shed. President Youn
sent a man immediately on hose back with a message to the people 300 miles
away, not to let the Indians bring any calamity on the people, not to touch a
hair of their heads. I was at the guard
house when the messenger came. He had
orders to spare no horse flesh, night or day but to go with all speed
possible. We gave him the best horse
that could be found and he made the 300 miles in almost incredible time but the
day before the deed was done and disgusted by all the people an lamented by all
the brother Brigham Young when he heard it, cried like a child. There were two or three Mormons who acted
unwise, they were tried by a Mormon jury and one was sentenced to death and was
shot. When our enemies circulated the
report the Brigham Young was the instigator of it, they tell that which is
false. Now all this took place over 50
years ago and why is it that our oppressors will continue to magnify those old
rusty weapons before the minds of the people to work upon their blind sympathy
to oppose the work of the Lord.
Now in conclusion let me say to all my
old Melodist friends and all others, cease circulating those lying reports for
when you do so you are fighting against God of Heaven and great will be your
condemnation. Look at all things as reasonable
men and if you can not see the principles of Mormonism to be true, don’t try to
prejudice others, for as I said at the beginning, it is worth our most earnest
consideration to have it proven that God our Eternal Father doth live and His
Beloved Son and have been seen again in open vision. It is something that expects the interest of
the whole family. Knowing as I do of the
prejudice that exists almost universally against the people called Latter-Day Saints
and knowing that prejudice is produce by fake statements and
misrepresentations, I ask the kind reader to lay aside his preconceived notions
(if any he has) and go with me a short time while
