Strong, An Apostate Mormon — Part 2
Ezra Strong had an independent streak.
In January 1852 there was an incident in Salt Lake City: Polly Conklin, whom Ezra claimed to be one of Hyram Smith’s plural wives, arrived at the church offices. She wanted to be sealed to John Booth.
While waiting near Brigham Young’s home she spoke of a man had not seen for over a decade, Gladden Bishop, saying she believed that he was a chosen servant of God, and she believed in some of his writings. Ezra reports that Brigham Young heard her, and replied in regard to Bishop: “I can shit a better prophet, and fart better revelations.” In his next sentence Ezra said: “I immediately took pains to acquaint myself with these cast outs.”
The Significance of This Event
Before this time there had been people in the valley of other faiths, but there had been no organized, schismatic group of Mormons in Utah. “[The] Great Salt Lake City was the only substantial white settlement between the pacific coast and the military outposts in Kansas, and along the Missouri River to the east.” (Saunders, 1989) This isolation cut both ways. It protected the rocky mountain saints from outside incursions, but it also isolated people in the community from outside support if they, for some reason, did not fit in with the saints, or ran afoul of the local leadership. For the first time since the Utah period Brigham’s Deseret was also home to what he saw as an apostate sect of Mormonism.
Brigham Young knew Francis Gladden Bishop. Brigham had been involved in at least two of Bishop’s five disciplinary councils, and involved in his excommunication. On the 30th of July 1850 Bishop wrote a letter to Brigham from Kirtland informing him that he was on his way to Utah with his flock. I’m not sure Bishop understood the situation into which he was sending his followers, and in this particular pilgrimage he wouldn’t make it farther than Council Bluffs, however some of his followers would arrive in Zion.
To understand the significance of these events we have to go back in history. Gladden left a scant trail in history compared to some of his contemporaries, however he did write many letters. Because of the volume of his communication some of his letters survived. In addition he published a number of lengthy proclamations and addresses. Some of the most interesting records come from his five encounters with church disciplinary courts. Fortunately his own history was compiled in 1989 by Richard L. Saunders while studying at USU. His 280 page work Francis Gladden Bishop and Gladdenism is the best (and most comprehensive) source for putting Gladden Bishop in context. A shorter essay by Saunders can be found in Differing Visions.
Gladden The Visionary
Bishop received a vision when he was 17 years old. In it he saw three heavenly visitants, and felt a “perfect ecstacy”. Following his heavenly visitation in that same vision a man came to him who he later identified as the “Ancient of Days” as in the “Prophecy of Daniel” in his later recounting of his vision.
Approximately three years later Bishop had another vision, this time of him perched atop a mountain preaching to a multitude. After this experience he felt compelled to not just preach, but to lead. By 1831 he had about 60 followers and had associated himself with the Freewill Baptists.
Gladden the Mormon
Gladden Bishop’s parents became associated with Mormons during the following year. In early 1832, in Olean Point, he encountered four mormon families. They were building a flatboat on their way to Missouri. At 23 years old Bishop was baptized in Olean Point, NY. Soon after his baptism he was ordained to the Melchizedek priesthood, and ordained an elder. He began his ministry among the believers in Olean Point.
As a convert his honeymoon with the church was short lived. With characteristic zeal Gladden endeavored to earn a position of status among the saints. A few weeks later a high priest named Walton showed up claiming to be sent by Joseph Smith to preside. Bishop was upset about this encroachment, but the situation was clear. Simply put, Bishop was not a high priest, but Walton was.
If he needed to be a high priest to lead, then Gladden decided he would become a high priest. To be ordained he had to travel to Kirtland, Ohio. He traveled the 100 miles, petitioned, and was refused. In spite of his rejection, he returned to Olean Point with his aspiration intact, to prove he was willing and able to be a high priest. This left his problems in his local branch unresolved. He wanted to advance in his faith, and he was obstructed by this administrative obstacle.
Having been rejected by the Church, he petitioned The Lord. One night a messenger appeared to him, placed his hands on his head, said “I ordain you a high priest”, and promptly disappeared. Following this episode Francis had a vision of himself on a throne adorned with a crown and wielding a sword. His messenger informed him that the throne, sword, and crown were the power of the high priesthood. In addition, he was told that Joseph Smith was a fallen prophet, and was rejected. In addition he was told he would lead the church.
Many early Mormons, like their contemporaries, didn’t question visionary claims, but sometimes questioned from whence the vision came. Personal visitations in the early days of Mormonism were common. So common in fact that Joseph Smith made a special inquiry about those spiritual manifestations. In reply Joseph received a revelation concerning the discerning of spirits.
Perhaps because of “Walton’s domination” word of Bishops’s heavenly ordination was willingly accepted by Olean Point’s members. News of his ordination made waves within and without the church. Accounts of his charismatic leadership and visions reached Kirtland, and Bishop was summoned by his own leaders.
Influence on Church Policy and Doctrine
Before the School of the Prophets Bishop was examined concerning his claim of ordination. It’s reported that he had trouble keeping his story straight, asked for forgiveness, and begged for mercy. He was readmitted to the church with his priesthood intact.
In response to a challenge to the orderly dispensation of priesthood authority Joseph Smith said “no heavenly messenger will ever come to interfere with that power by ordaining any more.” As a result the church closed a potentially problematic source of divine authority placing himself soundly in charge of not only priesthood power, but the assignment of priesthood offices.
Interestingly, before he left Kirtland again he recounted his dream of the Ancient of Days to Joseph Smith and a council of elders. Rather than being rebuffed, Bishop was encouraged by Smith’s acceptance of the vision even though the prophet gave no interpretation of it.
Missionary
In 1833 Bishop was sent on a mission, which became his default avocation over the next decade. As a missionary he was further removed from the central authority of the church, but it didn’t prevent him from running into trouble with others in the mission field. In 1835 Gibson Smith complained about Bishop’s teachings. In this particular case the suspension notice mentioned Bishop’s stated view that he was one of the two witnesses from Revelations. In September he was again tried before the Quorum of Twelve where he was “he was reproved, repented, and was reordained”.
In spite of this second episode of discipline, Bishop did not stop indulging in his personal beliefs regarding his early visions. He believed he had a calling, and by “trial and error” (Saunders, 1998) he was seeking a role into which his own history would fit. To him, his visions were real, and he attached his ego to them.
By 1839 tensions were rising between saints and their persecutors in North Carolina, where he was serving his mission. Bishop wrote “A Brief History of the Church of the Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” one of the first stand-alone apologetic works of mormonism.
During this time he received communication from Brigham Young that he was suspended from preaching (again) and was required to travel to Nauvoo and defend his actions. This time his offense (at least partly) was crossing a state boundary into the territory of another mission. Personally I’m a little amused to see how far back this (still current) rule can be traced, which was instituted in the Times and Seasons two months before the incident. Along with crossing into the boundary the part that probably really got him into trouble is that he was presiding over a congregation on another elder’s territory. As a Seventy at that time was called to preach, not preside. He had no authority to do so, especially in the territory of another.
Nauvoo
To answer the charges against him Bishop returned to Nauvoo. He took his case before Hyrum and the city’s high council. In summary, Brigham’s actions were deemed inappropriate and Bishop was cleared of the charges against him. Interestingly Hyrum Smith introduced him to Don Carlos Smith who accepted him into the High Priest’s quorum by “a previous ordination”. Saunders believes that this was most likely his 1832 vision, “not one performed at the hands of a recognized priesthood holder” (Saunders, 1989). Bishop finally had realized his aspirations to be recognized by the church as a high priest.
In a reflection of one of his early visions Gladden was called “to regulate the branches of the Church abroad in the United States”. A calling that would be short lived, but in some ways prophetic during the later Mormon Diaspora.
Gladden Bishop’s inclusion in the High Priest’s quorum would open up a broader discussion among the leaders of the church. Other Seventies wanted to know if they could also claim the office of high priest, using Bishop’s case as an example. Yet again Joseph interjected saying that a Seventy was an office of the church that was the responsibility of an elder, and not of a high priest, which is administrative. Bishop would need a separate ordination to become a high priest, he had received no such ordination, Smith declared he had no claim to the office or calling of high priest. By this event Joseph Smith clarified the division of priesthood offices and their responsibilities. Bishop was removed from the Seventy by a vote of the congregation, which at the time, was an office that could not be held by a high priest, but he was again, an elder. Why he was removed (beyond a vote) is not clear from the record.
Apostasy
For a little over two years Bishop lived inconspicuously among Nauvoo’s citizens. He married, built a house on a lot north of the temple, and engaged in his profession as a silversmith. This peace ended in 1842. Bishop was reading some of his own writings to his neighbors. Reynolds Cahoon came to visit and overheard some of what he said. Bishop’s writings were an attempt at reconciling his own visions with his patriarchal blessing. Alarmed, and fearing heresy, Cahoon lodged a complaint against Bishop with the high council.
Bishop’s ultimate downfall was his refusal to surrender the authority of his own visions to the declarations of the prophet. Indeed it seemed that although he believed in mormonism his efforts to integrate his own spiritual trajectory were doomed to failure. During his trial he was forced to produce his revelations and personal writings on his calling, including those which said that he would one day lead the church. His reading was met not just with rebuke, but with mockery. William Marks came to Bishop’s defense, but when Joseph Smith spoke on the dangers of heresy his fate was sealed. The vote was unanimous against him. To add insult, his writings were thrown in the fireplace before the council. Gladden Bishop would never be reinstated, but not because he didn’t desire to be associated with the saints, but because he felt called to lead them.
Late Nauvoo
Separated from the church Bishop doubled down on his divine calling. He planned to leave Nauvoo and close out his business interests. William Marks and Hyrum Smith both suggested to Bishop that if he stayed he might be reinstated after things cooled down, but as fate would have it, his visions returned in earnest.
These visions were steeped in mormon symbolism and reenforced his belief that he was destined to lead, indeed he would be crowned with glory. He had finally received his calling. Removed from his community of saints, he began his own ministry, preaching publicly in the city. His voice was decidedly apocalyptic, and Mormon. He warned of the destruction of the temple, and that the saints would be driven into the wilderness.
Intermission
Bishop was a complex part in an even more complex movement. Although he associated himself with Joseph’s church, he never fully submitted his own convictions to the orthodoxy of the church. His allegiances were first and foremost to his own visions. In the early church there was no tight regulatory force that kept its missionaries in line with some type of orthodoxy. Though Bishop seemed contrite each time he was disciplined, he could not let go of his conviction that he was called to a higher work. He knew he had seen visions, and he knew he had a calling beyond that which he had been given by the institution.
We’re not done with Francis Gladden Bishop, we still need to discuss his role in the Mormon Diaspora, and elaborate on the effect of the Gladdenite movement in Utah.
Further Reading:
Francis Gladden Bishop and Gladdenism: A Study in the Culture of a Mormon Dissenter and His Movement
