Item Detail
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17474
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2
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0
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English
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Diary of Joseph Fielding
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Salt Lake City
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The Reproduction Committee
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August 24, 1837 to March 27, 1859. Fielding serves as a missionary, then president of the British mission. Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde, later replaced by Willard Richards and William Clayton, assist him. Initial missionary efforts are successful. Fielding marries, as does Richards. This marks a period of turmoil for the English Church, as Richards' marriage upsets many members, news arrives of Hyde's apostasy, and anti-Mormon literature begins to circulate widely. John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff arrive in England, ending the turmoil. Taylor and Fielding hold a series of discussions with ministers, while Woodruff has notable success in Herefordshire, England. The two also attend public lectures on socialism and the Opium Wars, on which Fielding comments. Kimball returns to England, bringing instructions for immigration. Fielding reviews the case of two members who had been excommunicated for adultery. After conducting an investigation, he restores their membership and hopes it will be a lesson not to rush trials. He receives a blessing from Kimball, and attends the mission conference. Fielding goes on a preaching circuit in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire, visiting his siblings on the way. He returns to Preston to oversee the first large immigration and the return of Orson Hyde. Persecution in the Manchester-Preston area increases, as does prejudice. Fielding goes on another preaching circuit, this time around the Isle of Man. Upon return, he sails home for Nauvoo with his family and a company of immigrants on the Tyrian. Two years pass before Fielding resumes his diary, describing a conspiracy he suspects against Joseph. His wife is also struggling with Mormonism, being opposed to polygamy and angered by some comments of Lyman Wight. Fielding gives a lengthy account of the martyrdom, laying much of the blame for the Church's persecution on the introduction of plural marriage. He also outlines the development of the Rigdonites. He is sealed to his wife and children in the Nauvoo Temple, before being posthumously adopted to Hyrum Smith. Fielding provides a retrospective account of his final days in Nauvoo, life in Winter Quarters, and crossing the plains. Now 1849, Fielding has taken a second wife and is pleased his wives are getting along. He regularly attends meetings of the Council of Fifty before letting his diary lapse until 1856. Fielding is now in debt, his wives haven't spoken to each other in months, and is generally miserable. The poor harvest of 1857 adds to his woes. Fielding chronicles the Mormon Reformation, particularly noting the withdrawal and eventual reinstatement of the Sacrament and the division of male and female members in the Tabernacle. He notes the arrival of Johnston's Army, the establishment of Camp Floyd, and the changes the influx of Gentiles brings. In the final entries, Fielding reflects on his family, and the strain polygamy has placed upon him.