Item Detail
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27203
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3
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0
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English
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William Jarman : "That Anti-Mormon Apostle of the British Isles"
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Journal of Mormon History
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January 2017
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43
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1
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Champaign, IL
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University of Illinois Press; Mormon History Association
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59-86
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William Jarman was a salesman and a showman as well as a buffoon
and a crank. Although in public he appeared to be confident while
expounding on the topic of Mormonism, his self-assured demeanor
faded when faced with a truly courageous challenger. He wanted to
be regarded as a hero, but to Mormons he was a villain of the worst
kind. Nevertheless he served the citizens in Exeter where he appeared
in a more positive light. The full story of his later years remains to be
told. Despite his responsible behavior in Exeter, his fame rests principally
on Hell upon Earth, where readers might have considered his
hyperbole as an attempt to be humorous, but many of his listeners
took him seriously. He was portrayed as a dangerous and despicable
character, yet he cared about his reputation in Utah. He has his place
in the history of the British Latter-day Saints, although it is not the
tale he would have wanted to be told.