One of the neat things about these journals is that it’s, it’s
one of the few places where Joseph’s wife, Emma, emerges from
the background, and you see her involvement with Joseph Smith’s
life and you also hear her voice.
We have several letters from Emma that are recorded in this journal,
and she really emerges in
a time of crisis that is talked about in these journals a lot.
The former Missouri Gov. Lilburn W. Boggs, he’s shot.
And everybody tries to figure out who would have done this.
And a whole bunch of people say it was Joseph Smith.
And so, Emma, she also writes a couple of letters to
the governor of Illinois
and explains to him why this whole accusation against Joseph
is just absolutely ridiculous and should be dropped.
She even gets gets into constitutional law a little bit
and says in order to extradite somebody to a state,
they have to have committed a crime in that state.
And Joseph Smith was not in Missouri.
This finally does go to court,
but it's interesting to note that when the decision is rendered,
he is set free for the very reasons that Emma pointed out.
And you come away thinking, aha, here’s why
Joseph Smith married Emma Hale. She was a very
capable, talented, very bright lady.