Abstract

The problem of this thesis concerns itself with the questions: Why did Emma Smith oppose the men who were in the leading council of the Church and who were the closest friends of her husband? What was her attitude towards the Church her husband founded? What kind of woman was she, and what effect did she have upon her husband and the Church he organized?

It will be the purpose of this thesis to point out some significant facts pertaining to these questions, garthered in the main, from primary sources such as the Journal History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, news clippings from newspapers published in Illinois, Iowa and Missouri at the time Emma Hale was living and from the Woman's Exponent of the same time. A gleaning of material has also been made from the six volume History of the Church and the Comprehensive History of the Church, Mormon source books, and the one volume, Story of the Church and from the four volumes of the History of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, source materials of the Reorganized church.

The more personal details in the life of Emma Smith as recorded in this thesis are statements made by her mother-in-law, by a grand-daughter, and by her husband.

Degree

College and Department

Religious Education; Church History and Doctrine

Rights

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