Joseph Black

“ Joseph agreed heartily. “Why, no one will be safe any more unless something is done. All the other tribes may be lured in, too, if they see the success Black Hawk is having.”
“Very true,” said Mason. “I believe that already some of the Winnebagos and Pottowattomies have joined him.”
“Is that so?” exclaimed Robert. “I wonder if Deerfoot knows that some of his people are with Black Hawk now?”
“Of course he knows,” said Joseph. “He seems to know everything almost before it happens. He is uncanny at times.” ”

“ So natural was the position of old Joseph in his chair that Black Hood, too, had made the mistake of thinking that the watchman was alive. He had approached Joseph with the idea of learning something about the escaping criminals. He turned, now, from the murdered gate keeper to see Joe Strong bearing down upon him, fists balled, square teeth showing, his wide, coarse-featured face a mask of determination. He knew that Joe Strong, in spite of his clumsiness, could be a nasty opponent in a scrap. ”

“ Black's, who was then an acting justice of the peace, to obtain some water for ourselves and horses. Some few of the citizens accompanied us there, and after obtaining the refreshment of water, Mr. Black was asked, by said Joseph Smith, senior, if he would use his influence to see that the laws were faithfully executed, and to put down mob violence, and he gave us a paper written by his own hand, stating that he would do so. He also requested him, (Mr. Black) to call together the most influential men of the county the next day, that we might have an interview with them ”

“ He must be a great old warrior if all Deerfoot told me is true.”
“What did he tell you?”
“Well,” continued Joseph, “he said that when Black Hawk was only fifteen he started fighting and that before he was seventeen he led a war party against an Osage camp and brought back several scalps. When he was nineteen he 6led another fight against the Osages and killed six people with his own hands. A few years later in another battle he killed nine men single-handed. In the war of 1812 he sided with the British and was a terror along the border settlements. He’s a real old warrior, from all accounts.” ”

“ No force nor unkindness was used with Black. No threat was uttered against him. The Prophet merely visited him as he visited other men of prominence or notoriety in that region, in a manly endeavor to subdue the kindling flame. Whatever contempt Joseph felt for the wretch who, with a judge's dignity upon him, could connive with a lawless, murderous mob, he was able to suppress ”

“ A terrible story came to Far West the next morning that the mob had killed some of the brethren and would not give up their bodies. Joseph gathered about twenty trusty men and started at once for Daviess county. When they learned no lives were lost they were filled with joy. Matters, however, were bad enough and they continued on their way, determined to do all they could for the Saints.
They met a number of leading men of the county at Adam-ondi-Ahman, and made with them a covenant of peace. Before returning home they also called on Adam Black, a justice of the peace. ”

“ Sir Thomas Ducaine, who had been talking earnestly and in a low voice to Mary Lys, came forward quickly as the two men entered.
His face was charged with a great reverence and affection as he took Joseph by both hands.
"Master," he said, "welcome! We are all waiting for you."
Then he turned inquiringly to Eric Black. Joseph interpreted the look.
"This is a brother," he said, "who will be very strong in the Lord. He is a strong and tempered blade which has for long rested in the scabbard. ”

“ Joseph presently organised a considerable portion of this population into a procession, headed triumphantly by an old white-woolled negro whose son cleaned Maurice Gordon's boots. This man Joseph selected—not without one or two jokes of a somewhat personal nature—as a fitting guide to the Gordons' house. As they neared the little settlement on the outskirts of the black town where the mission and other European residences are situated, the veteran guide sent on couriers to announce the arrival of the great gentleman, who had for body-servant the father of laughter. ”

“ Black had made such good promises, he and some others had papers made out for the arrest of Joseph Smith and Lyman Wight for coming into Daviess co., and doing all kinds of wicked deeds. When the constable called on Joseph at Far West, Joseph said he was willing to stand trial, but he wanted it to be in Caldwell, instead of Daviess county, as in the latter there existed too much excitement and ill-feeling. The officer did not arrest the Prophet at this time, but the report spread that Joseph had resisted the officer and would not be arrested. ”

“ That’s down on the Mississippi you know, right close to Black Hawk’s village and right near Rock Island, too.”
“We’ll have about two thousand men in a few days then, won’t we?” exclaimed Joseph. “I don’t believe Black Hawk has half that many, do you?”
“I don’t think so,” agreed Walt. “That’s why I want to get started now and not wait for the others. We’ve got enough men here now 85to lick all the Indians in North America as it is.” ”

“ We were nigh bursting for laughter, when Joseph during his two days' trial came into our yard for his meals, and related to us with such eye-twinklings, widening of nostrils, trumping up the lips, scratching all the while his black wool so desperately, and the doodle music of his unearthly whistle! "how old chappyman and a tother smar'un of spin-all did fix that there mob of traps: 'specially that godammed hirpocrit of a sergeant, I guess."
John Joseph, a native of New York, under a dark skin possessed a warm, good, honest, kind, cheerful heart; a sober, plain-matter-of-fact contended mind ”

“ "A slight clinking behind me made me turn my head. Six black men advanced in a file, toiling up the path. They walked erect and slow, balancing small baskets full of earth on their heads, and the clink kept time with their footsteps. Black rags were wound round their loins, and the short ends behind wagged to and fro like tails. I could see every rib, the joints of their limbs were like knots in a rope; each had an iron collar on his neck, and all were connected together with a chain whose bights swung between them, rhythmically clinking. ”

“ The earth of animal bones, when reduced to a fine powder and thrown into a diluted vitriolic acid, gradually absorbs the acid in the same manner as the calcarious earths, but without any remarkable effervescence. When it is added to the nitrous or to the muriatic acid, it is slowly dissolved. The compound liquor thence produced is extremely acrid, and still changes the colour of the juice of violets to a red, even after it is fully saturated with the absorbent. Distilled vinegar has little or no effect upon this earth ”

“ The long locks, tucked in at the temples, the carefully-delineated whiskers, and the huge signet-ring on the second finger of the one exposed hand, indicated that a certain "position" in society was either possessed or claimed of right by the painted person. Joseph could hardly doubt that this was a representation of "B. Blessing," as he appeared twenty or thirty years before.
He turned to the other picture. The lady was slender, and meant to be graceful, her head being inclined so that the curls on the left side rolled in studied disorder upon her shoulder. ”

“ Here's to your good health, Sir, afore I beats to win'ard.”
“Why, Joseph, you seem to be making up lost way for years of taciturnity in the tower. They say there is a balance in all things.”
“We had the balance of him next night, and no mistake, your honor. He was one of them 'longshore beggars as turns up here, there, and everywhere, galley-raking, like a stinking ray-fish when the tide goes out; thundering scoundrels that make a living of it, pushing out for roguery with their legs tucked up; no courage for smuggling, nor honest enough, they goes on anyhow with their children paid for. ”

“ Colonel Wight said, "What shall we do? Our witnesses are all thrust into prison, and probably will be, and we have no power to do anything; of course we must submit to this tyranny and oppression; we cannot help ourselves." Several others made similar expressions, in the agony of their souls, but my brother Joseph did not say anything, he being sick at that time with the toothache, and ague in his face, in consequence of a severe cold brought on by being exposed to the severity of the weather. ”

“ It is by no means the case that the white man is to the negro an imposing person because he possesses railways and steamers, can fly in the air, or travel under water. "White people are clever and can do anything they want to," says Joseph. The negro is not in a position to estimate what these technical conquests of nature mean as proofs of mental and spiritual superiority, but on one point he has an unerring intuition, and that is on the question whether any particular white man is a real, moral personality or not. ”

“ He knows well eight negro dialects, and speaks fairly well both French and English. He is at present a single man, as his wife left him, when he was a cook down on the coast, to go and live with a white man. The purchase price of a new life companion would be about 600 francs (£24) , but the money can be paid in instalments. Joseph, however, has no mind to take another wife under these conditions, for he thinks they are an abomination. "If one of us," he said to me, "has not completely paid for his wife, his life is most uncomfortable. ”

“ Philip conducted them first to the chamber of the dead and then to Joseph.
"It is so sudden, so shocking!" Mrs. Blessing sobbed; "and Julia always seemed so healthy! What have you done to her, Mr. Asten, that she should be cut off in the bloom of her youth?"
"Eliza!" exclaimed her husband, with his handkerchief to his eyes; "do not say anything which might sound like a reproach to our heart-broken son! There are many foes in the citadel of life: they may be undermining our—our foundations at this very moment!"
"No," said Joseph; "you, her father and mother, must hear the truth. ”

“ I was not taking off a mask, I was only showing a scar—no, not even a scar, but a bruise!—which I ought to have forgotten. Forget it, too, Lucy, and, if you can, forgive me!"
"It is easy to forgive—everything but my own blindness," Lucy answered. "But there is one thing which I must do immediately: I must leave this house!"
"I see that," said Joseph, sadly. Then, as if speaking to himself, he murmured: "Who knows what friends will come to it in the future? "Well, I will bear what can be borne; and afterwards,—there is Philip's valley. A free outlaw is better than a fettered outlaw!" ”

“ Born, as the young redskin was, of princely stock, he might, with such an advantage, be expected to attain to honour and dignity among the people of the Long House. There was, however, one obstacle; although Joseph's father was a chief, he did not inherit rank, for it was the custom of the Six Nations to trace descent through the blood of the mother, and his mother, who had brought him over hill and water from the banks of the Ohio, was of humble origin. ”

“ Joseph was twenty-three years of age, and was, in every way, "likely-looking." According to the laws of Slavery, he was the property of David Morris, who was entitled to be ranked amongst the more compassionate slave-holders of the South. Yet, Joseph was not satisfied, deprived of his freedom. He had not known hardships as many had, but it was not in him notwithstanding, to be contented as a slave. In leaving, he had to "tear himself away" from his parents, three brothers, and two sisters.
Henry escaped from S. Simmons of Plymouth, North Carolina, and was a fellow-servant with Isaiah. ”

“ These the mob swore they would take, and then burn every one of them. Accordingly, they obtained an execution upon them for an unjust debt of fifty dollars; but, by various stratagems, we succeeded in keeping them out of their hands.
The persecution finally became so violent, that Joseph regarded it as unsafe to remain any longer in Kirtland, and began to make arrangements to move to Missouri. One evening, before finishing his preparations for the contemplated journey, he sat in council with the brethren at our house. ”

“ He succeeded the next day in getting to Nauvoo in season to go out and meet the procession with the bodies of Hyrum and Joseph, as the mob had the kindness to allow us the privilege of bringing them home, and burying them in Nauvoo, notwithstanding the immense reward which was offered by the Missourians for Joseph's head.
Their bodies were attended home by only two persons, save those that went from this place. These were Brother Willard Richards and a Mr. Hamilton; Brother John Taylor having been shot in prison, and nearly killed, he could not be moved until some time afterwards. ”

“ The next morning Joseph, without declaring his purpose, drove to Coventry Forge to consult Philip. Mr. Blessing and Julia, remaining at home, went over the shining ground again, and yet again, confirming each other in the determination to secure it. Even Joseph, as he passed up the valley in the mild March weather, taking note of the crimson and gold of the flowering spice-bushes and maple-trees, could not prevent his thoughts from dwelling on the delights of wealth,—society, books, travel, and all the mellow, fortunate expansion of life. ”

“ It is really funny; ugly as he is, nobody is as handsome as my Joseph. Oh! the old monster ! What a hold he has taken on me ! And to think that he has always lived in the country, and has been all his life a peasant!
But where Joseph especially triumphs is in politics. Thanks to him, the little café, whose sign, "To The French Army," shines over the whole neighborhood, in big letters of gold by day, in big letters of fire by night, is now the official rendezvous of the conspicuous anti-Semites and the noisest patriots of the town. ”