Comments on: The Cheshire Tragedy, 1843

By: Maurine Ward

Maurine Ward — Wed, 15 Aug 2012 00:28:30 +0000

My heart goes out to Thomas Cartwright sitting in jail for murdering his pregnant wife, having just lost her to drowning, listening to reports that she was nearly naked, and wondering where his two little children were–assuming that all of this is factual.

Thanks, Ardis, for not only telling this sad story, but alerting us to the problems of the media (in this case an LDS rendering of Joseph Smith statements) misleading those in the church today.

By: Bruce Crow

Bruce Crow — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 21:07:06 +0000

Interesting, sad, and well, sad.

I’ve also noticed a tendency for official Church reports to similarly describe anti Mormon activity in 19th century Tennessee as being directed by sectarian clergy when there is no contempory evidence of it. Is it just paranoia, or is there something in LDS history or early sermons that contributed to this? I know the early temple liturgy placed sectarian ministers in larger oppositional role, but that can’t be the only factor.

By: Rob Briggs

Rob Briggs — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 19:25:43 +0000

Ardis, thanks for this. Re Cartwright’s later life, he was one of those sucked into the disaster at Mountain Meadows. Here is the link to my page on Thomas Cartwright at the 1857 Iron County Militia site: http://1857ironcountymilitia.com/index.php?title=Thomas_H._Cartwright

On my Cartwright page, I’ve crossed-linked to your page on the 1843 baptism debacle.

By: Anne (UK)

Anne (UK) — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 17:32:55 +0000

Fascinating story and wonderful detective work, Ardis. I cannot help but think if the same events happened today, the Press would still be there reporting in equally lurid detail, not to mention tv news. There seems to be a growing trend for return to open air baptisms over here- including continental Europe- I know of several such baptisms taking place in the open sea in Denmark, for instance, despite the availability of perfectly good buildings with fonts to hand. For some reason people think it is being true pioneers: maybe the Area Presidency should circulate this Keepa post as a warning!

And, just to give it a “Keepalink”, (kind of), I once spoke at a wedding in the Crewe Chapel (here we do the “civil marriage first” thing), although “spoke” is probably an exaggeration as I burst into tears after the second line of my talk and couldn’t finish. (The Bride was a longstanding friend and they looked so happy, it got to me). The Groom went on to become the Bishop of the Crewe Ward and is currently a stake president, so it doesn’t look like he suffered much from my un-imparted wisdom!

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 16:59:49 +0000

There are problems with it, TOClark, especially in the parts that were taken from other people's diaries, letters, and statements, and rewritten to appear as though Joseph himself had written or dictated them. That was a typical practice of the era, not limited to this History by any means. It may be more problematical in this case than any other, though -- few 19th century histories written this way are still used; we *do* use this History, and with its attribution to Joseph Smith we discredit him and his stature at points, like this one, where he is made to say something inaccurate that he never actually said or was ever aware of.

By: Amy T

Amy T — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 16:57:21 +0000

Now that is an impressive piece of historical detective work. But what a tragedy!

By: The Other Clark

The Other Clark — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 16:48:33 +0000

Enjoyed this post. I thought that HIstory of the Church was pretty iron-clad, but I guess not, huh?

By: Grant

Grant — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 16:30:12 +0000

Good job, Ardis – both in analyzing/correcting history and in presenting the British legal system. It restores my faith in the common law we inherited in part.

By: Ardis E. Parshall

Ardis E. Parshall — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 16:24:11 +0000

Since posting this, I have found five additional articles in newspapers from England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland. These stories do not change what I have reported here, but do add details — the watercourse where Sarah Cartwright drowned, for instance, is identified as “Coppenhall Brook,” and the charge against Pugmire and Cartwright was that they “seized Sarah Car[t]wright by the neck, and feloniously, wilfully, and negligently cast her into a certain brook, in which she was choked and drowned.” Also, the man whom it had been expected would direct the prosecution of the case was absent along with his witnesses!

By: iguacufalls

iguacufalls — Tue, 14 Aug 2012 16:23:20 +0000

These are my favorite posts of yours, Ardis, where you take a little known event and flesh it out to humanize and provide context. Thanks!