Between Pulpit and Pew: The Supernatural World in Mormon History and Folklore

8. Walking on Water: Nineteenth-Century Prophets and a Legend of Religious Imposture

168 8 Walking on Water Nineteenth-Century Prophets and a Legend of Religious Imposture1 Stanley J. Thayne “The Biblical statement from John 4:44, ‘A prophet hath no honor in his own country,’ is certainly true of Joseph Smith.”2 So spoke Charles J. Decker, town historian of Afton, New York, during a lecture sponsored by the Presbytery of Susquehanna Valley in 1977, nearly 150 years after Smith had left the area. Like most of the prophet-leaders who rose out of the millennial fervor of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Joseph Smith faced frequent persecution and was regarded by most of the general population as a fraud.3 Naturally, in reaction to his prophetic claims there developed a wealth of folklore depicting the prophet as a religious impostor 1 An earlier version of this essay was awarded the Juanita Brooks Best Undergraduate Paper at the Mormon History Association’s Annual Conference, Casper, Wyoming, May 2006, and was subsequently published in the Journal of Mormon History 36, no. 2 (Spring 2010): 160–204. 2 Charles J. Decker, “Legends and Local Stories About Joseph Smith, the Mormon ,” unpublished paper delivered at the Church History Seminar sponsored by the Presbytery of Susquehanna Valley, Nov. 19, 1977; copy in possession of the author. I would like to acknowledge both Charles Decker and Taylor Hollist for their valuable assistance and eager sharing of documents and research in this project. 3 See J. Taylor Hollist, “Walking-on-Water Stories and Other Susquehanna River Folk Tales about Joseph Smith,” Mormon Historical Studies 6 (Spring 2005), 52. Walking on Water 169 who would stage miraculous displays of divine power to prove his calling. One of the most popular forms of such lore is a walkingon -water legend, which states that Smith staged a public attempt to walk on water to prove the validity of his calling as a prophet. A typical version of this story was published in the Gazetteer and Business Directory of Chenango County, N.Y. for 1869–70: To convince the unbelievers that he did possess supernatural powers he [Joseph Smith] announced that he would walk upon the water. The performance was to take place in the evening, and to the astonishment of unbelievers he did walk upon the water where it was known to be several feet deep, sinking only a few inches below the surface. This proving to be a success, a second trial was announced which bid fair to be as successful as the first, but when he had proceeded some distance into the river he suddenly went down, greatly to the disgust of himself and proselytes , but to the great amusement of the unbelievers. It appeared on examination that plank were laid in the river a few inches below the surface, and some wicked boys had removed a plank which caused the prophet to go down like any other mortal.4 Over time, several variations on this theme developed, and the legend became associated with nearly every location Smith lived and even some places he never did. The walking-on-water legend probably had its genesis before Smith’s involvement in the Susquehanna area. In fact, earlier versions were in circulation before Smith was even born. The legend had previously been associated with Jemima Wilkinson, another prophet from the New York Finger Lakes district who predated Joseph Smith by about fifty years.5 The legend then moved beyond the Susquehanna area and followed Smith to Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois, where, reportedly, even Abraham Lincoln attended a demonstration . Remarkably, one oral account even purports a demonstration by Smith on the Great Salt Lake in Utah—a particular feat since 4 Gazetteer and Business Directory of Chenango County, N.Y. for 1869–70 (Syracuse , NY: Hamilton Child, 1869), 82–83. 5 Fawn M. Brodie mentions both tales in No Man Knows My History: The Life of Joseph Smith (New York: Vintage Books, 1995), 83–85. Several variants associated with both figures are listed on the website SaintsWithoutHalos.com. Stanley J. Thayne 170 Smith was martyred before the Saints migrated to the valley of the Great Salt Lake.6 Not only did the legends follow Smith beyond the Susquehanna Valley, but the story was subsequently attached to other religious leaders. John Wroe, a Yorkshire prophet and successor of Joanna Southcott and John Turner, had at least two versions of the legend leveled against him: one that he attempted to walk on...