I am Ryan McKnight. I'm Kara Santa Maria. I am Christopher Smith. Hi, I'm Andrew Torres. This is

Naked Mormonism. The Serial Mormon History podcast. Now that our Council of 50 series has concluded,

it's time to rewind the podcast back to early 1844

to jump back into our historical timeline. From the feedback that I received on the last episode

has become clear to me that I need to address a few things and I'm going to do that after the main

segment today. But our timeline is just getting into 1844. We jumped ahead

to talk about the Council of 50 because we'll see events and factors play into its foundation

by the time we hit March of 1844 when it was actually organized. The tendencies for creating

a new theocratic government have been present in Mormonism since its foundation,

but never had they reached a fever pitch like they did in early 1844 where our timeline currently rests.

And as usual, we're going to take our time.

1844 is a woefully complex year of Joseph Smith's ministry.

Many would agree the most controversial

and complicated year of his entire life. We have a lot to discuss from the scandals and the high

profile excommunications to political maneuvers and the looming threat of the Navu

charter being revoked, the King Follett discourse to the Navu expositor to the rolling back of polygamy and sex rings.

We have a busy period ahead of us to cover the rest of 1844 with the Council of 50 Cloud hanging over our heads.

Joseph Smith, successfully evading the law in July and August of 1843, revealed how criminally corrupt Navu really was.

The citizens of Illinois and Missouri were becoming drained by the constant scandal and cover-ups

in the kingdom on the Mississippi, but one person exemplified the corruption that ran so deep

through the kingdom of God. This is the story of Daniel Avery and his son, Philander Avery. These guys came into contact with a leading

anti-Mormon named Levi Williams, who arrested them. Levi Williams is an important anti-Morman

...