Taken from Cheryl L. Bruno, Joe
Steve Swick III, and Nicholas S. Literski, Method Infinite: Freemasonry and
the Mormon Restoration (Salt Lake City: Greg Kofford Books, 2022), 403-5
The
Masonic Grand Hailing sing of Distress was taught to nineteenth-century
brethren of the Craft in the Master Mason Degree. The sign was given “by raising
both hands and arms to the elbows, perpendicularly, one on each side of the
head, the elbows forming a square.” The words “O Lord, my God! is there no help
for the widow’s son?” were taken spoken, as the hands were solemnly lowered.
The phrase is reportedly what King Solomon said when he learned of Hiram
Abiff’s murder. [51] Freemasons of the day took an obligation that
“should I ever see that sign given or the word accompanying it, and the person
who gave it, appearing to be in distress, I will fly to his relief at the risk
of my life.” [52]
Smith’s
close associates clearly imputed Masonic intentions to his last spoken words.
John D. Lee, secretary of the Council of Fifty, left an embellished later
account which included the entire phrase from the ritual: “Joseph left the
door, . . . and cried out, ‘Oh Lord my God, is there no help for the widows’
son!’ as he sprang from the window, pierced with several balls.” [53]
Likewise, Zina D. H. Young, a member of the Quorum of the Anointed, later
president of the Relief Society, and one of Smith’s plural wives, proclaimed:
I
am the daughter of a master mason! I am the widow of a master mason, who, when
leaping from the window of Carthage jail pierced with bullets, made the masonic
sign of distress; but, gentlemen (addressing the representatives of the press
that were present), those signs were not heeded except by the God of heaven.
That man, the Prophet of the Almighty, was massacred without mercy! Sisters,
this is the first time in my life that I have dared to give utterance to this
fact, but I thought I could trust my soul to say it on this occasion; and I say
it now in the fear of Israel’s God, and I say it in the presence of these
gentlemen, and I wish my voice could be heard by the whole brotherhood of
masons throughout our proud land. [54]
Thus,
the men and women surrounding Smith were unanimous on this point. With apparent
pride in his standing as a Freemason, they called the Masons in the crowd of
assassins to task for failing to come to his aid.
Another
possibility why Smith might have given the Masonic call is suggested by a
closer look at the legend behind the distress call in William Morgan’s 1826
exposé. There, the brother representing King Solomon is told at the grave by
Hiram Abiff that his body has been searched carefully for the Master’s word and
nothing has been discovered but “a feint resemblance of the letter G! that is
not the Master’s word nor a key to it. I fear the Master’s word is forever
lost!” He repeats this phrase three times, and upon the third repetition adds
the words, “O Lord my God, is there no help for the widow’s son?” [55]
Perhaps Smith, in the final moments of his life, feared that the “Master’s word
was forever lost”—that the Temple ordinances in their unfinished state, and the
Mormon lodges in their current clandestine condition, would not be sufficient
to bring to pass the restoration he had envisioned.
As
mentioned, some modern Latter-day Saints, uncomfortable with the Masonic
associations of this phrase, construe Smith’s exclamation as a prayer. This
interpretation is not completely at odds with a Masonic view of the Grand
Hailing sign. Every Masonic obligation ends with a plea, “SO help me God, and
keep me steadfast in the due performance of the same.” The Grand Hailing cry
can thus be given as a way to alert God to a man’s distress when no human ear
is there to hear.
Inside
the jail, Willard Richards, a Freemason himself dragged John Taylor to safety
in another room and concealed him under a mattress. Not completely sure that
the Smith brothers were dead, he elevated his hands three times and exclaimed,
“Oh Lord, my God, spare Thy servants!” [56] Both Richards and Smith, in
their hour of extremity, turned to Masonically inspired ritual to express their
deepest longings.
[51] William Morgan, Illustrations of Masonry
by One of the Fraternity Who has Devoted Thirty Years to the Subject, 69.
[52] Morgan, 67.
[53] John D. Lee, Mormonism Unveiled: Or The
Life and Confessions of the Late Mormon Bishop, John D. Lee; (Written by
Himself), 153.
[54] Zina D. H. Young, “Woman’s Mass Meeting,
Salt Lake Theater, Nov. 16, 1878,” 98.
[55] Morgan, Illustrations of Masonry, 75.
[56] B. H. Roberts, The Life of John Taylor:
Third President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 140.