Hosea Stout

Hosea Stout was chief of the Nauvoo police and a supporter of Brigham Young and the other polygamists during the 1844 struggle over who would lead the church. The book associates him with a consequential and uncertain allegation: that he administered poison to Samuel H. Smith, a rival faction’s preferred candidate for the succession.

Position in the Succession Crisis

After Joseph Smith’s death, opponents of polygamy tried to secure the leadership before the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles could return to Nauvoo. Joseph Smith III had the strongest claim by inheritance, but he had not yet reached puberty, so the anti-polygamy faction turned to his uncle, Samuel H. Smith. Stout’s position as chief of police placed him within the political setting of the contest, while his loyalty to Brigham Young aligned him with the camp seeking a leader who would uphold plural marriage.

The Allegation Against Stout

On July 30, just as Samuel appeared close to securing the succession, he died abruptly. The account presents compelling circumstantial evidence that Stout administered the poison that caused his death, but it does not establish the allegation as a proven fact. Samuel’s death removed the anti-polygamists’ principal alternative to Sidney Rigdon, whose effort to become the church’s guardian was soon checked by the returning apostles. Stout’s significance in the episode therefore rests on a suspected role in a succession struggle whose stakes included the future standing of plural marriage.