What is the Nauvoo Expositor?#
The Nauvoo Expositor was a four-page broadsheet newspaper, Volume 1, Number 1, published on Friday, June 7, 1844 in Nauvoo, Illinois. There would never be a Number 2.
Publishers: Not outsiders. Not enemies from without. The paper was printed by William Law — then Second Counselor in the First Presidency of the LDS Church, one of Joseph Smith’s two closest advisors — together with his brother Wilson Law (Brigadier General of the Nauvoo Legion), Jane Law (William’s wife), Robert D. Foster (Nauvoo surgeon and Justice of the Peace), Charles A. Foster, Francis M. Higbee, Chauncey L. Higbee, and Charles Ivins.
Contents: A Preamble, 15 Resolutions, sworn affidavits by William Law, Jane Law, and Austin Cowles, Francis Higbee’s “Citizens of Hancock County” letter, and editorial content exposing specific abuses — plural marriage taught in secret and denied in public, theological innovation (a “plurality of Gods” doctrine), financial exploitation of the gathering, the fusion of church and civic power, and the extra-judicial treatment of dissenters.
Destroyed on June 10, 1844 — three days after publication — by order of Joseph Smith, acting as Mayor of Nauvoo. The marshal and a posse of roughly 100 men removed the press, scattered the type, and burned the remaining copies. Seventeen days later, Joseph Smith was killed at Carthage Jail.
Then and now#
When the Expositor printed, its central factual claims were denied. Today, the LDS Church itself confirms most of them:
| The Expositor said (1844) | The Church now says |
|---|
| Joseph Smith has multiple plural wives. | Joseph had 30–40 plural wives, including a 14-year-old and women married to other living men.¹ |
| Plural marriage is taught in secret and denied in public. | Leaders issued “carefully worded denials” while practicing it.¹ |
| A plural-marriage revelation has been read to the High Council. | That revelation is canonized as D&C 132. |
| Joseph has been received as king and lawgiver. | The Council of Fifty voted on April 11, 1844 to receive him “as our Prophet, Priest & King.“² |
| The plurality-of-gods doctrine is being taught. | Publicly preached at general conference on April 7, 1844 — the King Follett Discourse. |
| Plural marriage should be ended. | Officially ended by the 1890 Manifesto (Official Declaration 1). |
¹ Plural Marriage in Kirtland and Nauvoo — Gospel Topics Essay, 2014. ² Joseph Smith Papers — Council of Fifty Minutes.
Why this project exists#
The Expositor was destroyed in three days. Its testimony has lasted 180 years. This project exists because the single most documented act of whistleblowing in early LDS history — printed by the most senior possible insider — is largely absent from modern Latter-day Saint discourse. When the Church’s 2013 “Race and the Priesthood” essay and 2014 “Plural Marriage” essay acknowledged things the Expositor had said in 1844, the Expositor itself was not named. The publishers were not credited. The women whose sworn affidavits first put these facts on the record were not restored to the historical account.
Sudden Day is an attempt to restore them — not by adding commentary, but by letting their own words carry the story.
What you’ll find here#
- Tracks — Every song with lyrics, source quotes, a lyric-to-source mapping, and producer notes.
- Acts — The five-act arc of the album with the tracks that belong to each.
- Essays — Long-form companion pieces: Before You Listen, the album analysis, the 1890 epilogue, After You Listen, and the companion essay.
- Source document — The Nauvoo Expositor itself, and a reply to the apologetic framing.
- Methodology — How the songs were constructed and what our quality bar is.
- Our Mission — Why this project exists, what it is not, and the generational harm it seeks to acknowledge.
- FAQ — Common questions, including “is this anti-Mormon?” and “isn’t this just quote mining?”
Method, in one paragraph#
Lyrics are constructed from the Expositor’s exact words wherever possible. Where a lyric is implied or paraphrased, the lyric-to-source mapping on each track page shows the derivation. We do not invent history. We do not quote out of context to change meaning. We acknowledge charitable readings before rejecting them. The publishers’ words and the women’s sworn testimony do the heavy lifting; the music only makes them hard to forget.
Companion project#
Sudden Day is a sibling project to Journal of Discords — a song-based documentation project drawn from the 26-volume Journal of Discourses (1854–1886), the published sermons of early LDS leaders. Same method, different primary source: the Expositor captures a single 1844 inflection point; Journal of Discords traces the doctrinal and cultural aftermath across the decades that followed.
The two projects share a single thesis — the remedy can never be applied, unless the disease is known — and are meant to be read together.
“The remedy can never be applied, unless the disease is known.”
— Nauvoo Expositor, June 7, 1844
The primary source for the entire album is:
Nauvoo Expositor — Volume 1, Number 1 · Friday, June 7, 1844 · Nauvoo, Illinois
Four-page broadsheet. Single issue. Destroyed by order of Joseph Smith three days after publication.
Contents of the issue Preamble — the publishers’ statement of purpose and the album’s thesis: “The remedy can never be applied, unless the disease is known.” Resolutions (1–15) — public positions on theology, church governance, and the separation of church and state Affidavits — sworn testimony from William Law, Jane Law, and Austin Cowles “Citizens of Hancock County” — Francis M. Higbee’s letter to his neighbors Editorial content — exposing specific abuses Full text online The full text of the Expositor is preserved at:
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