E47: Before They Were Famous: Hosea Stout

**Bryan Buchanan** (0:20)
Thanks Who is Hosea Stout? Well, he's the guy that William Clayton hated with such vengeance that he was convinced, as soon as the Quorum of the Twelve left Nauvoo, that Stout was going to murder him.
That's an intense way to start. Right out of the gate, we're talking conspiracy and murder? Mormon on Mormon this time? How can that be in a group of humble pilgrims trying to build a cohesive Zion and wait for Jesus to return? Murder?

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:46)
What? Hi, this is Lindsay Hansen Park.

**Bryan Buchanan** (0:55)
And this is Bryan Buchanan.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:56)
Bringing you the story of Mormonism from the shadow of the Everlasting Hills, straight out of Zion. This isn't your grandpa's Mormon history.
Well, I have sinned so gravely, Brother Brigham, Brother Young. I have sinned so gravely, Brother Young. This is the tale of Mormon saints and sinners from our roots until present day. Gird your loins, lock your hearts, and pay your tithing, because we're bringing you the story of Mormonism in all its paradisiacal glory.

**Bryan Buchanan** (1:37)
It's the Sunstone History Podcast.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (2:00)
Meet Hosea Stout, early Mormon leader, politician, missionary, and blessed pioneer.
Also, do like to get a little murdery sometimes.
Yes, it's true that William Clayton believes Stout had it out for him. But honestly, when Clayton got whiny, couldn't we all see ourselves getting a little stabby? I mean, big surprise here. Lots of people were scared Hosea Stout was ready to drop a little strychnine in the Sacramento wine. Remember this guy? He's also the one that we mentioned earlier, where William Smith and a couple of Emma's kids were convinced poisoned Joseph Smith's younger brother Samuel in 1844 This is some Searcy Lannister shiz, my friends. Hosea Stout liked to do his murdering often with a little arsenic and old lace. Peace.

**Bryan Buchanan** (3:06)
Yeah, our boy William Clayton, scribed to Joseph Smith and someone who we have spoken co-pea-usly about in previous episodes, wasn't just this little paranoid little writing nerd. Apparently, Brigham Young and Heber C felt the threats were valid enough after Joseph Smith's death.
They let Clayton come out with the first company to Utah on just half an hour's notice.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (3:25)
But who is this man behind all the murder? I'm excited to introduce another episode of Before They Were Famous, where myself and Bryan talk about the early start of later famous Latter-day Saints. We want to acquaint you with some of the leaders who shaped the church in big ways and talk about how they got their start. Talk about the kinds of people they were, where they started in their early church experience, and how that was.
And few people have as interesting background as today's star Hosea Stout.

**Bryan Buchanan** (3:55)
Normally, we try to highlight a man and a woman, so for our next Before They Were Famous, we're going to cover two women to make up for dedicating an entire episode to Mr. Ruffy McTumble here. But we are going to need the time because this guy was busy.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (4:09)
I've been knee deep in Juanita Brooks' personal papers for two years now. Hosea Stout's journals and autobiography were one of the most illuminating pieces of frontier literature I have encountered in a long time.
Seriously, his life is like something out of a Dickens novel. In his autobiography, he describes his very unstable childhood, his parents constantly moving their kids from relative to relatives, all around the border of Illinois and around the Mississippi River.

**Bryan Buchanan** (4:35)
When he was very young, he was sent away to go to a shaker school. And that was an interesting detail because it reminded us of how a lot of FLDS have been raising their children in the last decade. This school was separated by gender and was very strict. If the boys acted up, they were whipped or flogged. Each day they were forced to confess their sins. They were also taught that worldlings or the outsiders, like Stout's own family, have nothing to eat.
That's not an environment that makes you want to keep sweet, I would guess.
So, when Hosea's father came to retrieve his young son after a few years at the shaker school, Hosea was so terrified he wouldn't be fed and that the world outside would ruin him. In a way, it kind of did.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (5:14)
The rest of his youth is spent surviving, being moved from family member to neighbor to family.
He finds a group of local boys who bully him and beat him up as an initiation to their friend group, which sounds like a really fun crowd. Hey, join us, but first we gotta beat the crap out of you first.