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In this case, Smith penchant for flirting with the 'ladies' of all ages was beginning to wear thin. When Smith was staying at this particular house, a mob, mostly made up of recent converts to the church, rushed the house to find him in the bed with the two teenage twins. They didn't ask what he was doing (probably just sitting on the bed), but took him out, tried to make him drink poison (and chipped his tooth), tarred and feathered him, and was going to castrate him on the spot until the doctor decided it would be a bad idea.
Smiths year old child was knocked out of his bed/crib during the struggle and onto the snow outside, and died a few months later.
This was the kind of frontier justice that was evident at the time. Unfortunately it was not very well founded, as it was based on rumors, but Smith's proximity to the two girls was enough to put the mob 'over the top'.
It wasn't persecution about the message he was preaching, but more of his obvious thing with women.
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