The fight shocked the church. The faithful shook their heads in despair that Joseph should be so cursed in his own family, and mournfully revived the gossip about another battle which had occurred earlier that same summer. Calvin Stoddard, Joseph’s brother-in-law, had accused Joseph of depriving him of some water rights. In the ensuing quarrel Stoddard had called him a “damned false prophet,” and Joseph had promptly knocked him down. Stoddard brought suit for assault, but by the time the case came to court he had mellowed sufficiently to forgive the prophet publicly, and the judge duly handed
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