According to Fawn Brodie, it wasn't a private bar. Quite the opposite, Joseph turned his mansion in Nauvoo into a public saloon for a short time. Emma returned from an out-of-town trip and was appalled to find the enterprise in high gear in the downstairs rooms of her house. She ordered the tavern closed immediately on the grounds that it was no way for a prophet to act. Joseph protested that the liquor sales were bringing in more money than anything else he had ever done. Emma stood firm and then threatened to move out with the children, presumably to Joseph's nearby hotel. Faced with the loss of both his family and extended family, Joseph relented.