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THE —
MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
BY ELDKK B. H. ROBERTS,
Al'TIIOK Oh" "OlTl.lNKH l)F Kl'c'I.KSMMTII'.\l, IllSTIIIIV." "A NEW WlTSESS FOB GOD,
" Tin: Rise and P*ll of Nauvoo," "Tiie Gospbi,," "Succession i.v Tin; I'm -mm ■*• \," etc.
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH:
GEORGE Q. CANNON & SONS CO., PUBLISHERS,
i goo.
PREFACE,
MY chief purpose in publishing this book, and the one which will immediately follow — "The Rise and Fall of Nauvoo" — is to place in the hands of the youth of the Latter- day Saints a full statement of the persecutions endured by the early members of The Church in this last dispensation, in the States of Missouri and Illinois, that they may be made ac- quainted with the sacrifices which their fathers have made for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. And I indulge the hope that by becoming acquainted with the story of the suffering of the early saints, the faith of the Gospel will become all the more dear to the hearts of their immediate poster- ity and all the youth of Zion for many generations to come.
I think without depreciating at all any other narrative of these events in our Church literature, I may claim that the story of the Missouri Persecutions in these pages is told more thoroughly than in any other of our present publications. This arises from the fact that this book deals with but a brief period in the history of The Church — from 1830 to 1838— and there- fore admits of such a consideration of details as could not pos- sibly be given to that period in any general history of The Church. This detailed treatment of the subject, in the opinion of the author, is justified because of the very important events which the treatise covers, and also for the reason that it is a period of our history which has been very much misrepresented* upon which misrepresentations false accusations are made against The Church and its leaders to this day. Those who have thought themselves called upon to oppose, if not to persecute, The Church in later years, frequently attempt to justify their present
IV. PREFACE.
opposition by insinuating that The Church was driven from Mis- souri and Illinois for other reasons than adherence to an unpop- ular religion. The impression is sought to be created that it was for some overt acts against the State or National govern- ment, or for some offense against the spirit of American insti- tutions, or because The Church leaders "were determined to be a law unto themselves," in disregard of the rights of others.
It is, in part, to correct these false statements, and guard our youth against the influence of such calumnious insinuations, that I tell this story of the Missouri Persecutions; not that the history in these pages is written for the purpose of glozing over the defects in the character of the early members of The Church, or to claim for them absolute freedom from errors in judgment, or actual sinfulness in conduct. I have not written what may be called "argumentative history," only so far as a statement of the truth may be considered an argument. After these pages are read I feel sure that no one will be able to accuse me of failing to point out the errors of the early mem- bers of The Church; indeed, I have been careful to call atten- tion to the complaints which the Lord made against their con- duct; the reproofs of his inspired servants; and the repeated warnings sent to them by the Prophet Joseph Smith concerning the results of their conduct if there was hot a speedy repent- ance.
In Appendices will be found accounts of these same per- secutions as told by writers of Missouri history. I quote these extracts from the "History of Jackson County" published by the Union Historical Company of Kansas City, Missouri, 1881 ; the "History of Clay County," published by the National Historical Company, 1885; the "History of Daviess County," by D. L. Kort; the "History of Caldwell County," by Crosby Johnson ; and the "History of Missouri," published by the Union Historical Com- pany. While these alleged histories of the "Mormon War," "Mormons in Jackson County," "Mormon Exodus," etc., etc.,
PREFACE. V.
are contemptible for their distortion of facts and misrepre- sentations, the reader by having them at hand will at least have both sides of the story presented to him, and will be able by the means of comparison thus afforded, to judge where the truth of the matter lies; and it will contribute to the making of this book a valuable work of reference to the student of Church history.
One other thing I ought to say in justice to myself, both in reference to this book and "The Rise and Fall of Nauvoo." Very much of the matter contained in the two volumes, indeed most of it, was published in a series of twenty-four articles some fifteen years ago, in The Contributor, under the respective titles now used. Since that time very extensive quotations have been made from those articles, sometimes with, but often with- out, acknowledgement of the authorship; and to such extent has this been the case, that I feel it necessary to make mention of it, that I myself may not be charged with using the matter pre- pared by others, when in reality I am but using my own. Hav- ing called attention to this subject, I feel that it will not be out of place to say something further upon it. The fault, not to say literary crime, of plagiarism is by far too common. Some men who would never think of stealing a man's property, or even of using it without his permission, sometimes do not hesi- tate in public speech or in written articles or books to take alL sorts of liberties with another's writings, quoting without ac- knowledgement not only sentences and paragraphs, but whole pages, and often page after page. And thus they bedeck them- selves, not with "old, odd ends stolen out of Holy Writ," but in borrowed phrases and sentences — the fruits of another's re- search and thought and genius, if the writer from whom they steal possesses any. It is true that plagiarism is not a crime under the law. A man, if he so elects, may steal both the ideas and the literary construction of another, without fear of fine or imprisonment, but no writer or speaker worthy of respect would
VI. x PREFACE.
be found pilfering the thoughts or expressions of another, any more than a self-respecting, honest man would be found with stolen goods upon his back. Gradually there is being built up in The Church a very considerable and stately literature, histori- cal, doctrinal and poetical; and for one I hope to see it, first of all, of a character that will be in harmony with the great Dis- pensation of the Gospel which it celebrates, that is, that it be honest.
The Author.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
The Facts in which the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had
its Origin 9
CHAPTER II.
The Mission to the Lamanites 24
CHAPTER III.
In Search of Zion 88
CHAPTER IV.
The Land and the City 47
CHAPTER V. Settlement of the Saints in Missouri— Their Errors— Reproofs and Warn- ings 54
CHAPTER VI.
Storm Clouds 69
CHAPTER VII.
The Storm Breaks 82
CHAPTER VIII.
Threats of the Mob— Appeal of the Saints 88
CHAPTER IX.
Again the Storm 95
CHAPTKR X.
The Passively Good 99
CHAPTER XL
A " Bloody Day" 101
CHAPTER XII.
The "Honor" of a Mob 105
CHAPTER XIII.
Scenes on the Ranks of the Missouri— Exiled 108
CHAPTER XIV.
Aftermath of the Expulsion Ill
CHAPTER XV.
An "Attempted Vindication" of Law 114
CHAPTER XVI. The Cause of Expulsion— Future Redemption 122
CHAPTER XVII.
Importuning at the Feet of the Judge— the Governor— the President 125
CHAPTER XVIII.
Zion's Camp 128
CHAPTER XIX.
Zelph 135
CHAPTER XX.
Dissensions in the Camp 136
CHAPTER XXI.
Views Concerning Zion— Mob vs. Storm 139
CHAPTER XXII.
Negotiations 143
CHAPTER XXIII. The Threatened Judgment— If— ! 148
viii. CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXIV.
Attempt at Arbitration — 1 52
CHAPTER XXV.
The Pros and Cons of Arbitration Proposition : 159
CHAPTER XXVI.
An Interim— Blighted Hopes 163
CHAPTER XXVII.
Peaceful Exodus from Clay County ,..168
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Ear West 171
CHAPTER XXIX.
The Fall of David Whitmer and Oliver Cowdery 179
CHAPTER XXX.
The Apostasy at Kirtland 184
CHAPTER XXXI.
Adam-ondi-Ahman 187
CHAPTER XXXII.
The Fourth of July, 1838 192
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Kirtland Camp 194
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Gallatin 196
CHAPTER XXXV.
Boggs in Action— Defense Construed into Offense 201
CHAPTER XXXVI.
De Witt 207
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Millport 213
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
Crooked River 217
CHAPTER XXXIX.
Exterminating Order of Governor Hoggs 227
CHAPTER XL.
Haun's Mill 232
CHAPTER XLI.
The Betrayal of Far West 238
CHAPTER XLII.
Sad Scenes at Far West 216
CHAPTER XLIIL
A Prophet's Rebuke 252
CHAPTER XLIV.
"A Strong Point for Treason" 258
CHAPTER XL.V.
Exodus from Missouri 261
CHAPTER XLVI.
Again the Passively Good— Petitions 265
CHAPTER XLVII.
The Escape of the Prophet from Missouri 270
CHAPTER XLVIII.
A Prdphecy that did not Fail 278
CHAPTER XLIX.
A State's Shame 281
APPENDICES. "Mormons" in Jackson County, etc 285
THE
MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
CHAPTER I.
THE FACTS IN WHICH THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER- DAY SAINTS HAD ITS ORIGIN.
THE story of the persecutions endured by the Latter-day Saints in Missouri, one of the sovereign States of the United States of America, properly begins with the advent of a mission to the Lamanites,* at Independence, Missouri, in the winter of 1830. But in order that those not acquainted with the history of The Church may understand how there came to be a mission to the Lamanites in 1830, and how there came to be a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be perse- cuted, I think it proper to state briefly those facts in which The Church had its origin.
I know the story has often been told — so often indeed that all novelty in relation to it has long since passed away. But in history there are certain foundation facts that are as essential to the right understanding of some particular phase of history as the employment of the first principles of the science of mathe-
*American Indians.
10 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
matics is to the solution of some particular problem in algebra; and the historical writer is as much bound to state those foun- dation facts as the mathematician is to use the first principles of his science in the solution of his problem.
In the present instance, however, though I deem it neces- sary to tell again such a well known story as the rise of The Church, I shall attempt no embellishment of it; nor shall I deal with the religious condition of the world at the time of the origin of The Church with any view to establish the probability of the story; nor stop to call attention to the reasonableness and strength of it; nor the evidences of its truth, or necessity, although the temptation to do this is always strong whenever the facts of that story are passed before me in review. I shall content myself on this occasion with a mere statement of the facts, such as an annalist might make, without any further con- sideration of them whatsoever; and this because such a state- ment will serve my present purpose.
Joseph Smith, the man who, under the direction of God, was the founder of The Church, was born at the little village of Sharon, Windsor County, in the State of Vermont, on the 23rd of December, in the year of our Lord 1805.
When he was ten years of age the Smith family moved from Vermont to the State of New York, settling in Palmyra, Wayne County. Four years later the family moved a few miles south to the town of Manchester, Ontario County.
Here, in the spring of 1820, a great religious revival agi- tated the community, and Joseph Smith was much affected by it.
In the course of this religious excitement he was much per- plexed over the discussion and strifes of the different Christian sects, and often wondered how it was that the Church of Christ could be so divided into contending factions. "I found," he said some years later when writing his recollections of those early days of his religious experience — "I found that there was a great clash in religious sentiment; if I went to one society they
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 11
referred me to one plan, and another to another — each one pointing to his own particular creed as the summum bonum of perfection. Considering that all could not be right, and that God could not be the author of so much confusion, I determined to investigate the subject more fully, believing that if God had a Church it would not be split up into factions, and that if he taught one society to worship one way and administer in one set of ordinances, he would not teach another principles which were diametrically opposed."*
In the midst of these perplexities Joseph's attention was called to the first chapter of the epistle of James, where it is written: "if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and unbraideth not; and it shall be given him."
This instruction the youth determined to follow, and accord- ingly repaired to a secret place in the woods near his father's house, where he called upon God for wisdom.
While so engaged he was seized upon by some power of darkness which threw him violently to the ground, and it seemed for a time that he was doomed to sudden destruction. It was no imaginary power, but some actual being from the unseen world who thus seized him. His tongue for a time was bound that he could not speak; darkness gathered about him; but, exerting all his powers, he called upon God to deliver him out of the hands of his enemy, and at the very moment he was ready to give up in despair and abandon himself to destruction, he beheld a pillar of light immediately over his head descending towards him. Its brightness was above that of the sun at noonday, and no sooner did it envelop him than he was freed from the enemy who had held him in his power.
When the light rested upon him he beheld within it two
* From a letter to Mr. John Wentworth, written in 1842. Mr. Wentworth at the time was the editor of the Chicago Democart.
12 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
personages standing above him in the air, whose brightness and glory defied all description. They exactly resembled each other in form and features. One of them, pointing to the other, said: "Joseph, this is my beloved Son, hear him." As soon as the youth gained his self-possession, he asked the personage to whom he was thus introduced, which of all the religious sects was right, that he might join it.
He was answered that none of the sects were right; that their creeds were an abomination to God; that their professors were corrupt; that they drew near to God with their lips but their hearts were far removed from him; that they taught for doctrine the commandments of men; that they had a form of godliness but denied the power thereof; and he was strictly com- manded to join none of them: but was informed that at some future time the fullness of the Gospel would be made known to him.*
* Letter to Mr. John Wentworth, 1842.
I cannot refrain at this point from calling attention, at least in a foot note, to the importance of this great vision which lies at the very foundation of what the world calls "Mormonism."
At a glance it gives the reason for the existence of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and also the reason for the procla- mation of the new dispensation of the Gospel it presents to the world.
It makes known the awful fact that the Gospel was not on the earth at that time; that none of the churches were acknowledged of God as his; that divine authority to preach and administer the ordi- nances of salvation was not among men. Therefore if men were to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ it must he restored from heaven; the Church of Christ must be again established; divine authority must be renewed.
Moreover, this splendid vision dispelled the vagaries that men had conjured up in respect to the person of Deity. Instead of being a personage without body, parts or passions, it revealed the fact that he had both body and parts, that he was in the form of man, or, rather, that man had been made in his image.
The vision clearly proves that the Father and Son are distinct
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 13
This heavenly visitation Joseph Smith related to many of his acquaintances, including some sectarian ministers, who generally disbelieved his story and ridiculed him for telling it; all said in- spired dreams and revelations from God were no more to be ex- pected.
After an interval of three years Joseph Smith again received a heavenly visitant. On the 21st of September, 1823, after hav- ing retired to his chamber, he betook himself to prayer, seeking to know his standing before the Lord. While so engaged his room began to be filled with beautiful light, in the midst of which he beheld a personage who announced himself to be Moroni, one of the ancient prophets of the western hemisphere, now raised from the dead, and made an angel of God. He said he was sent from the Divine Presence to reveal the existence of an ancient record engraven upon plates of gold, giving an account of the origin of the American Indians; of God's hand-dealings with their forefathers; of the rise and fall of their civilization; of the
persons, and not one person as the Christian world believes. The one- ness of the Godhead, so frequently spoken of in scripture, must there- fore relate to oneness of sentiment and agreement in purpose — to likeness.
The great revelation swept away the rubbish of human dogma, tradition and speculation that had accumulated in all the ages since Messiah's personal ministry on earth, by announcing that God did not acknowledge any of the sects of Christendom as his Church, nor their creeds as his gospel. Indeed, the L,ord himself declared that they taught for doctrine the commandments of men. Thus the ground was cleared for the planting of the truth.
The vision showed how mistaken the Christian world was in claiming that all revelation had ceased — that God would no more reveal himself to man.
The vision created a witness for God on the earth: a man lived who could say to some purpose that God lived and that Jesus was the Christ, for he had seen and talked with them. Thus was laid anew the foundation for faith in God. — Roberts.
14 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ among them after his resurrec- tion from the dead; and of the establishment of the Christian religion and the Church of God in their midst.
Joseph Smith was also informed that this record was con- cealed in a hill not far distant; and that with it would be found a Urim and Thummim,* consisting of two stones fastened in sil- ver bows attached to a breast-plate, by means of which the record could be translated through the power of God. The Prophet then beheld in a vision the hill where the plates were hidden.
When this vision was passed the angel quoted a number of ancient prophecies relating to the gathering of Israel in the last days, and the judgments of God upon the wicked, all of which he declared would soon be fulfilled.! The angel visited him three times during that same night, repeating to him each time the message he first announced.
The next day Moroni again appeared to him when he was crossing a field, and announced to him once more the message of the night before, and instructed the youth to make a confidant of his father, Joseph Smith, Sen., and make known to him the visitations he had received and the things revealed, which the youth promptly and gladly did, and from that hour received con- solation and encouragement from his father.
The same day, namely, 22nd of September, 1823, Joseph Smith went to the place where the record was deposited — called by Moroni, Cumorah — and there in a rude stone box, the crown-
* Those who would be informed concerning the Urim and Thum- mim and its use among the ancients, should consult the following scriptures: Ex. 28: 30; Lev. 8: 8; Deut. 33: 8; Ezra 2: 63; Neh. 7: 65; Num. 17: 21; I Sam. 28: 6.
| The passages quoted are as follows: Malachi, part of chapter 3. (most likely the first part); Malachi, chapter 4; Isaiah 11; Acts 3: 22, 23; Joel 2: 28-32.
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 15
ing cover of which he could see above the surface of the hill- side, he found the record, together with the Urim and Thummim.
Moroni appeared to him again while he was viewing the sacred treasure, and forbade him taking the plates from their place of concealment, as the time had not yet come for him to take possession of them. He was required to meet the angel at that place in one year from that time, and from year to year, until the time should come for the record to be given to him for translation.
These annual visits at Cumorah continued until the 22nd of September, 1827, when the plates were committed to his keep- ing with instructions to translate them. He received a strict commandment to show them to no man, except such as God would appoint to see them, and bear witness of their existence and the truth of what they contained; nor was he to have any other object in view in obtaining and translating the record than the glory of God and the establishment of his Church in the earth.
With the assistance of a man of the name of Martin Har- ris, and another of the name of Oliver Cowdery, the latter act- ing as his scribe, Joseph translated the record in about two years and a half, and published it at Palmyra, New York, early in the spring of 1830.
The stone box in which the record had been preserved, and the record itself, is thus described by Joseph Smith:
Convenient to the village of Manchester, Ontario County, New York, stands a hill of considerable size, and the most elevated of any in the neighborhood. On the west side of this hill, not far from the top, under a stone of considerable size, lay the plates, deposited in a stone box. This stone was thick and rounding in the middle on the upper side, and thinner towards the edges, so that the middle part of it was visible above the ground, but the edge all round was covered with earth. Having removed the earth, and obtained a lever, which I got fixed under the edge of the stone, and with a little exertion
16 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
raised it up, I looked in, and there indeed did I behold the plates, the Urim and Thummim and the breast-plate, as stated by the messenger. The box in which they lay was formed by laying stones together in some kind of cement. In the bottom of the box were laid two stones crossways of the box, and on these stones lay the plates, and the other things with them*
These records were engraven on plates which had the appear- ance of gold; each plate was six inches wide and eight inches long, and not quite so thick as common tin. They were filled with engrav- ings, in Egyptian characters, and bound together in a volume as the leaves of a book, with three rings running through the whole. The volume was something near six inches in thickness, a part of which was sealed. The characters on the unsealed part were small, and beautifully engraved. The whole book exhibited many signs of antiquity in its construction and much skill in the art of engraving.f
The following is a summary of this interesting record as given by the Prophet in his letter to Mr. Wentworth:
In this important and interesting book the history of ancient America is unfolded, from its first settlement by a colony that came from the Tower of Babel, at the confusion of languages, to the begin- ning of the fifth century of the Christian era. We are informed by these records that America in ancient times had been inhabited by two distinct races of people. The first was called Jaredites and came directly from the Tower of Babel. The second race came directly from the city of Jerusalem, about six hundred years before Christ. They were principally Israelites, of the descendants of Joseph. The Jared- ites were destroyed about the time that the Israelites came from Je- rusalem, who succeeded them in the inheritance of the country. The principal nation of the second race fell in battle towards the close of the fourth century (A. D.) The remnant are the Indians that now inhabit this country. This book also tells us that our Savior made his appearance upon this continent after his resurrection; that he planted the gospel here in all its fullness, and richness, and power,
* Millennial Star, Supplement to Vol. 14, p. 6. t Letter to Mr. Wentworth.
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 17
and blessing; that they had apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers and evanglists; the same order, the same priesthood, the same ordinances, gifts, powers and blessings, as were enjoyed on the eastern continent; that the people were cut off in consequence of their transgressions; that the last of their prophets who existed among them were commanded to write an abridgment of their prophecies, history, etc., and to hide it up in the earth, and that it should come forth and be united with the Bible for the accomplishment of the purposes of God in the last days.
The Book of Mormon was not brought forth without serious opposition. The commandment not to show the plates to any- one except those whom God should appoint to be witnesses of their existence and their truth, necessarily enjoined secrecy upon Joseph Smith, and involved more or less of mystery in his move- ments; and yet it became necessary for some to know of his hav- ing the records, or else how could he obtain the necessary assist- ance to translate them? These prohibitions upon the Prophet and the necessary secrecy they involved, gave rise to a perfect flood of misrepresentations and slanders; enemies pursued him at every turn; the vilest calumnies were circulated both with respect to himself and his family; they were charged with the grossest ignorance, superstition, idleness, and all things that go to the making of vicious and low characters; and yet it is evi- dent from the testimony of those who personally knew them, that the Smiths, while poor, were nevertheless people of upright lives, kind neighbors, and good citizens. This is not said for the purpose of claiming for Joseph Smith exemption from many boy- ish follies, and the common weaknesses of humanity — the exist- ence of these weaknesses, in fact, he himself freely admits and deplores; and as much has been made of his own admissions on that head, I think it proper that what he has said upon the sub- ject should be given in full, and hence I republish here a letter of his to Oliver Cowdery which the Prophet wrote upon hearing that Cowdery, in 1834, was about to publish a series of letters
18 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
on the subject of "Early Scenes in the Church." Following is the letter:
Oliver Cowdery:
Dear Brother: Having learned from the first number of the Messenger and Advocate, that you were not only about to "give a his- tory of the rise and progress of the Church of the Latter-day Saints," but that said history would necessarily embrace my life and character, I have^been induced to give you the time and place of my birth; as I have learned that many of the opposers of those principles which I have held forth to the world, profess a personal acquaintance with me, though when in my presence, represent me to be another person in age, education, and stature, from what I am.
I was born (according to the record of the same, kept by my par- ents) in the town of Sharon, Windsor County, Vermont, on the 23rd of December, 1805.
At the age of ten my father's family removed to Palmyra, New York, where, and in the vicinity of which, I lived, or made it my place of residence, until I was twenty-one; the latter part in the town of Manchester.
During this time, as is common to most or all youths, I fell into many vices and follies; but as my accusers are and have been forward to accuse me of being guilty of gross and outrageous violations of the peace and good order of the community, I take the occasion to remark that, though as I have said above, "as is common to most, or all, youths, I fell into many vices and follies," I have not, neither can it be sus- tained, in truth, been guilty of wronging or injuring any man or society of men; and those imperfections to which I allude, and for which I have often had occasion to lament, were a light, and too often, vain mind, exhibiting a foolish and trifling conversation.
This being all, and the worst, that my accusers can substantiate against my moral character, I wish to add that it is not without a deep feeling of regret that I am thus called upon in answer to my own conscience, to fulfill a duty I owe to myself, as well as to the cause of truth, in making this public confession of my former uncircumspect walk, and trifling conversation and more particularly, as I often acted in violation of those holy precepts which I knew came from God. But
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 19
as the "Articles and Covenants" of this Church are plain upon this particular point, I do not deem it important to proceed further. I only add, that I do not, nor never have, pretended to be any other than a man "subject to passion," and liable, without the assisting grace of the Savior, to deviate from that perfect path in which all men are commanded to walk.
By giving the above a place in your valuable paper, you will con- fer a lasting favor upon myself, as an individual, and, as I humbly hope, subserve tho cause of righteousness.
I am, with feelings of esteem, your fellow-laborer in the Gospel of our Lord, Joseph Smith.
It is clear from this letter that Joseph Smith, while acknowl- edging his imperfections, does not accuse himself of any dark crimes of a nature to disqualify him for his subsequently exalted station or the great work to which he was called. He goes no further than to confess to lightness and vanity of mind, result- ing in "a foolish and trifling conversation;" but even that, on account of his quick conscience and innocent life, occasioned him much remorse.
While the Book of Mormon was in process of translation,name- ly, in May, 1829, the question of baptism came up between Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. They repaired to the woods to inquire of the Lord concerning it, when an angel from heaven appeared to them and announced himself to be John the Baptist, of the New Testament, now raised from the dead, and sent to them by the Apostles Peter, James and John, under whose direction he acted, to confer upon them the Aaronic Priesthood.* He placed his hands upon their heads and said:
* Elsewhere the writer has said concerning this event: "When the work reached that stage of development that men could be taught repentance, and receive baptism for the remission of sins, who so quali- fied or who with more propriety could be sent to deliver the keys of the priesthood that is especially appointed to cry repentance and administer baptism.than the teacher of repentance and the Baptist?" — New Witness for God, p. 221.
20 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
Upon you, my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah, I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministration of angels and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism for the re- mission of sins, and this shall never be taken from the earth until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness.
They were then commanded to each baptize the other, which they did, and thus baptism for the remission of sins, under divine authority, was again commenced on earth. This ordination re- ceived under the hands of the angel gave them the right and power to preach the gospel, call men to repentance, and baptize them for a remission of their sins. This they began to do and in a short time quite a number had been baptized.
Soon after this first ordination, namely, some time in the month of June, 1829, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were again visited by angels. The ancient Apostles Peter, James and John came to them on the banks of the Susquehanna River, between Harmony, Susquehanna County, and Colesville, Broome County, and conferred upon them the holy Apostleship, the keys of the higher or Melchisedek Priesthood, which gave them power not only to preach the gospel and administer baptism, but to lay on hands for the Holy Ghost, together with right to all the offices in The Church. This Priesthood gave them power to organize The Church, set in order the affairs thereof in all the world, and preside over it as God's representatives.
The authority of God thus restored to earth, the way was prepared for the organization of The Church. Still the young men .to whom had been entrusted these great powers waited further direction from the Lord, and did not proceed with so great an undertaking until he commanded them.
At length the commandment came, and the 6th day of April, 1830, was appointed as the day on which to effect the organiza- tion of The Church. A number of the people who had been bap- tized met with Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, on the day appointed, at the house of Peter Whitmer, Sen., in Fayette, Sen-
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 21
eca County, New York, to effect that organization. The meet- ing was opened by solemn prayer, after which, according to previous instructions from the Lord, the Prophet Joseph called upon the brethren present to know if they would accept himself and Oliver Cowdery as their teachers in religion, and if they were willing that they should proceed to organize The Church according to the commandment of the Lord. To this the con- verts to the faith consented by unanimous vote. Joseph then ordained Oliver an Elder of the Church of Jesus Christ; after which Oliver ordained Joseph an Elder of said Church. The sacrament was administered, and those who had been previously baptized were confirmed members of The Church, and received the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands. Some enjoyed the gift of prophecy, and all rejoiced exceedingly.
While The Church was yet assembled a revelation was re- ceived from the Lord, directing that a record be kept, and that in it Joseph Smith be called a Seer, a Translator, a Prophet, and an Apostle of Jesus Christ, an Elder of The Church; and The Church was commanded to give heed to all his words and com- mandments which he should receive from the Lord, accepting his word as the word of God in all patience and faith. On con- dition of their doing this, the Lord promised them that the gates of hell should not prevail against The Church; but on the con- trary he would disperse the powers of darkness before them, and shake the very heavens for their good.
In addition to the ordination of Joseph and Oliver to be Elders in The Church, as stated above, other brethren were called and ordained to different offices in the Priesthood as the Spirit directed. "And after a happy time," says the Prophet, "spent in witnessing and feeling for ourselves the power and blessings of the Holy Ghost, through the grace of God bestowed upon us, we dismissed with the pleasing knowledge that we were now individually, members of, and acknowledged of God, The Church of Jesus Christ, organized in accordance with commandments and
22 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
revelations given by him to ourselves in the last days, as well as according to the order of The Church as recorded in the New Testament."
On Sunday, the 11th of April, the public ministry of The Church may be said to have begun. Oliver Cowdery on that day preached the first public discourse of the new dispensation then opening. Of the nature of the discourse we know little or nothing. The meeting was held by previous appointment at the house of Mr. Peter Whitmer, in Fayette, and was largely attended by people of the neighborhood, and the preaching was certainly successful, as upon the same day, and doubtless as a result of the explana- tions, teachings, doctrines and spirit of the discourse, a number came forward for baptism, and a few days later a number more — thirteen in all. And so the work grew and prospered.
Fayette, in Seneca County, New York, and Colesville, Broome County, in the same State, were the centers of activity for The Church in those early days. In both places meetings were oc- casionally held, and baptisms were frequent, in the clear, beauti- ful waters of Seneca Lake. What historical associations will yet gather about these localities! Fayette! Seneca Lake! I venture to predict that these places will in the ages to come be as fa- mous as Capernaum and Lake Gennesaret. The latter were the scenes of Christ's early ministry. The former the scenes of Joseph Smith's. The latter were identified with the Dispensation of the Meridian of Time. The former with the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times. Capernaum and Gennesaret are associ- ated with memories of the Christ, with Simon Peter, with John, with Andrew and Nathaniel, and Mary of Magdala. Fayette and Seneca with Joseph Smith, with Oliver, with David Whitmer, with Joseph Knight and Newel, his son, with Emily Coburn and others. Gennesaret was but the widening of the Jordan; Seneca but one of the river valleys once occupied and modified by the glaciers which in ancient times filled that land.* The site of the an-
* Enc. Brit., Art. New York.
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 23
cient Capernaum is now unknown; so, too, the Fayette of our Church history is no more; but of the latter as of the former, and of Seneca as of Gennesaret it may be said: If every vest- ige of human habitation should disappear from beside it, and the jackal and the hyena should howl about the shattered frag- ments where Joseph once taught, yet the fact that he chose it as the scene of his ministry will give a sense of sacredness and pathos to its lovely waters till Time shall be no more.
On the first of June The Church held its first conference as an organized body. At that conference — held in Fayette — more brethren were ordained to the various offices of the Priesthood; a number who had been baptized were confirmed; the sacrament was administered, and many spiritual manifestations were enjoyed, such as beholding heavenly visions and prophesying.
Thus The Church was organized and well started upon its career, the history of which was to be so thrilling; the success of which was to be so great; and the final victory of which over every opposing power is assured by the promises of God.
24 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
CHAPTER II.
THE MISSION TO THE LAMANITES.
THE Book of Mormon, the coming forth of which has already been detailed, contains many promises to the Lamanites — that is, to the American Indians, whom it reveals to be the remnants of mighty nations that once inhabited the Americas, and also proclaims them to be descendants of the house of Israel. Their present fallen state arises from their departure from the ways of the Lord, and the instructions and doctrines of their ancient prophets; the very blackness of their skin is the result of God's curse upon them for their unright- eousness; yet are they promised that they shall know their ori- gin— the favored race from which they are descended; it is promised that the gospel of Jesus Christ shall be declared among them, and they shall regard it as a blessing from the hand of the Lord; "and their scales of darkness shall begin to fall from their eyes, and many generations shall not pass away among them save they shall be a white and delightsome peo- ple."* It is promised that Zion, the New Jerusalem, shall be built upon the land of their ^fathers — the Americas — which, according to the Book of Mormon, is a land especially dedi- cated to the seed of Joseph, of Egyptian fame, the son of Jacob, "and they are the ten thousands of Ephraim, and they are the thousands of Manasseh;" and in this great work of building up the Zion of God, the Lamanites are assigned a special part, which will be a manifestation of God's favor towards them.f
* II Nephi, chap. 30.
fBook of Mormon, Ether 13, and III Nephi 20.
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 25
Very naturally, of course, those who accepted the Book of Mormon as true, possessed a lively interest in this people, that is, in the Lamanites; and anxiously looked forward to the com- mencement of the fulfillment of the words of their ancient prophets concerning them; and hence at the close of a conference held in the last days of September, and which also extended into the early days of October, "a great desire," says the Prophet, "was manifested by several elders respecting the remnants of the house of Joseph — the Lamanites residing in the west— know- ing that the purposes of the Lord were great to that people, and hoping that the time had come when the promises of the Almighty in regard to that people were about to be accom- plished, and that they would receive the gospel and enjoy its blessings. The desire was so great that it was agreed upon that we should inquire of the Lord as to the propriety of sending some of the elders among them, which we accordingly did."*
The result of this inquiry was a revelation in which Oliver Cowdery, Peter Whitmer, Parley P. Pratt and Ziba Peterson were called to go on a mission to the Lamanites who then inhab- ited the western states and the Indian Territory. On their journey westward the Indian missionaries stopped at Kirtland, Ohio, where they converted a number of people to the gospel, and organized a branch of The Church.
It was here that Sidney Rigdon, a somewhat noted Camp- bellite preacher, resided and had a large following. These Camp- bellites, or Disciples of Christ, as they preferred to be called, were reformed Baptists: that is, in addition to believing that immersion is the only acceptable mode of baptism, they also taught that baptism, when preceded by true faith in God and sincere repentance, was "for the remission of sins;" and that forgiveness of sins really followed every proper baptism. It was on the occasion of this visit of the Indian missionaries to Kirt-
* Millennial Star, (Supplement), Vol. 14, p. 44. 2
26 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
land, that Sidney Rigdon first heard of Joseph Smith and Mormonism; and the first time he ever saw the Book of Mormon was when young Parley P. Pratt, himself formerly a Campbell- ite preacher, presented a copy of it to him to read. I think it important to make this statement here, because it has been asserted that Sidney Rigdon had much to do with producing the Book of Mormon; the theory of some being that it was he who stole from a printer in Pittsburg — a Mr. Patterson —a manu- script story written by a sort of harebrained, retired minister, of the name of Solomon Spaulding; and that, after making some changes in the text, he then connived with Joseph Smith to palm it off upon the world as a new revelation from God — a theory which, in addition to being absolutely untrue, always was inade- quate as an explanation of the origin of the Book of Mormon, and is now quite generally abandoned, since the manuscript of Solomon Spaulding most unexpectedly came to light in 1884, verbatim copies of which have been widely published; the orig- inal now being in Oberlin College, in the State of Ohio. It needs only a perusal of the "Manuscript Found" to satisfy any- one that it never could in the remotest manner have suggested the Book of Mormon, or any part of it; while the fact that Sidney Rigdon knew nothing of the Book of Mormon until Parley P. Pratt presented it to him at Kirtland, Ohio, on the occasion above referred to, is a complete refutation of the idle stories that he was associated with Joseph Smith in writing the Book of Mormon.
Sidney S. Rigdon was born in St. Clair Township, Alleghany County, Pennsylvania, on the 19th of February, 1793, and was the youngest son of William and Nancy Rigdon. On his fa- ther's side his forefathers were English; on his mother's, Irish. In his youth and early manhood he followed the vocation of a farmer and tanner. At the age of twenty-five he became asso- ciated with a Baptist society, and possessing a natural gift of oratory he drifted into the ministry of that society. He seems
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 27
to have been much in doubt as to the Baptist church possessing the fullness of the truth, and he at last severed his connection with it and joined in the reform movement inaugurated by one Alexander Campbell, of Bethany, Virginia, founder of the church of the "Disciples," or "Christians." This new religious movement was very successful in what was called the Western Reserve, that region of country lying south of Lake Erie, and constituting the present State of Ohio. It derived its name, Western Reserve, from the fact that the State of Connecticut in ceding its claims upon .western lands reserved to itself this magnificent tract for the purposes of a school fund. Among the settlers on this Western Reserve, I repeat, the doctrines of faith, repentance and baptism for the remission of sins, preached by Alexander Campbell, Sidney S. Rigdon, Parley P. Pratt and others, as the cardinal doctrines of Christianity, and the means provided in the gospel for man's sal- vation, had great success. Sidney Rigdon's labors in this new ministry led him to settle at Kirtland, where he had a large con- gregation, the members of which, in addition to accepting the primitive faith and ordinances referred to above, were also try- ing to carry out that order of- things incidentally mentioned in the early Christian writings,* namely, none of them said that which he possessed was his own; but they had all things in common.
Such was the state of affairs in Kirtland, and with Sidney Rigdon, when Parley P. Pratt and his associates arrived there in the fall of 1830, and presented the Book of Mormon to him, and preached the gospel of the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times.
Here it may not be amiss to speak a word with reference to the character of Sidney Rigdon. His subsequent prominence in The Church, both the good and the injury he did it, warrant
* Acts 4: 32-37-
28 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
my doing so, and will doubtless be a key to his conduct. That he possessed talents of an extraordinary nature goes without saying, especially in the line of public speaking. Few men in The Church, perhaps none, have possessed the gift of oratory to an equal degree; spontaneous, fervid, rapid, brilliant, captivating; abound- ing in flights of fancy, rich in coloring and original in its wealth of historical illustration, which his wide and various reading made possible. It can well be imagined how one so gifted would be useful in the work just beginning to come forth through the instrumentality of Joseph Smith — what a welcome the young Prophet would give to such a help-meet, and what influence he would have in The Church then struggling into existence. The Prophet could receive the word of the Lord through the Urim and Thummim, and by the visitation of angels; but at that time he was evidently lacking in ability to expound it or show that what he brought forth was in harmony with the predictions of ancient prophets, a part of a great whole, and admirably dove- tailed into the general purposes and designs of God. Neither his powers of expression nor his historical information fitted him for this task. Whatever his abilities in the later years of his ministry, in the earlier days of it he was somewhat slow of speech. He was as Moses waiting for Aaron, and that Aaron, that spokesman, he found in Sidney Rigdon, and bade him wel- come.
But talented as Sidney Rigdon was, moral, too, and spiritu- ally minded and sincere as we believe him to have been in these early days of his career, he possessed traits of character which neutralized to a very great extent his great abilities. He was vain of his talents; vainglorious of his importance; too proud of what he regarded as his sacrifices for the truth. The very quali- ties which made him brilliant prevented him from being pro- found. The fervid imagination which enabled him to clothe with such splendid imagery his speech, made him a dangerous man when called to act with reference to stern and often disagree-
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 29
able and prosy realities. He was constitutionally unsound. Remarkably gifted in one or two directions, he was markedly deficient in others. He was wanting in soundness of judgment, steadiness of purpose, a high sense of honor. He was moody, petty, jealous, selfish; and in a word, lacked that mysterious quality so well expressed by the phrase, "weight of character." But with all his imperfections he was useful, and for many years was faithful and devoted to the Prophet and the work of God. He was an instrument in the hands of the Almighty through whom was accomplished much good. -He endured much for the truth's sake — persecution, poverty, imprisonment, mob violence, almost death. For such men, whatever may be their defects of character, — especially when such defects are constitutional, the effect of temperament — we can have but the kindest sentiments; and only make mention of such defects as they may have possessed in order to bring to pass a proper understanding of events with which they were associated.
At Kirtland, Frederick G. Williams, who subsequently occu- pied an important station in The Church — counselor to the Prophet Joseph in the First Presidency — was also baptized. He volunteered to accompany the Indian missionaries on their journey westward.
The Indian missionaries arrived at Independence, Missouri, in midwinter. Independence was then a frontier town; one of the outposts of Anglo-American advancement westward. It was on the line that divided our frontier from the possessions of the red man west of the great Missouri River; and it can be very well understood that its civilization was not of the highest order. Here had drifted many outcasts from society, and there was, at the time of which we are writing, very little regard for God, religion, refinement, or for civilization. As the Indian missionaries were destitute and weary from the extended jour- ney on foot through what, at that time, was at best but a sparsely-settled country, and very much of it wilderness — it was
30 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
arranged that two of the company who had been tailors should obtain work at their trade in Independence, while the three others should cross the frontier line and enter the reservation occupied by the Shawnees and the Delaware Indians.
The chief of the Delawares, who is described by Elder Parley P. Pratt as a "venerable looking man," and the "sachem of ten nations or tribes," called together some forty chief men of his people, and to these Oliver Cowdery delivered, in substance, the following message:
Aged Chief and Venerable Council of the Delaware nation: We are glad of this opportunity to address you as our red brethren and friends. We have traveled a long distance from towards the rising sun to bring you glad news; we have traveled the wilderness, crossed the deep and wide rivers, and waded in the deep snows, and in the face of the storms of winter, to communicate to you great knowledge which has lately come to our ears and hearts; and which will do the red man good as well as the pale face.
Once the red men were many; they occupied the country from sea to sea — from the rising sun to the setting sun; the whole land was theirs; the Great Spirit gave it to them, and no pale faces dwelt among them. But now they are few in numbers; their possessions are small, and the pale faces are many.
Thousands of moons ago, when the red man's forefathers dwelt in peace and possessed this whole land, the Great Spirit talked with them and revealed his law and his will, and much knowledge to their wise men and prophets. This they wrote in a book; together with their history, and the things which should befall their children in the latter days..
This book was written on plates of gold, and handed down from father to son for many ages and generations.
It was then that the people prospered, and were strong and mighty; they cultivated the earth; built buildings and cities, and abounded in all good things, as the pale faces now do.
But they became wicked: they killed one another and shed much blood; they killed their prophets and wise men, and sought to destroy the book. The Great Spirit became angry, and would speak to
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 31
them no more; they had no good and wise dreams; no more visions; no more angels sent among them by the Great Spirit; and the Lord commanded Mormon and Moroni, their last wise men and prophets, to hide the book in the earth that it might be preserved in safety, and be found and made known in the latter day to the pale faces who should possess the land; that they might again make it known to the red men; in order to restore them to the knowledge of the will of the Great Spirit and to his favor. And if the red men would then receive this book and learn the things written in it, and do according there- unto, they should be restored to all their rights and privileges; should cease to fight and kill one another; should become one people: culti- vate the earth in peace, in common with the pale faces, who are will- ing to believe and obey the same book, and be good men and live in peace. Then should the red men become great, and have plenty to eat and good clothes to wear, and should be in favor with the Great Spirit and be his children, while he would be their Great Father, and talk with them, and raise up prophets and wise and good men amongst them again, who should teach them many things.
This book, which contained these things, was hid in the earth by Moroni, in a hill called by him Cumorah, which hill is now in the State of New York, near the village of Palmyra, in Ontario County.
In that neighborhood there lived a young man named Joseph Smith, who prayed to the Great Spirit much, in order that he might know the truth; and the Great Spirit sent an angel to him, and told him where this book was hidden by Moroni; and commanded him to get it. He accordingly went to the place, and dug in the earth, and found the book written on gold plates.
But it was written in the language of the forefathers of the red men; therefore this young man, being a pale face, could not under- stand it; but the angel told him and showed him, and gave him knowl- edge of the language and how to interpret the book. So he interpreted it into the language of the pale faces, and wrote it on paper, and caused it to be printed, and published thousands of copies of it among them; and then sent us to the red men to bring some copies of it to them, and to tell them this news. So we have now come from him, and here is a copy of the book, which we now present to our red
32 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
friend, the chief of the Delawares, and which we hope he will cause to be read and known among his tribe; it will do them good.
To these remarks the Indian chief made the following reply:
We feel truly thankful to our white friends who have come so far, and been at such pains to tell us good news, and especially this news concerning the book of our forefathers; it makes us glad in here, [placing his hand on his heart] . It is now winter, we are new settlers in this place; the snow is deep, our cattle and horses are dying, our wigwams are poor; we have much to do in the spring — to build houses, and fence and make farms; but we will build a council house, and meet together, and you shall read to us and teach us more concerning the book of our fathers and the will of the Great Spirit.*
The interest awakened among the Indians by the brethren aroused the jealousy of sectarian missionaries who were also at work among this tribe. They falsely charged the Elders with disturbing the peace, and through their influence with the Indian agents, secured the banishment of the Mormon mission from the reservation.
The Indian missionaries, after their banishment, met with their brethren at Independence, on the 14th of February, 1831, for consultation as to their future movements. It was finally agreed by the meeting that Parley P. Pratt should return to Ohio, and report their labors to the Prophet. Elder Pratt imme- diately set out upon this long journey, and after enduring much fatigue and sickness, he arrived early in the spring at Kirtland, where he found the Prophet Joseph Smith, to whom he reported the labors of himself and companions.
How Joseph Smith came to be in Ohio at this particular time is of some interest. After joining The Church at Kirtland under the ministrations of Oliver Cowdery, Parley P. Pratt and others, Sidney Rigdon, in company with Edward Partridge (who
* Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, ch. 8.
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 33
had not yet received baptism), determined upon a personal visit to the Prophet in New York. They arrived at Fayette, New York, early in the month of December, and soon thereafter the Prophet received revelations which must have been a source of great comfort to these brethren. Sidney Rigdon was declared to have been inspired of God and sent forth to prepare the way before the coming of the Lord and of Elijah, though he knew it not. He had baptized by water unto repentance, but those who received his ministrations did not receive the Holy Ghost; now he was called to a greater work, and was promised that the baptism of the Holy Ghost, under his hands, should follow the baptism of the water, even as was the case with the apostles of old. He was commanded to tarry with Joseph Smith and assist him in writing and in counseling with him in relation to the great work that the Lord was bringing forth.
Edward Partridge, who is described by the Prophet as a pattern of piety, one of the Lord's great men, and, like Nathaniel of old, a man in whom there was no guile, after some investiga- tion of the truth, was baptized by the Prophet in Seneca Lake, and was also called by revelation to the ministry.
The addition of these brethren to The Church greatly strengthened the ministry; they preached almost daily, and were frequently engaged in receiving the word of the Lord by revela- tion and through the revision of the scriptures; for it had been made known that in consequence of imperfections in translation in some instances, and the omission of many plain and precious parts in other instances, the scriptures — the Old and New Testa- ments— were imperfect, and hence the necessity for the revi- sion. Finally the brethren received a commandment that after they had strengthened The Church in these parts, they should go to Ohio. The Church in New York was also commanded to gather to Ohio, which commandment, by the way, is the first one given to The Church to gather together in this dispensation. Obedient to this commandment, Joseph Smith,
34 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
in company with Elders Rigdon and Partridge, and with his family, about the latter part of January removed to Kirtland, where he received a hearty welcome, and was there when Parley P. Pratt arrived from the west with his report of the labors of the Indian missionaries, as already stated.
What effect this Indian mission report had upon the mind of the Prophet he has left no word to indicate; but that a deep impression was made upon him, and that he attached much im- portance to that mission, can scarcely be doubted, because of the mighty consequences which subsequently grew out of it.
Since the departure of the Indian missionaries for the west a very great amount of knowledge had been revealed concerning the work of the Lord in the last days. Soon after the arrival of Sidney Rigdon at Fayette, in New York, as already related, work upon the translation of scripture was begun, and among the ancient scriptures that were revealed in the course of this work, was "The Prophecy of Enoch," which is alluded to in the writings of Jude,* in the New Testament. According to this "Prophecy of Enoch" the Lord revealed to that patriarch very much that would take place in the last days, among which is the following:
And righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out mine own elect from the four quarters of the earth, unto a place which I shall prepare, a holy city, that my people may gird up their loins, and be looking forth for the time of my coming; for there shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called Zion, a New Jerusalem. And the Lord said unto Enoch, then shall you and all your city meet them there, and we will receive them unto our bosom, and they shall see us, and we shall fall upon their necks, and they shall fall upon our necks, and we will kiss each other, and there shall be my abode, and it shall be Zion, which shall come forth out of all the creations which I have made; and for the space of a thousand years shall the earth rest.f
*Jude 14, 15 and 16.
t Prophecy of Enoch, Pearl of Great Price.
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 35
This is the city also spoken of in the Book of Mormon, to which reference before has been made.*
Again, before the Prophet and his companions departed from Fayette, in the month of January, speaking of the provi- sions that he would make for the poor, the Lord said:
I have made the earth rich; and behold it is my footstool, wherefore, again I will stand upon it; and I hold forth, and deign to give unto you greater riches, even a land of promise, a land flowing with milk and honey, upon which there shall be no curse when the Lord cometh: and I will give it unto you for the land of your inheritance* if you seek it with all your hearts. And this shall be my covenant with you, ye shall have it for the land of your inheritance, and for the inheritance of your children forever, while the earth shall stand, and ye shall possess it again in eternity, no more to pass away.f
After the Prophet's arrival in Kirtland, the branch of The Church there in the meantime having increased to about one hundred members, the elders of The Church were sent out into the surrounding country, two and two, to preach the gospel; and a promise of a future mission was given to them in which it was said:
And from this place ye shall go forth into the regions westward ; and inasmuch as ye shall find them that will receive you, ye shall build up my Church in every region, until the time shall come when it shall be revealed unto you from on high, when the city of the New Jerusalem shall be prepared, that ye may be gathered in one, that ye may be my people and I will be your God.J
Moreover, in the same revelation, something of the law un- der which the holy city is to be built up unto the Lord was revealed, of which we shall say more in the course of this history.
* Page 24.
t Doc. & Cov. Sec. 38.
X Ibid Sec. 42.
36 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
In the latter part of February a brief revelation was given, making known that it was the will of the Lord that the elders who had been sent out to preach in the regions round about should be called together; and this led to the appointment of a somewhat notable conference of The Church that was called to meet on the sixth day of June ensuing. On the 7th of March (1831), the Lord gave a somewhat lengthy revelation setting forth the judgments that should come upon the generation in which this new dispensation of the gospel came forth, in the course of which it is said:
Wherefore I, the Lord, have said, gather ye out from the east- ern lands, assemble ye yourselves together ye elders of my Church; go ye forth into the western countries, call upon the inhabitants to re- pent, and inasmuch as they do repent, buildup churches unto me; and with one heart and with one mind, gather up your riches that ye may purchase an inheritance which shall hereafter be appointed unto you, and it shall be called the New Jerusalem, a land of peace, a city of refuge, a place of safety for the saints of the Most High God; and the glory of the Lord shall be there, insomuch that the wicked will not come unto it, and it shall be called Zion.
And it shall come to pass, among the wicked, that every man that will not take his sword against his neighbor, must needs flee unto Zion for safety. And there shall be gathered unto it out of every nation under heaven; and it shall be the only people that shall not be at war one with another. And it shall be said among the wicked* Let us not go up to battle against Zion, for the inhabitants of Zion are terrible; wherefore we cannot stand.*
For a time, however, both the saints who had come from New York in obedience to the commandment from the Lord, and also the saints in Ohio, were commanded by revelation to remain in Ohio for the present, the saints in the latter State being called upon to share their lands with their eastern brethren.
*Doc. &Cov. Sec. 45.
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 37
"It must needs be necessary," continues the revelation, "that ye save all the money that ye can, and that ye obtain all that ye can in righteousness, that in time ye may be enabled to purchase land for an inheritance, even the city. The place is not yet to be revealed, but after your brethren come from the east, there are to be certain men appointed, and to them it shall be given to know the place, or to them it shall be revealed. And they shall be appointed to purchase the lands, and to make a com- mencement to lay the foundation of the city."*
Thus it will be seen that considerable knowledge had been imparted to The Church concerning "Zion" during the absence of the Indian missionaries; and as all the revelations indicated that the location of Zion was in the west, very naturally the interest of The Church was intense concerning this Indian mis- sion operating on the very western borders of American civil- ization.
This brings us to the before mentioned conference,appointed for the 6th of June, 1831.
Doc. & Cov. Sec. 48
38 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
CHAPTER III.
IN SEARCH OF ZION.
THE conference of The Church appointed for the 6th of June assembled on that date, in Kirtland. It was an oc- casion of great importance. In what way it was done is not recorded, but the Prophet in speaking of the matter says: "The Lord displayed his power in a manner that could not be mistaken." He further recounts that the Man of Sin was revealed, and the authority of the Melchisedek Priesthood was manifested and con- ferred for the first time upon several of the elders. "It is clearly evident," says the Prophet, "that the Lord gives us power in pro- portion to the work to be done, and. strength according to the race set before us, and grace and help as our needs require.''
The day following (June 7th), the Lord, in a revelation given through the Prophet, appointed the next conference to convene in Missouri, "upon the land which I will Gonsecrate unto my people, which are a remnant of Jacob, and them who are heirs according to the covenant. Wherefore, verily I say unto you, let my servants Joseph Smith, Jr., and Sidney Rigdon take their journey as soon as preparations can be made to leave their homes, and journey to the land of Missouri. And inasmuch as they are faithful unto me, it shall be made known unto them what they shall do; and it shall also, inasmuch as they are faithful, be made known unto them the land of your inheritance."
This announcement caused great joy to the conference. The place for the Zion of God — the New Jerusalem — was to be made known! It was to be the land of their inheritance! The city which Enoch, the seventh from Adam, saw in its splendor — the city of refuge for the righteous in the last days; the city of peace; the joy of the godly; the terror of the wicked — this city
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 39
was to be located, and they were to be instruments in the found, ing of it! Small wonder if the thought of it exalted them until even the weak felt strong, and the strong yet more powerful.
Twenty-eight elders in all were called by name to go in dif- ferent directions through the western states, two by two — "preaching by the way in every congregation, baptizing by water and the laying on of hands by the water's side." They were to meet in western Missouri in a conference appointed at that place, and there learn the location of Zion.
Soon after the close of the conference the elders started upon this mission, some going on foot, others going part way by stage and steamboat. The Prophet, in company with Sidney Rigdon, Martin Harris, Edward Partridge, W. W. Phelps, Joseph Coe, A. S. Gilbert and wife, left Kirtland for Missouri via Cin- cinnati and St. Louis.
At Cincinnati the Prophet Joseph had an interview with Rev. Walter Scott, the associate of Alexander Campbell in found- ing the sect of "The Disciples," or "Campbellites." It was with these gentlemen that Sidney Rigdon was associated in a religious reform movement, to which reference has already been made. Their design was 'to re-establish primitive Christianity. This object they proposed to achieve by discarding all man-made creeds and accepting the Bible alone — and especially the New Testa- ment— as the authority and groundwork of their faith. Their cardinal doctrines were, faith in God and in Jesus Christ, repent- ance of sin, and baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, followed by righteousness of life. This unquestionably was a good beginning in the way of restoring the primitive Christian faith. Most of the fundamentals of the Christian faith are here; and if Sidney Rigdon, as the Lord declared, was sent forth even as John the Baptist to prepare the way before the Lord Jesus and Elijah — though he knew it not — then undoubtedly Alexander Campbell and Walter Scott, who were engaged in the same work, were also sent forth to prepare the way before the Lord. Certain it is that
40 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
Alexander Campbell did a great work among the Protestant sects of the United States in getting them to turn from the creeds of men to the scriptures; and the elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have found in the sect of "The Dis- ciples" more who would listen to their teachings, and a greater pro- portion of them who would accept the fullness of the gospel, than among any other sect. And those among them who have rejected the fullness of the gospel when it was presented to them, have failed to understand aright the meaning of the Campbell-Scott- Rigdon reform movement — they have failed to recognize in that movement merely a preparation for the incoming of the full- ness of the gospel.
That their teaching was not a complete return to the Chris- tianity of the New Testament ought to have been clear to them, especially to the originators of the movement. They lacked divine authority — divine commission from God to administer the sacraments of the gospel. They baptized only with water for the remission of sins. The baptism of the Holy Ghost — apparently unknown to them — is equally a vital part of primitive Christianity, and is as plainly taught in the New Testament as an essential to salvation as water baptism. They lacked the organization of the primitive Church — apostles, prophets, bishops, elders, teachers, deacons, etc., etc. ; and especially were they lacking in the enjoy- ment of those spiritual gifts of the gospel, so prominent a char- acteristic of the primitive Christian Church.
Unfortunately, and very unlike Sidney Rigdon, both Mr. Campbell and Mr. Scott violently opposed the work of God brought forth by Joseph Smith. Alexander Campbell,through his "Millennial Harbinger," bitterly assailed both the Book of Mormon and the character of Joseph Smith; and Mr. Scott in this Cincinnati inter- view with the Prophet, opposed the work strenuously for that it set forth that men accepting the gospel of Jesus Christ were now entitled to the same spiritual powers and gifts as were en- joyed in the primitive Church. "Before the close of our inter-
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 41
view," says the Prophet, "he manifested one of the bitterest spirits against the doctrine of the New Testament, (that these signs shall follow them that believe, as recorded in the 16th chapter of the Gospel according to St. Mark), that I ever wit- nessed among men."
From St. Louis, those who continued in the company of the Prophet made the journey on foot to Independence, where they arrived about the middle of July.
In a few days the other elders of this mission through the western states began to arrive. These men had suffered all the hardships incident to a long journey performed for the most part on foot through a sparsely settled country and in the hot summer months; but the consciousness that they were seeking the place of the city of Zion ; that they had been promised, on condition of their faithfulness, that its location would be revealed to them; that it should be the land of their inheritance— sustained them in every trial and made the journey pleasant to them.
The meeting between these brethren from the eastern states and the elders of the Indian mission who had remained at Independ- ence since the departure of Elder Pratt to report their operations to the Prophet at Kirtland, was a memorable one. Those from the east could tell their brethren of the west of the expansion of The Church both in numbers and in doctrine; of the com- mandment of The Church to gather from New York to Ohio; of the appointment of a Bishop in The Church; of the revelation of the prophecy of Enoch, in which they had learned more about the city of Zion; of the other revelations that had been given upon that same subject — the city of Zion — the promise of God to reveal the place where eventually it is to be founded; the laws that must govern its inhabitants; of the glory which at last it shall possess; and finally of their God-commanded journey toward the place where it had been indicated its location was, and all the incidents that had happened on the way westward. All these and a thousand other things — their hopes for the advancement
42 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
of the Kingdom; the peace of Zion that shall be; the safety, the glory; — all these were interesting themes for conversation. Of their meeting the Prophet himself said :
The meeting with our brethren who had long waited our arrival, was a glorious one, and moistened with many tears. It seemed good and pleasant for brethren to meet together in unity. But our reflec- tions were great, coming as we had from a highly cultivated state of society in the east, and standing now upon the confines or western limits of the United States, and looking into the vast wilderness of those that sat in darkness; how natural it was to observe the degrada- tion, leanness of intellect, ferocity and jealousy of a. people that were nearly a century behind the times, and to feel for those who roamed about without the benefit of civilization, refinement or religion; yea, and to exclaim in the language of the prophets: When will the wilderness blossom as the rose? When will Zion be built up in her glory, and where will Thy templestand, unto which all nations shall come in the last days?
The brethren were not long left in doubt upon this subject, for within a day or two — the date of the revelation is not defi- nitely known further than the fact that it was given in July — a revelation was given in which the Lord made known that Missouri was the land which the Lord had appointed and consecrated for the gathering of his people: "Wherefore this is the land of prom- ise," said the Lord, "and the place for the city of Zion," and "behold, the place which is now called Independence, is the center place, and a spot for the temple is lying westward, upon a lot which is not far from the court house." *
The Saints were commanded to purchase this land, and that lying westward, to the extent of their ability, that they might "obtain it as an everlasting inheritance."
Sidney Gilbert was appointed an agent to The Church to re- ceive money and to purchase lands, and also to engage in the
* Doc. & Cov. Sec. 57.
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 43
business of a general merchant, the proceeds of which business were to be used in the purchase of lands.
Edward Partridge, by virtue of his office as bishop, was to divide to the Saints their inheritance as the lands were pur- chased.
W. W. Phelps was to be established as a printer and pub- lisher to The Church in Zion, assisted by Oliver Cowdery.
Immediate preparations were to be made by the bishop and his agents for settling the families then on their way from the east to settle in Zion.
The first Sunday after the arrival of the elders of this west- ern mission, a public meeting was held over the western boundary of the United States. Such a congregation was present as was only possible in an American frontier district — Indians, Negroes (then slaves), and all classes and conditions of people from the surrounding counties — Universalists, Atheists, Deists, Presby- terians, Methodists, Baptists, both priests and people — a motly crowd, truly! At the conclusion of the services two were bap- tized, but they were not the fruits of this meeting as they previ- ously believed the gospel.
During the week following, the Colesville branch of The Church, which had emigrated bodily from Colesville, Broome County, State of New York, arrived and settled in the edge of an extensive prairie about twelve miles west of Independence, and in what must now be the suburbs of Kansas City. It is worth while observing as we pass, that this branch of The Church was made up wholly of northern people, and therefore constituted a different class of settlers from the old inhabitants of Independence, who came chiefly from the south. They had been commanded to come to western Missouri in a body, with a view to permanently settling in the land of Zion, when that place should be designated; and in this their mission differed from that given to the twenty-eight elders who were commanded to
44 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
travel two and two, preaching the gospel through the western states en route for Missouri.
These people were unquestionably plunged into new condi- tions. They had been reared in a district of New York where the land was heavily timbered, and where to clear a farm for cultivation took well-nigh the lifetime of one generation. But here they found alternate woodland and prairie, great stretches of open country which only needed to be fenced to be ready for plowing, and doubtless their hearts swelled with gratitude when they contemplated the possibilities and prosperity that could come to the industrious in such a goodly land.
They soon set about their work of founding Zion, for on the 2nd day of August they began the erection of a log house. The first log was carried and placed by twelve m«i — of whom the Prophet was one — in honor of the twelve tribes of Israel; and Sidney Rigdon who had arrived at Independence sometime after the Prophet, from whom he separated at St. Louis, dedicated the land of Zion for the gathering of God's people. "It was a sea- son of joy to those present," writes the Prophet, "and afforded a glimpse of the future which time will yet unveil to the satis- faction of the faithful."
Sidney Rigdon was also commanded to write a description of the land of Zion, but of that more later.
It will be remembered that a site for the temple in Zion was also revealed at the time Independence was declared to be the center place thereof, and that it was described as lying a short dis- tance west from the court house. A scant half mile from the latter place one comes to the summit of a hill —
A gentle hill of mild declivity
— the crown of which is about an acre and a half in area, per- haps more. On the 3rd day of August, 1831, upon this spot, then covered with a rich growth of timber, the Prophet and a number of the brethren, among whom were Sidney Rigdon, Ed-
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 45
ward Partridge, W. W. Phelps, Oliver Cowdery, Martin Harris and Joseph Coe — assembled to dedicate the place as the temple site in Zion. In the course of the impressive ceremonies then conducted, the 87th Psalm was read:
His foundation is the holy mountains.
The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all tue dwellings of Jacob.
Glorious things are spoken of thee, 0 city of God.
I will make mention of Rahab and Babylon to them that know me; behold Philistia, and Tyre, with Ethiopa: this man was born there.
And of Zion it shall be said, This and that man was born in her; and the Highest himself shall establish her.
The Lord shall count when he writeth up the people, that this man was born there.
As well the singers as the players on instruments shall be there: all my springs [i. e. hopes] are in thee.
The Prophet Joseph then dedicated the spot where the temple is to be built — a temple, by the way, on which the glory of God shall visibly rest; yea, the Great God hath so declared it, saying: "Verily this generation shall not all pass away until an house shall be built unto the Lord, and a cloud shall rest upon it, which cloud shall be even the glory of the Lord, which shall fill the house ; * * * the sons of Moses, and also the sons of Aaron shall offer an acceptable offering and sacrifice in the house of the Lord, which house shall be built unto the Lord in this generation, upon the consecrated spot as I have appointed." *
On the 4th of August a conference was held at the house of Joshua Lewis, in Kaw Township, Jackson County, among the Colesville saints. This was the conference that was appointed to convene by the revelation received on the 7th of June, direct- ing the elders to go westward in search of Zion.
* Doc. & Cov. Sec. 84: 4-6, 31.
46 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
Thus the work of building up the center place of Zion was commenced, and although the commencement was humble in the extreme, the final result shall be the erection of a city that shall be the crowning glory of the western world—a city from which shall go forth the law of the Lord unto all nations, for it is written: "The law shall go forth from Zion."*
It shall be a city of refuge, for the Lord has said that "every man that will not take his sword against his neighbor, must needs flee unto Zion for safety." f
The wicked will consider her inhabitants terrible, while the righteous out of every nation will come unto her with songs of everlasting joy in their hearts. $
* Isaiah, 2: 3.
fDoc. & Cov. Sec. 45: 68.
t Doc. & Cov. Sec. 45: 69-71.
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 47
CHAPTER IV.
THE LAND AND THE CITY.
THE land in which the city of Zion is to be built will ever be of interest to the saints, and I therefore give the fol- lowing description of that section of Missouri.
The Missouri River, though flowing east in the main, takes a meandering course through the State to which it has given its name. The "river bottom" is a low strip of land on either bank of the stream, and varies in width from a few hundred yards to several miles. The character of the soil in the bottom is, of course, alluvial, and very fertile. The Missouri is said to be a "treacherous stream" by the people living on its banks. By that they mean it frequently changes its channel. Several places were pointed out to me, as I passed down it, that used to be the main channel of the stream; but which are now overgrown with trees, underbrush, and fields of waving corn; while here and there the stream is cutting its banks, and mass after mass of sandy, alluvial deposit of former times is caving in — the river is cut- ting for itself a new channel — or moving obstructions from an old one in which it flowed ages ago.
But however often the Missouri may change its banks, the main stream never leaves the river bottoms, for the reason that these bottoms are walled in by the "bluffs."' The word bluff natur- ally suggests to the mind rugged cliffs rising almost perpendic- ularly from the bottoms to dizzy heights — but such are not the bluffs of the Missouri. While occasionally one may see a bold cliff rising from the water's edge, yet they are not numerous. The Missouri bluffs are sharp, rolling hills that run parallel with
48 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
the river on either side, and are usually timbered. They vary in width, sometimes extending ten or fifteen miles, and then again narrowed down to a few hundred yards by some patch of prairie that approaches very nearly to the river bank.
Back from these bluffs are stretched out great rolling prairies, the extent of which quite bewilders one. They are divided into what appear to be immense meadows by the strips of timber land which invariably border the winding streams. Stand- ing on an eminence that overlooks these alternate prairie and timber lands, extending as they do as far as the eye can reach — with here and there a crowning hill ornamented with a pre- tentious farm house, or some more humble dwelling half hidden from your view by the thick foliage of the trees, with cattle feeding on a thousand hills— all this is very likely to make the beholder imagine himself in some enchanted realm. But to be more particular:
Jackson County, which is the center place of Zion, is in ninety-four west longitude, and thirty-nine north latitude, being nearly equally distant from the northern boundary of the United States and the Gulf of Mexico. It is also about midway between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, making it the most central point within the United States, and, with reference to both North and South America, a central place in this western hem- isphere, of which in the future it will be the great capital. The climate is delightful, being mild at least three-fourths of the year. The soil of Missouri is, for the most part, a rich, black loam, in places intermingled with sand and clay, and is from two to ten feet in depth, with a sub-soil of a fine quality of clay. Both climate and soil are favorable to the production of all the fruits and vegetables of the warm temperate climate: not only the hardy cereals, such as oats, barley, wheat, rye, buck-wheat, corn, etc., but also tobacco, cotton, flax, sweet-potatoes and all other common vegetables, as also fruit, apples, pears, apricots, persimmons, plums of many varieties, the luscious peach, the
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 49
delicious grape, and a great many kinds of berries grow in abundance. It is either Stanley or Livinstone who, in speaking of some parts of Africa, says: "The people tickle the soil with a hoe, and it laughs with plenty." It is so with the land of Zion.
Though the supply of timber useful for lumber purposes is nearly exhausted, you still find luxuriant growths of hickory, some black walnut, a variety of oaks, plenty of elm, cherry, honey-locust, mulberry, bass-wood andboxelder; huge sycamores and cottonwoods grow in the river bottoms, as also hard and soft maple.
Formerly many wild animals roamed over the prairies or lived in the woods; such as the buffalo, elk, deer, bear, wolf, beaver, and many smaller animals; wild turkeys, geese, quail, and a variety of singing birds: in short, it was once the hunter's paradise. Civilization, however, has driven away nearly all these animals, especially the larger ones; but they are replaced by the domestic species so useful to man, both for food and cloth- ing, as well as being of valuable assistance in his labors.
The clay, of which there is unlimited quantities, makes a fine quality of brick. Stone quarries which supply a good quality of light-colored sand-stone, are abundant, so that substantial building material may be said to be plentiful. Such is the land of Zion as I found it — a land with resources well-nigh unlimited, a land yielding an abundance of all useful products though but indifferently cultivated by the husbandmen who possess it — a land of surpassing loveliness, though its beauties are often marred rather than increased by those who inhabit it; while its magnificent resources are very far from anything like complete development.
The land being thus beautiful in its products when only partially developed, the mind naturally inquires what will it be when its resources are fully developed — -when the idleness and indifference of its people shall be banished — when it shall be
50 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
possessed by the saints of the Most High, who will consecrate their substance for the building of Zion; and all their exer- tions will be to glorify God, and benefit mankind — when covet- ousness is subdued and virtue and righteousness shall reign in every heart — and when under the blessings of Jehovah the land shall yield in its strength! When the glory of Lebanon shall be brought to Zion, the fir tree, the pine tree and the box tree together; when for brass, will be brought gold; and for iron, silver; for wood, brass; and for stones, iron, to glorify the place of God's sanctuary! Surely when this shall come to pass, the land of Zion shall be the perfection of beauty.
Independence, designated as the center place of Zion, is in the northern part of Jackson county, about three or four miles south of the Missouri River. It is located nearly midway be- tween two small rivers which flow northward and empty into the Missouri; the stream on the west is called "Big Blue," and the one on the east "Little Blue." The town is situated in the river bluffs already described as sharp, rolling hills, many of which at one time were covered with fine growths of timber and even now some of them are partially covered with beautiful groves. In- dependence in 1831, as stated in a previous chapter, was a frontier town with all the disadvantages implied by that term. It had a mixed population of white men from many sections of the Union, chiefly, however, from the south, some of whom had moved into the western wilderness to escape the consequences of unlawful deeds committed elsewhere; vagabond Indians and renegades who had mingled with them; besides a number of negro slaves. Society was as varied as the character of the population, but on the whole may be described as being without stability, regard for law, or religion. Of late years, of course, the character of Independence has been entirely changed. Western Missouri is no longer the frontier of the United States, nor is Independence a frontier town. It is now a delightful
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 51
residence suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, with many attract- ive homes.
Having given a description of the land of Zion and the town of Independence, it may be interesting to learn something con- cerning the city of Zion that shall yet stand there to the glory of God. Of necessity the description will be imperfect, as the available materials for such description are very meagre. While the prophets have written much concerning Zion and her future glory, their rapturous effusions do not furnish matter for a defi- nite description of the city. In June, 1833, however, Joseph Smith and the elders in Kirtland, Ohio, sent a plat of the city to the brethren in Missouri. We have been unable to find the plat, but an explanation of it is recorded in the history of Joseph Smith,* from which we learn the following:
The city plat is one mile square, divided into blocks con- taining ten acres each — forty rods square — except the middle range of blocks running north and south; they will be forty by sixty rods, containing fifteen acres, having their greatest extent east and west. The streets will be eight rods wide, intersecting each other at right angles. The tier of blocks forty by sixty rods will be reserved for public buildings, temples, tabernacles, school houses, etct
All the other blocks will be divided into half- acre lots, a four rod front to every lot, and extending back twenty rods. In
* Millennial Star, Vol. 14, p. 438.
t By this arrangement, it will be observed that the blocks in the city cannot be uniformly forty rods square (if the middle range of blocks running north and south are made forty by sixty), as the plat east and-west would lack twenty-eight rods, and north and south eight rods, of being sufficient for such an arrangement. Either the outside tier of blocks must be less than forty rods square, or the city plat must be more than a mile square. It must be three hundred and forty-eight rods east and west, (instead of three hundred and twenty) by three hundred and twenty-eight north and south. — B. H. R.
52 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
one block the lots will run from the north and south, and in the next one from the east and west, and so on alternately through- out the city, except in the range of blocks reserved for public buildings. By this arrangement no street will be built on en- tirely through the street; but on one block the houses will stand on one street, and on the next one on another street. All of the houses are to be built of brick or stone; and but one house on a lot, which is to stand twenty-five feet back from the street, the space in front being for lawns, ornamental trees, shrubbery, or flowers according to the taste of the owners; the rest of the lot will be for gardens, etc.
It is supposed that such a plat when built up will contain fifteen or twenty thousand population, and that they will require twenty-four buildings to supply them with houses for public wor- ship and schools. These buildings will be temples, none of which will be less than eighty-seven feet by sixty-one, and two stories high, each story to be fourteen feet, making the building twenty- eight feet to the square. I say none of these temples will be smaller than this, but of course there will be others much larger; the above, however, are the dimensions of the one the saints were commanded to build first.
Lands on the north and south of the city will be laid off for barns and stables for the use of the city, so there will be no barns or stables in the city among the homes of the people.
Lands for the agriculturist are also to be laid off on the north and south of the city plat, but if sufficient land cannot be laid off without going too great a distance, then farms are to be laid off on the east and west also ; but the tiller of the soil as well as the merchant and mechanic will live in the city. The farmer and his family, therefore, will enjoy all the advantages of schools, public lectures and other meetings. His home will no longer be isolated, and his family denied the benefits of society, which has been, and always will be, the great educator of the human race; but they will enjoy the same privileges of society, and can sur-
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 53
round their homes with as much refinement as will be found in the home of the merchant or banker.
"When this square is thus laid off and supplied, lay off another in the same way," said Joseph to those to whom the city plat was sent, "and so fill up the world in these last days, and let every man live in the city, for this is the city of Zion.
54 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
CHAPTER V.
SETTLEMENT OF THE SAINTS IN MISSOURI — THEIR ERRORS — RE- PROOFS AND WARNINGS.
ON the 4th of August, 1831, a conference was held among the Colesville saints, at the house of Joshua Lewis, in Kaw Township; and about this time a number of revelations were given in which the Lord made known his will to his servants and gave his reasons for calling them to Missouri. Those reasons were:
1. That the Lord's servants might give to him a witness of their obedience;
2. That they might have the honor of laying the founda- tion of Zion;
3. That they might bear record in all their travels here- after, where the city of Zion shall stand;
4. That the testimony of these things might go forth from "the city of the heritage of God."*
The Lord commanded the saints to purchase lands in Jack- son County, to the extent of their ability; and for the better accomplishment of this object, Sidney Gilbert was appointed agent for The Church. Having accomplished these things, the elders, except Edward Partridge and a few others whom the Lord appointed to settle permanently in Missouri, were com- manded to return to their homes, bearing record by the way of what had been revealed.
The saints and elders who remained in the land of Zion
*Doc. & Cov. Sec. 58: 1-13.
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 55
began the work of building up permanent homes. They had arrived too late to raise crops that season, but they cut hay for their cattle, and prepared some ground for cultivation. The fall and winter were, occupied in building log cabins; but with all their industry they were not able to provide shelter for all. Through that long, cold winter the saints cheerfully submitted to all kinds of inconveniences, such as several families living in an open, unfinished log room, without windows, and nothing but the frozen ground for a floor. Their food consisted chiefly of beef and a little bread, made of coarse corn meal, manufactured by rubbing the ears of corn on a tin grater. The spirit of peace, union and love, however, was in their midst, and at their prayer meetings, and in their family worship, they were blessed with many seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.
Thus the winter of 1831 passed away.
As soon as the churches scattered abroad learned that the Lord had revealed the place where the city of Zion was to be built, preparations to purchase inheritances absorbed the minds of the faithful; and money was sent to The Church agent from all quarters to buy lands. Edward Partridge had been appointed the bishop in Zion, and it was made his duty to divide unto the saints their inheritances.* As early as February, 1831, the Lord had said that those who loved him would remember the poor, and consecrate of their property to sustain them, for inasmuch as they did it to the poor, they did it unto him; and that which was consecrated to the poor, should be imparted to them with a deed and a covenant that could not be broken. Moreover every man was to be made a steward over his own property .f
This law of consecration and stewardship was as follows: Every man was to consecrate his property to the bishop of The
* Doc. & Cov. Sec. 57: 7. t Doc. & Cov. Sec. 42: 29-35.
56 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
Church without reserve, with a covenant that could not be broken; and then from this consecrated property receive an inheritance from the bishop — sharing equally with his brethren, according to his family and circumstances — this inheritance being deeded* to him by the bishop; which inheritance then became his stewardship, upon which he was to improve according to the measure of wisdom he possessed. Every man is to be independent in the management of his stewardship. By every man consecrating his property to the bishop, and then receiving back as his stewardship only suffic- ient for his support, there was a surplus left in the hands of the bishop to be placed in the Lord's storehouse. Then if in the management of his stewardship a man obtained more than was needful for his support, it, too, was put into the Lord's store- house, and that, as well as the surplus first named, was to be used in giving inheritances to the poor; and in assisting the brethren in the improvement of their respective stewardships, as should be appointed by the high council of The Church, and the bishop and his counselors.t And thus the saints were to be made equal in temporal things as well as in things that are spir- itual.!
The hearts of the saints in Zion were made glad in the spring of 1832 by a visit from their youthful Prophet and Sid- ney Rigdon, both of whom had suffered much for the truth's sake, during the winter that had just past, at the hands of a furious mob in Ohio.
At the time the mobbing referred to occurred, the Prophet was living at the house of a Brother John Johnson, Sen., (usually called "Father Johnson" by Joseph and the saints), in the little town of Hiram, Portage County, Ohio, about thirty miles from Kirtland. Before removing to that place, the Prophet's wife
* Doc. & Cov. Sec. 51: 4.
f Doc. & Cov. Sec. 42: 33, 53-55.
X Doc. & Cov. Sec. 78.
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 57
had taken two children (twins) to rear, their mother, the wife of a Brother John Murdock, having died when the children were a few days old. Emma Smith received them when they were nine days old, and at the time of the event to be related they were eleven months old.
Nothing of unusual importance had occurred in Hiram since the Prophet's arrival. He had occupied his time in the revision of the Bible that hehad been commanded to make, and in holding public meetings in the evenings and on the Sabbath day. Here, too, he received a number of revelations, among them the one called the "Vision,"* which describes the different degrees of glory to which men may attain in the future life.
A number of men, however, had apostatized from the truth and left The Church; among them one Ezra Booth, formerly a Methodist minister. He had been converted on seeing a person healed of an infirmity of many years' standing, and, as is so fre- quent in such cases, he required a constant succession of mira- cles to keep him in The Church. "But when," as the Prophet remarks in stating his case, "he actually learned that faith, humility, patience, and tribulation were before blessing, and that God brought low before he exalted; that instead of the Savior's granting him power to smite men and make them believe (as he said he wanted God to do with him), he found he must become all things to all men, that he might peradventure save some; and that, too, by all diligence, by perils, by sea and land, as was the case in the days of Jesus" — when he found this was the course the servants of God must run, he was disappointed and turned away from the faith and The Church. So, too, did one Simonds Rider, and also Eli Johnson, Edward Johnson, and John Johnson, Jr. %
This by way of introducing the matter, the rest is as re- lated by the Prophet himself:
*Doc. & Cov. Sec. 76.
4
58 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
On the 25th of March, 1832, the twins before mentioned, which had been sick of the measles for some time, caused us to be broke of our rest in taking care of them, especially my wife. In the evening I told her she had better retire to rest with one of the children, and I would watch with the sickest child. In the night she told me I had better lie down on the trundle bed, and I did so, and was soon after awakened by her screaming murder! when I found myself going out of the door in the hands of about a dozen men, some of whose hands were in my hair, and some hold of my shirt, drawers and limbs. The foot of the trundle bed was towards the door, leaving only room enough for the door to swing. My wife heard a gentle tapping on the Windows which she then took no notice of, (but which was un- questionably designed for ascertaining whether we were all asleep), and soon after the mob burst open the door and surrounded the bed in an instant, and as I said, the first thing I knew I was going out of the door in the hands of an infuriated mob. I made a desperate struggle as I was forced out, to extricate myself, but only cleared one leg, with which I made a pass at one man and he fell on the door steps. I was immediately confined again, and they swore by God they would kill me if I did not be still, which quieted me. .As they passed around the house with me, the fellow that I kicked came to me and thrust his hand into my face, all covered with blood, (for I hit him on the nose,) and with an exulting hoarse laugh, muttered, "Gee, gee, God damn ye, I'll fix ye."
They then seized me by the throat, and held on till I lost my breath. After I came to, as they passed along with me, about thirty rods from the house, I saw Elder Rigdon stretched out on the ground whither they had dragged him by the heels. I supposed he was dead.
I began to plead with them, saying, "you will have mercy and spare my life, I hope?" To which they replied, "God damn ye, call on yer God for help, we'll show ye no mercy;" and the people began to show themselves in every directftn; one coming from the. orchard had a plank, and I expected they would kill me and carry me off on the plank. They then turned to the right and went on about thirty rods further — about sixty rods from the house and thirty from where I saw Elder Rigdon, into the meadow, where they stopped, and one
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 59
said, "Simonds, Simonds," (meaning, I supposed, Simonds Rider,) "pull up his drawers, pull up his drawers, he will take cold." Another replied, "a'nt ye going to kill 'im, a'nt ye going to kill 'im?" A group of mobbers collected a little way off, and said: "Simonds, Simonds, come here;" and Simonds charged those who had hold of me to keep me from touching the ground (as they had done all the time), lest I should get a spring upon them. They went and held a council, and as I could occasionally overhear a word, I supposed it was to know whether it was best to kill me. They returned after awhile, when I learned they had con- cluded not to kill me, but pound and scratch me well, tear off my shirt and drawers, and leave me naked. One cried, "Simonds, Simonds, where's the tar bucket?" "I don't know," answered one, ''where 'tis, Eli's left it." They ran back and fetched the bucket of tar, when one exclaimed, "Goddamn it, let's us tar up his mouth;" and they tried to force the tar paddle into my mouth; I twisted my head around so that they could not; and they cried out, "God damn ye, hold up yer head and let us give ye some tar." They then tried to force a vial into my mouth and broke it in my teeth. All my clothes were torn off me except my shirt collar; and one man fell on me and scratched my body like a mad cat, and then muttered out: "God damn ye, that's the way the Holy Ghost falls on folks."
They then left me and I attempted to rise, but fell again; I pulled the tar away from my lips, so that I could breathe more freely, and after awhile I began to recover,'and raised myself up, when I saw two lights. I made my way towards one of them, and found it was Father Johnson's. When I had come to the door I was naked, and the tar made me look as though I was covered with blood, and when my wife saw me she thought I was all mashed to pieces, and fainted. During the affray abroad, the sisters of the neighborhood had col- lected at my room. I called for a blanket; they threw me one and
shut the door: I wrapped it around me and went in.
********
My friends spent the night in scraping and removing the tar, and washing and cleansing my body; so that by morning I was ready to be clothed again. This being Sabbath morning, the people assem- bled for meeting at the usual hour of worship, and. among those came also the mobbers, viz.: Simonds Rider, a Campbellite preacher ar.d
60 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
leader of the mob; one McClentic, son of a Campbellite minister; and Pelatiah Allen, Esq., who gave the mob a barrel of whiskey to raise their spirits; and many others. With my flesh all scarified and de- faced, I preached to the congregation as usual, and in the afternoon of the same day baptized three individuals.
It was during this visit to Missouri in the spring of 1832, that Joseph was acknowledged by The Church and Priesthood in Zion, "President of the High Priesthood." It was on the occa- sion of this visit, too, that he sought to so "organize The Church that the brethren might, eventually, be independent of every incumbrance beneath the celestial kingdom, by bonds and cove- nants of mutual friendship and mutual love."*
In a revelation given July, 1831, W. W. Phelps had been appointed a printer unto The Church in the land of Zion. Ac- cordingly a press and type were purchased, and in June, 1832, the first number of a monthly paper was issued, called tne Even- ing and Morning Star. This was the first periodical published by The Church. According to its prospectus it was to be a mes- senger of truth; a harbinger of peace and good will; to bring good tidings of great joy to all people, but more especially to the house of Israel scattered abroad, telling them that the day of their redemption was near; to proclaim the ensign to which all nations must come, in order to worship God acceptably; to declare that goodness consists in doing good, not merely in teaching it; and to show that all men's religion is vain without charity; and as the paper was to be devoted to the great concerns of eternal things, and the gathering of the saints, it would leave politics, broils, the gainsayings of the world, and many other matters for their proper channels.f
So rapidly did the saints gather to Zion during this summer that the Star for November reported eight hundred and thirty
* History of Joseph Smith. Millennial Star Vol. 14, p. 162. f Millennial Star Vol. 14: 146-8.
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souls in the new settlements. The Lord had blessed them both with food and with raiment, and there was plenty in Zion. A feeling of insubordination, however, existed among the brethren of the priesthood. Seven high priests had been appointed to preside over the affairs of The Church in Zion, viz., Oliver Cow- dery, W. W. Phelps, John Whitmer, Sidney Gilbert, Edward Par- tridge, Isaac Morley and John Corrill. These brethren, with the common consent of the several branches comprising The Church in Missouri, were to appoint elders to preside over the respect- ive branches, and attend to all the affairs of The Church in that land. But a number of those high priests and elders who went up to Zion, ignored the authority of the seven who were placed there to preside, and began setting some of the branches in order without being appointed to do so; and it resulted in some confusion. Others who went there sought to obtain inheritances in some other way than according to the laws of consecration and stewardship; and these things, together with jealousies, covetousness, light-mindedness, unbelief, and general neglect to keep the commandments of God, enkindled the displeasure of the Almighty against Zion and her inhabitants.
This state of affairs coming to the knowledge of the Prophet Joseph, through his correspondence with the leading elders in Zion, he wrote a letter to the saints in Missouri, severely re- proving them for their neglect to keep the commandments of God; and as the communication is full of prophecy of those calami- ties which eventually befell the Church, I quote it entire:
Kirtland, January 11, 1833. Brother Wm. W. Phelps:
I send you the Olive Leaf which we have plucked from the tree of Paradise, the Lord's message of peace to us; for though our breth- ren in Zion indulge in feelings towards us which are not according to the requirements of the new covenant, yet we have the satisfac- tion of knowing that the Lord approves of us and has accepted us, and established his name in Kirtland for the salvation of the nations;
62 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
for the Lord will have a place from which his word will go forth, in these last days, in purity, for if Zion will not purify herself, so as to be approved of in all things, in his sight, he will seek another people; for his work will go on until Israel is gathered, and they who will not hear his voice must expect to feel his wrath. Let me say unto you, seek to purify yourselves, and also the inhabitants of Zion, lest the Lord's anger be kindled to fierceness. Repent, repent, is the voice of God to Zion; and strange as it may appear, yet it is true, mankind will persist in self-justification until all their iniquity is exposed, and their character past being redeemed, and that which is treasured up in their hearts be exposed to the gaze of mankind. I say to you (and what I say to you, I say to all), hear the warning voice of God, lest Zion fall, and the Lord swear in his wrath, "The inhabitants of Zion shall not enter into my rest."
The brethren in Kirtland pray for you unceasingly, for, knowing the terrors of the Lord, they greatly fear for you. You will see that the Lord commanded us, in Kirtland, to build a house of God, and establish a school for the prophets; this is the word of the Lord to us, and we must, yea, the Lord helping us, we will obey; as on con- ditions of our obedience he has promised us great things; yea, even a visit from the heavens to honor us with his own presence. We greatly fear before the Lord lest we should fail of this great honor, which our Master proposes to confer upon us; we are seeking for humility and great faith lest we be ashamed in his presence. Our hearts are greatly grieved at the spirit which is breathed both in your letter
and that of Brother G 's; the very spirit which is wasting the
strength of Zion like a pestilence; and if it is not detected and driven from you, it will ripen Zion for the threatened judgments of God. Remember, God sees the secret springs of human action, and knows the hearts of all living.
Brother, suffer us to speak plainly, for God has respect for the feelings of his saints, and he will not suffer them to be tantalized
with impunity. Tell Brother G that low insinuations God hates;
but he rejoices in an honest heart, and knows better who is guilty than he does. We send him this warning voice, and let him fear greatly for himself, lest a worse thing overtake him; all we can say by way of conclusion is, if the fountain of our tears is not dried up,
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we will still weep for Zion. This from your brother who trembles for Zion, and for the wrath of heaven which awaits her if she repent not. Joseph Smith, Jun.
P. S. — I am not in the habit of crying peace, when there is no peace, and, knowing the threatened judgments of God, I say, Woe unto them that are at ease in Zion; fearfulness will speedily lay hold of the hypocrite. I did not expect that you had lost the command- ments, but thought from your letters you had neglected to read them, otherwise you would not have written as you did.
It is in vain to try to hide a bad spirit from the eyes of those who are spiritual, for it will show itself in speaking and in writing, as well as in all our other conduct. It is also needless to make great pretensions when the heart is not right; the Lord will expose it to the view of his faithful saints. We wish you to render the Star as interesting as possible, by setting forth the rise, progress and faith of our Church, as well as the doctrine; for if you do not render it more interesting than at present, it will fall, and The Church suffer a great loss thereby. J. S.
A council of high priests at Kirtland also appointed Hyrum Smith and Orson Hyde to write a letter of reproof and warning, in which they cried, "Repent! repent! or Zion must suffer, for the scourge and judgment must come upon her." The whole of this communication, however, is likewise so full of prophetic warning to the saints in Zion that I consider it too important to be omitted, and hence give it in extenso:
Kirtland Mills, Geauga County, Ohio,
January 14, 1833. From a conference of twelve High Priests, to the Bishop, his Council, and
the inhabitants of Zion:
Orson Hyde and Hyrum Smith being appointed by the said con- ference to write this epistle in obedience to the commandment, given the 22nd and 23rd of September last which says: "But verily I say unto all those to whom the kingdom has been given, from you it must be preached unto them that shall repent of their former evil works, for they are to be upbraided for their evil hearts of unbelief; and your
64 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
brethren in Zion, for their rebellion against you at the time I sent you."
Brother Joseph, and certain others, have written to you on this all-important subject, but you have never been apprized of these things by the united voice of a conference of those high priests that were present at the time this commandment was given.
We, therefore, Orson and Hyrum — the committee appointed by said conference to write this epistle— having received the prayers of said conference, that we might be enabled to write the mind and will of God upon this subject, now take up our pen to address you in the name of the conference, relying upon the arm of the great Head of The Church.
In the commandment alluded to, the children of Zion were all, yea, even every one, under condemnation, and were to remain in that state until they repented and remembered the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon, and the former commandments, which the Lord had given them, not only to say but to do them, and bring forth fruit meet for the Father's Kingdom; otherwise there remaineth a scourge and a judgment to be poured out upon the children of Zion; for "shall the children of the kingdom pollute the holy land? I say unto you, nay!''
The answers received from those letters which have been sent to you upon this subject, have failed to bring to us that satisfactory confession and acknowledgment, which the spirit of our Master re- quires. We, therefore, feeling a deep interest for Zion, and knowing the judgments of God that will come upon her except she repent, resort to these last and most effectual means in our power to bring her to a sense of her standing before the Most High.
At the time Joseph, Sidney and Newel left Zion, all matters of hardness and misunderstanding were settled and buried (as they sup- posed), and you gave them the hand of fellowship; but afterwards you brought up all these things again, in a censorious spirit, accusing Brother Joseph in rather an indirect way of seeking after monarchial power and authority. This came to us in Brother Carroll's letter of July 2nd. We are sensible that this is not the thing Brother Joseph is seeking after, but to magnify the high office and calling where- unto he has been called and appointed by the command of God, and the united voice of this Church. It might not be amiss for you to call to mind the circumstances of the Nephites, and the children of
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 65
Israel rising up against their prophets, and accusing them of seeking after kingly power, etc., and see what befell them, and take warning before it is too late.
Brother Gilbert's letter of December 10th has been received and read attentively, and the low, dark, and blind insinuations which were in it were not received by us as from the fountain of light, though his claims and pretensions to holiness were great. We are not unwill- ing to be chastened or rebuked for our faults, but we want to receive it in language that we can understand, as Nathan said to David,
"Thou art the man." We are aware that Brother G is doing much
and has a multitude of business on hand, but let him purge out all the old leaven, and do his business in the spirit of the Lord, and then the Lord will bless him, otherwise the frown of the Lord will remain upon him. There is manifestly an uneasiness in Brother Gilbert, and a fearfulness that God will not provide for his saints in these last days, and these fears lead him on to covetousness. This ought not to be, but let him do just as the Lord has commanded him, and then the Lord will open his coffers, and his wants will be liberally supplied. But if this uneasy, covetous disposition be cherished by him, the Lord will bring him to poverty, shame and disgrace.
Brother Phelps' letter of December 15th, is also received, and carefully read, and it betrays a lightness of spirit that ill becomes a man placed in the important and responsible station that he is placed in. If you have fat beef and potatoes, eat them in singleness of heart and boast not yourselves in these things. Think not, brethren, that we make a man an offender for a word; this is not the case; but we want to see a spirit in Zion, by which the Lord will build it up; that is the plain, solemn, and pure spirit in Christ. Brother Phelps re- quested in his last letter that Brother Joseph should come to Zion; but we say that Brother Joseph will not settle in Zion until she repent and purify herself and abide by the new covenant, and remember the commandments that have been given her, to do them as well as to say them.
You may think it strange that we manifest no cheerfulness of heart upon the reception of your letter; you may think that our minds are prejudiced so much that we can see no good that comes from you, but rest assured, brethren, that this is not the case.
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We have the best of feelings, and feelings of the greatest anxiety for the welfare of Zion; we feel more like weeping over Zion than rejoicing over her, for we know that the judgments of God hang over her, and will fall upon her except she repent, and purify herself be- fore the Lord, and put away from her every foul spirit. We now say to Zion, this once, in the name of the Lord, Repent! repent! awake, awake, put on thy beautiful garments, before you are made to feel the chastening rod of him whose anger is kindled against you. Let not Satan tempt you to think we want to make you bow to us, to domineer over you, for God knows this is not the case; our eyes are watered with tears, and our hearts are poured out to God in prayer for you, that he will spare you, and turn away his anger from you.
There are many things in the last letters of Brothers G and
P that are good, and we esteem them much. The idea of
having "certain ones appointed to regulate Zion, and traveling elders have nothing to do with this part of the matter," is something we highly approbate, and you will doubtless know before this reaches you, why William E. McLellin opposed you in this move. We fear there was something in Brother Gilbert when he returned to this place from New York last fall, in relation to his brother William, that was not right. For Brother Gilbert was asked two or three times about his brother William, but gave evasive answers, and at the same time he knew that WiLliam was in Cleveland; but the Lord has taken him. We merely mention this that all may take warning to work in the light, for God will bring every secret thing to light.
We now close our epistle by saying unto you, the Lord has com- manded us to purify ourselves, to wash our hands and our feet, that he may testify to his Father and our Father, to his God and our God, that we are clean from the blood of 4his generation; and before we could wash our hands and our feet we were constrained to write this letter. Therefore, with the feelings of inexpressible anxiety for your welfare, we say again, Repent, repent, or Zion must suffer, for the scourge and judgment must come upon her.
Let the bishop read this to the elders that they may warn the members of the scourge that is coming, except they repent. Tell them to read the Book of Mormon and obey it; read the command- ments that are printed and obey them: yea, humble yourselves under
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 67
the mighty hand of God that peradventure he may turn away his anger from you. Tell them that they have not come up to Zion to sit down in idleness, neglecting the things of God, but they are to be diligent and faithful in obeying the new covenant.
There is one clause in Brother Joseph's letter which you may not understand; that is this, "If the people of Zion did not repent, the Lord would seek another place and another people." Zion is the place where the temple will be built, and the people gathered, but all people upon that holy land being under condemnation, the Lord will cut them off, if they repent not, and bring another race upon it that will serve him. The Lord will seek another place to bring forth and prepare his word to go forth to the nations, and as we said before, so we say again, Brother Joseph will not settle in Zion, except she repent and serve God, and obey the new covenant. With this explanation the conference sanctions Brother Joseph's letter.
Brethren, the conference meets again this evening to hear this letter read, and if it meets their minds, we are all agreed to kneel down before the Lord, and cry unto him with all our hearts, that this epistle, and Brother Joseph's, and the revelations also, may have their desired effect, and accomplish the thing whereunto they are sent, and that they may stimulate you to cleanse Zion, that she mourn not. Therefore, when you get this, know ye that a conference of twelve high priests have cried unto the Lord for you, and are still crying, saying, Spare thy people, 0 Lord, and give not thy heritage to re- proach. We now feel that our garments are clean from you and all men, when we have washed our feet and hands according to the com- mandment.
We have written plain at this time, but we believe not harsh. Plainness is what the Lord requires, and we should not feel ourselves clear, unless we had done so: and if the things we have told you be not attended to, you will not long have occasion to say, or to think rather, that we may be wrong in what we have stated. Your un- worthy brethren are determined to pray unto the Lord for Zion, as long as we can shed the sympathetic tear, or feel any spirit to suppli- cate a throne of grace in her behalf.
The school of the prophets will commence, if the Lord will, in two or three days. It is a general time of health with us. The cause
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of God seems to be rapidly advancing in the eastern country; the gifts are beginning to break forth so as to astonish the world, and even believers marvel at the power and goodness of God. Thanks be ren- dered to his holy name for what he is doing. We are your unworthy brethren in the Lord, and may the Lord help up all to do his will, that we may at last be saved in his kingdom.
Orson Hyde.
Hyrum Smith.
N. B. — We stated that Brother Gilbert knew that William was in Cleveland last fall when he was in Kirtland. We wrote this up- on the strength of hearsay: but William being left at St. Louis, strengthened our supposition that such was the fact. We stated further, representing this matter, or this item, than the testimony will warrant us. With this exception the conference sanctions this letter.
These words of reproof and warning had the effect of awakening in the hearts of the saints the spirit of repentance. A. solemn assembly was called at which a sincere and humble repentance was manifested. A general epistle to The Church authorities in Kirtland, bearing date of 26th of February, 1833, was adopted at a conference of the saints in Zion, expressing their repentance, and desires to keep the commandments of God in the future. This was satisfactory to the brethren in Kirtland; and the Lord said in a revelation given the 8th of March, that the brethren in Zion "began" to repent; and that the angels re- joiced over them. Still there were many things with which the Lord was not well pleased, and he said that he would contend with Zion, and plead with her strong ones, and chasten her until she overcame.*
*Doc. & Cov. Sec. 90: 32-36.
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CHAPTER VI.
STORM CLOUDS.
THE spring of 1833 opened early in western Missouri. The streams, which had been so long locked up in ice, broke loose under the genial rays of the returning sun, and rushed madly on to swell the majestic current of the Missouri. The winter snows early melted before the balmy breath of spring, and grass and flowers in rich profusion and of varied hue clothed the great rolling prairies of the west in their loveliest attire. The forests along the water courses put forth their tender buds, and the birds that had migrated to the south in the autumn, to escape the severity of the winter, joyfully returned to build their nests in the same old woods, and make the wilderness glad with their sweet songs. All nature rejoiced, and the saints who had gathered to that land to build up Zion rejoiced with her. They had repented of the sins which had called forth the reproofs of the servants of God: and although there were some per- sons among them with whom the Lord was not well pleased, yet they had received assurances from God that the angels rejoiced over them.
Under these auspicious circumstances eighty officials and a large number of the members of The Church met for the serv- ice of God, and to be instructed in the things of eternal life, at the Ferry on Big Blue, a small forest-lined stream a few miles west of Independence. Their conversation and discourses ranged over immense periods of time; extending back to that time when the morning stars sang together, and the sons of God shouted for joy in anticipation of the blessings that would follow the
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creation of this earth.* They spoke of the cruel persecutions endured by the disciples of Jesus in former ages, little dream- ing that the time was at hand when they, too, would be required to endure like trials for the truth's sake — for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. Their minds were absorbed in contemplating the future glory of Zion; their souls were filled with joy unspeakable — filled with that spirit which ages before caused men and angels to unite in sing- ing, "Peace on earth; good will to man." This occurred on the 6th of April, and was the first attempt of The Church to celebrate the anniversary of her birthday. Only three years before, in the house of Peter Whitmer The Church had been organized; and now the saints in Missouri were exclaiming, How The Church has grown! How much has been accomplished! The Gospel had been preached in nearly all the states of the Union: thousands had hailed the message with delight, and numerous branches of The Church had been established. The place of the city of Zion had been revealed, and nearly a thou- sand of the saints gathered there. A printing establishment had been founded, and the precious truths from heaven were being published to the world; and all this had been accomplished in the face of poverty and bitter opposition.
During the summer of 1833, a school for the elders was organized in Zion, presided over by Elder Parley P. Pratt, who labored with all the zeal of an apostle in teaching them the things of God. They held their meetings in the shady groves — in "God's first temples," and their instructor frequently walked several miles bare-footed to meet with them. How strange it seems to record the above as occurring in this age! It appears to be quite out of joint with the times, and smacks rather of that age in which John the Baptist preached the gospel in the wilderness
*job 38: 3-7.
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of Judea, clothed with camel's hair, and a girdle of skin about his loins; and whose food was locusts and wild honey. Some day, however, when a parallel shall be drawn between the intro- duction of the gospel in this dispensation, and that in which John figured, it will appear that the men who have been chosen of the Lord in this age to perform his work, possess the same sim- plicity of character as those whom he chose in Judea, nineteen hundred years ago— the same guileless honesty of purpose; the same child-like confidence in God, and the same unwavering fidelity to their Master's cause; as willing to undergo privations, hunger and cold, and toil and nakedness; as willing to endure the scorn and hatred of the world; as willing to suffer bonds and even death.
The migration of the saints to Missouri in the early summer of 1833, exceeded that of the previous season; but they were settling among a people who possessed characteristics with which, from the nature of things, they were bound to be at variance. The "old settlers" of Jackson County were principally from the mountainous portions of the Southern States. They had settled along the water-courses, in the forests which lined their banks, instead of out on the broad and fertile prairies, which only re- quired fencing to prepare them for cultivation. It was the work of years to clear a few acres of the timber lands, and prepare them for cultivation, but with these small fields the "old settlers" were content. They had no disposition to beautify their homes, or even make them convenient or comfortable. They lived in their log cabins without windows, and very frequently without floors other than the ground; and the dingy, smoked log walls were unadorned by pictures or other ornaments. They were uneducated; those who could read or write being the exception and not the rule; and they had an utter contempt for the refine- ments of life. It is needless to add that they were narrow- minded, ferocious, and jealous of those who sought to obtain
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better homes, and who aspired to something better in life than had yet entered into the hearts of these people.
There was another element in western Missouri which did not tend to the improvement of its society. Western Missouri at the time of which I write, and as before remarked, was the frontier of the United States, and therefore a place of refuge for those who had outraged the laws of society elsewhere. Here they were near the boundary line of the United States, and if pursued by the officers of the law, in a few hours they could cross the line out of their reach, as the officers could not operate outside of their own nation. These outcasts helped to give a more desperate complexion to the already reckless population of western Missouri.
The Saints could not join the Missourians in their way of life — in Sabbath-breaking, profanity, horse-racing, idleness, drunkenness, and debauchery. They had been commanded to keep the Sabbath day holy, to keep themselves unspotted from the sins of the world. The fact of people having so little in com- mon with each other was of itself calculated to beget a coldness and suspicion, which would soon ripen into dislike. The saints, too, had come, for the most part, from the Northern and New England States, and the hatred that existed at that time between the people of the slave-holding and free states, was manifested toward the saints by their "southern" neighbors. Moreover, the old settlers were dear lovers of office, and the honors and emolu- ments growing out of it; and they greatly feared that the rapidly increasing saints would soon outnumber them, and that the offices would be wrested from them. Political jealousy is always cruel and unscrupulous; and is not slow to find excuses for destroy- ing the object of its hatred. To the politician as well as to the lover,
"Trifles light as air, Are to the jealous confirmations strong As proofs of Holy Writ."
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And where these "trifles" do not exist, we shall see in the prog- ress of our narrative that sectarian meanness and political jealousy do not hesitate to manufacture them.
As early as the spring of 1832 there began to appear signs of an approaching storm. In the deadly hours of the night the houses of some of the saints were stoned, the windows broken, and the inmates disturbed. In the fall of the same year a large quantity of hay in the stack belonging to the saints was burned, houses shot into, and the people insulted with abusive language. In the month of April, 1833, the old settlers to the num- ber of some three hundred met at Independence, to consult upon a plan for the destruction, or immediate removal, of the "Mor- mons" from Jackson County. They were unable, however, to unite on any plan, and the mob becoming the worse for liquor, the affair broke up in a "Missouri row."
The secret of their failure in accomplishing anything was this: A few of the brethren, learning that such a meeting was being held, met for secret prayer, and petitioned the Father to frustrate the plans of this ungodly mob, who were seeking their destruction. The Lord, in view of the fact, doubtless, that this people were partially repenting of the evils for which they had been reproved, in his mercy heard their prayers, and thwarted the designs of their enemies. But the angry clouds of the threatened persecution had been merely drifted aside, not driven from the horizon; and in a few months they assumed a more threatening aspect than on their first appearance.
The sectarian priests inhabiting Jackson and the surround- ing counties were earnestly engaged in fanning the flames of prejudice, already burning in the public mind. The Rev. Finis Ewing, the head and front of the Cumberland Presbyterian church, published this statement: "The 'Mormons' are the com- mon enemies of mankind and ought to be destroyed."
The Rev. Pixley, who had been sent out by the Missionary Society to Christianize the savages of the west, spent his time
5
74 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
in going from house to house, seeking to destroy The Church by spreading slanderous falsehoods, to incite the people to acts of violence against the saints.
Early in July, a document was in circulation known as the "Secret Constitution," setting forth the alleged grievances of the mob, and binding all who signed it to assist in "removing the 'Mor- mons.' " The document set forth the following: The signers believed an important crisis was at hand in their civil society, because a pretended religious sect — the "Mormons" — had settled in their midst. The civil law did not afford them a sufficient guarantee against the threatening evils, and therefore they had determined to rid themselves of the "Mormons," "peaceably if they could, forcibly if they must;" and for the better accomplish- ment of this object, they had organized themselves into a com- pany— pledging to each other their "bodily powers, their lives, fortunes, and sacred honors!"
The saints are represented as being the very dregs of that society from which they came; and also as being poor, "idle^ lazy, and vicious." They are accused of claiming to receive direct revelation from God; to heal the sick by the laying on of hands; to speak in unknown tongues by inspiration; and, in short, "to perform all the wonder-working miracles wrought by the in- spired apostles and prophets of God;" all of which, the docu- ment claims, "is derogatory of God and religion, and subversive of human reason."
The signers of this document also accuse the saints of sowing dissensions and inspiring seditions among their slaves. They further charge that the "Mormons" had invited "free people of color" to settle in Jackson County; and state that the intro- duction of such a caste among their slaves, would instigate them to rebel against their masters, and to bloodshed.
The "Mormons" are also charged with having openly declared that God had given them the land of Jackson County; and that sooner or later they would possess it as an inheritance. The
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 75
document then concludes by saying that if after timely warning, and receiving an adequate compensation for what property they could not take with them, the saints shall refuse to leave the county, such means as might be necessary to remove them were to be employed; and calls a meeting of the signers to convene at the court-house in Independence on the twentieth of July, to consult on subsequent movements. *
It may not be amiss here to notice the charges made against the saints:
The statement made by the mob that the "civil law did not afford them a sufficient guarantee against the threatening evils" of which they complained, is good evidence that the saints, al- though they may have fallen far short of coming up to the full requirements of the high moral and spiritual laws of the gospel of Jesus Christ, had violated none of the laws of man — it is an acknowledgement that they lived above that law.
As to the saints being the dregs of the society from which they came — it is untrue; they had a respectable standing in the society from which they came, and that society was far in ad- vance in civilization and enlightenment of the people of west- ern Missouri. This is an old and oft repeated charge against the early members of The Church — this charge that they were of the "dregs of the society from which they came," and I re- peat again that it is not true. I know the usual method of de- fense is to concede the charge, and then quote the well-known and, I may add also, the well-worn passage from Paul's writings, where, in speaking of the early Christians, he says: "For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world, * * *
* The document of which the foregoing is a summary was pub- lished in the December number (1833) of the Evening and Morning Star.
76 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
the weak things of the world, * * * and base things of the world, and things which are despised, * * * and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence."* But however com- plete such an answer may have been in the days of Paul with reference to the Christians of the first century; and however satisfying it may be now in some particulars as to the char- acter of the early membership of The Church, so far as the charge, that the early members thereof were of the "dregs of that society from which they came," is concerned, there is a better course to pursue, a more direct and perfect answer, a more complete argument; and that better course, that more complete answer, is to deny in toto the charge. I do deny it. It is not true. Nobler men and women than those who first em- braced the gospel of the Son of God in this last dispensation are not to be found; nobler spirits were not on earth. It counts for nothing that in the main they were poor in this world's goods. It is of little moment that they were not famous for learning in the schools of men. I care nothing about their not being regarded as constituting "polite society," having neither the leisure nor the means to cultivate the special graces supposed to go to the making of "polished" gentlemen and ladies. But honesty of heart, purity of motive, nobility of soul, right- eousness of life, devotion to God — all characteristics and all attributes which go to the making of a people worthy in the sight of God, may exist quite apart from all that man considers essen- tial to entitle certain of their fellow-men to be considered as forming "good society;" and these attributes the early members of The Church possessed. The Smiths, the Whitmers, the Cow- derys, the Johnsons, the Pages, the Corrills, the Knights, the Partridges, the Pratts, the Morleys, the Rigdons, the Whitneys, the Gilberts, the Aliens; and a little later, the Youngs, the Snows,
* I Cor. chap. i.
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 77
the Kimballs, the Taylors, the Richardses — and a host of others whose names do not appear so prominently in the very early history of The Church, were a class of people of whom both The Church and God might well be proud. So far removed were they from being the dregs of society that they were the very choicest part of it; respected and honored because possessed of those cardinal virtues which always command respect, however fallen the material fortunes, or humble the station or calling of those who possess them. Nor is this general statement concern- ing the respectability of the early members of The Church to be weakened because some of them were unhappily overcome of the world, the flesh and the devil. It is not to be supposed that all who start in the way of salvation will be equal to the task of persevering to the end. The inherent weakness of human nature forbids us to hope for that. The innate weakness of many of the saints was made apparent. The gospel is calculated to do that. "If men come unto me I will show them their weakness,"* is the word of the Lord in the Book of Mormon, and indeed it is self-evident that if men are to be perfected — and that is the mission of the gospel— then it is necessary that their defects be pointed out to them; for the first step in reformation is to learn in what particular direction reformation is needed. All that can be said, then, against some of the early saints of this dispen- sation is that they manifested some of the sinfulness common to humanity, and much of that weakness which is the heritage of the sons of Adam; and some of them — many of them if you will — were not quite equal to the great task of overcoming that sinful nature, that human frailty. Meantime, their fu- ture is in the hands of God, and he alone will judge them. To the world we may say: "Who art thou that judgeth another man's servants? To his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea,
* Ether 12: 27.
78 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
he shall be holden up; for God is able to make him stand."* The charge of idleness comes with a bad grace from the slave-holders of Missouri. Especially so since the charge is made against people chiefly from New England; who, what- ever other faults they may possess, can never be truthfully charged with idleness. In addition to the saints who settled in Missouri having been trained from childhood to habits of in- dustry in their former homes, they had received an express com- mand from God to labor, and the idler was not to eat the bread nor wear the garment of the laborer,! and unless the idler re- pented, he was to be cast out of The Church. J
The saints in Missouri, it is true, claimed to receive reve- lations from God through the Prophet Joseph Smith; and they also enjoyed the gifts of tongues, and of healing the sick through the anointing with oil and the prayer of faith, in fulfillment of the promises of the Lord;§ but how all this can be "derogatory of God and true religion," when these blessings of revelation and the enjoyment of the spiritual gifts enumerated are the same as those that were possessed by the primitive Christians, which they were encouraged to "desire,"|| and have ever been regarded as a crowning glory of the early Church; or how they could be "subversive of human reason," can only be compre- hended by a Missouri mob, seeking a vain excuse for the destruc- tion of an unoffending people.
The charge of sowing dissensions and inspiring seditions among the slaves, and inviting free people of color to settle in Jackson County, has no foundation in truth. The July number of the Evening and Morning Star, for 1833, contains an article
*Rom. 14: 4.
t Doc. & Cov. Sec. 42: 42.
J Ibid, Sec. 75: 28.
§ St. James, 5: 14, 15.
|| I Cor. 14: 1.
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 79
on "Free People of Color," and publishes the laws of Missouri relating to that class of people. "Free people of color" were negroes or mulattoes who were set free through the kindness of their masters, or who, by working extra hours, for which they were sometimes allowed pay, were able at last to purchase their liberty. Concerning such people the Missouri laws provided that: If any negro or mulatto come into the State of Missouri, without a certificate from a court of record in some one of the United States, evidencing that he was a citizen of such State, on complaint before any justice of the peace, such negro or mulatto could be commanded by the justice to leave the State; and if the colored person so ordered did not leave the State within thirty days, on complaint of any citizen, such person could be again brought before the justice who might commit him to the com- mon jail of the county, until the convening of the circuit court, when it became the duty of the judge of the circuit court to inquire into the cause of commitment; and if it was found that the negro or mulatto had remained in the State contrary to the provisions of this statute, the court was authorized to sentence such person to receive ten lashes on his or her bare back, and then order him or her to depart from the State; if the person so treated should still refuse to go, then the same proceedings were to be repeated, and punishment inflicted as often as was necessary until such person departed.
And further: If any person brought into the State of Mis- souri a free negro or mulatto, without the aforesaid certificate of citizenship, for every such negro or mulatto the person offend- ing was liable to a forfeit of five hundred dollars; to be recov- ered by action of debt in the name of the State. The editor of the Star commenting upon this law said:
Slaves are real estate in this and other states, and wisdom would dictate great care among the branches of The Church of Christ on this subject. So long as we have no special rule in The Church, as to people of color, let prudence guide; and while they, as well as we, are in
80 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
the hands of a merciful God, we say: shun every appearance of evil.
Publishing this law, and the above comment, was construed, by the old settlers, to be an invitation to free people of color to settle in Jackson County! Whereupon an extra was published to the July number of the Star on the sixteenth of the month, which said:
The intention in publishing the article, "Free People of Color," was not only to stop free people of color from emigrating to Missouri, but to prevent them from being admitted as members of The Church.* * * * * To be short, we are opposed to having free
people of color admitted into the State.
But in the face of all this the mob still claimed that the article was merely published to give directions and cautions to be observed by colored brethren, to enable them upon their ar- rival in Missouri, to "claim and exercise the rights of citizenship." "Contemporaneous with the appearance of this article" — the above article in the Star — continued the charge published in the Western Monitor — "was the expectation among the brethren,that a considerable number of this degraded caste were only waiting this information before they should set out on their journey." f
* In making the statement that it was the intention of the Star article not only to stop "free people of color" emigrating to Missouri, but also to "prevent them from being admitted as members of The Church," the editor of the Star goes too far; if not in his second article, explaining the scope and meaning of the first, then in the first article; for he had no business to seek to prevent "free people of color" from being admitted members of The Church. And in forming a judgment of this matter the reader must remember that it is the statement of the editor of the Star, and by no means represents the policy of The Church. As a matter of fact there were very few if any "free people of color" in The Church at that time. The "fears" of the Missourians on that head were sheer fabrications of evil-disposed minds.
| Western Monitor for the 2nd of August, 1833.
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 81
And this base falsehood was used to inflame the minds of the old settlers against the saints.
That the saints may have said the Lord would yet give them the land of Missouri for their inheritance, is doubtless true; but that they were to obtain it in any other than a legal way never entered their minds. They had been commanded of the Lord to purchase * the land for an inheritance. Besides, the elders stationed in Zion about this time, addressed an epistle to the churches abroad, in which they alluded to the gathering of ancient Israel, and pointing out the difference in their circum- stances and those by which the saints now were surrounded. Ancient Israel had been compelled to obtain the lands of their inheritance by the sword. "But," the address adds, "to suppose that we can come up here, and take possession of this land by the shedding of blood, would be setting at naught the law of the glorious gospel and also the word of our Great Redeemer: and to suppose that we can take possession of this country without making regular purchases of the same, according to the laws of our nation, would be reproaching this great republic, in which most of us were born, and under whose auspices we all have protec- tion." f Nothing then can be clearer than that while the saints may have said that Missouri would eventually be the land of their inheritance, they were expecting to obtain it in a perfectly legiti- mate manner — by purchase.
I have been particular in examining the charges made against the saints by their enemies in Jackson County, in order that my readers may know that wherein the things charged were not in and of themselves innocent, and no cause for offense what- ever, they were utterly without foundation in truth.
* Doc. & Cov. Sec. 57: 3, 5.
jEvening and Morning Star, July, 1833.
82 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
CHAPTER VII.
THE STORM BREAKS.
IN answer to the call made for the citizens of Jackson County to assemble at the court house on the twentieth of July, 1833, to devise means to rid the county of the "Mormons," be- tween four and five hundred gathered in from all parts of the county. Colonel Richard Simpson was elected chairman of the meeting, and James H. Flournoy and Colonel S. D. Lucas were chosen secretaries. A committee of seven was appointed by the chair to draft an address to the public, in relation to the object of the meeting; the following was the committee: Russel Hicks, Esq., Robert Johnson, Henry Childs, Esq., Colonel Jas. Hambright, Thomas Hudspeth, Joel F. Childs and Jas. M. Hunter.
The address this committee reported repeated the false- hoods concerning the saints interfering with slaves, inviting free people of color to settle in Jackson County; and of the saints being the very dregs of the society from which they had emigrated; again charged them with most abject poverty, idleness, and of coming to obtain inheritances in Jackson County, "without money and without price." It declared that the evils which threatened their community, by the "Mormons" settling among them, were such as no one could have foreseen, and there- fore they were unprovided for by the laws; and the delays incident to legislation would put the mischief beyond all remedy. It ex- pressed the fear that if the saints were not interfered with, the day would not be far distant when the civil government of the county would be in their hands; when the sheriff, the justices, and the county judges would be "Mormons" or persons wishing to
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 83
court their favor from motives of interest or ambition; and then the following:
What would be the fate of our lives and property in the hands of jurors and witnesses who do not blush to declare, and would not, upon occasion, hesitate to swear, that they have wrought miracles, and have been the subjects of miraculous and supernatural cures, have conversed with God and his angels, and possess and exercise the gifts of divination, and of unknown tongues, and fired with the pros- pects of obtaining inheritances without money and without price — may be better imagined than described.*
However, in speaking of the gifts of the Spirit which the saints enjoyed — revelation, prophecy, speaking in tongues, heal- ing the sick, etc., the committee proposed to have nothing to say, but piously close the clause which refers to these things with the words: "Vengeance belongs to God alone!" For the other things with which they charged the saints — each and all of them were utterly false except it might be in the matter of poverty. But even in this the truth was not stated. A few cases aside, the "poverty" in question was that poverty of the pioneer newly arrived in the wilderness which is to be the sub- sequent field of his enterprises and triumphs. Quite generally the saints went into Jackson County prepared to purchase lands and build homes; but pending the accomplishment of that, there was much inconvenience and some suffering for want of shelter and clothing; but 'abject poverty," apart from this, there was none.
The conclusion of the mob in the whole matter was thus stated:
That no Mormon shall in future move to or settle in this (Jack- son) county; that those now here, who shall give a definite pledge of their intention, within a reasonable time, to remove out of the county,
* Western Monitor, August 2, 1833.
84 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
shall be allowed to remain unmolested, until they have sufficient time to sell their property, and close their business without material sacri- fice; that the editor of the Star be required forthwith to close his office, and discontinue the business of printing in this county; and as to all other stores and shops belonging to the sect, their owners must, in every case, strictly comply with the terms of the second article of this declaration, and upon failure, prompt and efficient measures will be taken to close the same; that the Mormon leaders here are required to use their influence in preventing any further immigration of their distant brethren to this county, and to counsel and advise their breth- ren here to comply with the above requisitions; that those who fail to comply with these requisitions be referred to those of their breth- ren who have the gifts of divination, and of unknown tongues, to in- form them of the lot that awaits them.*
This address was unanimously adopted by the meeting, and a committee of twelve appointed to wait upon the "Mormon" lead- ers, and see that the foregoing requisitions were assented to by them. In case of a refusal on the part of the "Mormons" to com- ply with these demands, the committee, acting as the organ of Jackson County, were to inform them that it was the fixed determi- nation of the mob to adopt such means as would enforce their removal.
The committee called upon Edward Partridge, A. S. Gilbert, John Corrill, Isaac Morley, John Whitmer, and W. W. Phelps, and demanded that they cease publishing the Star and close the printing office, and that, as elders of the "Mormon Church," they agree to move out of the county forthwith. Three months was asked for by these elders in which to consider the proposition, and to give them time to counsel with The Church authorities in Ohio; as closing a printing office and removing twelve hundred people from their homes was a work of no small moment. But this time was denied them. They asked for ten days; but that was
* Western Monitor, August 2, 1833.
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 85
not granted; fifteen minutes only was allowed them in which to decide. At this the conference broke up, and the mob returned to the courthouse and reported to the meeting that they had called upon the "Mormon" leaders and that they refused to give a direct answer, but asked for time to consider the propositions and coun- sel with their brethren in Ohio. The meeting then resolved that the printing office be razed to the ground, and the type and press destroyed.
With demoniac yells the mob surrounded the printing office and house of W. W. Phelps. Mrs. Phelps, with a sick infant in her arms, and the rest of the children, were forced^ out of their home, the furniture was thrown into the street and garden, the press was broken, the type pied; the revelations, book-work and papers were nearly all destroyed or kept by the mob; and the printing office and house of W. W. Phelps were razed to the ground. Having reduced these buildings to a mass of ruins, the mob proceeded to demolish the mercantile establishment of Gil- bert, Whitney & Co., and destroy the goods; but when Mr. Gil- bert assured them that the goods would be packed by the twenty- third, they desisted from their work of destruction.
But their fiendish hate had not spent its force. With hor- rible yells and cursings loud, they sought for the leading elders. Men, women and children ran in all directions, not knowing what would befall them. The mob caught Bishop Edward Partridge and Charles Allen, and dragged them through the maddened crowd, which insulted and abused them along the road to the public square. Here two alternatives were presented them: either they must renounce their faith in the Book of Mormon, or leave the county. The Book of Mormon they would not deny, nor con- sent to leave the county. Bishop Partridge, being permitted to speak, said that the saints had to suffer persecution in all ages of the world, and that he was willing to suffer for the sake of Christ, as the saints in former ages had done; that he had done nothing which ought to offend anyone, and that if they abused
86 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
him, they would injure an innocent man. Here his voice was drowned by the tumult of the crowd, many of whom were shout- ing: "Call upon your God to deliver you — pretty Jesus you wor- ship!" These expressions, intermingled as they were with the vile oaths of the mob, were enough to put hell itself to shame. The two brethren, Partridge and Allen, were stripped of their outer clothing, and daubed with tar, mixed with lime, or pearl- ash, or some other flesh-eating acid, and a quantity of feathers scattered over them. They bore this cruel indignity and abuse with so much resignation and meekness that the crowd grew still, and appeared astonished at what they witnessed. The brethren were permitted to retire in silence — in silence, except when it was broken by the voice of a sister, crying aloud:
While you who have done this wicked deed must suffer the ven- geance of God, they, having endured persecution, can rejoice, for hence- forth for them is laid up a crown eternal in the heavens!
By this time it was getting late and the mob suddenly dis- persed. As night drew her sable mantle over the scene of ruin, those who had escaped to the woods and corn fields began to return, to learn what had befallen their friends. Wives anxiously inquired of the fate of their husbands, and children of the fate of their parents. There can be nothing more sad than this seek- ing to remove uncertainty in such cases. It is like seeking the dead and wounded on the battlefield, or the missing, the maimed or the dead after an earthquake, or some devouring tempest or flood — so much alike, at least in their results, are the eruptions of the elements and the fierce, uncontrolled pas- sions of man. Before each the timid and the helpless fly to such shelter as they find at hand. Some seek safety in flight, others in hiding from the storm or from wrath. Then when temporary safety is seemingly assured, thoughts for the safety of others assert themselves. The desire for the safety of the loved ones — a wife, a husband, a child, a parent, a brother, a friend — be-
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 87
comes an agony. Love by degrees conquers fear, and at last prompts the facing of danger much greater than . those from which at first they fled, and the loved ones are sought despite of all risks to personal safety. So it was with the saints who had been so unexpectedly assailed. On this occasion, however, those returning from flight or hiding had nothing to discover beyond the destruction of the printing press, the wrecking of the Phelps home, the looting of Gilbert's store, and the abuse of Partridge and Allen. Enough surely for one day of persecution, but not to be compared with scenes they yet would witness!
The outrages of this day were the more reprehensible be- cause of the character of the leaders of the mob. In the main they were the county officers — the county judge, the constables, clerks of the court and justices of the peace; while Lilburn W. Boggs, the lieutenant-governor, the second officer in the state, was there quietly looking on and secretly aiding every measure of the mob — who, walking among the ruins of the printing office and house of W. W. Phelps, remarked to some of the saints, "You now know what our Jackson boys can do, and you must leave the country!"
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CHAPTER VIII.
THREATS OF THE MOB — APPEAL OF THE SAINTS.
THE third day after the events related in the preceding chapter, the mob, to the number of some five hundred, again came dashing into Independence bearing a red flag, and armed with rifles, pistols, dirks, whips and clubs. They rode in every direction in search of the leading elders, making the day hideous with their inhuman yells and wicked oaths. They declared it to be their intention to whip those whom they captured with from fifty to five hundred lashes each, allow their negroes to destroy their crops, and demolish their dwellings. Said they:
"We will rid Jackson County of the 'Mormons,' peaceably if we can, forcibly if we must. If they will not go without, we will whip and kill the men; we will destroy their children, and ravish their women!"
"WE WILL RAVISH THEIR WOMEN !"
A threat most horrible. Worse than murder; for murder has in it yet some mercy as compared with ravishment, that worst exercise of brute force against helpless innocence. Murder when it has completed its work leaves its victim senseless and peaceful in death; "after life's fitful dream is over," he may sleep well. But what damning torments must that breast suffer which is robbed of its peace by brutal force! How deep the woe that bears the burden of an outraged modesty! How agonizing to be an object of pity ! How much more cruel the living tortures of a life so humiliated than the calmness and the peace of death! When devils would with their direst terrors shake a people they say,
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 89
We will ravish your women!
The leading elders, seeing their own lives, and the property and lives of those over whom they presided in jeopardy, resolved to offer themselves as a ransom for The Church — willing to be scourged, or even put to death if that would satisfy their tormentors, and stop their inhuman cruelties practiced toward the flock of which the Holy Ghost had made them overseers. The men who thus offered their own lives for the lives of their friends were:
John Corrill, A. S. Gilbert,
John Whitmer, Edward Partridge,
W. W. Phelps, Isaac Morley.
Forever let their names be known throughout all Israel as men who have given the greatest evidence within the power of man to give, that they loved the brethren. "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends;" and that faith which will inspire in man a love for his fellows; that will lead him to offer his life as a ransom for his brethren, is so nearly akin to that faith and love which glowed within the breast of the Divine Master, that its source cannot be mistaken. But the inhuman wretches who had combined to drive the saints from their homes in Jackson County, were insensible to the sublime manifestations of love they witnessed. It appealed not to their adamantine hearts. With brutal imprecations they told these men that not only they, but every man, woman and child would be whipped or scourged until they consented to leave the county, as they had decreed that the "Mormons" should leave the county, or they "or the 'Mormons' must die."
The presiding brethren, finding that there was no alterna- tive but for them to leave speedily or witness innocent blood shed by fiends incarnate, concluded to leave Jackson County. A new committee was selected by the mob to confer with the brethren, and the following agreement was entered into:
90 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
The leading elders with their families were to move from the county by the first of January following; and to use their influence to induce all their brethren to leave as soon as possible, one half by the first of January, 1834, and the remainder by April, 1834. They were also to use all the means in their power to stop any more of their brethren moving into the county; and also to use their influence to prevent the saints then enroute for Missouri settling permanently in Jackson County, but for those then on the way they were to be per- mitted to make temporary arrangements for shelter until a new location was agreed upon by the society. John Corrill and A. S. Gilbert were to be allowed to remain as general agents to settle up the business of The Church, so long as necessity required. Gilbert, Whitney & Co. were to be permitted to sell out their merchandise then on hand, but no more was to be imported. The Evening and Morning Star was not again to be published, nor a press established by any member of The Church in the county. Edward Partridge and W. W. Phelps were to be allowed to pass to and from the county to wind up their busi- ness aifairs, provided they moved their families from the county by the first of January following. On the part of the mob, the committee pledged themselves to use all their influence to pre- vent any violence being used against the saints, so long as the foregoing stipulations were complied with on the part of The Church.*
A day or two after this treaty was entered into, The Church in Zion dispatched Oliver Cowdery to Ohio to confer with the general Church authorities on the situation of the saints in Missouri. This conference resulted in the general authorities sending as special messengers Elders Orson Hyde and John Gould to Jackson County, with instructions to the saints not to
*Evening and Morning Star, p. 229.
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dispose of their lands or other property, nor remove from the county, except those who had signed the agreement to do so.
Meantime the saints attempted to settle in Van Buren, the county joining Jackson on the south (the name has since been changed to Cass), but the people of that county, after the saints commenced a settlement, drew up an agreement to drive them from there, and destroy the fruits of their labors; so they were obliged to return to their former homes.
While the saints were making efforts to carry out the first part of the stipulation entered into with the mob of Jackson County, the mob on their part failed to refrain from acts of violence. Daily the saints were insulted. Houses were broken into, and the inmate threatened with being mobbed if they stirred in their defense. But Truth began to make herself heard. As the fiendish acts of the mob became known, they called forth execra- tions from various quarters. A number of articles published in the Western Monitor, printed at Fayette, Howard County, Missouri, censured the conduct of the mob, and suggested that the saints seek redress of the State authorities for the wrongs they had suffered. Whereupon the leaders of the mob began to threaten life, and declared that if any "Mormon" attempted to seek redress by law or otherwise, for defamation of character, or loss of property, he should die.
These threats, however, did not deter the saints from appealing to the chief executive of the State for a redress of grievances. A petition setting forth their suffering, and deny- ing the allegations of the mob, was presented by Orson Hyde and W. W. Phelps to Daniel Dunklin, who, at the time, was governor of the State. In addition to relating the story of their wrongs, and denying the charges made by the mob, upon which the old settlers of Jackson County depended to excuse or defend their acts of cruelty toward the saints, the petition set forth that whenever that fatal hour arrived that the poorest citizen's person, property, or rights and privileges shall be trampled
92 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
upon by lawless mobs with impunity, "that moment a dagger is plunged into the heart of the Constitution of the country, and the Union must tremble * * * We solicit," said they, "assistance to obtain our rights; holding ourselves amenable to the laws of "our country, whenever we transgress them." They asked the governor by express proclamation or otherwise to raise a sufficient number of troops, who, with themselves, might be empowered to defend their rights; that they might sue for damages for the loss of property, for abuse, for defamation of character, and, if advisable, try for treason those who had trampled upon law and government, that the law of the land might not be defied, nor nullified, but peace restored to the c ountry.
To this very reasonable request Governor Dunklin made a patriotic reply. He stated he would think himself unworthy the confidence with which he had been honored by his fellow- citizens, did he not promptly employ all the means which the Constitution and laws had placed at his disposal to avert the calamities with which the saints were threatened, and added:
Ours is a government of laws, to them we all owe obedience, and their faithful administration is the best guarantee for the enjoyment of our rights. No citizen, nor number of citizens, have a right to take the redress of their grievances, whether real or imaginary, into their own hands. Such conduct strikes at the very existence of society, and subverts the very foundation on which it is based. I am not willing to persuade myself that any portion of the citizens of the State of Missouri are so lost to a sense of these truths as to require the exercise of force, in order to insure respect for them.
He advised the threatened saints, therefore, to make a trial of the efficacy of the laws; that wherein their lives had been threatened, they make affidavit to that effect before the circuit judge, or the justices of the peace in their respective districts, whose duty it then became to bind the threatening
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 93
■
parties to keep the peace. By this experiment it would be proven whether the laws could be executed or not; and in the event that they could not be peacefully executed, the governor pledged himself, on being officially notified of that fact, to take such steps as would insure a favorable execution of them.
As to the injuries the saints had sustained in the loss of property, the governor advised them to seek redress by civil process— expressing the opinion that the courts would grant them relief.*
I do not doubt the sincerity of Governor Dunklin in giving this counsel to the saints, and under ordinary circum- stances to seek redress at the hands of the civil authorities would be the proper thing to do. But in this case the officers of the law had been the head and front of this high-handed and infamous proceeding. In proof of this statement I give the names and offices held by those who were most active in the lawless proceeding related:
S. D. Lucas, colonel, and judge of the county court;
Samuel C. Owens, county clerk;
Russel Hicks, deputy clerk;
John Smith, justice of the peace;
Samuel Weston, justice of the peace;
William Brown, constable;
Thomas Pitcher, deputy constable.
Besides these there were Indian agents, postmasters, doc- tors, lawyers and merchants.
These were the men who had despoiled the saints — these the ones, in connection with the secret assistance of the lieu- tenant governor of the State, Lilburn W. Boggs, who inflamed the minds of the ignorant frontier settlers against an innocent people, and encouraged the vicious to maltreat the virtuous.
* Evening and Morning Star, p. 351.
94 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
These were the men who on the 23rd of July of the same year had said:
"We will rid Jackson County oj the 'Mormons' peaceably if we can, forcibly if we must. If they will not go without, we will whip and kill the men; we will destroy the lives of their children, and ravish their women!" And these were the men — the officers of justice, to whom the "Mormons" were to appeal for a redress of grievances! To say the least, does it not smack of "going to law with the devil, when court is to convene in hell?" Surely it was only a forlorn hope the saints could entertain of being redressed for their wrongs by appealing to the very parties who inflicted those wrongs upon them; and yet it was about the only course open to the governor to suggest at that time. Being willing to magnify the law, the saints acted upon the governor's advice. For this purpose they engaged the services of four lawyers from Clay County, then attending court at Independence, viz. : Messrs. Wood, Reese, Doniphan and Atchison. These gen- tlemen engaged to plant all the suits the saints might wish to present before the courts, and agreed to attend to them jointly throughout for one thousand dollars. W. W. Phelps and Bishop Partridge gave their notes for that sum, endorsed by Gilbert & Whitney.
No sooner did the mob witness these movements than they began to prepare for further hostilities. The red right hand of persecution was again armed to plague the saints.
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CHAPTER IX.
AGAIN THE STORM.
HAVING made all necessary preparations for obtaining by civil process redress for the wrongs inflicted upon them by the mob, Sunday, the twentieth day of October, 1833, the saints declared publicly that as a people they intended to de- fend their lands and homes. The next day the leaders of the mob began to prepare to inflict further violence upon them. Strict orders were circulated among the saints not to be the aggressors, but to warn the mob not to come upon them. Court was to convene on Monday, the 28th of October, and it was expected that some of the leaders of the mob would be required to file bonds to keep the peace.
While these preparations were progressing among the saints, the mob were not idle. They resorted to their old method of cir- culating false rumors about the "Mormons." The blasphemy of their doctrines; their intentions to take possession of Jackson County by force; the incompatibility between the old settlers and the "Mormons," were all urged, and the conclusion reached that a war of extermination must be waged against the saints in the name of self-preservation.
Saturday, the 26th, about fifty of the mob met in counsel, and "voted to a hand to move the 'Mormons;'" and as an earnest of their intentions, attacked a number of families who had but lately arrived from Ohio and Indiana, but without inflicting much injury. Monday, the 28th, the circuit court convened, but very few people were in attendance. There was no mob there, but threats of the most violent character were made.
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The night of October 31st, however, may be regarded as the time when hostilities recommenced in earnest. That night the mob to the number of forty or fifty proceeded against a branch of The Church located on the stream called Big Blue, known as the Whitmer settlement. They shamefully whipped nearly to death several of the brethren, among whom was Hiram Page. With brutal threats they frightened helpless women and children and drove them into the wilderness in the middle of the night, and then unroofed and demolished ten or twelve houses.
This outrage was followed up the next night, November 1st, by an attack upon the saints living in Independence and vicinity. Their houses were brickbatted, doors broken down, and long poles thrust through their windows. A party of the brethren had gathered for protection about half a mile west of Independence, and to them word was sent that the mob were tearing down the store of Gilbert, Whitney & Co., and destroy- ing their goods. Whereupon these brethren went in a body to the store. At their approach the main body of the mob fled. One of their number, bolder than his fellows, remained, however, and continued sending brickbats and stones through the shat- tered doors and windows, while the goods were scattered around him in the street. This man the brethren took prisoner, and brought him immediately before Samuel Weston, justice of the peace, entered a complaint, and asked that a warrant be issued that he, Richard McCarty, might be secured. But the justice refused to make out the warrant, or do anything in the matter, and McCarty was turned loose.
The same night an attack was projected upon another branch of The Church, known as the Colesville branch, located in Kaw Township, about twelve miles west of Independence. The mob sent two of their number, Robert Johnson and one Harris, as spies, armed with two guns and three pistols. They were discovered by some of the brethren, among whom was Parley P. Pratt. Without provocation Johnson struck Pratt
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 97
over the head with the breech of his gun, which staggered him for a moment, and made the blood flow in streams down his face. These two men were taken and detained as prisoners through the night. The spies not returning rather disconcerted the mob, and it is generally supposed prevented an attack that night upon the Colesville branch. The morning following, Johnson and Harris were given their arms, and permitted to return to their companions, without receiving injury from the hands of those whom they had so maliciously assaulted, and into whose power they had fallen.
On the night of November 2nd, a party of the mob went against the branch located on Big Blue, unroofed one house and destroyed some furniture. They also broke into the house of David Bennett, whom they found sick in bed. Being unable to resist them, they beat him most unmercifully, and swore they would blow out his brains. One of their number shot at him with a pistol, but the ball instead of entering his head, as evi- dently intended, cut a deep gash across the top of it, which, however, did not prove fatal.
While the mob were in the act of beating Bennett, a number of the brethren who had gathered in a body for mutual pro- tection came upon the scene, and a firing of guns commenced. Both parties claim that the other began the attack, but which party began the firing does not matter here. If the brethren opened the fire, they were altogether justified in doing so under the circumstances. Women and children were running here and there screaming with terror, not knowing where to go for safety. Their piteous cries, mingled with the brutal oaths of the mob, and the firing of guns, made the night hideous. In the melee a young man acting with the mob was shot through the thigh, but by which party it is not known.
This day also the saints in Independence gathered in a body as much as possible, about half a mile west of the town, for the purpose of better defending themselves against their enemies.
98 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
The day following the events just detailed, Joshua Lewis, Hiram Page, and two others were despatched to Lexington, to see John F. Ryland, judge of the circuit court, and obtain a peace warrant. The saints had previously applied to Squire Silvens for such a warrant, but he refused to grant it. They read to him the governor's letter, which directed them to pro- ceed in that manner, but he replied that he cared nothing for what the governor said. Either his fears of the mob were greater than his respect for the governor, or the law, or he was in hearty sympathy with the rioters. Judge Ryland issued a peace warrant on the 6th; but whether it ever reached the hands of the county sheriff or not I cannot learn. If placed in his hands, then he refused to serve it. But the most reasonable conclusion is, that in consequence of the exciting times and un- settled state of affairs in Jackson County, it never reached his hands.
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 99
CHAPTER X.
THE PASSIVELY GOOD.
THERE were a few of the citizens of Jackson County who did not take part in these shameful proceedings against The Church. They were friendly disposed towards the saints, but lacked the courage to speak out boldly in their defense, or take up arms to protect suffering innocence. This is often the case with the passively good; with "conservative" citizens. They have no sympathy with rioters, or with mob lawlessness. They are ready to say that such conduct is outrageous, and even a menace to free institutions, and incompatible with freedom; but further than this they do not go. Their conception of good citizenship does not lead them to be active in resisting aggres- sions upon the liberties of others; especially when those "others" are people with whom they have but little sympathy. They seem not to have learned that those who would preserve their own rights and freedom must insist upon the rights and liberty of every man being respected and assured. It is vain, and especially in a republic is it vain, for any man to suppose that the freedom of any citizen or class of citizens, however humble or even unpopular they may be, can be infringed without en- dangering the rights and freedom of all. Many otherwise, good citizens of the Republic — simple and fundamental to the preservation of rights and freedom as is this principle — seem so far to fail in appreciation of it, that they stand by while the rights of others are invaded, and sometimes swept away, without making so much as a protest against the injustice. They are content if only their own personal and immediate rights are not directly
100 THE MISSOUKI PERSECUTIONS.
assailed. The result is that an active minority — often, in fact, an insignificant part of the community, and contemptible of character — are permitted to perpetrate outrages upon worthy though it may be unpopular citizens, that bring disgrace upon the State, and endanger liberty itself. Such was the case in the present instance with those who were not in sympathy with the mob ; and yet so far were they from standing up for the rights of those whom they confessed were unjustly assailed, that they advised the saints to leave the State immediately, as the wound- ing of the young man on the night of the 2nd had enraged the whole county against them; and it was a common expression among the mob that Monday (the 4th of November), would be a "bloody day."
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CHAPTER XL
A "BLOODY DAY."
EARLY on Monday the mob took the ferry-boat on Big Blue, west of Independence, which belonged to the saints, driv- ing the owners away with threats of violence. From thence they went to a store, about one mile west of the ferry, kept by one Wilson. Word was brought to a branch of The Church located several miles still further west from the ferry, that the mob east of the Blue were destroying property, and the saints needed assistance. Upon hearing this, nineteen of the brethren volunteered to go to their aid; but on approaching Wilson's store they learned that the mob were there, and that the report of the destruction of property east of the Blue was false. The company started to return to their homes, but two small boys passing on their way to Wilson's store saw this company, and reported to the mob that the "Mormons" were on the road west of them. At this the mob, which numbered between forty and fifty, started in pursuit, and soon came in sight of the company of volunteers, which, at the enemy's approach, fled in all directions. The mob gave hot pursuit, hunting for the brethren through the corn fields, and even searching the houses of the saints for them; at the same time threatening the women and children with violence if they did not tell where the men were hiding. They fed their horses in Christian Whitmer's corn field, and took him and pointed their guns at him, threatening his life if he did not tell them where the brethren were.
Two or three of the company who were dispersed by the mob made their way to the Colesville branch of The Church,
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which was but about three miles away. A company of thirty men was quickly formed, and although they were armed with but seventeen guns, and knew their enemies were more numerous than they, and better armed, they promptly marched to the assist- ance of their brethren. They found the mob hunting for their victims, and threatening the women and children. As the mob saw this new company approaching, some of them shouted "Fire, God damn ye, fire!" and then they themselves fired two or three shots at the approaching company. This fire was promptly re- turned by a volley from the brethren, at which the mob fled, leaving two of their number and some of their horses dead on the ground. The two killed were Hugh L. Brazeale and Thomas Linville. Brazeale had been known to say, "with ten fellows I will wade to my knees in blood, but what I will drive the 'Mor- mons' from Jackson County."
The first shots fired by the mob wounded Philo Dibble in the bowels, the balls remaining in him. As he bled much inwardly his bowels became swollen, and his life was despaired of. Newel Knight, however, administered to him, by laying on hands in the name of Jesus Christ, and a purifying fire penetrated his whole system. He discharged several quarts of blood and corruption, with which was one of the balls that inflicted his wounds. He was immediately healed, and remained an able-bodied man, and per- formed military duty for a number of years afterwards.*
A brother by the name of Andrew Barber was mortally wounded — his death occurred the next day.
This battle was fought about sundown, and during the night the mob dispatched runners in all directions with the false re-
* Philo Dibble lived to take part in the defense of the city of Nau- voo, some thirteen years later; afterwards removed with The Church to the Rocky Mountains, settling finally in Springville, Utah County, where he died in full faith of the gospel at the advanced age of 90, on the sixth of June 1895.
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 103
port that the "Mormons" had "Hz;" that they had been joined by the Indians, and had taken Independence; that the "'Mormons' had gone into Wilson's store and shot his son," with other rumors that were calculated to excite the people, and enrage them against the saints.
The same day, November 4th, a most extraordinary affair occurred at Independence. We have already told how a number of the brethren caught Richard McCarty on the night of Novem- ber 1st, in the act of hurling stones and brickbats through the doors and windows of Gilbert, Whitney & Co.'s store, while the goods — calicoes, shawls, cambric handkerchiefs, etc. — were scattered around him in the street; and how the brethren took him before the justice of the peace, Samuel Weston, and asked for a warrant to be issued against him, and how the justice re- fused to issue the warrant. But on this fourth day of Novem- ber, Richard McCarty obtained a warrant from this same justice of the peace for the arrest of A. S. Gilbert, Wm. E. McLellin, Isaac Morley, John Corrill, and three or four others, charging them with assault and battery, and false imprisonment. In relation to this matter Brother Corrill tersely remarks, "Although we could not obtain a warrant against him for breaking open the store, yet he had gotten one for us, for catching him at it."
The trial of these men was in progress in the courthouse at Independence, when the news of the battle west of the Blue was brought to town. But instead of being reported correctly, it was said that the "Mormons" had gone into Wilson's house and shot his son. This so enraged the crowd that were in attend- ance at the trial that a rush was made for the prisoners, to kill them. This, however, was prevented; and at the suggestion of Samuel C. Owens, clerk of the county court, those on trial were locked up in jail for their own safety. During the night the mob were busy collecting arms and ammunition, making every preparation for a general massacre of the saints the next day.
The brethren who were imprisoned were frequently told of
104 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
these warlike preparations during the night, and that, too, by men of note; and were further informed that nothing but their leaving the county would prevent bloodshed. Whereupon the brethren consented to leave the county, and furthermore agreed to go and consult with their brethren on the subject of all the members of The Church leaving. For this purpose Gilbert, Morley, and Corrill were accompanied by the sheriff and two others to the branch of The Church some half a mile from Inde- pendence; and there held an interview with their brethren upon the subject of their moving from the county, to which the mem- bers of that branch consented.
The sheriff and his prisoners then returned to the jail —it being about two o'clock in the morning. As they approached the jail they were halted by a company of armed men, six or seven in number. The sheriff answered them, giving his own name and the names of his prisoners, at the same time exclaim- ing, "Don't fire, don't fire, the prisoners are in my charge!" Morley and Corrill turned and fled, and the party who had halted them fired one or two shots after them. Gilbert stood his ground, and while the sheriff held him, several guns were presented at him. Two of the men, more desperate than the rest, attempted to shoot him, but their guns missed fire; seeing that they failed to shoot him, one of the party, Thomas Wilson, knocked him down. His life, however, was preserved, and his injuries were not very serious.
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CHAPTER XII.
THE "HONOR" OF A MOB.
* P^HE morning of the 5th of November witnessed the people A from all parts of the county crowding well armed into Inde- pendence. But few knew of the agreement made by the saints in and about Independence to leave the county; and the presence of the armed crowds was made the occasion of calling out the militia. This last move was at the instigation of Lieutenant Governor Boggs — at least such was the report among the people that day. The command of this militia was given to Colonel Pitcher, but the men who had formerly been the mob made up the ranks of the militia; and the only difference between the mob and the militia was that the mob organized as a militia were prepared to adopt more effective measures in driving the saints from their homes than before they were so organized. The colonels in command — Pitcher and Lucas — were known as the bit- ter enemies of the saints, and their names were attached to the agreement, circulated in the July previous, to drive them from the county. From such a militia, officered by such men as Pitcher and Lucas, the saints could hope for no protection.
The branches of The Church west of Independence did not hear of the agreement of the Independence branch to leave the county, but reports reached them that a number of their breth- ren were imprisoned, and that the mob were determined to kill them. About a hundred of the brethren gathered from the various branches, and marched in a body to assist those in peril. They halted about a mile west of Independence, to ascertain the situation of affairs. Learning that the mob had not attacked
7
106 THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS.
the branch at Independence, and that the militia was called out, they concluded to quietly disperse and go to their homes. But they had been seen on the road, and it was reported that the "Mormons" were on the march toward Independence, with the intention, no doubt, to do mischief.
Hearing this, the militia under Colonel Pitcher became en- raged, and would only consent to grant the people peace on the condition of their agreeing to deliver up certain men, engaged in the battle the evening before, to be tried for murder and surrendering their arms. To this last proposition Lyman Wight, who, it appears, acted as the leader of the body of brethren that had marched to Independence, would not consent, unless Colonel Pitcher would also disarm the mob. To this the colonel cheer- fully agreed; and pledged his honor, with that of Lieutenant Governor Boggs, Samuel C. Owens, and others, to carry out his promise. *
Upon this treaty being made the brethren surrendered their arms — in all, forty-nine guns and one pistol. They also gave up a number of the parties who were engaged the night before in the battle, to be tried for murder. These men were detained a day and a night, during which time they were insulted, threat- ened, and brickbatted; and after receiving a mockery of a trial, Colonel Pitcher let them go, after taking an old watch from one of them to satisfy costs!
The agreement made by Colonel Pitcher, to disarm the mob, was never executed; but as soon as the brethren had surrendered their arms, bands of armed men were turned loose upon them. Lyman Wight was chased by one of these gangs across an open prairie for five miles, but fortunately escaped. He lay three weeks in the woods, and was without food three days and nights. He was hunted by the mob through Jackson, Lafayette, and Clay counties, and also through the Indian Territory. Some of
* Times and Seasons, 1843, p. 263.
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 107
the parties who were hounding him were asked why it was they had so much against him, to which they replied: "He believes in
Joe Smith and the Book of Mormon,' G — d d n him; and we
believe Joe Smith to be a d — d rascal!"
The men who had made up the rank and file of the militia on the 5th of November, the next day were riding over the country in armed gangs threatening men, women and children with violence, searching for arms, and brutally tying up and whipping some of the men, and shooting at others. The leaders of these ruffians were some of the prominent men of the county; Colonel Pitcher and Lieutenant Governor Boggs being among the number. The priests in the county, it seems, were determined not to be outdone by the politicians, for the Reverend Isaac McCoy and other preachers of the gospel (!) were seen leading armed bands of marauders from place to place; and were the main inspirers of cowardly assaults on the defenseless.
All through this day and the day following (the 6th and 7th of November,) women and children were fleeing in every direc- tion from the presence of the merciless mob. One company of one hundred and ninety — all women and children, except three decrepit old men — were driven thirty miles across a burnt prairie. The ground was thinly crusted with sleet, and the trail of these exiles was easily followed by the blood which flowed from their lacerated feet!* This company and others who joined them erected some log cabins for temporary shelter, and not knowing the limits of Jackson County, built them within the borders thereof. Subsequently, in the month of January, 1834, parties of the mob again drove these people, and burned their wretched cabins, leaving them to wander without shelter in the most severe winter months. Many of them were taken suddenly ill and died.
* Lyman Wight's affidavit, Times and Seasons, 1843, p. 264.
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CHAPTER XIII.
SCENES ON THE BANKS OF THE MISSOURI — EXILED.
OTHER parties during the two days mentioned flocked to the Missouri River, and crossed at the ferries into Clay County. One of the companies of distressed women and children were kindly lodged by a Mr. Bennett for the night in his house. We speak of this because acts of benevolence toward the saints were so rare that whenever they occur they should be chronicled. In one of the companies that went to Clay County was a woman named Ann Higbee who had been sick for many months with chills and fever, — she was carried across the river, appar- ently a corpse. Another woman named Keziah Higbee, in the most delicate condition, lay on the banks of the river all night, while the rain descended in torrents, and under these circum- stances was delivered of a male child; but the mother died a premature death through the exposure. All the pity the parties received from their relentless persecutors was this brutal expres- sion, "G — d d— n you, do you believe in Joe Smith now?" The scene that was witnessed on the banks of the Missouri on the seventh of November is so graphically described in the Prophet Joseph's history that I cannot forbear inserting it here :
The shores began to be lined on both sides of the ferry with men, women and children, goods, wagons, boxes, chests, provisions, etc.; while the ferrymen were busily employed in crossing them over; and when night again closed upon the saints, the wilderness had much the appearance of a camp-meeting. Hundreds of people were seen in every direction; some in tents, and some in the open air, around their fires, while the rain descended in torrents. Husbands were inquiring for their wives, and women for their husbands; parents for
THE MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS. 109
children, and children for parents. Some had the good fortune to escape with their family household goods, and some provisions; while others knew not of the fate of their friends, and had lost all their goods. The scene was indescribable, and would have melted the hearts of any people upon earth, except the blind oppressor and prejudiced and ignorant bigot. Next day the company increased, and they were chiefly engaged in felling small cottonwood trees and erecting them into temporary cabins, so that when night came on, they had the appearance of a village of wigwams, and the night being clear, the occupants began to enjoy some degree of comfort.*
On the night of the thirteenth of November, while large bodies of the saints were still encamped on the Missouri bot- toms, exiled from their homes for the gospel's sake, one of the most wonderful meteoric showers occurred that was ever wit- nessed. The whole heavens and the earth were made brilliant by the streams of light which marked the course of the falling aerolites. The whole upperd eep was one vast display of heaven's fireworks. The long trains of light left in the heavens by the meteors would twist into the most fantastic shapes, like writh- ing serpents. The grandeur of the display was far beyond the power of words to describe. I mention it because of the effect it had upon the minds of the suffering saints. The scriptures teach that one of the signs of the glorious appearing of Jesus Christ shall be the falling of stars from the heaven, as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind; and the shaking of the powers of heaven.f
It is needless to say that this sign in the heavens encour- aged the exiles; that it revived their hopes; that it calmed their fears; that it seemed to herald the coming of their Deliverer, the Son of God. Nor need I say that it awed the mob, and made a pause in their cruel proceedings for a season. That
* Millennial Star, Vol. 14, p. 582.
t Mark 13: 25, 26; also Revelation 6: 13-17.
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pause, however, was brief; for on the twenty-third of November the mob held a meeting and appointed a committee to warn away any of the saints who might possibly be found within the borders of the county. Accordingly what few families were scattered here and there through the county were threatened and abused until they were finally forced from their homes. On the twenty-fourth of December four aged families were assaulted at Independence. The mob tore down their chimneys, broke open their doors and threw large stones into their houses.
A brother by the name of Miller, sixty-five years of age, and the youngest of the men in the four families, narrowly es- caped fatal injuries. A brother Jones, who was also subjected to like inhuman treatment, served as a life-guard to General Wash- ington in the Revolution, and had fought for the establishment of the sacred principles of liberty guaranteed in the Constitu- tion of his country, the free exercise of which was now denied him by a gang of heartless wretches, who had conspired against the liberties of worthy citizens.
Some time later in the winter, an old man of about seventy years of age was driven from his house, after which it was thrown down. His household goods, corn, etc., were piled to- gether and set on fire; but, fortunately, after the mob left, his son extinguished the flames. About the same time Lyman Leonard had two chairs broken to splinters over his head and body, and was dragged out of doors, where he was beaten with clubs until he was supposed to be dead. The same day Josiah Sumner and Barnet Cole received the same kind of treatment.*
Early in the spring the mob burned the remainder of the houses belonging to the saints. According to the testimony of Lyman Wight, two hundred and three dwelling-houses and one grist mill were so destroyedf — destroyed in the hope, perhaps, of discouraging the return of the exiles.
* Evening and Morning Star, p. 277.
f Lyman Wight's affidavit, Times and Seasons, 1843, p. 2(
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CHAPTER XIV.
AFTERMATH OF THE EXPULSION.
THE saints, exiled from their homes in Jackson County, found a temporary resting place in Clay County; though some of them were scattered through Ray, Lafayette, and Van Buren Counties. Those, however, who settled in Van Buren were again driven away, as related in a former chapter. The people in Clay County, as a rule, were kind to the exiles thrown so unceremoniously upon their hospitality. They were permitted to occupy every vacant cabin, and build others for temporary shelter. Some of the sisters obtained positions as domestics in the households of well-to-do farmers, while others taught school. For their acts of kindness the people of Clay County were well repaid in labor performed by the brethren, who were by no means idle, nor of the class who would receive a gratuity when it was within their power to give its equivalent in honest toil. But look at the situation of the saints in the best possible light, and after all, it was a gloomy prospect! In their scat- tered condition no regular discipline could be enforced. Many of them were beyond the reach of their spiritual teachers; and being surrounded by wickedness, their hopes blighted, and wit- nessing the apparent triumph of the wicked, is it any wonder if, in their despair, many of them committed sins, and were chargeable with follies unbecoming people of their profession?