Chapter 25

Chapter 25Persecutions of the Saints1838Clark’s Fitness for His JobGeneral John B. Clark was a resident of Jackson County. So was General Samuel D. Lucas. Both assisted in driving the “Mormons” from that county in 1833. Governor Lilburn W. Boggs was also from Jackson, and aided in that expulsion. At that time he was lieutenant governor, and worked secretly. These three men hated the Latter-day Saints with a mortal hate. General Clark was not the ranking officer in the state militia in 1838, but Boggs knew, from former experiences, whom to depend upon to execute his dastardly job. Few of the other generals, though several of them disliked the “Mormons,” could debase themselves enough to reach the level required to execute the governor’s inhuman decree. Clark, who received the command, and Lucas who assisted him, were the two most fitted to carry out the order of extermination.The Haun’s Mill MassacreThere were a great many petty officers, and some sectarian priests, who could descend to any level. Human butchery, if “Mormons” were the victims, was to them but a recreation. Such a man was Col. William O. Jennings, of the state militia. Another was Captain Nehemiah Comstock, who served under Jennings. These “brave” men with an armed force of characters like themselves—all from the state troops —were assembled, at the close of the month of October, 1838, near a small settlement of the Saints at Haun’s Mill, on Shoal Creek, about twelve miles due east of Far West. On the 28th day of that month, a Sunday, Jennings approached the settlement and proposed a treaty of peace. The members of the Church located there, who were quietly minding their own business, knew not, when they were at peace, why they should be called on to enter into such an agreement. However, knowing the status of affairs throughout upper Missouri, they gladly entered into such a treaty, and continued with their domestic affairs, feeling perfectly secure. In the meantime Col. Ashley had informed Col. Jennings of the governor’s order of extermination. Thereupon Jennings and Nehemiah Comstock gathered their forces, about two hundred and forty men, and immediately started for Haun’s Mill.Monday, October 29, 1838, passed in peace and quiet. Tuesday the 30th was clear and pleasant, an Indian summer day. In the afternoon, the Saints were engaged in their daily pursuits, the men in the fields and the shops; the women attending to domestic duties, and the children playing on the banks of the creek. Suddenly Jennings and his force approached at full speed, riding upon the settlement. David Evans, perceiving their evil intentions, raised his hands as a sign of peace; but they heeded him not. Continuing their advance, they commenced to fire. The stricken people fled, seeking shelter and endeavoring to escape. Some fled into the thickets near their homes, and by this means escaped. For lack of time and want of a better protection, several of the men and boys rushed into the blacksmith shop. The cracks between the logs of the shop were so wide that the fiends on the outside could see their victims within. Surrounding the place, they poured volley after volley through the cracks with deadly effect. Several intended victims rushed from the shop amidst the fire of the mob; some escaped to the thicket; others were shot. Miss Mary Steadwell, while fleeing, was shot in the hand and fainted; falling over a log she remained protected by it. After the work of destruction was over, more than twenty musket balls were discovered in the log. Yet the executioners were principally seeking for the men, and let most of the women escape.After completing all the execution possible on the outside of the shop, the ruffians pushed through the door and finished their bloody work. The terrible scene enacted there was one of the utmost brutality. It is told in the “History of Caldwell County,” Missouri, with such excuses for the attack as the writers of such a history could employ. Nevertheless the diabolical deeds of these members of the state militia, are partly related as follows:“Esq. Thomas McBride was an old soldier of the Revolution. He was lying wounded and helpless, his gun by his side. A militiaman named Rogers came up to him and demanded it. “Take it,” said McBride. Rogers picked up the weapon, and finding that it was loaded, deliberately discharged it into the old man’s breast. He then cut and hacked the old veteran’s body with a rude sword, or corn knife, until it was frightfully mangled. Wm. Reynolds, a Livingston County man, killed the little boy Sardius Smith, 10 years of age. The lad had run into the blacksmith shop and crawled under the bellows for safety. Upon entering the shop the cruel militiaman discovered the cowering, trembling little fellow, and without even demanding his surrender, fired upon and killed him, and afterwards boasted of the atrocious deed to Charles R. Ross and others. He described, with fiendish glee, how the poor boy struggled in his dying agony, and justified his savage and inhuman conduct in killing a mere child by saying, ‘Nits will make lice, and if he had lived he would have been a Mormon.’”The names of those killed are as follows: Thomas McBride, Levi N. Merrick, Elias Benner, Josiah Fuller, Benjamin Lewis, Alexander Campbell, Warren Smith, George S. Richards, William Napier, Austin Hammer, Simeon Cox, Hiram Abbott, John York, John Lee, John Byers, Sardius Smith and Charles Merrick. Some of these were mere children. Many others were severely wounded but managed to escape with their lives, among them a boy, Alma Smith, who had the flesh of his hip shot away. He had the presence of mind to lie perfectly still and the fiends thought he was dead. Alma was miraculously healed through prayer and faith.After this terrible work the murderers proceeded to rob the houses, wagons and tents, and left the widows and children who escaped destitute of the necessities of life. They even stripped the bodies of the slain, and carried off their booty, shouting in fiendish glee and boasting of their deeds of blood, as though they were deeds of valor, worthy of the greatest praise and honor.Gathering of the Mob-MilitiaThe same day of the massacre at Haun’s Mill, General Samuel D. Lucas, in command of two thousand men, arrived at Far West. With him were Brigadier Generals Doniphan, Parks, Graham and Wilson, the latter another ruffian. General Clark was at Chariton, under a forced march, with the governor’s exterminating order and a force of about one thousand men.As the troops approached Far West towards the evening of that day, they formed in double file about one half mile from the city. With a flag of truce they sent messengers to the city. They were met by Captain Morey, with a few other individuals, who desired to know what the gathering of the large armed force could mean, for as yet the “Mormon” people had not learned of the Boggs exterminating order. To their horror they were told that the body of troops were state militia, ordered there by the governor, to exterminate the people and burn the place. They demanded three persons in Far West, Adam Lightner, a non-“Mormon,” John Cleminson, who had lost the faith, and his wife, to be brought to them. When these three came out, the messengers told them to leave Far West at once and save their lives, for they would be protected. The determination of the force of militia was to destroy Far West and kill the inhabitants. All three nobly said if the people were to be destroyed they would return and die with them. The officers immediately returned to the camp.Charles C. Rich was then dispatched with a flag of truce toward the camp of militia to have an interview with Generals Atchison and Doniphan, who in the past had shown some sympathy for the “Mormons.” On his way he was fired at by Captain Bogart. Nevertheless, he continued on his way and was granted the interview with Doniphan, who informed him that General Atchison had been “dismounted” a few miles back, by order of the governor, for being too merciful to the “Mormons.” He then plead with Doniphan to use his influence to protect the city from an attack, at least until the following morning. Doniphan replied that the governor had ordered the extermination of the “Mormons,” but his order had not arrived, and until it did there would be no attack upon the Saints. However, he could not vouch for the action of Cornelius Gilliam’s company, which had just arrived, painted and decorated as Indians; their commander styling himself the “Delaware Chief.” These savages spent the night in making hideous yells and other disturbances. When Charles C. Rich returned to Far West and reported, Col. George M. Hinkle, who commanded the forces at Far West, sent another messenger to the mob-militia to plead for the lives of the people. He returned without a satisfactory answer and reported that he had learned that several members of the Church had been captured by some of the troops, and had been brutally murdered, with no one to raise a voice in protest.During the night the Saints made such temporary fortification as they were able and with grim determination prepared to fight the best they could to the last, being outnumbered more than five to one. Recruits were hourly joining the forces of their enemies. Among these came Col. Jennings and his band, fresh from the great “victory” at Haun’s Mill. The Saints spent an anxious night in solemn supplication to the Lord. The women gathered such few loose articles as might be carried, and prepared for flight if the chance was offered them. Lyman Wight, with a small force, came from Adam-ondi-Ahman and succeeded in gaining Far West during the night.The Siege of Far WestEarly on the morning of the 31st, Col. Hinkle sent another messenger to General Doniphan. When he returned he stated that Doniphan had said that the governor’s order had arrived and Lucas was preparing to carry it out. “He would be damned, if he would obey the order,” was the report, “but Lucas could do as he pleased.”The army, while encamped, permitted no person to go out or come in the city. Those who attempted it were shot at. Corn fields were destroyed and cattle, sheep and hogs wantonly killed by members of the mob-militia.Colonel Hinkle’s TreacheryAbout eight o’clock Col. Hinkle sought another interview, this time with General Lucas, to learn if some compromise could not be arranged to avoid a battle. Lucas promised to meet him with a flag of truce at two o’clock. At the time appointed the interview was held. Hinkle, John Corrill, who had within the past few weeks become disaffected, William W. Phelps and a Captain Morrison, met with Lucas and his aids when the following propositions were presented to Col. Hinkle for acceptance in behalf of the “Mormons:”“To give up their leaders to be tried and punished.“To make an appropriation of their property, all who had taken up arms, to the payment of their debts and indemnity for damage done by them.“That the balance should leave the state, and be protected out by the militia, but to be permitted to remain under protection until further orders were received from the Commander-in-Chief.“To give up the arms of every description, to be receipted for.”At least, these were the terms according to the report Lucas made to Governor Boggs. What else he may have said is not on record. To these terms Col. Hinkle agreed, but asked to be given until the next day to comply with them. Lucas consented to this on the condition that Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Lyman Wight, Parley P. Pratt and George W. Robinson be turned over to the camp of the militia as hostages. If in the morning Hinkle failed to comply with the terms, these men would be returned to Far West, and the attack should commence on the city. If he did comply, then these brethren, among others, should be retained as prisoners to be tried. Hinkle returned to Far West and reported to Joseph Smith that the officers of the state militia desired an interview with the brethren mentioned, hoping that the difficulties might be settled without carrying out the exterminating order. Said Parley P. Pratt: “We had no confidence in the word of a murderer and robber; but there was no alternative, but to put ourselves into the hands of such monsters, or to have the city sacked, and men, women and children massacred. We therefore commended ourselves to the Lord, and voluntarily surrendered.” As they approached the camp in compliance with this order, General Lucas, with a guard of several hundred men, rode up, and with a haughty air ordered his men to surround the brethren. Colonel Hinkle was heard to say: “General, these are the prisoners I agreed to deliver up.” The prisoners were then marched into the camp surrounded by several thousand savage looking soldiers. “These all set up a constant yell,” says Brother Pratt, “like so many bloodhounds let loose upon their prey. . . . If the vision of the infernal regions could suddenly be opened to the mind, with thousands of malicious fiends, all clamoring, exulting, deriding, blaspheming, mocking, railing, raging and foaming like a troubled sea, then could some idea be formed of the hell which we had entered.”The prisoners were placed under a strong guard and forced to remain without shelter during the night in inclement winter weather. The guard blasphemed; mocked the Savior; demanded miracles and said: “Come, Smith, show us an angel; give us one of your revelations; show us a miracle; come, there is one of your brethren in camp whom we took prisoner yesterday in his own house, and knocked his brains out with his own rifle, which we found hanging over his fire place; he lies speechless and dying;1speak the word and heal him, and then we will all believe; or, if you are apostles or men of God deliver yourselves, and then we will be “Mormons.”2Condemned to be ShotThursday morning, November 1, 1838, Hyrum Smith and Amasa Lyman were brought by Col. Hinkle into the camp. That night a court martial was held, at which, besides the commanding officers of the mob-militia, Col. Hinkle, Judge Austin A. King, District Attorney Birch, and the Reverends Sashiel Woods, Bogart and several other priests, played a part. The prisoners were sentenced to be shot on the public square in Far West, Friday morning at 9 o’clock. This was, let it be said to their honor, over the protest of Generals Doniphan and Graham, and perhaps a few others. General Doniphan was given the order to carry out the execution. It was a most fortunate thing that he was selected, for he refused to obey the command. The order given him was as follows:“Brigadier General Doniphan:“Sir: You will take Joseph Smith and the other prisoners into the public square of Far West, and shoot them at 9 o’clock tomorrow morning.”“Samuel D. Lucas,”“Major General Commanding.”General Doniphan replied to this order by saying to his superior:“It is cold blooded murder. I will not obey your order. My brigade shall march for Liberty tomorrow morning at 8 o’clock; and if you execute these men, I will hold you responsible before an earthly tribunal, so help me God.”“A. W. Doniphan,”“Brigadier General.”Although this was an act of insubordination, it frightened the criminal general and his willing aids. No charge was ever made against Doniphan, for they dared not make one.Plundering of the MilitiaCol. Hinkle, according to his agreement, marched the militia companies at Far West out of the city and grounded their arms, which were the private property of the men who held them. Then the mob force was let loose. They entered the city without restraint, on pretext of searching the homes for additional arms. They tore up floors; ruined furniture; destroyed property; whipped the men and forced them to sign deeds to their property at the point of the bayonet; and violated the chastity of women, until their victims died. About eighty men were taken prisoners and the people were ordered to leave the state, and were forbidden, under threat of death, to assemble more than three in a place. Notwithstanding all this, General Lucas reported to the governor how orderly and decorous were his troops.Prisoners Taken to IndependenceThe prisoners after an earnest appeal, were permitted to visit their homes, under a strong guard, to obtain a change of clothing. They were, however, given strict command not to speak, or enter into conversation with the members of their families. When the Prophet visited his home the children clung to his garments. He requested the privilege of a private interview with his family, which was denied him. Hyrum Smith, whose wife less than two weeks later was confined,3drew attention to the condition in his home; but received in answer only gibes and insults. Parley P. Pratt underwent a similar scene, and in the anguish of his soul appealed to General Moses Wilson, who answered him with an exultant laugh, and a taunting reproach.After these painful scenes, the prisoners were started for Independence, under a strong guard commanded by Generals Lucas and Wilson. On the way orders came from General Clark to have the prisoners sent to him, but this General Lucas was not willing to do. Clark, without question, wanted the honor of putting the prisoners to death. Through his vanity, Lucas wanted to exhibit them before their enemies in Jackson County, and pose as a great hero in triumph. Between the rivalry of the two, not forgetting the hand of the Lord which was over them, their lives were spared.4Prisoners in RichmondOn the 3rd of November, 1838, the prisoners arrived in Jackson County and the next day were taken by order of General Lucas, to Independence. General Clark, however, would not permit them to stay, desiring to gain possession of them himself. Therefore, he sent Col. Sterling Price with instructions to have them removed immediately to Richmond, Ray County. They arrived in Richmond on the 9th, and were imprisoned in a vacant house. On their way they met General Clark, and asked him why they had been carried from their homes and what the charges were against them. Clark said he was not then able to determine, but would be prepared to tell in a short time. When they were confined Clark sent Price with two chains and padlocks and had the prisoners fastened together. The windows were then nailed down; the prisoners were searched and the only weapons they had (their pocket knives) were taken away. While this was going on armed guards stood with cocked guns pointed at them. Here the brethren were kept many days awaiting trial.Rebuking the GuardsWhile incarcerated in this prison, the brethren were guarded by some of the vilest wretches that could be found, who spent their time in the presence of their prisoners relating their horrible deeds of wickedness. This thing continued for some time, when the Prophet, unable to stand it any longer, arose and rebuked them. The occurrence is graphically related by Elder Parley P. Pratt in the following words:“During this time Elder Rigdon was taken very sick, from hardship and exposure, and finally lost his reason; but still he was kept in a miserable, noisy and cold room, and compelled to sleep on the floor with a chain and padlock round his ankle, and fastened to six others. Here he endured the constant noise and confusion of an unruly guard, the officer of which was Colonel Sterling Price, since governor of the State.“These guards were composed generally of the most noisy, foul-mouthed, vulgar, disgraceful rabble that ever defiled the earth. . . . Mrs. Robinson, a young and delicate female, with her infant, came down to see her husband [George W. Robinson], and to comfort and take care of her father [Sidney Rigdon] in his sickness. When she first entered the room, amid the clank of chains and the rattle of weapons, and cast her eyes on her sick and dejected parent and sorrow-worn husband, she was speechless, and only gave vent to her feelings in a flood of tears. This faithful lady, with her little infant, continued by the side of her father till he recovered from his sickness, and till his fevered and disordered mind resumed its wonted powers.“In one of those tedious nights we had lain as if in sleep till the hour of midnight had passed, and our ears and hearts had been pained, while we had listened for hours to the obscene jests, the horrid oaths, the dreadful blasphemies and filthy language of our guards, Colonel Price at their head, as they recounted to each other their deeds of rapine, murder, robbery, etc., which they had committed among the ‘Mormons’ while at Far West and vicinity. They even boasted of defiling by force wives, daughters, and virgins, and of shooting or dashing out the brains of men, women and children.“I had listened till I became so disgusted, shocked, horrified, and so filled with the spirit of indignant justice that I could scarcely refrain from rising upon my feet and rebuking the guards; but had said nothing to Joseph, or any one else, although I lay next to him and knew he was awake. On a sudden he arose to his feet, and spoke in a voice of thunder, or as the roaring lion, uttering, as near as I can recollect, the following words:“SILENCE,ye fiends of the infernal pit. In the name of Jesus Christ I rebuke you, and command you to be still. I will not live another minute and hear such language. Cease such talk, or you or I die THIS INSTANT!Majesty in Chains“He ceased to speak. He stood erect in terrible majesty. Chained, and without a weapon; calm, unruffled and dignified as an angel, he looked upon the quailing guards; whose weapons were lowered or dropped to the ground, whose knees smote together, and who, shrinking into a corner, or crouching at his feet, begged his pardon, and remained quiet till a change of guards.“I have seen the ministers of justice, clothed in magisterial robes, and criminals arraigned before them, while life was suspended on a breath, in the courts of England; I have witnessed a Congress in solemn session to give laws to nations; I have tried to conceive of kings, of royal courts, of thrones and crowns; and of emperors assembled to decide the fate of kingdoms; but dignity and majesty have I seen but once, as it stood in chains, at midnight, in a dungeon in an obscure village of Missouri.”5General Clark at Far WestIn the meantime (November 4), General Clark arrived at Far West with 1600 men, and 500 more on the outskirts of the city. He ordered General Lucas to send to Adam-ondi-Ahman and there take all the “Mormon” men prisoners and secure their property, till the best means could be adopted for paying damages due to the mob troubles. On the 5th, Clark ordered all the men at Far West to form in line, when the names of fifty-six were called and they were made prisoners to await trial for something which was not defined. On the 6th, he again gathered the male portion of the population and read to them a written address which he had prepared.His HarangueFeeling safe in the presence of so many helpless men, and flanked by his troops, he made bold to impress upon the brethren the enormity of their crimes. He read to them a number of stipulations to which they must comply. The first, second and third, to the effect that they must surrender their leading men, deliver their arms, and sign over their properties to defray expenses of the “war.” This, he said, they had done. The fourth is here repeated:“Another article yet remains for you to comply with, and that is, that you leave the state forthwith; and whatever may be your feelings concerning this, or whatever your innocence, it is nothing to me; General Lucas, who is equal in authority with me, has made this treaty with you—I approve of it—I should have done the same had I been here. I am therefore determined to see it fulfilled. The character of this state has suffered almost beyond redemption, from the character, conduct and influence that you have exerted, and we deem it an act of justice to restore her character to its former standing among the states, by every proper means.“The orders of the governor to me were that you should be exterminated, and not allowed to remain in the state, and had your leaders not been given up, and the terms of the treaty complied with, before this, you and your families would have been destroyed and your houses in ashes.“There is a discretionary power vested in my hands which I shall exercise in your favor for a season; for this lenity you are indebted to my clemency. I do not say that you shall go now, but you must not think of staying here another season or of putting in crops, for the moment you do this the citizens will be upon you. If I am called here again, in case of a non-compliance of a treaty made, do not think that I shall act any more as I have done—you need not expect any mercy, but extermination, for I am determined the governor’s order shall be executed. As for your leaders, do not once think—do not imagine for a moment—do not let it enter your mind that they will be delivered, or that you will see their faces again, for theirfate is fixed—their die is cast—their doom is sealed.”He then very graciously pleaded with them, and invoked the “Great Spirit, the unknown God,” to make them sufficiently intelligent to break the chains of superstition, that they no longer worship man, and never again organize with bishops, presidents, etc., but to become like other men.Trial in Daviess CountyAbout this time Governor Boggs wrote General Clark to hold a military court in Daviess County, and try those “guilty of the late outrages, committed towards the inhabitants of said county.” He was desirous of having the whole matter “settled completely, if possible” before the forces should be disbanded. “If the ‘Mormons’ are disposed,” said Boggs, “voluntarily to leave the state, of course it would be advisable in you to promote that object, in any way deemed proper. The ringleaders of this rebellion, though, ought by no means to be permitted to escape the punishment they merit.” General Robert Wilson was detailed to Daviess County to take possession of the prisoners. All the men in the town of Adam-ondi-Ahman were placed under arrest, and a court of inquiry instituted with the mobber Adam Black on the bench. Notwithstanding this, after three days of examination, Black acquitted them all. No one knew better than he of their innocence.The Charges Against Joseph Smith and CompanionsGeneral Clark spent some time searching the laws to find some authority by which the Prophet and companions could be tried for treason by court martial. He even sent to Fort Leavenworth seeking such information, which could not be found. It caused him extreme annoyance that no law could be invoked to try private citizens by military code when there was no war. He knew some charges would have to be preferred against the accused, so he wrote the governor saying he had, on November 10, 1838, made out charges against the prisoners and had called Judge Austin A. King to try them as a committing court. He also suggested that they be tried by court martial, especially, said he, should Joseph Smith be so tried, but he could not discover authority for such procedure, and requested the opinion of the attorney general on that point. “There being no civil officers in Caldwell,” he said, “I have to use the military to get witnesses from there, which I do without reserve.” The civil officers in Caldwell, being “Mormons” had all been cast into jail, and of course were not available. He closed his epistle by saying the accused brethren were guilty of “treason, murder, arson, burglary, robbery, larceny, and perjury.” The reply he received was to turn the prisoners over to the civil law, which order hurt him very much, for he hoped to have the pleasure of attending to their execution, after a military trial. In fact, he and Lucas had on several occasions set the date of execution, but the hand of the Lord was always over the afflicted brethren.The TrialMonday, November 12, 1838, Judge King sent out armed men to obtain witnesses, some of whom came and testified willingly to falsehoods; others came reluctantly. Among the witnesses who testified against the brethren were: Dr. Sampson Avard, originator of the “Danites,” who, later, was excommunicated from the Church for the offense; John Corrill, George M. Hinkle, Reed Peck, John Cleminson, Burr Riggs, William W. Phelps, John Whitmer, and others who formerly belonged to the Church. The testimony of the prosecution continued until the 18th. Then the court called for witnesses for the defense; forty or more names were given, and the Reverend-Captain Rogart was dispatched with a company of militia to get them. He got them and brought them, not to the court, but to prison, and confined them there. During the week, the judge taunted the brethren because no witnesses appeared in their defense. Other names were given, and the same reverend-captain was sent for them. He did not find many, for the witnesses, learning what had happened to their fellows, could not be found. The few he did discover he also brought and cast behind the bars. In this manner the mock trial proceeded from day to day. On the 24th, twenty-three of the defendants were released, and by the 28th all the others were acquitted or admitted to bail, excepting the following: Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Hyrum Smith, Lyman Wight, Caleb Baldwin and Alexander McRae, who were ordered to be taken to Liberty, Clay County, and there committed to stand trial on the various charges named; Parley P. Pratt, Morris Phelps, Luman Gibbs, Darwin Chase and Norman Shearer, who were taken to Richmond Jail, there also to await trial for the same “crimes.”Nature of the TestimonySome of the witnesses testified that the Church was a temporal kingdom, which would, according to the teachings of its leaders, eventually “fill the whole earth and subdue all other kingdoms.” The seventh chapter of Daniel was referred to several times. The brethren were asked by the judge if they believed in Daniel’s prophecy and when they answered in the affirmative, Judge King turning to his clerk said: “Write that down; it is a strong point for treason.” The defendants’ attorneys, Doniphan and Rees, protested saying, “Judge, you had better make the Bible treason.” These attorneys advised their clients not to make any defense or attempt to furnish other witnesses, for it was useless. Doniphan observed that if a cohort of angels were to come down, and declare the prisoners innocent, it would all be the same, for Judge King had determined from the beginning to cast them into prison.Malinda Porter, Delia F. Pine, Nancy Rigdon, Jonathan W. Barlow, Thoret Parson, Ezra Chipman and Arza Judd, Jr., volunteered to testify for the defense, but were prevented from giving testimony favorable to the accused at the point of the bayonet.November 29, 1838, Joseph Smith and fellow prisoners were committed to the keeping of the sheriff of Clay County, who took them to Liberty and cast them in prison. Parley P. Pratt and fellows were likewise retained in Richmond, and thus ended this “trial” before Judge King.Notes1.This was a brother named Carey, who had been beaten over the head until his brains oozed out. He died shortly afterwards, having been exposed in that condition without shelter, all afternoon and night.2.Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, p. 204.3.During these trying scenes, November 13, 1838, while Hyrum Smith, with the Prophet and the other prisoners, were incarcerated, Joseph Fielding Smith, who afterwards became President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was born at Far West. When he was but a few days old, members of this mob-militia entered the home, ransacked it, and turned the bedding, on which the infant lay, upside down, smothering him until his life was apparently gone when he was discovered.4.Parley P. Pratt declared that General Wilson made the following statement: “It was repeatedly insinuated, by the other officers and troops, that we should hang you prisoners on the first tree we came to on the way to Independence. But I’ll be d‌—‌d if anybody shall hurt you. We just intend to exhibit you in Independence, and let the people look at you, and see what a d‌—‌d set of fine fellows you are. And, more particularly, to keep you from that old bigot of a general, Clark, and his troops, from down county, who are so stuffed with lies and prejudice, that they would shoot you down in a moment.”5.Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, pages 228 –9.

Persecutions of the Saints

1838

General John B. Clark was a resident of Jackson County. So was General Samuel D. Lucas. Both assisted in driving the “Mormons” from that county in 1833. Governor Lilburn W. Boggs was also from Jackson, and aided in that expulsion. At that time he was lieutenant governor, and worked secretly. These three men hated the Latter-day Saints with a mortal hate. General Clark was not the ranking officer in the state militia in 1838, but Boggs knew, from former experiences, whom to depend upon to execute his dastardly job. Few of the other generals, though several of them disliked the “Mormons,” could debase themselves enough to reach the level required to execute the governor’s inhuman decree. Clark, who received the command, and Lucas who assisted him, were the two most fitted to carry out the order of extermination.

There were a great many petty officers, and some sectarian priests, who could descend to any level. Human butchery, if “Mormons” were the victims, was to them but a recreation. Such a man was Col. William O. Jennings, of the state militia. Another was Captain Nehemiah Comstock, who served under Jennings. These “brave” men with an armed force of characters like themselves—all from the state troops —were assembled, at the close of the month of October, 1838, near a small settlement of the Saints at Haun’s Mill, on Shoal Creek, about twelve miles due east of Far West. On the 28th day of that month, a Sunday, Jennings approached the settlement and proposed a treaty of peace. The members of the Church located there, who were quietly minding their own business, knew not, when they were at peace, why they should be called on to enter into such an agreement. However, knowing the status of affairs throughout upper Missouri, they gladly entered into such a treaty, and continued with their domestic affairs, feeling perfectly secure. In the meantime Col. Ashley had informed Col. Jennings of the governor’s order of extermination. Thereupon Jennings and Nehemiah Comstock gathered their forces, about two hundred and forty men, and immediately started for Haun’s Mill.

Monday, October 29, 1838, passed in peace and quiet. Tuesday the 30th was clear and pleasant, an Indian summer day. In the afternoon, the Saints were engaged in their daily pursuits, the men in the fields and the shops; the women attending to domestic duties, and the children playing on the banks of the creek. Suddenly Jennings and his force approached at full speed, riding upon the settlement. David Evans, perceiving their evil intentions, raised his hands as a sign of peace; but they heeded him not. Continuing their advance, they commenced to fire. The stricken people fled, seeking shelter and endeavoring to escape. Some fled into the thickets near their homes, and by this means escaped. For lack of time and want of a better protection, several of the men and boys rushed into the blacksmith shop. The cracks between the logs of the shop were so wide that the fiends on the outside could see their victims within. Surrounding the place, they poured volley after volley through the cracks with deadly effect. Several intended victims rushed from the shop amidst the fire of the mob; some escaped to the thicket; others were shot. Miss Mary Steadwell, while fleeing, was shot in the hand and fainted; falling over a log she remained protected by it. After the work of destruction was over, more than twenty musket balls were discovered in the log. Yet the executioners were principally seeking for the men, and let most of the women escape.

After completing all the execution possible on the outside of the shop, the ruffians pushed through the door and finished their bloody work. The terrible scene enacted there was one of the utmost brutality. It is told in the “History of Caldwell County,” Missouri, with such excuses for the attack as the writers of such a history could employ. Nevertheless the diabolical deeds of these members of the state militia, are partly related as follows:

“Esq. Thomas McBride was an old soldier of the Revolution. He was lying wounded and helpless, his gun by his side. A militiaman named Rogers came up to him and demanded it. “Take it,” said McBride. Rogers picked up the weapon, and finding that it was loaded, deliberately discharged it into the old man’s breast. He then cut and hacked the old veteran’s body with a rude sword, or corn knife, until it was frightfully mangled. Wm. Reynolds, a Livingston County man, killed the little boy Sardius Smith, 10 years of age. The lad had run into the blacksmith shop and crawled under the bellows for safety. Upon entering the shop the cruel militiaman discovered the cowering, trembling little fellow, and without even demanding his surrender, fired upon and killed him, and afterwards boasted of the atrocious deed to Charles R. Ross and others. He described, with fiendish glee, how the poor boy struggled in his dying agony, and justified his savage and inhuman conduct in killing a mere child by saying, ‘Nits will make lice, and if he had lived he would have been a Mormon.’”

The names of those killed are as follows: Thomas McBride, Levi N. Merrick, Elias Benner, Josiah Fuller, Benjamin Lewis, Alexander Campbell, Warren Smith, George S. Richards, William Napier, Austin Hammer, Simeon Cox, Hiram Abbott, John York, John Lee, John Byers, Sardius Smith and Charles Merrick. Some of these were mere children. Many others were severely wounded but managed to escape with their lives, among them a boy, Alma Smith, who had the flesh of his hip shot away. He had the presence of mind to lie perfectly still and the fiends thought he was dead. Alma was miraculously healed through prayer and faith.

After this terrible work the murderers proceeded to rob the houses, wagons and tents, and left the widows and children who escaped destitute of the necessities of life. They even stripped the bodies of the slain, and carried off their booty, shouting in fiendish glee and boasting of their deeds of blood, as though they were deeds of valor, worthy of the greatest praise and honor.

The same day of the massacre at Haun’s Mill, General Samuel D. Lucas, in command of two thousand men, arrived at Far West. With him were Brigadier Generals Doniphan, Parks, Graham and Wilson, the latter another ruffian. General Clark was at Chariton, under a forced march, with the governor’s exterminating order and a force of about one thousand men.

As the troops approached Far West towards the evening of that day, they formed in double file about one half mile from the city. With a flag of truce they sent messengers to the city. They were met by Captain Morey, with a few other individuals, who desired to know what the gathering of the large armed force could mean, for as yet the “Mormon” people had not learned of the Boggs exterminating order. To their horror they were told that the body of troops were state militia, ordered there by the governor, to exterminate the people and burn the place. They demanded three persons in Far West, Adam Lightner, a non-“Mormon,” John Cleminson, who had lost the faith, and his wife, to be brought to them. When these three came out, the messengers told them to leave Far West at once and save their lives, for they would be protected. The determination of the force of militia was to destroy Far West and kill the inhabitants. All three nobly said if the people were to be destroyed they would return and die with them. The officers immediately returned to the camp.

Charles C. Rich was then dispatched with a flag of truce toward the camp of militia to have an interview with Generals Atchison and Doniphan, who in the past had shown some sympathy for the “Mormons.” On his way he was fired at by Captain Bogart. Nevertheless, he continued on his way and was granted the interview with Doniphan, who informed him that General Atchison had been “dismounted” a few miles back, by order of the governor, for being too merciful to the “Mormons.” He then plead with Doniphan to use his influence to protect the city from an attack, at least until the following morning. Doniphan replied that the governor had ordered the extermination of the “Mormons,” but his order had not arrived, and until it did there would be no attack upon the Saints. However, he could not vouch for the action of Cornelius Gilliam’s company, which had just arrived, painted and decorated as Indians; their commander styling himself the “Delaware Chief.” These savages spent the night in making hideous yells and other disturbances. When Charles C. Rich returned to Far West and reported, Col. George M. Hinkle, who commanded the forces at Far West, sent another messenger to the mob-militia to plead for the lives of the people. He returned without a satisfactory answer and reported that he had learned that several members of the Church had been captured by some of the troops, and had been brutally murdered, with no one to raise a voice in protest.

During the night the Saints made such temporary fortification as they were able and with grim determination prepared to fight the best they could to the last, being outnumbered more than five to one. Recruits were hourly joining the forces of their enemies. Among these came Col. Jennings and his band, fresh from the great “victory” at Haun’s Mill. The Saints spent an anxious night in solemn supplication to the Lord. The women gathered such few loose articles as might be carried, and prepared for flight if the chance was offered them. Lyman Wight, with a small force, came from Adam-ondi-Ahman and succeeded in gaining Far West during the night.

Early on the morning of the 31st, Col. Hinkle sent another messenger to General Doniphan. When he returned he stated that Doniphan had said that the governor’s order had arrived and Lucas was preparing to carry it out. “He would be damned, if he would obey the order,” was the report, “but Lucas could do as he pleased.”

The army, while encamped, permitted no person to go out or come in the city. Those who attempted it were shot at. Corn fields were destroyed and cattle, sheep and hogs wantonly killed by members of the mob-militia.

About eight o’clock Col. Hinkle sought another interview, this time with General Lucas, to learn if some compromise could not be arranged to avoid a battle. Lucas promised to meet him with a flag of truce at two o’clock. At the time appointed the interview was held. Hinkle, John Corrill, who had within the past few weeks become disaffected, William W. Phelps and a Captain Morrison, met with Lucas and his aids when the following propositions were presented to Col. Hinkle for acceptance in behalf of the “Mormons:”

“To give up their leaders to be tried and punished.

“To make an appropriation of their property, all who had taken up arms, to the payment of their debts and indemnity for damage done by them.

“That the balance should leave the state, and be protected out by the militia, but to be permitted to remain under protection until further orders were received from the Commander-in-Chief.

“To give up the arms of every description, to be receipted for.”

At least, these were the terms according to the report Lucas made to Governor Boggs. What else he may have said is not on record. To these terms Col. Hinkle agreed, but asked to be given until the next day to comply with them. Lucas consented to this on the condition that Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Lyman Wight, Parley P. Pratt and George W. Robinson be turned over to the camp of the militia as hostages. If in the morning Hinkle failed to comply with the terms, these men would be returned to Far West, and the attack should commence on the city. If he did comply, then these brethren, among others, should be retained as prisoners to be tried. Hinkle returned to Far West and reported to Joseph Smith that the officers of the state militia desired an interview with the brethren mentioned, hoping that the difficulties might be settled without carrying out the exterminating order. Said Parley P. Pratt: “We had no confidence in the word of a murderer and robber; but there was no alternative, but to put ourselves into the hands of such monsters, or to have the city sacked, and men, women and children massacred. We therefore commended ourselves to the Lord, and voluntarily surrendered.” As they approached the camp in compliance with this order, General Lucas, with a guard of several hundred men, rode up, and with a haughty air ordered his men to surround the brethren. Colonel Hinkle was heard to say: “General, these are the prisoners I agreed to deliver up.” The prisoners were then marched into the camp surrounded by several thousand savage looking soldiers. “These all set up a constant yell,” says Brother Pratt, “like so many bloodhounds let loose upon their prey. . . . If the vision of the infernal regions could suddenly be opened to the mind, with thousands of malicious fiends, all clamoring, exulting, deriding, blaspheming, mocking, railing, raging and foaming like a troubled sea, then could some idea be formed of the hell which we had entered.”

The prisoners were placed under a strong guard and forced to remain without shelter during the night in inclement winter weather. The guard blasphemed; mocked the Savior; demanded miracles and said: “Come, Smith, show us an angel; give us one of your revelations; show us a miracle; come, there is one of your brethren in camp whom we took prisoner yesterday in his own house, and knocked his brains out with his own rifle, which we found hanging over his fire place; he lies speechless and dying;1speak the word and heal him, and then we will all believe; or, if you are apostles or men of God deliver yourselves, and then we will be “Mormons.”2

Thursday morning, November 1, 1838, Hyrum Smith and Amasa Lyman were brought by Col. Hinkle into the camp. That night a court martial was held, at which, besides the commanding officers of the mob-militia, Col. Hinkle, Judge Austin A. King, District Attorney Birch, and the Reverends Sashiel Woods, Bogart and several other priests, played a part. The prisoners were sentenced to be shot on the public square in Far West, Friday morning at 9 o’clock. This was, let it be said to their honor, over the protest of Generals Doniphan and Graham, and perhaps a few others. General Doniphan was given the order to carry out the execution. It was a most fortunate thing that he was selected, for he refused to obey the command. The order given him was as follows:

“Brigadier General Doniphan:“Sir: You will take Joseph Smith and the other prisoners into the public square of Far West, and shoot them at 9 o’clock tomorrow morning.”“Samuel D. Lucas,”“Major General Commanding.”

“Brigadier General Doniphan:

“Sir: You will take Joseph Smith and the other prisoners into the public square of Far West, and shoot them at 9 o’clock tomorrow morning.”

“Samuel D. Lucas,”“Major General Commanding.”

General Doniphan replied to this order by saying to his superior:

“It is cold blooded murder. I will not obey your order. My brigade shall march for Liberty tomorrow morning at 8 o’clock; and if you execute these men, I will hold you responsible before an earthly tribunal, so help me God.”“A. W. Doniphan,”“Brigadier General.”

“A. W. Doniphan,”“Brigadier General.”

Although this was an act of insubordination, it frightened the criminal general and his willing aids. No charge was ever made against Doniphan, for they dared not make one.

Col. Hinkle, according to his agreement, marched the militia companies at Far West out of the city and grounded their arms, which were the private property of the men who held them. Then the mob force was let loose. They entered the city without restraint, on pretext of searching the homes for additional arms. They tore up floors; ruined furniture; destroyed property; whipped the men and forced them to sign deeds to their property at the point of the bayonet; and violated the chastity of women, until their victims died. About eighty men were taken prisoners and the people were ordered to leave the state, and were forbidden, under threat of death, to assemble more than three in a place. Notwithstanding all this, General Lucas reported to the governor how orderly and decorous were his troops.

The prisoners after an earnest appeal, were permitted to visit their homes, under a strong guard, to obtain a change of clothing. They were, however, given strict command not to speak, or enter into conversation with the members of their families. When the Prophet visited his home the children clung to his garments. He requested the privilege of a private interview with his family, which was denied him. Hyrum Smith, whose wife less than two weeks later was confined,3drew attention to the condition in his home; but received in answer only gibes and insults. Parley P. Pratt underwent a similar scene, and in the anguish of his soul appealed to General Moses Wilson, who answered him with an exultant laugh, and a taunting reproach.

After these painful scenes, the prisoners were started for Independence, under a strong guard commanded by Generals Lucas and Wilson. On the way orders came from General Clark to have the prisoners sent to him, but this General Lucas was not willing to do. Clark, without question, wanted the honor of putting the prisoners to death. Through his vanity, Lucas wanted to exhibit them before their enemies in Jackson County, and pose as a great hero in triumph. Between the rivalry of the two, not forgetting the hand of the Lord which was over them, their lives were spared.4

On the 3rd of November, 1838, the prisoners arrived in Jackson County and the next day were taken by order of General Lucas, to Independence. General Clark, however, would not permit them to stay, desiring to gain possession of them himself. Therefore, he sent Col. Sterling Price with instructions to have them removed immediately to Richmond, Ray County. They arrived in Richmond on the 9th, and were imprisoned in a vacant house. On their way they met General Clark, and asked him why they had been carried from their homes and what the charges were against them. Clark said he was not then able to determine, but would be prepared to tell in a short time. When they were confined Clark sent Price with two chains and padlocks and had the prisoners fastened together. The windows were then nailed down; the prisoners were searched and the only weapons they had (their pocket knives) were taken away. While this was going on armed guards stood with cocked guns pointed at them. Here the brethren were kept many days awaiting trial.

While incarcerated in this prison, the brethren were guarded by some of the vilest wretches that could be found, who spent their time in the presence of their prisoners relating their horrible deeds of wickedness. This thing continued for some time, when the Prophet, unable to stand it any longer, arose and rebuked them. The occurrence is graphically related by Elder Parley P. Pratt in the following words:

“During this time Elder Rigdon was taken very sick, from hardship and exposure, and finally lost his reason; but still he was kept in a miserable, noisy and cold room, and compelled to sleep on the floor with a chain and padlock round his ankle, and fastened to six others. Here he endured the constant noise and confusion of an unruly guard, the officer of which was Colonel Sterling Price, since governor of the State.“These guards were composed generally of the most noisy, foul-mouthed, vulgar, disgraceful rabble that ever defiled the earth. . . . Mrs. Robinson, a young and delicate female, with her infant, came down to see her husband [George W. Robinson], and to comfort and take care of her father [Sidney Rigdon] in his sickness. When she first entered the room, amid the clank of chains and the rattle of weapons, and cast her eyes on her sick and dejected parent and sorrow-worn husband, she was speechless, and only gave vent to her feelings in a flood of tears. This faithful lady, with her little infant, continued by the side of her father till he recovered from his sickness, and till his fevered and disordered mind resumed its wonted powers.“In one of those tedious nights we had lain as if in sleep till the hour of midnight had passed, and our ears and hearts had been pained, while we had listened for hours to the obscene jests, the horrid oaths, the dreadful blasphemies and filthy language of our guards, Colonel Price at their head, as they recounted to each other their deeds of rapine, murder, robbery, etc., which they had committed among the ‘Mormons’ while at Far West and vicinity. They even boasted of defiling by force wives, daughters, and virgins, and of shooting or dashing out the brains of men, women and children.“I had listened till I became so disgusted, shocked, horrified, and so filled with the spirit of indignant justice that I could scarcely refrain from rising upon my feet and rebuking the guards; but had said nothing to Joseph, or any one else, although I lay next to him and knew he was awake. On a sudden he arose to his feet, and spoke in a voice of thunder, or as the roaring lion, uttering, as near as I can recollect, the following words:“SILENCE,ye fiends of the infernal pit. In the name of Jesus Christ I rebuke you, and command you to be still. I will not live another minute and hear such language. Cease such talk, or you or I die THIS INSTANT!

“These guards were composed generally of the most noisy, foul-mouthed, vulgar, disgraceful rabble that ever defiled the earth. . . . Mrs. Robinson, a young and delicate female, with her infant, came down to see her husband [George W. Robinson], and to comfort and take care of her father [Sidney Rigdon] in his sickness. When she first entered the room, amid the clank of chains and the rattle of weapons, and cast her eyes on her sick and dejected parent and sorrow-worn husband, she was speechless, and only gave vent to her feelings in a flood of tears. This faithful lady, with her little infant, continued by the side of her father till he recovered from his sickness, and till his fevered and disordered mind resumed its wonted powers.

“In one of those tedious nights we had lain as if in sleep till the hour of midnight had passed, and our ears and hearts had been pained, while we had listened for hours to the obscene jests, the horrid oaths, the dreadful blasphemies and filthy language of our guards, Colonel Price at their head, as they recounted to each other their deeds of rapine, murder, robbery, etc., which they had committed among the ‘Mormons’ while at Far West and vicinity. They even boasted of defiling by force wives, daughters, and virgins, and of shooting or dashing out the brains of men, women and children.

“I had listened till I became so disgusted, shocked, horrified, and so filled with the spirit of indignant justice that I could scarcely refrain from rising upon my feet and rebuking the guards; but had said nothing to Joseph, or any one else, although I lay next to him and knew he was awake. On a sudden he arose to his feet, and spoke in a voice of thunder, or as the roaring lion, uttering, as near as I can recollect, the following words:

“SILENCE,ye fiends of the infernal pit. In the name of Jesus Christ I rebuke you, and command you to be still. I will not live another minute and hear such language. Cease such talk, or you or I die THIS INSTANT!

“He ceased to speak. He stood erect in terrible majesty. Chained, and without a weapon; calm, unruffled and dignified as an angel, he looked upon the quailing guards; whose weapons were lowered or dropped to the ground, whose knees smote together, and who, shrinking into a corner, or crouching at his feet, begged his pardon, and remained quiet till a change of guards.“I have seen the ministers of justice, clothed in magisterial robes, and criminals arraigned before them, while life was suspended on a breath, in the courts of England; I have witnessed a Congress in solemn session to give laws to nations; I have tried to conceive of kings, of royal courts, of thrones and crowns; and of emperors assembled to decide the fate of kingdoms; but dignity and majesty have I seen but once, as it stood in chains, at midnight, in a dungeon in an obscure village of Missouri.”5

“I have seen the ministers of justice, clothed in magisterial robes, and criminals arraigned before them, while life was suspended on a breath, in the courts of England; I have witnessed a Congress in solemn session to give laws to nations; I have tried to conceive of kings, of royal courts, of thrones and crowns; and of emperors assembled to decide the fate of kingdoms; but dignity and majesty have I seen but once, as it stood in chains, at midnight, in a dungeon in an obscure village of Missouri.”5

In the meantime (November 4), General Clark arrived at Far West with 1600 men, and 500 more on the outskirts of the city. He ordered General Lucas to send to Adam-ondi-Ahman and there take all the “Mormon” men prisoners and secure their property, till the best means could be adopted for paying damages due to the mob troubles. On the 5th, Clark ordered all the men at Far West to form in line, when the names of fifty-six were called and they were made prisoners to await trial for something which was not defined. On the 6th, he again gathered the male portion of the population and read to them a written address which he had prepared.

Feeling safe in the presence of so many helpless men, and flanked by his troops, he made bold to impress upon the brethren the enormity of their crimes. He read to them a number of stipulations to which they must comply. The first, second and third, to the effect that they must surrender their leading men, deliver their arms, and sign over their properties to defray expenses of the “war.” This, he said, they had done. The fourth is here repeated:

“Another article yet remains for you to comply with, and that is, that you leave the state forthwith; and whatever may be your feelings concerning this, or whatever your innocence, it is nothing to me; General Lucas, who is equal in authority with me, has made this treaty with you—I approve of it—I should have done the same had I been here. I am therefore determined to see it fulfilled. The character of this state has suffered almost beyond redemption, from the character, conduct and influence that you have exerted, and we deem it an act of justice to restore her character to its former standing among the states, by every proper means.“The orders of the governor to me were that you should be exterminated, and not allowed to remain in the state, and had your leaders not been given up, and the terms of the treaty complied with, before this, you and your families would have been destroyed and your houses in ashes.“There is a discretionary power vested in my hands which I shall exercise in your favor for a season; for this lenity you are indebted to my clemency. I do not say that you shall go now, but you must not think of staying here another season or of putting in crops, for the moment you do this the citizens will be upon you. If I am called here again, in case of a non-compliance of a treaty made, do not think that I shall act any more as I have done—you need not expect any mercy, but extermination, for I am determined the governor’s order shall be executed. As for your leaders, do not once think—do not imagine for a moment—do not let it enter your mind that they will be delivered, or that you will see their faces again, for theirfate is fixed—their die is cast—their doom is sealed.”

“The orders of the governor to me were that you should be exterminated, and not allowed to remain in the state, and had your leaders not been given up, and the terms of the treaty complied with, before this, you and your families would have been destroyed and your houses in ashes.

“There is a discretionary power vested in my hands which I shall exercise in your favor for a season; for this lenity you are indebted to my clemency. I do not say that you shall go now, but you must not think of staying here another season or of putting in crops, for the moment you do this the citizens will be upon you. If I am called here again, in case of a non-compliance of a treaty made, do not think that I shall act any more as I have done—you need not expect any mercy, but extermination, for I am determined the governor’s order shall be executed. As for your leaders, do not once think—do not imagine for a moment—do not let it enter your mind that they will be delivered, or that you will see their faces again, for theirfate is fixed—their die is cast—their doom is sealed.”

He then very graciously pleaded with them, and invoked the “Great Spirit, the unknown God,” to make them sufficiently intelligent to break the chains of superstition, that they no longer worship man, and never again organize with bishops, presidents, etc., but to become like other men.

About this time Governor Boggs wrote General Clark to hold a military court in Daviess County, and try those “guilty of the late outrages, committed towards the inhabitants of said county.” He was desirous of having the whole matter “settled completely, if possible” before the forces should be disbanded. “If the ‘Mormons’ are disposed,” said Boggs, “voluntarily to leave the state, of course it would be advisable in you to promote that object, in any way deemed proper. The ringleaders of this rebellion, though, ought by no means to be permitted to escape the punishment they merit.” General Robert Wilson was detailed to Daviess County to take possession of the prisoners. All the men in the town of Adam-ondi-Ahman were placed under arrest, and a court of inquiry instituted with the mobber Adam Black on the bench. Notwithstanding this, after three days of examination, Black acquitted them all. No one knew better than he of their innocence.

General Clark spent some time searching the laws to find some authority by which the Prophet and companions could be tried for treason by court martial. He even sent to Fort Leavenworth seeking such information, which could not be found. It caused him extreme annoyance that no law could be invoked to try private citizens by military code when there was no war. He knew some charges would have to be preferred against the accused, so he wrote the governor saying he had, on November 10, 1838, made out charges against the prisoners and had called Judge Austin A. King to try them as a committing court. He also suggested that they be tried by court martial, especially, said he, should Joseph Smith be so tried, but he could not discover authority for such procedure, and requested the opinion of the attorney general on that point. “There being no civil officers in Caldwell,” he said, “I have to use the military to get witnesses from there, which I do without reserve.” The civil officers in Caldwell, being “Mormons” had all been cast into jail, and of course were not available. He closed his epistle by saying the accused brethren were guilty of “treason, murder, arson, burglary, robbery, larceny, and perjury.” The reply he received was to turn the prisoners over to the civil law, which order hurt him very much, for he hoped to have the pleasure of attending to their execution, after a military trial. In fact, he and Lucas had on several occasions set the date of execution, but the hand of the Lord was always over the afflicted brethren.

Monday, November 12, 1838, Judge King sent out armed men to obtain witnesses, some of whom came and testified willingly to falsehoods; others came reluctantly. Among the witnesses who testified against the brethren were: Dr. Sampson Avard, originator of the “Danites,” who, later, was excommunicated from the Church for the offense; John Corrill, George M. Hinkle, Reed Peck, John Cleminson, Burr Riggs, William W. Phelps, John Whitmer, and others who formerly belonged to the Church. The testimony of the prosecution continued until the 18th. Then the court called for witnesses for the defense; forty or more names were given, and the Reverend-Captain Rogart was dispatched with a company of militia to get them. He got them and brought them, not to the court, but to prison, and confined them there. During the week, the judge taunted the brethren because no witnesses appeared in their defense. Other names were given, and the same reverend-captain was sent for them. He did not find many, for the witnesses, learning what had happened to their fellows, could not be found. The few he did discover he also brought and cast behind the bars. In this manner the mock trial proceeded from day to day. On the 24th, twenty-three of the defendants were released, and by the 28th all the others were acquitted or admitted to bail, excepting the following: Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Hyrum Smith, Lyman Wight, Caleb Baldwin and Alexander McRae, who were ordered to be taken to Liberty, Clay County, and there committed to stand trial on the various charges named; Parley P. Pratt, Morris Phelps, Luman Gibbs, Darwin Chase and Norman Shearer, who were taken to Richmond Jail, there also to await trial for the same “crimes.”

Some of the witnesses testified that the Church was a temporal kingdom, which would, according to the teachings of its leaders, eventually “fill the whole earth and subdue all other kingdoms.” The seventh chapter of Daniel was referred to several times. The brethren were asked by the judge if they believed in Daniel’s prophecy and when they answered in the affirmative, Judge King turning to his clerk said: “Write that down; it is a strong point for treason.” The defendants’ attorneys, Doniphan and Rees, protested saying, “Judge, you had better make the Bible treason.” These attorneys advised their clients not to make any defense or attempt to furnish other witnesses, for it was useless. Doniphan observed that if a cohort of angels were to come down, and declare the prisoners innocent, it would all be the same, for Judge King had determined from the beginning to cast them into prison.

Malinda Porter, Delia F. Pine, Nancy Rigdon, Jonathan W. Barlow, Thoret Parson, Ezra Chipman and Arza Judd, Jr., volunteered to testify for the defense, but were prevented from giving testimony favorable to the accused at the point of the bayonet.

November 29, 1838, Joseph Smith and fellow prisoners were committed to the keeping of the sheriff of Clay County, who took them to Liberty and cast them in prison. Parley P. Pratt and fellows were likewise retained in Richmond, and thus ended this “trial” before Judge King.

1.This was a brother named Carey, who had been beaten over the head until his brains oozed out. He died shortly afterwards, having been exposed in that condition without shelter, all afternoon and night.

2.Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, p. 204.

3.During these trying scenes, November 13, 1838, while Hyrum Smith, with the Prophet and the other prisoners, were incarcerated, Joseph Fielding Smith, who afterwards became President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was born at Far West. When he was but a few days old, members of this mob-militia entered the home, ransacked it, and turned the bedding, on which the infant lay, upside down, smothering him until his life was apparently gone when he was discovered.

4.Parley P. Pratt declared that General Wilson made the following statement: “It was repeatedly insinuated, by the other officers and troops, that we should hang you prisoners on the first tree we came to on the way to Independence. But I’ll be d‌—‌d if anybody shall hurt you. We just intend to exhibit you in Independence, and let the people look at you, and see what a d‌—‌d set of fine fellows you are. And, more particularly, to keep you from that old bigot of a general, Clark, and his troops, from down county, who are so stuffed with lies and prejudice, that they would shoot you down in a moment.”

5.Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, pages 228 –9.

Chapter 26The Expulsion from Missouri1838–1839The Case Before the LegislatureIn December, 1838, the Legislature of Missouri met. Governor Boggs laid before that body the information in his hands relative to the difficulty with the Latter-day Saints. This information was woefully lacking in the matter of the petitions and documents sent to him in defense of the Saints. On the 10th of that month Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, John Taylor and other brethren petitioned the legislature, setting forth their side of the case. This petition was presented to David R. Atchison and others, December 17. The following day Mr. Turner, from a joint committee, presented before the senate a report of findings, based on the governor’s information. This report stated that the evidence was “not authenticated,” and was confined chiefly to investigation of criminal charges against individuals under arrest; the evidence wasex parte; and without aid of further evidence, the committee could not form a satisfactory opinion in relation to the material points. For these reasons, and because “it would be a direct interference with the administration of justice, the committee reported that this document ought not to be published, with the sanction of the legislature.” December 19, the petition of the brethren was presented by John Corrill, who had but recently departed from the Church. It was read in profound silence, but at the close of the reading, the house was in an uproar. A Mr. Childs, of Jackson County, denounced the petition saying there was not a word of truth in it. Mr. Ashley, of Livingstone County, denounced the “Mormons” as did also Mr. Young, of Lafayette. Ashley was one of the murderers at Haun’s Mill, and even boasted of that slaughter before the house. Mr. Redman, of Howard County, and Mr. Gyer, of St. Louis, and a few other members, demanded a full investigation, for they believed there was truth in the petition, and the actions of those members in opposing an investigation was because they feared their evil deeds might be brought to light. The result of it all was that the petition was laid on the table, “until the 4th day of July next,”—Independence day. January 16, 1839, Mr. Turner introduced in the senate a bill “to provide for the investigation of the late disturbances in this state.” The bill passed the senate, but when it came to the house (Feb. 4) it followed the petition and was laid on the table, also to be taken up on Independence day. Many considered this an approval of the wrongs committed on the “Mormons” in Missouri. David R. Atchison and a few others vigorously protested against such criminal action, but found themselves in the minority, for the motion prevailed by a majority of eleven votes.Legislative AppropriationsIn December, the legislature of Missouri appropriated two thousand dollars “to be distributed among the people of Daviess and Caldwell Counties.” The “good” people of Daviess were very “generous” and felt that they could do without their portion of this appropriation, and let it be given to the people of Caldwell. They could well afford to do such a thing, for they had robbed the “Mormon” people of nearly all they possessed. They had ransacked their homes and carried off their household furniture and goods, and otherwise enriched themselves at the expense of the Saints who had dwelt among them. This sum, so it was pretended, was distributed among the people in Caldwell. Judge Cameron and others attended to the “distribution.” The way they did it was to drive off the hogs belonging to the “Mormons” and shoot them, and without further bleeding, cut them up and deliver them to the Saints, at four or five cents a pound. They also “gave them a few calicos,” and the “sweepings of an old store,” charging them an extra price for the goods, and thus was the “munificient” sum of two thousand dollars distributed among the “Mormons.” Later the same legislature appropriated two hundred thousand dollars to pay the troops for their work in driving the “Mormons” from the state. In this manner were law and justice administered in Missouri in the years 1838 and 1839.Extent of “Mormon” LossesThe total value of the property destroyed in Missouri, which belonged to the Saints, is beyond our knowledge. It was estimated to be not less than two million dollars, from the time they first settled in that state until their expulsion. About twelve hundred members of the Church were driven from Jackson County in 1833, and all their property was lost to them. When again they were forced to leave Clay County, though they went peaceably at the request of the other citizens, they left behind them a vast amount of property for which no remuneration was ever received. When they were expelled from the state in the winter of 1838 –9, the Saints numbered between twelve and fifteen thousand souls. All their property, except the little they were able to gather hastily and carry with them, was either destroyed or stolen by their enemies. In the appeal made to Congress and the President of the United States, in 1839, the amount of their losses was estimated at two million dollars. Claims against Missouri for the losses were presented to Congress in the sum of $1,381,044.00, and this represented only 491 individuals; many others who lost property, entered no claims for damages against that state.In addition to this loss of property, the Prophet Joseph paid in lawyers’ fees, for the defense of the people and himself, against the unhallowed persecutions of their enemies, about fifty thousand dollars; with very little benefit in return. And for all this, the generous state of Missouri, for a show before the world of their charity and kindness toward the people they had robbed, could afford to appropriate the magnificent sum of two thousand dollars! And what of the blood of men, women and children which had been shed by these human fiends?In Liberty PrisonAfter the mock trial in Richmond, Joseph Smith and his five companions were imprisoned in Liberty, Clay County, for a period of six months. Here they suffered, during that time, many untold hardships. Much of the time they were bound in chains. Their food was often not fit to eat, and never wholesome or prepared with the thought of proper nourishment. Several times poison was administered to them in their food, which made them sick nigh unto death, and only the promised blessings of the Lord saved them. Their bed was on the floor, or on the flat side of a hewn white oak log, and in this manner they were forced to suffer. Is it any wonder that they cried in the anguish of their souls unto the Lord, for relief from such inhuman treatment?Epistles From PrisonThe Lord did not forsake them. While they were confined, the brethren wrote a number of communications to the Saints. Occasionally their friends were privileged to visit them, but always in the presence of a strong and heavily armed guard. Letters with words of comfort were occasionally received, and in this way their spirits were buoyed up, which enabled them to stand their trials. On March 25, 1839, an epistle of special import was written from the prison to the Saints scattered abroad, and to the bishop, Edward Partridge, in particular. This epistle portrayed many of their grievances and expressed their love and fellowship for the Saints. Above all this, however, they poured out their souls to the Lord asking for relief, and wondering why they were so severely punished. The Lord gave them answer which comforted them and built them up in hope. They also received encouragement, and assurance of their delivery from bonds, which was soon to come to pass.1Release of Sidney RigdonThe Prophet wrote in his Journal that January 1, 1839, “dawned upon us as prisoners of hope, but not as sons of liberty. O Columbia, Columbia! How thou art fallen! ‘The land of the free, the home of the brave!’ ‘The asylum of the oppressed’—oppressing thy noblest sons, in a loathsome dungeon, without any provocation, only that they have claimed to worship the God of their fathers according to his own word, and the dictates of their own consciences.” Elder Parley P. Pratt and his companions in tribulation were still held in bondage in their doleful prison in Richmond. The brethren appealed to the supreme court in Missouri for a writ of habeas corpus. Twice their petition was denied. They also petitioned the judges of the county for like privileges, and sent a memorial to the legislature asking that they be granted a fair and impartial trial before an unprejudiced judge in some other circuit, where they might have hope of justice, which could not be obtained from Judge King. Finally, in the latter part of February, 1839, they prevailed on Judge Turnham, one of the county judges, who granted their request after some reluctance. The judge was afraid of the mob, for the threats were made by the members of the banditti, that if any judge, jury or court of any kind, should free the prisoners they would be killed. Great threatenings were made at the time of this trial, and the brethren would have been liberated, only for the blundering, wilfully or ignorantly, of their lawyers. Sidney Rigdon, who had suffered terribly because of exposure and the ill-treatment he had received, he being much older and less able to endure than the other brethren, was released by the action of the judge, at this time. Through a kindness on the part of the sheriff, Samuel Hadley, and the jailer, Samuel Tillery, he was let out of prison in the night, for fear of the mob, and told to make his way out of the state as soon as he could. Even as it was, he was pursued by a body of armed men; but having a good start made his way to Quincy, Illinois.Departure for DaviessThe refusal on the part of the courts and officials to grant a final trial—for it should be remembered the brethren were being held on a preliminary hearing all these months—and the threatenings of numerous enemies caused the brethren to determine on making their escape if possible. Once they tried and failed. Again the opportunity presented itself, and the Lord indicated to them that if they were united they could gain their freedom, but the stubbornness of Lyman Wight defeated their purpose. The latter part of March, Elders Heber C. Kimball and Theodore Turley went to Jefferson City with necessary papers, to see the governor, but he was absent. However, they saw the secretary of state, who appeared astonished at the action of Judge King, and who wrote the judge a letter. They also saw the supreme court judges, but due to the blundering of their attorney, Doniphan, they were unable to obtain a writ of habeas corpus. They returned to Liberty on the 30th of March. April 4, they had an interview with Judge Austin A. King, who was angry to think they had been to see the governor. King said he could have done all that they desired, and would have signed their petition if he had been approached, for all the prisoners, but Joseph Smith, “and he was not fit to live.” Fearing that the brethren might obtain a change of venue, Judge King hurried off with them, April 6, 1839, to Daviess County, where he hoped to continue his persecution. Perhaps he hoped they would be murdered, for a band of fifty men in Daviess County, on learning that the prisoners were coming, took an oath that they would neither eat nor drink until they had murdered the Prophet. The prisoners arrived at Gallatin, April 8, and the following day the examination of witnesses commenced before the grand jury, over which Judge King acted as the presiding judge. Judge Birch, the county judge, who previously assisted in the prosecution of the brethren, was associated with him. Both judges and jury were drunk while the case proceeded, and the men of the jury were members of the raiding party of Haun’s Mill. They served on the jury during the day and as guards at night, and in their drunken debauchery boasted of their many crimes. On the 11th of April, they brought in a “true bill” against the prisoners for “murder, treason, burglary, arson, larceny, theft and stealing.”A Change of VenueOn April 15, 1839, the brethren obtained from Judge Birch a change of venue from Daviess to Boone County, and a mittimus was made out by him without date, name or place. The prisoners were fitted out with a two-horse wagon, necessary horses, and four men besides the sheriff, to guard them to Boone County. The prisoners numbered five, as follows: Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, Lyman Wight, Caleb Baldwin, and Alexander McRae. They started from Gallatin in the afternoon and went as far as Diahman, where they camped for the night at Judge Morin’s. The next day they went about twenty miles where a jug of whiskey was procured, and all of the guards, save one, got drank and went to bed. The sheriff showed the prisoners the mittimus and said to them that Judge Birch told him never to carry them to Boone County, and never to show the mittimus, and, the sheriff said: “I shall take a good drink of whiskey and go to bed, and you may do as you are a mind to.”The EscapeThe prisoners bought from the guards two of the horses, paying for one with clothing, and giving their note for the other. After four of the guards had retired and were asleep in drunken slumber, the fifth helped them to saddle the horses and started them on their way. Two of the brethren mounted and three went on foot, changing places from time to time. Said Hyrum Smith, “we took our change of venue for the state of Illinois, and in the course of nine or ten days arrived at Quincy, Adams County.” They found their families in good health, but in a state of poverty due to their persecutions and expulsion from Missouri’s soil.A “Concocted Plan”Samuel Tillery, the jailer at Liberty, told the prisoners that the persecutions against the Saints was a “concocted plan,” framed by the various officers who took part in it, from the governor down. It was first planned in the fore part of the year 1838, but was not fully carried out until the militia was sent down against the Saints in Caldwell and Daviess Counties. “But,” said Tillery, shortly before the removal of the brethren to Daviess County from Liberty Prison, “you need not be concerned, for the governor has laid a plan for your release.” He also said that the governor was now ashamed enough of the whole transaction, and would be glad to set the prisoners at liberty, if he dared to do it. Without question the conspirators became alarmed. They did not plan the escape of the Prophet and associates because of any repentance, or remorse of conscience, but because of the fear of public sentiment, without as well as within the state. Knowledge of the dastardly actions of the officers of Missouri, who were pledged by oath to uphold and honor their constitution, which grants liberty to all citizens2in their religious worship, spread abroad into other commonwealths. The citizens of western Illinois received the exiled Saints with open arms, and invited them to make their homes among them. The governor of Iowa, Robert Lucas, wrote and spoke in a vehement manner in opposition to the treatment the “Mormon” people received in Missouri. He invited the Saints to make their homes within the borders of the territory of Iowa. All these things had their effect on the assassins in Missouri, and caused them to fear and tremble. Governor Boggs, himself, became sick of the reproach brought upon the state, and reached the point where he would have gladly released Joseph Smith and his fellow prisoners, but feared that such an action would properly be interpreted as an acknowledgment of his unlawful course. He preferred to have it so arranged that they could escape and appear before the world as fugitives from justice.Escape of Parley P. PrattAt the time Joseph Smith and his companions were sent to Liberty, Elders Parley P. Pratt, Morris Phelps, Luman Gibbs, Norman Shearer and Darwin Chase, were sent to Richmond, to await trial on the same charges. Here they suffered many untold hardships and deprivations in their dungeon, until April 24, 1839, a period of six months, when they were taken before the grand jury in Ray County, for a hearing of their case. The same notorious Judge Austin A. King presided at the deliberations of this body. Norman Shearer and Darwin Chase, who were only boys, were released, and King Follett, an aged man, was added to the list of prisoners. A change of venue having been granted them, the brethren were taken to Columbia, Boone County, and again cast into prison. In the meantime Luman Gibbs apostatized, hoping to gain his liberty, but the crafty officers, although they treated him with improved consideration, still kept him in prison to act as a spy on his former brethren. July 4, 1839, Elders Pratt, Phelps and Follett, assisted on the outside by Orson Pratt and a young man named John W. Clark, a brother-in-law of Elder Phelps, escaped in a very thrilling and novel manner. Elder Follett was re-captured, but the other two made their way, after many hardships and difficulties, to Illinois and the presence of their families. Elder Follett was again cast into prison and bound in chains, but in course of a month or two was dismissed, no charge having been proved against him.Departure of the ExilesWith all three members of the First Presidency in prison, the burden of removing the Saints from Missouri was placed on the shoulders of President Brigham Young, of the council of the apostles. A public meeting was held at Far West, January 26, 1839, and a committee composed of the following brethren was selected to draft resolutions and consider means for the removal of the Saints from Missouri: Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, John Taylor, Alanson Ripley, Theodore Turley, John Smith and Don Carlos Smith. This committee went to work gathering such means as could be obtained, and devising plans for the removal of the poor. Later a committee on removal was appointed with the following members: William Huntington, chairman; Charles Bird, Alanson Ripley, Theodore Turley, Daniel Shearer, Shadrack Roundy and Jonathan H. Hale. During the winter months the exodus began, and many of the Saints gathered at Quincy, Illinois, where they received a kindly welcome. Due to their extreme poverty—for they had been robbed and plundered—many of the members of the Church were unable to get away before the spring of 1839. April arrived, and the vicious mobocrats met in council on the 6th, and determined that all the “Mormons” should be out of Caldwell County by the 12th of that month. All available teams were secured, and help was solicited from the members of the Church who were already in Illinois, and the remaining Saints at Far West began their journey from Missouri. Thirty families were removed into Tenney’s Grove, twenty-five miles from Far West, by the 14th of April, on their way to Quincy. Most of the committee remained at Far West until the last. President Brigham Young was forced to leave about the middle of February, to save his life from the angry Missourians who sought it. From the Illinois side he directed the location of the Saints.Thursday, April 18, 1839, Elder Heber C. Kimball notified the members of the committee on removal to wind up their affairs at once, and be off, for their lives were in grave danger. An armed force went to the home of Theodore Turley to shoot him; similar action was taken against other members of the committee, and a number of mobbers tried to kill Heber C. Kimball in the streets of Far West. The members of the Church had now departed; many went by way of Richmond and the Missouri River to Quincy. The members of the committee who still remained, were given one hour to get out of the place. Hurriedly gathering up such articles as they could take with them, they departed. The mobbers then commenced to loot the homes, which had not already been looted of all they contained.Governor Boggs and his aids had gained a great victory; the Latter-day Saints had either been exterminated, or driven from the borders of Missouri, according to his order. Only those remained who were incarcerated, and the day of their deliverance was near at hand.Fulfilment of ProphecyA revelation was given July 8, 1838, calling John Taylor, John E. Page, Wilford Woodruff and Willard Richards to the apostleship. John Taylor and John E. Page were ordained under the hands of Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball at a meeting held in Far West, December 19, 1838. In this revelation (Doc. and Cov., Sec. 118) the apostles were commanded to take their leave of the Saints from the temple lot in Far West on the 26th day of April, 1839. April had arrived and the Saints were scattered, likewise the members of the council of the apostles. On the 5th day of April, Samuel Bogart, the mobber, with John Whitmer and a few other apostates, came to the room occupied by the committee on removal and read this revelation to Theodore Turley. With much laughter and assurance that it could not be fulfilled, they called on him to renounce Joseph Smith, which now he must do as a rational man. The apostates said: “The twelve are now scattered all over creation; let them come here if they dare; if they do, they will be murdered. As that revelation cannot be fulfilled, you will now give up your faith.” Turley jumped up and said: “In the name of God that revelation will be fulfilled.” They laughed him to scorn. John Whitmer hung his head in shame. In the course of the conversation Turley asked John Whitmer if his testimony regarding the Book of Mormon was true, and Whitmer answered: “I now say, I handled those plates; there were fine engravings on both sides. I handled them;” and he then described how they were hung, and then he said, “They were shown to me by a supernatural power.”The 26th day of April arrived, and so also did the apostles at the temple lot in Far West. Early that morning, these brethren and a few of the Saints assembled at the temple lot, and proceeded to transact the business of their mission as they were commanded, according to the following minutes:“At a conference held at Far West by the twelve, high priests, elders, and priests, on the 26th day of April, 1839, the following resolution was adopted:“Resolved: That the following persons be no more fellowshiped in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but excommunicated from the same, viz.: Isaac Russell, Mary Russell, John Goodson and wife, Jacob Scott, Sen., and wife, Isaac Scott, Jacob Scott, Jun., Ann Scott, Sister Walton, Robert Walton, Sister Cavanaugh, Ann Wanless, William Dawson, Jun., William Dawson, Sen., and wife, George Nelson, Joseph Nelson, and wife, and mother, William Warnock and wife, Jonathan Maynard, Nelson Maynard, George Miller, John Griggs and wife, Luman Gibbs, Simeon Gardner, and Freeborn Gardner.3“The council then proceeded to the building spot of the Lord’s House; when the following business was transacted: Part of a hymn was sung, on the mission of the twelve.“Elder Alpheus Cutler, the master workman of the house, then recommenced laying the foundation of the Lord’s House, agreeably to the revelation, by rolling up a large stone near the southeast corner.“The following of the twelve were present: Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, John E. Page, and John Taylor, who proceeded to ordain Wilford Woodruff and George A. Smith, who had been previously nominated by the First Presidency, accepted by the twelve, and acknowledged by the Church, to the office of apostles and members of the quorum of the twelve, to fill the places of those who had fallen. Darwin Chase and Norman Shearer, who had just been liberated from Richmond prison, where they had been confined for the cause of Jesus Christ, were then ordained to the office of the seventies.”After vocal prayer by each of the members of the council of the twelve, and singing, the apostles took their leave of the Saints there assembled, and departed for Illinois, and later for their mission to Great Britain. And thus closed the history of the Latter-day Saints in Missouri until some future day.Notes1.The prayer and the answer the Lord gave the Prophet are found in sections 121, 122, 123, of the Doctrine and Covenants.2.The Constitution of Missouri read as follows:Article 4. That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences; and that no man can be compelled to erect, support, or attend any place of worship, or to maintain any minister of the Gospel, or teacher of religion; that no human authority can control or interfere with the rights of conscience; that no person can ever be hurt, molested, or restrained in his religious professions, or sentiments, if he do not disturb others in their religious worship.Article 5. That no person, on account of his religious opinions, can be rendered ineligible to any office of trust or profit under this state; that no preference can ever be given by law, to any sect or mode of worship.3.At a conference held in Quincy, Illinois, March 17, 1839, George M. Hinkle, Sampson Avard, John Corrill, Reed Peck, Frederick G. Williams, Thomas B. Marsh, Burr Riggs and several others were excommunicated from the Church.

The Expulsion from Missouri

1838–1839

In December, 1838, the Legislature of Missouri met. Governor Boggs laid before that body the information in his hands relative to the difficulty with the Latter-day Saints. This information was woefully lacking in the matter of the petitions and documents sent to him in defense of the Saints. On the 10th of that month Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, John Taylor and other brethren petitioned the legislature, setting forth their side of the case. This petition was presented to David R. Atchison and others, December 17. The following day Mr. Turner, from a joint committee, presented before the senate a report of findings, based on the governor’s information. This report stated that the evidence was “not authenticated,” and was confined chiefly to investigation of criminal charges against individuals under arrest; the evidence wasex parte; and without aid of further evidence, the committee could not form a satisfactory opinion in relation to the material points. For these reasons, and because “it would be a direct interference with the administration of justice, the committee reported that this document ought not to be published, with the sanction of the legislature.” December 19, the petition of the brethren was presented by John Corrill, who had but recently departed from the Church. It was read in profound silence, but at the close of the reading, the house was in an uproar. A Mr. Childs, of Jackson County, denounced the petition saying there was not a word of truth in it. Mr. Ashley, of Livingstone County, denounced the “Mormons” as did also Mr. Young, of Lafayette. Ashley was one of the murderers at Haun’s Mill, and even boasted of that slaughter before the house. Mr. Redman, of Howard County, and Mr. Gyer, of St. Louis, and a few other members, demanded a full investigation, for they believed there was truth in the petition, and the actions of those members in opposing an investigation was because they feared their evil deeds might be brought to light. The result of it all was that the petition was laid on the table, “until the 4th day of July next,”—Independence day. January 16, 1839, Mr. Turner introduced in the senate a bill “to provide for the investigation of the late disturbances in this state.” The bill passed the senate, but when it came to the house (Feb. 4) it followed the petition and was laid on the table, also to be taken up on Independence day. Many considered this an approval of the wrongs committed on the “Mormons” in Missouri. David R. Atchison and a few others vigorously protested against such criminal action, but found themselves in the minority, for the motion prevailed by a majority of eleven votes.

In December, the legislature of Missouri appropriated two thousand dollars “to be distributed among the people of Daviess and Caldwell Counties.” The “good” people of Daviess were very “generous” and felt that they could do without their portion of this appropriation, and let it be given to the people of Caldwell. They could well afford to do such a thing, for they had robbed the “Mormon” people of nearly all they possessed. They had ransacked their homes and carried off their household furniture and goods, and otherwise enriched themselves at the expense of the Saints who had dwelt among them. This sum, so it was pretended, was distributed among the people in Caldwell. Judge Cameron and others attended to the “distribution.” The way they did it was to drive off the hogs belonging to the “Mormons” and shoot them, and without further bleeding, cut them up and deliver them to the Saints, at four or five cents a pound. They also “gave them a few calicos,” and the “sweepings of an old store,” charging them an extra price for the goods, and thus was the “munificient” sum of two thousand dollars distributed among the “Mormons.” Later the same legislature appropriated two hundred thousand dollars to pay the troops for their work in driving the “Mormons” from the state. In this manner were law and justice administered in Missouri in the years 1838 and 1839.

The total value of the property destroyed in Missouri, which belonged to the Saints, is beyond our knowledge. It was estimated to be not less than two million dollars, from the time they first settled in that state until their expulsion. About twelve hundred members of the Church were driven from Jackson County in 1833, and all their property was lost to them. When again they were forced to leave Clay County, though they went peaceably at the request of the other citizens, they left behind them a vast amount of property for which no remuneration was ever received. When they were expelled from the state in the winter of 1838 –9, the Saints numbered between twelve and fifteen thousand souls. All their property, except the little they were able to gather hastily and carry with them, was either destroyed or stolen by their enemies. In the appeal made to Congress and the President of the United States, in 1839, the amount of their losses was estimated at two million dollars. Claims against Missouri for the losses were presented to Congress in the sum of $1,381,044.00, and this represented only 491 individuals; many others who lost property, entered no claims for damages against that state.

In addition to this loss of property, the Prophet Joseph paid in lawyers’ fees, for the defense of the people and himself, against the unhallowed persecutions of their enemies, about fifty thousand dollars; with very little benefit in return. And for all this, the generous state of Missouri, for a show before the world of their charity and kindness toward the people they had robbed, could afford to appropriate the magnificent sum of two thousand dollars! And what of the blood of men, women and children which had been shed by these human fiends?

After the mock trial in Richmond, Joseph Smith and his five companions were imprisoned in Liberty, Clay County, for a period of six months. Here they suffered, during that time, many untold hardships. Much of the time they were bound in chains. Their food was often not fit to eat, and never wholesome or prepared with the thought of proper nourishment. Several times poison was administered to them in their food, which made them sick nigh unto death, and only the promised blessings of the Lord saved them. Their bed was on the floor, or on the flat side of a hewn white oak log, and in this manner they were forced to suffer. Is it any wonder that they cried in the anguish of their souls unto the Lord, for relief from such inhuman treatment?

The Lord did not forsake them. While they were confined, the brethren wrote a number of communications to the Saints. Occasionally their friends were privileged to visit them, but always in the presence of a strong and heavily armed guard. Letters with words of comfort were occasionally received, and in this way their spirits were buoyed up, which enabled them to stand their trials. On March 25, 1839, an epistle of special import was written from the prison to the Saints scattered abroad, and to the bishop, Edward Partridge, in particular. This epistle portrayed many of their grievances and expressed their love and fellowship for the Saints. Above all this, however, they poured out their souls to the Lord asking for relief, and wondering why they were so severely punished. The Lord gave them answer which comforted them and built them up in hope. They also received encouragement, and assurance of their delivery from bonds, which was soon to come to pass.1

The Prophet wrote in his Journal that January 1, 1839, “dawned upon us as prisoners of hope, but not as sons of liberty. O Columbia, Columbia! How thou art fallen! ‘The land of the free, the home of the brave!’ ‘The asylum of the oppressed’—oppressing thy noblest sons, in a loathsome dungeon, without any provocation, only that they have claimed to worship the God of their fathers according to his own word, and the dictates of their own consciences.” Elder Parley P. Pratt and his companions in tribulation were still held in bondage in their doleful prison in Richmond. The brethren appealed to the supreme court in Missouri for a writ of habeas corpus. Twice their petition was denied. They also petitioned the judges of the county for like privileges, and sent a memorial to the legislature asking that they be granted a fair and impartial trial before an unprejudiced judge in some other circuit, where they might have hope of justice, which could not be obtained from Judge King. Finally, in the latter part of February, 1839, they prevailed on Judge Turnham, one of the county judges, who granted their request after some reluctance. The judge was afraid of the mob, for the threats were made by the members of the banditti, that if any judge, jury or court of any kind, should free the prisoners they would be killed. Great threatenings were made at the time of this trial, and the brethren would have been liberated, only for the blundering, wilfully or ignorantly, of their lawyers. Sidney Rigdon, who had suffered terribly because of exposure and the ill-treatment he had received, he being much older and less able to endure than the other brethren, was released by the action of the judge, at this time. Through a kindness on the part of the sheriff, Samuel Hadley, and the jailer, Samuel Tillery, he was let out of prison in the night, for fear of the mob, and told to make his way out of the state as soon as he could. Even as it was, he was pursued by a body of armed men; but having a good start made his way to Quincy, Illinois.

The refusal on the part of the courts and officials to grant a final trial—for it should be remembered the brethren were being held on a preliminary hearing all these months—and the threatenings of numerous enemies caused the brethren to determine on making their escape if possible. Once they tried and failed. Again the opportunity presented itself, and the Lord indicated to them that if they were united they could gain their freedom, but the stubbornness of Lyman Wight defeated their purpose. The latter part of March, Elders Heber C. Kimball and Theodore Turley went to Jefferson City with necessary papers, to see the governor, but he was absent. However, they saw the secretary of state, who appeared astonished at the action of Judge King, and who wrote the judge a letter. They also saw the supreme court judges, but due to the blundering of their attorney, Doniphan, they were unable to obtain a writ of habeas corpus. They returned to Liberty on the 30th of March. April 4, they had an interview with Judge Austin A. King, who was angry to think they had been to see the governor. King said he could have done all that they desired, and would have signed their petition if he had been approached, for all the prisoners, but Joseph Smith, “and he was not fit to live.” Fearing that the brethren might obtain a change of venue, Judge King hurried off with them, April 6, 1839, to Daviess County, where he hoped to continue his persecution. Perhaps he hoped they would be murdered, for a band of fifty men in Daviess County, on learning that the prisoners were coming, took an oath that they would neither eat nor drink until they had murdered the Prophet. The prisoners arrived at Gallatin, April 8, and the following day the examination of witnesses commenced before the grand jury, over which Judge King acted as the presiding judge. Judge Birch, the county judge, who previously assisted in the prosecution of the brethren, was associated with him. Both judges and jury were drunk while the case proceeded, and the men of the jury were members of the raiding party of Haun’s Mill. They served on the jury during the day and as guards at night, and in their drunken debauchery boasted of their many crimes. On the 11th of April, they brought in a “true bill” against the prisoners for “murder, treason, burglary, arson, larceny, theft and stealing.”

On April 15, 1839, the brethren obtained from Judge Birch a change of venue from Daviess to Boone County, and a mittimus was made out by him without date, name or place. The prisoners were fitted out with a two-horse wagon, necessary horses, and four men besides the sheriff, to guard them to Boone County. The prisoners numbered five, as follows: Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, Lyman Wight, Caleb Baldwin, and Alexander McRae. They started from Gallatin in the afternoon and went as far as Diahman, where they camped for the night at Judge Morin’s. The next day they went about twenty miles where a jug of whiskey was procured, and all of the guards, save one, got drank and went to bed. The sheriff showed the prisoners the mittimus and said to them that Judge Birch told him never to carry them to Boone County, and never to show the mittimus, and, the sheriff said: “I shall take a good drink of whiskey and go to bed, and you may do as you are a mind to.”

The prisoners bought from the guards two of the horses, paying for one with clothing, and giving their note for the other. After four of the guards had retired and were asleep in drunken slumber, the fifth helped them to saddle the horses and started them on their way. Two of the brethren mounted and three went on foot, changing places from time to time. Said Hyrum Smith, “we took our change of venue for the state of Illinois, and in the course of nine or ten days arrived at Quincy, Adams County.” They found their families in good health, but in a state of poverty due to their persecutions and expulsion from Missouri’s soil.

Samuel Tillery, the jailer at Liberty, told the prisoners that the persecutions against the Saints was a “concocted plan,” framed by the various officers who took part in it, from the governor down. It was first planned in the fore part of the year 1838, but was not fully carried out until the militia was sent down against the Saints in Caldwell and Daviess Counties. “But,” said Tillery, shortly before the removal of the brethren to Daviess County from Liberty Prison, “you need not be concerned, for the governor has laid a plan for your release.” He also said that the governor was now ashamed enough of the whole transaction, and would be glad to set the prisoners at liberty, if he dared to do it. Without question the conspirators became alarmed. They did not plan the escape of the Prophet and associates because of any repentance, or remorse of conscience, but because of the fear of public sentiment, without as well as within the state. Knowledge of the dastardly actions of the officers of Missouri, who were pledged by oath to uphold and honor their constitution, which grants liberty to all citizens2in their religious worship, spread abroad into other commonwealths. The citizens of western Illinois received the exiled Saints with open arms, and invited them to make their homes among them. The governor of Iowa, Robert Lucas, wrote and spoke in a vehement manner in opposition to the treatment the “Mormon” people received in Missouri. He invited the Saints to make their homes within the borders of the territory of Iowa. All these things had their effect on the assassins in Missouri, and caused them to fear and tremble. Governor Boggs, himself, became sick of the reproach brought upon the state, and reached the point where he would have gladly released Joseph Smith and his fellow prisoners, but feared that such an action would properly be interpreted as an acknowledgment of his unlawful course. He preferred to have it so arranged that they could escape and appear before the world as fugitives from justice.

At the time Joseph Smith and his companions were sent to Liberty, Elders Parley P. Pratt, Morris Phelps, Luman Gibbs, Norman Shearer and Darwin Chase, were sent to Richmond, to await trial on the same charges. Here they suffered many untold hardships and deprivations in their dungeon, until April 24, 1839, a period of six months, when they were taken before the grand jury in Ray County, for a hearing of their case. The same notorious Judge Austin A. King presided at the deliberations of this body. Norman Shearer and Darwin Chase, who were only boys, were released, and King Follett, an aged man, was added to the list of prisoners. A change of venue having been granted them, the brethren were taken to Columbia, Boone County, and again cast into prison. In the meantime Luman Gibbs apostatized, hoping to gain his liberty, but the crafty officers, although they treated him with improved consideration, still kept him in prison to act as a spy on his former brethren. July 4, 1839, Elders Pratt, Phelps and Follett, assisted on the outside by Orson Pratt and a young man named John W. Clark, a brother-in-law of Elder Phelps, escaped in a very thrilling and novel manner. Elder Follett was re-captured, but the other two made their way, after many hardships and difficulties, to Illinois and the presence of their families. Elder Follett was again cast into prison and bound in chains, but in course of a month or two was dismissed, no charge having been proved against him.

With all three members of the First Presidency in prison, the burden of removing the Saints from Missouri was placed on the shoulders of President Brigham Young, of the council of the apostles. A public meeting was held at Far West, January 26, 1839, and a committee composed of the following brethren was selected to draft resolutions and consider means for the removal of the Saints from Missouri: Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, John Taylor, Alanson Ripley, Theodore Turley, John Smith and Don Carlos Smith. This committee went to work gathering such means as could be obtained, and devising plans for the removal of the poor. Later a committee on removal was appointed with the following members: William Huntington, chairman; Charles Bird, Alanson Ripley, Theodore Turley, Daniel Shearer, Shadrack Roundy and Jonathan H. Hale. During the winter months the exodus began, and many of the Saints gathered at Quincy, Illinois, where they received a kindly welcome. Due to their extreme poverty—for they had been robbed and plundered—many of the members of the Church were unable to get away before the spring of 1839. April arrived, and the vicious mobocrats met in council on the 6th, and determined that all the “Mormons” should be out of Caldwell County by the 12th of that month. All available teams were secured, and help was solicited from the members of the Church who were already in Illinois, and the remaining Saints at Far West began their journey from Missouri. Thirty families were removed into Tenney’s Grove, twenty-five miles from Far West, by the 14th of April, on their way to Quincy. Most of the committee remained at Far West until the last. President Brigham Young was forced to leave about the middle of February, to save his life from the angry Missourians who sought it. From the Illinois side he directed the location of the Saints.

Thursday, April 18, 1839, Elder Heber C. Kimball notified the members of the committee on removal to wind up their affairs at once, and be off, for their lives were in grave danger. An armed force went to the home of Theodore Turley to shoot him; similar action was taken against other members of the committee, and a number of mobbers tried to kill Heber C. Kimball in the streets of Far West. The members of the Church had now departed; many went by way of Richmond and the Missouri River to Quincy. The members of the committee who still remained, were given one hour to get out of the place. Hurriedly gathering up such articles as they could take with them, they departed. The mobbers then commenced to loot the homes, which had not already been looted of all they contained.

Governor Boggs and his aids had gained a great victory; the Latter-day Saints had either been exterminated, or driven from the borders of Missouri, according to his order. Only those remained who were incarcerated, and the day of their deliverance was near at hand.

A revelation was given July 8, 1838, calling John Taylor, John E. Page, Wilford Woodruff and Willard Richards to the apostleship. John Taylor and John E. Page were ordained under the hands of Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball at a meeting held in Far West, December 19, 1838. In this revelation (Doc. and Cov., Sec. 118) the apostles were commanded to take their leave of the Saints from the temple lot in Far West on the 26th day of April, 1839. April had arrived and the Saints were scattered, likewise the members of the council of the apostles. On the 5th day of April, Samuel Bogart, the mobber, with John Whitmer and a few other apostates, came to the room occupied by the committee on removal and read this revelation to Theodore Turley. With much laughter and assurance that it could not be fulfilled, they called on him to renounce Joseph Smith, which now he must do as a rational man. The apostates said: “The twelve are now scattered all over creation; let them come here if they dare; if they do, they will be murdered. As that revelation cannot be fulfilled, you will now give up your faith.” Turley jumped up and said: “In the name of God that revelation will be fulfilled.” They laughed him to scorn. John Whitmer hung his head in shame. In the course of the conversation Turley asked John Whitmer if his testimony regarding the Book of Mormon was true, and Whitmer answered: “I now say, I handled those plates; there were fine engravings on both sides. I handled them;” and he then described how they were hung, and then he said, “They were shown to me by a supernatural power.”

The 26th day of April arrived, and so also did the apostles at the temple lot in Far West. Early that morning, these brethren and a few of the Saints assembled at the temple lot, and proceeded to transact the business of their mission as they were commanded, according to the following minutes:

“At a conference held at Far West by the twelve, high priests, elders, and priests, on the 26th day of April, 1839, the following resolution was adopted:“Resolved: That the following persons be no more fellowshiped in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but excommunicated from the same, viz.: Isaac Russell, Mary Russell, John Goodson and wife, Jacob Scott, Sen., and wife, Isaac Scott, Jacob Scott, Jun., Ann Scott, Sister Walton, Robert Walton, Sister Cavanaugh, Ann Wanless, William Dawson, Jun., William Dawson, Sen., and wife, George Nelson, Joseph Nelson, and wife, and mother, William Warnock and wife, Jonathan Maynard, Nelson Maynard, George Miller, John Griggs and wife, Luman Gibbs, Simeon Gardner, and Freeborn Gardner.3“The council then proceeded to the building spot of the Lord’s House; when the following business was transacted: Part of a hymn was sung, on the mission of the twelve.“Elder Alpheus Cutler, the master workman of the house, then recommenced laying the foundation of the Lord’s House, agreeably to the revelation, by rolling up a large stone near the southeast corner.“The following of the twelve were present: Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, John E. Page, and John Taylor, who proceeded to ordain Wilford Woodruff and George A. Smith, who had been previously nominated by the First Presidency, accepted by the twelve, and acknowledged by the Church, to the office of apostles and members of the quorum of the twelve, to fill the places of those who had fallen. Darwin Chase and Norman Shearer, who had just been liberated from Richmond prison, where they had been confined for the cause of Jesus Christ, were then ordained to the office of the seventies.”

“At a conference held at Far West by the twelve, high priests, elders, and priests, on the 26th day of April, 1839, the following resolution was adopted:

“Resolved: That the following persons be no more fellowshiped in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, but excommunicated from the same, viz.: Isaac Russell, Mary Russell, John Goodson and wife, Jacob Scott, Sen., and wife, Isaac Scott, Jacob Scott, Jun., Ann Scott, Sister Walton, Robert Walton, Sister Cavanaugh, Ann Wanless, William Dawson, Jun., William Dawson, Sen., and wife, George Nelson, Joseph Nelson, and wife, and mother, William Warnock and wife, Jonathan Maynard, Nelson Maynard, George Miller, John Griggs and wife, Luman Gibbs, Simeon Gardner, and Freeborn Gardner.3

“The council then proceeded to the building spot of the Lord’s House; when the following business was transacted: Part of a hymn was sung, on the mission of the twelve.

“Elder Alpheus Cutler, the master workman of the house, then recommenced laying the foundation of the Lord’s House, agreeably to the revelation, by rolling up a large stone near the southeast corner.

“The following of the twelve were present: Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, John E. Page, and John Taylor, who proceeded to ordain Wilford Woodruff and George A. Smith, who had been previously nominated by the First Presidency, accepted by the twelve, and acknowledged by the Church, to the office of apostles and members of the quorum of the twelve, to fill the places of those who had fallen. Darwin Chase and Norman Shearer, who had just been liberated from Richmond prison, where they had been confined for the cause of Jesus Christ, were then ordained to the office of the seventies.”

After vocal prayer by each of the members of the council of the twelve, and singing, the apostles took their leave of the Saints there assembled, and departed for Illinois, and later for their mission to Great Britain. And thus closed the history of the Latter-day Saints in Missouri until some future day.

1.The prayer and the answer the Lord gave the Prophet are found in sections 121, 122, 123, of the Doctrine and Covenants.

2.The Constitution of Missouri read as follows:Article 4. That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences; and that no man can be compelled to erect, support, or attend any place of worship, or to maintain any minister of the Gospel, or teacher of religion; that no human authority can control or interfere with the rights of conscience; that no person can ever be hurt, molested, or restrained in his religious professions, or sentiments, if he do not disturb others in their religious worship.Article 5. That no person, on account of his religious opinions, can be rendered ineligible to any office of trust or profit under this state; that no preference can ever be given by law, to any sect or mode of worship.

2.The Constitution of Missouri read as follows:

Article 4. That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences; and that no man can be compelled to erect, support, or attend any place of worship, or to maintain any minister of the Gospel, or teacher of religion; that no human authority can control or interfere with the rights of conscience; that no person can ever be hurt, molested, or restrained in his religious professions, or sentiments, if he do not disturb others in their religious worship.

Article 5. That no person, on account of his religious opinions, can be rendered ineligible to any office of trust or profit under this state; that no preference can ever be given by law, to any sect or mode of worship.

3.At a conference held in Quincy, Illinois, March 17, 1839, George M. Hinkle, Sampson Avard, John Corrill, Reed Peck, Frederick G. Williams, Thomas B. Marsh, Burr Riggs and several others were excommunicated from the Church.

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