RETURN TO NAUVOO—SICKNESS OF LEONORA—SAVED BY THE POWER OF GOD—FOUNDS "NAUVOO NEIGHBOR"—EDITS "TIMES AND SEASONS"—NOMINATES THE PROPHET FOR PRESIDENT—REASONS—INTRODUCTION OF CELESTIAL MARRIAGE—HIS CONDUCT IN REGARD TO IT.
The remainder of Elder Taylor's time while on his first mission to England was employed mostly in preaching in Liverpool and in assisting the Saints who were beginning to emigrate to Nauvoo.
There was something singular in this movement among the British Saints. When the Apostles started on their missions, the Prophet Joseph had instructed them to say nothing, for the present, in relation to the gathering of the people. It was doubtless the unsettled state of the Church at that time which led him to give such counsel. The instructions were, of course, followed by the Apostles; but no sooner were the people baptized than they were seized with a desire to gather with the main body of the Church. "I find it is difficult to keep anything from the Saints," writes Elder Taylor, "for the Spirit of God reveals it to them. * * * Some time ago Sister Mitchel dreamed that she, her husband and a number of others were on board a vessel, and that there were other vessels, loaded with Saints, going somewhere. She felt very happy and was rejoicing in the Lord." Another sister had a similar dream, and was informed that all the Saints were going. Neither of these sisters, nor any of the Saints at that time, knew anything about the principle of gathering, yet all were anxious to leave their homes, their kindred and the associations of a lifetime, to join the main body of the Church in a distant land, the members of which were total strangers to them.
Not only had this desire to gather with the Church taken hold of them, but those who had means were moved upon to assist those who were poor. Altogether more than eight hundred Saints left England before the Apostles turned their faces homeward, and Elder Taylor was of material service to them in Liverpool, as he secured for them the best possible terms for their passage; organized them into companies, appointing the most experienced and wisest among them to take charge, that the inexperienced might not be a prey for sharpers and rogues to feast upon.
In addition to these labors, Elder Taylor visited Manchester, Birmingham, Sheffield and many other cities, everywhere preaching the gospel with great success, everywhere preaching the gospel with great success, converting the unbelieving and strengthening and encouraging the Saints. Thus the autumn and winter of 1840—41 passed away.
The object for which the Apostles had visited Great Britain was accomplished. They had established the Church there on a sound basis. The Book of Mormon and the Hymn Book had been published; a periodical to advocate and defend the faith delivered to the Saints established; a permanent shipping agency founded to aid the Saints in gathering to Zion; branches had been organized in nearly all the principal towns of the kingdom, and some eight thousand souls had been baptized. In all this labor Elder Taylor had taken an active, prominent part; and now, in company with his fellow Apostles, Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, Orson Pratt, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith and Willard Richards, he sailed on the shipRochesterfor America.
Elder Taylor arrived in Nauvoo on the 1st of July, 1841. Here a great sorrow was awaiting him—his faithful, patient Leonora was sick nigh unto death. The hardships in Missouri, the separation from her husband,—on whose strong arm and steadfast courage she was wont to lean,—and the consequent increase of care in watching over her family, had at last broken down her strength; and hence he found her pale and wan, and death clutching at her precious life. He called in twenty Elders, who prayed for her; she was anointed with oil, hands were laid upon her, and, in fulfillment of God's promise, the prayer of faith healed the sick—the Lord raised her up.
It was shortly after the return of the Twelve from England that the Prophet Joseph made known to them the doctrine of celestial marriage—the marriage system that obtains in the celestial worlds where the Gods dwell,—marriage that is to endure for time and for eternity, the ceremony being performed by one holding that power which binds on earth and binds in heaven. Celestial marriage also includes a plurality of wives.
This system of marriage had been revealed to the Prophet a number of years before, but he had kept the matter in his own heart. The time had come, however, when the principles of this marriage system must be made known to others and the practice thereof entered into by the faithful in the Priesthood. Hitherto the Saints, in common with the so-called Christian world, had married until death did them part; but now, through the introduction of celestial marriage, the covenants between men and their wives were to be made for eternity as well as for time. In this marriage system the great truth is revealed that the association of husband and wife, with all its endearing associations is to continue forever; and that—to paraphrase the words of one who spake as if inspired on this theme[1]—as long as there is room in infinite space, or matter in the exhaustless storehouse of nature, or as long as the bosoms of the Gods glow with affection, just so long will new worlds be created and filled with the ever increasing posterity of the righteous, and new kingdoms added to the dominions of the Fathers!
The plurality of wives included in this system of marriage is what gave rise to grave concern in the minds of the faithful men to whom it was revealed. The world never made a greater mistake than when it supposed that plural marriage was hailed with delight by the Elders who were commanded of the Lord to introduce its practice in this generation. They saw clearly that it would bring additional reproach upon them from the world; that it would run counter to the traditions and prejudices of society, as, indeed, it was contrary to their own traditions; that their motives would be misunderstood or misconstrued. All this they saw, and naturally shrank from the undertaking required of them by the revelation of God. How Elder Taylor looked upon this matter and how he received it is best told in his own words:
"Joseph Smith told the Twelve that if this law was not practiced, if they would not enter into this covenant, then the Kingdom of God could not go one step further. Now, we did not feel like preventing the Kingdom of God from going forward. We professed to be the Apostles of the Lord, and did not feel like putting ourselves in a position to retard the progress of the Kingdom of God. The revelation says that 'All those who have this law revealed unto them must obey the same.' Now, that is not my word. I did not make it. It was the Prophet of God who revealed that to us in Nauvoo, and I bear witness of this solemn fact before God, that He did reveal this sacred principle to me and others of the Twelve, and in this revelation it is stated that it is the will and law of God that 'all those who have this law revealed unto them must obey the same.'
"I had always entertained strict ideas of virtue, and I felt as a married man that this was to me, outside of this principle, an appalling thing to do. The idea of going and asking a young lady to be married to me when I had already a wife! It was a thing calculated to stir up feelings from the innermost depths of the human soul. I had always entertained the strictest regard of chastity. I had never in my life seen the time when I have known of a man deceiving a woman—and it is often done in the world, where, notwithstanding the crime, the man is received into society and the poor woman is looked upon as a pariah and an outcast—I have always looked upon such a thing as infamous, and upon such a man as a villain. * * * Hence, with the feelings I had entertained, nothing but a knowledge of God, and the revelations of God, and the truth of them, could have induced me to embrace such a principle as this.
"We [the Twelve] seemed to put off, as far as we could, what might be termed the evil day.
"Some time after these things were made known unto us, I was riding out of Nauvoo on horseback, and met Joseph Smith coming in, he, too, being on horseback. * * * I bowed to Joseph, and having done the same to me, he said: 'Stop;' and he looked at me very intently. 'Look here,' said he, 'those things that have been spoken of must be fulfilled, and if they are not entered into right away the keys will be turned.'
"Well, what did I do? Did I feel to stand in the way of this great, eternal principle, and treat lightly the things of God? No. I replied: 'Brother Joseph, I will try and carry these things out."'
So indeed he did, for within two years, in Nauvoo, he married Elizabeth Haigham, Jane B. Ballantyne and Mary A. Oakley. Subsequently, in Utah, he married Harriet Whitaker, Sophia Whitaker and Margaret Young.[2]
By tongue and pen, as well as by the force of example, he defended this celestial order of marriage against all who assailed it; and among all who have advocated it in the face of the fierce opposition it provoked, or who spoke out in its defense both at home and abroad, there was not one whose arguments carried more weight than did his.
Meantime Nauvoo had arisen from the bogs of Commerce, and was now an incorporated city, divided into four wards, with a population of nearly five thousand. A glorious temple and other public buildings were in course of construction, a periodical—theTimes and Seasons—was being published, and there was every prospect of the city becoming a commercial and manufacturing center as well as the headquarters of the Church.
It is scarcely necessary to say that the Twelve were heartily welcomed home by the Prophet. He at once rolled on their shoulders much of the responsibility he had carried during their absence; and called upon them to assist in gathering the people to Nauvoo and to build up the Stakes of Zion.
The Twelve forthwith published a proclamation to the Saints in the British Isles, calling upon them to gather to Zion and to assist in founding manufactories and other enterprises. Another was issued denouncing thieves who began to infest Nauvoo, and whose villainy was charged to the Saints; another calling for aid in the construction of the temple. In all these labors Elder Taylor took a prominent part. He was also elected a member of the City Council, made a member of the Board of Regents for the Nauvoo University, and chosen Judge Advocate with the rank of colonel in the Nauvoo Legion, a position that made him the responsible adviser of the court and also the public prosecutor in affairs military.
These labors, in connection with his private business, occupied his attention after his return from England until February, 1842, when he was chosen associate editor of theTimes and Seasons, the Prophet Joseph being editor-in-chief. This appointment introduced him into a field of labor for which he was admirably adapted, and in which, during his lifetime—notwithstanding his labors in that sphere were frequently interrupted by the drivings of the Church and calls to other kinds of employments—he accomplished much good, and became well known as a powerful writer.
He occupied the position of associate editor on theTimes and Seasonsfor about a year, when the Prophet's increasing cares made it necessary for him to resign his place as editor-in-chief. Elder Taylor was appointed to take his place. He continued to edit and publish that periodical until the Church was driven out of Nauvoo in the spring of 1846.
In addition to his labors on theTimes and Seasons, within a year he became the editor and proprietor of another paper, theNauvoo Neighbor, a large imperial sheet issued weekly, and devoted "to the dissemination of useful knowledge of every description—the arts, science, religion, literature, agriculture, manufactures, trade, commerce and the general news of the day." In both these periodicals he ably defended the truth against all comers, and did much to stem the flood of falsehood that set in against the character of the Prophet Joseph.
The progress of Nauvoo was now by leaps and bounds, rapidly increasing in trade, commerce and population. The Prophet Joseph's career, too, was approaching its zenith. He was the most prominent man in the State of Illinois, and much courted because of his supposed political influence. Some of the most prominent men in the State sought his friendship, but it too frequently happened that it was for selfish purposes they courted him. No one was more sensitively aware of that fact than Elder Taylor. He knew them to be flatterers of the Prophet, that political thrift might follow fawning. They were heartless parasites, clinging to him in his hour of prosperity, but ready to fall away from and even betray him should the tide of his fortunes begin to ebb, or their interests require his immolation to satisfy the clamor of a prejudiced populace.
It was to remove the Prophet out of the filthy slough of party politics, that he and his people might not be the shuttle-cock for the battledoors of political demagogues—that he and they might not be the subjects of fulsome praise on the one hand, nor of fierce denunciation or unseemly vituperation on the other, that Elder Taylor urged the Prophet's nomination for the presidency of the United States, in February, 1844.
In a long editorial in theNeighbor, in which he nominates the Prophet for President, he represents that as Henry Clay—then one of the prominent candidates for President—inclined strongly to the old school of federalists, his political principles were diametrically opposed to those entertained by the people of Nauvoo, and hence they could not conscientiously vote for him; and they had even stronger objections to Mr. Van Buren, who, when the Saints appealed to him to redress the outrages put upon them in Missouri, admitted the justice of their cause, but claimed that he was powerless to assist them; he also held that Congress was powerless to redress their grievances.
"But all these things are tolerable to what we have yet to state," says Elder Taylor. "We have been informed from a respectable source, that there is an understanding between Mr. Benton [Senator], of Missouri, and Mr. Van Buren, and a conditional compact entered into that if Mr. Benton will use his influence to get Mr. Van Buren elected, that Mr. Van Buren, when elected, shall use his executive influence to wipe away the stain from Missouri by a further persecution of the Mormons, wreaking vengeance on their heads, either by extermination or by some other summary process. We could scarcely credit the statement, and we hope yet, for the sake of humanity, that the suggestion is false; but we have too good reason to believe that we are correctly informed."
Then, after enlarging upon the fitness of the Prophet for the high office of President of the United States, he adds:
"One great reason that we have for pursuing our present course is that at every election we have been made a political target for the filthy demagogues in the country to shoot their loathsome arrows at. And every story has been put into circulation to blast our fame, from the old fabrication of 'walk on the water' down to the 'murder of Governor Boggs.' The journals have teemed with this filthy trash, and even men who ought to have more respect for themselves—men contending for the gubernatorial chair—have made use of terms so degrading, so mean, so humiliating, that a Billingsgate fisherwoman would have considered herself disgraced with. We refuse any longer to be thus bedaubed for either party; we tell all such to let their filth flow in its own legitimate channel, for we are sick of the loathsome smell. * * * Under existing circumstances we have no other alternative [than that of withdrawing from both political parties,] and if we can accomplish our object, well; if not we shall have the satisfaction of knowing we have acted conscientiously and have used our best judgment; and if we have to throw away our votes, we had better do so upon a worthy, rather than upon an unworthy individual, who might make use of the weapon we put in his hand to destroy us.
Then the Prophet was put before the country for President of the United States. He published his views on the powers and policy of the government, and called upon his friends to support him.
By adopting this policy there was a candidate in the field the Saints could vote for conscientiously; and if their candidate from the beginning was sure of defeat, they had at least removed themselves and their religion from the filthy vortex of political controversy.
1. Parley P. Pratt'sKey to Theology.
2. For dates of these marriages, birth of children, etc., see Appendix.
A RETROSPECT—A STATE'S CRIME—TROUBLE BREWING.
Thus far I have spoken only of those prosperous events which befell the Saints at Nauvoo from the return of the Twelve from England, in July, 1841, to the nomination of the Prophet Joseph for president of the United States, February, 1843. It now becomes necessary to note some of those unfortunate events which befell them during the same period, with all of which Elder Taylor had more or less to do.
Missouri was not satisfied with robbing the Saints wholesale and expelling them from her borders, her hatred followed them to Illinois. Of course the Prophet Joseph was the chief object of their fury. In the fall of 1841 he was arrested upon a requisition from the Governor of Missouri on the old charge of "theft, arson and murder," assumed to have been committed in Caldwell and Daviess Counties, in the autumn of 1838. He obtained a writ ofhabeas corpusand the case came up before Judge Stephen A. Douglass, at Monmouth, who found the writ on which he was held illegal, and discharged the prisoner.
In the spring of 1842 an attempt was made to assassinate ex-Governor Boggs of Missouri, and as soon as he recovered from the injuries received, he charged Joseph Smith with being accessory before the fact to the attempted murder. Again the Prophet was arrested under a requisition from the Governor of Missouri, and again he obtained a writ ofhabeas corpusand went before the circuit court of the United States, Judge Pope of Springfield, Illinois, presiding. Elder Taylor and a few others accompanied him. The Prophet was anxious to have the case tried on its merits, but this Judge Pope held to be unnecessary as he was entitled to be discharged because of defects in the affidavit on which the demand for his surrender to Missouri was made.
As the state legislature at the time was in session, there were gathered in Springfield the principal men of the state; and as they were all anxious to learn something of "Mormonism," the Representatives' Hall was tendered the brethren for holding religious service, on Sunday, and Elder Taylor and Orson Hyde were appointed by the Prophet to preach, the latter in the forenoon, the former in the afternoon.
In all these vexatious prosecutions Elder Taylor stood very near the Prophet, and ably defended him through the editorial columns of theTimes and Seasonsand theNeighbor.
In the meantime the phenomenal growth of the Church, the prosperity of the Saints in Nauvoo, and the rapid progress of the city, while very gratifying to the founders of both Church and city, attracted to the body religious and municipal a class of men that were very undesirable. Adventurers seeking for place and power and wealth; demagogues who by fulsome flattery of the people hoped to attain through their political influence a realization of their ambitious dreams; knaves who by falsely professing conversion, thought to cover up corrupt, licentious lives, and thrive by villainy; thieves and counterfeiters who saw their opportunity to live by roguery, and steal on the credit of the Mormons, of whom the people of Illinois were too ready to believe anything that savored of evil, because prejudiced against their religion—all these characters were attracted to Nauvoo by the prosperity that reigned there; and their ungodly conduct hastened the evil day of the city's destruction.
Chief among these reckless adventurers was John C. Bennett, a man of learning and intellectual ability but a moral leper. He was guilty of the most infamous, licentious practices, and seduced several women by representing that promiscuous intercourse of the sexes was a doctrine believed in by the Latter-day Saints and that there was no harm in it. He also said that Joseph Smith and other Church leaders both sanctioned and practiced such wickedness; that Joseph only denounced such things in public so vehemently because of the prejudice of the people, and the trouble that might arise in his own house.
For this conduct he was excommunicated from the Church, compelled to resign the Mayorship of the city, expelled from the Masonic Lodge, chastised by the Legion, and his infamy published to the world and denounced.
This filled him with bitterness against the Saints, and especially against the Prophet. He at once set on foot measures that he hoped would bring him a terrible revenge. He succeeded in getting the Missourians to issue a new warrant for his arrest on the old charge of "theft, arson and murder," and a new requisition for his arrest was granted by Governor Ford, of Illinois.
The warrants were served on the Prophet in Lee County, some two hundred miles from Nauvoo. The officers who arrested him sought to drag him immediately into Missouri, but in this they failed, as Joseph through some friends obtained a writ ofhabeas corpus, and the legality of the warrant was enquired into by the municipal court of Nauvoo. The court also went behind the writ and tried the caseexparteon its merits, and discharged the accused for want of subsistence in the warrant on which he was arrested, as well as upon the merits of the case.
Elder Taylor in an editorial in theNeighborof July 5th 1843, thus deals with the course pursued by Missouri in these several instances of persecution against the Prophet:
"It has fallen to our lot of late years to keep an account of any remarkable circumstances that might transpire in and about this and adjoining states; as well as of distant provinces and nations. Among the many robberies, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, tornadoes, fires, mobs, wars, etc., which we have had to record, there is one circumstance of annual occurrence which it has always fallen to our lot to chronicle. We allude not to the yearly inundation of the Nile, nor the frequent eruptions of Vesuvius or Ætna, but to the boiling over of Tophet,aliasthe annual overflow of the excrescence of Missouri. Not indeed, like the Nile, over-flowing its parched banks, invigorating its alluvial soil and causing vegetation to teem forth in its richest attire; but like the sulphurous flame that burns unnoticed in the bowels of a volcano; kept alive by the combustion of its own native element, until it can contain itself no longer within the limits of its crater; it bursts beyond its natural bounds; spreads its sulphurous lava all around, leaving naught but desolation in its path,—destroying alike the cot of the husbandman, and the palace of the noble, in one grand sweep; covering vegetation with its fiery lava, and turning the garden into a bed of cinders. So Missouri has her annual ebulitions, and must belch forth her sulphurous lava and seek to overwhelm others; and as it happens that we are so unfortunate as to live near the borders of this monster, we must ever and anon, be smutted with the soot that flies off from her burning crater.
"Without entering here into the particulars of the bloody deeds, the high-handed oppression, the unconstitutional acts, the deadly and malicious hate, the numerous murders and the wholesale robberies of that people, we will proceed to notice one of the late acts of Missouri, or of the governor of that state, towards us. We allude to the late arrest of Joseph Smith."
Then follows an account of the arrests of the Prophet and the manner in which he was released from the officers as already briefly stated in this chapter; he dwells at some length on the events of the last arrest made near Dixon, detailing the cruelty and brutality of the officers. He then concludes:
"Why Governor Ford should lend his assistance in a vexatious prosecution of this kind we are at a loss to determine. He possesses a discretionary power in such cases, and has a right to use his judgment, as the chief magistrate of this state; and knowing, as he does, that the whole proceedings connected with this affair are illegal, we think that in justice he ought to have leaned to the side of the oppressed and innocent, particularly when the persecuted and prosecuted were citizens of his own state who had a right to his sympathies and to be shielded by his paternal care, as the father of this state. Does not his excellency know, and do not all the citizens of the state know, that the Mormons have been robbed, pillaged and plundered in Missouri without any redress? That the Mormonsen massewere exterminated from that state without any legal pretext whatever? How, then, could they have any legal claim upon Joseph Smith or any Mormon? Have the Mormons ever obtained any redress for injuries received in Missouri? No. Is there any prospect of their receiving any remuneration for their loss, or redress for their grievances? No. When a demand was make upon the governor of Missouri, by Governor Carlin of this state for the persons who kidnapped several Mormons, were they given up by that state? No. Why then should our executive feel so tenacious in fulfilling all the nice punctillios of law, when the very state that is making these demands has robbed, murdered and exterminated by wholesale, without law, and is merely making use of it at present as a cat's paw to destroy the innocent and murder those that they have already persecuted nearly to the death.
"It is impossible that the State of Missouri should do justice with her coffers groaning with the spoils of the oppressed, and her hands yet reeking with the blood of the innocent. Shall she yet gorge her bloody maw with other victims? Shall Joseph Smith be given into her hands illegally? Never!No, never!!No, NEVER!!!"
He afterwards published in theNeighborfull details of thisexpartetrial with the affidavits of the several witnesses givenin extenso. Those affidavits make up an indictment against the State of Missouri which brings the hot blush of shame to the cheek of every lover of his country's institutions. In their treatment of the Latter-day Saints the leading officials of Missouri were guilty not only of high-handed oppression, but of such high crimes and misdemeanors as would have hung them had they met the just penalty of their misdeeds. But as those who suffered were members of an unpopular Church, the atrocious and bloody deeds of that state were passed by and no one felt called upon to demand justice in behalf of the oppressed; and those powers that were appealed to for redress of grievances—the President and congress of the United States—claimed to have no power to interfere. Mobocracy had triumphed in Missouri, and there was no power in the government to call Missouri to an account for her wrong doing.
At the time of the Prophet's arrest at Dixon there was an exciting political campaign in progress in that part of Illinois where Nauvoo was located, for representative to congress, and also for county officers. Two parties were in the field, Whigs and Democrats; each anxious to obtain the Mormon vote. The Democrats accused the Whigs of being the instigators of this last arrest of Joseph Smith, at that particular juncture, that Governor Ford, a Democrat, might be compelled to issue a warrant for his arrest and thus influence the Saints against the Democrats; and in proof of this referred to the fact that John C. Bennett, at whose instance, doubtless, this last warrant for the arrest of the Prophet was gotten up in Missouri, was the special pet of what was called the "Whig junto" in Springfield; that a special session of the circuit court was called in Daviess County, Missouri, in order to have the warrant act at the proper juncture; that Cyrus Walker, the Whig candidate for Congress, was within six miles of Dixon when the Prophet was arrested; that he refused to act as council for him only on the condition that he pledged him his vote (that pledge Walker was pleased to consider as binding to his interest the entire Mormon vote); that on this pledge being given he cancelled all his appointments to speak in that part of the state and repaired to Nauvoo where the validity of the arrest and warrants on which it was made were investigated.
This charge the Whigs vehemently denied and in turn accused the Democrats with having made it to influence the Mormon vote in favor of themselves. Thus crimination and recrimination went on, and whichever party the people of Nauvoo voted for, they were sure to incur the wrath of the other.
The Prophet Joseph kept his pledge with Cyrus Walker and voted for him, but the Democratic ticket was overwhelmingly successful in Nauvoo, and in the county and district. As soon as the result was made known the disappointed candidates and their friends were enraged. They began plotting against the people of Nauvoo, and started an agitation that had for its object the expulsion of the Saints from the state. Public meetings were called and committees appointed to correspond with surrounding counties to ascertain how much assistance they would render in expelling the Mormons from the state.
No effort whatever was made to conceal their intentions. The banishment of the citizens of Nauvoo from the state was openly discussed and advocated in public meetings and through the press. Bitter fruit, this, to be found growing on the tree of liberty, in the land of the free—in the asylum for the oppressed of all nations!
AN IMPORTANT YEAR—APOSTATES—AGITATION OF THE MORMON QUESTION—THE NAUVOO "EXPOSITOR"—ITS SUPPRESSION—EFFECT OF SUPPRESSION—GOVERNOR FORD'S ORDER—NAUVOO UNDER MARTIAL LAW.
We have now reached the eventful year of 1844, the year of the great tragedy, the martyrdom of the Prophets Joseph and Hyrum Smith—a martyrdom which Elder Taylor shared.
The situation of the Saints at that time was, to say the least, remarkable. Besides the arch fiend Bennett, the Church had warmed within her bosom a number of other snakes that turned and stung her. Among these was William Law, Counselor to the Prophet Joseph, and yet his most bitter maligner and enemy. A smooth, dissembling villain! The kind that can look like the innocent flower and yet be the serpent under it. Not only was he guilty of the grossest immorality, but he conspired with assassins from Missouri, to take the life of the Prophet; and even conducted them himself to the house of Joseph. They were only prevented from accomplishing the foul murder that was in their hearts, by the faithfulness of two guards, Josiah Arnold and David Garn, who refused to admit them to the Prophet's presence.
Second to him in treachery and villainy was his natural brother, Wilson Law, a general in the Nauvoo Legion. Dr. R. D. Foster, a man not only inclined to profligacy, but one who had the means to indulge his inclination to the top of his bent, as he was wealthy. Besides these men there were the two Higbees, Francis and Chauncy, the latter a young lawyer. They were both sons of Judge Elias Higbee, a man highly respected by the Church for his upright life and sterling integrity. All the above named apostates were excommunicated from the Church for their wickedness, chiefly for seduction and adultery; and so abandoned and shameful were their crimes that the High Council which tried them had to sit with closed doors. Besides these leaders in wickedness there were a large number of apostates in Nauvoo and vicinity that had been expelled from the Church. They were recreant to every principle of righteousness, and full of bitterness. Fitful anger rankled in their breasts. They seemed to have lost the power to repent, and even the desire for forgiveness. They were possessed wholly with a fierce determination to destroy the structure—the Church—where in the days of their righteousness they were wont to find spiritual repose.
In addition to these enemies, the sectarian religionists, maddened to frenzy because unable to cope successfully with Mormonism, stood ready to persecute to the death those whom they could not convert. Then there were the two political parties, Whigs and Democrats, so equally balanced that whichever party the Saints voted with gained the victory. It often happened that candidates for office made an issue of the Mormon question—promising to exterminate them, or lend their influence to that end if elected. As often as this was done the Saints were compelled in self-defense to vote against them, and their opponents were generally defeated. But whichever party the Saints voted with the other was sure to be offended, and would heap unstinted abuse on their uncovered heads, filling their press with accounts of "the enormities of Nauvoo, and of the awful wickedness of a party which would consent to receive the support of such miscreants."
There was also another class of people that did no end of mischief to the character of the Saints at Nauvoo. They were counterfeiters, horse-thieves, cut-throats and all-round scoundrels, which not only infested Nauvoo and vicinity, but the whole western country. "In some districts", says Elder Taylor, "their influence was so great as to control important state and county offices." Of these Governor Ford bears witness, saying—
"Then again, the northern part of the state was not destitute of its organized bands of rogues, engaged in murders, robberies, horse-stealing, and in making and passing counterfeit money. These rogues were scattered all over the north, but most of them were located in the counties of Ogle, Winnebago, Lee and DeKalb."[1]
They extended into other counties, however, and even judges, sheriffs, constables, jailors and professional men were privy to their deeds and sharers in the fruits of their robberies. "Their object in persecuting the Mormons," says Elder Taylor—and these characters did persecute them—"was in part to cover their own rascality, and in part to prevent the people of Nauvoo from exposing and prosecuting them; but the principal reason was plunder, believing if the Saints could be removed or driven they would be made fat on Mormon spoils, besides having in the deserted city a good asylum for the prosecution of their diabolical pursuits."
All these elements found it convenient to combine against the Church for its destruction, the overthrow of the Prophet and those who stood near him. A regular system of agitation was began, having for its avowed object the extermination of the Saints from the city founded by their industry. Meetings were held in various parts of Hancock and surrounding counties, at which speeches the most intemperate, resolutions the most inflammatory, and accusations the most vile and false were fulminated against Nauvoo and her inhabitants. The press supported the actions of these meetings, publishing their proceedings, and encouraging them by commendatory comments. Especially was this the case with theWarsaw Signal, edited by one Thomas Sharp, whom Elder Taylor alludes to as "a violent, unprincipled man, who shrunk not at any enormity."
Such were the elements that combined against the peace of Nauvoo and the destruction of her leading citizens. Seeing mischief afoot and an ever growing popular sentiment against the Mormons and in favor of the reckless, not to say lawless, course of the anti-Mormon agitators, the apostates in Nauvoo ventured to publish the most infamous sheet ever issued from the press—theNauvoo Expositor. Its mendacious slanders were aimed at the most prominent and virtuous of Nauvoo's citizens. No sooner did it appear than a storm of indignation passed through the city; and the people threatened to annihilate it. Wishing to avoid any unlawful procedure, the city council was convened to consider what steps should be taken to suppress the unclean and untruthful thing.
TheExpositorwas produced and read in the council. It was held by some that the purpose for which it was published was to provoke the people to some overt act which would make them amenable to the law, and increase the bitterness of the outside prejudice against them. This was doubtless the case. Such it seems was the understanding of the council. In relation to this circumstance Elder Taylor remarks:
"With a perfect knowledge, therefore, of the designs of these infernal scoundrels who were in our midst, as well as those who surrounded us, the city council entered upon an investigation of the matter. They felt that they were in a critical position, and that any move made for the abating of that press would be looked upon, or at least represented, as a direct attack upon the liberty of speech, and that, so far from displeasing our enemies, it would be looked upon by them as one of the best circumstances that could transpire to assist them in their nefarious and bloody designs."
After spending nearly a whole night in considering the best plan to pursue, it was finally decided to declare theExpositora nuisance, and order its abatement. Elder Taylor made the motion and it was carried unanimously, with the exception of one vote, and that person acknowledged the righteousness of the movement, but feared it would afford the enemies of the city too great an advantage by giving some ground for the cry that would be raised, that the freedom of the press had been overthrown in Nauvoo. It is quite certain, however, that if the city council had not taken this means of suppressing theExpositor, the citizens would have risenen masseand a mob would have destroyed it: and that would have given the enemies of the Saints as good ground for agitation against Nauvoo and her people as the action of the city council did. So Elder Taylor's motion prevailed.
TheExpositorPress was destroyed by the city marshal, John P. Green, and a smallposseof men he called to his assistance. The type was pied in the streets and the papers in the office taken out and burned. The whole proceeding was done quietly but determinedly. The only force employed was the breaking in of the doors to theExpositoroffice when admittance was denied. Some of the leading apostates set fire to their houses and fled to Carthage, the county seat of Hancock County, with the lie on their lips that their lives were in danger. Fortunately the police in Nauvoo discovered the houses of these men on fire and extinguished the flames before any material harm was done, so that they had no blackened ruins to point to as a witness of Mormon atrocity.
All the mischief anticipated from suppressing theExpositornuisance came to pass. "The Mormons had laid unhallowed hands upon the press!" "They opposed the freedom of speech!" "The laws were no longer a protection to life and property in Nauvoo!" "A mob at Nauvoo under a city ordinance had violated the highest privilege in the government!" Such were the sentences that flew as if on the wings of the wind to all parts of Illinois.
A mass meeting was held at Warsaw, the prevailing sentiment of which was that "to seek redress in the ordinary mode would be utterly ineffectual." The meeting therefore adopted resolutions announcing that those present were at all times ready to co-operate with their fellow citizens in Missouri and Iowa to exterminate—utterly exterminate—the Mormon leaders—the authors their troubles. Another mass meeting was held at Carthage at which the Warsaw resolutions were adopted.
The anti-Mormon press teemed with intemperate articles, outrageously false accusations and frantic appeals to the very worst passions of human nature. The citizens of Nauvoo were represented as a horde of lawless ruffians and brigands; anti-American and anti-republican; steeped in crime and iniquity; opposed to freedom of speech and to progress; among whom neither persons nor property were secure. They were accused also of having designs upon the citizens of Illinois and of the United States; and for these things the people were called upon to riseen masseand utterly exterminate them.
While these falsehoods were being extensively circulated through Illinois and the surrounding states, it was the most difficult thing, almost impossible to get a true statement of the case before the country. True accounts of the proceedings of the city council in theExpositoraffair were published in theTimes and Seasonsand also in theNeighbor; but it was impossible to circulate them in Hancock and surrounding counties, as they were destroyed at the post offices. To get them abroad Elder Taylor had to send them a distance of thirty or forty miles from Nauvoo before posting them. In some instances they had to be taken to St. Louis, a distance of two hundred miles, to ensure their reaching their destination.
The systematic circulation of falsehood on the one hand, and the suppression of the truth on the other, resulted in a tremendous storm of indignation against the Saints—especially against the leading Elders—that threatened to overwhelm them.
In the midst of this excitement, complaint was made by Francis M. Higbee, and a warrant issued against the members of the city council for riot in destroying theExpositorpress and fixtures. The warrant was issued by Mr. Morrison, a justice of the peace in Carthage, and required the constable, Mr. Bettisworth, to bring the parties named in it before him, "or some other justice of the peace," to be dealt with according to law. When the writ was served on the members of the council they expressed a perfect willingness to submit to an investigation of their proceedings; but as the law of the state made it the privilege of the accused to "appear before the issuer of the writ or any other justice of the peace," they desired to avail themselves of this privilege, and go before some other magistrate than Justice Morrison, alleging as their reason for this that it was unsafe for them to go to Carthage. The constable refused to grant their request, whereupon they sued for a writ ofhabeas corpusbefore the municipal court of Nauvoo, and on a hearing of the case they were dismissed.[2]
This was declared to be resistance to the law, and made use of to further influence the public mind against the Mormons. Mobs were therefore assembled and the work of violence inaugurated by kidnapping, whipping and otherwise abusing the Saints living in out-lying districts of Nauvoo. For protection the people thus abused fled to Nauvoo, and this was heralded abroad as the massing of the Mormon forces.
Governor Ford was kept informed of all that was transpiring in Nauvoo by the city authorities, and in answer to the question, "What course shall we pursue in the event of an armed mob coming against the city," he replied that Joseph Smith was Lieutenant-General of the Nauvoo Legion; it was his duty to protect the city and surrounding country, and issued orders to him to that effect. Thus qualified to act, by the Governor of the state, the Legion was called together and measures were taken for the defense of the city: as the mob forces grew bolder every day, Nauvoo was at last placed under martial law.
1. Ford's History of Illinois, p. 246.
2. Subsequently, at the instance of Judge Thomas, the circuit judge of the judicial district in which Nauvoo was located, the city council submitted to a new trial, on the same charge, before Squire Wells and were again acquitted.
ARRIVAL OF GOVERNOR FORD IN CARTHAGE—MOB CONVERTED INTO MILITIA—ELDER TAYLOR AND DR. BERNHISEL GO TO CARTHAGE—DEMANDS OF GOVERNOR FORD—PLEDGES THE HONOR OF THE STATE FOR JOSEPH'S PROTECTION—JOSEPH STARTS FOR THE WEST—RETURNS—ARRIVAL AND RECEPTION AT CARTHAGE.
Meantime the mobocrats were active in making their misrepresentations to the governor. He finally determined to visit the scenes of the difficulty. He went from Springfield to Carthage, the head-quarters of the mob forces, and received them as the militia of the state.
His first move was to send a message to Nauvoo asking that a committee be appointed to represent to him the state of affairs in the county. Elder Taylor and Dr. J. M. Bernhisel were appointed that committee. Armed with affidavits and duplicates of documents which had been sent to the Governor at Springfield—he had missed the messengers bearing them by starting for Carthage—they left on the evening of the 21st of June, to wait upon the Governor, arriving in Carthage about eleven o'clock at night. The town was filled with a rabble more or less under the influence of liquor. The yelling and swearing would justify them in the belief that they had arrived in pandemonium.
Elder Taylor and companion put up at the Hamilton House; the Governor also had his rooms there. On retiring they had to pass through another bed-room to get to their own, and stretched out on the bed was one Jackson, a vicious cut-throat and desperado, one of the chief enemies of the Saints. On reaching the chamber assigned them, Elder Taylor hinted to his companion that things looked suspicious, and took the precaution to see that his weapons were in order.
No sooner had they retired than the young apostate Chauncy Higbee came to their door, and stated that Daniel Garn was under arrest and was about to be committed to prison; that as he believed him to be an honest man, one who had done wrong only through the instigation of others, he thought it a pity for him to be committed to prison, and he had come to ask Dr. Bernhisel to be his bail. Touched by this appeal the doctor said he would go, and Higbee left him while he dressed, saying he would call for him in a few minutes.
After the departure of Higbee, Elder Taylor expressed his fear that this was but a ruse to separate them. They had important documents to submit to the Governor, and it was his opinion that the object was to separate them and get possession of those papers, and perhaps murder one or both of them. The doctor admitted the probability of this and informed Higbee that Elder Taylor and himself would wait upon the justice in the morning. That night Elder Taylor laid awake with his pistols under his pillow, ready for any emergency.
The light of morning came at last, and with the darkness fled their apprehensions. They waited upon the justice who held Daniel Garn in custody, and offered to be his bail. The justice answered that he doubted if property in Nauvoo would be worth anything in a few days, and therefore refused to accept them as bondsmen. They both had property outside of Nauvoo which they offered as security. The justice then told them that such was the nature of the accusation against Mr. Garn, that he would not feel justified in admitting him to bail. This confirmed Elder Taylor's suspicion that the request for them to be his bail the night before was only a ruse to separate them.
That morning they had an interview with the Governor. "And such an interview!" exclaimed Elder Taylor. He was surrounded by the very vilest of apostate Mormons and desperadoes, bent on the destruction of the Saints. As he opened and read aloud some of the documents submitted to him, he was frequently interrupted with such expressions as, "that's a lie!" "that's a G—d d——d lie!" "that's an infernal falsehood!" etc.
After the whole case was stated to the Governor, and all the documents submitted, he insisted that in order to prove to the people that they were willing to submit to the law, it would be best for Joseph Smith and all concerned in the destruction of theExpositorpress to come to Carthage for examination. Elder Taylor represented that they had already been examined before two competent courts on that charge, the municipal court of Nauvoo and before Squire Wells, a justice of the peace, and each time acquitted; that they had fulfilled the law in every particular and that their enemies had murderous designs and were only making use of this matter to get Joseph Smith and other leading men into their power. The Governor, however, insisted that the proper thing for them to do would be to come to Carthage.
Elder Taylor then stated that in consequence of the excitement prevailing, it would be extremely unsafe for Joseph to come to Carthage; that they had men and arms to defend themselves, but if their forces and those of their enemies should be brought into close proximity the most probable result would be a collision. In reply to this the Governor "strenuously advised us," says Elder Taylor, "not to bring our arms, andpledged his faith as Governor, and the faith of the state, that we should be protected, and that he would guarantee our perfect safety."
After waiting until evening for a communication which the Governor prepared for Joseph, Elder Taylor and companion started for Nauvoo in company with Captain Gates and a squad of mounted men sent by the Governor to escort the Prophet to Carthage, should he conclude to act on his advice. They reached Nauvoo about nine o'clock, and at once delivered the Governor's message to Joseph with a report of their labors. Joseph was much displeased with the spirit manifested in the Governor's letter and with his whole course. The little group of friends that met in council were much perplexed as to what course to pursue, and various plans of action were discussed. Among others the feasibility of Joseph going to Washington to lay the case before President Tyler. At this juncture the council was interrupted by the withdrawal of Joseph to give an interview to two gentlemen,—one of whom was a son of John C. Calhoun,—who had arrived at the mansion and were anxious to meet with the Prophet. He was detained sometime, and between two and three o'clock in the morning, having had no rest the night before, and thinking that Joseph would not return, Elder Taylor left the mansion for his home, to rest.
Shortly after he retired, however, the Prophet returned and the informal council meeting was resumed. The project of laying the case before President Tyler was abandoned. Joseph had received an inspiration to go west, and all would be well. He said: "The way is open. It is clear to my mind what to do. All they want is Hyrum and myself; then tell everybody to go about their business, and not collect in groups, but scatter about. There is no danger; they will come here and search for us. Let them search; they will not harm you in person or in property, and not even a hair of your head. We will cross the river tonight and go away to the west."
The Prophet and his brother Hyrum at once crossed the river and their friends were instructed to procure horses for them and make all necessary preparations to start for "the Great Basin of the Rocky Mountains."
The next morning a Mrs. Thompson entered Elder Taylor's house about seven o'clock.
"What, you here!" she exclaimed, very much surprised, "the brethren have crossed the river some time since."
"What brethren?"
"Brother Joseph and Hyrum, and Brother Richards."
Elder Taylor at once concluded that those brethren had determined finally to leave for the East for a season, as had been talked of the night before, instead of going to Carthage. He knew what a storm of rage and disappointment that would arouse in the breasts of the mob militia at Carthage, who were waiting with ill-concealed impatience for the coming of their prey. Being satisfied that if the mob forces which Governor Ford had exalted to the dignity of "state militia" should come to Nauvoo, and find their victims gone, the first thing they would do would be to destroy the printing office. He therefore called to his assistance a few brethren in whom he had confidence and removed the type, the stereotyped plates of the Book of Mormon and the fixtures that were the most valuable.
This done he made arrangements for the adjustment of his accounts, having determined, in the event of not finding Joseph and his companions, to go to Upper Canada for a season. In caring for the valuables in the printing office, and in making his preparations to leave Nauvoo, he had been materially assisted by Cyrus H. Wheelock. He was an active, enterprising man, just such a man as Elder Taylor would need if he went to Canada, so he said to him:
"Brother Wheelock, can you go with me ten or fifteen hundred miles?
"Yes."
"Can you start in half an hour?
"Yes."
Those were times and circumstances that required prompt action, and Brother Wheelock had evidently drunk deeply into the spirit of the times. Brother Wheelock lived on the Montrose side of the river; and Elder Taylor told him to go and visit his family, procure horses and the necessary equipage for the journey, and if they heard nothing from Joseph they would start by night fall. He also arranged for Brother Wheelock and a Brother Bell to row him across the river during the afternoon. That he might not be recognized while leaving Nauvoo, he went to the house of a Brother Eddy on the banks of the river, and there disguised himself as an old man. He went down to the boat while the brethren were sauntering along on the banks just below it. Brother Bell did not recognize him and at last remarked to Brother Wheelock—"I wish that old gentleman would go away; he has been pottering around that boat for some time, and I am afraid that Elder Taylor will be coming." His mistake, when discovered, afforded them considerable merriment.
At Montrose he was taken by the brethren to a house surrounded by timber, and there made arrangements to take the stereotyped plates of the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants with him, thinking he could supply the publishing company at Nauvoo subsistence money through the sale of these books in the east.
Meantime Elias Smith, cousin to the Prophet, had procured him some money for his journey; his horses were reported ready, the friendly night which would cover him from the eyes of his enemies was approaching, when word was brought to him from Joseph to meet him in Montrose. The Prophet had suddenly changed his mind and had determined on going to Carthage to give himself up; and he wished Elder Taylor to accompany him.
"I must confess that I felt a good deal disappointed at the news," says Elder Taylor, "but I immediately made preparations to go."
The facts in the case were that some of Joseph's friends, learning that he was intending to leave Nauvoo, instead of rendering him all possible assistance to escape from his enemies, complained of his conduct as most cowardly, and entreated him to return to the city and not leave them like a false shepherd leaves his flock when the wolves attack it. The parties most forward in making this charge of cowardice were, Reynolds Cahoon, L. D. Wasson and Hiram Kimball. His wife Emma also sent a letter by the hand of Reynolds Cahoon, entreating him to return and give himself up, trusting to the pledges of the governor for a fair trial. Influenced by these entreaties to return, and stung by the taunts of cowardice from those who should have been his friends, the Prophet said: "If my life is of no value to my friends, it is of none to myself." And against his better judgment, and with the conviction fixed in his soul that he would be killed, he resolved to return. He crossed over the river to Nauvoo, and sent a message to Governor Ford that night that he would be in Carthage the next day.
Early the following morning Elder Taylor started in company with the Prophet and others for Carthage. Within four miles of that place they met Captain Dunnen routeto Nauvoo, with a requisition from the Governor for the state arms.[1]At the solicitation of Captain Dunn and his command, the party from Nauvoo returned with him to assist by their influence to obtain the arms belonging to the state. This accomplished, the whole party again started for Carthage.
It was midnight when they entered the town, but a militia company encamped on the public square—the Carthage Greys—were aroused and gave vent to profane threats as the company passed, of which the following is a specimen: "Where's the d——d prophet? Stand away you McDonough boys and let us shoot the d——d Mormons! G——d d——n you, old Joe, we've got you now! Clear the way, and let us have a view of Joe Smith, the prophet of God! He has seen the last of Nauvoo! We'll use him up now."
A crowd followed the party from the public square, and hung round the Hamilton House yelling and cursing like demons. Governor Ford pushed up a window and thus addressed them: "Gentlemen, I know your anxiety to see Mr. Smith, which is natural enough, but it is quite too late tonight for you to have that opportunity; but I assure you, gentlemen, you shall have that privilege tomorrow morning, as I will cause him to pass before the troops upon the square, and I now wish you, with this assurance, quietly and peaceably to return to your quarters." There was a faint "Hurrah for Tom Ford," and the crowd withdrew.
1. It was on the occasion of meeting Captain Dunn and his company that Joseph uttered those prophetic words—"I am going like a lamb to the slaughter, but I am calm as a summer's morning. I have a conscience void of offense toward God and toward all men. I shall die innocent, and it shall yet be said of me, 'he was murdered in cold blood.'" Hyrum Smith that morning, before leaving Nauvoo, and in spite of an assumed cheerfulness, had also left evidence that the fate awaiting himself and brother at Carthage had been foreshadowed in his mind. He read a passage in the Book of Mormon, near the close of the 12th Chapter of Ether:
"And it came to pass that I prayed unto the Lord that he would give unto the Gentiles grace that they might have charity. And it came to pass that the Lord said unto me, if they have not charity, it mattereth not unto thee, thou hast been faithful; wherefore thy garments shall be made clean. And because thou hast seen thy weakness thou shalt be made strong, even unto the sitting down in the place which I have prepared in the mansions of my Father. And now I——bid farewell unto the Gentiles, yea, and also unto my brethren whom I love until we shall meet before the judgment-seat of Christ, where all men shall know that my garments are not spotted with your blood."
On this passage he turned down the leaf, and there it is, a silent witness that he, too, knew he was going "like a lamb to the slaughter."