THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
THE STORY OF THE
MORMONS >. )
From the Date of their Origin to
the Tear
BY
WILLIAM ALEXANDER LINN
THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., LTD.
I9O2
All rights reserved
VI
PREFACE
tist s appreciation of his own part in the play ; other autobiog
raphies, like Parley P. Pratt s and Lorenzo Snow s ; and, finally,
the periodicals which the church issued in Ohio, in Missouri, in
Illinois, and in England, and the official reports of the discourses
preached in Utah, all showing up, as in a mirror, the character
of the persons who gave this Church of Latter-Day Saints its
being and its growth.
In regard to no period of Mormon history is there such a lack
of accurate information as concerning that which covers their
moves to Ohio, thence to Missouri, thence to Illinois, and thence
to Utah. Their own excuse for all these moves is covered by the
one word " persecution " (meaning persecution on account of their
religious belief), and so little has the non-Mormon world known
about the subject that this explanation has scarcely been chal
lenged. Much space is given to these early migrations, as in this
way alone can a knowledge be acquired of the real character of
the constituency built up by Smith in Ohio, and led by him from
place to place until his death, and then to Utah by Brigham
Young.
Any study of the aims and objects of the Mormon leaders
must rest on the Mormon Bible (" Book of Mormon ") and on the
" Doctrine and Covenants," the latter consisting principally of the
" revelations " which directed the organization of the church and
its secular movements. In these alone are spread out the original
purpose of the migration to Missouri and the instructions of Smith
to his followers regarding their assumed rights to the territory
they were to occupy ; and without a knowledge of these " revela
tions " no fair judgment can be formed of the justness of the
objections of the people of Missouri and Illinois to their new
neighbors. If the fraudulent character of the alleged revelation
to Smith of golden plates can be established, the foundation of
the whole church scheme crumbles. If Rigdon s connection with
Smith in the preparation of the Bible by the use of the " Spauld-
ing manuscript" can be proved, the fraud itself is established.
Considerable of the evidence on this point herein brought together
is presented at least in new shape, and an adequate sketch of
Sidney Rigdon is given for the first time. The probable service
of Joachim s " Everlasting Gospel," as suggesting the story of the
revelation of the plates, has been hitherto overlooked.
PREFACE vii
A few words with regard to some of the sources of information quoted :
"Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith and his Progenitors for Many
Generations 1 ("Mother Smith s History," as this book has been generally
called) was first published in 1853 by the Mormon press in Liverpool, with a
preface by Orson Pratt recommending it ; and the Millennial Star (Vol. XV,
p. 682) said of it : " Being written by Lucy Smith, the mother of the Prophet,
and mostly under his inspiration, will be ample guarantee for the authenticity
of the narrative. . . . Altogether the work is one of the most interesting that
has appeared in this latter dispensation." Brigham Young, however, saw how
many of its statements told against the church, and in a letter to the Millennial
Star (Vol. XVII, p. 298), dated January 31, 1858, he declared that it contained
" many mistakes," and said that " should it ever be deemed best to publish these
sketches, it will not be done until after they are carefully corrected." The preface
to the edition of 1880, published by the Reorganized Church at Piano, Illinois,
says that Young ordered the suppression of the first edition, and that " under
this order large numbers were destroyed, few being preserved, some of which fell
into the hands of those now with the Reorganized Church. For this destruction
we see no adequate reason." James J. Strang, in a note to his pamphlet, "Pro
phetic Controversy," says that Mrs. Corey (to whom the pamphlet is addressed)
"wrote the history of the Smiths called * Mother Smith s History. " Mrs. Smith
was herself quite incapable of putting her recollections into literary shape.
The autobiography of Joseph Smith, Jr., under the title " History of Joseph
Smith," began as a supplement to Volume XIV of the Millennial Star, and ran
through successive volumes to Volume XXIV. The matter in the supplement
and in the earlier numbers was revised and largely written by Rigdon. The
preparation of the work began after he and Smith settled in Nauvoo, Illinois.
In his last years Smith rid himself almost entirely of Rigdon s counsel, and the
part of the autobiography then written takes the form of a diary which unmasks
Smith s character as no one else could do. Most of the correspondence and
official documents relating to the troubles in Missouri and Illinois are incorpo
rated in this work.
Of the greatest value to the historian are the volumes of the Mormon publi
cations issued at Kirtland, Ohio ; Independence, Missouri ; Nauvoo, Illinois ; and
Liverpool, England. The first of these, Evening and Morning Star (a monthly,
twenty-four numbers), started at Independence and transferred to Kirtland, covers
the period from June, 1832, to September, 1834; its successor, the Latter Day
Saints Messenger and Advocate, was issued at Kirtland from 1834 to 1837. This
was followed by the Elders * Journal, which was transferred from Kirtland to Far
West, Missouri, and was discontinued when the Saints were compelled to leave
that state. Times and Seasons was published at Nauvoo from 1839 * I ^4S-
Files of these publications are very scarce, the volumes of the Times and Seasons
having been suppressed, so far as possible, by Brigham Young s order. The
publication of the Millennial Star was begun in Liverpool in May, 1840, and is
still continued. The early volumes contain the official epistles of the heads of the
church to their followers, Smith s autobiography, correspondence describing the
early migrations and the experiences in Utah, and much other valuable material,
viii PREFACE
the authenticity of which cannot be disputed by the Mormons. In the Journal
of Discourses (issued primarily for circulation in Europe) are found official reports
of the principal discourses (or sermons) delivered in Salt Lake City during
Young s regime. Without this official sponsor for the correctness of these reports,
many of them would doubtless be disputed by the Mormons of to-day.
The earliest non-Mormon source of original information quoted is "Mor-
monism Unveiled," by E. D. Howe (Painesville, Ohio, 1834). Mr. Howe, after a
newspaper experience in New York State, founded the Cleveland (Ohio) Herald
in 1819, and later the Painesville (Ohio) Telegraph. Living near the scene of the
Mormon activity in Ohio when they moved to that state, and desiring to ascer
tain the character of the men who were proclaiming a new Bible and a new
church, he sent agents to secure such information among the Smiths old
acquaintances in New York and Pennsylvania, and made inquiries on kindred
subjects, like the " Spaulding manuscript." His book was the first serious blow
that Smith and his associates encountered, and their wrath against it and its
author was fierce.
Pomeroy Tucker, the author of " Origin and Progress of the Mormons "
(New York, 1867), was personally acquainted with the Smiths and with Harris
and Cowdery before and after the appearance of the Mormon Bible. He read a
good deal of the proof of the original edition of that book as it was going through
the press, and was present during many of the negotiations with Grandin about
its publication. His testimony in regard to early matters connected with the
church is important.
Two non-Mormons who had an early view of the church in Utah and who
put their observations in book form were B. G. Ferris ("Utah and the Mor
mons," New York, 1854 and 1856) and Lieutenant J. W. Gunnison of the United
States Topographical Engineers ("The Mormons," Philadelphia, 1856). Both
of these works contain interesting pictures of life in Utah in those early days.
There are three comprehensive histories of Utah, H. H. Bancroft s "His
tory of Utah " (1889), Tullidge s " History of Salt Lake City " (1886), and Orson
F. Whitney s "History of Utah," in four volumes, three of which, dated respec
tively March, 1892, April, 1893, and January, 1898, have been issued. The Re
organized Church has also published a " History of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter Day Saints" in three volumes. While Bancroft s work professes to be
written from a secular standpoint, it is really a church production, the preparation
of the text having been confided to Mormon hands. "We furnished Mr. Ban
croft with his material," said a prominent Mormon church officer to me. Its
plan is to give the Mormon view in the text, and to refer the reader for the other
side to a mass of undigested notes, and its principal value to the student consists
in its references to other authorities. Its general tone may be seen in its decla
ration that those who have joined the church to expose its secrets are "the most
contemptible of all " ; that those who have joined it honestly and, discovering
what company they have got into, have given the information to the world,
would far better have gone their way and said nothing about it; and, as to
polygamy, that " those who waxed the hottest against " the practice " are not as
a rule the purest of our people" (p. 361) ; and that the Edmunds Law of 1882
"capped the climax of absurdity" (p. 683).
PREFACE
IX
Tullidge wrote his history after he had taken part in the "New Movement."
In it he brought together a great deal of information, including the text of impor
tant papers, which is necessary to an understanding of the growth and struggles
of the church. The work was censored by a committee appointed by the Mormon
authorities.
Bishop Whitney s history presents the pro-Mormon view of the church
throughout. It is therefore wholly untrustworthy as a guide to opinion on the
subjects treated, but, like Tullidge s, it supplies a good deal of material which is
useful to the student who is prepared to estimate its statements at their true
value.
The acquisition by the New York Public Library of the Berrian collection
of books, early newspapers, and pamphlets on Mormonism, with the additions
constantly made to this collection, places within the reach of the student all the
material that is necessary for the formation of the fairest judgment on the subject.
W. A. L.
HACKENSACK, N.J., 1901.
CONTENTS
BOOK I
THE MORMON ORIGIN
CHAPTER I
PACK
FACILITY OF HUMAN BELIEF: The Real Miracle of Mormon Success Effrontery
of the Leaders Professions Attractiveness of Religious Beliefs to Man
Wherein the World does not make Progress The Anglo-Saxon Appetite for
Religious Novelties I
CHAPTER II
THE SMITH FAMILY: Solomon Mack and his Autobiography Religious Char
acteristics of the Prophet s Mother The Family Life in Vermont Early
Occupations in New York State Pictures of the Prophet as a Youth
Recollections of the Smiths by their New York Neighbors .... 8
CHAPTER III
How JOSEPH SMITH BECAME A MONEY-DIGGER : His Use of a Divining Rod
His First Introduction to Crystal-gazing Peeping after Hidden Treasure
How Joseph obtained his own " Peek-stone " Methods of Midnight Money-
digging 15
CHAPTER IV
FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE GOLDEN BIBLE : Variations in the Early Descrip
tions Joseph s Acquaintance with the Hales His Elopement and Marriage
What he told a Neighbor about the Origin of his Bible Discovery Early
Anecdotes about the Book 23
CHAPTER V
THE DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS OF THE REVELATION OF THE BIBLE: The Versions
about the Spanish Guardian Important Statement by the Prophet s Father
The Later Account in the Prophet s Autobiography The Angel Visitor
and the Acquisition of the Plates Mother Smith s Version .... 28
CHAPTER VI
TRANSLATION AND PUBLICATION OF THE BIBLE : Martin Harris s Connection with
the Work Smith s Removal to Pennsylvania How the Translation was
xi
\
xii CONTENTS
PAGE
carried on Harris s Visit to Professor Anthon The Professor s Account of
his Visit The Lost Pages The Prophet s Predicament and his Method of
Escape Oliver Cowdery as an Assistant Translator Introduction of the
Whitmers The Printing and Proof-reading of the New Bible Recollec
tions of Survivors ....... 35
CHAPTER VII
THE SPAULDING MANUSCRIPT : Solomon Spaulding s Career History of " The
Manuscript Found" Statements by Members of the Author s Family
Testimony of Spaulding s Ohio Neighbors about the Resemblance of his Story
to the Book of Mormon The Manuscript found in the Sandwich Islands . 50
CHAPTER VIII
SIDNEY RIGDON : His Biography Connection with the Campbells Efficient
Church Work in Ohio His Jealousy of his Church Leaders Disciples
Beliefs and Mormon Doctrines Intimations about a New Bible Rigdon s
First Connection with Smith The Rigdon-Smith Translation of the Scriptures
Rigdon s Conversion to Mormonism 59
CHAPTER IX
" THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL " : Probable Origin of the Idea of a Bible on Plates
Cyril s Gift from an Angel and Joachim s Use of it Where Rigdon could
have obtained the Idea Prominence of the "Everlasting Gospel "in Mormon
Writings 74
CHAPTER X
THE WITNESSES TO THE PLATES: Text of the Two " Testimonies " The Proph
et s Explanation of the First Early Reputation and Subsequent History of
the Signers The Truth about the Kinderhook Plates and Rafmesque s
Glyphs 78
CHAPTER XI
THE MORMON BIBLE : Some of its Errors and Absurdities Facsimile of the First
Edition Title-page The Historical Narrative of the Book Its Lack of
Literary Style Appropriated Chapters of the Scriptures Specimen
Anachronisms 89
CHAPTER XII
ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH: Smith s Ordination by John the Baptist The
First Baptisms Early Branches of the Church The Revelation about
Church Officers Cowdery s Ambition and how it was repressed Smith s
Title as Seer, Translator, and Prophet His Arrest and Release Arrival of
Parley P. Pratt and Rigdon in Palmyra The Command to remove to Ohio . 99
CONTENTS xiii
CHAPTER XIII
PAGE
THE MORMONS BELIEFS AND DOCTRINES CHURCH GOVERNMENT : Long Years
of Apostasy Origin of the Name " Mormon " Original Titles of the Church
Belief in a Speedy Millennium The Future Possession of the Earth
Smith s Revelations and how they were obtained The First Published Edi
tions Counterfeit Revealers What is taught of God Brigham Young s
Adam Sermon Baptism for the Dead The Church Officers . . . 107
BOOK II
IN OHIO
CHAPTER I
THE FIRST CONVERTS AT KIRTLAND : Original Missionaries sent out to the
Lamanites Organization of a Church in Ohio Effect of Rigdon s Conver
sion General Interest in the New Bible and Prophet How Men of Educa
tion came to believe in Mormonism Result of the Upturning of Religious
Belief ~ 122
CHAPTER II
WILD VAGARIES OF THE CONVERTS : Convulsions and Commissions Common
Religious Excitements of those Days Description of the "Jerks" Smith s
Repressing Influence . . 128
CHAPTER III
GROWTH OF THE CHURCH : The Appointment of Elders Beginning of the Prose
lyting System Smith s Power entrenched His Temporal Provision
Repression of Rigdon The Tarring and Feathering of Smith and Rigdon
Treatment of the Mormons and of Other New Denominations compared
Rigdon s Punishment . . . . . . . . . . . 131
CHAPTER IV
GIFTS OF TONGUES AND MIRACLES: How Persons " spoke in Tongues " Seeing
the Lord Face to Face Early Use of Miracles The Story of the "Book of
Abraham" The Prophet as a Translator of Greek and Egyptian . . .138
CHAPTER V
SMITH S OHIO BUSINESS ENTERPRISES : Young s Picture of the Prophet s Experi
ence as a Retail Merchant The Land Speculation Laying out of the City
Building of the Temple Consecration of Property How the Leaders
looked out for themselves Amusing Explanation of Section 1 1 1 of the
"Doctrine and Covenants" The Story of the Kirtland Bank The Church
View of its Responsibility for the Currency The Business Crash and Smith s
Flight to Missouri 142
xiv CONTENTS
CHAPTER VI
PAGE
LAST DAYS AT KIRTLAND : Pictures of the Prophet Accusations against Church
Leaders in Missouri Serious Charge against the Prophet W. W. Phelps s
Rebellion Smith s Description of Leading Lights of the Church Charges
concerning Smith s Morality The Church accused of practising Polygamy
A Lively Fight at a Church Service Smith s and Rigdon s Defence of their
Conduct The Later History of Kirtland 153
BOOK III
IN MISSOURI
CHAPTER I
THE DIRECTIONS TO THE SAINTS ABOUT THEIR ZION: Western Missouri in the
Early Days Pioneer Farming and Home-making The Trip of the Four
Mormon Missionaries Direction about the gathering of the Elect How
they were to possess the Land of Promise Their Appropriation of the Good
Things purchased of their Enemies 161
CHAPTER II
SMITH S FIRST VISITS TO MISSOURI : Founding the City of Zion and the Temple
Marvellous Stories that were told Dissatisfaction of Some of the
Prophet s Companions 166
CHAPTER III
THE EXPULSION FROM JACKSON COUNTY : Rapid Influx of Mormons Result of
the Publication of the Revelations First Friction with their Non-Mormon
Neighbors Manifesto of the Mormons Opponents Their Big Mass Meet
ing Demands on the Mormons Destruction of the Star Printing-office
The Mormons Agreement to leave Smith s Advice to his Flock Repudia
tion of the Mormon Agreement and Renewal of Hostilities The Battle at
Big Blue Evacuation of the County March of the Army of Zion An
Inglorious Finale i fig
CHAPTER IV
FRUITLESS NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE JACKSON COUNTY PEOPLE: A Fair Offer
rejected The Mormon Counter Propositions Governor Dunklin on the
Situation !g 2
CHAPTER V
IN CLAY, CALDWELL, AND DAVIESS COUNTIES: Welcome of the Mormons by
New Neighbors Effect of their Claims about possessing the Land Ordered
out of Clay County Founding of Far West A Welcome to Smith and
Rigdon l8
CONTENTS XV
CHAPTER VI
PAGE
RADICAL DISSENSIONS IN THE CHURCH: Trial of Phelps and Whitmer Convic
tion of Oliver Cowdery on Serious Charges Expulsion of Leading Members
Origin of the Danites Suggested by the Prophet at Kirtland The
Danite Constitution and Oath Origin of the Tithing System . . .188
CHAPTER VII
BEGINNING OF ACTIVE HOSTILITIES: Result of Smith s Domineering Course
Jealousy caused by the Scattering of the Saints Founding of Adam-ondi-
Ahman Rigdon s Famous Salt Sermon Open Defiance of the Non-Mormons
The Mormons in Politics An Election Day Row Arrests and Threats . 195
CHAPTER VIII
A STATE OF CIVIL WAR: Calling out of the Militia Proposed Expulsion of the
Mormons from Carroll County The Siege of De Witt The Prophet s Defi
ance Work of his " P^ur Company" Gentile Retaliation The Battle of
Crooked River The Massacre at Hawn s Mills Governor Boggs s "Order
of Extermination " 200
CHAPTER IX
THE FINAL EXPULSION FROM THE STATE : General Lucas s Terms to the Mormons
Surrender of Far West and Arrest of Mormon Leaders General Clark s
Address to the Mormons His Report to the Governor General Wilson s
Picture of Adam-ondi-Ahman Fate of the Mormon Prisoners Testimony
at their Trial Smith s Escape Migration to Illinois 208
BOOK IV
IN ILLINOIS
CHAPTER I
THE RECEPTION OF THE MORMONS : Incidents in the Early History of the State
Defiant Lawlessness Politicians the First to welcome the New-comers
Landowners among their First Friends 219
CHAPTER II
THE SETTLEMENT OF NAUVOO: Smith s Leadership illustrated The Land Pur
chases A Reconciliation of Conflicting Revelations Smith s Financiering
Shameful Misrepresentation to Immigrants 223
CHAPTER III
THE BUILDING UP OF THE CITY: Unhealth fulness of its Site Rapid Growth of
the Place Early Pictures of it Foreign Proselyting Why England was a
Good Field Method of Work there The Employment of Miracles How
the Converts were sent over . . 226
xvi CONTENTS
CHAPTER IV
PAGE
THE NAUVOO CITY GOVERNMENT : Dr. Galland s Suggestions An Important
Revelation Church Buildings ordered Subserviency of the Legislature
Dr. John C. Bennett s Efficient Aid Authority granted to the City Gov
ernment The Nauvoo Legion Bennett s Welcome The Temple and
how it was constructed 234
CHAPTER V
THE MORMONS IN POLITICS : Smith s Decree against Van Buren How the
Prophet swung the Mormon Vote back to the Democrats The Attempted
Assassination of Governor Boggs Smith s Arrest and what resulted from it
Defeat of a Whig Candidate by a Revelation 243
CHAPTER VI
SMITH A CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: His Letter to
Clay and Calhoun Their Replies and Smith s Abusive Wrath The Prophet s
Views on National Politics Reform Measures that he proposed His
Nomination by the Church Paper Experiences of Missionaries sent out to
work up his Campaign 250
CHAPTER VII
SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN NAUVOO: Character of its Population Treatment of
Immigrant Converts Some Disreputable Gentile Neighbors The Com
plaints of Mormon Stealings Significant Admissions Mormon Protection
against Outsiders The Whittlers 256
CHAPTER VIII
SMITH S PICTURE OF HIMSELF AS AUTOCRAT: Glances at his Autobiography
Difficulties connected with the Building Enterprises A Plain Warning to
Discontented Workmen Trouble with Rigdon Pressed by his Creditors
Transaction with Remick Currency Law passed by his City Council
How Smith regarded himself as a Prophet His Latest Prophecies . . 262
CHAFFER IX
SMITH S FALLING OUT WITH BENNETT AND HIGBEE: Bennett s Expulsion and
the Explanations concerning it His Attacks on his Late Companions
Charges against Nauvoo Morality The Case of Nancy Rigdon The Higbee
Incident 268
CHAPTER X
THE INSTITUTION OF POLYGAMY : An Examination of its Origin Its Conflict
with the Teachings of the Mormon Bible and Revelations Early Loosening
of the Marriage View under Smith Proof of the Practice of Polygamy in
Nauvoo Testimony of Eliza R. Snow How her Brother Lorenzo shook
CONTENTS xvii
PAGE
off his Bachelorhood John B. Lee as a Polygamist Ebenezer Robinson s
Statement Objects of "The Holy Order" The Writing of the Revelation
about Polygamy Its First Public Announcement Sidney Rigdon s Inno
cence in the Matter . , . . . .. . . . . 272
CHAPTER XI
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DOCTRINE OF POLYGAMY : Text of the Revela
tion Orson Pratt s Presentation of it The Doctrine of Sealing Necessity
of Sealing as a means of Salvation Attempt to show that Christ was a
Polygamist 282
CHAPTER XII
THE SUPPRESSION OF THE Expositor: Dr. Foster and the Laws Rebellion
against Smith s Teachings Leading Features of the Expositor Trial of
the Paper and its Editors before the City Council Destruction of the Press
and Type Smith s Proclamation 290
CHAPTER XIII
UPRISING OF THE NON-MORMONS : Resolutions adopted at Warsaw Organizing
and Arming of the People Action of Governor Ford Smith s Arrest
Departure of the Prisoners for Carthage 297
CHAPTER XIV
THE MURDER OF THE PROPHET : Legal Proceedings after his Arrival in Carthage
The Governor and the Militia The Carthage Jail and its Guards Action
of the Warsaw Regiment The Attack on the Jail and the Killing of the
Prophet and his Brother Funeral Services in Nauvoo Final Resting-place
of the Bodies Result of Indictments of the Alleged Murderers Review of
the Prophet s Character 301
CHAPTER XV
AFTER SMITH S DEATH : The People in a Panic The Mormon Leaders for Peace
The Future Government of the Church Brigham Young s Victory
Rigdon s Trial before the High Council Verdict against him His Church
in Pennsylvania His Ambition to be the Head of a Distinct Church A
Visit from Heavenly Messengers His Last Days 313
CHAPTER XVI
RIVALRIES OVER THE SUCCESSION: The Claim of the Prophet s Eldest Son
Trouble caused by the Prophet s Widow The Reorganized Church
Strang s Church in Wisconsin Lyman Wight s Colony in Texas . . . 322
CHAPTER XVII
BRIGHAM YOUNG: His Early Years His Initiation into the Mormon Church
Fidelity to the Prophet Embarrassments of his Position as Head of the
Church His View about Revelations Plan for Home Mission Work
His Election as President . . . 327
xviii CONTENTS
CHAPTER XVIII
PAGE
RENEWED TROUBLE FOR THE MORMONS : More Charges of Stealing Significant
Admission by Young Business Plight of Nauvoo More Politics Defiant
Attitude of Mormon Leaders An Editor s View of Legal Rights Stories
about the Danites Brother William on Brigham Young The " Burnings "
Sheriff Backenstos s Proclamations Lieutenant Worrell s Murder Mor
mon Retaliation Appointment of the Douglas-Hardin Commission . . 331
CHAPTER XIX
THE EXPULSION OF THE MORMONS: General Hardin s Proclamation County
Meetings of Non-Mormons Their Ultimatum The Commission s Negotia
tions Non-Mormon Convention at Carthage The Agreement for the
Mormon Evacuation 338
CHAPTER XX
THE EVACUATION OF NAUVOO: Major Warren as a Peace Preserver The Mor
mons Disposition of their Property Departure of the Leaders hastened by
Indictments Arrival of New Citizens Continued Hostility of the Non-
Mormons "The Last Mormon War" Panic in Nauvoo Plan for a
March on the Mormon City Fruitless Negotiations for a Compromise
The Advance against the City The Battle and its Results Terms of Peace
The Final Evacuation 343
CHAPTER XXI
NAUVOO AFTER THE EXODUS : Arrival of Governor Ford The Final Work on
the Temple The "Endowment" Ceremony and Oath Futile Efforts to
sell the Temple Its Destruction by Fire and Wind The Nauvoo of To-day 352
BOOK V
THE MIGRATION TO UTAH
CHAPTER I
PREPARATIONS FOR THE LONG MARCH : Uncertainty of their Destination Expla
nations to the People Disposition of Real and Personal Property Collec
tion of Draft Animals Activity in Wagon and Tent Making The Old
Charge of Counterfeiting Pecuniary Sacrifices of the Mormons in Illinois . 357
CHAPTER II
FROM THE MISSISSIPPI TO THE MISSOURI : The First Crossings of the River
Camp Arrangements Sufferings from the Cold The Story of the Westward
March Motley Make-up of the Procession Expedients for obtaining
Supplies Terrible Sufferings of the Expelled Remnant Privations at
Mt. Pisgah 362
CONTENTS xix
CHAPTER III
PAGE
THE MORMON BATTALION : Extravagant Claims regarding it disproved General
Kearney s Invitation Source of the Initial Suggestion How the Mormons
profited by the Organization The March to California Colonel Thomas
L. Kane s Visit to the Missouri His Intimate Relations with the Mormon
Church . - i . . . . 371
CHAPTER IV
THE CAMPS ON THE MISSOURI: Friendly Welcome of the Mormons by the
Indians The Site of Winter Quarters Busy Scenes on the River Bank
Sickness and Death The Building of a Temporary City .... 375
CHAPTER V
THE PIONEER TRIP ACROSS THE PLAINS : Early Views of the Unexplored West
The First White Visitors to that Country Organization of the Pioneer
Mormon Band Rules observed on the March Successful Buffalo Hunting
An Indian Alarm Dearth of Forage Post-offices of the Plains A
Profitable Ferry 379
CHAPTER VI
FROM THE ROCKIES TO SALT LAKE VALLEY : No Definite Stopping-place in View
Advice received on the Way The Mormon Expedition to California by
Way of Cape Horn Brannan s Fall from Grace Westward from Green
River Advance Explorers through a Canon First View of Great Salt Lake
Valley Irrigation and Crop Planting begun 385
CHAPTER VII
THE FOLLOWING COMPANIES : Their Leaders and Make-up Young s Return
Trip Last Days on the Missouri Scheme for a Permanent Settlement in
Iowa Westward March of Large Companies 392
BOOK VI
IN UTAH
CHAPTER I
THE FOUNDING OF SALT LAKE CITY: Utah s First White Explorers First
Mormon Services in the Valley Young s View of the Right to the Land
The First Buildings Laying out the City Early Crop Disappointment
Discomforts of the First Winter Primitive Dwelling-places The Visitation
of Crickets Glowing Accounts sent to England . . - . . . . 395
xx CONTENTS
CHAPTER II
PAGE
PROGRESS OF THE SETTLEMENT : Schools and Manufactures How the City
appeared in 1849 Sufferings during the Winter of 1848 Immigration
checked by the Lack of Food Aid supplied by the California Gold-seekers
Danger of a Mormon Exodus Young s Rebuke to his Gold-seeking
Followers The Crop Failure of 1855 and the Famine of the Following
Winter The Tabernacle and Temple 402
CHAPTER III
THE FOREIGN IMMIGRATION TO UTAH: The Commercial Joint Stock Company
Scandal Deceptive Statements made to Foreign Converts John Taylor s
Address to the Saints in Great Britain Petition to Queen Victoria Mormon
Duplicity illustrated Young s Advice to Emigrants Glowing Pictures of
Salt Lake Valley The Perpetual Emigrating Fund Details of the Emi
gration System 410
CHAPTER IV
THE HAND-CART TRAGEDY: Young s Scheme for Economy His Responsibility
for the Hand-cart Experiment Details of the Arrangement Delays at
Iowa City Unheeded Warnings Privations by the Way Early Lack of
Provisions Suffering caused by Insufficient Clothing Deaths of the Old
and Infirm Horrors of the Camps in the Mountains Frozen Corpses
found at Daybreak Sufferings of a Party at Devil s Gate Young s At
tempt to shift the Responsibility 418
CHAPTER V
EARLY POLITICAL HISTORY: The Aim at Independence First Local Govern
ment Adoption of a Constitution for the State of Deseret Babbitt s
Application for Admission as a Delegate Memorial opposing his Claim
His Rejection The Territorial Government 428
CHAPTER VI
BRIGHAM YOUNG S DESPOTISM : Causes that contributed to its Success Help
lessness of the New-comers from Europe Influence of Superstition
Young s Treatment of the Gladdenites His Appropriation of Property
Laws passed by the Mormon Legislature Bishops as Ward Magistrates
A Mormon Currency and Alphabet What Emigrants to California learned
about Mormon Justice 433
CHAPTER VII
THE "REFORMATION": Young s Disclosures about the Character of his Flock
The Stealing from One Another The Threat about "Laying Judgment to
the Line " Plain Declarations about the taking of Human Lives First
Steps of the "Reformation" An Inquisition and Catechism An Embar
rassing Confession Warning to those who would leave the Valley . . 441
CONTENTS xxi
CHAPTER VIII
PAGE
SOME CHURCH-INSPIRED MURDERS: The Story of the Parrishes Carrying out of
a Cold-blooded Plot Judge Cradlebaugh s Effort to convict the Murderers
The Tragedy of the Aikin Party The Story of Frederick Loba s Escape . 448
CHAPTER IX
BLOOD ATONEMENT : Early Intimations concerning it Jedediah M. Grant s Ex
planation of Human Sacrifices Brigham Young s Definition of " Laying
Judgment to the Line" Two of the Sacrifices described "The Affair at
San Pete " . . . . . . . ... . . 454
CHAPTER X
TERRITORIAL GOVERNMENT: Brigham Young the First Governor Colonel Kane s
Part in his Appointment Kane s False Statements to President Fillmore
Welcome to the Non-Mormon Officers Their Early Information about Young s
Influence Pioneer Anniversary Speeches Judge Brocchus s Offence to the
Mormons Young s Threatening and Abusive Reply The Judge s Alarm
about his Personal Safety Return of the Non-Mormon Federal Officers to
Washington Young s Defence 458
CHAPTER XI
MORMON TREATMENT OF FEDERAL OFFICERS: A Territorial Election Law
Why Colonel Steptoe declined the Governorship Young s Assertion of his
Authority His Reappointment Two Bad Judicial Appointments Judge
Stiles s Trouble about the Marshals Burning of his Books and Papers
How Judge Drummond s Attempt at Independence was foiled The Mormon
View of Land Titles Hostile Attitude toward the Government Surveyors
Reports of the Indian Agents . . . . 467
CHAPTER XII
THE MORMON " WAR " : What the Federal Authorities had learned about Mor-
monism Declaration of the Republican National Convention of 1856
Striking Speech by Stephen A. Douglas Alfred Gumming appointed Gov
ernor with a New Set of Judges Statement in the President s Message
Employment of a Military Force The Kimball Mail Contract Organiza
tion of the Troops General Harney s Letter of Instruction Threats against
the Advancing Foe Mobilization of the Nauvoo Legion Captain Van
Vliet s Mission to Salt Lake City Young s Defiance of the Government
His Proclamation to the Citizens of Utah " General " Wells s Order to his
Officers Capture and Burning of a Government Train Colonel Alexander s
Futile March Colonel Johnston s Advance from Fort Laramie Harrowing
Experience of Lieutenant Colonel Cooke s Command . . . 476
xxii CONTENTS
CHAPTER XIII
PAGE
THE MORMON PURPOSE: Correspondence between Colonel Alexander and Brig-
ham Young Illustration of Young s Vituperative Powers John Taylor s
Threat Incendiary Teachings in Salt Lake City A Warning to Saints who
would desert The Army s Winter Camp Proclamation by Governor Gum
ming Judge Eckles s Court Futile Preparations at Washington . . 494
CHAPTER XIV
COLONEL KANE S MISSION: His Wily Proposition to President Buchanan His
Credentials from the President Arrival in California under an Assumed
Name Visit to Camp Scott General Johnston ignored Reasons why
both the Government and the Mormons desired Peace Kane s Success with
Governor Gumming The Governor s Departure for Salt Lake City De
ceptions practiced on him in Echo Cafion His Reception in the City
Playing into Mormon Hands The Governor s Introduction to the People
Exodus of Mormons begun 501
CHAPTER XV
THE PEACE COMMISSION: President Buchanan s Volte-face A Proclamation of
Pardon Instructions to Two Peace Commissioners Chagrin of the Military
Governor Cumming s Misrepresentations Conferences between the Com
missioners and Young Brother Dunbar s Singing of " Zion " Young s
Method of Surrender Judge Eckles on Plural Marriages The Terms
made with the Mormons March of the Federal Troops to the Deserted City
Return of the Mormons to their Homes 511
CHAPTER XVI
THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE: Circumstances Indicative of Mormon Offi
cial Responsibility The Make-up of the Arkansas Party Motives for Mor
mon Hostility to them Parley P. Pratt s Shooting in Arkansas Refusal of
Food Supplies to the Party after leaving Salt Lake City Their Plight before
they were attacked Successful Measures for Defence Disarrangement of
the Mormon Plans John D. Lee s Treacherous Mission Pitiless Slaughter
of Men, Women, and Children Testimony given at Lee s Trial The Plun
dering of the Dead Lee s Account of the Planning of the Massacre Re
sponsibility of High Church Officers Lee s Report to Brigham Young and
Brigham s Instructions to him The Disclosures by " Argus " Lee s Execu
tion and Last Words 517
CHAPTER XVII
AFTER THE " WAR " : Judge Cradlebaugh s Attempts to enforce the Law Investi
gation of the Mountain Meadows Massacre Governor Cumming s Objections
to the Use of Troops to assist the Court A Washington Decision in Favor
of Young s Authority The Story of a Counterfeit Plate Five Thousand
Men under Arms to protect Young from Arrest Sudden Departure of Gum
ming Governor Dawson s Brief Term His Shocking Treatment at Mormon
Hands Governor Harding s Administration The Morrisite Tragedy . . 535
CONTENTS xxiii
CHAPTER XVIII
PAGE
ATTITUDE OF THE MORMONS DURING THE SOUTHERN REBELLION: Press and
Pulpit Utterances Arrival of Colonel Connor s Force His March through
Salt Lake City to Carnp Douglas Governor Harding s Plain Message to the
Legislature Mormon Retaliation The Governor and Two Judges re
quested to leave the Territory Their Spirited Replies How Young escaped
Arrest by Colonel Connor s Force Another Yielding to Mormon Power at
Washington 543
CHAPTER XIX
EASTERN VISITORS TO SALT LAKE CITY: Schuyler Colfax s Interviews with
Young Samuel Bowles s Praise of the Mormons and his Speedy Correction
of his Views Repudiation of Colfax s Plan to drop Polygamy Two more
Utah Murders Colfax s Second Visit 552
CHAPTER XX
GENTILE IRRUPTION AND MORMON SCHISM : Young s Jealousy of Gentile Mer
chants Organization of the Zion Cooperative Mercantile Institution
Inception of the "New Movement" Its Leaders and Objects The Peep
o 1 Day and the Utah Magazine Articles that aroused Young s Hostility
Visit of the Prophet s Sons to Salt Lake City Trial and Excommunication
of Godbe and Harrison Results of the " New Movement " .... 557
CHAPTER XXI
THE LAST YEARS OF BRIGHAM YOUNG : New Governors Shaffer s Rebuke to
the Nauvoo Legion Conflict with the New Judges Brigham Young and
Others indicted Young s Temporary Imprisonment A Supreme Court
Decision in Favor of the Mormon Marshal and Attorney Outside Influ
ences affecting Utah Affairs Grant s Special Message to Congress Failure
of the Frelinghuysen Bill in the House Signing of the Poland Bill Ann
Eliza Young s Suit for Divorce The Later Governors 567
CHAPTER XXII
BRIGHAM YOUNG S DEATH : His Character Explanation of his Dictatorial Power
Exaggerated Views of his Executive Ability Overestimations by Contem
poraries Young s Wealth and how he acquired it His Revenue from
Divorces Unrestrained Control of the Church Property His Will Suit
against his Executors List of his Wives His Houses in Salt Lake City . 574
CHAPTER XXIII
SOCIAL ASPECTS OF POLYGAMY : Varied Provisions for Plural Wives Home
Accommodations of the Leaders Horace Greeley s Observation about
Woman s Place in Utah Means of overcoming Female Jealousy Young
xxiv CONTENTS
PAGE
and Grant on the Unhappiness of Mormon Wives Acceptance of Fanatical
Teachings by Women Kimball on a Fair Division of the Converts Church
Influence in Behalf of Plural Marriages A Prussian Convert s Dilemma
President Cleveland on the Evils of Polygamy 582
CHAPTER XXIV
THE FIGHT AGAINST POLYGAMY: First Measures introduced in Congress The
Act of 1862 The Cullom Bill of 1869 Its Failure in the Senate The
United States Supreme Court Decision regarding Polygamy Conviction of
John Miles Appeal of Women of Salt Lake City to Mrs. Hayes and the
Women of the United States President Hayes s Drastic Recommendation
to Congress Recommendations of Presidents Garfield and Arthur Passage
of the Edmunds Bill Its Provisions The Edmunds-Tucker Amendment
Appointment of the Utah Commission Determined Opposition of the Mor
mon Church Placing their Flags at Half Mast Convictions under the
New Law Leaders in Hiding or in Exile Mormon Honors for those who
took their Punishment Congress asked to disfranchise All Polygamists
The Mormon Church brought to Bay Woodruffs Famous Proclamation
How it was explained to the Church The Roberts Case and the Vetoed Act
of 1901 How Statehood came 590
CHAPTER XXV
THE MORMONISM OF TO-DAY : Future Place of the Church in American History
Main Points of the Mormon Political Policy Unbroken Power of the
Priesthood Fidelity of the Younger Members Extension of the Member
ship over Adjoining States Mission Work at Home and Abroad Decreased
Foreign Membership Effect of False Promises to Converts The Settle
ments in Canada and Mexico Polygamy still a Living Doctrine Reasons
for its Hold on the Church Its Appeal to the Female Members Impor
tance of a Federal Constitutional Amendment forbidding Polygamous Mar
riages Scope of the Mormon Political Ambition 609
INDEX 619
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
FACING PAGE
CHARACTERS FROM THE BOOK OF MORMON 40
FACSIMILES OF THREE OF THE KINDERHOOK PLATES 86
FACSIMILE OF TITLE-PAGE OF FIRST EDITION OF MORMON BIBLE ... 90
A DIAGRAM OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD 116
FACSIMILE FROM THE BOOK OF ABRAHAM 140
FACSIMILE OF ALTERED KIRTLAND BANK-NOTE 148
XXV
THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
BOOK I
THE MORMON ORIGIN
CHAPTER I
FACILITY OF HUMAN BELIEF
SUMMING up his observations of the Mormons as he found
them in Utah while secretary of the territory, five years after
their removal to the Great Salt Lake valley, B. G. Ferris wrote,
" The real miracle [of their success] consists in so large a body of
men and women, in a civilized land, and in the nineteenth cen
tury, being brought under, governed, and controlled by such gross
religious imposture." This statement presents, in concise form,
the general view of the surprising features of the success of the
Mormon leaders, in forming, augmenting, and keeping together
their flock ; but it is a mistaken view. To accept it would be to
concede that, in a highly civilized nation like ours, and in so late
a century, the acceptance of religious beliefs which, to the non-
believers, seem gross superstitions, is so unusual that it may be
classed with the miraculous. Investigation easily disproves this.
It is true that the effrontery which has characterized Mormon-
ism from the start has been most daring. Its founder a lad of low
birth, very limited education, and uncertain morals ; its beginnings
so near burlesque that they drew down upon its originators the
scoff of their neighbors, the organization increased its mem
bership as it was driven from one state to another, building up
at last in an untried wilderness a population that has steadily
augmented its wealth and numbers ; doggedly defending its right
to practise its peculiar beliefs and obey only the officers of the
church, even when its course in this respect has brought it in con-
2 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
flict with the government of the United States. Professing only
a desire to be let alone, it promulgated in polygamy a doctrine
that was in conflict with the moral sentiment of the Christian
world, making its practice not only a privilege, but a part of the
religious duty of its members. When, in recent years, Congress
legislated against this practice, the church fought for its peculiar
institution to the last, its leading members accepting exile and
imprisonment ; and only the certainty of continued exclusion from
the rights of citizenship, and the hopelessness of securing the long-
desired prize of statehood for Utah, finally induced the church to
bow to the inevitable, and to announce a form of release for its
members from the duty of marrying more wives than one. Aside
from this concession, the Mormon church is to-day as autocratic in
its hold on its members, as aggressive in its proselyting, and as
earnest in maintaining its individual religious and political power,
as it has been in any previous time in its history.
In its material aspects we must concede to the Mormon church
organization a remarkable success ; to Joseph Smith, Jr., a leader
ship which would brook no rival ; to Brigham Young the main
tenance of an autocratic authority which enabled him to hold
together and enlarge his church far beyond the limits that would
have been deemed possible when they set out across the plains
with all their possessions in their wagons. But it is no more
surprising that the Mormons succeeded in establishing their church
in the United States than it would have been if they had been
equally successful in South America ; no more surprising that
this success should have been won in the nineteenth century than
it would have been to record it in the twelfth.
In studying questions of this kind, we are, in the first place,
entirely too apt to ignore the fact that man, while comparatively a
"superior being," is in simple fact one species of the animals that
are found upon the earth ; and that, as a species, he has traits
which distinguish him characteristically just as certain well-known
traits characterize those animals that we designate as " lower."
If a traveller from the Sun should print his observations of the
inhabitants of the different planets, he would have to say of those
of the Earth something like this : " One of Man s leading traits is
what is known as belief. He is a credulous creature, and is
especially susceptible to appeals to his credulity in regard to
FACILITY OF HUMAN BELIEF 3
matters affecting his existence after death." Whatever explana
tion we may accept of the origin of the conception by this animal
of his soul-existence, and of the evolution of shadowy beliefs into
religious systems, we must concede that Man is possessed of a
tendency to worship something, a recognition, at least, of a
higher power with which it behooves him to be on friendly terms,
and so long as the absolute correctness of any one belief or
doctrine cannot be actually proved to him, he is constantly ready
to inquire into, and perhaps give credence to, new doctrines that
are presented for his consideration. The acceptance by Man of
novelties in the way of religions is a characteristic that has marked
his species ever since its record has been preserved. According
to Max M tiller, " every religion began simply as a matter of
reason, and from this drifted into a superstition " ; that is, into
what non-believers in the new doctrine characterize as a supersti
tion. Whenever one of these driftings has found a lodgement,
there has been planted a new sect. There has never been a year
in the Christian era when there have not been believers ready to
accept any doctrine offered to them in the name of religion. As
Shakespeare expresses it, in the words of Bassanio :
"In religion,
What damned error but some sober brow
Will bless it, and approve it with a text,
Hiding the grossness with fair ornament ? "
In glancing at the cause of this unchanged susceptibility to reli
gious credulity unchanged while the world has been making such
strides in the acquisition of exact information we may find a
summing up of the situation in Macaulay s blunt declaration that
" natural theology is not a progressive science ; a Christian of the
fifth century with a Bible is on a par with a Christian of the
nineteenth century with a Bible." The "orthodox" believer in
that Bible can only seek a better understanding of it by studying
it himself and accepting the deductions of other students. Nothing,
as the centuries have passed, has been added to his definite knowl
edge of his God or his own future existence. When, therefore,
some one, like a Swedenborg or a Joseph Smith, appears with an
announcement of an addition to the information on this subject,
obtained by direct revelation from on high, he supplies one of the
greatest desiderata that man is conscious of, and we ought, per-
4 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
haps, to wonder that his followers are, not so numerous, but so
few. Progress in medical science would no longer permit any
body like the College of the Physicians of London to recognize cu
rative value in the skull of a person who had met with a violent
death, as it did in the seventeenth century ; but the physician of
the seventeenth century with a pharmacopoeia was not "on a par
with " a physician of the nineteenth century with a pharmacopoeia.
Nor has man changed in his mental susceptibilities as the cen
turies have advanced. It is a failure to recognize this fact which
leads observers like Ferris to find it so marvellous that a belief
like Mormonism should succeed in the nineteenth century.
Draper s studies of man s intellectual development led him to de
clare that " man has ever been the same in his modes of thought
and motives of action," and to assert his purpose to "judge past oc
currences in the same way as those of our own time." l So Macau-
lay refused to accept the doctrine that " the world is constantly
becoming more and more enlightened," asserting that " the human
mind, instead of marching, merely marks time." Nothing offers
stronger confirmation of the correctness of these views than the
history of religious beliefs, and the teachings connected therewith
since the death of Christ.
The chain of these beliefs and teachings including in the list
only those which offer the boldest challenge to a sane man s cre
dulity is uninterrupted down to our own day. A few of them
may be mentioned by way of illustration. In one century we find
Spanish priests demanding the suppression of the opera on the
ground that this form of entertainment caused a drought, and a
Pope issuing a bull against men and women having sexual inter
course with fiends. In another, we find an English tailor, unsuc
cessfully, allotting endless torments to all who would not accept his
declaration that God was only six feet in height, at the same time
that George Fox, who was successful in establishing the Quaker
sect, denounced, as unchristian adoration of Janus and Woden, any
mention of a month as January or a day as Wednesday. Luther,
the Protestant pioneer, believed that he had personal conferences
with the devil ; Wesley, the founder of Methodism, declared that
" the giving up of [belief] in witchcraft is, in effect, giving up the
Bible." Education and mental training have had no influence in
1 " Intellectual Development of Europe," Vol. II, Chap. 3.
FACILITY OF HUMAN BELIEF 5
shaping the declarations of the leaders of new religious sects. 1 The
learned scientist, Swedenborg, told of seeing the Virgin Mary
dressed in blue satin, and of spirits wearing hats, just as confidently
as the ignorant Joseph Smith, Jr., described his angel as " a tall,
slim, well-built, handsome man, with a bright pillar upon his head."
The readiness with which even believers so strictly taught as
are the Jews can be led astray by the announcement of a new
teacher divinely inspired, is illustrated in the stories of their many
false Messiahs. One illustration of this from the pen of Zang-
will may be given :
" From all the lands of the Exile, crowds of the devout came to do him hom
age and tender allegiance Turkish Jews with red fez or saffron-yellow turban ;
Jerusalem Jews in striped cotton gowns and soft felt hats ; Polish Jews with fox-
skin caps and long caftans ; sallow German Jews, gigantic Russian Jews, high
bred Spanish Jews ; and with them often their wives and daughters Jerusalem
Jewesses with blue shirts and head-veils, Egyptian Jewesses with sweeping robes
and black head- shawls, Jewesses from Ashdod and Gaza, with white visors fringed
with gold coins ; Polish Jewesses with glossy wigs ; Syrian Jewesses with eye
lashes black as though lined with kohl ; fat Jewesses from Tunis, with clinging
breeches interwoven with gold and silver."
This homage to a man who turned Turk, and became a door
keeper of the Sultan, to save himself from torture and death !
Savagery and civilization meet on this plane of religious cre
dulity. The Indians of Canada believed not more implicitly in the
demons who howled all over the Isles of Demons, than did the
early French sailors and the priests whose protection the latter
asked. The Jesuit priests of the seventeenth century accepted,
and impressed upon their white followers in New France, belief in
miracles which made a greater demand on credulity than did any
of the exactions of the Indian medicine man. That the head of a
white man, which the Iroquois carried to their village, spoke to
them and scolded them for their perfidy, " found believers among
the most intelligent men of the colony," just as did the story of the
conversion of a sick Huguenot immigrant, with whose gruel a
Mother secretly mixed a little of the powdered bone of a Jesuit
martyr. 2 And French Canada is to-day as " orthodox " in its be-
1 "The splendid gifts which make a seer are usually found among those whom
society calls common or unclean. These brutish beings are the chosen vessels in
whom God has poured the elixirs which amaze humanity. Such beings have furnished
the prophets, the St. Peters, the hermits of history." BALZAC, in "Cousin Pons."
2 Parkman s " Old Regime in Canada."
6 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
lief in miracles as was the Canada of the seventeenth century.
The church of St. Anne de Beaupre", below Quebec, attracts its
thousands annually, and is piled with the crutches which the mi
raculously cured have cast aside. Masses were said in 1899 in
the church of Notre Dame de Bonsecours at Montreal, at the
expense of a pilots association, to ward off wrecks in the treach
erous St. Lawrence; and in the near-by provinces there were
religious processions to check the attacks of caterpillars in the
orchards.
Nor need we go to Catholic Quebec for modern illustrations of
this kind of faith. " Bareheaded people stood out upon the cor
ner in East H3th Street yesterday afternoon," said a New York
City newspaper of December 18, 1898, "because they were unable
to get into the church of Our Lady Queen of Angels, where a relic
of St. Anthony of Padua was exposed for veneration." Describ
ing a service in the church of St. Jean Baptiste in East 77th Street,
New York, where a relic alleged to be a piece of a bone of the
mother of the Virgin was exposed, a newspaper of that city, on
July 24th, 1901, said: "There were five hundred persons, by ac
tual count, in and around the crypt chapel of St. Anne when after
noon service stopped the rush of the sick and crippled at 4.30
o clock yesterday. There were many more at the 8 o clock even
ing Mass. What did these people seek at the shrine ? Only the
favor of St. Anne and a kiss and touch of the casket that, by
church authority, contains bone of her body." France has to-day
its Grotto of Lourdes, Wales its St. Winefride s Well, Mexico its
" wonder-working doll " that makes the sick well and the childless
mothers, and Moscow its "wonder-working picture of the Mother
of God," before which the Czar prostrates himself.
Not in recent years has the appetite for some novelty on which
to fasten belief been more manifest in the United States than it
was at the close of the nineteenth century. Old beliefs found new
teachers, and promulgators of new ideas found followers. Instruc
tors in Brahminism attracted considerable attention. A " Chapter
of the College of Divine Sciences and Realization " instituted a
revival of Druid sun-adoration on the shores of Lake Michigan.
An organization has been formed of believers in the One-Over-At-
Acre, a Persian who claimed to be the forerunner of the Millennium,
and in whom, as Christ, it is said that more than three thousand per-
FACILITY OF HUMAN BELIEF 7
sons in this country believe. We have among us also Jaorelites,
who believe in the near date of the end of the world, and that they
must make their ascent to heaven from a mountain in Scotland.
The hold which the form of belief called Christian Science has ob
tained upon people of education and culture needs only be referred
to. Along with this have come the " divine healers," gaining pa
tients in circles where it would be thought impossible for them to
obtain even consideration, and one of them securing a clientage in
a Western city which has enabled him to establish there a church
of his own.
In fact, instead of finding in enlightened countries like the
United States and England a poor field for the dissemination of
new beliefs, the whole school of revealers find there their best
opportunities. Discussing this susceptibility, Aliene Gorren, in
her " Anglo-Saxons and Others," reaches this conclusion:
" Nowhere are so many persons of sound intelligence in all practical affairs
so easily led to follow after crazy seers and seeresses as in England and the
United States. The truth is that the mind of man refuses to be shut out abso
lutely from the world of the higher abstractions, and that, if it may not make its
way thither under proper guidance, it will set off even at the tail of the first
ragged street procession that passes."
The " real miracle " in Mormonism, then, the wonderful fea
ture of its success, is to be sought, not in the fact that it has
been able to attract believers in a new prophet, and to find them
at this date and in this country, but in its success in establishing
and keeping together in a republic like ours a membership who
acknowledge its supreme authority in politics as well as in religion,
and who form a distinct organization which does not conceal its
purpose to rule over the whole nation. Had Mormonism confined
itself to its religious teachings, and been preached only to those
who sought its instruction, instead of beating up the world for
recruits and conveying them to its home, the Mormon church
would probably to-day be attracting as little attention as do the
Harmonists of Pennsylvania.
CHAPTER II
THE SMITH FAMILY
AMONG the families who settled in Ontario County, New York,
in 1816, was that of one Joseph Smith. It consisted of himself,
his wife, and nine children. The fourth of these children, Joseph
Smith, Jr., became the Mormon prophet.
The Smiths are said to have been of Scotch ancestry. It was
the mother, however, who exercised the larger influence on her
son s life, and she has left very minute details of her own and her
father s family. 1 Her father, Solomon Mack, was a native of
Lyme, Connecticut. The daughter Lucy, who became Mrs. Joseph
Smith, Sr., was born in Gilsum, Cheshire County, New Hampshire,
on July 8, 1776. Mr. Mack was remembered as a feeble old man,
who rode around the country on horseback, using a woman s sad
dle, and selling his own autobiography. The "tramp" of those
early days often offered an autobiography, or what passed for one,
and, as books were then rare, if he could say that it contained an
account of actual adventures in the recent wars, he was certain to
find purchasers.
One of the few copies of this book in existence lies before me.
It was printed at the author s expense about the year 1810. It
is wholly without interest as a narrative, telling of the poverty of
his parents, how he was bound, when four years old, to a farmer
who gave him no education and worked him like a slave ; gives
some of his experiences in the campaigns against the French and
Indians in northern New York and in the war of the Revolution,
when he was in turn teamster, sutler, and privateer ; describes with
minute detail many ordinary illnesses and accidents that befell
him ; and closes with a recital of his religious awakening, which
was deferred until his seventy-sixth year, while he was suffering
1 " Biographical Sketches of Joseph Smith and his Progenitors for Many Genera
tions," Lucy Smith.
8
THE SMITH FAMILY 9
with rheumatism. At that time it seemed to him that he several
times " saw a bright light in a dark night," and thought he heard
a voice calling to him. Twenty-two of the forty-eight duodecimo
pages that the book contains are devoted to hymns " composed,"
the title-page says, "on the death of several of his relatives," not
all by himself. One of these may be quoted entire :
" My friends, I am on the ocean,
So sweetly do I sail ;
Jesus is my portion,
He s given me a pleasant gale.
" The bruises sore,
In harbor soon I ll be,
And see my redeemer there
That died for you and me."
Mrs. Smith s family seem to have had a natural tendency to
belief in revelations. Her eldest brother, Jason, became a
"Seeker"; the " Seekers " of that day believed that the devout
of their times could, through prayer and faith, secure the " gifts "
of the Gospel which were granted to the ancient apostles. 1 He
was one of the early believers in faith-cure, and was, we are told,
himself cured by that means in 1835. One of Lucy s sisters had
a miraculous recovery from illness. After being an invalid for
two years she was "borne away to the world of spirits," where she
saw the Saviour and received a message from Him for her earthly
friends.
Lucy herself came very exactly under the description given by
Ruth McEnery Stuart of one of her negro characters : " Duke s
mother was of the slighter intelligences, and hence much given to
convictions. Knowing few things, she believed in a great
many." Lucy Smith had neither education nor natural intelli
gence that would interfere with such "beliefs" as came to her
from family tradition, from her own literal interpretations of the
Bible, or from the workings of her imagination. She tells us that
after her marriage, when very ill, she made a covenant with God
that she would serve him if her recovery was granted ; thereupon
she heard a voice giving her assurance that her prayer would be
answered, and she was better the next morning. Later, when
1 A sect called "Seekers," who arose in 1645, taught, like the Mormons, that the
Scriptures are defective, the true church lost, and miracles necessary to faith.
!O THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
anxious for the safety of her husband s soul, she prayed in a grove
(most of the early Mormons prayers were made in the woods),
and saw a vision indicating his coming conversion ; later still, in
Vermont, a daughter was restored to health by her parent s
prayers.
According to Mrs. Smith s account of their life in Vermont,
they were married on January 24, 1796, at Tunbridge, but soon
moved to Randolph, where Smith was engaged in " merchandise,"
keeping a store. Learning of the demand for crystallized ginseng
in China, he invested money in that product and made a ship
ment, but it proved unprofitable, and, having in this way lost most
of his money, they moved back to a farm at Tunbridge. Thence
they moved to Royalton, and in a few months to Sharon, where,
on December 23, 1805, Joseph Smith, Jr., their fourth child, was
born. 1 Again they moved to Tunbridge, and then back to Royal-
ton (all these places in Vermont). From there they went to
Lebanon, New Hampshire, thence to Norwich, Vermont, still
" farming " without success, until, after three years of crop failure,
they decided to move to New York State, arriving there in the
summer of 1816.
Less prejudiced testimony gives an even less favorable view
than this of the elder Smith s business career in Vermont. Judge
Daniel Woodward, of the county court of Windsor, Vermont, near
whose father s farm the Smiths lived, says that the elder Smith
while living there was a hunter for Captain Kidd s treasure, and
that " he also became implicated with one Jack Downing in coun
terfeiting money, but turned state s evidence and escaped the pen
alty." 2 He had in earlier life been a Universalist, but afterward
became a Methodist. His spiritual welfare gave his wife much
concern, but although he had " two visions " while living in Ver
mont, she did not accept his change of heart. She admits, how
ever, that after their removal to New York her husband obeyed
the scriptural injunction, " your old men shall dream dreams," and
she mentions several of these dreams, the latest in 1819, giving
the particulars of some of them. One sample of these will suffice :
The dreamer found himself in a beautiful garden, with wide walks
and a main walk running through the centre. " On each side of
1 There is equally good authority for placing the house in which Smith was born
across the line in Royalton. 2 Historical Magazine, 1870.
THE SMITH FAMILY II
this was a richly carved seat, and on each seat were placed six
wooden images, each of which was the size of a very large man.
When I came to the first image on the right side it arose, bowed to
me with much deference. I then turned to the one which sat oppo
site to me, on the left side, and it arose and bowed to me in the
same manner as the first. I continued turning first to the right
and then to the left until the whole twelve had made the obeisance,
after which I was entirely healed [of a lameness from which he
then was suffering], I then asked my guide the meaning of all
this, but I awoke before I received an answer."
A similar wakefulness always manifested itself at the critical
moment in these dreams. What the world lost by this insomnia
of the dreamer the world will never know.
The Smiths first residence in New York State was in the
village of Palmyra. There the father displayed a sign, " Cake and
Beer Shop," selling " gingerbread, pies, boiled eggs, root beer, and
other like notions," and he and his sons did odd jobs, gardening,
harvesting, and well-digging, when they could get them. 1
They were very poor, and Mrs. Smith added to their income
by painting oil-cloth table covers. After a residence of three years
and a half in Palmyra, the family took possession of a piece of
land two miles south of that place, on the border of Manchester.
They had no title to it, but as the owners were non-resident minors
they were not disturbed. There they put up a little log house,
with two rooms on the ground floor and two in the attic, which
sheltered them all. Later, the elder Smith contracted to buy the
property and erected a farmhouse on it ; but he never completed
his title to it.
While classing themselves as farmers, the Smiths were regarded
by their neighbors as shiftless and untrustworthy. They sold cord-
wood, vegetables, brooms of their own manufacture, and maple
sugar, continuing to vend cakes in the village when any special
occasion attracted a crowd. It may be remarked here that, while
Ontario County, New York, was regarded as " out West " by sea
board and New England people in 1830, its population was then
almost as large as it is to-day (having 40,288 inhabitants according
to the census of 1830 and 48,453 according to the census of 1890).
The father and several of the boys could not read, and a good
1 Tucker s "Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism," p. 12.
12 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
deal of the time of the younger sons was spent in hunting, fishing,
and lounging around the village.
The son Joseph did not rise above the social standing of his
brothers. The best that a Mormon biographer, Orson Pratt, could
say of him as a youth was that " He could read without much diffi
culty, and write a very imperfect hand, and had a very limited
understanding of the elementary rules of arithmetic. These were
his highest and only attainments, while the rest of those branches
so universally taught in the common schools throughout the United
States were entirely unknown to him." 1 He was "Joe Smith" to
every one. Among the younger people he served as a butt for
jokes, and we are told that the boys who bought the cakes that he
peddled used to pay him in pewter two-shilling pieces, and that
when he called at the Palmyra Register office for his father s
weekly paper, the youngsters in the press room thought it fun to
blacken his face with the ink balls.
Here are two pictures of the young man drawn by persons who
saw him constantly in the days of his vagabondage. The first is
from Mr. Tucker s book :
"At this period in the life and career of Joseph Smith, Jr., or l Joe Smith, as
he was universally named, and the Smith family, they were popularly regarded
as an illiterate, whiskey-drinking, shiftless, irreligious race of people the first
named, the chief subject of this biography, being unanimously voted the laziest
and most worthless of the generation. From the age of twelve to twenty years
he is distinctly remembered as a dull-eyed, flaxen-haired, prevaricating boy
noted only for his indolent and vagabondish character, and his habits of exag
geration and untruthfulness. Taciturnity was among his characteristic idiosyn
crasies, and he seldom spoke to any one outside of his intimate associates, except
when first addressed by another ; and then, by reason of his extravagancies of
statement, his word was received with the least confidence by those who knew
him best. He could utter the most palpable exaggeration or marvellous absurdity
with the utmost apparent gravity. He nevertheless evidenced the rapid develop
ment of a thinking, plodding, evil-brewing mental composition largely given to
inventions of low cunning, schemes of mischief and deception, and false and
mysterious pretensions. In his moral phrenology the professor might have
marked the organ of secretiveness as very large, and that of conscientiousness
omitted. He was, however, proverbially good natured, very rarely, if ever, indulg
ing in any combative spirit toward any one, whatever might be the provocation,
and yet was never known to laugh. Albeit, he seemed to be the pride of his
indulgent father, who has been heard to boast of him as the "genus of the family, 1
quoting his own expression." 2
1 " Remarkable Visions." 2 "Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism," p. 16.
THE SMITH FAMILY 13
The second (drawn a little latter) is by Daniel Hendrix, a resi
dent of Palmyra, New York, at the time of which he speaks, and
an assistant in setting the type and reading the proof of the Mormon
Bible :-
" Every one knew him as Joe Smith. He had lived in Palmyra a few years
previous to my going there from Rochester. Joe was the most ragged, lazy fellow
in the place, and that is saying a good deal. He was about twenty-five years old.
I can see him now in my mind s eye, with his torn and patched trousers held to
his form by a pair of suspenders made out of sheeting, with his calico shirt as
dirty and black as the earth, and his uncombed hair sticking through the holes in
his old battered hat. In winter I used to pity him, for his shoes were so old and
worn out that he must have suffered in the snow and slush ; yet Joe had a jovial,
easy, don t-care way about him that made him a lot of warm friends. He was a
good talker, and would have made a fine stump speaker if he had had the train
ing. He was known among the young men I associated with as a romancer of
the first water. I never knew so ignorant a man as Joe was to have such a fertile
imagination. He never could tell a common occurrence in his daily life without
embellishing the story with his imagination ; yet I remember that he was grieved
one day when old Parson Reed told Joe that he was going to hell for his lying
habits." 1
To this testimony may be added the following declarations, pub
lished in 1833, the year in which a mob drove the Mormons out of
Jackson County, Missouri. The first was signed by eleven of the
most prominent citizens of Manchester, New York, and the second
by sixty-two residents of Palmyra :
" We, the undersigned, being personally acquainted with the family of Joseph
Smith, Sr., with whom the Gold Bible, so called, originated, state : That they
were not only a lazy, indolent set of men, but also intemperate, and their word
was not to be depended upon ; and that we are truly glad to dispense with their
society."
" We, the undersigned, have been acquainted with the Smith family for a
number of years, while they resided near this place, and we have no hesitation in
saying that we consider them destitute of that moral character which ought to
entitle them to the confidence of any community. They were particularly famous
for visionary projects ; spent much of their time in digging for money which they
pretended was hid in the earth, and to this day large excavations may be seen
in the earth, not far from their residence, where they used to spend their time
in digging for hidden treasures. Joseph Smith, Sr., and his son Joseph were, in
particular, considered entirely destitute of moral character, and addicted to vicious
habits." 2
1 San Jacinto, California, letter of February 2, 1897, to tne St. Louis Globe-
Democrat.
2 Howe s " Mormonism Unveiled," p. 261.
I 4 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
Finally may be quoted the following affidavit of Parley Chase:
" Manchester, New York, December 2, 1833. I was acquainted with family of
Joseph Smith, Sr., both before and since they became Mormons, and feel free to state
that not one of the male members of the Smith family were entitled to any credit
whatsoever. They were lazy, intemperate, and worthless men, very much addicted
to lying. In this they frequently boasted their skill. Digging for money was
their principal employment. In regard to their Gold Bible speculation, they
scarcely ever told two stories alike. The Mormon Bible is said to be a revelation
from God, through Joseph Smith, Jr., his Prophet, and this same Joseph Smith,
Jr., to my knowledge, bore the reputation among his neighbors of being a liar. 1 1
The preposterousness of the claims of such a fellow as Smith
to prophetic powers and divinely revealed information were so
apparent to his local acquaintances that they gave them little
attention. One of these has remarked to me in recent years that
if they had had any idea of the acceptance of Joe s professions by
a permanent church, they would have put on record a much fuller
description of him and his family.
1 Howe s " Mormonism Unveiled," p. 248.
CHAPTER III
HOW JOSEPH SMITH BECAME A MONEY-DIGGER
THE elder Smith, as we have seen, was known as a money-
digger while a resident of Vermont. Of course that subject
was a matter of conversation in his family, and his sons were
of a character to share in his belief in the existence of hidden
treasure. The territory around Palmyra was as good ground for
their explorations as any in Vermont, and they soon let their
neighbors know of a possibility of riches that lay within their
reach.
The father, while a resident of Vermont, also claimed ability
to locate an underground stream of water over which would be a
good site for a well, by means of a forked hazel switch, 1 and in
this way doubtless increased the demand for his services as a
well-digger, but we have no testimonials to his success. The son
Joseph, while still a young lad, professed to have his father s gift
in this respect, and he soon added to his accomplishments the
power to locate hidden riches, and in this way began his career
as a money-digger, which was so intimately connected with his
professions as a prophet.
Writers on the origin of the Mormon Bible, and the gradual
development of Smith the Prophet from Smith the village loafer
and money-seeker, have left their readers unsatisfied on many
points. Many of these obscurities will be removed by a very
careful examination of Joseph s occupations and declarations
during the years immediately preceding the announcement of
the revelation and delivery to him of the golden plates.
1 The so-called " divining rod " has received a good deal of attention from persons
engaged in psychical research. Vol. XIII, Part II, of the " Proceedings of the Society
for Psychical Research " is devoted to a discussion of the subject by Professor W. F.
Barrett of the Royal College of Science for Ireland, in Dublin, and in March, 1890, a
commission was appointed in France to study the matter.
15
16 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
The deciding event in Joe s career was a trip to Susquehanna
County, Pennsylvania, when he was a lad. It can be shown that
it was there that he obtained an idea of vision-seeing nearly ten
years before the date he gives in his autobiography as that of
the delivery to him of the golden plates containing the Book of
Mormon, and it was there probably that, in some way, he later
formed the acquaintance of Sidney Rigdon. It can also be
shown that the original version of his vision differed radically
from the one presented, after the lapse of another ten years spent
under Rigdon s tutelage, in his autobiography. Each of these
points is of great incidental value in establishing Rigdon s connec
tion with the conception of a new Bible, and the manner of its
presentation to the public. Later Mormon authorities have shown
a dislike to concede that Joe was a money-digger, but the fact is
admitted both in his mother s history of him and by himself. His
own statement about it is as follows :
"In the month of October, 1825, I hired with an old gentleman by the name
of Josiah Stoal, who lived in Chenango County, State of New York. He had
heard something of a silver mine having been opened by the Spaniards in
Harmony, Susquehanna County, State of Pennsylvania, and had, previous to my
hiring with him, been digging in order, if possible, to discover the mine. After
I went to live with him he took me, among the rest of his hands, to dig for the
silver mine, at which I continued to work for nearly a month, without success in
our undertaking, and finally I prevailed with the old gentleman to cease digging
for it. Hence arose the very prevalent story of my having been a money-
digger." 1
Mother Smith s account says, however, that Stoal " came for
Joseph on account of having heard that he possessed certain keys
by which he could discern things invisible to the natural eye " ;
thus showing that he had a reputation as a " gazer " before that
date. It was such discrepancies as these which led Brigham
Young to endeavor to suppress the mother s narrative.
The "gazing" which Joe took up is one of the oldest per
haps the oldest form of alleged human divination, and has been
called "mirror-gazing," "crystal-gazing," " crystal vision," and the
like. Its practice dates back certainly three thousand years,
having been noted in all ages, and among nations uncivilized as
well as civilized. Some students of the subject connect with such
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XIV, Supt., p. 6.
HOW JOSEPH SMITH BECAME A MONEY-DIGGER 17
divination Joseph s silver cup "whereby indeed he divineth"
(Genesis xliv. 5). Others, long before the days of Smith and
Rigdon, advanced the theory that the Urim and Thummim were
clear crystals intended for " gazing " purposes. One writer
remarks of the practice, "yEschylus refers it to Prometheus,
Cicero to the Assyrians and Etruscans, Zoroaster to Ahriman,
Varro to the Persian Magi, and a very large class of authors, from
the Christian Fathers and Schoolmen downward, to the devil." 1
An act of James I (1736), against witchcraft in England, made it a
crime to pretend to discover property " by any occult or crafty
science." As indicating the universal knowledge of "gazing," it
may be further noted that Varro mentions its practice among the
Romans and Pausanias among the Greeks. It was known to the
ancient Peruvians. It is practised to-day by East Indians, Afri
cans (including Egyptians), Maoris, Siberians, by Australian,
Polynesian, and Zulu savages, by many of the tribes of American
Indians, and by persons of the highest culture in Europe and
America. 2 Andrew Lang s collection of testimony about visions
seen in crystals by English women in 1897 might seem convincing
to any one who has not had experience in weighing testimony in
regard to spiritualistic manifestations, or brought this testimony
alongside of that in behalf of the "occult phenomena" of Adept
Brothers presented by Sinnett. 3
"Gazers" use different methods. Some look into water con
tained in a vessel, some into a drop of blood, some into ink, some
into a round opaque stone, some into mirrors, and many into some
form of crystal or a glass ball. Indeed, the "gazer" seems to be
quite independent as to the medium of his sight-seeing, so long as
he has the "power." This "power" is put also to a great variety
of uses. Australian savages depend on it to foretell the outcome
of an attack on their enemies ; Apaches resort to it to discover the
whereabouts of things lost or stolen ; and Malagasies, Zulus, and
Siberians " to see what will happen." Perhaps its most general
use has been to discover lost objects, and in this practice the seers
have very often been children, as we shall see was the case in the
exhibition which gave Joe Smith his first idea on the subject. In
1 " Recent Experiments in Crystal Vision," Vol. V, " Proceedings of the Society for
Psychical Research."
2 Lang s "The Making of Religion," Chap. V. 8 "The Occult World."
18 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
the experiments cited by Lang, the seers usually saw distant per
sons or scenes, and he records his belief that " experiments have
proved beyond doubt that a fair percentage of people, sane and
healthy, can see vivid landscapes, and figures of persons in motion,
in glass balls and other vehicles."
It can easily be imagined how interested any member of the
Smith family would have been in an exhibition like that of a
" crystal-gazer," and we are able to trace very consecutively Joe s
first introduction to the practice, and the use he made of the hint
thus given.
Emily C. Blackman, in the appendix to her " History of Susque-
hanna County, Pennsylvania" (1873), supplies the needed important
information about Joe s visits to Pennsylvania in the years preced
ing the announcement of his Bible. She says that it is uncertain
when he arrived at Harmony (now Oakland), " but it is certain he
was here in 1825 and later." A very circumstantial account of
Joe s first introduction to a " peep-stone " is given in a statement
by J. B. Buck in this appendix. He says :
"Joe Smith was here lumbering soon after my marriage, which was in 1818,
some years before he took to peeping, 1 and before diggings were commenced
under his direction. These were ideas he gained later. The stone which he
afterward used was in the possession of Jack Belcher of Gibson, who obtained it
while at Salina, N. Y. ? engaged in drawing salt. Belcher bought it because it was
said to be a seeing-stone. I have often seen it. It was a green stone, with
brown irregular spots on it. It was a little longer than a goose s egg, and about
the same thickness. When he brought it home and covered it with a hat,
Belcher s little boy was one of the first to look into the hat, and as he did so, he
said he saw a candle. The second time he looked in he exclaimed, I ve found
my hatchet (it had been lost two years), and immediately ran for it to the spot
shown him through the stone, and it was there. The boy was soon beset by
neighbors far and near to reveal to them hidden things, and he succeeded mar
vellously. Joe Smith, conceiving the idea of making a fortune through a similar
process of i seeing, bought the stone of Belcher, and then began his operations
in directing where hidden treasures could be found. His first diggings were near
Capt. Buck s sawmill, at Red Rock ; but because the followers broke the rule of
silence, * the enchantment removed the deposit. "
One of many stories of Joe s treasure-digging, current in that
neighborhood, Miss Blackman narrates. Learning from a strolling
Indian of a place where treasure was said to be buried, Joe induced
a farmer named Harper to join him in digging for it and to spend
a considerable sum of money in the enterprise. " After digging a
HOW JOSEPH SMITH BECAME A MONEY-DIGGER 19
great hole, that is still to be seen," the story continues, " Harper
got discouraged, and was about abandoning the enterprise. Joe
now declared to Harper that there was an enchantment about
the place that was removing the treasure farther off ; that Harper
must get a perfectly white dog (some said a black one), and sprinkle
his blood over the ground, and that would prevent the enchant
ment from removing the treasure. Search was made all over the
country, but no perfectly white dog could be found." Then Joe
said a white sheep would do as well ; but when this was sacrificed
and failed, he said " The Almighty was displeased with him for
attempting to palm off on Him a white sheep for a white dog."
This informant describes Joe at that time as "an imaginative en
thusiast, constitutionally opposed to work, and a general favorite
with the ladies."
In confirmation of this, R. C. Doud asserted that "in 1822 he
was employed, with thirteen others, by Oliver Harper to dig for
gold under Joe s direction on Joseph McKtme s land, and that Joe
had begun operations the year previous."
F. G. Mather obtained substantially the same particulars of
Joe s digging in connection with Harper from the widow of Joseph
McKune about the year 1879, and he said that the owner of the
farm at that time " for a number of years had been engaged in
filling the holes with stone to protect his cattle, but the boys still
use the northeast hole as a swimming pond in the summer." 1
Confirmation of the important parts of these statements has
been furnished by Joseph s father. When the reports of the dis
covery of a new Bible first gained local currency (in 1830), Fayette
Lapham decided to visit the Smith family, and learn what he could
on the subject. He found the elder Smith very communicative, and
he wrote out a report of his conversation with him, " as near as I can
repeat his words," he says, and it was printed in the Historical Maga
zine for May, 1870. Father Smith made no concealment of his belief
in witchcraft and other things supernatural, as well as in the exist
ence of a vast amount of buried treasure. What he said of Joe s
initiation into "crystal-gazing" Mr. Lapham thus records:
" His son Joseph, whom he called the illiterate, 2 when he was about fourteen
years of age, happened to be where a man was looking into a dark stone, and
1 Lippincotfs Magazine, August, 1880.
2 Joe s mother, describing Joe s descriptions to the family, at their evening fireside,
20 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
telling people therefrom where to dig for money and other things. Joseph re
quested the privilege of looking into the stone, which he did by putting his face
into the hat where the stone was. It proved to be not the right stone for him ;
but he could see some things, and among them he saw the stone, and where it
was, in which he could see whatever he wished to see. . . . The place where he
saw the stone was not far from their house, and under pretence of digging a well,
they found water and the stone at a depth of twenty or twenty-two feet. After
this, Joseph spent about two years looking into this stone, telling fortunes, where
to find lost things, and where to dig for money and other hidden treasures."
If further confirmation of Joe s early knowledge on this subject
is required, we may cite the Rev. John A. Clark, D.D., who, writ
ing in 1840 after careful local research, said : " Long before the idea
of a golden Bible entered their [the Smiths ] minds, in their excur
sions for money-digging, . . . Joe used to be usually their guide,
putting into a hat a peculiar stone he had, through which he looked
to decide where they should begin to dig." 1
We come now to the history of Joe s own " peek-stone " (as the
family generally called it), that which his father says he discovered
by using the one that he first saw. Willard Chase, of Manches
ter, New York, near Palmyra, employed Joe and his brother Alvin
some time in the year 1822 (as he fixed the date in his affidavit), 2
to assist him in digging a well. " After digging about twenty feet
below the surface of the earth," he says, " we discovered a singu
larly appearing stone which excited my curiosity. I brought it to
the top of the well, and as we were examining it, Joseph put it into
his hat and then his face into the top of the hat. It has been
said by Smith that he brought the stone from the well, but this is
false. There was no one in the well but myself. The next morn
ing he came to me and wished to obtain the stone, alleging that he
could see in it ; but I told him I did not wish to part with it on ac
count of its being a curiosity, but would lend it. After obtaining
the stone, he began to publish abroad what wonders he could dis
cover by looking in it, and made so much disturbance among the
credulous part of the community that I ordered the stone to be re
turned to me again. He had it in his possession about two years."
of the angel s revelations concerning the golden plates, says (p. 84) : "All giving the
most profound attention to a boy eighteen years of age, who had never read the Bible
hrough in his life; he seemed much less inclined to the perusal of books than any of the
rest of our children."
Gleanings by the Way" (1842)^.225. > Howe s Mormonism Unveiled," p. 240.
i
HOW JOSEPH SMITH BECAME A MONEY-DIGGER 21
Joseph s brother Hyrum borrowed the stone some time in 1825,
and Mr. Chase was unable to recover it afterward. Tucker de
scribes it as resembling a child s foot in shape, and " of a whitish,
glassy appearance, though opaque." 1
The Smiths at once began turning Chase s stone to their own
financial account, but no one at the time heard that it was giving
them any information about revealed religion. For pay they of
fered to disclose by means of it the location of stolen property and
of buried money. There seemed to be no limit to the exaggeration
of their professions. They would point out the precise spot be
neath which lay kegs, barrels, and even hogsheads of gold and sil
ver in the shape of coin, bars, images, candlesticks, etc., and they
even asserted that all the hills thereabout were the work of human
hands, and that Joe, by using his "peek-stone," could see the cav
erns beneath them. 2 Persons can always be found to give at least
enough credence to such professions to desire to test them. It
was so in this case. Joe not only secured small sums on the prom
ise of discovering lost articles, but he raised money to enable him
to dig for larger treasure which he was to locate by means of the
stone. A Palmyra man, for instance, paid seventy-five cents to be
sent by him on a fool s errand to look for some stolen cloth.
Certain ceremonies were always connected with these money-
digging operations. Midnight was the favorite hour, a full moon
was helpful, and Good Friday was the best date. Joe would some
times stand by, directing the digging with a wand. The utmost
silence was necessary to success. More than once, when the dig
ging proved a failure, Joe explained to his associates that, just as
the deposit was about to be reached, some one, tempted by the
devil, spoke, causing the wished-for riches to disappear. Such an
explanation of his failures was by no means original with Smith,
the serious results of an untimely spoken word having been long
associated with divers magic performances. Joe even tried on
his New York victims the Pennsylvania device of requiring the
sacrifice of a black sheep to overcome the evil spirit that guarded
the treasure. William Stafford opportunely owned such an ani-
1 Tucker closes his chapter about this stone with the declaration " that the origin
[of Mormonism] is traceable to the insignificant little stone found in the digging of Mr.
Chase s well in 1819." Tucker was evidently ignorant both of Joe s previous experience
with "crystal-gazing" in Pennsylvania and of " crystal-gazing " itself.
2 William Stafford s affidavit, Howe s " Mormonism Unveiled," p. 237.
22 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
mal, and, as he puts it, " to gratify my curiosity," he let the Smiths
have it. But some new " mistake in the process " again resulted
in disappointment. " This, I believe," remarks the contributor of
the sheep, "is the only time they ever made money-digging a prof
itable business." The Smiths ate the sheep.
These money-seeking enterprises were continued from 1820
to 1827 (the year of the delivery to Smith of the golden plates).
This period covers the years in which Joe, in his autobiography,
confesses that he "displayed, the corruption of human nature."
He explains that his father s family were poor, and that they
worked where they could find employment to their taste ; " some
times we were at home and sometimes abroad." Some of these
trips took them to Pennsylvania, and the stories of Joe s " gazing "
accomplishment may have reached Sidney Rigdon, and brought
about their first interview. Susquehanna County was more thinly
settled than the region around Palmyra, and Joe found persons
who were ready to credit him with various "gifts"; and stories
are still current there of his professed ability to perform miracles,
to pray the frost away from a cornfield, and the like. 1
1 Lippincotfs Magazine, August, 1880.
CHAPTER IV
FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE GOLDEN BIBLE
JUST when Smith s attention was originally diverted from the
discovery of buried money to the, discovery of a buried Bible en
graved on gold plates remains one of the unexplained points in
his history. He was so much of a romancer that his own state
ments at the time, which were carefully collected by Howe, are
contradictory. The description given of the buried volume itself
was changed from time to time, giving strength in this way to the
theory that Rigdon was attracted to Smith by the rumor of his
discovery, and afterward gave it shape. First the book was
announced to be a secular history, says Dr. Clark ; then a gold
Bible ; then golden plates engraved ; and later metallic plates,
stereotyped or embossed with golden letters. 1 Daniel Hendrix s
recollection was that for the first few months Joe did not claim
for the plates any new revelation or religious significance, but
simply that they were a historical record of an ancient people.
This would indicate that he had possession of the " Spaulding
Manuscript " before it received any theological additions.
The account of the revelation of the book by an angel, which is
accepted by the Mormons, is the one elaborated in Smith s auto
biography, and was not written until 1838, when it was prepared
under the direction of Rigdon (or by him). Before examining
this later version of the story, we may follow a little farther Joe s
local history at the time.
While the Smiths were conducting their operations in Pennsyl
vania, and Joseph was " displaying the corruption of human
nature," they boarded for a time in the family of Isaac Hale, who
is described as a "distinguished hunter, a zealous member of the
Methodist church," and (as later testified to by two judges of the
Court of Common Pleas of Susquehanna County) "a man of
1 " Gleanings by the Way," p. 229.
23
24 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
excellent moral character and of undoubted veracity." 1 Mr. Hale
had three daughters, and Joe received enough encouragement to
his addresses to Emma to induce him to ask her father s consent
to their marriage. This consent was flatly refused. Mr. Hale
made a statement in 1834, covering his knowledge of Smith and
the origin of the Mormon Bible. 2 When he became acquainted
with the future prophet, in 1825, Joe was employed by the so-
called "money-diggers," using his " peek-stone." Among the
reasons which Mr. Hale gave for refusing consent to the mar
riage was that Smith was a stranger and followed a business
which he could not approve.
Joe thereupon induced Emma to consent to an elopement, and
they were married on January 18, 1827, by a justice of the peace,
just across the line in New York State. Not daring to return to
the house of his father-in-law, Joe took his wife to his own home,
near Palmyra, New York, where for some months he worked again
with his father.
In the following August Joe hired a neighbor named Peter
Ingersol to go with him to Pennsylvania to bring from there some
household effects belonging to Emma. Of this trip Ingersol said,
in an affidavit made in 1833 :
" When we arrived at Mr. Hale s in Harmony, Pa., from which place he had
taken his wife, a scene presented itself truly affecting. His father-in-law addressed
Joseph in a flood of tears : * You have stolen my daughter and married her. I
had much rather have followed her to her grave. You spend your time in dig
ging for money pretend to see in a stone, and thus try to deceive people. 1 Jo
seph wept and acknowledged that he could not see in a stone now nor never could,
and that his former pretensions in that respect were false. He then promised to
give up his old habits of digging for money and looking into stones. Mr. Hale
told Joseph, if he would move to Pennsylvania and work for a living, he would
assist him in getting into business. Joseph acceded to this proposition. I then
returned with Joseph and his wife to Manchester. . . .
"Joseph told me on his return that he intended to keep the promise which he
had made to his father-in-law ; but, 1 said he, it will he hard for me, for they [his
family] will all oppose, as they want me to look in the stone for them to dig money ;
and in fact it was as he predicted. They urged him day after day to resume his
old practice of looking in the stone. He seemed much perplexed as to the course
he should pursue. In this dilemma he made me his confidant, and told me what
daily transpired in the family of Smiths.
" One day he came and greeted me with joyful countenance. Upon asking
the cause of his unusual happiness, he replied in the following language : * As I
1 Howe s " Mormonism Unveiled," p. 266. 2 Ibid., p. 262.
FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE GOLDEN BIBLE 25
was passing yesterday across the woods, after a heavy shower of rain, I found in
a hollow some beautiful white sand that had been washed up by the water. I
took off my frock and tied up several quarts of it, and then went home. On en
tering the house I found the family at the table eating dinner. They were all
anxious to know the contents of my frock. At that moment I happened to think
about a history found in Canada, called a Golden Bible ; 1 so I very gravely told
them it was the Golden Bible. To my surprise they were credulous enough to
believe what I said. Accordingly I told them I had received a commandment to
let no one see it, for, says I, no man can see it with the natural eye and live.
However, I offered to take out the book and show it to them, but they refused to
see it and left the room. Now, 1 said Joe, I have got the d d fools fixed and
will carry out the fun. Notwithstanding he told me he had no such book and
believed there never was such book, he told me he actually went to Willard Chase,
to get him to make a chest in which he might deposit the Golden Bible. But
as Chase would not do it, he made the box himself of clapboards, and put it into
a pillow-case, and allowed people only to lift it and feel of it through the case." 2
In line with this statement of Joe to Ingersol is a statement
which somewhat later he made to his brother-in-law, Alva Hale,
that " this * peeking was all d d nonsense ; that he intended
to quit the business and labor for a livelihood." 3
Joe s family were quite ready to accept his statement of his
discovery of golden plates for more reasons than one. They saw
in it, in the first place, a means of pecuniary gain. Abigail Harris
in a statement (dated " nth mo., 28th, 1833") of a talk she had
with Joe s father and mother at Martin Harris s house, said :
" They [the Smiths] said the plates Joe then had in possession were but an
introduction to the Gold Bible ; that all of them upon which the Bible was written
were so heavy that it would take four stout men to load them into a cart ; that
Joseph had also discerned by looking through his stone the vessel in which the
gold was melted from which the plates were made, and also the machine with
which they were rolled ; he also discovered in the bottom of the vessel three balls
of gold, each as large as his fist. The old lady said also that after the book was
translated, the plates were to be publicly exhibited, admission 25 cts." *
But aside from this pecuniary view, the idea of a new Bible
would have been eagerly accepted by a woman like Mrs. Smith,
and a mere intimation by Joe of such a discovery would have given
him, in her, an instigator to the carrying out of the plot. It is said
that she had predicted that she was to be the mother of a prophet.
She tells us that, although, in Vermont, she was a diligent church
1 The most careful inquiries bring no information that any such story was ever
current in Canada.
2 Howe s " Mormonism Unveiled," p. 234. 3 Ibid., p. 268. * Ibid., p. 253.
26 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
attendant, she found all preachers unsatisfactory, and that she
reached the conclusion that " there was not on earth the religion
she sought." Joe, in his description of his state of mind just before
the first visit of the angel who told him about the plates, describes
himself as distracted by the " war and tumult of opinions." He
doubtless heard this subject talked of by his mother in the home
circle, but none of his acquaintances at the time had any reason to
think that he was laboring under such mental distress.
The second person in the neighborhood whom Joe approached
about his discovery was Willard Chase, in whose well the " peek-
stone " was found. Mr. Chase in his statement (given at length
by Howe) says that Joe applied to him, soon after the above-
quoted conversation with Ingersol, to make a chest in which to
lock up his Gold Book, offering Chase an interest in it as compen
sation. He told Chase that the discovery of the book was due to
the " peek-stone," making no allusion whatever to an angel s visit.
He and Chase could not come to terms, and Joe accordingly made
a box in which what he asserted were the plates were placed.
Reports of Joe s discovery soon gained currency in the neigh
borhood through the family s account of it, and neighbors who had
accompanied them on the money-seeking expeditions came to hear
about the new Bible, and to request permission to see it. Joe
warded off these requests by reiterating that no man but him
could look upon it and live. " Conflicting stories were afterward
told," says Tucker, " in regard to the manner of keeping the book
in concealment and safety, which are not worth repeating, further
than to mention that the first place of secretion was said to be
under a heavy hearthstone in the Smith family mansion."
Joe s mother and Parley P. Pratt tell of determined efforts of
mobs and individuals to secure possession of the plates ; but their
statements cannot be taken seriously, and are contradicted by
Tucker from personal knowledge. Tucker relates that two local
wags, William T. Hussey and Azel Vandruver, intimate acquaint
ances of Smith, on asking for a sight of the book and hearing
Joe s usual excuse, declared their readiness to risk their lives if
that were the price of the privilege. Smith was not to be per
suaded, but, the story continues, " they were permitted to go to
the chest with its owner, and see where the thing was, and observe
its shape and size, concealed under a piece of thick canvas. Smith,
FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE GOLDEN BIBLE 27
with his accustomed solemnity of demeanor, positively persisting
in his refusal to uncover it, Hussey became impetuous, and (suiting
his action to his word) ejaculated, * Egad, I ll see the critter, live
or die, and stripping off the canvas, a large tile brick was ex
hibited. But Smith s fertile imagination was equal to the emer
gency. He claimed that his friends had been sold by a trick of
his." 1
Mother Smith, in her book, gives an account of proceedings in
court brought by the wife of Martin Harris to protect her hus
band s property from Smith, on the plea that Smith was deceiving
him in alleging the existence of golden plates ; and she relates how
one witness testified that Joe told him that " the box which he had
contained nothing but sand," that a second witness swore that
Joe told him, " it was nothing but a box of lead," and that a third
witness declared that Joe had told him " there was nothing at all
in the box." When Joe had once started the story of his discov
ery, he elaborated it in his usual way. " I distinctly remember,"
says Daniel Hendrix, " his sitting on some boxes in the store and
telling a knot of men, who did not believe a word they heard, all
about his vision and his find. But Joe went into such minute and
careful details about the size, weight, and beauty of the carvings
on the golden tablets, and strange characters and the ancient
adornments, that I confess he made some of the smartest men in
Palmyra rub their eyes in wonder."
1 "Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism," p, 31.
CHAPTER V
THE DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS OF THE REVELATION OF THE
BIBLE
THE precise date when Joe s attention was first called to the
possibility of changing the story about his alleged golden plates
so that they would serve as the basis for a new Bible such as was
finally produced, and as a means of making him a prophet, cannot
be ascertained. That some directing mind gave the final shape to
the scheme is shown by the difference between the first accounts
of his discovery by means of the stone, and the one provided in
his autobiography. We have also evidence that the story of a
direct revelation by an angel came some time later than the ver
sion which Joe gave first to his acquaintances in Pennsylvania.
James T. Cobb of Salt Lake City, who has given much time
to investigating matters connected with early Mormon history, re
ceived a letter under date of April 23, 1879, from Hiel and Joseph
Lewis, sons of the Rev. Nathaniel Lewis, of Harmony, Pennsyl
vania, and relatives of Joseph s father-in-law, in which they gave
the story of the finding of the plates as told in their hearing by
Joe to their father, when he was translating them. This state
ment, in effect, was that he dreamed of an iron box containing
gold plates curiously engraved, which he must translate into a
book ; that twice when he attempted to secure the plates he was
knocked down, and when he asked why he could not have them,
" he saw a man standing over the spot who, to him, appeared like
a Spaniard, having a long beard down over his breast, with his
throat cut from ear to ear and the blood streaming down, who
told him that he could not get it alone." (He then narrated how
he got the box in company with Emma.) " In all this narrative
there was not one word about visions of God, or of angels, or
heavenly revelations ; all his information was by that dream and
that bleeding ghost. The heavenly visions and messages of angels ;
28
THE REVELATION OF THE BIBLE 29
etc., contained in the Mormon books were afterthoughts, revised
to order."
In direct confirmation of this we have the following account of
the disclosure of the buried articles as given by Joe s father to
Fayette Lapham when the Bible was first published :
"Soon after joining the church he [Joseph] had a very singular dream. ... A
very large, tall man appeared to him dressed in an ancient suit of clothes, and the
clothes were bloody." (This man told him of a buried treasure, and gave him direc
tions by means of which he could find the place. In the course of a year Smith did
find it, and, visiting it by night, " by some supernatural power " was enabled to
overturn a huge boulder under which was a square block of masonry, in the
centre of which were the articles as described.) " Taking up the first article,
he saw others below ; laying down the first, he endeavored to secure the others ;
but, before he could get hold of them, the one he had taken up slid back to the
place he had taken it from, and, to his great surprise and terror, the rock immedi
ately fell back to its former place, nearly crushing him [Joseph] in its descent."
(While trying in vain to raise the rock again with levers, Joseph felt something
strike him on the breast, a third blow knocking him down ; and as he lay on the
ground he saw the tall man, who told him that the delivery of the articles would be
deferred a year because Joseph had not strictly followed the directions given to
him. The heedless Joseph allowed himself to forget the date fixed for his next
visit, and when he went to the place again, the tall man appeared and told him
that, because of his lack of punctuality, he would have to wait still another year
before the hidden articles would be confided to him. " Come in one year from
this time, and bring your oldest brother with you," said the guardian of the
treasures, " then you may have them." Before the date named arrived, the elder
brother had died, and Joseph decided that his wife was the proper person to
accompany him. Mr. Lapham s report proceeds as follows :)
" At the expiration of the year he [Joseph] procured a horse and light wagon,
with a chest and pillow-case, and proceeded punctually with his wife to find the
hidden treasure. When they had gone as far as they could with the wagon,
Joseph took the pillow-case and started for the rock. Upon passing a fence a
host of devils began to screech and to scream, and make all sorts of hideous
yells, for the purpose of terrifying him and preventing the attainment of his
object ; but Joseph was courageous and pursued his way in spite of them. Arriv
ing at the stone, he again lifted it with the aid of superhuman power, as at first,
and secured the first or uppermost article, this time putting it carefully into the
pillow-case before laying it down. He now attempted to secure the remainder;
but just then the same old man appeared, and said to him that the time had not
yet arrived for their exhibition to the world, but that when the proper time came
he should have them and exhibit them, with the one he had now secured ; until
that time arrived, no one must be allowed to touch the one he had in his posses
sion ; for if they did, they would be knocked down by some superhuman power.
Joseph ascertained that the remaining articles were a gold hilt and chain, and a
gold ball with two pointers. The hilt and chain had once been part of a sword
30 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
of unusual size ; but the blade had rusted away and become useless. Joseph
then turned the rock back, took the article in the pillow-case, and returned to the
wagon. The devils, with more hideous yells than before, followed him to the
fence ; as he was getting over the fence, one of the devils struck him a blow
on the side, where a black and blue spot remained three or four days ; but
Joseph persevered and brought the article safely home. I weighed it, said
Mr. Smith, Sr., and it weighed 30 pounds. In answer to our question as to
what it was that Joseph had thus obtained, he said it consisted of a set of gold
plates, about six inches wide and nine or ten inches long. They were in the
form of a book." 1
We may now contrast these early accounts of the disclosure
with the version given in the Prophet s autobiography (written,
be it remembered, in Nauvoo in 1838), the one accepted by all
orthodox Mormons. One of its striking features will be found
to be the transformation of the Spaniard-with-his-throat-cut into a
messenger from Heaven. 2
It was, according to this later account, when he was in his
fifteenth year, and when his father s family were " proselyted to
the Presbyterian church," that he became puzzled by the divergent
opinions he heard from different pulpits. One day, while reading
the epistle of James (not a common habit of his, as his mother
would testify), Joseph was struck by the words, "If any of you
lack wisdom, let him ask of God." Reflecting on this injunction,
he retired to the woods " on the morning of a beautiful clear day
early in the spring of 1820, and there he for the first time uttered
a spoken prayer." As soon as he began praying he was overcome
by some power, and "thick darkness" gathered around him. Just
when he was ready to give himself up as lost, he managed to call
on God for deliverance, whereupon he saw a pillar of light
descending upon him, and two personages of indescribable glory
standing in the air above him, one of whom, calling him by name,
said to the other, "This is my beloved Son, hear him." Straight
way Joseph, not forgetting the main object of his going to the
woods, asked the two personages "which of all the sects was
right." He was told that all were wrong, and that he must join
none of them ; that all creeds were an abomination, and that all
professors were corrupt. He came to himself lying on his back.
The effect on the boy of this startling manifestation was not
radically beneficial, as he himself concedes. " Forbidden to join
1 Historical Magazine, May, 1870. 2 Millennial Star, Vol. XIV, Supt.
THE REVELATION OF THE BIBLE 31
any other religious sects of the day," " of tender years," and badly
treated by persons who should have been his friends, he admits
that in the next three years he " frequently fell into many foolish
errors, and displayed the weakness of youth and the corruption of
human nature, which, I am sorry to say, led me into diverse temp
tations, to the gratification of many appetites offensive in the sight
of God." It was during this period that he was most active in the
use of his "peek-stone."
On the night of September 21, 1823, to proceed with his own
account, when again praying God for the forgiveness of his sins,
the room became light, and a person clothed in a robe of exquisite
whiteness, and having " a countenance truly like lightning," called
him by name, and said that his visitor was a messenger sent from
God, and that his name was Nephi. This was a mistake on the
part of somebody, because the visitor s real name was Moroni,
who hid the plates where they were deposited. Smith continues :
" He said there was a book deposited, written upon golden plates, giving an
account of the former inhabitants of this continent and the source from whence
they sprang. He also said that the fulness of the Everlasting Gospel was con
tained in it, as delivered by the Saviour to the ancient inhabitants. Also, there
were two stones in silver bows (and these stones, fastened to a breastplate, con
stituted what is called the Urim and Thummim) deposited with the plates, and
the possession and use of these stones was what constituted seers in ancient or
former times, and that God had prepared them for the purpose of translating the
book."
The messenger then made some liberal quotations from the
prophecies of the Old Testament (changing them to suit his pur
pose), and ended by commanding Smith, when he got the plates,
at a future date, to show them only to those as commanded, lest
he be destroyed. Then he ascended into heaven. The next day
the messenger appeared again, and directed Joseph to tell his father
of the commandment which he had received. When he had done
so, his father told him to go as directed. He knew the place (ever
since known locally as " Mormon Hill ") as soon as he arrived
there, and his narrative proceeds as follows :
"Convenient to the village of Manchester, Ontario Co., N. Y., stands a hill
of considerable size, and the most elevated of any in the neighborhood. On the
west side of this hill, not far from the top, under a stone of considerable size, lay
the plates, deposited in a stone box ; this stone was thick and rounded in the
middle on the upper side, and thinner toward the edges, so that the middle part
32 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
of it was visible above the ground, but the edge all round was covered with
earth. Having removed the earth and obtained a lever, which I got fixed under
the edge of the stone, and with a little exertion raised it up, I looked in, and
there, indeed, did I behold the plates, the Urim and Thummim and breastplate,
as stated by the messenger. The box in which they lay was formed by laying
stones together in a kind of cement. In the bottom of the box were laid two
stones crosswise of the box, and on these stones lay the plates and the other
things with them. I made an attempt to take them out, but was forbidden by
the messenger. I was again informed that the time for bringing them out had
not yet arrived, neither would till four years from that time ; but he told me that
I should come to that place precisely one year from that time, and that he would
there meet with me, and that I should continue to do so until the time should
come for obtaining the plates."
Mother Smith gives an explanation of Joe s failure to secure
the plates on this occasion, which he omits : " As he was taking
them, the unhappy thought darted through his mind that probably
there was something else in the box besides the plates, which would
be of pecuniary advantage to him. . . . Joseph was overcome by
the power of darkness, and forgot the injunction that was laid
upon him." The mistakes which the Deity made in Joe s char
acter constantly suggest to the lay reader the query why the Urim
and Thummim were not turned on Joe.
On September 22, 1827, when Joe visited the hill (following
his own story again), the same messenger delivered to him the
plates, the Urim and Thummim and the breastplate, with the warn
ing that if he " let them go carelessly " he would be " cut off," and
a charge to keep them until the messenger called for them.
Mother Smith s story of the securing of the plates is to the
effect that about midnight of September 21 Joseph and his wife
drove away from his father s house with a horse and wagon belong
ing to a Mr. Knight. He returned after breakfast the next morn
ing, bringing with him the Urim and Thummim, which he showed
to her, and which she describes as " two smooth, three-cornered
diamonds set in glass, and the glasses were set in silver bows that
were connected with each other in much the same way as old-fash
ioned spectacles." She says that she also saw the breastplate
through a handkerchief, and that it " was concave on one side and
convex on the other, and extended from the neck downward as far
as the stomach of a man of extraordinary size. It had four straps of
the same material for the purpose of fastening it to the breast. . . .
THE REVELATION OF THE BIBLE 33
The whole plate was worth at least $500." The spectacles and
breastplate seem to have been more familiar to Mother Smith than
to any other of Joseph s contemporaries and witnesses.
The substitution of the spectacles called Urim and Thummim
for the " peek-stone " was doubtless an idea of the associate in the
plot, who supplied the theological material found in the Golden
Bible. Tucker considers the "spectacle pretension" an after
thought of some one when the scheme of translating the plates
into a Bible was evolved, as "it was not heard of outside of the
Smith family for a considerable period subsequent to the first
story." l This is confirmed by the elder Smith s early account
of the discovery. It would be very natural that Rigdon, with his
Bible knowledge, should substitute the more respectable Urim and
Thummim for the "peek-stone" of ill-repute, as the medium of
translation.
The Urim and Thummim were the articles named by the Lord
to Moses in His description of the priestly garments of Aaron.
The Bible leaves them without description ; 2 the following verses
contain all that is said of them : Exodus xxviii. 30 ; Leviticus
viii. 8; Numbers xxvii. 21; Deuteronomy xxxiii. 8; I Samuel
xxviii. 6 ; Ezra ii. 63 ; Nehemiah vii. 65. Only a pretence of
using spectacles in the work of translating was kept up, later
descriptions of the process by Joe s associates referring constantly
to the employment of the stone.
Joe says that while the plates were in his possession " multi
tudes " tried to get them away from him, but that he succeeded
in keeping them until they were translated, and then delivered
them again to the messenger, who still retains them. Mother
Smith tells a graphic story of attempts to get the plates away
1 "Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism," p. 33.
2 " The Hebrew words are generally considered to be plurales excellentia, denoting
light (that is, revelation) and truth. . . . There are two principal opinions respecting
the Urim and Thummim. One is that these words simply denote the four rows of pre
cious stones in the breastplate of the high priest, and are so called from their brilliancy
and perfection; which stones, in answer to an appeal to God in difficult cases, indicated
His mind and will by some supernatural appearance. . . . The other principal opinion
is that the Urim and Thummim were two small oracular images similar to the Teraphim,
personifying revelation and truth, which were placed in the cavity or pouch formed by
the folds of the breastplate, and which uttered oracles by a voice. . . . We incline to
Mr. Mede s opinion that the Urim and Thummim were things well known to the patri
archs as divinely appointed means of inquiries of the Lord, suited to an infantile state
of religion." "Cyclopedia of Biblical Literature," Kitto and Alexander, editors.
34 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
from her son, and says that when he first received them he hid
them until the next day in a rotten birch log, bringing them home
wrapped in his linen frock under his arm. 1 Later, she says, he
hid them in a hole dug in the hearth of their house, and again in
a pile of flax in a cooper shop ; Willard Chase s daughter almost
found them once by means of a peek-stone of her own.
Mother Smith says that Joseph told all the family of his vision
the evening of the day he told his father, charging them to keep
it secret, and she adds :
"From that time forth Joseph continued to receive instructions from the
Lord, and we continued to get the children together every evening for the pur
pose of listening while he gave us a relation of the same. I presume our family
presented an aspect as singular as any that ever lived upon the face of the earth
all seated in a circle, father, mother, sons, and daughters, and giving the most
profound attention to a boy eighteen years old, who had never read the Bible
through in his life. . . . We were now confirmed in the opinion that God was
about to bring to light something upon which we could stay our mind, or that
would give us a more perfect knowledge of the plan of salvation and the redemp
tion of the human family."
1 Elder Hyde in his " Mormonism " estimates that " from the description given of
them the plates must have weighed nearly two hundred pounds."
CHAPTER VI
TRANSLATION AND PUBLICATION OF THE BIBLE
THE only one of his New York neighbors who seems to have
taken a practical interest in Joe s alleged discovery was a farmer
named Martin Harris, who lived a little north of Palmyra.
Harris was a religious enthusiast, who had been a Quaker (as
his wife was still), a Universalist, a Baptist, and a Presbyterian,
and whose sanity it would have been difficult to establish in a
surrogate s court. The Rev. Dr. Clark, who knew him intimately,
says, " He had always been a firm believer in dreams, visions,
and ghosts." l Howe describes him as often declaring that he
had talked with Jesus Christ, angels, and the devil, and saying
that " Christ was the handsomest man he ever saw, and the devil
looked like a jackass, with very short, smooth hair similar to that
of a mouse." Daniel Hendrix relates that as he and Harris
were riding to the village one evening, and he remarked on the
beauty of the moon, Harris replied that if his companion could
only see it as he had, he might well call it beautiful, explain
ing that he had actually visited the moon, and adding that it
" was only the faithful who were permitted to visit the celestial
regions." Jesse Townsend, a resident of Palmyra, in a letter
written in 1833, describes him as a visionary fanatic, unhappily
married, who " is considered here to this day a brute in his
domestic relations, a fool and a dupe to Smith in religion, and an
unlearned, conceited hypocrite generally." His wife, in an affi
davit printed in Howe s book (p. 255), says: "He has whipped,
kicked, and turned me out of the house." Harris, like Joe s
mother, was a constant reader of and a literal believer in the
Bible. Tucker says that he " could probably repeat from memory
every text from the Bible, giving the chapter and verse in each
case." This seems to be an exaggeration.
1 " Gleanings by the Way."
35
36 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
Mother Smith s account of Harris s early connection with the
Bible enterprise says that her husband told Harris of the exist
ence of the plates two or three years before Joe got possession of
them ; that when Joe secured them he asked her to go and tell
Harris that he wanted to see him on the subject, an errand not to
her liking, because " Mr. Harris s wife was a very peculiar
woman," that is, she did not share in her husband s superstition.
Mrs. Smith did not succeed in seeing Harris, but he soon after
ward voluntarily offered Joe fifty dollars " for the purpose of help
ing Mr. Smith do the Lord s work." As Harris was very " close"
in money matters, it is probable that Joe offered him a partnership
in the scheme at the start. Harris seems to have placed much
faith in the selling quality of the new Bible. He is said to have
replied to his wife s early declaration of disbelief in it: "What if
it is a lie. If you will let me alone I will make money out of it." l
The Rev. Ezra Booth said : " Harris informed me [after his re
moval to Ohio] that he went to the place where Joseph resided
[in Pennsylvania], and Joseph had given it [the translation] up
on account of the opposition of his wife and others ; and he told
Joseph, I have not come down here for nothing, and we will go
on with it. " 2
Just at this time Joe was preparing to move to the neighbor
hood of Harmony, Pennsylvania, having made a trip there after his
marriage, during which, Mr. Hale s affidavit says, " Smith stated
to me that he had given up what he called glass-looking, and that
he expected to work hard for a living and was willing to do so."
Smith s brother-in-law Alva, in accordance with arrangements
then made, went to Palmyra and helped move his effects to a
house near Mr. Hale s. Joe acknowledges that Harris s gift or
loan of fifty dollars enabled him to meet the expenses of moving.
Parley P. Pratt, in a statement published by him in London in
1854, set forth that Smith was driven to Pennsylvania from
Palmyra through fear of his life, and that he took the plates with
him concealed in a barrel of beans, thus eluding the efforts of
persons who tried to secure them by means of a search warrant.
Tucker says that this story rests only on the sending of a
constable after Smith by a man to whom he owed a small debt.
The great interest manifested in the plates in the neighborhood
1 Howe s " Mormonism Unveiled," p. 254. a Ibid., p. 182.
TRANSLATION AND PUBLICATION OF THE BIBLE 37
of Palmyra existed only in Mormon imagination developed in
later years.
According to some accounts, all the work of what was called
"translating" the writing on the plates into what became the
" Book of Mormon " was done at Joe s home in New York State,
and most of it in a cave, but this was not the case. Smith himself
says : " Immediately after my arrival [in Pennsylvania] I com
menced copying the characters off the plates. I copied a consid
erable number of them, and by means of the Urim and Thummim
I translated some of them, which I did between the time I arrived
at the house of my wife s father in the month of December [1827]
and the February following."
A clear description of the work of translating as carried on
in Pennsylvania is given in the affidavit made by Smith s father-
in-law, Isaac Hale, in I834. 1 He says that soon after Joe s removal
to his neighborhood with his wife, he (Hale) was shown a box
such as is used for the shipment of window glass, and was told
that it contained the "book of plates" ; he was allowed to lift it,
but not to look into it. Joe told him that the first person who
would be allowed to see the plates would be a young child. 2 The
affidavit continues :
" About this time Martin Harris made his appearance upon the stage, and
Smith began to interpret the characters, or hieroglyphics, which he said were
engraven upon the plates, while Harris wrote down the interpretation. It was
said that Harris wrote down 1 16 pages and lost them. Soon after this happened,
Martin Harris informed me that he must have a greater witness, and said that he
had talked with Joseph about it. Joseph informed him that he could not, or
durst not, show him the plates, but that he [Joseph] would go into the woods
where the book of plates was, and that after he came back Harris should follow
his track in the snow, and find the book and examine it for himself. Harris
informed me that he followed Smith s directions, and could not find the plates
and was still dissatisfied.
"The next day after this happened I went to the house where Joseph
Smith, Jr., lived, and where he and Harris were engaged in their translation of
the book. Each of them had a written piece of paper which they were com
paring, and some of the words were, < my servant seeketh a greater witness, but
no greater witness can be given him. ... I inquired whose words they were,
and was informed by Joseph or Emma (I rather think it was the former), that
1 Howe s " Mormonism Unveiled," p. 264.
2 Joe s early announcement was that his first-born child was to have this power, but
the child was born dead. This was one of the earliest of Joe s mistakes in prophesying.
3 8 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
they were the words of Jesus Christ. I told them that I considered the whole
of it a delusion, and advised them to abandon it. The manner in which he
pretended to read and interpret was the same as when he looked for the money-
diggers, with the stone in his hat and his hat over his face, while the book of
plates was at the same time hid in the woods.
" After this, Martin Harris went away, and Oliver Cowdery came and wrote
for Smith, while he interpreted as above described. . . .
"Joseph Smith, Jr., resided near me for some time after this, and I had a
good opportunity of becoming acquainted with him, and somewhat acquainted
with his associates ; and I conscientiously believe, from the facts I have detailed,
and from many other circumstances which I do not deem it necessary to relate,
that the whole Book of Mormon (so-called) is a silly fabrication of falsehood
and wickedness, got up for speculation, and with a design to dupe the credulous
and unwary."
Harris s natural shrewdness in a measure overcame his fanati
cism, and he continued to press Smith for a sight of the plates.
Smith thereupon made one of the first uses of those "revelations"
which played so important a part in his future career, and he
announced one (Section 5, " Doctrine and Covenants " 1 ), in which
"I, the Lord " declared to Smith that the latter had entered into
a covenant with Him not to show the plates to any one except as
the Lord commanded him. Harris finally demanded of Smith at
least a specimen of the writing on the plates for submission to
experts in such subjects. As Harris was the only man of means
interested in this scheme of publication, Joe supplied him with a
paper containing some characters which he said were copied from
one of the plates. This paper increased Harris s belief in the
reality of Joe s discovery, but he sought further advice before
opening his purse. Dr. Clark describes a call Harris made on
him early one morning, greatly excited, requesting a private inter
view. On hearing his story, Dr. Clark advised him that the
scheme was a hoax, devised to extort money from him, but Harris
showed the slip of paper containing the mysterious characters,
and was not to be persuaded.
Seeking confirmation, however, Harris made a trip to New
York City in order to submit the characters to experts there.
Among others, he called on Professor Charles Anthon. His inter
view with Professor Anthon has been a cause of many and con
flicting statements, some Mormons misrepresenting it for their own
1 All references to the " Book of Doctrine and Covenants " refer to the sections and
verses of the Salt Lake City edition of 1890.
TRANSLATION AND PUBLICATION OF THE BIBLE 39
purposes and others explaining away the professor s accounts of it.
The following statement was written by Professor Anthon in reply
to an inquiry by E. D. Howe :
"NEW YORK, February 17, 1834.
" DEAR SIR : I received your favor of the Qth, and lose no time in making a
reply. The whole story about my pronouncing the Mormon inscription to be
reformed Egyptian hieroglyphics is perfectly false. Some years ago a plain,
apparently simple-hearted farmer called on me with a note from Dr. Mitchell, of
our city, now dead, requesting me to decypher, if possible, the paper which the
farmer would hand me, and which Dr. M. confessed he had been unable to under
stand. Upon examining the paper in question, I soon came to the conclusion
that it was all a trick perhaps a hoax. When I asked the person who brought it
how he obtained the writing, he gave me, as far as I can recollect, the following
account : A gold book consisting of a number of plates fastened together in
the shape of a book by wires of the same metal, had been dug up in the northern
part of the state of New York, and along with the book an enormous pair of
* spectacles ! These spectacles were so large that, if a person attempted to
look through them, his two eyes would have to be turned toward one of the
glasses merely, the spectacles in question being altogether too large for the
breadth of the human face. Whoever examined the plates through the spectacles,
was enabled, not only to read them, but fully to understand their meaning. All
this knowledge, however, was confined to a young man who had the trunk con
taining the book and spectacles in his sole possession. This young man was
placed behind a curtain in the garret of a farmhouse, and being thus concealed
from view, put on the spectacles occasionally, or rather, looked through one of
the glasses, decyphered the characters in the book, and, having committed some
of them to paper, handed copies from behind the curtain to those who stood on
the outside. Not a word, however, was said about the plates being decyphered
by the gift of God. Everything in this way was effected by the large pair
of spectacles. The farmer added that he had been requested to contribute a
sum of money toward the publication of the golden book, the contents of
which would, as he had been assured, produce an entire change in the world, and
save it from ruin. So urgent had been these solicitations, that he intended sell
ing his farm, and handing over the amount received to those who wished to pub
lish the plates. As a last precautionary step, however, he had resolved to come
to New York, and obtain the opinion of the learned about the meaning of the
paper which he had brought with him. and which had been given him as part of
the contents of the book, although no translation had been furnished at the time
by the young man with the spectacles. On hearing this odd story, I changed my
opinion about the paper, and, instead of viewing it any longer as a hoax upon the
learned, I began to regard it as a part of a scheme to cheat the farmer of his
money, and I communicated my suspicions to him, warning him to beware of
rogues. He requested an opinion from me in writing, which, of course, I declined
giving, and he then took his leave, carrying his paper with him.
"This paper was in fact a singular scrawl. It consisted of all kinds of
40 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
crooked characters, disposed in columns, and had evidently been prepared by
some person who had before him at the time a book containing various alphabets.
Greek and Hebrew letters, crosses and flourishes, Roman letters inverted, or
placed sideways, were arranged and placed in perpendicular columns ; and the
whole ended in a rude delineation of a circle, divided into various compartments,
decked with various strange marks, and evidently copied after the Mexican Cal
endar, given by Humbolt, but copied in such a way as not to betray the source
whence it was derived. I am thus particular as to the contents of the paper, inas
much as I have frequently conversed with my friends on the subject since the
Mormonite excitement began, and well remember that the paper contained any
thing else but Egyptian Hieroglyphics.
" Some time after, the farmer paid me a second visit. He brought with him
the golden book in print, and offered it to me for sale. I declined purchasing.
He then asked permission to leave the book with me for examination. I declined
receiving it, although his manner was strangely urgent. I adverted once more to
the roguery which had been, in my opinion, practised upon him, and asked him
what had become of the gold plates. He informed me that they were in a trunk
with the large pair of spectacles. I advised him to go to a magistrate, and
have the trunk examined. He said the curse of God would come upon him
should he do this. On my pressing him, however, to pursue the course which I
had recommended, he told me he would open the trunk if I would take l the
curse of God upon myself. I replied I would do so with the greatest willing
ness, and would incur every risk of that nature provided I could only extricate
him from the grasp of the rogues. He then left me.
"I have thus given you a full statement of all that I know respecting the
origin of Mormonism, and must beg you, as a personal favor, to publish this letter
immediately, should you find my name mentioned again by these wretched fanatics.
" Yours respectfully,
"CHARLES ANTHON. "*
While Mormon speakers quoted Anthon as vouching for the
mysterious writing, their writers were more cautious. P. P. Pratt,
in his "Voice of Warning" (1837), said that Professor Anthon was
unable to decipher the characters, " but he presumed that if the
original records could be brought, he could assist in translating
them." Orson Pratt, in his " Remarkable Visions " (1848), saw in
the Professor s failure only a verification of Isaiah xxix. 1 1 and 12 :
" And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is
sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee :
and he saith, I cannot, for it is sealed : and the book is delivered to him that is
not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee : and he saith, I am not learned."
1 " Mormonism Unveiled," pp. 270-272. A letter from Professor Anthon to the
Rev. Dr. Coit, rector of Trinity Church, New Rochelle, New York, dated April 3, 1841,
containing practically the same statement, will be found in Clark s " Gleanings by the
Way," pp. 233-238.
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TRANSLATION AND PUBLICATION OF THE BIBLE 41
John D. Lee, in his " Mormonism Unveiled," mentions the
generally used excuse of the Mormons for the professor s failure
to translate the writing, namely, that Anthon told Harris that
" they were written in a sealed language, unknown to the present
age." Smith, in his autobiography, quotes Harris s account of his
interview as follows :
"I went to New York City and presented the characters which had been
translated, with the translation thereof, to Prof. Anthon, a man quite celebrated
for his literary attainments. Prof. Anthon stated that the translation was cor
rect, more so than any he had before seen translated from the Egyptian. I then
showed him those which were not yet translated, and he said they were Egyp
tian, Chaldaic, Assyriac, and Arabic, and he said they were the true characters."
Harris declared that the professor gave him a certificate to this
effect, but took it back and tore it up when told that an angel of
God had revealed the plates to Joe, saying that " there were no
such things as ministering angels." This account by Harris of
his interview with Professor Anthon will assist the reader in esti
mating the value of Harris s future testimony as to the existence
of the plates.
Harris s trip to New York City was not entirely satisfactory to
him, and, as Smith himself relates, " He began to tease me to give
him liberty to carry the writings home and show them, and desired
of me that I would enquire of the Lord through the Urim and
Thummim if he might not do so." Smith complied with this
request, but the permission was twice refused ; the third time it
was granted, but on condition that Harris would show the manu
script translation to only five persons, who were named, one of
them being his wife.
In including Mrs. Harris in this list, the Lord made one of
the greatest mistakes into which he ever fell in using Joe as a
mouthpiece. Mrs. Harris s Quaker belief had led her from the
start to protest against the Bible scheme, and to warn her husband
against the Smith family, and she vigorously opposed his invest
ment of any money in the publication of the book. On the occa
sion of his first visit to Joe in Pennsylvania, according to Mother
Smith, Mrs. Harris was determined to accompany him, and he had
to depart without her knowledge ; and when he went the second
time, she did accompany him, and she ransacked the house to find
the " record " (as the plates are often called in the Smiths writ-
42 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
ings). When Harris returned home with the translated pages
which Joe intrusted to him (in July, 1828), he showed them to his
family and to others, who tried in vain to convince him that he
was a dupe. Mrs. Harris decided on a more practical course.
Getting possession of the papers, where Harris had deposited them
for safe keeping, she refused to restore them to him. What eventu
ally became of them is uncertain, one report being that she after
ward burned them.
This should have caused nothing more serious in the way of
delay than the time required to retranslate these pages ; for cer
tainly a well-equipped Divinity, who was revealing a new Bible to
mankind, and supplying so powerful a means of translation as the
Urim and Thummim, could empower the translator to repeat the
words first written. Indeed, the descriptions of the method of
translation given afterward by Smith s confederates would seem to
prove that there could have been but one version of any transla
tion of the plates, no matter how many times repeated. Thus,
Harris described the translating as follows :
" By aid of the seer stone [no mention of the magic spectacles] sentences
would appear and were read by the prophet and written by Martin, and, when
finished, he would say written ; and if correctly written, that sentence would
disappear, and another appear in its place ; but if not written correctly, it remained
until corrected, so that the translation was just as it was engraven on the plates,
precisely in the language then used." 1
David Whitmer, in an account of this process written in his
later years, said :
"Joseph would put the seer stone into a hat [more testimony against the use
of the spectacles] and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face
to exclude the light ; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A
piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and on that appeared the
writing. One character at a time would appear, and under it was the translation
in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to O. Cowdery, who was
his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to brother Joseph
to see if it were correct, then it would disappear and another character with the
interpretation would appear." 2
But to Joseph the matter of reproducing the lost pages of the
translation did not seem simple. When Harris s return to Penn
sylvania was delayed, Joe became anxious and went to Palmyra to
1 Elder Edward Stevenson in the Deseret News (quoted in Reynold s " Mystery of
the Manuscript Fund," p. 91). 2 " Address to Believers in the Book of Mormon."
TRANSLATION AND PUBLICATION OF THE BIBLE 43
learn what delayed him, and there he heard of Mrs. Harris s theft
of the pages. His mother reports him as saying in announcing it,
"O my God, all is lost! all is lost!" Why the situation was as
serious to a sham translator as it would have been simple to an
honest one is easily understood. Whenever Smith offered a second
translation of the missing pages which differed from the first, a
comparison of them with the latter would furnish proof positive of
the fraudulent character of his pretensions.
All the partners in the business had to share in the punishment
for what had occurred. The Smiths lost all faith in Harris. Joe
says that Harris broke his pledge about showing the translation
only to five persons, and Mother Smith says that because of this
offence " a dense fog spread itself over his fields and blighted his
wheat." When Joe returned to Pennsylvania an angel appeared to
him, his mother says, and ordered him to give up the Urim and
Thummim, promising, however, to restore them if he was humble
and penitent, and "if so, it will be on the 22d of September." 1
Here may be noted one of those failures of mother and son to
agree in their narratives which was excuse enough for Brigham
Young to try to suppress the mother s book. Joe mentions a
"revelation" dated July, 1828 (Sec. 3, "Doctrine and Cove
nants "), in which Harris was called " a wicked man," and which
told Smith that he had lost his privileges for a season, and he
adds, " After I had obtained the above revelation, both the plates
and the Urim and Thummim were taken from me again, but in a
few days they were returned to me." 2
For some ten months after this the work of translation was
discontinued, although Mother Smith says that when she and his
father visited the prophet in Pennsylvania two months after his
return, the first thing they saw was "a red morocco trunk lying
on Emma s bureau which, Joseph shortly informed me, contained
the Urim and Thummim and the plates." Mrs. Harris s act had
evidently thrown the whole machinery of translation out of gear,
and Joe had to await instructions from his human adviser before
a plan of procedure could be announced. During this period (in
which Joe says he worked on his father s farm), says Tucker, " the
stranger [supposed to be Rigdon] had again been at Smith s, and
1 "Biographical Sketches," by Lucy Smith, p. 125.
2 Millennial Star, Vol. XIV, p. 8.
44 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
the prophet had been away from home, maybe to repay the
former s visits." l
Two matters were decided on in these consultations, viz., that
no attempt would be made to retranslate the lost pages, and that a
second copy of all the rest of the manuscript should be prepared,
to guard against a similar perplexity in case of the loss of later
pages. The proof of the latter statement I find in the fact that a
second copy did exist. Ebenezer Robinson, who was a leading
man in the church from the time of its establishment in Ohio until
Smith s death, says in his recollections that, when the people
assembled on October 2, 1841, to lay the corner-stone of Nauvoo
House, Smith said he had a document to put into the corner-stone,
and Robinson went with him to his house to procure it. Robinson s
story proceeds as follows :
" He got a manuscript copy of the Book of Mormon, and brought it into the
room where we were standing, and said, 1 1 will examine to see if it is all here ; and
as he did so I stood near him, at his left side, and saw distinctly the writing as he
turned up the pages until he hastily went through the book and satisfied himself
that it was all there, when he said, ; I have had trouble enough with this thing ;
which remark struck me with amazement, as I looked upon it as a sacred "treasure."
Robinson says that the manuscript was written on foolscap paper
and most of it in Oliver Cowdery s handwriting. He explains that
two copies were necessary, " as the printer who printed the first edi
tion of the book had to have a copy, as they would not put the origi
nal copy into his hands for fear of its being altered. This accounts
for David Whitmer having a copy and Joseph Smith having one." 2
Major Bideman, who married the prophet s widow, partly com
pleted and occupied Nauvoo House after the departure of the
Mormons for Utah, and some years later he took out the corner
stone and opened it, but found the manuscript so ruined by mois
ture that only a little was legible.
1 " Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism," p. 48.
z The Return, Vol. II, p. 314. Ebenezer Robinson, a printer, joined the Mormons
at Kirtland, followed Smith to Missouri, and went with the flock to Nauvoo, where he
and the prophet s brother, Don Carlos, established the Times and Seasons. When the
doctrine of polygamy was announced to him and his wife, they rejected it, and he fol
lowed Rigdon to Pennsylvania when Rigdon was turned out by Young. In later years
he was engaged in business enterprises in Iowa, and was a resident of Davis City when
David Whitmer announced the organization of his church in Missouri, and, not accept
ing the view of the prophet entertained by his descendants in the Reorganized Church,
Robinson accepted baptism from Whitmer. The Return was started by him in January,
1889, and continued until his death, in its second year. His reminiscences of early
Mormon experiences, which were a feature of the publication, are of value.
TRANSLATION AND PUBLICATION OF THE BIBLE 45
In regard to the missing pages, it was decided to announce a
revelation, which is dated May, 1829 (Sec. 10, " Doctrine and Cove
nants "), stating that the lost pages had got into the hands of
wicked men, that " Satan has put it into their hearts to alter the
words which you have caused to be written, or which you have
translated," in accordance with a plan of the devil to destroy
Smith s work. He was directed therefore to translate from the
plates of Nephi, which contained a " more particular account " than
the Book of Lehi from which the original translation was made.
When Smith began translating again, Harris was not ree m-
ployed, but Emma, the prophet s wife, acted as his scribe until
April 15, 1829, when a new personage appeared upon the scene.
This was Oliver Cowdery.
Cowdery was a blacksmith by trade, but gave up that occupa
tion, and, while Joe was translating in Pennsylvania, secured the
place of teacher in the district where the Smiths lived, and boarded
with them. They told him of the new Bible, and, according to
Joe s later account, Cowdery for himself received a revelation of its
divine character, went to Pennsylvania, and from that time was
intimately connected with Joe in the translation and publication of
the book.
In explanation of the change of plan necessarily adopted in the
translation, the following preface appeared in the first edition of
the book, but was dropped later :
"To THE READER.
" As many false reports have been circulated respecting the following work,
and also many unlawful measures taken by evil designing persons to destroy me,
and also the work, I would inform you that I translated, by the gift and power of
God, and caused to be written, one hundred and sixteen pages, the which I took
from the book of Lehi, which was an account abridged from the plates of Lehi,
by the hand of Mormon ; which said account, some person or persons have stolen
and kept from me, notwithstanding my utmost efforts to recover it again and
being commanded of the Lord that I should not translate the same over again,
for Satan had put it into their hearts to tempt the Lord their God, by altering the
words ; that they did read contrary from that which I translated and caused to be
written ; and if I should bring forth the same words again, or, in other words, if
I should translate the same over again, they would publish that which they had
stolen, and Satan would stir up the hearts of this generation, that they might not
receive this work, but behold, the Lord said unto me, I will not suffer that Satan
shall accomplish his evil design in this thing ; therefore thou shalt translate from
the plates of Nephi until ye come to that which ye have translated, which ye have
46 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
retained ; and behold, ye shall publish it as the record of Nephi ; and thus I will
confound those who have altered my words. I will not suffer that they shall de
stroy my work ; yea, I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than the
cunning of the Devil. Wherefore, to be obedient unto the commandments of
God, I have, through His grace and mercy, accomplished that which He hath com
manded me respecting this thing. I would also inform you that the plates of
which hath been spoken, were found in the township of Manchester, Ontario
County, New York. THE AUTHOR."
In June, 1829, Smith accepted an invitation to change his resi
dence to the house of Peter Whitmer, who, with his sons, David,
John, and Peter, Jr., lived at Fayette, Seneca County, New York,
the Whitmers promising his board free and their assistance in the
work of translation. There, Smith says, they resided "until the
translation was finished and the copyright secured."
As five of the Whitmers were " witnesses " to the existence of
the plates, and David continued to be a person of influence in
Mormon circles throughout his long life, information about them
is of value. The prophet s mother again comes to our aid, although
her account conflicts with her son s. The prophet says that David
Whitmer brought the invitation to take up quarters at his father s,
and volunteered the offer of free board and assistance. Mother
Smith says that one day, as Joe was translating the plates, he came,
in the midst of the words of the Holy Writ, to a commandment to
write at once to David Whitmer, requesting him to come immedi
ately and take the prophet and Cowdery to his house, " as an evil-
designing people were seeking to take away his [Joseph s] life in
order to prevent the work of God from going forth to the world."
When the letter arrived, David s father told him that, as they had
wheat sown that would require two days harrowing, and a quantity
of plaster to spread, he could not go " unless he could get a witness
from God that it was absolutely necessary." In answer to his
inquiry of the Lord on the subject, David was told to go as soon
as his wheat was harrowed in. Setting to work, he found that at
the end of the first day the two days harrowing had been com
pleted, and, on going out the next morning to spread the plaster, he
found that work done also, and his sister told him she had seen
three unknown men at work in the field the day before : so that
the task had been accomplished by " an exhibition of supernatural
power." l
1 "Biographical Sketches," Lucy Smith, p. 135.
TRANSLATION AND PUBLICATION OF THE BIBLE 47
The translation being ready for the press, in June, 1829 (I fol
low Tucker s account of the printing of the work), Joseph, his
brother Hyrum, Cowdery, and Harris asked Egbert B. Grandin,
publisher of the Wayne Sentinel at Palmyra, to give them an esti
mate of the cost of printing an edition of three thousand copies,
with Harris as security for the payment. Grandin told them he
did not want to undertake the job at any price, and he tried to
persuade Harris not to invest his money in the scheme, assuring
him that it was fraudulent. Application was next made to Thur-
low Weed, then the publisher of the Anti-Masonic Inquirer, at
Rochester, New York. " After reading a few chapters," says Mr.
Weed, "it seemed such a jumble of unintelligent absurdities that
we refused the work, advising Harris not to mortgage his farm and
beggar his family." Finally, Smith and his associates obtained
from Elihu F. Marshall, a Rochester publisher, a definite bid for
the work, and with this they applied again to Grandin, explaining
that it would be much more convenient for them to have the print
ing done at home, and pointing out to him that he might as well
take the job, as his refusal would not prevent the publication of the
book. This argument had weight with him, and he made a defi
nite contract to print and bind five thousand copies for the sum of
$3000, a mortgage on Harris s farm to be given him as security.
Mrs. Harris had persisted in her refusal to be in any way a party
to the scheme, and she and her husband had finally made a legal
separation, with a division of the property, after she had entered a
complaint against Joe, charging him with getting money from her
husband on fraudulent representation. At the hearing on this
complaint, Harris denied that he had ever contributed a dollar to
Joe at the latter s persuasion.
Tucker, who did much of the proof-reading of the new Bible,
comparing it with the manuscript copy, says that, when the print
ing began, Smith and his associates watched the manuscript with
the greatest vigilance, bringing to the office every morning as
much as the printers could set up during the day, and taking it
away in the evening, forbidding also any alteration. The fore
man, John H. Gilbert, found the manuscript so poorly prepared
as regards grammatical construction, spelling, punctuation, etc.,
that he told them that some corrections must be made, and to this
they finally consented.
48 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
Daniel Hendrix, in his recollections, says in confirmation of
this : -
" I helped to read proof on many pages of the book, and at odd times set
some type. . . . The penmanship of the copy furnished was good, but the
grammar, spelling and punctuation were done by John H. Gilbert, who was chief
compositor in the office. I have heard him swear many a time at the syntax and
orthography of Cowdery, and declare that he would not set another line of the
type. There were no paragraphs, no punctuation and no capitals. All that was
done in the printing office, and what a time there used to be in straightening sen
tences out, too. During the printing of the book I remember that Joe Smith kept
in the background."
The following letter is in reply to an inquiry addressed by me
to Albert Chandler, the only survivor, I think, of the men who
helped issue the first edition of Smith s book :
"COLDWATER, MlCH., Dec. 22, 1898.
" My recollections of Joseph Smith Jr. and of the first steps taken in regard
to his Bible have never been printed. At the time of the printing of the Mormon
Bible by Egbert B. Grandin of the Sentinel I was an apprentice in the book-
bindery connected with the Sentinel office. I helped to collate and stitch the
Gold Bible, and soon after this was completed, I changed from book-binding to
printing. I learned my trade in the Sentinel office.
" My recollections of the early history of the Mormon Bible are vivid to-day.
I knew personally Oliver Cowdery, who translated the Bible, Martin Harris, who
mortgaged his farm to procure the printing, and Joseph Smith Jr., but slightly.
What I knew of him was from hearsay, principally from Martin Harris, who
believed fully in him. Mr. Tucker s < Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormon-
ism is the fullest account I have ever seen. I doubt if I can add anything to
that history.
" The whole history is shrouded in the deepest mystery. Joseph Smith Jr.,
who read through the wonderful spectacles, pretended to give the scribe the ex
act reading of the plates, even to spelling, in which Smith was wofully deficient.
Martin Harris was permitted to be in the room with the scribe, and would try the
knowledge of Smith, as he told me, saying that Smith could not spell the word
February, when his eyes were off the spectacles through which he pretended to
work. This ignorance of Smith was proof positive to him that Smith was de
pendent on the spectacles for the contents of the Bible. Smith and the plates
containing the original of the Mormon Bible were hid from view of the scribe
and Martin Harris by a screen.
" I should think that Martin Harris, after becoming a convert, gave up his
entire time to advertising the Bible to his neighbors and the public generally in
the vicinity of Palmyra. He would call public meetings and address them him
self. He was enthusiastic, and went so far as to say that God, through the Latter
Day Saints, was to rule the world. I heard him make this statement, that there
TRANSLATION AND PUBLICATION OF THE BIBLE 49
would never be another President of the United States elected ; that soon all
temporal and spiritual power would be given over to the prophet Joseph Smith
and the Latter Day Saints. His extravagant statements were the laughing stock
of the people of Palmyra. His stories were hissed at, universally. To give you
an idea of Mr. Harris s superstitions, he told me that he saw the devil, in all his
hideousness, on the road, just before dark, near his farm, a little north of Pal
myra. You can see that Harris was a fit subject to carry out the scheme of
organizing a new religion.
" The absolute secrecy of the whole inception and publication of the Mormon
Bible estopped positive knowledge. We only knew what Joseph Smith would
permit Martin Harris to publish, in reference to the whole thing.
"The issuing of the Book of Mormon scarcely made a ripple of excitement
in Palmyra. ALBERT CHANDLER." 1
The book was published early in 1830. On paper the sale of
the first edition showed a profit of $3250 at $1.25 a volume, that
being the lowest price to be asked on pain of death, according to
a " special revelation " received by Smith. By the original agree
ment Harris was to have the exclusive control of the sale of the
book. But it did not sell. The local community took it no more
seriously than they did Joe himself and his family. The printer
demanded his pay as the work progressed, and it became neces
sary for Smith to spur Harris on by announcing a revelation (Sec.
19, " Doctrine and Covenants "), saying, " I command thee that
thou shalt not covet thine own property, but impart it freely to the
printing of the Book of Mormon." Harris accordingly disposed
of his share of the farm and paid Grandin.
To make the book "go," Smith now received a revelation
which permitted his father, soon to be elevated to the title of Patri
arch, to sell it on commission, and Smith, Sr., made expeditions
through the country, taking in pay for any copies sold such farm
produce or " store goods " as he could use in his own family.
How much he "cut" the revealed price of the book in these
trades is not known, but in one instance, when arrested in Palmyra
for a debt of $5.63, he, under pledge of secrecy, offered seven of
the Bibles in settlement, and the creditor, knowing that the old
man had no better assets, accepted the offer as a joke. 2
1 Mr. Chandler moved to Michigan in 1835, an d has been connected with several
newspapers in that state, editing the Kalamazoo Gazette, and founding and publishing
the Coldwater Sentinel. He was elected the first mayor of Coldwater, serving several
terms. He was in his eighty-fifth year when the above letter was written.
2 " Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism," Tucker, p. 63.
E
CHAPTER VII
THE SPAULDING MANUSCRIPT
THE history of the Mormon Bible has been brought uninter
ruptedly to this point in order that the reader may be able to
follow clearly each step that had led up to its publication. It is
now necessary to give attention to two subjects intimately con
nected with the origin of this book, viz., the use made of what is
known as the " Spaulding manuscript," in supplying the historical
part of the work, and Sidney Rigdon s share in its production.
The most careful student of the career of Joseph Smith, Jr.,
and of his family and his associates, up to the year 1827, will fail
to find any ground for the belief that he alone, or simply with
their assistance, was capable of composing the Book of Mormon,
crude in every sense as that work is. We must therefore accept,
as do the Mormons, the statement that the text was divinely
revealed to Smith, or must look for some directing hand behind
the scene, which supplied the historical part and applied the theo
logical. The " Spaulding manuscript " is believed to have fur
nished the basis of the historical part of the work.
Solomon Spaulding, born in Ashford, Connecticut, in 1761, was
graduated from Dartmouth College in 1785, studied divinity, and
for some years had charge of a church. His own family described
him as a peculiar man, given to historical researches, and evi
dently of rather unstable disposition. He gave up preaching,
conducted an academy at Cherry Valley, New York, and later
moved to Conneaut, Ohio, where in 1812 he had an interest in an
iron foundry. His attention was there attracted to the ancient
mounds in that vicinity, and he set some of his men to work
exploring one of them. " I vividly remember how excited he be
came," says his daughter, " when he heard that they had exhumed
some human bones, portions of gigantic skeletons, and various
so
THE SPAULDING MANUSCRIPT 51
relics." From these discoveries he got the idea of writing a fanci
ful history of the ancient races of this country.
The title he chose for his book was " The Manuscript Found."
He considered this work a great literary production, counted on
being able to pay his debts from the proceeds of its sale, and was
accustomed to read selections from the manuscript to his neigh
bors with evident pride. The impression that such a production
would be likely to make on the author s neighbors in that frontier
region and in those early days, when books were scarce and authors
almost unknown, can with difficulty be realized now. Barrett
Wendell, speaking of the days of Bryant s early work, says :
" Ours was a new country . . . deeply and sensitively aware that
it lacked a literature. Whoever produced writings which could be
pronounced adorable was accordingly regarded by his fellow citi
zens as a public benefactor, a great public figure, a personage of
whom the nation could be proud." 1 This feeling lends weight to
the testimony of Mr. Spaulding s neighbors, who in later years
gave outlines of his work.
In order to find a publisher Mr. Spaulding moved with his
family to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. A printer named Patterson
spoke well of the manuscript to its author, but no one was found
willing to publish it. The Spauldings afterward moved to
Amity, Pennsylvania, where Mr. Spaulding died in 1816. His
widow and only child went to live with Mrs. Spaulding s brother,
W. H. Sabine, at Onondaga Valley, New York, taking their effects
with them. These included an old trunk containing Mr. Spaul
ding s papers. "There were sermons and other papers," says his
daughter, " and I saw a manuscript about an inch thick, closely
written, tied up with some stories my father had written for me,
one of which he called The Frogs of Windham. On the outside
of this manuscript were written the words * Manuscript Found.
I did not read it, but looked through it, and had it in my hands
many times, and saw the names I had heard at Conneaut, when
my father read it to his friends." Mrs. Spaulding next went to
her father s house in Connecticut, leaving her personal property
at her brother s. She married a Mr. Davison in 1820, and the
old trunk was sent to her at her new home in Hartwick, Otsego
County, New York. The daughter was married to a Mr. McKins-
1 " Literary History of America."
5 2 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
try in 1828, and her mother afterward made her home with her at
Monson, Massachusetts, most of the time until her death in 1844.
When the newly announced Mormon Bible began to be talked
about in Ohio, there were immediate declarations in Spaulding s
old neighborhood of a striking similarity between the Bible story
and the story that Spaulding used to read to his acquaintances
there, and these became positive assertions after the Mormons had
held a meeting at Conneaut. The opinion was confidently ex
pressed there that, if the manuscript could be found and published,
it would put an end to the Mormon pretence.
About the year 1834 Mrs. Davison received a visit at Monson
from D. P. Hurlbut, a man who had gone over to the Mormons
from the Methodist church, and had apostatized and been ex
pelled. He represented that he had been sent by a committee to
secure "The Manuscript Found" in order that it might be com
pared with the Mormon Bible. As he brought a letter from her
brother, Mrs. Davison, with considerable reluctance, gave him an
introduction to George Clark, in whose house at Hartwick she had
left the old trunk, directing Mr. Clark to let Hurlbut have the
manuscript, receiving his verbal pledge to return it. He obtained
a manuscript from this trunk, but did not keep his pledge. 1
The Boston Recorder published in May, 1839, a detailed state
ment by Mrs. Davison concerning her knowledge of " The Manu
script Found." After giving an account of the writing of the
story, her statement continued as follows :
" Here [in Pittsburg] Mr. Spaulding found a friend and acquaintance in the
person of Mr. Patterson, who was very much pleased with it, and borrowed it for
perusal. He retained it for a long time, and informed Mr. Spaulding that, if he
would make out a title-page and preface, he would publish it, as it might be a
source of profit. This Mr. Spaulding refused to do. Sidney Rigdon, who has
figured so largely in the history of the Mormons, was at that time connected
with the printing office of Mr. Patterson, as is well known in that region, and, as
Rigdon himself has frequently stated, became acquainted with Mr. Spaulding s
manuscript and copied it. It was a matter of notoriety and interest to all con
nected with the printing establishment. At length the manuscript was returned
to its author, and soon after we removed to Amity where Mr. Spaulding de
ceased in 1816. The manuscript then fell into my hands, and was carefully
preserved."
1 Condensed from an affidavit by Mrs. McKinstry, dated April 3, 1880, in ScribneSs
Magazine for August, 1880.
THE SPAULDING MANUSCRIPT 53
This statement stirred up the Mormons greatly, and they at
once pronounced the letter a forgery, securing from Mrs. Davison
a statement in which she said that she did not write it. This was
met with a counter statement by the Rev. D. R. Austin that it
was made up from notes of a conversation with her, and was cor
rect. In confirmation of this the Quincy [Massachusetts] Whig
printed a letter from John Haven of Holliston, Massachusetts, giv
ing a report of a conversation between his son Jesse and Mrs.
Davison concerning this letter, in which she stated that the letter
was substantially correct, and that some of the names used in the
Mormon Bible were like those in her husband s story. Rigdon
himself, in a letter addressed to the Boston Journal, under date of
May 27, 1839, denied all knowledge of Spaulding, and declared
that there was no printer named Patterson in Pittsburg during his
residence there, although he knew a Robert Patterson who had
owned a printing-office in that city. The larger part of his letter
is a coarse attack on Hurlbut and also on E. D. Howe, the author
of " Mormonism Unveiled," whose whole family he charged with
"scandalous immoralities." If the use of Spaulding s story in the
preparation of the Mormon Bible could be proved by nothing but
this letter of Mrs. Davison, the demonstration would be weak ;
but this is only one link in the chain.
Howe, in his painstaking efforts to obtain all probable informa
tion about the Mormon origin from original sources, secured the
affidavits of eight of Spaulding s acquaintances in Ohio, giving their
recollections of the " Manuscript Found." * Spaulding s brother
John testified that he heard many passages of the manuscript read
and, describing it, he said :
" It was an historical romance of the first settlers of America, endeavoring to
show that the American Indians are the descendants of the Jews, or the lost tribe.
It gave a detailed account of their journey from Jerusalem, by land and sea, till
they arrived in America, under the command of Nephi and Lehi. They after
wards had quarrels and contentions, and separated into two distinct nations, one
of which he denominated Nephites, and the other Lamanites. Cruel and bloody
wars ensued, in which great multitudes were slain. ... I have recently read the
Book of Mormon, and to my great surprise I find nearly the same historical mat
ter, names, etc., as they were in my brother s writings. I well remember that he
wrote in the old style, and commenced about every sentence with * and it came
to pass, or * now it came to pass, the same as in the < Book of Mormon, and, ac-
1 Howe s " Mormonism Unveiled," pp. 278-287.
54 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
cording to the best of my recollection and belief, it is the same as my brother
Solomon wrote, with the exception of the religious matter."
John Spaulding s wife testified that she had no doubt that the
historical part of the Bible and the manuscript were the same, and
she well recalled such phrases as " it came to pass."
Mr. Spaulding s business partner at Conneaut, Henry Lake, tes
tified that Spaulding read the manuscript to him many hours, that
the story running through it and the Bible was the same, and he
recalls this circumstance : " One time, when he was reading to me
the tragic account of Laban, I pointed out to him what I considered
an inconsistency, which he promised to correct, but by referring to
the Book of Mormon/ I find that it stands there just as he read
it to me then. ... I well recollect telling Mr. Spaulding that the
so frequent use of the words and it came to pass, now it came to
pass, rendered it ridiculous."
John N. Miller, an employee of Spaulding in Ohio, and a
boarder in his family for several months, testified that Spaulding
had written more than one book or pamphlet, that he had heard
the author read from the " Manuscript Found," that he recalled
the story running through it, and added : " I have recently exam
ined the Book of Mormon, and find in it the writings of Solomon
Spaulding, from beginning to end, but mixed up with Scripture
and other religious matter which I did not meet with in the Man
uscript Found. . . . The names of Nephi, Lehi, Moroni, and in
fact all the principal names, are brought fresh to my recollection
by the Gold Bible/ "
Practically identical testimony was given by the four other
neighbors. Important additions to this testimony have been made
in later years. A statement by Joseph Miller of Amity, Pennsyl
vania, a man of standing in that community, was published in the
Pittsburg Telegraph of February 6, 1879. Mr. Miller said that
he was well acquainted with Spaulding when he lived at Amity,
and heard him read most of the " Manuscript Found," and had
read the Mormon Bible in late years to compare the two. " On
hearing read," he says, " the account from the book of the battle
between the Amlicites (Book of Alma), in which the soldiers of
one army had placed a red mark on their foreheads to distinguish
them from their enemies, it seemed to reproduce in my mind, not
only the narration, but the very words as they had been impressed
THE SPAULDING MANUSCRIPT 55
on my mind by the reading of Spaulding s manuscript. . . . The
longer I live, the more firmly I am convinced that Spaulding s man
uscript was appropriated and largely used in getting up the Book
of Mormon.
Redick McKee, a resident of Amity, Pennsylvania, when Spaul-
ding lived there, and later a resident of Washington, D. C., in a
letter to the Washington [Pennsylvania] Reporter, of April 21,
1869, stated that he heard Spaulding read from his manuscript,
and added : " I have an indistinct recollection of the passage re
ferred to by Mr. Miller about the Amlicites making a cross with
red paint on their foreheads to distinguish them from enemies in
battle."
The Rev. Abner Judson, of Canton, Ohio, wrote for the Wash
ington County, Pennsylvania, Historical Society, under date of
December 20, 1880, an account of his recollections of the Spaul
ding manuscript, and it was printed in the Washington [Pennsyl
vania] Reporter of January 7, 1881. Spaulding read a large part
of his manuscript to Mr. Judson s father before the author moved
to Pittsburg, and the son, confined to the house with a lameness,
heard the reading and the accompanying conversations. He
says :
" He wrote it in the Bible style. l And it came to pass, occurred so often
that some called him < Old Come-to-pass. The < Book of Mormons follows the
romance too closely to be a stranger. . . . When it was brought to Conneaut
and read there in public, old Esquire Wright heard it and exclaimed, " Old Come-
to-pass " has come to life again. " l
The testimony of so many witnesses, so specific in its details,
seems to prove the identity of Spaulding s story and the story run
ning through the Mormon Bible. The late President James H.
Fairchild of Oberlin, Ohio, whose pamphlet on the subject we
shall next examine, admits that " if we could accept without mis
giving the testimony of the eight witnesses brought forward in
Howe s book, we should be obliged to accept the fact of another
manuscript" (than the one which President Fairchild secured);
but he thinks there is some doubt about the effect on the memory
of these witnesses of the lapse of years and the reading of the new
1 Fuller extracts from the testimony of these later witnesses will be found in Robert
Patterson s pamphlet, " Who wrote the Book of Mormon," reprinted from the " History
of Washington County, Pa."
THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
Bible before they recalled the original story. It must be remem
bered, however, that this resemblance was recalled as soon as they
heard the story of the new Bible, and there seems no ground on
which to trace a theory that it was the Bible which originated in
their minds the story ascribed to the manuscript.
The defenders of the Mormon Bible as an original work received
great comfort some fifteen years ago by the announcement that
the original manuscript of Spaulding s " Manuscript Found " had
been discovered in the Sandwich Islands and brought to this coun
try, and that its narrative bore no resemblance to the Bible story.
The history of this second manuscript is as follows : E. D. Howe
sold his printing establishment at Painesville, Ohio, to L. L. Rice,
who was an antislavery editor there for many years. Mr. Rice
afterward moved to the Sandwich Islands, and there he was re
quested by President Fairchild to look over his old papers to see
if he could not find some antislavery matter that would be of
value to the Oberlin College library. One result of his search
was an old manuscript bearing the following certificate :
"The writings of Solomon Spaulding, proved by Aaron Wright, Oliver Smith,
John N. Miller and others. The testimonies of the above gentlemen are now in
my possession.
"D. P. HURLBUT."
President Fairchild in a paper on this subject which has been
published 1 gives a description of this manuscript (it has been
printed by the Reorganized Church at Lamoni, Iowa), which
shows that it bears no resemblance to the Bible story. But the
assumption that this proves that the Bible story is original
fails immediately in view of the fact that Mr. Howe made no
concealment of his possession of this second manuscript. Hurl-
but was in Howe s service when he asked Mrs. Davison for an
order for the manuscript, and he gave to Howe, as the result of
his visit, the manuscript which Rice gave to President Fairchild.
Howe in his book (p. 288) describes this manuscript substan
tially as does President Fairchild, saying :
" This is a romance, purporting to have been translated from the Latin, found
on twenty-four rolls of parchment in a cave on the banks of Conneaut Creek, but
written in a modern style, and giving a fabulous account of a ship s being driven
1 "Manuscript of Solomon Spaulding and the Book of Mormon, " Tract No. 77,
Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio.
THE SPAULDING MANUSCRIPT 57
upon the American coast, while proceeding from Rome to Britain, a short time
previous to the Christian era, this country then being inhabited by the Indians. 11 1
Mr. Howe adds this important statement:
" This old manuscript has been shown to several of the foregoing witnesses,
who recognize it as Spaulding^, he having told them that he had altered his first
plan of writing, by going further back with dates, and writing in the old scripture
style, in order that it might appear more ancient. They say that it bears no re
semblance to the Manuscript Found. 11
If Howe had considered this manuscript of the least impor
tance as invalidating the testimony showing the resemblance be
tween the "Manuscript Found" and the Mormon Bible, he would
have destroyed it (if he was the malignant falsifier the Mormons
represented him to be), and not have first described it in his book,
and then left it to be found by any future owner of his effects. Its
rediscovery has been accepted, however, even by some non-Mor
mons, as proof that the Mormon Bible is an original production. 2
Mrs. Ellen E. Dickenson, a great-niece of Spaulding, who has
painstakingly investigated the history of the much-discussed man
uscript, visited D. P. Hurlbut at his home near Gibsonburg, Ohio,
in 1880 (he died in 1882), taking with her Oscar Kellogg, a lawyer,
as a witness to the interview. 3 She says that her visit excited him
greatly. He told of getting a manuscript for Mr. Howe at Hart-
wick, and said he thought it was burned with other of Mr. Howe s
papers. When asked, "Was it Spaulding s manuscript that was
burned ? " he replied : " Mrs. Davison thought it was ; but when
I just peeked into it, here and there, and saw the names Mormon,
Moroni, Lamanite, Lephi, I thought it was all nonsense. Why, if
it had been the real one, I could have sold it for $3000; 4 but I just
gave it to Howe because it was of no account." During the inter
view his wife was present, and when Mrs. Dickenson pressed him
1 Howe says in his book, "The fact that Spaulding in the latter part of his life
inclined to infidelity is established by a letter in his handwriting now in our possession."
This letter was given by Rice with the other manuscript to President Fairchild (who
reproduces it), thus adding to the proof that the Rice manuscript is the one Hurlbut
delivered to Howe.
2 Preface to " The Mormon Prophet," Lily Dugall.
3 A full account of this interview is given in her book, " New Light on Mormonism "
(1885).
4 There have been surmises that Hurlbut also found the " Manuscript Found " in
the trunk and sold this to the Mormons. He sent a specific denial of this charge to
Robert Patterson in 1879.
58 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
with the question, " Do you know where the Manuscript Found
is at the present time ? " Mrs. Hurlbut went up to him and said,
"Tell her what you know." She got no satisfactory answer, but
he afterward forwarded to her an affidavit saying that he had
obtained of Mrs. Davison a manuscript supposing it to be Spaul-
ding s " Manuscript Found," adding : " I did not examine the man
uscript until after I got home, when upon examination I found it
to contain nothing of the kind, but being a manuscript upon an
entirely different subject. This manuscript I left with E. D.
Howe."
With this presentation of the evidence showing the similarity
between Spaulding s story and the Mormon Bible narrative, we
may next examine the grounds for believing that Sidney Rigdon
was connected with the production of the Bible.
CHAPTER VIII
SIDNEY RIGDON
THE man who had more to do with founding the Mormon church
than Joseph Smith, Jr., even if we exclude any share in the pro
duction of the Mormon Bible, and yet who is unknown even by
name to most persons to whom the names of Joseph Smith and
Brigham Young are familiar, was Sidney Rigdon. Elder John
Hyde, Jr., was well within the truth when he wrote : " The com
piling genius of Mormonism was Sidney Rigdon. Smith had
boisterous impetuosity but no foresight. Polygamy was not the
result of his policy but of his passions. Sidney gave point, direc
tion, and apparent consistency to the Mormon system of theology.
He invented its forms and the manner of its arguments. . . .
Had it not been for the accession of these two men [Rigdon and
Parley P. Pratt] Smith would have been lost, and his schemes
frustrated and abandoned." 1
Rigdon (according to the sketch of him presented in Smith s
autobiography, 2 which he doubtless wrote) was born in St. Clair
township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, on February 19, 1793.
His father was a farmer, and he lived on the farm, receiving only
a limited education, until he was twenty-six years old. He then
connected himself with the Baptist church, and received a license
to preach. Selecting Ohio as his field, he continued his work in
rural districts in that state until 1821, when he accepted a call
to a small Baptist church in Pittsburg.
Twenty years before the publication of the Mormon Bible,
Thomas and Alexander Campbell, Scotchmen, had founded a
1 "Mormonism: Its Leaders and Designs" (1857). Hyde, an Englishman, joined
the Mormons in that country when a lad and began to preach almost at once. He sailed
for this country in 1853 and joined the brethren in Salt Lake City. Brigham Young s
rule upset his faith, and he abandoned the belief in 1854. Even H. H. Bancroft con
cedes him to have been " an able and honest man, sober and sincere."
2 Millennial Star, Vol. XIV, Supt.
59
<5o THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
congregation in Washington County, Pennsylvania, out of which
grew the religious denomination known as Disciples of Christ, or
Campbellites, whose communicants in the United States numbered
871,017 in the year 1890. The fundamental principle of their
teaching was that every doctrine of belief, or maxim of duty, must
rest upon the authority of Scripture, expressed or implied, all
human creeds being rejected. The Campbells (who had been
first Presbyterians and then Baptists) were wonderful orators and
convincing debaters out of the pulpit, and they drew to themselves
many of the most eloquent exhorters in what was then the western
border of the United States. Among their allies was another
Scotchman, Walter Scott, a musician and school-teacher by profes
sion, who assisted them in their newspaper work and became a
noted evangelist in their denomination. During a visit to Pitts-
burg in 1823, Scott made Rigdon s acquaintance, and a little later
the flocks to which each preached were united. In August, 1824,
Rigdon announced his withdrawal from his church. Regarding
his withdrawal the sketch in Smith s autobiography says :
"After he had been in that place [Pittsburg] some time, his mind was
troubled and much perplexed with the idea that the doctrines maintained by that
society were not altogether in accordance with the Scriptures. This thing contin
ued to agitate his mind more and more, and his reflections on these occasions
were particularly trying ; for, according to his view of the word of God, no other
church with whom he could associate, or that he was acquainted with, was right ;
consequently, if he was to disavow the doctrine of the church with whom he
was then associated, he knew of no other way of obtaining a living, except by
manual labor, and at that time he had a wife and three children to support."
For two years after he gave up his church connection he
worked as a journeyman tanner. This is all the information ob
tainable about this part of his life. We next find him preaching
at Bainbridge, Ohio, as an undenominational exhorter, but follow
ing the general views of the Campbells, advising his hearers to
reject their creeds and rest their belief solely on the Bible.
In June, 1826, Rigdon received a call to a Baptist church at
Mentor, Ohio, whose congregation he had pleased when he preached
the funeral sermon of his predecessor. His labors were not con
fined, however, to this congregation. We find him acting as the
" stated " minister of a Disciples church organized at Mantua,
Ohio, in 1827, preaching with Thomas Campbell at Shalersville,
SIDNEY RIGDON 6l
Ohio, in 1828, and thus extending the influence he had acquired as
early as 1820, when Alexander Campbell called him "the great
orator of the Mahoning Association." In 1828 he visited his old
associate Scott, was further confirmed in his faith in the Disciples
belief, and, taking his brother-in-law Bentley back with him, they
began revival work at Mentor, which led to the conversion of more
than fifty of their hearers. They held services at Kirtland, Ohio,
with equal success, and the story of this awakening was the main
subject of discussion in all the neighborhood round about. The
sketch of Rigdon in Smith s autobiography closes with this tribute
to his power as a preacher: "The churches where he preached
were no longer large enough to contain the vast assemblies. No
longer did he follow the old beaten track, . . . but dared to enter
on new grounds, . . . threw new light on the sacred volume, . . .
proved to a demonstration the literal fulfilment of prophecy . . .
and the reign of Christ with his Saints on the earth in the Mil
lennium."
In tracing Rigdon s connection with Smith s enterprise, atten
tion must be carefully paid both to Rigdon s personal character
istics, and to the resemblance between the doctrines he had taught
in the pulpit and those that appear in the Mormon Bible.
Rigdon s mental and religious temperament was just of the
character to be attracted by a novelty in religious belief. He,
with his brother-in-law, Adamson Bentley, visited Alexander Camp
bell in 1821, and spent a whole night in religious discussion.
When they parted the next day, Rigdon declared that " if he had
within the last year promulgated one error, he had a thousand,"
and Mr. Campbell, in his account of the interview, remarked, " I
found it expedient to caution them not to begin to pull down any
thing they had builded until they had reviewed, again and again,
what they had heard; not even then rashly and without much
consideration." 1
A leading member of the church at Mantua has written, " Sid
ney Rigdon preached for us, and, notwithstanding his extrava
gantly wild freaks, he was held in high repute by many." 2
An important church discussion occurred at Warren, Ohio, in
1 Millennial Harbinger, 1848, p. 523.
2 " Early History of the Disciples Church in the Western Reserve," by A. S. Hay-
den (1876), p. 239.
62 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
1828. Following out the idea of the literal interpretation of the
Scriptures taught in the Disciples church, Rigdon sprung on the
meeting an argument in favor of a community of goods, holding
that the apostles established this system at Jerusalem, and that the
modern church, which rested on their example, must follow them.
Alexander Campbell, who was present, at once controverted this
position, showing that the apostles, as narrated in Acts, " sold their
possessions" instead of combining them for a profit, and citing
Bible texts to prove that no " community system" existed in the
early church. This argument carried the meeting, and Rigdon
left the assemblage, embittered against Campbell beyond forgive
ness. To a brother in Warren, on his way home, he declared, " I
have done as much in this reformation as Campbell or Scott, and
yet they get all the honor of it." This claim is set forth specifi
cally in the sketch of Rigdon in Smith s autobiography. Referring
to Rigdon and Alexander Campbell, this statement is there made :
" After they had separated from the different churches, these gentlemen were
on terms of the greatest friendship, and frequently met together to discuss the
subject of religion, being yet undetermined respecting the principles of the doc
trine of Christ or what course to pursue. However, from this connection sprung
up a new church in the world, known by the name of < Campbellites ; they call
themselves Disciples. The reason why they were called Campbellites was in
consequence of Mr. Campbell s periodical, above mentioned [the Christian Bap
tist^ and it being the means through which they communicated their sentiments
to the world ; other than this, Mr. Campbell was no more the originator of the
sect than Elder Rigdon."
Rigdon s bitterness against the Campbells and his old church
more than once manifested itself in his later writings. For in
stance, in an article in the Messenger and Advocate (Kirtland), of
June, 1837, ne said: "One thing has been done by the coming
forth of the Book of Mormon. It has puked the Campbellites
effectually ; no emetic could have done so half as well. . . . The
Book of Mormon has revealed the secrets of Campbellism and un
folded the end of the system." In this jealousy of the Campbells,
and the discomfiture as a leader which he received at their hands,
we find a sufficient object for Rigdon s desertion of his old church
associations and desire to build up something, the discovery of
which he could claim, and the government of which he could
control.
To understand the strength of the argument that the doctrinal
SIDNEY RIGDON 63
teachings of the Mormon Bible were the work of a Disciples
preacher rather than of the ne er-do-well Smith, it is only neces
sary to examine the teachings of the Disciples church in Ohio at
that time. The investigator will be startled by the resemblance
between what was then taught to and believed by Disciples con
gregations and the leading beliefs of the Mormon Bible. In the
following examples of this the illustrations of Disciples beliefs and
teachings are taken from Hayden s " Early History of the Disci
ples Church in the Western Reserve."
The literal interpretation of the Scriptures, on which the Mor
mon defenders of their faith so largely depend, as for explana
tions of modern revelations, miracles, and signs, was preached
to so extreme a point by Ohio Disciples that Alexander Campbell
had to combat them in his Millennial Harbinger. An outcome of
this literal interpretation was a belief in a speedy millennium,
another fundamental belief of the early Mormon church. " The
hope of the millennial glory," says Hayden, "was based on many
passages of the Holy Scriptures. . . . Millennial hymns were
learned and sung with a joyful fervor. ... It is surprising even
now, as memory returns to gather up these interesting remains of
that mighty work, to recall the thorough and extensive knowledge
which the convert quickly obtained. Nebuchadnezzar s vision . . .
many portions of the Revelation were so thoroughly studied that
they became the staple of the common talk." Rigdon s old Pitts-
burg friend, Scott, in his report as evangelist to the church asso
ciation at Warren in 1828, said: "Individuals eminently skilled in
the word of God, the history of the world, and the progress of
human improvements see reasons to expect great changes, much
greater than have yet occurred, and which shall give to political
society and to the church a different, a very different, complexion
from what many anticipate. The millennium the millennium
described in the Scriptures will doubtless be a wonder, a ter
rible wonder, to all."
Disciples preachers understood that they spoke directly for
God, just as Smith assumed to do in his "revelations." Referring
to the preaching of Rigdon and Bentley, after a visit to Scott in
March, 1828, Hayden says, "They spoke with authority, for the
word which they delivered was not theirs, but that of Jesus Christ."
The Disciples, like the Mormons, at that time looked for the return
64 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
of the Jews to Jerusalem. Scott l was an enthusiastic preacher of
this. " The fourteenth chapter of Zechariah," says Hayden, " was
brought forward in proof all considered as literal that the
most marvellous and stupendous physical and climatic changes
were to be wrought in Palestine ; and that Jesus Christ the Mes
siah was to reign literally in Jerusalem, and in Mount Zion, and
before his ancients, gloriously."
Campbell taught that "creeds are but statements, with few
exceptions, of doctrinal opinion or speculators views of philo
sophical or dogmatic subjects, and tended to confusion, disunion,
and weakness." Orson Pratt, in his " Divine Authenticity of the
Book of Mormon," thus stated the early Mormon view on the
same subject : " If any man or council, without the aid of imme
diate revelation, shall undertake to decide upon such subjects, and
prescribe articles of faith or creeds to govern the belief or
views of others, there will be thousands of well-meaning people
who will not have confidence in the productions of these fallible
men, and, therefore, frame creeds of their own. ... In this way
contentions arise."
Finally, attention may be directed to the emphatic declarations
of the Disciples doctrine of baptism in the Mormon Bible :
" Ye shall go down and stand in the water, and in my name shall ye baptize
them . . . And then shall ye immerse them in the water, and come forth again
out of the water." 3 Nephi xi. 23, 26.
" I know that it is solemn mockery before God that ye should baptize little
children. ... He that supposeth that little children need baptism is in the gall
of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity ; for he hath neither faith, hope, nor
charity ; wherefore, should he be cut off while in the thought, he must go down
to hell. For awful is the wickedness to suppose that God saveth one child
because of baptism, and the other must perish because he hath no baptism."
Moroni viii. 9, 14, 15.
There are but three conclusions possible from all this: that
the Mormon Bible was a work of inspiration, and that the agree-
1 " In a letter to Dr. Richardson, written in 1830, he [Scott] says the book of Elias
Smith on the prophecies is the only sensible work on that subject he had seen. He
thinks this and Crowley on the Apocalypse all the student of the Bible wants. He
strongly commends Smith s book to the doctor. This seems to be the origin of millen
nial views among us. Rigdon, who always caught and proclaimed the last word that
fell from the lips of Scott or Campbell, seized these views (about the millennium and
the Jews) and, with the wildness of his extravagant nature, heralded them everywhere."
" Early History of the Disciples Church in the Western Reserve," p. 186.
SIDNEY RIGDON 65
ment of its doctrines with Disciples belief only proves the correct
ness of the latter ; that Smith, in writing his doctrinal views, hit
on the Disciples tenets by chance (he had had no opportunity
whatever to study them); or, finally, that some Disciple, learned
in the church, supplied these doctrines to him.
Advancing another step in the examination of Rigdon s con
nection with the scheme, we find that even the idea of a new
Bible was common belief among the Ohio Disciples who listened
to Scott s teaching. Describing Scott s preaching in the winter
of 1827-1828, Hayden says:
" He contended ably for the restoration of the true, original apostolic order
which would restore to the church the ancient gospel as preached by the apostles.
The interest became an excitement ; . . . the air was thick with rumors of a new
religion/ a new Bible. 11
Next we may cite two witnesses to show that Rigdon had a
knowledge of Smith s Bible in advance of its publication. His
brother-in-law, Bentley, in a letter to Walter Scott dated January
22, 1841, said, "I know that Sidney Rigdon told me there was
a book coming out, the manuscript of which had been found
engraved on gold plates, as much as two years before the
Mormon book made its appearance or had been heard of by
me.
i
One of the elders of the Disciples church was Darwin
Atwater, a farmer, who afterward occupied the pulpit, and of
whom Hayden says, "The uniformity of his life, his undeviating
devotion, his high and consistent manliness and superiority of
judgment, gave him an undisputed preeminence in the church."
In a letter to Hayden, dated April 26, 1873, Mr. Atwater said of
Rigdon :
" For a few months before his professed conversion to Mormonism it was
noticed that his wild extravagant propensities had been more marked. That he
knew before the coming of the Book of Mormon is to me certain from what he
said during the first of his visits at my father s, some years before. He gave a
wonderful description of the mounds and other antiquities found in some parts
of America, and said that they must have been made by the aborigines. He
said there was a book to be published containing an account of those things.
He spoke of these in his eloquent, enthusiastic style, as being a thing most
1 Millennial Harbinger, 1844, p. 39. The Rev. Alexander Campbell testified that
this conversation took place in his presence.
66 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
extraordinary. Though a youth then, I took him to task for expending so much
enthusiasm on such a subject instead of things of the Gospel. In all my inter
course with him afterward he never spoke of antiquities, or of the wonderful
book that should give account of them, till the Book of Mormon really was
published. He must have thought I was not the man to reveal that to." l
Dr. Storm Rosa, a leading physician of Ohio, in a letter to
the Rev. John Hall of Ashtabula, written in 1841, said: "In the
early part of the year 1830 I was in company with Sidney Rigdon,
and rode with him on horseback for a few miles. ... He
remarked to me that it was time for a new religion to spring up ;
that mankind were all right and ready for it." 2
Having thus established the identity of the story running
through the Spaulding manuscript and the historical part of the
Mormon Bible, the agreement of the doctrinal part of the latter
with what was taught at the time by Rigdon and his fellow-workers
in Ohio, and Rigdon s previous knowledge of the coming book,
we are brought to the query, How did the Spaulding manuscript
become incorporated in the Mormon Bible ?
It could have been so incorporated in two ways : either by com
ing into the possession of Rigdon and being by him copied and
placed in Smith s hands for " translation," with the theological
parts added ; 3 or by coming into possession of Smith in his wan
derings around the neighborhood of Hartwick, and being shown
by him to Rigdon. Every aspect of this matter has been dis
cussed by Mormon and non-Mormon writers, and it can only be
said that definite proof is lacking. Mormon disputants set forth
that Spaulding moved from Pittsburg to Amity in 1814, and that
Rigdon s first visit to Pittsburg occurred in 1822. On the other
hand, evidence is offered that Rigdon was a " hanger around "
Patterson s printing-office, where Spaulding offered his manuscript,
before the year 1816, and the Rev. John Winter, M.D., who taught
school in Pittsburg when Rigdon preached there, and knew him
well, recalled that Rigdon showed him a large manuscript which
1 " Early History of the Disciples Church in the Western Reserve," p. 239.
2 "Gleanings by the Way," p. 315.
8 " Rigdon has not been in full fellowship with Smith for more than a year. He
has been in his turn cast aside by Joe to make room for some new dupe or knave who,
perhaps, has come with more money. He has never been deceived by Joe. I have no
doubt that Rigdon was the originator of the system, and, fearing for its success, put Joe
forward as a sort of fool in the play." Letter from a resident near Nauvoo, quoted in
the postscript to Caswall s "City of the Mormons " (1843).
SIDNEY RIGDON 6/
he said a Presbyterian minister named Spaulding had brought to
the city for publication. Dr. Winter s daughter wrote to Robert
Patterson on April 5, 1881 : "I have frequently heard my father
speak of Rigdon having Spaulding s manuscript, and that he had
gotten it from the printers to read it as a curiosity ; as such he
showed it to father, and at that time Rigdon had no intention of
making the use of it that he afterward did." 1 Mrs. Ellen E.
Dickenson, in a report of a talk with General and Mrs. Garfield
on the subject at Mentor, Ohio, in 1880, reports Mrs. Garfield as
saying " that her father told her that Rigdon in his youth lived
in that neighborhood, and made mysterious journeys to Pitts-
burg." 2 She also quotes a statement by Mrs. Garfield s father,
Z. Rudolph, "that during the winter previous to the appearance
of the Book of Mormon, Rigdon was in the habit of spending
weeks away from his home, going no one knew where." 3 Tucker
says that in the summer of 1827 " a mysterious stranger appears
at Smith s residence, and holds private interviews with the far-
famed money-digger. ... It was observed by some of Smith s
nearest neighbors that his visits were frequently repeated." Again,
when the persons interested in the publication of the Bible were
so alarmed by the abstraction of pages of the translation by
Mrs. Harris, " the reappearance of the mysterious stranger at
Smith s was," he says, "the subject of inquiry and conjecture by
observers from whom was withheld all explanation of his identity
or purpose." 4
In a historical inquiry of this kind, it is more important to estab
lish the fact that a certain thing was done than to prove just how
or when it was done. The entire narrative of the steps leading
up to the announcement of a new Bible, including Smith s first
introduction to the use of a "peek-stone" and his original employ
ment of it, the changes made in the original version of the an
nouncement to him of buried plates, and the final production of a
book, partly historical and partly theological, shows that there was
behind Smith some directing mind, and the only one of his asso
ciates in the first few years of the church s history who could have
done the work required was Sidney Rigdon.
1 For a collection of evidence on this subject, see Patterson s " Who Wrote the
Mormon Bible?"
2 Scribner s Magazine, October, 1881. 3 "New Light on Mormonism," p. 252.
* " Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism," pp. 28, 46.
68 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
President Fairchild, in his paper on the Spaulding manuscript
already referred to, while admitting that " it is perhaps impossible
at this day to prove or disprove the Spaulding theory," finds an
argument against the assumption that Rigdon supplied the doctri
nal part of the new Bible, in the view that " a man as self-reliant
and smart as Rigdon, with a superabundant gift of tongue and
every form of utterance, would never have accepted the servile
task" of mere interpolation; " there could have been no motive
to it." This only shows that President Fairchild wrote without
knowledge of the whole subject, with ignorance of the motives
which did exist for Rigdon s conduct, and without means of ac
quainting himself with Rigdon s history during his association
with Smith. Some of his motives we have already ascertained.
We shall find that, almost from the beginning of their removal to
Ohio, Smith held him in a subjection which can be explained only
on the theory that Rigdon, the prominent churchman, had placed
himself completely in the power of the unprincipled Smith, and
that, instead of exhibiting self-reliance, he accepted insult after
insult until, just before Smith s death, he was practically without
influence in the church ; and when the time came to elect Smith s
successor, he was turned out of doors by Brigham Young with the
taunting words, " Brother Sidney says he will tell our secrets, but
I would say, * O don t, Brother Sidney ! Don t tell our secrets
O don t. But if he tells our secrets we will tell his. Tit for
tat ! " President Fairchild s argument that " several of the original
leaders of the fanaticism must have been adequate to the task " of
supplying the doctrinal part of the book, only furnishes additional
proof of his ignorance of early Mormon history, and his further
assumption that "it is difficult almost impossible to believe
that the religious sentiments of the Book of Mormon were wrought
into interpolation " brings him into direct conflict, as we shall see,
with Professor Whitsitt, 1 a much better equipped student of the
subject.
If it should be questioned whether a man of Rigdon s church
connection would deliberately plan such a fraudulent scheme as
the production of the Mormon Bible, the inquiry may be easily
satisfied. One of the first tasks which Smith and Rigdon under
took, as soon as Rigdon openly joined Smith in New York State,
1 Post, pp. 92, 93.
SIDNEY RIGDON 69
was the preparation of what they called a new translation of the
Scriptures. This work was undertaken in conformity with a " reve
lation " to Smith and Rigdon, dated December, 1830 (Sec. 35,
"Doctrine and Covenants") in which Sidney was told, "And
a commandment I give unto thee, that thou shalt write for him ;
and the Scriptures shall be given, even as they are in mine own
bosom, to the salvation of mine own elect." The "translating"
was completed in Ohio, and the manuscript, according to Smith,
"was sealed up, no more to be opened till it arrived in Zion." 1
This work was at first kept as a great secret, and Smith and Rig
don moved to the house of a resident of Hiram township, Portage
County, Ohio, thirty miles from Kirtland, in September, 1831, to
carry it on ; but the secret soon got out. The preface to the
edition of the book published at Piano, Illinois, in 1867, under
the title, "The Holy Scriptures translated and corrected by the
Spirit of Revelation, by Joseph Smith, Jr., the Seer," says that
the manuscript remained in the hands of the prophet s widow from
the time of his death until 1866, when it was delivered to a com
mittee of the Reorganized Mormon conference for publication.
Some of its chapters were known to Mormon readers earlier,
since Corrill gives the twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew in his
historical sketch, which was dated 1839.
The professed object of the translation was to restore the
Scriptures to their original purity and beauty, the Mormon Bible
declaring that " many plain and precious parts " had been taken
from them. The real object, however, was to add to the sacred
writings a prediction of Joseph Smith s coming as a prophet, which
would increase his authority and support the pretensions of the new
Bible. That this was Rigdon s scheme is apparent from the fact
that it was announced as soon as he visited Smith, and was carried
on under his direction, and that the manuscript translation was all
in his handwriting. 2
Extended parts of the translation do not differ at all from the
King James version, and many of the changes are verbal and
inconsequential. Rigdon s object appears in the changes made
in the fiftieth chapter of Genesis, and the twenty-ninth chapter of
Isaiah. In the King James version the fiftieth chapter of Genesis
contains twenty-six verses, and ends with the words, " So Joseph
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XIV, p. 361. 2 Wyl s " Mormon Portraits," p. 124.
70 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
died, being an hundred and ten years old; and they embalmed him,
and he was put in a coffin in Eygpt." In the Smith-Rigdon version
this chapter contains thirty-eight verses, the addition representing
Joseph as telling his brethren that a branch of his people shall be
carried into a far country and that a seer shall be given to them,
" and that seer will I bless, and they that seek to destroy him shall
be confounded ; for this promise I give unto you ; for I will remem
ber you from generation to generation ; and his name shall be called
Joseph. And he shall have judgment, and shall write the word of
the Lord."
The twenty-ninth chapter of Isaiah is similarly expanded from
twenty-four short to thirty-two long verses. Verses eleven and
twelve of the King James version read:
" And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is
sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee :
and he saith, I cannot ; for it is sealed : "
" And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this,
I pray thee : and he saith, I am not learned."
The Smith-Rigdon version expands this as follows :
"n. And it shall come to pass, that the Lord God shall bring forth unto
you the words of a book; and they shall be the words of them which have
slumbered.
" 12. And behold, the book shall be sealed ; and in the book shall be a reve
lation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof.
"13. Wherefore, because of the things which are sealed up, the things which
are sealed shall not be delivered in the day of the wickedness and abominations
of the people. Wherefore, the book shall be kept from them.
" 14. But the book shall be delivered unto a man, and he shall deliver the
words of the book, which are the words of those who have slumbered in the dust ;
and he shall deliver these words unto another, but the words that are sealed he
shall not deliver, neither shall he deliver the book.
"15. For the book shall be sealed by the power of God, and the revelation
which was sealed shall be kept in the book until the own due time of the Lord,
that they may come forth ; for, behold, they reveal all things from the foundation
of the world unto the end thereof."
No one will question that a Rigdon who would palm off such a
fraudulent work as this upon the men who looked to him as a reli
gious teacher would hesitate to suggest to Smith the scheme for
a new Bible. During the work of translation, as we learn from
Smith s autobiography, the translators saw a wonderful vision, in
which they " beheld the glory of the Son on the right hand of the
SIDNEY RIGDON 71
Father," and holy angels, and the glory of the worlds, terrestrial
and celestial. Soon after this they received an explanation from
heaven of some obscure texts in Revelation. Thus, the sea of
glass (iv. 6) " is the earth in its sanctified, immortal, and eternal
state " ; by the little book which was eaten by John (chapter x)
" we are to understand that it was a mission and an ordinance for
him to gather the tribes of Israel."
It may be added that this translation is discarded by the modern
Mormon church in Utah. The Deseret Evening News, the church
organ at Salt Lake City, said on February 21, 1900:
" The translation of the Bible, referred to by our correspondents, has not
been adopted by this church as authoritative. It is understood that the Prophet
Joseph intended before its publication to subject the manuscript to an entire ex
amination, for such revision as might be deemed necessary. Be that as it may,
the work has not been published under the auspices of this church, and is, there
fore, not held out as a guide. For the present, the version of the scriptures com
monly known as King James s translation is used, and the living oracles are the
expounders of the written word."
We may anticipate the course of our narrative in order to show
how much confirmation of Rigdon s connection with the whole
Mormon scheme is furnished by the circumstances attending the
first open announcement of his acceptance of the Mormon litera
ture and faith. We are first introduced to Parley P. Pratt, some
time tin pedler, and a lay preacher to rural congregations in Ohio
when occasion offered. Pratt in his autobiography tells of the joy
with which he heard Rigdon preach, at his home in Ohio, doc
trines of repentance and baptism which were the " ancient gospel "
that he (Pratt) had " discovered years before, but could find no
one to minister in " ; of a society for worship which he and others
organized ; of his decision, acting under the influence of the
Gospel and prophecies "as they had been opened to him," to
abandon the home he had built up, and to set out on a mission
"for the Gospel s sake" ; and of a trip to New York State, where
he was shown the Mormon Bible. "As I read," he says, "the
spirit of the Lord was upon me, and I knew and comprehended
that the book was true."
Pratt was at once commissioned, " by revelation and the laying
on of hands," to preach the new Gospel, and was sent, also by
"revelation" (Sec. 32, "Doctrine and Covenants"), along with
j2 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
Cowdery, Z. Peterson, and Peter Whitmer, Jr., " into the wilder
ness among the Lamanites." Pratt and Cowdery went direct to
Rigdon s house in Mentor, where they stayed a week. Pratt s
own account says : " We called on Mr. Rigdon, my former friend
and instructor in the Reformed Baptist Society. He received us
cordially, and entertained us with hospitality." l
In Smith s autobiography it is stated that Rigdon s visitors
presented the Mormon Bible to him as a revelation from God,
and what followed is thus described :
" This being the first time he had ever heard of or seen the Book of Mormon,
he felt very much prejudiced at the assertion, and replied that he had one Bible
which he believed was a revelation from God, and with which he pretended to
have some acquaintance ; but with respect to the book they had presented him,
he must say he had considerable doubt? Upon which they expressed a desire to
investigate the subject and argue the matter ; but he replied, * No, young gentle
men, you must not argue with me on the subject. But I will read your book, and
see what claim it has upon my faith, and will endeavor to ascertain whether it be
a revelation from God or not. After some further conversation on the subject,
they expressed a desire to lay the subject before the people, and requested the
privilege of preaching in Elder Rigdon s church, to which he readily consented.
The appointment was accordingly published, and a large and respectable congre
gation assembled. Oliver Cowdery and Parley P. Pratt severally addressed the
meeting. At the conclusion Elder Rigdon arose and stated to the congregation
that the information they that evening had received was of an extraordinary
character, and certainly demanded their most serious consideration ; and, as the
apostle advised his brethren to prove all things and hold fast that which is
good, so he would exhort his brethren to do likewise, and give the matter a care
ful investigation, and not turn against it, without being fully convinced of its
being an imposition, lest they should possibly resist the truth" 2
Accepting this as a correct report of what occurred (and we
may consider it from Rigdon s pen), we find a clergyman who
was a fellow-worker with men like Campbell and Scott expressing
only " considerable doubt " of the inspiration of a book presented
to him as a new Bible, " readily consenting " to the use of his
church by the sponsors for this book, and, at the close of their
arguments, warning his people against rejecting it too readily
" lest they resist the truth " ! Unless all these are misstatements,
there seems to be little necessity of further proof that Rigdon was
prepared in advance for the reception of the Mormon Bible.
1 "Autobiography of P. P. Pratt," p. 49.
2 Millennial Star, Vol. XIV, p. 47.
SIDNEY RIGDON 73
After this came the announcement of the conversion and
baptism by the Mormon missionaries of a "family" of seventeen
persons living in some sort of a "community" system, between
Mentor and Kirtland. Rigdon, who had merely explained to his
neighbors that his visitors were "on a curious mission," expressed
disapproval of this at first, and took Cowdery to task for asserting
that his own conversion to the new belief was due to a visit from
an angel. But, two days later, Rigdon himself received an
angel s visit, and the next Sunday, with his wife, was baptized
into the new faith.
Rigdon, of course, had to answer many inquiries on his
return to Ohio from a visit to Smith which soon followed his
conversion, but his policy was indignant reticence whenever
pressed to any decisive point. To an old acquaintance who, after
talking the matter over with him at his house, remarked that the
Koran of Mohammed stood on as good evidence as the Bible of
Smith, Rigdon replied : " Sir, you have insulted me in my own
house. I command silence. If people come to see us and can
not treat us civilly, they can walk out of the door as soon as they
please." 1 Thomas Campbell sent a long letter to Rigdon under
date of February 4, 1831, in which he addressed him as " for many
years not only a courteous and benevolent friend, but a beloved
brother and fellow-laborer in the Gospel but alas ! how changed,
how fallen." Accepting a recent offer of Rigdon in one of his
sermons to give his reasons for his new belief, Mr. Campbell
offered to meet him in public discussion, even outlining the argu
ment he would offer, under nine headings, that Rigdon might be
prepared to refute it, proposing to take his stand on the suffi
ciency of the Holy Scriptures, Smith s bad character, the absurd
ities of the Mormon Bible and of the alleged miraculous "gifts,"
and the objections to the "common property" plan and the re-
baptizing of believers. Rigdon, after glancing over a few lines
of this letter, threw it into the fire unanswered. 2
1 "Mormonism Unveiled," p. 112. 2 Ibid., p. 116-123.
CHAPTER IX
"THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL"
HAVING presented the evidence which shows that the historical
part of the Mormon Bible was supplied by the Spaulding manu
script, we may now pay attention to other evidence, which indicates
that the entire conception of a revelation of golden plates by an
angel was not even original, and also that its suggestor was Rigdon.
This is a subject which has been overlooked by investigators of
the Mormon Bible.
That the idea of the revelation as described by Smith in his
autobiography was not original is shown by the fact that a similar
divine message, engraved on plates, was announced to have been
received from an angel nearly six hundred years before the alleged
visit of an angel to Smith. These original plates were described
as of copper, and the recipient was a monk named Cyril, from
whom their contents passed into the possession of the Abbot Joa
chim, whose " Everlasting Gospel," founded thereon, was offered
to the church as supplanting the New Testament, just as the New
Testament had supplanted the Old, and caused so serious a schism
that Pope Alexander IV took the severest measures against it.}
The evidence that the history of the " Everlasting Gospel " of
the thirteenth century supplied the idea of the Mormon Bible lies
not only in the resemblance between the celestial announcement of
both, but in the fact that both were declared to have the same im
portant purport as a forerunner of the end of the world and
that the name " Everlasting Gospel " was adopted and constantly
used in connection with their message by the original leaders in
the Mormon church.
1 Draper s " Intellectual Development of Europe," Vol. II, Chap. III. For an
exhaustive essay on the " Everlasting Gospel," by Renan, see Revue des Deux Mondes,
June, 1866. For John of Parma s part in the Gospel, see " Histoire Litteraire de la
France " (1842), Vol. XX, p. 24.
74
"THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL" 75
If it is asked, How could Rigdon become acquainted with the
story of the original " Everlasting Gospel," the answer is that it
was just such subjects that would most attract his attention, and
that his studies had led him into directions where the story of
Cyril s plates would probably have been mentioned. He was a
student of every subject out of which he could evolve a sect, from
the time of his Pittsburg pastorate. Hepworth Dixon said, " He
knew the writings of Maham, Gates, and Boyle, writings in which
love and marriage are considered in relation to Gospel liberty and
the future life." l H. H. Bancroft, noting his appointment as Pro
fessor of Church History in Nauvoo University, speaks of him as
"versed in history, belles-lettres, and oratory." 2 Mrs. James A.
Garfield told Mrs. Dickenson that Rigdon taught her father Latin
and Greek. 3 David Whitmer, who was so intimately acquainted
with the early history of the church, testified : " Rigdon was a thor
ough biblical scholar, a man of fine education and a powerful ora
tor." 4 A writer, describing Rigdon while the church was at Nau
voo, said, " There is no divine in the West more learned in biblical
literature and the history of the world than he." 5 All this indi
cates that a knowledge of the earlier " Everlasting Gospel " was
easily within Rigdon s reach. We may even surmise the exact
source of this knowledge. Mosheim s " Ecclesiastical History,
Ancient and Modern" was at his disposal. Editions of it had ap
peared in London in 1765, 1768, 1774, 1782, 1790, 1806, 1810, and
1826, and among the abridgments was one published in Philadel
phia in 1812. In this work he could have read as follows :
" About the commencement of this [the thirteenth] century there were handed
about in Italy several pretended prophecies of the famous Joachim, abbot of Sora
in Calabria, whom the multitude revered as a person divinely inspired, and equal
to the most illustrious prophets of ancient times. The greatest part of these
predictions were contained in a certain book entitled, The Everlasting Gospel,
and which was also commonly called the Book of Joachim. This Joachim, whether
a real or fictitious person we shall not pretend to determine, among many other
future events, foretold the destruction of the Church of Rome, whose corruptions
he censured with the greatest severity, and the promulgation of a new and more
perfect gospel in the age of the Holy Ghost, by a set of poor and austere minis
ters, whom God was to raise up and employ for that purpose."
1 " Spiritual Wives," p. 62. 4 " Address to All Believers in Christ," p. 35*
2 " Utah," p. 146. 5 Letter in the New Yo rk Herald.
3 Scribbler s Magazine, October, 1881.
y6 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
Here is a perfect outline of the scheme presented by the origi
nal Mormons, with Joseph as the divinely inspired prophet, and an
" Everlasting Gospel," the gift of an angel, promulgated by poor
men like the travelling Mormon elders.
The original suggestion of an " Everlasting Gospel " is found
in Revelation xiv. 6 and 7 :
" And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting
gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kin
dred, and tongue, and people,
" Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him ; for the hour
of his judgment is come : and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and
the sea, and the fountains of water." l
This was the angel of Cyril ; this the announcement of those
" latter days " from which the Mormon church, on Rigdon s motion,
soon took its name.
That Rigdon s attention had been attracted to an " Everlasting
Gospel " is proved by the constant references made to it in writings
of which he had at least the supervision, from the very beginning
of the church. Thus, when he preached his first sermon before a
Mormon audience on the occasion of his visit to Smith at Pal
myra in 1830 he took as his text a part of the version of Revela
tion xiv. which he had put into the Mormon Bible (i Nephi xiii. 40),
and in his sermon, as reported by Tucker, who heard it, holding the
Scriptures in one hand and the Mormon Bible in the other, he said,
"that they were inseparably necessary to complete the everlast
ing gospel of the Saviour Jesus Christ." In the account, in Smith s
autobiography, of the first description of the buried book given, to
Smith by the angel, its two features are named separately, first,
" an account of the former inhabitants of this continent," and then
"the fulness of the Everlasting Gospel." That Rigdon never lost
sight of the importance, in his view, of an " Everlasting Gospel "
may be seen from the following quotation from one of his articles
in his Pittsburg organ, the Messenger and Advocate, of June 15,
1 " Bisping (after Gerlach) takes Rev. xiv. 6-1 1 to foretell that three great events
at the end of the last world-week are immediately to precede Christ s second advent :
(1) the announcement of the eternal Gospel to the whole world (Matt. xxiv. 14);
(2) the Fall of Babylon; (3) a warning to all who worship the beast. . . . Burger says
this vision can denote nothing but a last admonition and summons to conversion shortly
before the end." Note in "Commentary by Bishops and Other Clergy of the Anglican
Church."
"THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL" 77
1845, after his expulsion from Nauvoo : "It is a strict observance
of the principles of the fulness of the Everlasting Gospel of Jesus
Christ, as contained in the Bible, Book of Mormon, and Book of
Covenants, which alone will insure a man an inheritance in the
kingdom of our God."
The importance attached to the " Everlasting Gospel " by the
founders of the church is seen further in the references to it
in the " Book of Doctrine and Covenants," which it is not nec
essary to cite, 1 and further in a pamphlet by Elder Moses of New
York (1842), entitled " A Treatise on the Fulness of the Everlast
ing Gospel, setting forth its First Principles, Promises, and Bless
ings," in which he argued that the appearance of the angel to Smith
was in direct line with the Scriptural teaching, and that the last
days were near.
1 For examples see Sec. 68, i; Sec. 101, 22; Sec. 124, 88.
CHAPTER X
THE WITNESSES TO THE PLATES
IN his accounts to his neighbors of the revelation to him of the
golden plates on which the "record" was written, Smith always
declared that no person but him could look on those plates and
live. But when the printed book came out, it, like all subsequent
editions to this day, was preceded by the following " testimonies " :
"THE TESTIMONY OF THREE WITNESSES
" Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people unto whom this
work shall come, that we through the grace of God the Father, and our Lord
Jesus Christ, have seen the plates which contain this record, which is a record of
the people of Nephi, and also of the Lamanites, their brethren, and also the
people of Jared, who came from the tower of which hath been spoken ; and we
also know that they have been translated by the gift and power of God, for his
voice hath declared it unto us ; wherefore we know of a surety that the work is
true. And we also testify that we have seen the engravings which are upon the
plates ; and they have been shewn unto us by the power of God, and not of man.
And we declare with words of soberness, that an angel of God came down from
heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the
plates, and the engravings thereon ; and we know that it is by the grace of God
the Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ, that we beheld and bear record that these
things are true ; and it is marvellous in our eyes, nevertheless the voice of the
Lord commanded us that we should bear record of it ; wherefore, to be obedient
unto the commandments of God, we bear testimony of these things. And we
know that if we are faithful in Christ, we shall rid our garments of the blood of
all men, and be found spotless before the judgment-seat of Christ, and shall dwell
with him eternally in the heavens. And the honour be to the Father, and to the
Son, and to the Holy Ghost, which is one God. Amen.
"OLIVER COWDERY,
DAVID WHITMER,
MARTIN HARRIS.
"AND ALSO THE TESTIMONY OF THE EIGHT WITNESSES
" Be it known unto all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people unto whom this
work shall come, that Joseph Smith, Jun., the translator of this work, has shewn
unto us the plates of which hath been spoken, which have the appearance of
73
THE WITNESSES TO THE PLATES 79
gold ; and as many of the leaves as the said Smith has translated we did handle
with our hands ; and we also saw the engravings thereon, all of which has the
appearance of ancient work, and of curious workmanship. And this we bear
record with words of soberness, that the said Smith has shewn unto us, for we
have seen and hefted, and know of a surety that the said Smith has got the plates
of which we have spoken. And we give our names unto the world, to witness
unto the world that which we have seen ; and we lie not, God bearing witness
of it.
"CHRISTIAN WHITMER, HIRAM PAGE,
JACOB WHITMER, JOSEPH SMITH, SEN.,
PETER WHITMER, JUN., HYRUM SMITH,
JOHN WHITMER, SAMUEL H. SMITH."
In judging of the value of this testimony, we may first inquire,
what the prophet has to say about it, and may then look into the
character and qualification of the witnesses.
We find a sufficiently full explanation of Testimony No. I in
Smith s autobiography and in his " revelations." Nothing could
be more natural than that such men as the prophet was dealing
with should demand a sight of any plates from which he might
be translating. Others besides Harris made such a demand, and
Smith repeated the warning that to look on them was death.
This might satisfy members of his own family, but it did not
quiet his scribes, and he tells us that Cowdery, David Whitmer,
and Harris "teased me so much" (these are his own words) that
he gave out a "revelation" in March, 1829 (Sec. 5, " Doctrine and
Covenants "), in which the Lord was represented as saying that the
prophet had no power over the plates except as He granted it, but
that to his testimony would be added " the testimony of three of
my servants, whom I shall call and ordain, unto whom I will show
these things," adding, "and to none else will I grant this power,
to receive this same testimony among this generation." The Lord
was distrustful of Harris, and commanded him not to be talkative
on the subject, but to say nothing about it except, " I have seen
them, and they have been shown unto me by the power of God."
Smith s own account of the showing of the plates to these three
witnesses is so luminous that it may be quoted. After going out
into the woods, they had to stand Harris off by himself because of
his evil influence. Then :
" We knelt down again, and had not been many minutes engaged in prayer
when presently we beheld a light above us in the air of exceeding brightness ;
gO THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
and behold an angel stood before us. In his hands he held the plates which we
had been praying for these to have a view of; he turned over the leaves one by
one, so that we could see them and discover the engravings thereon distinctly.
He then addressed himself to David Whitmer and said, < David, blessed is the
Lord and he that keeps his commandments ; when immediately afterward we
heard a voice from out of the bright light above us saying, < These plates have
been revealed by the power of God, and they have been translated by the power
of God. The translation of them is correct, and I command you to bear record
of what you now see and hear. 1
" I now left David and Oliver, and went into pursuit of Martin Harris, whom
I found at a considerable distance, fervently engaged in prayer. He soon told
me, however, that he had not yet prevailed with the Lord, and earnestly requested
me to join him in prayer, that he might also realize the same blessings which we
had just received. We accordingly joined in prayer, and immediately obtained
our desires ; for before we had yet finished, the same vision was opened to our
view, at least it was again to me [Joe thus refuses to vouch for Harris s declara
tion on the subject] ; and I once more beheld and heard the same things ; whilst,
at the same moment, Martin Harris cried out, apparently in ecstasy of joy, Tis
enough, mine eyes hath beheld, and, jumping up, he shouted Hosannah,
blessing God, and otherwise rejoiced exceedingly." 1
If this story taxes the credulity of the reader, his doubts about
the value of this " testimony " will increase when he traces the
history of the three witnesses. Surely, if any three men in the
church should remain steadfast, mighty pillars of support for
the prophet in his future troubles, it should be these chosen wit
nesses to the actual existence of the golden plates. Yet every one
of them became an apostate, and every one of them was loaded
with all the opprobrium that the church could pile upon him.
Cowdery s reputation was locally bad at the time. "I was
personally acquainted with Oliver Cowdery," said Danforth
Booth, an old resident of Palmyra, in 1880. "He was a petti
fogger; their (the Smiths ) cat-paw to do their dirty work." 2
Smith s trouble with him, which began during the work of trans
lating, continued, and Smith found it necessary to say openly in a
"revelation" given out in Ohio in 1831 (Sec. 69), when prepara
tions were making for a trip of some of the brethren to Missouri,
" It is not wisdom in me that he should be intrusted with the
commandments and the monies which he shall carry unto the land
of Zion, except one go with him who will be true and faithful."
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XIV, Supt., p. 19.
2 Among affidavits on file in the county clerk s office at Canandaigua, New York.
THE WITNESSES TO THE PLATES 8 1
By the time Smith took his final departure to Missouri,
Cowdery and David and John Whitmer had lost caste entirely,
and in June, 1838, they fled to escape the Danites at Far West.
The letter of warning addressed to them and signed by more than
eighty Mormons, giving them three days in which to depart,
contained the following accusations :
" After Oliver Cowdery had been taken by a state warrant for stealing
and the stolen property found in the house of William W. Phelps ; in which
nefarious transaction John Whitmer had also participated. Oliver Cowdery
stole the property, conveyed it to John Whitmer, and John Whitmer to William
W. Phelps ; and then the officers of law found it. While in the hands of an officer,
and under an arrest for this vile transaction, and, if possible, to hide your shame
from the world like criminals (which, indeed, you were), you appealed to our
beloved brethren. President Joseph Smith Jr. and Sidney Rigdon, men whose
characters you had endeavored to destroy by every artifice you could invent, not-
even the basest lying excepted. . . .
" The Saints in Kirtland having elected Oliver Cowdery to a justice of the
peace, he used the power of that office to take their most sacred rights from them,
and that contrary to law. He supported a parcel of blacklegs, and in disturbing
the worship of the Saints ; and when the men whom the church had chosen to
preside over their meetings endeavored to put the house to order, he helped (and
by the authority of his justice s office too) these wretches to continue their con
fusion ; and threatened the church with a prosecution for trying to put them out
of the house ; and issued writs against the Saints for endeavoring to sustain their
rights ; and bound themselves under heavy bonds to appear before his honor ;
and required bonds which were both inhuman and unlawful ; and one of these
was the venerable father, who had been appointed by the church to preside a
man of upwards of seventy years of age, and notorious for his peaceable habits.
" Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Lyman E. Johnson, united with a
gang of counterfeiters, thieves, liars and blacklegs of the deepest dye, to deceive,
cheat and defraud the Saints out of their property, by every art and stratagem
which wickedness could invent ; using the influence of the vilest persecutions to
bring vexatious lawsuits, villainous prosecutions, and even stealing not excepted. . . .
During the full career of Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer s bogus money
business, it got abroad into the world that they were engaged in it, and several
gentlemen were preparing to commence a prosecution against Cowdery; he
finding it out, took with him Lyman E. Johnson, and fled to Far West with their
families ; Cowdery stealing property and bringing it with him, which has been,
within a few weeks past, obtained by the owner by means of a search-warrant ;
and he was saved from the penitentiary by the influence of two influential men of
the place. He also brought notes with him upon which he had received pay,
and made an attempt to sell them to Mr. Arthur of Clay county." 1
1 " Documents in Relation to the Disturbances with the Mormons," Missouri Legis
lature (1841), p. 103.
G
82 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
f Rigdon, who was the author of this arraignment, realizing that
J the enemies of the church would not fail to make use of this
) aspersion of the character of the witnesses, attempted to "hedge"
/ by saying in the same document, " We wish to remind you that
V Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer were among the principal of
those who were the means of gathering us to this place by their
testimony which they gave concerning the plates of the Book of
Mormon, that they were shown to them by an angel ; which testi
mony we believe now as much as before you had so scandalously
disgraced it." Could affrontery go to greater lengths ?
Cowdery and David Whitmer fled to Richmond, Missouri,
where Whitmer lived until his death in January, 1888. Cowdery
went to Tiffin, Ohio, where, after failing to obtain a position as an
editor because of his Mormon reputation, he practised law. While
living there he renounced his Mormon views, joined the Methodist
church, and became superintendent of a Sunday-school. Later he
moved to Wisconsin, but, after being defeated for the legislature
there, he recanted his Methodist belief, and rejoined the Saints
while they were at Council Bluffs, in October, 1848, after the
main body had left for Salt Lake Valley. He addressed a meeting
there by invitation, testifying to the truth of the Book of Mormon,
and the mission of Smith as a prophet, and saying that he wanted
to be rebaptized into the church, not as a leader, but simply as a
member. 1 He did not, however, go to Utah with the Saints, but
returned to his old friend Whitmer in Missouri, and died there in
1850. It has been stated that he offered to give a full renunciation
of the Mormon faith when he united with the Methodists at Tiffin,
if required, but asked to be excused from doing so on the ground
that it would invite criticism and bring him into contempt. 2 One
of his Tiffin acquaintances afterward testified that Cowdery con
fessed to him that, when he signed the "testimony," he "was not
one of the best men in the world," using his own expression. 3 The
/~~ Mormons were always grateful to him for his silence under their
/ persecutions, and the Millennial Star, in a notice of his death,
/ expressed satisfaction that in the days of his apostasy " he never,
" in a single instance, cast the least doubt on his former testimony,"
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XI, p. 14.
"Naked Truths about Mormonism," A. B. Demming, Oakland, California, 1888,
8 "Gregg s History of Hancock County, Illinois," p. 257.
THE WITNESSES TO THE PLATES 83
Iding, " May he rest in peace, to come forth in the morning of
first resurrection into eternal life, is the earnest desire of all
Saints."
The Whitmers were a Dutch family, known among their neigh
bors as believers in witches and in the miraculous generally, as
has been shown in Mother Smith s account of their sending for
Joseph. A " revelation " to the three witnesses which first promised
them a view of the plates (Sec. 1 7) told them, " It is by your faith
you shall obtain a view of them," and directed them to testify con
cerning the plates, " that my servant Joseph Smith, Jr., may not be
destroyed." One of the converts who joined the Mormons at
Kirtland, Ohio, testified in later years that David Whitmer con
fessed to her that he never actually saw the plates, explaining his
testimony thus : " Suppose that you had a friend whose character
was such that you knew it impossible that he could lie ; then, if he
described a city to you which you had never seen, could you not,
by the eye of faith, see the city just as he described it?" 1
The Mormons have found consolation in the fact that Whitmer
continued to affirm his belief in the authenticity of the Mormon
Bible to the day of his death. He declared, however, that Smith
and Young had led the flock astray, and, after the open announce
ment of polygamy in Utah, he announced a church of his own,
called "The Church of Christ," refusing to affiliate even with the
Reorganized Church because of the latter s adherence to Smith.
In his "Address to Believers in the Book of Mormon," a pamphlet
issued in his eighty-second year, he said, " Now, in 1 849 the Lord saw
fit to manifest unto John Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery and myself
nearly all the remaining errors of doctrine into which we had been
led by the heads of the church." The reader from all this can
form an estimate of the. trustworthiness of the second witness on
such a subject.
We have already learned a great deal about Martin Harris s men
tal equipment. A lawyer of standing in Palmyra told Dr. Clark
that, after Harris had signed the " testimony," he pressed him
with the question : " Did you see the plates with your natural eyes,
just as you see this pencil case in my hand? Now say yes or no."
Harris replied (in corroboration of Joe s misgiving at the time) :
" Why, I did not see them as I do that pencil case, yet I saw them
1 Mrs. Dickenson s " New Light on Mormonism."
84 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
with the eye of faith. I saw them just as distinctly as I see any
thing around me though at the time they were covered over
with a cloth." 1
Harris followed Smith to Ohio and then to Missouri, but was
ever a trouble to him, although Smith always found his money
useful. In 1831, in Missouri, it required a "revelation " (Sec. 58)
to spur him to "lay his monies before the Bishop." As his money
grew scarcer, he received less and less recognition from the Mor
mon leaders, and was finally expelled from the church. Smith
thus referred to him in the Elders 1 Journal, July, 1837, one of his
publications in Ohio : " There are negroes who wear white skins
as well as black ones, granny Parish, and others who acted as
lackeys, such as Martin Harris."
Harris did not appear on the scene during the stay of the
Mormons in Illinois, having joined the Shakers and lived with
them a year or two. When Strang claimed the leadership of the
church after Smith s death, Harris gave him his support, and was
sent by him with others to England in 1846 to do missionary work.
His arrival there was made the occasion of an attack on him by
the Millennial Star, which, among other things, said :
" We do not feel to warn the Saints against him, for his own unbridled tongue
will soon show out specimens of folly enough to give any person a true index
to the character of the man ; but if the Saints wish to know what the Lord hath
said of him, they may turn to the I78th page of the Book of Doctrine and Cove
nants, and the person there called a wicked man is no other than Martin
Harris, and he owned to it then, but probably might not now. It is not the
first time the Lord chose a wicked man as a witness. Also on page 193, read
the whole revelation given to him, and ask yourselves if the Lord ever talked in
that way to a good man. Every one can see that he must have been a wicked
man." 2
Harris visited Palmyra in 1858. He then said that his prop
erty was all gone, that he had declined a restoration to the Mormon
church, but that he continued to believe in Mormonism. He
thought better of his declination, however, and sought a reunion
with the church in Utah in 1870. His backslidings had carried
him so far that the church authorities told him it would be neces
sary for him to be rebaptized. This he consented to with some
reluctance, after, as he said, " he had seen his father seeking his
aid. He saw his father at the foot of a ladder, striving to get up
1 " Gleanings by the Way." 2 Vol. VIII, p. 123.
THE WITNESSES TO THE PLATES 8$
to him, and he went down to him, taking him by the hand, and
helped him up." 1 He settled in Cache County, Utah, where he
died on July 10, 1875, in his ninety-third year. " He bore his
testimony to the truth and divinity of the Book of Mormon a short
time before he departed," wrote his son to an inquirer, "and the
last words he uttered, when he could not speak the sentence, were
Book/ Book, Book. "
The precarious character of Smith s original partners in the
Bible business is further illustrated by his statement that, in the
summer of 1830, Cowdery sent him word that he had discovered
an error in one of Smith s " revelations," 2 and that the Whitmer
family agreed with him on the subject. Smith was as determined
in opposing this questioning of his divine authority as he always
was in stemming any opposition to his leadership, and he made
them all acknowledge their error. Again, when Smith returned
to Fayette from Harmony, in August, 1830 (more than a year
after the plates were shown to the witnesses), he found that
" Satan had been lying in wait," and that Hiram Page, of the
second list of witnesses, had been obtaining revelations through
a " peek-stone " of his own, and that, what was more serious,
Cowdery and the Whitmer family believed in them. The result
of this was an immediate " revelation " (Sec. 28) directing Cowdery
to go and preach the Gospel to the Lamanites (Indians) on the
western border, and to take along with him Hiram Page, and tell
him that the things he had written by means of the " peek-stone "
were not of the Lord.
Neither Smith s autobiography nor the "Book of Doctrine and
Covenants" contains any explanation of the second "testimony."
The list of persons who signed it, however, leaves little doubt that
the prophet yielded to their "teasing" as he did to that of the
original three. The first four signers were members of the Whit
mer family. Hiram Page was a root-doctor by calling, and a son-
in-law of Peter Whitmer, Sr. The three Smiths were the prophet s
father and two of his brothers. 3
1 For an account of Harris s Utah experience, see Millennial Star, Vol. XLVIII,
PP- 357-389.
2 Millennial Star, Vol. XIV, p. 36.
3 Christian Whitmer died in Clay County, Missouri, November 27, 1835; J ac b died
in Richmond County, April 21, 1866; Peter died in Clay County, September 22, 1836;
Hiram Page died on a farm in Ray County, August 12, 1852.
86 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
The favorite Mormon reply to any question as to the value of
these " testimonies " is the challenge, " Is there a person on the
earth who can prove that these eleven witnesses did not see the
plates ? " Curiously, the prophet himself can be cited to prove
this, in the words of the revelation granting a sight of the plates to
the first three, which said, " And to none else will I grant this
power, to receive this same testimony among this generation." A
footnote to this declaration in the " Doctrine and Covenants "
offers, as an explanation of Testimony No. 2, the statement that
others "may receive a knowledge by other manifestations." This
is well meant but transparent.
Mother Smith in later years added herself to these witnesses.
She said to the Rev. Henry Caswall, in Nauvoo, in 1842, " I have
myself seen and handled the golden plates." Mr. Caswall adds :
"While the old woman was thus delivering herself, I fixed my
eyes steadily upon her. She faltered and seemed unwilling to
meet my glances, but gradually recovered her self-possession.
The melancholy thought entered my mind that this poor old
creature was not simply a dupe of her son s knavery, but that she
had taken an active part in the deception."
Two matters have been cited by Mormon authorities to show
that there was nothing so very unusual in the discovery of buried
plates containing engraved letters. Announcement was made in
1843 of the discovery near Kinderhook, Illinois, of six plates simi
lar to those described by Smith. The story, as published in the
Times and Seasons, with a certificate signed by nine local residents,
set forth that a merchant of the place, named Robert Wiley, while
digging in a mound, after finding ashes and human bones, came
to " a bundle that consisted of six plates of brass, of a bell shape,
each having a hole near the small end, and a ring through them
all " ; and that, when cleared of rust, they were found to be " com
pletely covered with characters that none as yet have been able to
read." Hyde, accepting this story, printed a facsimile of one of
these plates on the cover of his book, and seems to rest on Wiley s
statement his belief that " Smith did have plates of some kind."
Stenhouse, 1 who believed that Smith and his witnesses did not
1 T. B. H. Stenhouse, a Scotchman, was converted to the Mormon belief in 1846,
performed diligent missionary work in Europe, and was for three years president of the
Swiss and Italian missions. Joining the brethren in Utah with his wife, he was per-
FACSIMILE OF ONE OF THE KINDERHOOK PLATES.
FACSIMILE OF ONE OF THE KINDERHOOK PLATES.
FACSIMILE OF ONE OF THE KINDERHOOK PLATES.
THE WITNESSES TO THE PLATES 87
perpetrate in the new Bible an intentional fraud, but thought they
had visions and " revelations," referring to the Kinderhook plates,
says that they were " actually and unquestionably discovered by
one Mr. R. Wiley." Smith himself, after no one else could read
the writing on them, declared that he had translated them, and
found them to be a history of a descendant of Ham. 1
But the true story of the Kinderhook plates was disclosed by
an affidavit made by W. Fulgate of Mound Station, Brown County,
Illinois, before Jay Brown, Justice of the Peace, on June 30,
1879. In this he stated that the plates were "a humbug, gotten
up by Robert Wiley, Bridge Whitton, and myself. Whitton (who
was a blacksmith) cut the plates out of some pieces of copper ;
Wiley and I made the hieroglyphics by making impressions on
beeswax and filling them with acid, and putting it on the plates.
When they were finished, we put them together with rust made of
nitric acid, old iron and lead, and bound them with a piece of hoop
iron, covering them completely with the rust." He describes the
burial of the plates and their digging up, among the spectators of
the latter being two Mormon elders, Marsh and Sharp. Sharp
declared that the Lord had directed them to witness the digging.
The plates were borrowed and shown to Smith, and were finally
given to one "Professor " McDowell of St. Louis, for his museum. 2
In attacking Professor Anthon s statement concerning the
alleged hieroglyphics shown to him by Harris, Orson Pratt, in his
" Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon," thought that he
found substantial support for Smith s hieroglyphics in the fact that
" Two years after the Book of Mormon appeared in print, Profes
sor Rafinesque, in his Atlantic Journalist 1832, gave to the public
a facsimile of American glyphs, 3 found in Mexico. They are
suaded to take a second wife. Not long afterward he joined in the protest against
Young s dictatorial course which was known as the "New Movement," and was expelled
from the church. His "Rocky Mountain Saints" (1873) contains so much valuable
information connected with the history of the church that it has been largely drawn on
by E. W. Tullidge in his * History of Salt Lake City and Its Founders," which is accepted
by the church.
1 Millennial Star, January 15, 1859, where cuts of the plates (here produced) are
given.
2 Wyl s " Mormon Portraits," p. 207. The secretary of the Missouri Historical
Society writes me that McDowell s museum disappeared some years ago, most of its con
tents being lost or stolen, and the fate of the Kinderhook plates cannot be ascertained.
3 " Glyph : A pictograph or word carved in a compact distinct figure." " Standard
Dictionary."
88 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
arranged in columns. ... By an inspection of the facsimile of
these forty-six elementary glyphs, we find all the particulars which
Professor Anthon ascribes to the characters which he says a
plain-looking countryman presented to him." These " elemen
tary glyphs " of Rafinesque are some of the characters found on
the famous "Tablet of the Cross" in the ruins of Palenque, Mex
ico, since so fully described by Stevens. A facsimile of the entire
Tablet may be found on page 355, Vol. IV, Bancroft s " Native
Races of the Pacific States." Rafinesque selected these charac
ters from the Tablet, and arranged them in columns alongside of
other ancient writings, in order to sustain his argument that they
resembled an old Libyan alphabet. Rafinesque was a voluminous
writer both on archaeological and botanical subjects, but wholly
untrustworthy. Of his Atlantic Journal (o>i which only eight num
bers appeared) his biographer, R. E. Call, says that it had " abso
lutely no scientific value." Professor Asa Gray, in a review of
his botanical writings in Sillimaris Journal, Vol. XL, No. 2, 1841,
said, " He assumes thirty to one hundred years as the average
time required for the production of a new species, and five hun
dred to one thousand for a new genus." Professor Gray refers to
a paper which Rafinesque sent to the editor of a scientific journal
describing twelve new species of thunder and lightning. He was
very fond of inventing names, and his designation of Palenque as
Otolum was only an illustration of this. So much for the " ele
mentary glyphs."
CHAPTER XI
THE MORMON BIBLE
THE Mormon Bible, 1 both in a literary and a theological sense,
is just such a production as would be expected to result from hand
ing over to Smith and his fellow-" translators " a mass of Spauld-
ing s material and new doctrinal matter for collation and copying.
Not one of these men possessed any literary skill or accurate
acquaintance with the Scriptures. David Whitmer, in an interview
in Missouri in his later years, said, " So illiterate was Joseph at
that time that he didn t know that Jerusalem was a walled city, and
he was utterly unable to pronounce many of the names that the
magic power of the Urim and Thummim revealed." Chronology,
grammar, geography, and Bible history were alike ignored in the
work. An effort was made to correct some of these errors in the
early days of the church, and Smith speaks of doing some of this
work himself at Nauvoo. An edition issued there in 1842 con
tains on the title-page the words, " Carefully revised by the trans
lator." Such corrections have continued to the present day, and a
comparison of the latest Salt Lake edition with the first has shown
more than three thousand changes.
The person who for any reason undertakes the reading of this
book sets before himself a tedious task. Even the orthodox Mor
mons have found this to be true, and their Bible has played a very
much less considerable part in the church worship than Smith s
"revelations" and the discourses of their preachers. Referring
to Orson Pratt s 2 labored writings on this Bible, Stenhouse says,
1 The title of this Bible is " The Book of Mormon " ; but as one of its sub
divisions is a Book of Mormon, I use the title " Mormon Bible," both to avoid confu
sion and for convenience.
2 Orson Pratt was a clerk in a store in Hiram, Ohio, when he was converted to
Mormonism. He seems to have been a natural student, and he rose to prominence in
the church, being one of the first to expound and defend the Mormon Bible and doc
trines, holding a professorship in Nauvoo University, publishing works on the higher
mathematics, and becoming one of the Twelve Apostles.
89
90 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
" Of the hundreds of thousands of witnesses to whom God has
revealed the truth of the Book of Mormon/ Pratt knows full well
that comparatively few indeed have ever read that book, know little
or nothing intelligently of its contents, and take little interest in
it." l An examination of its contents is useful, therefore, rather
as a means of proving the fraudulent character of its pretension
to divine revelation than as a means of ascertaining what the
members of the Mormon church are taught.
The following page presents a facsimile of the title-page of
the first edition of this Bible. The editions of to-day substitute
"Translated by Joseph Smith, Jun.," for "By Joseph Smith, junior,
author and proprietor."
The first edition contains 588 duodecimo pages, and is divided
into 1 5 books which are named as follows : " First Book of Nephi,
his reign and ministry," 7 chapters ; " Second Book of Nephi,"
15 chapters; " Book of Jacob, the Brother of Nephi/ 5 chapters;
" Book of Enos," I chapter; " Book of Jarom," I chapter; "Book
of Omni," i chapter; "Words of Mormon," i chapter; "Book of
Mosiah," 13 chapters; "Book of Alma, a Son of Alma," 30 chap
ters; "Book of Helaman," 5 chapters; "Third Book of Nephi,
the Son of Nephi, which was the son of Helaman," 14 chapters ;
" Fourth Book of Nephi, which is the Son of Nephi, one of the
Disciples of Jesus Christ," i chapter ; " Book of Mormon," 4 chap
ters ; "Book of Ether," 6 chapters ; " Book of Moroni," 10 chap- i
ters. The chapters in the first edition were not divided into
verses, that work, with the preparation of the very complete foot
note references in the later editions, having been performed by
Orson Pratt.
The historical narrative that runs through the book is so dis-
jointedly arranged, mixed up with doctrinal parts, and repeated, :
that it is not easy to unravel it. The following summary of it is
contained in a letter to Colonel John Wentworth of Chicago, signed
by Joseph Smith, Jr., which was printed in Wentworth s Chicago
newspaper and also in the Mormon Times and Seasons of March
i, 1842:
" The history of America is unfolded from its first settlement by a colony that
came from the Tower of Babel at the confusion of languages, to the beginning of
1 "Rocky Mountain Saints," p. 553.
f : :-. r *- 1
THE
BOOK OF MORMON :
AN ACCOUNT WRITTEN BY THE HAND OF MOR
MON, UPON PLATES TAKEN FROM
THE PLATES OF NEPHT.
Wherefore it H an abridgment of the Record of the People of Nephi ; and also of
dip Lii-arites ; written to the Lamanites, which are a remnant of the House of
Israel , .u,<l o!-o to Jew nd Gentile ; written by way of commandment, and also
by the ^tirit of Prophesy and of Revelation. Written, and sealed up, and h^
up unto he LORD, tnat they might not be destroyed ; to come forth by the gift
and power of GOD. unto the interpretation thereof; sealed DV the hand of Moro
ni, and hid tip unto the LORD, to come forth in due time by the way of Gentile} x
the inter IH> ration thereof by the gift of GOD ; an abridgment taken from the*,
% Book of Fther.
Al->, which i;; a Recofd of the People of Jared, which were scattered at the time
ih ft LORD confounded the language of the people when they were building &
tower to pf\ to Heaven : which is to shew unto the remnant of the House of
Israel how areat things the LORD hath done for their fathers; and that they may
know the covenants of the L <$RI>, that they are not cast off forever ; and also to
the convince of the Jew and Gentite that JESUS is the CHRIST, the ETKRN^I.
GOD, nmnife f ing Himself unto all nations. And now if thero be fault, it be the
mistake of ra ^!i ; wherefore condemn not the things of GOD, that ye may- be
Found spoile.ss at die judgment seat of CHRIST.
BY JOSEPH SMITH,
AUTHOR AND PROPRIETOR
PALMYRA :
"PK i:\TjED BY E. B..GRANDIX, FOR. THE AUTHOR, 1
ifto.
FACSIMILE OF TITLE-PAGE OF FIRST EDITION OF MORMON BIBLE.
THE MORMON BIBLE 91
the $th century of the Christian era. We are informed by these records that
America in ancient times has been inhabited by two distinct races of people.
The first were called Jaredites, and came directly from the Tower of Babel. The
second race came directly from the city of Jerusalem about 600 years before
Christ. They were principally Israelites of the descendants of Joseph. The
Jaredites were destroyed about the time that the Israelites came from Jerusalem,
who succeeded them in the inhabitance of the country. The principal nation of
the second race fell in battle toward the close of the fourth century. The remnant
are the Indians that now inhabit this country."
This history purports to have been handed down, on metallic
plates, from one historian to another, beginning with Nephi, from
the time of the departure from Jerusalem. Finally (4 Nephi i.
48, 49 J ), the people being wicked, Ammaron, by direction of the
Holy Ghost, hid these sacred records " that they might come again
unto the remnant of the house of Jacob."
To bring the story down to a comparatively recent date, and
account for the finding of the plates by Smith, the Book of Mor
mon was written by the " author." This subdivision is an abridg
ment of the previous records. It relates that Mormon, a descendant
of Nephi, when ten years old, was told by Ammaron that, when
about twenty-four years old, he should go to the place where the
records were hidden, take only the plates of Nephi, and engrave
on them all the things he had observed concerning the people.
The next year Mormon was taken by his father, whose name also
was Mormon, to the land of Zarahemla, which had become cov
ered with buildings and very populous, but the people were warlike
and wicked. Mormon in time, " seeing that the Lamanites were
about to overthrow the land," took the records from their hiding-
place. He himself accepted the command of the armies of the
Nephites, but they were defeated with great slaughter, the Laman
ites laying waste their cities and driving them northward.
Finally Mormon sent a letter to the king of the Lamanites,
asking that the Nephites might gather their people " unto the
land of Cumorah, by a hill which was called Cumorah, and there
we would give them battle." There, in the year 384 A.D., Mor
mon " made this record out of the plates of Nephi, and hid up in
the hill Cumorah all the records which have been entrusted to me
by the hand of the Lord, save it were those few plates which I
1 All references to the Mormon Bible by chapter and verse refer to Salt Lake
City edition of 1888.
9 2
THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
gave unto my son Moroni." l This hill, according to the Mormon
teaching, is the hill near Palmyra, New York, where Smith found
the plates, just as Mormon had deposited them.
In the battle which took place there the Nephites were practi
cally annihilated, and all the fugitives were killed except Moroni,
the son of Mormon, who undertook the completion of the " record."
Moroni excuses the briefness of his narrative by explaining that
he had not room in the plates, " and ore have I none " (to make
others). What he adds is in the nature of a defence of the re
vealed character of the Mormon Bible and of Smith s character as
a prophet. Those, for instance, who say that there are no longer
" revelations, nor prophecies, nor gifts, nor healing, nor speaking
with tongues," are told that they know not the Gospel of Christ
and do not understand the Scriptures. An effort is made to fore
stall criticism of the " mistakes " that are conceded in the title-page
dedication by saying, " Condemn me not because of mine imper
fection, neither my father, because of his imperfection, neither
them who have written before him " (Book of Mormon ix. 31).
Evidently foreseeing that it would be asked why these " rec
ords," written by Jews and their descendants, were not in Hebrew,
Mormon adds (chap. ix. 32, 33):
" And now behold, we have written this record according to our knowledge,
in the characters which are called among us the reformed Egyptian, being handed
down and altered by us, according to our manner of speech.
" And if our plates had been sufficiently large, we should have written in He
brew ; but the Hebrew hath been altered by us also ; and if we could have written
in Hebrew, behold, ye would have had no imperfection in our record."
Few parts of this mythical Bible approached nearer to the
burlesque than this excuse for having descendants of the Jews
write in " reformed Egyptian."
The secular story of the ancient races running through this
Bible is so confused by the introduction of new matter by the
" author" 2 and by repetitions that it is puzzling to pick it out.
1 Hyde gives a list of twenty-four additional plates mentioned in this Bible which
must still await digging up in the hill near Palmyra.
2 Professor Whitsitt, of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville,
Kentucky, in his article on Mormonism in "The Concise Dictionary pf Religious
Knowledge, and Gazetteer" (New York, 1891), divides the Mormon Bible into three
sections, viz. : the first thirteen books, presented as the works of Mormon; the Book of
Ether, with which Mormon had no connection; and the fifteenth book, "which was
THE MORMON BIBLE 93
The Book of Ether was somewhat puzzling even to the early Mor
mons, and we find Parley P. Pratt, in his analysis of it, printed in
London in 1854, saying, "Ether seems to have been a lineal
descendant of Jared."
Very concisely, this Bible story of the most ancient race that
came to America, the Jaredites, may be thus stated :
This race, being righteous, were not punished by the Lord at
Babel, but were led to the ocean, where they constructed a vessel
by direction of the Lord, in which they sailed to North America.
According to the Book of Ether, there were eight of these vessels,
and that they were remarkable craft needs only the description
given of them to show : " They were built after a manner that
they were exceeding tight, even that they would hold water like
unto a dish ; and the bottom thereof .was tight like unto a dish ;
and the sides thereof were tight like unto a dish ; and the ends
thereof were peaked ; and the top thereof was tight like unto a
dish ; and the length thereof was the length of a tree ; and the
door thereof, when it was shut, was tight like unto a dish" (Book
sent forth by the editor under the name of Moroni." He thus explains his view of the
" editing " that was done in the preparation of the work for publication :
"The editor undertook to rewrite and recast the whole of the abridgment (of
Nephi s previous history), but his industry failed him at the close of the Book of Omni.
The first six books that he had rewritten were given the names of the small plates. . .
The book called the Words of Mormon in the original work stood at the beginning, as
a sort of preface to the entire abridgment of Mormon; but when the editor had rewrit
ten the first six books, he felt that these were properly his own performance, and the
Words of Mormon were assigned a position just in front of the Book of Mosiah, when
the abstract of Mormon took its real commencement. . . .
"The question may now be raised as to who was the editor of the Book of Mormon.
... In its theological positions and coloring the Book of Mormon is a volume of
Disciple theology (this does not include the later polygamous doctrine and other gross
Mormon errors). This conclusion is capable of demonstration beyond any reasonable
question. Let notice also be taken of the fact that the Book of Mormon bears traces
of two several redactions. It contains, in the first redaction, that type of doctrine which
the Disciples held and proclaimed prior to November 18, 1827, when they had not yet
formally embraced what is commonly considered to be the tenet of baptismal remission.
It also contains the type of doctrine which the Disciples have been defending since
November 18, 1827, under the name of the ancient Gospel, of which the tenet of so-
called baptismal remission is a leading feature. All authorities agree that Mr. Smith
obtained possession of the work on September 22, 1827, a period of nearly two months
before the Disciples concluded to embrace this tenet. The editor felt that the Book of
Mormon would be sadly incomplete if this notion were not included. Accordingly, he
found means to communicate with Mr. Smith, and, regaining possession of certain por
tions of the manuscript, to insert the new item. . . . Rigdon was the only Disciple min
ister who vigorously and continuously demanded that his brethren should adopt the
additional points that have been indicated."
94 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
of Ether ii. 17). This description certainly establishes the general
resemblance of these barges to some kind of a dish, but the rather
careless comparison of their length simply to that of a "tree"
leaves this detail of construction uncertain.
Just before they embarked in these vessels, a brother of Jared
went up on Mount Shelem, where the Lord touched sixteen small
stones that he had taken up with him, two of which were the Urim
and Thummim, by means of which Smith translated the plates.
These stones lighted up the vessels on their trip across the ocean.
Jared s brother was told by the spirit on the mount, " Behold, I am
Jesus Christ." A footnote in the modern edition of this Bible
kindly explains that Jared s brother " saw the preexistent spirit of
Jesus."
When they landed (somewhere on the Isthmus of Darien), the
Lord commanded Nephi to make " plates of ore," on which should
be engraved the record of the people. This was the origin of
Smith s plates. In time this people divided themselves, under the
leadership of two of Lehi s sons Nephi and Laman into Ne-
phites and Lamanites (with subdivisions). The Lamanites, in the
course of two hundred years, had become dark in color and " wild
and ferocious, and a bloodthirsty people ; full of idolatry and filthi-
ness ; feeding upon beasts of prey ; dwelling in tents and wander
ing about in the wilderness, with a short skin girdle about their
loins, and their heads shaven ; and their skill was in the bow and
the cimeter and the ax " (Enos i. 20). The Nephites, on the
other hand, tilled the land and raised flocks. Between the two
tribes wars waged, the Nephites became wicked, and in the course
of 320 years the worst of them were destroyed (Book of Alma).
Then the Lord commanded those who would hearken to his
voice to depart with him to the wilderness, and they journeyed
until they came to the land of Zarahemla, which a footnote to the
modern edition explains " is supposed to have been north of the
head waters of the river Magdalena, its northern boundary being
a few days journey south of the Isthmus " (of Darien). There
they found the people of Zarahemla, who had left Jerusalem when
Zedekiah was carried captive into Babylon. New teachers arose
who taught the people righteousness, and one of them, named
Alma, led a company to "a place which was called Mormon,"
where was a fountain of pure water, and there Alma baptized the
THE MORMON BIBLE 95
people. The Book of Alma, the longest in this Bible, is largely
an account of the secular affairs of the inhabitants, with stories of
great battles, a prediction of the coming of Christ, and an account
of a great migration northward, and the building of ships that
sailed in the same direction.
3 Nephi describes the appearance of Christ to the people of
the western continent, preceded by a star, earthquakes, etc. On
the day of His appearance they heard "a small voice" out of
heaven, saying, " Behold my beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased, in whom I have glorified my name ; hear ye him." Then
Christ appeared and spoke to them, generally in the language of
the New Testament (repeating, for instance, the Sermon on the
Mount 1 ), and afterward ascended into heaven in a cloud. The
expulsion of the Nephites northward, and their final destruction, in
what is now New York State, followed in the course of the next
384 years.
There is throughout the book an imitation of the style of the
Holy Scriptures. Verse after verse begins with the words " and
it came to pass," as Spaulding s Ohio neighbors recalled that his
story did. The following extract, from I Nephi, chap, viii, will
give an illustration of the literary style of a large part of the
work :
" i . And it came to pass that we had gathered together all manner of seeds
of every kind, both of grain of every kind, and also of the seeds of fruit of every
kind.
"2. And it came to pass that while my father tarried in the wilderness, he
spake unto us, saying, Behold, I have dreamed a dream ; or in other words, I
have seen a vision.
"3. And behold, because of the thing which I have seen, I have reason to
rejoice in the Lord, because of Nephi and also of Sam ; for I have reason to sup
pose that they, and also many of their seed, will be saved.
" 4. But behold, Laman and Lemuel, I fear exceedingly because of you ; for
behold, methought I saw in my dream, a dark and dreary wilderness.
" 5 . And it came to pass that I saw a man, and he was dressed in a white
robe ; and he came and stood before me.
"6. And it came to pass that he spake unto me, and bade me follow him.
1 In the Mormon version of this sermon the words, " If thy right eye offend thee,
pluck it out and cast it from thee," and " If thy right hand offend thee, cut it off and
cast it from thee," are lacking. The Deseret Evening A r ews of February 21, 1900, in
explaining this omission, says that the report by Mormon of the "discourse delivered by
Jesus Christ to the Nephites on this continent after his resurrection from the dead . . .
may not be full and complete."
g6 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
"7. And it came to pass that as I followed him, I beheld myself that I was
in a dark and dreary waste.
"8. And after I had travelled for the space of many hours in darkness, I
began to pray unto the Lord that he would have mercy on me, according to the
multitude of his tender mercies.
"9. And it came to pass after I had prayed unto the Lord, I beheld a large
and spacious field.
"10. And it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to
make one happy.
"u. And it came to pass that I did go forth, and partake of the fruit thereof;
and I beheld that it was most sweet, above all that I ever before tasted. Yea,
and I beheld that the fruit thereof was white, to exceed all the whiteness that I
had ever seen."
Whole chapters of the Scriptures are incorporated word for
word. In the first edition some of these were appropriated with
out any credit ; in the Utah editions they are credited. Beside
these, Hyde counted 298 direct quotations from the New Testa
ment, verses or sentences, between pages 2 to 428, covering the
years from 600 B.C. to Christ s birth. Thus, Nephi relates that his
father, more than two thousand years before the King James edi
tion of the Bible was translated, in announcing the coming of
John the Baptist, used these words, " Yea, even he should go
forth and cry in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord,
and make his paths straight ; for there standeth one among you
whom ye know not; and he is mightier than I, whose shoe s
latchet I am not worthy to unloose" (i Nephi x. 8). In Mosiah
v. 8, King Benjamin is represented as saying, 124 years before
Christ was born, " I would that you should take upon you the name
of Christ" as "there is no other name given whereby salvation
cometh."
The first Nephi represents John as baptizing in Bethabara (the
spelling is Beathabry in the Utah edition), and Alma announces
(vii. 10) that "the Son of God shall be born of Mary at Jerusa
lem." Shakespeare is proved a plagiarist by comparing his words
with those of the second Nephi, who, speaking twenty-two hundred
years before Shakespeare was born, said (2 Nephi i. 14), " Hear
the words of a trembling parent, whose limbs you must soon lay
down in the cold and silent grave, from whence no traveller can
return."
The chapters of the Scriptures appropriated bodily, and the
places where they may be found, are as follows :
THE MORMON BIBLE 97
First Edition Utah Edition
Isaiah xlviii and xlix . pp. 52 to 56 I Nephi, ch. xx, xxi
Isaiah 1 and li . . . pp. 76 2 Nephi, ch. vii
Isaiah lii pp. 498 3 Nephi, ch. xx
Isaiah liv pp. 501, 502 3 Nephi, ch. xx
Isaiah ii to xiv . . . pp. 86 to 101 2 Nephi, ch. xii to xxiv
Malachi iii, iv . . . . pp. 503 to 505 3 Nephi, ch. xxiv, xxv
Matthew v, vi, vii . . . pp. 479 to 483 3 Nephi, ch. xii to xix
i Corinthians xiii pp. 580 Moroni, ch. vii
Among the many anachronisms to be found in the book may
be mentioned the giving to Laban of a sword with a blade " of
the most precious steel" (i Nephi iv. 9), centuries before the use
of steel is elsewhere recorded, and the possession of a compass by
the Jaredites when they sailed across the ocean (Alma xxxvii. 38),
long before the invention of such an instrument. The ease with
which such an error could be explained is shown in the anecdote
related of a Utah Mormon who, when told that the compass was
not known in Bible times, responded by quoting Acts xxviii. 13,
where Paul says, "And from thence we fetched a compass."
When Nephi and his family landed in Central America " there
were beasts in the forest of every kind, both the cow, and the ox,
and the ass, and the horse" (i Nephi xviii. 25). If Nephi does
not prevaricate, there must have been a fatal plague among these
animals in later years, for horses, cows, and asses were unknown
in America until after its discovery by Europeans. Moroni, in
the Book of Ether (ix. 18, 19), is still more generous, adding to
the possessions of the Jaredites sheep and swine * and elephants
and " cureloms and cumoms." Neither sheep nor swine are in
digenous to America; but the prophet is safe as regards the
"cureloms and cumoms," which are animals of his own creation.
The book is full of incidental proofs of the fraudulent profes
sion that it is an original translation. For instance, in incorporat
ing i Corinthians iii. 4, in the Book of Moroni, the phrase "is
not easily provoked " is retained, as in the King James edition.
But the word " easily " is not found in any Greek manuscript of
this verse, and it is dropped in the Revised Version of 1881.
Stenhouse calls attention to many phrases in this Bible which
were peculiar to the revival preachers of those days, like Rigdon,
1 " And," it is added, " many other kinds of animals which were useful for the use
of man," thus ignoring the Hebrew antipathy to pork.
H
98 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
such as " Have ye spiritually been born of God ? " " If ye have
experienced a change of heart."
The first edition was full of grammatical errors and amusing
phrases. Thus we are told, in Ether xv. 31, that when Coriantumr
smote off the head of Shiz, the latter " raised upon his hands
and fell." Among other examples from the first edition may be
quoted: "and I sayeth " ; "all things which are good cometh of
God"; "neither doth his angels"; and "hath miracles ceased."
We find in Helaman ix. 6, " He being stabbed by his brother by a
garb of secrecy." This remains uncorrected.
Alexander Campbell, noting the mixture of doctrines in the
book, says, " He [the author] decides all the great controversies
[discussed in New York in the last ten years], infant baptism, the
Trinity, regeneration, repentance, justification, the fall of man, the
atonement, transubstantiation, fasting, penance, church govern
ment, the call to the ministry, the general resurrection, eternal
punishment, who may baptize, and even the questions of Free
masonry, republican government and the rights of man." l
Such is the book which is accepted to this day as an inspired
work by the thousands of persons who constitute the Mormon
church. This acceptance has always been rightfully recognized
as fundamentally necessary to the Mormon faith. Orson Pratt
declared, " The nature of the message in the Book of Mormon is
such that, if true, none can be saved who reject it, and, if false, none
can be saved who receive it." Brigham Young told the Confer
ence at Nauvoo in October, 1844, that " Every spirit that confesses
that Joseph Smith is a prophet, that he lived and died a prophet,
and that the Book of Mormon is true, is of God, and every spirit
that does not is of Anti-Christ." There is no modification of this
view in the Mormon church of to-day.
1 " Delusions : an Analysis of the Book of Mormon " (1832). An exhaustive exami
nation of this Bible will be found in the " Braden and Kelley Public Discussion."
CHAPTER XII
ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH
THE director of the steps taken to announce to the world a new
Bible and a new church realized, of course, that there must be
priests, under some name, to receive members and to dispense its
blessing. No person openly connected with Smith in the work
of translation had been a clergyman. Accordingly, on May 15,
1829 (still following the prophet s own account), while Smith and
Cowdery were yet busy with the work of translation, they went
into the woods to ask the Lord for fuller information about the
baptism mentioned in the plates. There a messenger from heaven,
who, it was learned, was John the Baptist, appeared to them in a
cloud of light, " and having laid his hands on us, he ordained us,
saying unto us, Upon you, my fellow servants, in the name of
Messiah, I confer the priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys
of the ministering angels, and of the Gospel of repentance, and
of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins. >: The mes
senger also informed them that " the power of laying on of hands
for the gift of the Holy Ghost " would be conferred on them later,
through Peter, James, and John, " who held the keys of the priest
hood of Melchisedec " ; but he directed Smith to baptize Cowdery,
and Cowdery then to perform the same office for Smith. This they
did at once, and as soon as Cowdery came out of the water he
"stood up and prophesied many things" (which the prophet pru
dently omitted to record). The divine authority thus conferred,
according to Orson Pratt, exceeds that of the bishops of the Roman
church, because it came direct from heaven, and not through a suc
cession of popes and bishops. 1
1 Orson Pratt, in his " Questions and Answers on Doctrine " in his Washington
newspaper, the Seer (p. 205), thus denned the Mormon view of the Roman Catholic
church :
99
I00 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
Smith and Cowdery at once began telling of the power con
ferred upon them, and giving their relatives and friends an oppor
tunity to become members of the new church. Smith s brother
Samuel was the first convert won over, Cowdery baptizing him.
His brother Hyrum came next, 1 and then one J. Knight, Sr., of
Colesville, New York. 2 Each new convert was made the subject
of a " revelation," each of which began, " A great and marvelous
work is about to come forth among the children of men." Hyrum
Smith, and David and Peter Whitmer, Jr., were baptized in Seneca
Lake in June, and "from this time forth," says Smith, "many
became believers and were baptized, while we continued to in
struct and persuade as many as applied for information."
By April 6, 1830, branches of the new church had been
established at Fayette, Manchester, and Colesville, New York,
with some seventy members in all, it has been stated. Section 20
of the "Doctrine and Covenants" names April 6, 1830, as the
date on which the church was " regularly organized and estab
lished, agreeable to the laws of our country." This date has
been incorrectly given as that on which the first step was taken to
form a church organization. What was done then was to organize in
a form which, they hoped, would give the church a standing as a
legal body. 3 The meeting was held at the house of Peter Whit
mer. Smith, who, it was revealed, should be the first elder,
ordained Cowdery, and Cowdery subsequently ordained Smith.
The sacrament was then administered, and the new elders laid
their hands on the others present.
"The revelation" (Sec. 20) on the form of church government
is dated April, 1830, at least six months before Rigdon s name
Q. " Is the Roman Catholic Church the Church of Christ ? " A. " No, for she has
no inspired priesthood or officers."
Q. " After the Church of Christ fled from earth to heaven what was left ? " A. " A
set of wicked apostates, murderers and idolaters," etc.
Q. " Who founded the Roman Catholic Church ? " A. "The devil, through the
medium of the apostates, who subverted the whole order of God by denying immediate
revelation, and substituting in place thereof tradition and ancient revelations as a suffi
cient rule of faith and practice."
1 Hyrum wanted to start in to preach at once, and a " revelation " was necessary to
inform him : " You need not suppose you are called to preach until you are called. . . .
Keep my commandments ; hold your peace" (Sec. n).
2 Colesville is the township in Broome County of which Harpursville is the voting
place. Smith organized his converts there about two miles north of Harpursville.
8 Whitmer s " Address to Believers in the Book of Mormon."
ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH IOI
was first associated with the scheme by the visit of Cowdery and
his companions to Ohio. If the date is correct, it shows that Rig^
don had forwarded this " revelation " to Smith for promulgation, for
Rigdon was unquestionably the originator of the system of church
government. David Whitmer has explained, " Rigdon would ex
pound the Old Testament Scriptures of the Bible and Book of
Mormon, in his way, to Joseph, concerning the priesthood, high
priests, etc., and would persuade Brother Joseph to inquire of the
Lord about this doctrine and about that doctrine, and of course
a revelation would always come just as they desired it." 1
The "revelation" now announced defined the duty of elders,
priests, teachers, deacons, and members of the Church of Christ.
An apostle was an elder, and it was his calling to baptize, ordain,
administer the sacrament, confirm, preach, and take the lead in all
meetings. A priest s duty was to preach, baptize, administer the
sacrament, and visit members at their houses. Teachers and dea
cons could not baptize, administer the sacrament, or lay on hands,
but were to preach and invite all to join the church. The elders
were directed to meet in conference once in three months, and
there was to be a High Council, or general conference of the
church, by which should be ordained every President of the high
priesthood, bishop, high counsellor, and high priest.
Smith s leadership had, before this, begun to manifest itself.
He had, in a generous mood, originally intended to share with
others the honor of receiving " revelations," the first of these in
the " Book of Doctrine and Covenants," saying, " I the Lord also
gave commandments to others, that they should proclaim these
things to the world." In the original publication of these " reve
lations," under the title " Book of Commandments," we find such
headings as, " A revelation given to Oliver," " A revelation given
to Hyrum," etc. These headings are all changed in the modern
edition to read, " Given through Joseph the Seer," etc.
Cowdery was the first of his associates to seek an open share
in the divine work. Smith was so pleased with his new scribe
when they first met at Harmony, Pennsylvania, that he at once
received a " revelation " which incited Cowdery to ask for a divi
sion of power. Cowdery was told (Sec. 6), " And behold, I grant
unto you a gift, if you desire of me, to translate even as my ser-
1 Whitmer s " Address to Believers in the Book of Mormon."
102 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
vant Joseph." Cowdery s desire manifested itself immediately,
and Joseph almost as quickly became conscious that he had com
mitted himself too soon. Accordingly, in another " revelation,"
dated the same month of April, 1829 (Sec. 8), he attempted to
cajole Oliver by telling him about a " gift of Aaron " which he
possessed, and which was a remarkable gift in itself, adding, " Do
not ask for that which you ought not." But Cowdery naturally
clung to his promised gift, and kept on asking, and he had to be
told right away in still another " revelation " (Sec. 9), that he had
not understood, but that he must not murmur, since his work was
to write for Joseph. If he was in doubt about a subject, he was
advised to " study it out in your mind " ; and if it was right, the
Lord promised, " I will cause that your bosom shall burn within
you " ; but if it was not right, " you shall have a stupor of thought,
that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong." To
assist him until he became accustomed to discriminate between
this burning feeling and this stupor, the Lord told him very
plainly, " It is not expedient that you should translate now."
That all this rankled in Cowdery s heart was shown by his
attempt to revise one of Smith s "revelations," and the support he
gave to Hiram Page s " gazing."
Cowdery continued to annoy the prophet, and Smith decided to
get rid of him. Accordingly in July, 1830, came a "revelation,"
originally announced as given direct to Joseph s wife Emma,
instructing her to act as her husband s scribe, " that I may send
my servant Oliver Cowdery whithersoever I will." This occurred
on a trip the Smiths had made to Harmony. On their return to
Fayette, Smith found Cowdery still persistent, and he accordingly
gave out a "revelation " to him, telling him again that he must not
"write by way of commandment," inasmuch as Smith was at the
head of the church, and directing him to " go unto the Lamanites
(Indians) and preach my Gospel unto them." This was the first
mention of the westward movement of the church which shaped
all its later history.
A "revelation" in June, 1829 (Sec. 18), had directed the
appointment of the twelve apostles, whom Cowdery and David
Whitmer were to select. The organized members now began to
inquire who was their leader, and Smith, in a "revelation" dated
April 6, 1830 (Sec. 21), addressed to himself, announced : " Behold
ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH 103
there shall be a record kept among you, and in it thou shalt be
called a seer, a translator, a prophet, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
an elder of the church through the will of God the Father, and the
grace of your Lord Jesus Christ"; and the church was directed
in these words, " For his word ye shall receive, as if from mine
own mouth, in all patience and faith." Thus was established an
authority which Smith defended until the day of his death, and
before which all who questioned it went down.
Some of the few persons who at this time expressed a willing
ness to join the new church showed a repugnance to being baptized
at his hands, and pleaded previous baptism as an excuse for evad
ing it. But Smith s tyrannical power manifested itself at once, and
he straightway announced a "revelation" (Sec. 22), in which the
Lord declared, " All old covenants have I caused to be done away
in this thing, and this is a new and everlasting covenant, even that
which was from the beginning."
Five days after the formal organization, the first sermon to the
Mormon church was preached in the Whitmer house by Oliver
Cowdery, Smith probably concluding that it would be wiser to
confine himself to the receipt of " revelations " rather than to
essay pulpit oratory too soon. Six additional persons were then
baptized. Soon after this the first Mormon miracle was per
formed the casting out of a devil from a young man named
Newel Knight.
The first conference of the organized church was held at Fay-
ette, New York, in June, 1830, with about thirty members present.
In recent "revelations" the prophet had informed his father and
his brothers Hyrum and Samuel that their calling was " to exhor
tation and to strengthen the church," so that they were provided
for in the new fold.
The region in New York State where the Smiths had lived
and were well known was not favorable ground for their labors
as church officers, conducting baptisms and administering the
sacrament. When they dammed a small stream in order to secure
a pool for an announced baptism, the dam was destroyed during
the night. A Presbyterian sister-in-law of Knight, from whom a
devil had been cast, announced her conversion to Smith s church,
and, when she would not listen to the persuasions of her pastor,
the latter obtained legal authority from her parents and carried
104
THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
her away by force. She succeeded, however, in securing the
wished-for baptism. All this stirred up public feeling against
Smith, and he was arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct.
At the trial, testimony was offered to show that he had obtained
a horse and a yoke of oxen from his dupes, on the statement that
a "revelation" had informed him that he was to have them, and
that he had behaved improperly toward the daughters of one of
these men. But the parties interested all testified in his favor,
and the prosecution failed. He was immediately rearrested on a
warrant and removed to Colesville, amid the jeers of the people
in attendance. Knight was subpoenaed to tell about the miracle
performed on him, and Smith s old character of a money-digger
was ventilated ; but the court found nothing on which to hold him.
Mormon writers have dilated on these " persecutions," but the out
come of the hearings indicated fair treatment of the accused by
the arbiters of the law, and the indignation shown toward him and
his associates by their neighbors was not greater than the conduct
of such men in assuming priestly rights might evoke in any similar
community.
Smith returned to his home in Pennsylvania after this, and
endeavored to secure the cooperation of his father-in-law in his
church plans, but without avail. It was four years later that Mr.
Hale put on record his opinion of his son-in-law already quoted.
Failing to find other support in Harmony, and perceiving much
public feeling against him, Smith prepared for his return to New
York by receiving a "revelation " (Sec. 24), which directed him to
return to the churches organized in that state after he had sold
his crops. "They shall support thee," declared the "revelation";
"but if they receive thee not, I will send upon them a cursing
instead of a blessing." For Smith s protection the Lord further
declared : " Whosoever shall lay their hand upon you by violence
ye shall command to be smitten in my name, and behold, I will
smite them according to your words, in mine own due time. And
whosoever shall go to law with thee shall be cursed by the law."
This threat, it will be noted, was safeguarded by not requiring
immediate fulfilment.
Smith returned to Fayette in September, and continued church
work thereabouts in company with his brothers and John and
David Whitmer.
ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH 105
Meanwhile Parley P. Pratt had made his visit to Palmyra and
returned to Ohio, and in the early winter Rigdon set out to make
his first open visit to Smith, arriving in December. Martin
Harris, on the ground that Rigdon was a regularly authorized
clergyman, tried to obtain the use of one of the churches of the
town for him, but had to content himself with the third-story hall
of the Young Men s Association. There Rigdon preached a
sermon to a small audience, principally of non-Mormons, announc
ing himself as " a messenger of God." The audience regarded
the sermon as blasphemous, and no further attempt was made to
secure this room for Mormon meetings. Rigdon, however, while
in conference with Smith, preached and baptized in the neighbor
hood, and Smith and Harris tried their powers as preachers in
barns and under a tree in the open air.
A well-authenticated story of the manner in which one of the
Palmyra Mormons received his call to preach is told by Tucker l
and verified by the principal actor. Among the first baptized in
New York State were Calvin Stoddard and his wife (Smith s
sister) of Macedon. Stoddard told his neighbors of wonderful
things he had seen in the sky, and about his duty to preach.
One night Steven S. Harding, a young man who was visiting the
place, went with a companion to Stoddard s house, and awakening
him with knocks on the door, proclaimed in measured tones that
the angel of the Lord commanded him to " go forth among the
people and preach the Gospel of Nephi." Then they ran home
and went to bed. Stoddard took the call in all earnestness, and
went about the next day repeating to his neighbors the words of
the "celestial messenger," describing the roaring thunder and the
musical sounds of the angel s wings that accompanied the words.
Young Harding, who participated in this joke, became Governor
of Utah in 1862, and incurred the bitter enmity of Brigham Young
and the church by denouncing polygamy, and asserting his own
civil authority. 2
As a result of Smith s and Rigdon s conferences came a
"revelation" to them both (Sec. 35), delivered as in the name
1 "Origin, Rise, and Progress of Mormonism, " pp. 80, 285.
2 Stoddard and Smith had a quarrel over a lot in Kirtland in 1835, an( ^ Smith
knocked down his brother-in-law and was indicted for assault and battery, but was
acquitted on the ground of self-defence.
I0 6 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
of Jesus Christ, defining somewhat Rigdon s position. How
nearly it met his demands cannot be learned, but it certainly
granted him no more authority than Smith was willing to concede.
It told him that he should do great things, conferring the Holy
Ghost by the laying on of hands, as did the apostles of old, and
promising to show miracles, signs, and wonders unto all believers.
He was told that Joseph had received the " keys of the mysteries
of those things that have been sealed," and was directed to
" watch over him that his faith fail not." This " revelation "
ordered the retranslation of the Scriptures.
The most important result of Rigdon s visit to Smith was a
decision to move the church to Ohio. This decision was promul
gated in the form of " revelations " dated December, 1830, and
January, 1831, which set forth (Sees. 37, 38):
"And that ye might escape the power of the enemy, and be gathered unto
me a righteous people, without spot and blameless :
" Wherefore, for this cause I give unto you the commandment that ye
should go to the Ohio ; and there I will give unto you my law ; and there you shall
be endowed with power from on high ; and from thence whomsoever I will shall go
forth among all nations, and it shall be told them what they shall do ; for I have
a great work laid up in store, for Israel shall be saved. . . . And they that have
farms that cannot be sold, let them be left or rented as seemeth them good."
A sufficient reason for the removal was the failure to secure
converts where Smith was known, and the ready acceptance of
the new belief among Rigdon s Ohio people. The Rev. Dr.
Clark says, " You might as well go down in the crater of Vesu
vius and attempt to build an icehouse amid its molten and boiling
lava, as to convince any inhabitant in either of these towns [Pal
myra or Manchester] that Joe Smith s pretensions are not the
most gross and egregious falsehood." 1
The Rev. Jesse Townsend of Palmyra, in a reply to a letter
of inquiry about the Mormons, dated December 24, 1833 (quoted
in full by Tucker), says : " All the Mormons have left this part
of the state, and so palpable is their imposture that nothing is
here said or thought of the subject, except when inquiries from
abroad are occasionally made concerning them. I know of no
one now living in this section of the country that ever gave them
credence."
1 "Gleanings by the Way."
CHAPTER XIII
THE MORMONS BELIEFS AND DOCTRINES CHURCH
GOVERNMENT
THE Mormons teach that, for fourteen hundred years to the
time of Smith s " revelations," there had been " a general and
awful apostasy from the religion of the New Testament, so that
all the known world have been left for centuries without the Church
of Christ among them ; without a priesthood authorized of God to
administer ordinances; that every one of the churches has per
verted the Gospel." l As illustrations of this perversion are cited
the doing away of immersion for the remission of sins by most
churches, of the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost,
and of the miraculous gifts and powers of the Holy Spirit. The
new church presented a modern prophet, who was in direct com
munication with God and possessed power to work miracles, and
who taught from a Golden Bible which says that whoever asserts
that there are no longer " revelations, nor prophecies, nor gifts,
nor healing, nor speaking with tongues and the interpretation of
tongues, . . . knoweth not the Gospel of Christ" (Book of Mor
mon ix. 7, 8).
It is impossible to decide whether the name " Mormon " was
used by Spaulding in his " Manuscript Found," or was introduced
by Rigdon. It is first encountered in the Mormon Bible in the
Book of Mosiah xviii. 4, as the name of a place where there
was a fountain in which Alma baptized those whom his admoni
tion led to repentance. Next it occurs in 3 Nephi v. 20 : "I
am Mormon, and a pure descendant of Lehi." This Mormon was
selected by the " author " of the Bible to stand sponsor for the
condensation of the "records" of his ancestors which Smith un
earthed. It was discovered very soon after the organization of
the Mormon church was announced that the word was of Greek
1 Orson Pratt s " Remarkable Visions," No. 6.
107
108 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
derivation, /JLOP/JLOO or i^op^wv, meaning bugbear, hobgoblin. In
the form of "mormo" it is Anglicized with the same meaning, and
is used by Jeremy Collier and Warburton. 1 The word " Mormon "
in zoology is the generic name of certain animals, including the
mandril baboon. The discovery of the Greek origin and mean
ing of the word was not pleasing to the early Mormon leaders, and
they printed in the Times and Seasons a letter over Smith s signa
ture, in which he solemnly declared that " there was no Greek or
Latin upon the plates from which I, through the grace of God,
translated the Book of Mormon," and gave the following explana
tion of the derivation of the word :
" Before I give a definition to the word, let me say that the Bible, in its widest
sense, means good ; for the Saviour says, according to the Gospel of St. John,
1 I am the Good Shepherd ; and it will not be beyond the common use of terms
to say that good is amongst the most important in use, and, though known by
various names in different languages, still its meaning is the same, and is ever in
opposition to bad. We say from the Saxon, good] the Dane, god , the Goth,
go da ; the German,^/; the Dutch, goed ; the Latin, bonus; the Greek, kalos ;
the Hebrew, tab; the Egyptian, mo. Hence, with the addition of more, or the
contraction mor, we have the word Mormon, which means literally more good ."
This lucid explanation was doubtless entirely satisfactory to
the persons to whom it was addressed.
In the early " revelations " collected in the " Book of Com
mandments " the new church was not styled anything more defi
nite than " My Church," and the title-page of that book, as printed
in 1833, says that these instructions are "for the government of
the Church of Christ." The name " Mormons " was not acceptable
to the early followers of Smith, who looked on it as a term of re
proach, claiming the designation " Saints." This objection to the
title continues to the present day. It was not until May 4, 1834,
that a council of the church, on motion of Sidney Rigdon, decided
on its present official title, " Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints."
The belief in the speedy ending of the world, on which the title
" Latter-Day Saints " was founded, has played so unimportant a
part in modern Mormon belief that its prominence as an early tenet
of the church is generally overlooked. At no time was there more
widespread interest in the speedy second coming of Christ and the
1 See " Century Dictionary."
BELIEFS AND DOCTRINES CHURCH GOVERNMENT 109
Day of Judgment than during the years when the organization of
the Mormon church was taking place. We have seen how much
attention was given to a speedy millennium by the Disciples preach
ers. It was in 1833 that William Miller began his sermons in which
he fixed on the year 1843 as the end of the world, and his views
not only found acceptance among his personal followers, but
attracted the liveliest interest in other sects.
The Mormon leaders made this belief a part of their early doc
trine. Thus, in one of the first "revelations" given out by Smith,
dated Fayette, New York, September, 1830, Christ is represented
as saying that " the hour is nigh " when He would reveal Himself,
and " dwell in righteousness with men on earth a thousand years."
In the November following, another " revelation " declared that
" the time is soon at hand that I shall come in a cloud, with power
and great glory." Soon after Smith arrived in Kirtland a "revela
tion," dated February, 1831, announced that "the great day of the
Lord is nigh at hand." In January, 1833, Smith predicted that
" there are those now living upon the earth whose eyes shall not be
closed in death until they shall see all these things of which I have
spoken " (the sweeping of the wicked from the United States, and
the return of the lost tribes to it). Smith declared in 1 843 that the
Lord had promised that he should see the Son of Man if he lived
to be eighty-five (Sec. I3O). 1 When Ferris was Secretary of Utah
Territory, in 1852-1853, he found that the Mormons were still
expecting the speedy coming of Christ, but had moved the date
forward to 1870. All through Smith s autobiography and the
Millennial Star will be found mention of every portent that might
be construed as an indication of the coming disruption of this world.
As late as December 6, 1856, an editorial in the Millennial Star
said, "The signs of the times clearly indicate to every observing
mind that the great day of the second advent of Messiah is at
hand."
As the devout Mohammedan 2 passes from earth to a heaven of
1 Speaking of W. W. Phelps s last years in Utah, Stenhouse says : " Often did the
old man, in public and in private, regale the Saints with the assurance that he had the
promise by revelation that he should not taste of death until Jesus came." Phelps died
on March 7, 1872.
2 The similarity between Smith s early life and visions and Mohammed s has been
mentioned by more than one writer. Stenhouse observes that Smith s mother "was to
him what Cadijah was to Mohammed," and that "a Mohammedan writer, in a series of
1 10 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
material bliss, so the Mormons are taught that the Saints, the sole
survivors of the day of judgment, will, with resurrected bodies,
possess the purified earth. The lengths to which Mormon preach
ers have dared to go in illustrating this view find a good illustra
tion in a sermon by Orson Pratt, printed in the Deseret News, Salt
Lake City, of August 21, 1852. Having promised that "farmers
will have great farms upon the earth when it is so changed," and
foreseeing that some one might suggest a difficulty in providing
land enough to go round, he met that in this way :
" But don t be so fast, says one ; don t you know that there are only about
197,000,000 of square miles, or about 126,000,000,000 of acres upon the surface
of the globe ? Will these accommodate all the inhabitants after the resurrection ?
Yes ; for if the earth should stand 8000 years, or 80 centuries, and the popula
tion should be a thousand millions in every century, that would be 80,000,-
000,000 of inhabitants, and we know that many centuries have passed that would
not give the tenth part of this ; but supposing this to be the number, there would
then be over an acre and a half for each person upon the surface of the globe."
By eliminating the wicked, so that only one out of a hundred
would share this real estate, he calculated that every Saint
"would receive over 150 acres, which would be quite enough to
raise manna, flax to make robes of, and to have beautiful orchards
of fruit trees."
The Mormon belief is stated by the church leaders to rest on
the Holy Bible, the Mormon Bible, and the " Book of Doctrine and
Covenants," together with the teachings of the Mormon instructors
from Smith s time to the present day. Although the Holy Bible is
named first in this list, it has, as we have seen, played a secondary
part in the church ritual, its principal use by the Mormon preach
ers having been to furnish quotations on which to rest their claims
for the inspiration of their own Bible and for their peculiar teach
ings. Mormon sermons (usually styled discourses) rarely, if ever,
begin with a text. The " Book of Doctrine and Covenants" "con
taining," as the title-page declares, "the revelations given to
Joseph Smith, Jr., for the building up of the Kingdom of God in
the last days," was the directing authority in the church during
Smith s life, and still occupies a large place in the church history.
An examination of the origin and character of this work will there-
essays recently published in London, treats of the prophecies concerning the Arabian
Prophet, to be found in the Old and New Testaments, precisely as Orson Pratt applied
them to the American Prophet."
BELIEFS AND DOCTRINES CHURCH GOVERNMENT III
Fore shed much light on the claims of the church to special direc
tion from on high.
There is little doubt that this system of "revelation" was an
idea of Rigdon. Smith was not, at that time, an inventor ; his
forte was making use of ideas conveyed to him. Thus, he did not
originate the idea of using a " peek-stone," but used one freely as
soon as he heard of it. He did not conceive the idea of receiving
a Bible from an angel, but readily transformed the Spaniard-with-
his-throat-cut to an angel when the perfected scheme was pre
sented to him. We can imagine how attractive "revelations"
would have been to him, and how soon he would concentrate in
himself the power to receive them, and would adapt them to his
personal use.
David Whitmer says, "The revelations, or the Book of Com
mandments, up to June, 1829, were given through the stone
through which the Book of Mormon was translated " ; but that
after that time " they came through Joseph as a mouthpiece ; that
is, he would inquire of the Lord, pray and ask concerning a matter,
and speak out the revelation, which he thought to be a revelation
from the Lord ; but sometimes he was mistaken about its being
from the Lord." 1 Who drew the line between truth and error has
never been explained, but Smith would certainly have resented any
such scepticism.
Parley P. Pratt thus describes Smith s manner of receiving
"revelations" in Ohio, "Each sentence was uttered slowly and
very distinctly, and with a pause between each sufficiently long for
it to be recorded by an ordinary writer in long hand." 2
These " revelations " made the greatest impression on Smith s
followers, and no other of his pretensions seems to have so con
vinced them of his divine credentials. The story of Vienna Jaques
well illustrates this. A Yankee descendant of John Rodgers, living
in Boston, she was convinced by a Mormon elder, and joined the
church members while they were in Kirtland, taking with her her
entire possession, $1500 in cash. This money, like that of many
other devoted members, found its way into Smith s hands and
stayed there. But he had taken her into his family, and her sup
port became burdensome to him. So, when the Saints were " gath-
1 " Address to Believers in the Book of Mormon."
8 Pratt s "Autobiography," p. 65.
II2 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
ering" in Missouri, he announced a " revelation " in these words
(Sec. 90):
" And again, verily, I [the Lord] say unto you, it is my will that my hand
maid, Vienna Jaques, should receive money to bear her expenses, and go up
unto the land of Zion ; and the residue of the money may be consecrated unto
me, and she be rewarded in mine own due time. Verily, I say unto you, that it
is meet in mine eyes that she should go up unto the land of Zion, and receive an
inheritance from the hand of the Bishop, that she may settle down in peace, inas
much as she is faithful, and not to be idle in her days from thenceforth."
The confiding woman obeyed without a murmur this thinly
concealed scheme to get rid of her, migrated with the church
from Missouri to Illinois and to Utah, and was in Salt Lake City
in 1833, supporting herself as a nurse, and " doubly proud that
she has been made the subject of a revelation from heaven." l
These " revelations " have been published under two titles.
The first edition was printed in Jackson, Missouri, in 1833, * n tne
Mormon printing establishment, under the title, " Book of Com
mandments for the Government of the Church of Christ, organ
ized according to Law on the 6th of April, 1830." This edition
contained nothing but " revelations," divided into sixty-five " chap
ters," and ending with the one dated Kirtland, September, 1831,
which forms Section 64 of the Utah edition of " Doctrine and
Covenants." David Whitmer says that when, in the spring of
1832, it was proposed by Smith, Rigdon, and others to publish
these revelations, they were earnestly advised by other members
of the church not to do so, as it would be dangerous to let the
world get hold of them ; and so it proved. But Smith declared
that any objector should "have his part taken out of the Tree of
Life." 2
Two years later, while the church was still in Kirtland, the
" revelations " were again prepared for publication, this time
under the title, " Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the
Latter-Day Saints, carefully selected from the revelations of God,
and compiled by Joseph Smith, Jr. ; Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rig-
1 "Utah and the Mormons," p. 182.
2 It has been stated that the " Book of Commandments " was never really published,
the mob destroying the sheets before it got out. But David Whitmer is a very positive
witness to the contrary, saying, " I say it was printed complete (and copyrighted) and
many copies distributed among the members of the church before the printing press was
destroyed."
BELIEFS AND DOCTRINES CHURCH GOVERNMENT 113
don, F. G. Williams, proprietors." On August 17, 1835, a general
assembly of the church held in the Kirtland Temple voted to accept
this book as the doctrine and covenants of their faith. Ebenezer
Robinson, who attended the meeting, says that the majority of
those so voting " had neither time nor opportunity to examine
the book for themselves ; they had no means of knowing whether
any alterations had been made in any of the revelations or not." 1
In fact, many important alterations were so made, as will be
pointed out in the course of this story. One method of attempt
ing to account for these changes has been by making the plea
that parts were omitted in the Missouri editions. On this point,
however, Whitmer is very positive, as quoted.
At the very start Smith s revelations failed to "come true."
An amusing instance of this occurred before the Mormon Bible
was published. While the "copy" was in the hands of the
printer, Grandin, Joe s brother Hyrum and others who had be
come interested in the enterprise became impatient over Harris s
delay in raising the money required for bringing out the book.
Hyrum finally proposed that some of them attempt to sell the
copyright in Canada, and he urged Joe to ask the Lord about
doing so. Joe complied, and announced that the mission to Can
ada would be a success. Accordingly, Oliver Cowdery and Hiram
Page made a trip to Toronto to secure a publisher, but their mis
sion failed absolutely. This was a critical test of the faith of
Joe s followers. "We were all in great trouble," says David
Whitmer, 2 " and we asked Joseph how it was that he received a
revelation from the Lord for some brethren to go to Toronto and
sell the copyright, and the brethren had utterly failed in their
undertaking. Joseph did not know how it was, so he inquired of
the Lord about it, and behold, the following revelation came
through the stone : Some revelations are front God, some revela
tions are of man, and some revelations are of the Devil " No rule
for distinguishing and separating these revelations was given ;
but Whitmer, whose faith in Smith s divine mission never cooled,
thus disposes of the matter, " So we see that the revelation to go
to Toronto and sell the copyright was not of God." Of course, a
prophet whose followers would accept such an excuse was certain
1 In his reminiscences in J^he Return.
2 " Address to All Believers in Christ," p. 30.
114 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
of his hold upon them. This incident well illustrates the kind of
material which formed the nucleus of the church.
Smith never let the previously revealed word of the Lord pro
tect any of his flock who afterward came in conflict with his own
plans. For example: On March 8, 1831, he announced a " reve
lation " (Sec. 47), saying, " Behold, it is expedient in me that my
servant John [Whitmer] should write and keep a regular history"
of the church. John fell into disfavor in later years, and, when he
refused to give up his records, Smith and Rigdon addressed a
letter to him, 1 in connection with his dismissal, which said that
his notes required correction by them before publication, " know
ing your incompetency as a historian, that writings coming from
your pen could not be put to press without our correcting them,
or else the church must suffer reproach. Indeed, sir, we never
supposed you capable of writing a history." Why the Lord did
not consult Smith and Rigdon before making this appointment is
one of the unexplained mysteries.
These " revelations," which increased in number from 16 in
1829 to 19 in 1830, numbered 35 in 1831, and then decreased to 16
in 1832, 13 in 1833, 5 in 1834, 2 in 1835, 3 in 1836, I in 1837, 8
in 1838 (in the trying times in Missouri), I in 1839, none in 1840,
3 in 1841, none in 1842, and 2, including the one on polyg
amy, in 1843. We shall see that in his latter days, in Nauvoo,
Smith was allowed to issue revelations only after they had been
censored by a council. He himself testified to the reckless use
which he made of them, and which perhaps brought about this
action. The following is a quotation from his diary :
"May 19, 1842. While the election [of Smith as mayor by the city coun
cil] was going forward, I received and wrote the following revelation : * Verily
thus saith the Lord unto you my servant Joseph, by the voice of the Spirit, Hiram
Kimball has been insinuating evil and forming evil opinions against you with
others ; and if he continue in them, he and they shall be accursed, for I am the
Lord thy God, and will stand by thee and bless thee. Which I threw across the
room to Hiram Kimball, one of the counsellors."
Thus it seems that there was some limit to the extent of Joe s
effrontery which could be submitted to.
We shall see that Brigham Young in Utah successfully resisted
constant pressure that was put upon him by his flock to continue
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XVI, p. 133.
BELIEFS AND DOCTRINES CHURCH GOVERNMENT 115
the reception of "revelations." While he was prudent enough to
avoid the pitfalls that would have surrounded him as a revealer,
he was crafty enough not to belittle his own authority in so doing.
In his discourse on the occasion of the open announcement of
polygamy, he said, " If an apostle magnifies his calling, his words
are the words of eternal life and salvation to those who hearken
to them, just as much so as any written revelations contained in
these books " (the two Bibles and the " Doctrine and Covenants ").
Hiram Page was not the only person who tried to imitate
Smith s "revelations." A boy named Isaac Russell gave out
such messages at Kirtland ; Gladdin Bishop caused much trouble
in the same way at Nauvoo ; the High Council withdrew the hand
of fellowship from Oliver Olney for setting himself up as a prophet;
and in the same year the Times and Seasons announced a pam
phlet by J. C. Brewster, purporting to be one of the lost books of
Esdras, " written by the power of God."
In the Times and Seasons (p. 309) will he found a report of a
conference held in New York City on December 4, 1840, at which
Elder Sydney Roberts was arraigned, charged with "having a
revelation that a certain brother must give him a suit of clothes
and a gold watch, the best that could be had ; also saluting the
sisters with what he calls a holy kiss." He was told that he could
retain his membership if he would confess, but he declared that
"he knew the revelations which he had spoken were from God."
So he was thereupon " cut off."
The other source of Mormon belief the teachings of their
leading men has been no more consistent nor infallible than
Smith s " revelations." Mormon preachers have been generally
uneducated men, most of them ambitious of power, and ready to
use the pulpit to strengthen their own positions. Many an indi
vidual elder, firm in his faith, has travelled and toiled as faithfully
as any Christian missionary ; but these men, while they have added
to the church membership, have not made its beliefs.
Smith probably originated very little of the church polity, ex
cept the doctrine of polygamy, and what is published over his
name is generally the production of some of his counsellors. Sec
tion 130 of the "Book of Doctrine and Covenants," headed "Im
portant Items of Instruction, given by Joseph the Prophet, April
2, 1843," contains the following:
Il6 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
" When the Saviour shall appear, we shall see him as he is. We shall see
that he is a man like ourselves. . . .
" The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man s ; the Son
also ; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage
of spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us."
An article in the Millennial Star, Vol. VI, for which the prophet
vouched, contains the following :
" The weakest child of God which now exists upon the earth will possess
more dominion, more property, more subjects, and more power in glory than is
possessed by Jesus Christ or by his Father ; while, at the same time, Jesus Christ
and his Father will have their dominion, kingdom and subjects increased in
proportion."
One more illustration of Smith s doctrinal views will suffice.
In a funeral sermon preached in Nauvoo, March 20, 1842, he
said : " As concerning the resurrection, I will merely say that all
men will come from the grave as they lie down, whether old or
young; there will not be added unto their stature one cubit/
neither taken from it. All will be raised by the power of God,
having spirit in their bodies but not blood." *
In " The Latter-Day Saints Catechism or Child s Ladder,"
by Elder David Moffat, Genesis v. I, and Exodus xxxiii. 22, 23,
and xxiv. 10 are cited to prove that God has the form and parts
of a man.
The greatest vagaries of doctrinal teachings are found during
Brigham Young s reign in Utah. In the way of a curiosity the
following diagram and its explanation, by Orson Hyde, may be
reproduced from the Millennial Star, Vol. IX, p. 23:
"The above diagram shows the order and unity of the Kingdom of God.
The eternal Father sits at the head, crowned King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
Wherever the other lines meet there sits a king and priest under God, bearing
rule, authority and dominion under the Father. He is one with the Father,
because his Kingdom is joined to his Father s and becomes part of it. ... It
will be seen by the above diagram that there are kingdoms of all sizes, an
infinite variety to suit all grades of merit and ability. The chosen vessels of
God are the kings and priests that are placed at the heads of their kingdoms.
They have received their washings and anointings in the Temple of God on
earth."
Young s ambition was not to be satisfied until his name was
connected with some doctrine peculiarly his own. Accordingly,
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XIX, p. 213.
A DIAGRAM OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD.
The above diagram shows the order and unity of the kingdom of God. The
eternal Fathersits at the head, crowned King of kings and Lord of lords. Where-
ever the other lines meet, there sits a king and a priest unto God, bearing rule,
authority, and dominion under the Father. He is one with the Father, because
his kingdom is joined to his Father s and becomes part of it.
The most eminent and distinguished prophets who have laid down their lives for
their testimony (Jesus among the rest), will be crowned at the head of the largest
kingdoms under the Father, and will be one with Christ as Christ is one with his
Father; for their kingdoms are all joined together, and such as do the will of the
Father, the same .are his mothers, sisters, and brothers. TTo "that, hns hr>r>n faithful
BELIEFS AND DOCTRINES CHURCH GOVERNMENT 117
in a long sermon preached in the Tabernacle on April 9, 1852, he
made this announcement (the italics and capitals follow the official
report) :
"Now hear it, O inhabitants of the earth, Jew and Gentile, saint and sinner.
When our father Adam came into the Garden of Eden, he came into it with a
celestial body, and brought Eve, one of his wives, with him. He helped to make
and organize this world. He is MICHAEL, the Archangel, the ANCIENT OF DAYS,
about whom holy men have written and spoken. 1 HE is our FATHER and our
GOD, and the only God with whom WE have to do. Every man upon the earth,
professing Christians or non-professing, must hear it and will know it sooner or
later. ... I could tell you much more about this ; but were I to tell you the
whole truth, blasphemy would be nothing to it, in the estimation of the super
stitious and over righteous of mankind. . . . Jesus, our Elder Brother, was
begotten in the flesh by the same character that was in the Garden of Eden, and
who is our Father in heaven." 2
This doctrine was made a leading point of difference between
the Utah church and the Reorganized Church, when the latter was
organized, but it is no longer defended even in Utah. The Deseret
Evening News of March 21, 1900, said on this point, "That
which President Young set forth in the discourse referred to is not
preached either to the Latter-Day Saints or to the world as a part
of the creed of the church."
Young never hesitated to rebuke an associate whose preaching
did not suit him. In a discourse in Salt Lake City, on March 8,
1857, ne rebuked Orson Pratt, one of the ablest of the church
writers, declaring that Pratt did not " know enough to keep his
foot out of it, but drowns himself in his philosophy." He ridiculed
his doctrine that " the devils in hell are composed of and rilled
with the Holy Spirit, or Holy Ghost, and possess all the knowl
edge, wisdom, and power of the gods," and said, " When I read
some of the writings of such philosophers they make me think,
O dear, granny, what a long tail our puss has got. " 3
The Mormon church still holds that an existing head of that
organization can always interpret the divine will regarding any
question. This was never more strikingly illustrated than when
Woodruff, by a mere dictum, did away with the obligatory char
acter of polygamy.
1 Young, in a public discourse on October 23, 1853, declared that he rejected the
story of Adam s creation as "baby stories my mother taught me when I was a child."
But the Mormon Bible (2 Nephi ii. 18-22) tells the story of Adam s fall.
2 Journal of Discourses, Vol. I, pp. 50, 51. 8 Ibid., Vol. IV, p. 297.
U 8 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
When the Mormons were under a cloud in Illinois, in 1842,
John Wentworth, editor of the Chicago Democrat, applied to Smith
for a statement of their belief, and received in reply a list of 13
"Articles of Faith " over Smith s signature. This statement was
intended to win for them sympathy as martyrs to a simple religious
belief, and it has been cited in Congress as proof of their soul
purity. But as illustrating the polity of the church it is quite
valueless.
The doctrine of polygamy and the ceremonies of the Endow
ment House will be considered in their proper place. One dis
tinctive doctrine of the church must be explained before this
subject is dismissed, namely, that which calls for " baptism for
the dead." This doctrine is founded on an interpretation of
i Corinthians xv. 29 : " Else what shall they do which are
baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all ? Why are they
then baptized for the dead ?"
An explanation of this doctrine in the Times and Seasons of
May i, 1841, says: -
" This text teaches us the important and cheering truth that the departed
spirit is in a probationary state, and capable of being affected by the proclama
tion of the Gospel. . . . Christ offers pardon, peace, holiness, and eternal life to
the quick and the dead, the living, on condition of faith and baptism for re
mission of sins ; the departed, on the same condition of faith in person and
baptism by a living kinsman in his behalf. It may be asked, will this baptism
by proxy necessarily save the dead ? We answer, no ; neither will the same
necessarily save the living."
This doctrine was first taught to the church in Ohio. In later
years, in Nauvoo, Smith seemed willing to accept its paternity,
and in an article in the Times and Seasons of April 15, 1842, signed
" Ed.," when he was its editor, he said that he was the first to
point it out. The article shows, however, that it was doubtless
written by Rigdon, as it indicates a knowledge of the practice of
such baptism by the Marcionites in the second century, and of
Chrysostom s explanation of it. A note on i Corinthians xv. 29,
in "The New Testament Commentary for English Readers,"
edited by Lord Bishop Ellicott of Gloucester and Bristol (London,
1878), gives the following historical sketch of the practice :
" There have been numerous and ingenious conjectures as to the meaning of
this passage. The only tenable interpretation is that there existed amongst
BELIEFS AND DOCTRINES CHURCH GOVERNMENT 119
some of the Christians at Corinth a practice of baptizing a living person in the
stead of some convert who had died before that sacrament had been administered
to him. Such a practice existed amongst the Marcionites in the second century,
and still earlier amongst a sect called the Cerinthians. The idea evidently was
that, whatever benefit flowed from baptism, might be thus vicariously secured
for the deceased Christian. St. Chrysostom gives the following description of
it : After a catechumen (one prepared for baptism but not actually baptized)
was dead, they hid a living man under the bed of the deceased ; then, coming
to the bed of the dead man, they spoke to him, and asked whether he would
receive baptism ; and, he making no answer, the other replied in his stead, and
so they baptized the living for the dead. 1 Does St. Paul then, by what he here
says, sanction the superstitious practice ? Certainly not. He carefully sepa
rated himself and the Corinthians, to whom he immediately addresses himself,
from those who adopted this custom. . . . Those who do that, and disbelieve a
resurrection, refute themselves. This custom possibly sprang up among the
Jewish converts, who had been accustomed to something similar in their faith.
If a Jew died without having been purified from some ceremonial uncleanness,
some living person had the necessary ablution performed on him, and the dead
were so accounted clean."
Other commentators have found means to explain this text
without giving it reference to a baptism for dead persons, as, for
instance, that it means, " with an interest in the resurrection of the
dead." 1 Another explanation is that by "the dead" is meant the
dead Christ, as referred to in Romans vi. 3, " Know ye not that
so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized
into his death ? "
This doctrine was a very taking one with the uneducated Mor
mon converts who crowded into Nauvoo, and the church officers
saw in it a means to hasten the work on the Temple. At first
families would meet on the bank of the Mississippi River, and
some one, of the order of the Melchisedec Priesthood, would bap
tize them wholesale for all their dead relatives whose names they
could remember, each sex for relatives of the same. But as soon
as the font in the Temple was ready for use, these baptisms were
restricted to that edifice, and it was required that all the baptized
should have paid their tithings. At a conference at Nauvoo in
October, 1841, Smith said that those who neglected the baptism of
their dead "did it at the peril of their own salvation." 2
The form of church government, as worked out in the early days,
is set forth in the " Book of Doctrine and Covenants." The first
1 " Commentary by Bishops and Other Clergy of the Anglican Church."
2 Times and Seasons, Vol. II, p. 578.
120 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
officers provided for were the twelve apostles, 1 and the next the
elders, priests, teachers, and deacons, Edward Partridge being
announced as the first bishop in 1831. The church was loosely
governed for the first years after its establishment at Kirtland. A
guiding power was provided for in a revelation of March 8, 1833
(Sec. 90), when Smith was told by the Lord that Rigdon and
F. G. Williams were accounted as equal with him " in holding the
keys of this last kingdom." These three first held the famous office
of the First Presidency, representing the Trinity.
On February 17, 1834 (Sec. 102), a General High Council of
twenty-four High Priests assembled at Smith s house in Kirtland
and organized the High Council of the church, consisting of Twelve
High Priests, with one or three Presidents, as the case might re
quire. The office of High Priest, and the organization of a High
Council were apparently an afterthought, and were added to the
" revelation " after its publication in the " Book of Commandments."
Other forms of organization that were from time to time decided
on were announced in a revelation dated March 28, 1835 (Sec. 107),
which defined the two priesthoods, Melchisedec and Aaronic, and
their powers. There were to be three Presiding High Priests to
form a Quorum of the Presidency of the church ; a Seventy, called
to preach the Gospel, who would form a Quorum equal in authority
to the Quorum of the Twelve, and be presided over by seven of their
number. Smith soon organized two of these Quorums of Seventies.
At the time of the dedications of the Temple at Nauvoo, in 1844,
there were fifteen of them, and to-day they number more than 1 20.
Each separate church organization, as formed, was called a
Stake, and each Stake had over it a Presidency, High Priests, and
Council of Twelve. We find the meaning of the word " Stake " in
some of Smith s earlier " revelations." Thus, in the one dated
June 4, 1833, regarding the organization of the church at Kirtland,
it was said, " It is expedient in me that this Stake that I have set
for the strength of Zion be made strong." Again, in one dated
December 16, 1839, on tne gathering of the Saints, it is stated, "I
have other places which I will appoint unto them, and they shall
be called Stakes for the curtains, or the strength of Zion." In Utah,
to-day, the Stakes form groups of settlements, and are generally
organized on county lines.
1 (Sec. 1 8, June, 1829.)
BELIEFS AND DOCTRINES CHURCH GOVERNMENT 12 1
The prophet made a substantial provision for his father, found
ing for him the office of Patriarch, in accordance with an unpub
lished "revelation." The principal business of the Patriarch was
to dispense " blessings," which were regarded by the faithful as a
sort of charm, to ward off misfortune. Joseph, Sr., awarded these
blessings without charge when he began dispensing them at Kirt-
land, but a High Council held there in 1835 allowed him $10 a
week while blessing the church. After his formal anointing in
1836 he was known as Father Smith, and the next year his salary
was made $1.50 a day. 1 Hyrum became Patriarch when his
father died in 1840, his brother William succeeded him, his Uncle
John came next, and his Uncle Joseph after John. Patriarchal
blessings were advertised in the Mormon newspaper in Nauvoo like
other merchandise. They could be obtained in writing, and con
tained promises of almost anything that a man could wish, such as
freedom from poverty and disease, life prolonged until the coming
of Christ, etc. 2 In 1875 the price of a blessing in Utah had risen
to $2. The office of Patriarch is still continued, with one chief
Patriarch, known as Patriarch of the Church, and subordinate Patri
archs in the different Stakes. The position of Patriarch of the
church has always been regarded as a hereditary one, and bestowed
on some member of the Smith family, as it is to-day.
1 The departure of the Patriarch from Ohio was somewhat dramatic. As his wife
tells the story in her book, the old man was taken by a constable before a justice of the
peace on a charge of performing the marriage service without any authority, and was
fined $3000, and sentenced to the penitentiary in default of payment. Through the
connivance of the constable, who had been a Mormon, the prisoner was allowed to leap
out of a window, and he remained in hiding at New Portage until his family were ready
to start for Missouri. The revelation of January 19, 1841, announced that he was then
sitting "with Abraham at his right hand."
2 Ferris s " Utah and the Mormons," p. 314, and "Wife No. 19," p. 581.
BOOK II
IN OHIO
CHAPTER I
THE FIRST CONVERTS AT KIRTLAND
THE four missionaries who had been sent to Ohio under Cow-
dery s leadership arrived there in October, 1830. Rigdon left Kirt-
land on his visit to Smith in New York State in the December
following, and in January, 1831, he returned to Ohio, taking Smith
with him.
The party who set out for Ohio, ostensibly to preach to the
Lamanites, consisted of Oliver Cowdery, Parley P. Pratt, Peter
Whitmer, Jr., and Ziba Peterson, the latter one of Smith s original
converts, who, it may be noted, was deprived of his land and made
to work for others a year later in Missouri, because of offences
against the church authorities. These men preached as they jour
neyed, making a brief stop at Buffalo to instruct the Indians there.
On reaching Ohio, Pratt s acquaintance with Rigdon s Disciples
gave him an opportunity to bring the new Bible to the attention of
many people. The character of the Smiths was quite unknown to
the pioneer settlers, and the story of the miraculously delivered
Bible filled many of them with wonder rather than with unbelief.
The missionaries began the work of organizing a church at
once. Some members of Rigdon s congregation had already formed
a " common stock society," and were believers in a speedy millen
nium, and to these the word brought by the new-comers was espe
cially welcome. Cowdery baptized seventeen persons into the new
church. Rigdon at the start denied his right to do this, and, in a
debate between him and the missionaries which followed at Rig
don s house, Rigdon quoted Scripture to prove that, even if they
had seen an angel, as they declared, it might have been Satan
122
THE FIRST CONVERTS AT KIRTLAND 123
transformed. Cowdery asked if he thought that, in response to a
prayer that God would show him an angel, the Heavenly Father
would suffer Satan to deceive him. Rigdon replied that if Cow
dery made such a request of the Heavenly Father " when He has
never promised you such a thing, if the devil never had an oppor
tunity of deceiving you before, you give him one now." l But
after a brief study of the new book, Rigdon announced that he, too,
had had a "revelation," declaring to him that Mormonism was
to be believed. He saw in a vision all the orders of professing
Christians pass before him, and all were " as corrupt as corruption
itself," while the heart of the man who brought him the book was
"as pure as an angel."
The announcement of Rigdon s conversation gave Mormonism
an advertisement and a support that had a wide effect, and it alarmed
the orthodox of that part of the country as they had never been
alarmed before. Referring to it, Hayden says, " The force of this
shock was like an earthquake when Symonds Ryder, Ezra Booth, and
many others submitted to the New Dispensation. " Largely
through his influence, the Mormon church at Kirtland soon num
bered more than one hundred members.
During all that autumn and early winter crowds went to Kirt
land to learn about the new religion. On Sundays the roads would
be thronged with people, some in whatever vehicles they owned,
some on horseback, and some on foot, all pressing forward to hear
the expounders of the new Gospel and to learn the particulars of
the new Bible. Pioneers in a country where there was little to give
variety to their lives, they were easily influenced by any religious
excitement, and the announcement of a new Bible and prophet was
certain to arouse their liveliest interest. They had, indeed, inher
ited a tendency to religious enthusiasm, so recently had their parents
gone through the excitements of the early days of Methodism, or
of the great revivals of the new West at the beginning of the cen
tury, when (to quote one of the descriptions given by Henry Howe)
more than twenty thousand persons assembled in one vast encamp
ment, "hundreds of immortal beings moving to and fro, some
preaching, some praying for mercy, others praising God. Such
1 " It seemed to be a part of Rigdon s plan to make such a fight that, when he did
surrender, the triumph of the cause that had defeated him would be all the more com
plete." KENNEDY, " Early Days of Mormonism."
I2 4 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
was the eagerness of the people to attend, that entire neighborhoods
were forsaken, and the roads literally crowded by those pressing
forward on their way to the groves." l Any new religious leader
could then make his influence felt on the Western border. Dylkes,
the " Leatherwood God," had found it necessary only to announce
himself as the real Messiah at an Ohio camp-meeting, in 1828, to
build up a sect on that assumption. Freewill Baptists, Winebren-
nerians, Disciples, Shakers, and Universalists were urging their
doctrines and confusing the minds of even the thoughtful with their
conflicting views. We have seen to what beliefs the preaching of
the Disciples evangelists had led the people of the Western Reserve,
and it did not really require a much broader exercise of faith (or
credulity) to accept the appearance of a new prophet with a new
Bible.
While the main body of converts was made up of persons easily
susceptible to religious excitement, and accustomed to have their
opinions on such subjects formed for them, men of education and
more or less training in theology were found among the early adhe
rents to the new belief. It is interesting to see how the minds of
such men were influenced, and this we are enabled to do from per
sonal experiences related by some of them.
One of these, John Corrill, a man of intelligence, who stayed
with the church until it was driven out of Missouri, then became a
member of the Missouri Legislature, and wrote a brief history of
the church to the year 1839, in this pamphlet answered very clearly
the question often asked by his friends, " How did you come to
join the Mormons ? " A copy of the new Bible was given to him by
Cowdery when the missionaries, on their Western trip, passed through
Ashtabula County, Ohio, where he lived. A brief reading con
vinced him that it was a mere money-making scheme, and when
he learned that they had stopped at Kirtland, he did not entertain
a doubt, that, under Rigdon s criticism, the pretensions of the mis
sionaries would be at once laid bare. When, on the contrary, word
came that Rigdon and the majority of his society had accepted the
new faith, Corrill asked himself : " What does this mean ? Are Elder
Rigdon and these men such fools as to be duped by these impos
tors ? " After talking the matter over with a neighbor, he decided
to visit Kirtland, hoping to bring Rigdon home with him, with the
1 " Historical Collections of the Great West."
THE FIRST CONVERTS AT KIRTLAND 125
idea that he might be saved from the imposition if he could be taken
from the influence of the impostors. But before he reached Kirt-
land, Corrill heard of Rigdon s baptism into the new church. Find
ing Kirtland in a state of great religious excitement, he sought
discussions with the leaders of the new movement, but not always
successfully.
Corrill started home with a " heart full of serious reflections."
Were not the people of Berea nobler than the people of Thessalo-
nica because "they searched the Scriptures daily, whether these
things were so ? " Might he not be fighting against God in his dis
belief ? He spent two or three weeks reading the Mormon Bible ;
investigated the bad reports of the new sect that reached him and
found them without foundation ; went back to Kirtland, and there
convinced himself that the laying on of hands and " speaking with
tongues " were inspired by some supernatural agency ; admitted to
himself that, accepting the words of Peter (Acts ii. 17-20), it was
"just as consistent to look for prophets in this age as in any other."
Smith seemed to have been a bad man, but was not Moses a fugi
tive from justice, as the murderer of a man whose body he had hid
den in the sand, when God called him as a prophet ? The story of
the long hiding and final delivery of the golden plates to Smith
taxed his credulity ; but on rereading the Scriptures he found that
books are referred to therein which they do not contain Book of
Nathan the Prophet, Book of Gad the Seer, Book of Shemaiah the
Prophet, and Book of Iddo the Seer (i Chron. xxix. 29; 2 Chron.
ix. 29 and xii. 15). This convinced him that the Scriptures were
not complete. Daniel and John were commanded to seal the Book.
David declared (Psalms xxxv. n) that "truth shall spring out of
the earth," and from the earth Smith took the plates ; and Ezekiel
(xxxvii. 15-21) foretold the existence of two records, by means of
which there shall be a gathering together of the children of Israel.
It finally seemed to Corrill that the Mormon Bible corresponded
with the record of Joseph referred to by Ezekiel, the Holy Bible
being the record of Judah.
Not fully satisfied, he finally decided, however, to join the new
church, with a mental reservation that he would leave it if he ever
found it to be a deception. Explaining his reasons for leaving
it when he did, he says, " I can see nothing that convinces me
that God has been our leader; calculation after calculation has
I2 6 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
failed, and plan after plan has been overthrown, and our prophet
seemed not to know the event till too late."
The two other most prominent converts to the new church in
Ohio were the Rev. Ezra Booth, a Methodist preacher of more
than ordinary culture, of Mantua, and Symonds Ryder, a native
of Vermont, whom Alexander Campbell had converted to the
Disciples belief in 1828, and who occupied the pulpit at Hiram
when called on. Booth visited Smith in 1831, with some members
of his own congregation, and was so impressed by the miraculous
curing of the lame arm of a woman of his party by Smith, that he
soon gave in his allegiance. Ryder had always found one thing
lacking in the Disciples theology he looked for some actual
" gift of the Holy Spirit " in the way of " signs " that were to fol
low them that believed. He was eventually induced to announce
his conversion to the new church after " he read in a newspaper,
an account of the destruction of Pekin in China, and remembered
that, six weeks before, a young Mormon girl had predicted the
destruction of that city." This statement was made in the sermon
preached at his funeral. Both of these men confessed their mis
take four months later, after Booth had returned from a trip to
Missouri with Smith.
Among the ignorant, even the most extravagant of the claims
of the Mormon leaders had influence. One man, when he heard
an elder in the midst of a sermon " speak with tongues," in a
language he had never heard before, "felt a sudden thrill from
the back of his head down his backbone," and was converted on
the spot. John D. Lee, of Catholic education, was convinced by
an elder that the end of the world was near, and sold his property
in Illinois for what it would bring, and moved to Far West, in
order to be in the right place when the last day dawned. Lorenzo
Snow, the recent President of the church, says that he was " thor
oughly convinced that obedience to those [the Mormon] prophets
would impart miraculous powers, manifestations, and revelations,"
the first manifestation of which occurred some weeks later, when
he heard a sound over his head " like the rustling of silken robes,
and the spirit of God descended upon me." 1
The arguments that control men s religious opinions are too
varied even for classification. In a case like Mormonism they
1 Biography of Snow, by his sister Eliza.
THE FIRST CONVERTS AT KIRTLAND
127
range from the really conscientious study of a Corrill to the whim
of the Paumotuan, of whom Stevenson heard in the South Seas,
who turned Mormon when his wife died, after being a pillar of
the Catholic church for fifteen years, on the ground that "that
must be a poor religion that could not save a man his wife." Any
person who will examine those early defences of the Mormon
faith, Parley P. Pratt s " A Voice of Warning," and Orson Pratt s
" Divine Authenticity of the Book of Mormon," will find what use
can be made of an insistence on the literal acceptance of the Scrip
tures in defending such a sect as theirs, especially with persons
whose knowledge of the Scriptures is much less than their rever
ence for them.
Professor J. B. Turner, 1 writing in 1842, when the early teach
ings of Mormonism had just had their effect in what is now styled
the middle West, observed that these teachings had made more
infidels than Mormon converts. This is accounted for by the fact
that persons who attempted to follow the Mormon argument by
studying the Scriptures, found their previous interpretation of
parts of the Holy Bible overturned, and the whole book placed
under a cloud. W. J. Stillman mentions a similar effect in the
case of Ruskin. When they were in Switzerland, Ruskin would
do no painting on Sunday, while Stillman regarded the sanctity
of the first day of the week as a "theological fiction." In a dis
cussion of the subject between them, Stillman established to Rus-
kin s satisfaction that there was no Scriptural authority for
transferring the day of rest from the seventh to the first day of
the week. "The creed had so bound him to the letter," says
Stillman, "that the least enlargement of the stricture broke it,
and he rejected, not only the tradition of the Sunday Sabbath,
but the whole of the ecclesiastical interpretation of the texts. He
said, If they have deceived me in this, they have probably de
ceived me in all. " The Mormons soon learned that it was more
profitable for them to seek converts among those who would ac
cept without reasoning.
t
1 " Mormonism in all Ages."
CHAPTER II
WILD VAGARIES OF THE CONVERTS
THE scenes at Kirtland during the first winter of the church
there reached the limit of religious enthusiasm. The younger
members outdid the elder in manifesting their belief. They saw
wonderful lights in the air, and constantly received visions.
Mounting stumps in the field, they preached to imaginary con
gregations, and, picking up stones, they would read on them
words which they said disappeared as soon as known. At the
evening prayer-meetings the laying on of hands would be fol
lowed by a sort of fit, in which the enthusiasts would fall appar
ently lifeless on the floor, or contort their faces, creep on their
hands or knees, imitate the Indian process of killing and scalping,
and chase balls of fire through the fields. 1
Some of the young men announced that they had received
" commissions " to teach and preach, written on parchment, which
came to them from the sky, and which they reached by jumping
into the air. Howe reproduces one of these, the conclusion of
which, with the seal, follows :
"That that you had a messenger tell you to go and get the other night,
you must not show to any son of Adam. Obey this, and I will stand by you
in all cases. My servants, obey my commandments in all cases, and I will
provide.
" Be ye always ready, ")
Be ye always ready, \> Whenever I shall call.
Be ye always ready, j My seal.
1 CorrilPs " Brief History of the Church," p. 16; Howe s "Mormonism Unveiled,
p. 104.
128
WILD VAGARIES OF THE CONVERTS 129
" There shall be something of great importance revealed when I shall call you
to go : My servants, be faithful over a few things, and I will make you a ruler
over many. Amen, Amen, Amen."
Foolishly extravagant as these manifestations appear (Corrill
says that comparatively few members indulged in them), there
was nothing in them peculiar to the Mormon belief. The meet
ings of the Disciples, in the year of Smith s arrival in Ohio and
later, when men like Campbell and Scott spoke, were swayed
with the most intense religious enthusiasm. A description of the
effect of Campbell s preaching at a grove meeting in the Cuya-
hoga Valley in 1831 says:
" The woods were full of horses and carriages, and the hundreds already
there were rapidly swelled to many thousands ; all were of one race the
Yankee ; all of one calling, or nearly the farmer. . . . When Campbell
closed, low murmurs broke and ran through the awed crowd ; men and women
from all parts of the vast assembly with streaming eyes came forward ; young
men who had climbed into small trees from curiosity, came down from conviction,
and went forward for baptism." 1
It is easy to cite very " orthodox " precedents for such mani
festations. One of these we find in the accounts of what were
called "the jerks," which accompanied a great revival in 1803,
brought about by the preaching of the Rev. Joseph Badger, a
Yale graduate and a Congregationalist, who was the first mission
ary to the Western Reserve. J. S. C. Abbott, in his history of
Ohio, describing the " jerks," says:
" The subject was instantaneously seized with spasms in every muscle, nerve
and tendon. His head was thrown backward and forward, and from side to
side, with inconceivable rapidity. So swift was the motion that the features
could no more be discerned than the spokes of a wheel can be seen when
revolving with the greatest velocity. . . . All were impressed with a conviction
that there was something supernatural in these convulsions, and that it was
opposing the spirit of God to resist them."
The most extravagant enthusiasm of the Kirtland converts,
and the most extravagant claims of the Mormon leaders at that
time, were exceeded by the manifestations of converts in the
early days of Methodism, and the miraculous occurrences testified
to by Wesley himself, 2 a cloud tempering the sun in answer to
1 Riddle s "The Portrait."
2 For examples see Lecky s " England in the Nineteenth Century," Vol. Ill, Chap.
VIII, and Wesley s Journal."
K
130 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
his prayer ; his horse cured of lameness by faith ; the case of a
blind Catholic girl who saw plainly when her eyes rested on the
New Testament, but became blind again when she took up the
Mass Book.
These Mormon enthusiasts were only suffering from a manifes
tation to which man is subject; and we can agree with a Mormon
elder who, although he left the church disgusted with its extrava
gances, afterward remarked, "The man of religious feeling will
know how to pity rather than upbraid that zeal without knowledge
which leads a man to fancy that he has found the ladder of Jacob,
and that he sees the angel of the Lord ascending and descending
before his eyes."
When Smith and Rigdon reached Kirtland they found the new
church in a state of chaos because of these wild excitements, and
of an attempt to establish a community of possessions, growing out
of Rigdon s previous teachings. These communists held that what
belonged to one belonged to all, and that they could even use any
one s clothes or other personal property without asking permission.
Many of the flock resented this, and anything but a condition of
brotherly love resulted. Smith, in his account of the situation as
they found it, says that the members were striving to do the will
of God, " though some had strange notions, and false spirits had
crept in among them. With a little caution and some wisdom, I
soon assisted the brothers and sisters to overcome them. The plan
of common stock/ which had existed in what was called * the
family, whose members generally had embraced the Everlasting
Gospel, was readily abandoned for the more perfect law of the
Lord," 1 which the prophet at once expounded.
Smith announced that the Lord had informed him that the
ravings of the converts were of the devil, and this had a deterring
effect ; but at an important meeting of elders to receive an endow
ment, some three months later, conducted by Smith himself, the
spirits got hold of some of the elders. " It threw one from his
seat to the floor," says Corrill. " It bound another so that for
some time he could not use his limbs or speak ; and some other
curious effects were experienced. But by a mighty exertion, in
the name of the Lord, it was exposed and shown to be of an evil
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XIV, Supt., p. 56.
CHAPTER III
GROWTH OF THE CHURCH
IN order not to interrupt the story of the Mormons experiences
in Ohio, leaving the first steps taken in Missouri to be treated in
connection with the regular course of events in that state, it will
be sufficient to say here that Cowdery, Pratt, and their two com
panions continued their journey as far as the western border of
Missouri, in the winter of 1830 and 1831, making their headquar
ters at Independence, Jackson County; that, on receipt of their
reports about that country, Smith and Rigdon, with others, made
a trip there in June, 1831, during which the corner-stones of the
City of Zion and the Temple were laid, and officers were appointed
to receive money for the purchase of the land for the Saints, its
division, etc. Smith and Rigdon returned to Kirtland on August
27, 1831.
The growth of the church in Ohio was rapid. In two or three
weeks after the arrival of the four pioneer missionaries, 127 per
sons had been baptized, and by the spring of 1831 the number of
converts had increased to 1000. Almost all the male converts
were honored with the title of elder. By a " revelation " dated
February 9, 1831 (Sec. 42), all of these elders, except Smith and
Rigdon, were directed to "go forth in the power of my spirit,
preaching my Gospel, two by two, in my name, lifting up your
voices as with the voice of a trump." This was the beginning of
that extensive system of proselyting which was soon extended to
Europe, which was so instrumental in augmenting the membership
of the church in its earlier days, and which is still carried on with
the utmost zeal and persistence. The early missionaries travelled
north into Canada and through almost all the states, causing alarm
even in New England by the success of their work. One man
there, in 1832, reprinted at his own expense Alexander Campbell s
132
THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
pamphlet exposing the ridiculous features of the Mormon Bible,
for distribution as an offset to the arguments of the elders.
Women of means were among those who moved to Kirtland from
Massachusetts. In three years after Smith and Rigdon met in
Palmyra, Mormon congregations had been established in nearly
all the Northern and Middle states and in some of the Southern,
with baptisms of from 30 to 130 in a place. 1
Smith had relaxed none of his determination to be the one
head of the church. As soon as he arrived in Kirtland he put
forth a long " revelation " (Sec. 43) which left Rigdon no doubt of
the prophet s intentions. It declared to the elders that " there is
none other [but Smith] appointed unto you to receive command
ments and revelations until he be taken," and that " none else shall
be appointed unto his gift except it be through him." Not only
was Smith s spiritual power thus intrenched, but his temporal
welfare was looked after. "And again I say unto you," continues
this mouthpiece of the Lord, "if ye desire the mysteries of the
Kingdom, provide for him food and raiment and whatsoever he
needeth to accomplish the work wherewith I have commanded him."
In the same month came another declaration, saying (Sec. 41),
" It is meet that my servant Joseph Smith, Jr., should have a house
built, in which to live and translate" (the Scriptures). With a
streak of generosity it was added, " It is meet that my servant
Sidney Rigdon should live as seemeth him good."
The iron hand with which Smith repressed Rigdon from the
date of their arrival in Ohio affords strong proof of Rigdon s com
plicity in the Bible plot, and of Smith s realization of the fact that
he stood to his accomplice in the relation of a burglar to his mate,
where the burglar has both the boodle and the secret in his posses
sion. An illustration of this occurred during their first trip to
Missouri. Rigdon and Smith did not agree about the desirability
of western Missouri as a permanent abiding-place for the church.
The Rev. Ezra Booth, after leaving the Mormons, contributed a
series of letters on his experience with Smith to the Ohio Star of
Ravenna. 2 In the first of these he said : " On our arrival in the
western part of the state of Missouri we discovered that prophecy
and visions had failed, or rather had proved false. This fact was
1 Turner s " Mormonism in all Ages," p. 38.
a Copied in Howe s " Mormonism Unveiled."
GROWTH OF THE CHURCH 133
so notorious that Mr. Rigdon himself says that Joseph s vision
was a bad thing. : Smith nevertheless directed Rigdon to write
a description of that promised land, and, when the production did
not suit him, he represented the Lord as censuring Rigdon in a
" revelation " (Sec. 63):-
" And now behold, verily I say unto you, I, the Lord, am not pleased with
my servant Sidney Rigdon ; he exalteth himself in his heart, and receiveth not
counsel, but grieveth the spirit. Wherefore his writing is not acceptable unto
the Lord ; and he shall make another, and if the Lord receiveth it not, behold he
standeth no longer in the office which I have appointed him."
That the proud-minded, educated preacher, who refused to
allow Campbell to claim the foundership of the Disciples church,
should take such a rebuke and threat of dismissal in silence from
Joe Smith of Palmyra, and continue under his leadership, cer
tainly indicates some wonderful hold that the prophet had upon
him.
While the travelling elders were doing successful work in
adding new converts to the fold, there was beginning to manifest
itself at Kirtland that " apostasy " which lost the church so
many members of influence, and was continued in Missouri so far
that Mayor Grant said, in Salt Lake City, in 1856, that " one-half
at least of the Yankee members of this church have apostatized." 1
The secession of men like Booth and Ryder, and their public
exposure of Smith s methods, coupled with rumors of immoral
practices in the fold, were followed by the tarring and feathering
of Smith and Rigdon on the night of Saturday, March 25, 1832.
The story of this outrage is told in Smith s autobiography, and
the details there given may be in the main accepted.
Smith and his wife were living at the house of a farmer named
Johnson in Hiram township, while he and Rigdon were translating
the Scriptures. Mrs. Smith had taken two infant twins to bring
up, and on the night in question she and her husband were taking
turns sitting up with these babies, who were just recovering from
the measles. While Smith was sleeping, his wife heard a tapping
on the window, but gave it no attention. The mob, believing that
all within were asleep, then burst in the door, seized Smith as he
lay partly dressed on a trundle bed, and rushed him out of doors,
1 Journal of Discourses, Vol. Ill, p. 201.
134 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
his wife crying " murder." Smith struggled as best he could, but
they carried him around the house, choking him until he became
unconscious. Some thirty yards from the house he saw Rigdon,
" stretched out on the ground, whither they had dragged him by
the heels." When they had carried Smith some thirty yards
farther, some of the mob meantime asking, "Ain t ye going to
kill him ? " a council was held and some one asked, " Simmons,
where s the tar-bucket ? " When the bucket was brought up they
tried to force the " tar-paddle " into Smith s mouth, and also, he
says, to force a phial between his teeth. He adds :
" All my clothes were torn off me except my shirt collar, and one man fell on
me and scratched my body with his nails like a mad cat. They then left me, and
I attempted to rise, but fell again. I pulled the tar away from my lips, etc., so that
I could breathe more freely, and after a while I began to recover, and raised myself
up, when I saw two lights. I made my way toward one of them, and found it was
father Johnson s. When I had come to the door I was naked, and the tar made
me look as though I had been covered with blood ; and when my wife saw me
she thought I was all smashed to pieces, and fainted. During the affray abroad,
the sisters of the neighborhood collected at my room. I called for a blanket ;
they threw me one and shut the door ; I wrapped it around me and went in. ...
My friends spent the night in scraping and removing the tar and washing and
cleansing my body, so that by morning I was ready to be clothed again. . . .
With my flesh all scarified and defaced, I preached [that morning] to the
congregation as usual, and in the afternoon of the same day baptized three
individuals."
Rigdon s treatment is described as still more severe. He was
not only dragged over the ground by the heels, but was well
covered with tar and feathers ; and when Smith called on him
the next day he found him delirious, and calling for a razor with
which to kill his wife.
All Mormon accounts of this, as well as later persecutions,
attempt to make the ground of attack hostility to the Mormon
religions beliefs, presenting them entirely in the light of outrages
on liberty of opinion. Symonds Ryder (whom Smith accuses of
being one of the mob), says that the attack had this origin : The
people of Hiram had the reputation of being very receptive and
liberal in their religious views. The Mormons therefore preached
to them, and seemed in a fair way to win a decided success, when
the leaders made their first trip to Missouri. Papers which they
left behind outlining the internal system of the new church fell
GROWTH OF THE CHURCH 135
into the hands of some of the converts, and " revealed to them the
horrid fact that a plot was laid to take their property from them
and place it under the control of Smith, the Prophet. . . . Some
who had been the dupes of this deception determined not to let it
pass with impunity ; and, accordingly, a company was formed of
citizens from Shalersville, Garretsville, and Hiram, and took
Smith and Rigdon from their beds and tarred and feathered
them." 1
This manifestation of hostility to the leaders of the new church
was only a more pronounced form of that which showed itself
against Smith before he left New York State. When a man of
his character and previous history assumes the right to baptize
and administer the sacrament, he is certain to arouse the animos
ity, not only of orthodox church members, but of members of the
community who are lax in their church duties. Goldsmith illus
trates this kind of feeling when, in " She Stoops to Conquer," he
makes one of the " several shabby fellows with punch and tobacco "
in the alehouse say, " I loves to hear him [the squire] sing, be-
keays he never gives us nothing that s low," and another responds,
" O, damn anything that s low." The Anti-Mormon feeling was
intensified and broadened by the aggressiveness with which the
Mormons sought for converts in the orthodox flocks.
Beliefs radically different from those accepted by any of the
orthodox denominations have escaped hostile opposition in this
country, even when they have outraged generally accepted social
customs. The Harmonists, in a body of 600, emigrated to Penn
sylvania to escape the persecution to which they were subjected
in Germany, purchased 5000 acres of land and organized a town ;
moved later to Indiana, where they purchased 25,000 acres; and
ten years afterward returned to Pennsylvania, and bought 5000
acres in another place, all the time holding to their belief in a
community of goods and a speedy coming of Christ, as well as the
duty of practicing celibacy, without exciting their neighbors or
arousing their enmity. The Wallingford Community in Connecti
cut, and the Oneida Community in New York State, practised
free love among themselves without persecution, until their organ
izations died from natural causes. The leaders in these and other
independent sects were clean men within their own rules, honest
1 Hayden s " Early History of the Disciples Church in the Western Reserve," p. 221.
I3 6 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
in their dealings with their neighbors, never seeking political
power, and never pressing their opinions upon outsiders. An old
resident of Wallingford writes to me, " The Community were, in
a way, very generally respected for their high standard of integ
rity in all their business transactions."
As we follow the career of the Mormons from Ohio to Missouri,
and thence to Illinois, we shall read their own testimony about the
character of their leading men, and about their view of the rights
of others in each of their neighborhoods. When Horace Greeley
asked Brigham Young in Salt Lake City for an explanation of the
" persecutions " of the Mormons, his reply was that there was " no
other explanation than is afforded by the crucifixion of Christ and
the kindred treatment of God s ministers, prophets, and saints in
all ages " ; which led Greeley to observe that, while a new sect is
always decried and traduced, naming the Baptists, Quakers,
Methodists, and Universalists, he could not remember "that
either of them was ever generally represented and regarded
by the other sects of their early days as thieves, robbers, and
murderers." 1
Another attempt by Rigdon to assert his independence of
Smith occurred while the latter was still at Mr. Johnson s house
and Rigdon was in Kirtland. The fullest account of this is found
in Mother Smith s " History," pp. 204-206. She says that Rigdon
came in late to a prayer-meeting, much agitated, and, instead of
taking the platform, paced backward and forward on the floor.
Joseph s father told him they would like to hear a discourse from
him, but he replied, " The keys of the Kingdom are rent from the
church, and there shall not be a prayer put up in this house this
day." This caused considerable excitement, and Smith s brother
Hyrum left the house, saying, "I ll put a stop to this fuss pretty
quick," and, mounting a horse, set out for Johnson s and brought
the prophet back with him. On his arrival, a meeting of the
brethren was held, and Joseph declared to them, " I myself hold
the keys of this Last Dispensation, and will forever hold them,
both in time and eternity, so set your hearts at rest upon that
point. All is right." The next day Rigdon was tried before a
council for having " lied in the name of the Lord," and was " de
livered over to the buffetings of Satan," and deprived of his license,
1 "Overland Journey," p. 214.
GROWTH OF THE CHURCH
137
Smith telling him that " the less priesthood he had, the better it
would be for him." Rigdon, Mrs. Smith says, according to his
own account, " was dragged out of bed by the devil three times
in one night by the heels," and, while she does not accept this lit
erally, she declares that "his contrition was as great as a man
could well live through." After awhile he got another license.
CHAPTER IV
GIFTS OF TONGUES AND MIRACLES
IN January, 1833, Smith announced a revival of the "gift of
tongues," and instituted the ceremony of washing the feet. 1 Un
der the new system, Smith or Rigdon, during a meeting, would
call on some brother, or sister, saying, " Father A., if you will
rise in the name of Jesus Christ you can speak in tongues." The
rule which persons thus called on were to follow was thus explained,
" Arise upon your feet, speak or make some sound, continue to
make sounds of some kind, and the Lord will make a language of
it." It was not necessary that the words should be understood by
the congregation ; some other Mormon would undertake their in
terpretation. Much ridicule was incurred by the church because
of this kind of revelation. Gunnison relates that when a woman
" speaking in tongues " pronounced " meliar, meli, melee," it was
at once translated by a young wag, " my leg, my thigh, my knee,"
and, when he was called before the Council charged with irrever
ence, he persisted in his translation, but got off with an admoni
tion. 2 At a meeting in Nauvoo in later years a doubting convert
delivered an address in real Choctaw, whereupon a woman jumped
up and offered as a translation an account of the glories of the new
Temple.
At the conference of June 4, 1831, Smith ordained Elder
Wright to the high priesthood for service among the Indians,
with the gift of tongues, healing the sick, etc. Wright at once
declared that he saw the Saviour. At one of the sessions at Kirt-
land at this time, as described by an eye-witness, Smith announced
that the day would come when no man would be permitted to
preach unless he had seen the Lord face to face. Then, address
ing Rigdon, he asked, " Sidney, have you seen the Lord ? " The
1 This ceremony has fallen into disuse in Utah.
2 "The Mormons," p. 74.
138
GIFTS OF TONGUES AND MIRACLES 139
obedient Sidney made reply, " I saw the image of a man pass be
fore my face, whose locks were white, and whose countenance was
exceedingly fair, even surpassing all beauty that I ever beheld."
Smith at once rebuked him by telling him that he would have seen
more but for his unbelief.
Almost simultaneously with Smith s first announcement of his
prophetic powers, while working his " peek-stone " in Pennsyl
vania and New York, he, as we have seen, claimed ability to per
form miracles, and he announced that he had cast out a devil at
Colesville in I83O. 1 The performance of miracles became an es
sential part of the church work at Kirtland, and had a great effect
on the superstitious converts. The elders, who in the early days
labored in England, laid great stress on their miraculous power, and
there were some amusing exposures of their pretences. The Mil
lennial Star printed a long list of successful miracles dating from
1839 to l ^S> including the deaf made to hear, the blind to see,
dislocated bones put in place, leprosy and cholera cured, and fevers
rebuked. Smith, Rigdon, and Cowdery took a leading part in this
work at Kirtland. 2 To a man nearly dead with consumption Rig
don gave assurance that he would recover " as sure as there is a
God in heaven." The man s death soon followed. When a child,
whose parents had been persuaded to trust its case to Mormon
prayers instead of calling a physician, 3 died, Smith and Rigdon
promised that it would rise from the dead, and they went through
certain ceremonies to accomplish that object. 4
The lengths to which Smith dared go in his pretensions are
well illustrated in an incident of these days. Among the curios-
1 For particulars of this miracle, see Millennial Star, Vol. XIV, pp. 28, 32.
2 While Smith was in Washington in 1840, pressing on the federal authorities the
claims of the Mormons for redress for their losses in Missouri, he preached on the
church doctrines. A member of Congress who heard him sent a synopsis of the dis
course to his wife, and Smith printed this entire in his autobiography {Millennial
Star, Vol. XVII, p. 583). Here is one passage: "He [Smith] performed no miracles.
He did not pretend to possess any such power." This is an illustration of the facility
with which Smith could lie, when to do so would serve his purpose.
3 The Saints were early believers in faith cure. Smith, in a sermon preached in
1841, urged them " to trust in God when sick, and live by faith and not by medicine or
poison" {Millennial Star, Vol. XVIII, p. 663). A coroner s jury, in an inquest over
a victim of this faith in London, England, cautioned the sect against continuing this
method of curing {Times and Seasons, 1842, p. 813).
4 For further illustrations of miracle working in Ohio, see Kennedy s " Early Days
of Mormonism," Chap. V.
I 4 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
ities of a travelling showman who passed through Kirtland were
some Egyptian mummies. As the golden plates from which the
Mormon Bible was translated were written in " reformed Egyp
tian," the translator of those plates was interested in all things
coming from Egypt, and at his suggestion the mummies were pur
chased by and for the church. On them were found some papyri
which Joseph, with the assistance of Phelps and Cowdery, set about
"translating." Their success was great, and Smith was able to
announce : " We found that one of these rolls contained the writ
ings of Abraham, another the writings of Joseph. 1 Truly we could
see that the Lord is beginning to reveal the abundance of truth."
That there might be no question about the accuracy of Smith s
translation, he exhibited a certificate signed by the proprietor
of the show, saying that he had exhibited the " hieroglyphic
characters " to the most learned men in many cities, " and
from all the information that I could ever learn or meet with, I
find that of Joseph Smith, Jr., to correspond in the most minute
matters."
Smith s autobiography contains this memorandum : " October i,
1835. This afternoon I labored on the Egyptian alphabet in com
pany with Brother O. Cowdery and W. W. Phelps, and during the
research the principals of astronomy, as understood by Father
Abraham and the Ancients, unfolded to our understanding."
When he was in the height of his power in Nauvoo, Smith printed
in the Times and Seasons a reproduction of these hieroglyphics ac
companied by this alleged translation, of what he called "the
Book of Abraham," and they were also printed in the Millennial
Star? The translation was a meaningless jumble of words after
this fashion :
" In the land of the Chaldeans, at the residence of my father, I, Abraham, saw
that it was needful for me to obtain another place of residence, and finding there
was greater happiness and peace and rest for me, I sought for the blessings of the
Fathers, and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same,
having been myself a follower of righteousness, desiring to be one also who pos-
1 When the papyri were shown to Josiah Quincy and Charles Francis Adams, on
the occasion of their visit to Nauvoo in 1844, Joseph Smith, pointing out the inscrip
tions, said : " That is the handwriting of Abraham, the Father of the Faithful. This is
the autograph of Moses, and these lines were written by his brother Aaron. Here we
have the earliest account of the creation, from which Moses composed the first Book of
Genesis." " Figures of the Past," p. 386.
2 See Vol. XIX, p. 100, etc., from which the accompanying facsimile is taken.
!; 1, r ,! > , ., .u wlii.-li tin," I n- . ! (I,., llculc uf. Abraham IN tile finm
iavl iii.kii. i njn.i ! un |>[ iiirijilr.s in ri 1 - and iVftutans, us follow!)
iMii.n FKOII Trin BOOK OF AIIUAIIAM. No. i.
,
EXPLANATION OF THE ABOVE C:UT.
, . I. The ongcl of the Lord.
I , Abraham fastened u|icm an altar.
;. The idolatrous priest of Klkenah attempting to offer up Abraham aa a sacrifu
GIFTS OF TONGUES AND MIRACLES 14!
sessed great knowledge, and to possess greater knowledge, and to be a greater
follower of righteousness."
Remy submitted a reproduction of these hieroglyphics to Th-
odule Deveria, of the Museum of the Louvre, in Paris, who found,
of course, that Smith s purported translation was wholly fraudulent.
For instance, his Abraham fastened on an altar was a representa
tion of Osiris coming to life on his funeral couch, his officiating
priest was the god Anubis, and what Smith represents to indicate
an angel of the Lord is " the soul of Osiris, under the form of a
hawk." 1 Smith s whole career offered no more brazen illustration
of his impostures than this.
A visitor to the Kirtland Temple some years later paid Joseph s
father half a dollar in order to see the Egyptian curios, which were
kept in the attic of that structure.
A well-authenticated anecdote, giving another illustration of
Smith s professed knowledge of the Egyptian language is told by
the Rev. Henry Caswall, M.A., who, after holding the Professor
ship of Divinity in Kemper College, in Missouri, became vicar of
a church in England. Mr. Caswall, on the occasion of a visit to
Nauvoo in 1842, having heard of Smith s Egyptian lore, took with
him an ancient Greek manuscript of the Psalter, on parchment,
with which to test the prophet s scholarship. The belief of Smith s
followers in his powers was shown by their eagerness to have
him see this manuscript, and their persistence in urging Mr. Cas
wall to wait a day for Smith s return from Carthage that he might
submit it to the prophet. Mr. Caswall the next day handed the
manuscript to Smith and asked him to explain its contents. After
a brief examination, Smith explained : " It ain t Greek at all, ex
cept perhaps a few words. What ain t Greek is Egyptian, and
what ain t Egyptian is Greek. This book is very valuable. It is
a dictionary of Egyptian hieroglyphics. These figures [pointing
to the capitals] is Egyptian hieroglyphics written in the reformed
Egyptian. These characters are like the letters that were en
graved on the golden plates." 2
1 See "A Journey to Great Salt Lake City," by Jules Remy (1861), Note XVII.
2 "The City of the Mormons," p. 36 (1842).
CHAPTER V
SMITH S OHIO BUSINESS ENTERPRISES
WHEN Rigdon returned to Ohio with Smith in January, 1831,
it seems to have been his intention to make Kirtland the perma
nent headquarters of the new church. He had written to his
people from Palmyra, " Be it known to you, brethren, that you
are dwelling on your eternal inheritance." When Cowdery and his
associates arrived in Ohio on their first trip, they announced as
the boundaries of the Promised Land the township *of Kirtland on
the east and the Pacific Ocean on the west. Within two months
of his arrival at Kirtland Smith gave out a " revelation " (Sec. 45),
in which the Lord commanded the elders to go forth into the west
ern countries and build up churches, and they were told of a City
of Refuge for the church, to be called the New Jerusalem. No
definite location of this city was given, and the faithful were
warned to "keep these things from going abroad unto the world."
Another " revelation " of the same month (Sec. 48) announced
that it was necessary for all to remain for the present in their
places of abode, and directed those who had lands " to impart to
the eastern brethren," and the others to buy lands, and all to save
money "to purchase lands for an inheritance, even the city."
The reports of those who first went to Missouri induced Smith
and Rigdon, before they made their first trip to that state, to an
nounce that the Saints would pass one more winter in Ohio. But
when they had visited the Missouri frontier and realized its dis
tance from even the Ohio border line, and the actual privations to
which settlers there must submit, their zeal weakened, and they
declared, " It will be many years before we come here, for the
Lord has a great work for us to do in Ohio." The building of the
Temple at Kirtland, and the investments in lots and in business
enterprises there showed that a permanent settlement in Ohio was
then decided on.
142
SMITH S OHIO BUSINESS ENTERPRISES 143
Smith s first business enterprise for the church in Ohio was a
general store which he opened in Hiram. This establishment has
been described as " a poorly furnished country store where com
merce looks starvation in the face." 1 The difficulty of combining
the positions of prophet, head of the church, and retail merchant
was naturally great. The result of the combination has been
graphically pictured by no less an authority than Brigham Young.
In a discourse in Salt Lake City, explaining why the church did
not maintain a store there, Young said :
"You that have lived in Nauvoo, in Missouri, in Kirtland, O., can you assign
a reason why Joseph could not keep a store and be a merchant ? Let me just
give you a few reasons ; and there are men here who know just how matters went
in those days. Joseph goes to New York and buys $20,000 worth of goods,
comes into Kirtland and commences to trade. In comes one of the brethren.
Brother Joseph, let me have a frock pattern for my wife. What if Joseph says,
No, I cannot without money. The consequence would be, He is no Prophet,
says James. Pretty soon Thomas walks in. l Brother Joseph, will you trust me
for a pair of boots ? l No, I cannot let them go without money. * Well, says
Thomas, t Brother Joseph is no Prophet ; I have found that out and I am glad of
it. After a while in comes Bill and Sister Susan. Says Bill, i Brother Joseph,
I want a shawl. I have not got any money, but I wish you to trust me a week or
a fortnight. Well, Brother Joseph thinks the others have gone and apostatized,
and he don t know but these goods will make the whole church do the same, so
he lets Bill have a shawl. Bill walks off with it and meets a brother. < Well,
says he, < what do you think of Brother Joseph ? < O, he is a first rate man, and
I fully believe he is a Prophet. He has trusted me this shawl. Richard says, I
think I will go down and see if he won t trust me some. In walks Richard.
Brother Joseph, I want to trade about $20. * Well, says Joseph, ; these goods
will make the people apostatize, so over they go ; they are of less value than the
people. Richard gets his goods. Another comes in the same way to make a
trade of $25, and so it goes. Joseph was a first rate fellow with them all the
time, provided he never would ask them to pay him. And so you may trace it
down through the history of this people." 2
If this analysis of the flock which Smith gathered in Ohio, and
which formed the nucleus of the settlements in Missouri, was not
permanently recorded in an official church record, its authenticity
would be vigorously assailed.
Later enterprises at Kirtland, undertaken under the auspices of
the church, included a steam sawmill and a tannery, both of which
were losing concerns. But the speculation to which later Mormon
1 Salt Lake Herald, November 17, 1877.
2 Journal of Discourses, Vol. I, p. 215.
I 4 4 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
authorities attributed the principal financial disasters of the church
at Kirtland was the purchase of land and its sale as town lots. 1
The craze for land speculation in those days was not confined,
however, to the Mormons. That was the period when the pur
chase of public lands of the United States seemed likely to reach
no limit. These sales, which amounted to $2,300,000 in 1830, and
to $4,800,000 in 1834, jumped to $14,757,600 in 1835, and to
$24,877,179 in 1836. The government deposits (then made in
the state banks) increased from $10,000,000 on January i, 1835,
to $41,500,000 on June I, 1836, the increase coming from receipts
from land sales. This led to that bank expansion which was
measured by the growth of bank capital in this country from
$61,000,000 to $200,000,000 between 1830 and 1834, wrtn a fur
ther advance to $251,000,000.
The Mormon leaders and their people were peculiarly liable to
be led into disaster when sharing in this speculators fever. They
were, however, quick to take advantage of the spirit of the times.
The Zion of Missouri lost its attractiveness to them, and on Feb
ruary 23, 1833, the Presidency decided to purchase land at Kirt
land, and to establish thereon a permanent Stake of Zion. The
land purchases of the church began at once, and we find a record
of one Council meeting, on March 23, 1833, at which it was de
cided to buy three farms costing respectively $4000, $2100, and
$5000. Kirtland was laid out (on paper) with 32 streets, cutting
one another at right angles, each four rods wide. This provided
for 225 blocks of 20 lots each. Twenty-nine of the streets were
named after Mormons. Joseph and his family appear many times
in the list of conveyors of these lots. The original map of the
city, as described in Smith s autobiography, provided for 24 pub
lic buildings temples, schools, etc.; no lot to contain more than
one house, and that not to be nearer than 25 feet from the street,
with a prohibition against erecting a stable on a house lot. 2
Of course this Mormon capital must have a grand church edi
fice, to meet Smith s views, and he called a council to decide about
" Real estate rose from 100 to 800 per cent and in many cases more. Men who
were not thought worth $50 or $100 became purchasers of thousands. Notes (some
times cash), deeds and mortgages passed and repassed, till all, or nearly all, supposed
they had become wealthy, or at least had acquired a competence." Messenger and
Advocate, June, 1837.
2 Millennial Star, Vol. XIV, pp. 438-439.
SMITH S OHIO BUSINESS ENTERPRISES 145
the character of the new meeting-house. A few of the speakers
favored a modest frame building, but a majority thought a log one
better suited to their means. Joseph rebuked the latter, asking,
" Shall we, brethren, build a house for our God of logs ? " and he
straightway led them to the corner of a wheat field, where the
trench for the foundation was at once begun. 1 No greater exhibi
tion of business folly could have been given than the undertaking
of the costly building then planned on so slender a financial
foundation.
The corner-stone was laid on July 23, 1833, an d the Temple
was not dedicated until March 27, 1836. Mormon devotion cer
tainly showed itself while this work was going on. Every male
member was expected to give one-seventh of his time to the build
ing without pay, and those who worked on it at day s wages had,
in most instances, no other income, and often lived on nothing but
corn meal. The women, as their share, knit and wove garments
for the workmen.
The Temple, which is of stone covered with a cement stucco
(it is still in use), measures 60 by 80 feet on the ground, is 123 feet
in height to the top of the spire, and contains two stories and an
attic.
The cost of this Temple was $40,000, and, notwithstanding the
sacrifices made by the Saints in assisting its construction, and the
schemes of the church officers to secure funds, a debt of from
$15,000 to $20,000 remained upon it. That the church was finan
cially embarrassed at the very beginning of the work is shown by
a letter addressed to the brethren in Zion, Missouri, by Smith,
Rigdon, and Williams, dated June 25, 1833, m which they said,
" Say to Brother Gilbert that we have no power to assist him in a
pecuniary point, as we know not the hour when we shall be sued
for debts which we have contracted ourselves in New York." 2
To understand the business crash and scandals which com
pelled Smith and his associates to flee from Ohio, it is necessary
to explain the business system adopted by the church under them.
This system began with a rule about the consecration of property.
As originally published in the Evening and Morning Star, and in
chapter xliv of the " Book of Commandments," this rule declared,
1 Mother Smith s "Biographical Sketches," p. 213.
2 Millennial Star, Vol. XIV, p. 450.
146 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
" Thou shalt consecrate all thy properties, that which thou hast,
unto me, with a covenant and a deed which cannot be broken,"
with a provision that the Bishop, after he had received such an
irrevocable deed, should appoint every man a steward over so much
of his property as would be sufficient for himself and family.
In the later edition of the " Doctrine and Covenants " this was
changed to read, " And behold, thou wilt remember the poor, and
consecrate thy properties for their support," etc.
By a "revelation" given out while the heads of the church
were in Jackson County, Missouri, in April, 1832 (Sec. 82), a sort
of firm was appointed, including Smith, Rigdon, Cowdery, Harris,
and N. K. Whitney, "to manage the affairs of the poor, and all
things pertaining to the bishopric," both in Ohio and Missouri.
This firm thus assumed control of the property which "revelation "
had placed in the hands of the Bishop. This arrangement was
known as The Order of Enoch. Next came a "revelation" dated
April 23, 1834 (Sec. 104), by which the properties of the Order
were divided, Rigdon getting the place in which he was living in
Kirtland, and the tannery ; Harris a lot, with a command to
" devote his monies for the proclaiming of my words " ; Cowdery
and Williams, the printing-office, with some extra lots to Cowdery ;
and Smith, the lot designed for the Temple, and " the inheritance
on which his father resides." The building of the Temple hav
ing brought the Mormon leaders into debt, this "revelation," was
designed to help them out, and it contained these further direc
tions, in the voice of the Lord, be it remembered :
"The covenants being broken through transgression, by covetousness and
feigned words, therefore you are dissolved as a United Order with your brethren,
that you are not bound only up to this hour unto them, only on this wise, as I
said, by loan as shall be agreed by this Order in council, as your circumstances
will admit, and the voice of the council direct. . . .
" And again verily I say unto you, concerning your debts, behold it is my
will that you should pay all your debts ; and it is my will that you should humble
yourselves before me, and obtain this blessing by your diligence and humility and
the prayer of faith ; and inasmuch as you are diligent and humble, and exercise
the prayer of faith, behold, I will soften the hearts of those to whom you are in
debt, until I shall send means unto you for your deliverance. ... I give you a
promise that you shall be delivered this once out of your bondage ; inasmuch as
you obtained a chance to loan money by hundreds, or thousands even until you
shall loan enough [meaning borrow] to deliver yourselves from bondage, it is
your privilege ; and pledge the properties which I have put into your hands this
SMITH S OHIO BUSINESS ENTERPRISES 147
once. . . . The master will not suffer his house to be broken up. Even so.
Amen."
It does not appear that the Mormon leaders took advantage
of this authorization to borrow money on Kirtland real estate, if
they could; but in 1835 they set up several mercantile establish
ments, finding firms in Cleveland, Buffalo, and farther east who
would take their notes on six months time. " A great part of the
goods of these houses," says William Harris, "went to pay the
workmen on the Temple, and many were sold on credit, so that
when the notes became due the houses were not able to meet
them."
Smith s autobiography relates part of one story of an effort of
his to secure money at this trying time, the complete details of
which have been since supplied. He simply says that on July
25, 1836, in company with his brother Hyrum, Sidney Rigdon,
and Oliver Cowdery, he started on a trip which brought them
to Salem, Massachusetts, where "we hired a house and occupied
the same during the month, teaching the people from house to
house." l The Mormon of to-day, in reading his " Doctrine and
Covenants," finds Section in very perplexing. No place of its
reception is given, but it goes on to say :
" I, the Lord your God, am not displeased with your coming this journey,
notwithstanding your follies ; I have much treasure in this city for you, for the
benefit of Zion ; . . . and it shall come to pass in due time, that I will give this
city into your hands, that you shall have power over it, insomuch that they shall
not discover your secret parts ; and its wealth pertaining to gold and silver shall
be yours. Concern not yourself about your debts, for I will give you power to
pay them. . . . And inquire diligently concerning the more ancient inhabitants
and founders of this city ; for there are more treasures than one for you in this
city."
"This city" was Salem, Massachusetts, and the "revelation"
was put forth to brace up the spirits of Smith s fellow-travellers.
A Mormon named Burgess had gone to Kirtland with a story
about a large amount of money that was buried in the cellar of
a house in Salem which had belonged to a widow, and the location
of which he alone knew. Smith credited this report, and looked
to the treasure to assist him in his financial difficulties, and he
took the persons named with him on the trip. But when they
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XV, p. 281.
148 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
got there Burgess said that time had so changed the appearance
of the houses that he could not be sure which was the widow s,
and he cleared out. Smith then hired a house which he thought
might be the right one, it proved not to be, and it was when
his associates were becoming discouraged that the ex-money-digger
uttered the words quoted, to strengthen their courage. " We speak
of these things with regret," says Ebenezer Robinson, who be
lieved in the prophet s divine calling to the last. 1
Brought face to face with apparent financial disaster, the next
step taken to prevent this was the establishment of a bank. Smith
told of a "revelation" concerning a bank "which would swallow
up all other banks." An application for a charter was made to
the Ohio legislature, but it was refused. The law of Ohio at that
time provided that " all notes and bills, bonds and other securities
[of an unchartered bank] shall be held and taken in all courts as
absolutely void." This, however, did not deter a man of Smith s
audacity, and soon came the announcement of the organization of
the " Kirtland Safety Society Bank," with an alleged capital of
$4,000,000. The articles of agreement had been drawn up on
November 2, 1836, and Oliver Cowdery had been sent to Philadel
phia to get the plates for the notes at the same time that Orson
Hyde set out to the state capital to secure a charter. Cowdery
took no chances of failure, and he came back not only with a
plate, but with $200,000 in printed bills. To avoid the inconven
ience of having no charter, the members of the Safety Society met
on January 2, 1837, and reorganized under the name of the " Kirt
land Society Anti-banking Company," and, in the hope of placing
the bills within the law (or at least beyond its reach), the word
" Bank " was changed with a stamp so that it read " Anti-BANK-ing
Co.," as in the facsimile here presented.
W. Harris thus describes the banking scheme:
" Subscribers for stock were allowed to pay the amount of their subscriptions
in town lots at five or six times their real value ; others paid in personal property
at a high valuation, and some were paid in cash. When the notes were first
issued they were current in the vicinity, and Smith took advantage of their credit
to pay off with them the debts he and his brethren had contracted in the neigh
borhood for land, etc. The Eastern creditors, however, refused to take them.
This led to the expedient of exchanging them for the notes of other banks.
1 The Return, July, 1889.
SMITH S OHIO BUSINESS ENTERPRISES 149
Accordingly, the Elders were sent into the country to barter off Kirtland money,
which they did with great zeal, and continued the operation until the notes were
not worth twelve and a half cents to the dollar." l
Just how much of this currency was issued the records do not
show. Hall says that Brigham Young, who had joined the flock
at Kirtland, disposed of $10,000 worth of it in the States, and that
Smith and other church officers reaped a rich harvest with it in
Canada, explaining, " The credit of the bank here was good, even
high." 2 Kidder quotes a gentleman living near Kirtland who said
that the cash capital paid in was only about $5000, and that they
succeeded in floating from $50,000 to $100,000. Ann Eliza, Brig-
ham s "wife No. 19," says that her father invested everything he
had but his house and shop in the bank, and lost it all.
Cyrus Smalling, one of the Seventy at Kirtland, wrote an
account of Kirtland banking operations under date of March 10,
1841, in which he said that Smith and his associates collected
about $6000 in specie, and that when people in the neighborhood
went to the bank to inquire about its specie reserve, " Smith had
some one or two hundred boxes made, and gathered all the lead
and shot the village had, or that part of it that he controlled, and
filled the boxes with lead, shot, etc., and marked them $1000 each.
Then, when they went to examine the vault, he had one box on a
table partly filled for them to see ; and when they proceeded to
the vault, Smith told them that the church had $200,000 in
specie ; and he opened one box and they saw that it was silver ;
and they were seemingly satisfied, and went away for a few days
until the elders were packed off in every direction to pass their
paper money." 3
Smith believed in specie payments to his bank, whatever might
be his intentions as regards the redemption of his notes, for, in
the Messenger and Advocate (pp. 441-443), following the by-laws
of the Anti-banking Company, was printed a statement signed by
him, saying :
"We want the brethren from abroad to call on us and take stock in the
Safety Society, and we would remind them of the sayings of the Prophet Isaiah
contained in the 6oth chapter, and more particularly in the Qth and I7th verses
which are as follows :
1 " Mormonism Portrayed," p. 31.
2 "Abominations of Mormonism Exposed" (1852), pp. 19, 2O.
8 "Mormons; or Knavery Exposed" (1841).
THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
" Surely the isles shall wait for me, and the ships of Tarshish first, to bring
thy sons from far, their silver and their gold with them, unto the name of the
Lord thy God.
" i For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver, etc."
The Messenger and Advocate (edited by W. A. Cowdery), of
July, 1837, contained a long article on the bank and its troubles,
pointing out, first, that the bank was opened without a charter,
being "considered a kind of joint stock association," and that
" the private property of the stockholders was holden in propor
tion to the amount of their subscriptions for the redemption of
the paper," and also that its notes were absolutely void under the
state law. The editor goes on to say :
" Previously to the commencement of discounting by the bank, large debts
had been contracted for merchandise in New York and other cities, and large
contracts entered into for real estate in this and adjoining towns ; some of them
had fallen due and must be met, or incur forfeitures of large sums. These
causes, we are bound to believe, operated to induce the officers of the bank to
let out larger sums than their better judgments dictated, which almost invariably
fell into or passed through the hands of those who sought our ruin. . . . Hun
dreds who were enemies either came or sent their agents and demanded specie,
till the officers thought best to refuse payment."
This subtle explanation of the suspension of specie payments
is followed with a discussion of monopolies, etc., leading up to a
statement of the obligations of the Mormons in regard to the dis
credited bank-notes, most of which were in circulation elsewhere.
To the question, " Shall we unite as one man, say it is good, and
make it good by taking it on a par with gold ? " he replies, " No,"
explaining that, owing to the fewness of the church members as
compared with the world at large, "it must be confined in its
circulation and par value to the limits of our own society." To
the question, " Shall we then take it at its marked price for our
property," he again replies, " No," explaining that their enemies
had received the paper at a discount, and that, to receive it at
par from them, would " give them voluntarily and with one eye
open just that advantage over us to oppress, degrade and depress
us." This combined financial and spiritual adviser closes his
article by urging the brethren to set apart a portion of their time
to the service of God, and a portion to " the study of the science
of our government and the news of the day."
SMITH S OHIO BUSINESS ENTERPRISES 151
A card which appeared in the Messenger and Advocate of
August, 1837, signed by Smith, warned "the brethren and friends
of the church to beware of speculators, renegades, and gamblers
who are duping the unwary and unsuspecting by palming upon
them those bills, which are of no worth here."
The actual test of the bank s soundness had come when a
request was made for the redemption of the notes. The notes
seem to have been accepted freely in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania,
where it was taken for granted that a cashier and president who
professed to be prophets of the Lord would not give countenance
to bank paper of doubtful value. 1 When stories about the con
cern reached the Pittsburg banks, they sent an agent to Kirtland
with a package of the notes for redemption. Rigdon loudly
asserted the stability of the institution ; but when a request
for coin was repeated, it was promptly refused by him on the
ground that the bills were a circulating medium " for the accom
modation of the public," and that to call any of them in would
defeat their object. 2
Other creditors of the Mormons were now becoming active in
their demands. For failing to meet a note given to the bank at
Painesville, Smith, Rigdon, and N. K. Whitney were put under
$8000 bonds. Smith, Rigdon, and Cowdery were called into
court as indorsers of paper for one of the Mormon firms, and
judgment was given against them. To satisfy a firm of New
York merchants the heads of the church gave a note for $4500
secured by a mortgage on their interest in the new Temple and
its contents. 3 The Egyptian mummies were especially excepted
from this mortgage. Mother Smith describes how these relics
were saved by " various stratagems " under an execution of $50
issued against the prophet.
The scheme of calling the bank corporation an "anti-banking" so
ciety did not save the officers from prosecution under the state law.
Informers against violators of the banking law received in Ohio a
share of the fine imposed, and this led to the filing of an informa
tion against Rigdon and Smith in March, 1837, by one S. D.
Rounds, in the Geauga County Court, charging them with violating
the law, and demanding a penalty of $1000. They were at once
1 "Rocky Mountain Saints," p. 71.
3 " Early Days of Mormonism," p. 163. 8 Ibid., pp. 159-160.
152 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
arrested and held in bail, and were convicted the following
October. They appealed on the ground that the institution was
an association and not a bank ; but this plea was never ruled
upon by the court, as the bank suspended payments and closed
its doors in November, 1837, an d, before the appeal could be
argued, Smith and Rigdon had fled from the state to Missouri.
CHAPTER VI
LAST DAYS AT KIRTLAND
IT is easy to understand that a church whose leaders had such
views of financial responsibility as Smith s and Rigdon s, and
whose members were ready to apostatize when they could not
obtain credit at the prophet s store, was anything but a harmoni
ous body. Smith was not a man to maintain his own dignity or
to spare the feelings of his associates. Wilford Woodruff, de
scribing his first sight of the prophet, at Kirtland, in 1834, sa -id he
found him with his brother Hyrum, wearing a very old hat and
engaged in the sport of shooting at a mark. Woodruff accom
panied him to his house, where Smith at once brought out a wolf
skin, and said, " Brother Woodruff, I want you to help me tan
this," and the two took off their coats and went to work at the
skin. 1 Smith s contempt for Rigdon was never concealed. Writ
ing of the situation at Kirtland in 1833, ne spoke of Rigdon as
possessing " a selfishness and independence of mind which too
often manifestly destroys the confidence of those who would lay
down their lives for him." 2 Smith was in the habit of announcing,
from his lofty pulpit in the Temple, " The truth is good enough
without dressing up, but brother Rigdon will now proceed to dress
it up." 3 Some of the new converts backed out as soon as they
got a close view of the church. Elder G. A. Smith, a cousin of
Joseph, in a sermon in Salt Lake City, in 1855, mentioned some
incidents of this kind. One family, who had journeyed a long
distance to join the church in Kirtland, changed their minds
because Joseph s wife invited them to have a cup of tea " after
the word of wisdom was given." Another family withdrew after
seeing Joseph begin playing with his children as soon as he
1 Journal of Discourses, Vol. I, p. 101.
2 Millennial Star, Vol. XIV, pp. 584-585.
8 Lippincotfs Magazine, August, 1880.
153
THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
rested from the work of translating the Scriptures for the day.
A Canadian ex-Methodist prayed so long at family worship at
Father Johnson s that Joseph told him flatly "not to bray so
much like a jackass." The prayer thereupon returned to Canada.
But the discontented were not confined to new-comers. Jeal
ousy and dissatisfaction were constantly manifesting themselves
among Smith s old standbys. Written charges made against
Cowdery and David Whitmer, when they were driven out of Far
West, Missouri, told them : " You commenced your wickedness
by heading a party to disturb the worship of the Saints in the first
day of the week, and made the house of the Lord in Kirtland to
be a scene of abuse and slander, to destroy the reputation of those
whom the church had appointed to be their teachers, and for no
other cause only that you were not the persons." In more exact
terms, their offence was opposition to the course pursued by
Smith. During the winter and spring of 1837, these rebels in
cluded in their list F. G. Williams, of the First Presidency, Martin
Harris, D. Whitmer, Lyman E. Johnson, P. P. Pratt, and W. E.
McLellin. In May, 1837, a High Council was held in Kirtland to
try these men. Pratt at once objected to being tried by a body of
which Smith and Rigdon were members, as they had expressed
opinions against him. Rigdon confessed that he could not con
scientiously try the case, Cowdery did likewise, Williams very
properly withdrew, and " the Council dispersed in confusion." 1
It was never reassembled, but the offenders were not forgotten,
and their punishment came later.
Mother Smith attributes much of the discord among the mem
bers at this time to " a certain young woman," an inmate of David
Whitmer s house, who began prophesying with the assistance of
a black stone. This seer predicted Smith s fall from office because
of his transgressions, and that David Whitmer or Martin Harris
would succeed him. Her proselytes became so numerous that a
written list of them showed that "a great proportion of the church
were decidedly in favor with the new party." 2
While Smith was thus fighting leading members of his own
church, he was called upon to defend himself against a serious
charge in court. A farmer near Kirtland, named Grandison
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XVI, p. 10.
a " Biographical Sketches," p. 221.
LAST DAYS AT KIRTLAND 155
Newell, received information from a seceding Mormon that Smith
had directed the latter and another Mormon named Davis to
kill Newell because he was a particularly open opponent of the
new sect. The affidavit of this man set forth that he and Davis
had twice gone to Newell s house to carry out Smith s order, and
were only prevented by the absence of the intended victim. Smith
was placed under $500 bonds on this charge, but on the formal hear
ing he was discharged on the ground of insufficient evidence. 1
A rebellious spirit had manifested itself among the brethren in
Missouri soon after Smith returned from his first visit to that state.
W. W. Phelps questioned the prophet s " monarchical power and
authority," and an unpleasant correspondence sprung up between
them. As Smith did not succeed by his own pen in silencing his
accusers, a conference of twelve high priests was called by him
in Kirtland in January, 1833, which appointed Orson Hyde and
Smith s brother Hyrum to write to the Missouri brethren. In this
letter they were told plainly that, unless the rebellious spirit ceased,
the Lord would seek another Zion. To Phelps the message was
sent, " If you have fat beef and potatoes, eat them in singleness
of heart, and not boast yourself in these things." It was, how
ever, as a concession to this spirit of complaint, according to
Ferris, that Smith announced the " revelation " which placed the
church in the hands of a supreme governing body of three.
Smith himself furnishes a very complete picture of the dis
rupted condition of the Mormons in 1838, in an editorial in the
Elders Journal, dated August, of that year. The tone of the
article, too, sheds further light on Smith s character. Referring
to the course of " a set of creatures " whom the church had
excluded from fellowship, he says they "had recourse to the
foulest lying to hide their iniquity . . . ; and this gang of horse
thieves and drunkards were called upon immediately to write their
lives on paper." Smith then goes on to pay his respects to various
officers of the church, all of whom, it should be remembered, held
their positions through " revelation " and were therefore professedly
chosen directly by God.
Of a statement by Warren Parish, one of the Seventy and an
1 Fanny Brewer of Boston, in an affidavit published in 1842, declared, " I am per
sonally acquainted with one of the employees, Davis by name, and he frankly acknowl
edged to me that he was prepared to do the deed under the direction of the prophet,
and was only prevented by the entreaties of his wife."
156 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
officer of the bank, Smith says : " Granny Parish made such an
awful fuss about what was conceived in him that, night after night
and day after day, he poured forth his agony before all living, as
they saw proper to assemble. For a rational being to have looked
at him and heard him groan and grunt, and saw him sweat and
struggle, would have supposed that his womb was as much swollen
as was Rebecca s when the angel told her there were two nations
there." He also accuses Parish of immorality and stealing money.
Here is a part of Smith s picture of Dr. W. A. Cowdery, a
presiding high priest : " This poor pitiful beggar came to Kirtland
a few years since with a large family, nearly naked and destitute.
It was really painful to see this pious Doctor s (for such he pro
fessed to be) rags flying when he walked upon the streets. He
was taken in by us in this pitiful condition, and we put him into the
printing-office and gave him enormous wages, not because he could
earn it, but merely out of pity. ... A truly niggardly spirit mani
fested itself in all his meanness."
Smith s old friend Martin Harris, now a high priest, and Cyrus
Smalling, one of the Seventy, are lumped among Parish s " lackeys,"
of whom Smith says : " They are so far beneath contempt that a
notice of them would be too great a sacrifice for a gentleman to
make." Of Leonard Rich, one of the seven presidents of the
seventy elders, Smith says that he " was generally so drunk that
he had to support himself by something to keep from falling down."
J. F. Boynton and Luke Johnson, two of the Twelve, are called
" a pair of young blacklegs," and Stephen Burnett, an elder, is
styled " a little ignorant blockhead, whose heart was so set on
money that he would at any time sell his soul for $50, and then
think he had made an excellent bargain."
Smith s own personal character was freely attacked, and the
subject became so public that it received notice in the Elders Jour
nal. One charge was improper conduct toward an orphan girl whom
Mrs. Smith had taken into her family. Smith s autobiography con
tains an account of a council held in New Portage, Ohio, in 1834,
at which Rigdon accused Martin Harris of telling A. C. Russel that
"Joseph drank too much liquor when he was translating the Book
of Mormon," and Harris set up as a defence that "this thing oc
curred previous to the translating of the Book." *
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XV, p. 12.
LAST DAYS AT KIRTLAND 157
There was a good deal of talk concerning a confession " about
a girl," which Oliver Cowdery was reported to have said that Smith
made to him. Denials of this for Cowdery appeared in the Elders
Journal si July, 1838, one man s statement ending thus, "Joseph
asked if he ever said to him (Oliver) that he (Joseph) confessed to
any one that he was guilty of the above crime ; and Oliver, after
some hesitation, answered no."
The Elders Journal of August, 1838, contains a retraction by
Parley P. Pratt of a letter he had written, in which he censured both
Smith and Rigdon, " using great severity and harshness in regard to
certain business transactions." In that letter Pratt confessed that
"the whole scheme of speculation" in which the Mormon leaders
were engaged was of the " devil," and he begged Smith to make
restitution for having sold him, for $2000, three lots of land that did
not cost Smith over $200.
Not only was the moral character of Smith and other individual
members of the church successfully attacked at this time, but the
charge was openly made that polygamy was practised and sanc
tioned. In the " Book of Doctrine and Covenants," published in
Kirtland in 1835, Section 101 was devoted to the marriage rite. It
contained this declaration : " Inasmuch as this Church of Christ
has been reproached with the crime of fornication and polygamy,
we declare that we believe that one man should have one wife, and
one woman one husband, except in case of death, when either is at
liberty to marry again." The value of such a denial is seen in the
ease with which this section was blotted out by Smith s later " reve
lation " establishing polygamy.
An admission that even elders did practise polygamy at that time
is found in a minute of a meeting of the Presidents of the Seventies,
held on April 29, 1837, which made this declaration: " First, that
we will have no fellowship whatever with any elder belonging to
the Quorum of the Seventies, who is guilty of polygamy." 1
Again: The Elders Journal dated Far West, Missouri, 1838,
contained a list of answers by Smith to certain questions which,
in an earlier number, he had said were daily and hourly asked by
all classes of people. Among these was the following :
" Q. Do the Mormons believe in having more wives than one ? A. No,
not at the same time." (He condemns the plan of marrying within a few weeks
or months of the death of the first wife.)
1 Messenger and Advocate, p. 511.
158 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
The statement has been made that polygamy first suggested
itself to Smith in Ohio, while he was translating the so-called
" Book of Abraham " from the papyri found on the Egyptian
mummies. This so-called translation required some study of the
Old Testament, and it is not at all improbable that Smith s natural
inclination toward such a doctrine as polygamy secured a founda
tion in his reading of the Old Testament license to have a plural
ity of wives.
For the business troubles hanging over the community, Smith
and Rigdon were held especially accountable. The flock had
seen the funds confided by them to the Bishop invested partly in
land that was divided among some of the Mormon leaders. Smith
and Rigdon were provided with a house near the Temple, and a
printing-office was established there, which was under Smith s
management. Naturally, when the stock and notes of the bank
became valueless, its local victims held its organizers responsible
for the disaster. Mother Smith gives us an illustration of the
depth of this feeling. One Sunday evening, while her husband
was preaching at Kirtland, when Joseph was in Cleveland "on
business pertaining to the bank," the elder Smith reflected sharply
upon Warren Parish, on whom trie Smiths tried to place the
responsibility for the bank failure. Parish, who was present,
leaped forward and tried to drag the old man out of the pulpit.
Smith, Sr., appealed to Oliver Cowdery for help, but Oliver re
tained his seat. Then the prophet s brother William sprang to
his father s assistance, and carried Parish bodily out of the church.
Thereupon John Boynton, who was provided with a sword cane,
drew his weapon and threatened to run it through the younger
Smith. " At this juncture," says Mrs. Smith, " I left the house,
not only terrified at the scene, but likewise sick at heart to see the
apostasy of which Joseph had prophesied was so near at hand." 1
Eliza Snow gives a slightly different version of the same out
break, describing its wind-up as follows :
"John Boynton and others drew their pistols and bowie knives and rushed
down from the stand into the congregation, Boynton saying he would blow out
the brains of the first man who dared lay hands on him. . . . Amid screams
and shrieks, the policemen in ejecting the belligerents knocked down a stove
pipe, which fell helter-skelter among the people ; but, although bowie knives and
1 "Biographical Sketches," p. 221.
LAST DAYS AT KIRTLAND 159
pistols were wrested from their owners and thrown hither and thither to prevent
disastrous results, no one was hurt, and after a short but terrible scene to be
enacted in a Temple of God, order was restored and the services of the day
proceeded as usual. 1 1
Smith made a stubborn defence of his business conduct. He
attributed the disaster to the bank to Parish s peculation, and the
general troubles of the church to "the spirit of speculation in lands
and property of all kinds," as he puts it in his autobiography,
wherein he alleges that " the evils were actually brought about by
the brethren not giving heed to my counsel." If Smith gave any
such counsel, it is unfortunate for his reputation that neither the
church records nor his "revelations" contain any mention of it.
The final struggle came in December, 1837, when Smith and
Rigdon made their last public appearance in the Kirtland Temple.
Smith was as bold and aggressive as ever, but Rigdon, weak from
illness, had to be supported to his seat. An eye-witness of the
day s proceedings says 2 that "the pathos of Rigdon s plea, and
the power of his denunciation, swayed the feelings and shook the
judgments of his hearers as never in the old days of peace, and,
when he had finished and was led out, a perfect silence reigned
in the Temple until its door had closed upon him forever.
Smith made a resolute and determined battle ; false reports had
been circulated, and those by whom the offence had come must
repent and acknowledge their sin or be cut off from fellowship in
this world, and from honor and power in that to come." He not
only maintained his right to speak as the head of the church, but,
after the accused had partly presented their case, and one of
them had given him the lie openly, he proposed a vote on their
excommunication at once and a hearing of their further pleas at
a later date. This extraordinary proposal led one of the accused to
cry out, " You would cut a man s head off and hear him afterward."
Finally it was voted to postpone the whole subject for a few days.
But the two leaders of the church did not attend this adjourned
session. Alarmed by rumors that Grandison Newell had secured
a warrant for their arrest on a charge of fraud in connection with
the affairs of the bank (unfounded rumors, as it later appeared),
they fled from Kirtland on horseback on the evening of January 12,
1 " Biography of Lorenzo Snow," p. 20.
2 " Early Days of Mormonism," Kennedy, p. 169.
160 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
1838, and Smith never revisited that town. In his description of
their flight, Smith explained that they merely followed the direc
tion of Jesus, who said, " When they persecute you in one city,
flee ye to another." He describes the weather as extremely cold,
and says, "We were obliged to secrete ourselves sometimes to
elude the grasp of our pursuers, who continued their race more
than two hundred miles from Kirtland, armed with pistols, etc.,
seeking our lives." There is no other authority for this story of
an armed pursuit, and the fact seems to be that the non-Mormon
community were perfectly satisfied with the removal of the mock
prophet from their neighborhood.
Although Kirtland continued to remain a Stake of the church,
the real estate scheme of making it a big city vanished with the
prophet. Foreclosures of mortgages now began ; the church print
ing-office was first sold out by the sheriff and then destroyed by
fire, and the so-called reform element took possession of the Tem
ple. Rigdon had placed his property out of his own hands, one
acre of land in Kirtland being deeded by him and his wife to their
daughter.
The Temple with about two acres of land adjoining was deeded
by the prophet to William Marks in 1837, an d in 1841 was re-
deeded to Smith as trustee in trust for the church. In 1862 it was
sold under an order of the probate court by Joseph Smith s admin
istrator, and conveyed the same day to one Russel Huntley, who,
in 1873, conveyed it to the prophet s grandson, Joseph Smith, and
another representative of the Reorganized Church (non-polyga-
mist). The title of the latter organization was sustained in 1880
by Judge L. S. Sherman, of the Lake County Court of Common
Pleas, who held that, "The church in Utah has materially and
largely departed from the faith, doctrines, laws, ordinances and
usages of said original Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day
Saints, and has incorporated into its system of faith the doctrines
of celestial marriage and a plurality of wives, and the doctrine of
Adam-God worship, contrary to the laws and constitution of said
original church," and that the Reorganized Church was the true
and lawful successor to the original organization. At the general
conference of the Reorganized Church, held at Lamoni, Iowa, in
April, 1901, the Kirtland district reported a membership of 423
members.
BOOK III
IN MISSOURI
CHAPTER I
THE DIRECTIONS TO THE SAINTS ABOUT THEIR ZION
THE state of Missouri, to which the story of the Mormons is
now transferred, was, at the time of its admission to the Union, in
1821, called " a promontory of civilization into an ocean of sav
agery." Wild Indian tribes occupied the practically unexplored
region beyond its western boundary, and its own western counties
were thinly settled. Jackson County, which in 1900 had 195,193
inhabitants, had a population of 2823 by the census of 1830, and
neighboring counties not so many. It was not until 1830 that the
first cabin of a white man was built in Daviess County. All this
territory had been released from Indian ownership by treaty only
a few years when the first Mormons arrived there.
The white settler s house was a log hut, generally with a dirt
floor, a mud-plastered chimney, and a window without glass, a
board or quilt serving to close it in time of storm or severe cold.
A fireplace, with a skillet and kettle, supplied the place of a well-
equipped stove. Corn was the principal grain food, and wild game
supplied most of the meat. The wild animals furnished clothing
as well as food ; for the pioneers could not afford to pay from 1 5
to 25 cents a yard for calico, and from 25 to 75 cents for ging
ham. 1 Some persons indulged in homespun cloth for Sunday
and festal occasions, but the common outside garments were
made of dressed deerskins. Parley P. Pratt, in his autobiography,
1 " When the merchants sold a calico or gingham dress pattern they threw in their
profit by giving a spool of thread (two hundred yards), hooks and eyes and lining. In
the thread business, however, it was only a few years after that thirty and fifty yard
spools took the place of the two hundred yards." " History of Daviess County," p. 161.
M 161
162 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
speaks of passing through a settlement where " some families
were entirely dressed in skins, without any other clothing, includ
ing ladies young and old."
The pioneer agriculturist of those days not only lacked the
transportation facilities and improved agricultural appliances which
have assisted the developers of the Northwest, but they did not
even understand the nature and capability of the soil. The new
comers in western Missouri looked on the rich prairie land as
worthless, and they almost invariably directed their course to the
timber, where the soil was more easily broken up, and material for
buildings was available. The first attempts to plough the prairie
sod were very primitive. David Dailey made the first trial in
Jackson County with what was called a " barshear plough" (drawn
by from four to eight yokes of oxen), the "shear" of which was
fastened to the beam. This cut the sod in one direction pretty
well, but when he began to cross-furrow, the sod piled up in front
of the plough and stopped his progress. Determined to see what
the soil would grow, he cut holes in the sod with an axe, and in
these dropped his seed. The first sod was broken in Daviess
County in 1834, with a plough made to order, "to see what the
prairies amounted to in the way of raising a crop." Such was
the country toward which the first Mormon missionaries turned
their faces.
We have seen that the first intimation in the Mormon records
of a movement to the West was found in Smith s order to Oliver
Cowdery in 1830 to go and establish the church among the La-
manites (Indians), and that Rigdon expected that the church would
remain in Ohio, when he wrote to his flock from Palmyra. The
four original missionaries Cowdery, P. P. Pratt, Peter Whitmer,
and Peterson did not stop long in Kirtland, but, taking with
them Frederick G. Williams, they pushed on westward to San-
dusky, Cincinnati, and St. Louis, preaching to some Indians on
the way, until they reached Independence, Jackson County, Mis
souri, early in 1831. That county forms a part of the western
border of the state, and from 1832, until the railroad took the
place of wagon trains, Independence was the eastern terminus of
the famous Santa Fe trail, and the point of departure for many
companies destined both for Oregon and California. Pratt, de
scribing their journey west of St. Louis, says: "We travelled on
DIRECTIONS TO THE SAINTS ABOUT THEIR ZION 163
oot some three hundred miles, through vast prairies and through
trackless wilds of snow ; no beaten road, houses few and far be
tween. We travelled for whole days, from morning till night,
without a house or fire. We carried on our backs our changes of
clothing, several books, and corn bread and raw pork." l
The sole idea of these pioneers seemed to be to preach to the
Indians. Arriving at Independence, Whitmer and Peterson went
to work to support themselves as tailors, while Cowdery and Pratt
crossed the border into the Indian country. The latter, however,
were at once pronounced by the federal officers there to be vio
lators of the law which forbade the settlement of white men
among the Indians, and they returned to Independence, and
preached thereabout during the winter. Early in February the
four decided that Pratt should return to Kirtland and make a report,
and he did so, travelling partly on foot, partly on horseback, and
partly by steamer.
As early as March, 1830, Smith had conceived the idea (or
some one else for him) of a gathering of the elect " unto one
place " to prepare for the day of desolation (Sec. 29). In Octo
ber, 1830, the four pioneers were commanded to start "into the
wilderness among the Lamanites," and on January 2, 1831, while
Rigdon was visiting Smith in New York State, another " revela
tion " (Sec. 38) described the land of promise as " a land flowing
with milk and honey, upon which there shall be no curse when
the Lord cometh." This land they and their children were to
possess, both "while the earth shall stand, and again in eternity."
A "revelation" (Sec. 45), dated March 7, 1831, at Kirtland, called
on the faithful to assemble and visit the Western countries, where
they were promised an inheritance, to be called " the New
Jerusalem, a land of peace, a city of refuge, a place of safety for
the saints of most High God." These things they were to "keep
from going abroad into the world " for the present.
The manner in which the elect were told by " revelation " that
they should possess their land of promise has a most important
bearing on the justification of the opposition which the Missourians
soon manifested toward their new neighbors. In one of these
"revelations," dated Kirtland, February, 1831 (Sec. 42), Christ
is represented as saying, " I will consecrate the riches of the Gen-
1 " Autobiography of P. P. Pratt," p. 54.
1 64 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
tiles unto my people which are of the house of Israel." Another,
in the following June (Sec. 52), which directed Smith s and
Rigdon s trip, promised the elect, " If ye are faithful ye shall as
semble yourselves together to rejoice upon the land in Missouri,
which is the land of your inheritance, which is now the land of your
enemies." Another, given while Smith was in Missouri, in August,
1831 (Sec. 59), promised to those "who have come up into this
land with an eye single to My glory," that " they shall inherit the
earth," and " shall receive for their reward the good things of the
earth." On the same date the Saints were told that they should
" open their hearts even to purchase the whole region of country
as soon as time will permit, . . . lest they receive none inheritance
save it be by the shedding of blood." It seems to have been thought
wise to add to this last statement, after the return of the party to
Ohio, and a "revelation" dated August, 1831 (Sec. 63), was
given out, stating that the land of Zion could be obtained only " by
purchase or by blood," and " as you are forbidden to shed blood,
lo, your enemies are upon you, and ye shall be scourged from city
to city." *
As to their obligation to pay for any of the " good things "
purchased of their enemies, a "revelation" dated September n,
183 1 (the month after the return from Missouri), gave this advice :
" Behold it is said in my laws, or forbidden, to get in debt to thine enemies ;
" But behold it is not said at any time, that the Lord should not take when
he pleased, and pay as seemeth him good.
" Wherefore as ye are agents, and ye are on the Lord s errand ; and what
ever ye do according to the will of the Lord, it is the Lord s business, and it is
the Lord s business to provide for his Saints in these last days, that they may
obtain an inheritance in the land of Zion." "Book of Commandments," Chap.
65.
1 Tullidge, in his " History of Salt Lake City" (1886), defining the early Mormon
view of their land rights, after quoting Brigham Young s declaration to the first arrivals
in Salt Lake Valley, that he (or the church) had " no land to sell," but " every man
should have his land measured out to him for city and family purposes," says : " Young
could with absolute propriety give the above utterances on the land question. In the
early days of the church they applied to land not only owned by the United States, but
within the boundaries of states of the Union." After quoting from the above-cited
" revelation " the words " save they be by the shedding of blood," he explains, " The
latter clause of the quotation signifies that the Mormon prophet foresaw that, unless his
disciples purchased this whole region of country of the unpopulated Far West of that
period, the land question held between them and anti-Mormons would lead to the shed
ding of blood, and that they would be in jeopardy of losing their inheritance, and this
was realized."
DIRECTIONS TO THE SAINTS ABOUT THEIR ZION 165
In the modern version of this " revelation " to be found in Sec.
64 of the " Doctrine and Covenants," the latter part of this
declaration is changed to read, " And he hath set you to provide
for his saints in these last days," etc.
So eager were the Saints to occupy their land of Zion, when the
movement started, that the word of " revelation" was employed to
give warning against a hasty rush to the new possessions, and to
establish a certain supervision of the emigration by the Bishop
and other agents of the church. Notwithstanding this, the rush
soon became embarrassing to the church authorities in Missouri,
and a modified view of the Lord s promise was thus stated in the
Everting and Morning Star of July, 1832, "Although the Lord
has said that it is his business to provide for the Saints in these
last days, he is not bound to do so unless we observe his sayings
and keep them." Saints in the East were warned against giving
away their property before moving, and urged not to come to Mis
souri without some means, and to bring with them cattle and im
proved breeds of sheep and hogs, with necessary seeds.
CHAPTER II
SMITH S FIRST VISITS TO MISSOURI FOUNDING THE CITY
AND THE TEMPLE
ON June 7, 1831, a "revelation" was given out (Sec. 52) an- !
nouncing that the next conference would be held in the promised i
land in Missouri, and directing Smith and Rigdon to go thither, and !
naming some thirty elders, including John Corrill, David Whitmer, i
P. P. and Orson Pratt, Martin Harris, and Edward Partridge, who j
should also make the trip, two by two, preaching by the way. Booth
says : " Only about two weeks were allowed them to make prepara
tions for the journey, and most of them left what business they had
to be closed by others. Some left large families, with the crops i
upon the ground." l
Smith s party left Kirtland on June 19, and arrived at Indepen- j
dence in the following month, journeying on foot after reaching j
St. Louis, a distance of about three hundred miles. Smith was de- ;
lighted with the new country, with " its beautiful rolling prairies,
spread out like real meadows ; the varied timber of the bottoms ;
the plums and grapes and persimmons and the flowers ; the rich soil,
the horses, cattle, and hogs, and the wild game. . . . The season is
mild and delightful nearly three quarters of the year, and as the
land of Zion is situated at about equal distances from the Atlantic
and Pacific Oceans, as well as from the Alleghany and Rocky
Mountains, it bids fair to become one of the most blessed places on ;
the earth." 2 The town of Independence then consisted of a brick ,
courthouse, two or three stores, and fifteen or twenty houses,
mostly of logs.
The usual "revelation" came first (Sec. 57), announcing that
" this is the land of promise and the place for the City of Zion,"
with Independence as its centre, and the site of the Temple a lot
1 Howe s " Mormonism Unveiled."
2 Smith s "Autobiography," Millennial Star, Vol. XIV.
166
SMITH S FIRST VISITS TO MISSOURI 167
near the courthouse. It was also declared that the land should be
purchased by the Saints, " and also every tract lying westward, even
unto the line running directly between Jew and Gentile " (whatever
that might mean), " and also every tract bordering by the prairies."
Sidney Gilbert was ordered to "plant himself " there, and establish
a store, " that he might sell goods without fraud," to obtain money
for the purchase of land. Edward Partridge was " to divide the
Saints their inheritance," and W. W. Phelps l and Cowdery were
to be printers to the church.
Marvellous stories were at once circulated of the grandeur that
was to characterize the new city, of the wealth that would be gath
ered there by the faithful who would survive the speedy destruction
of the wicked, and of the coming of the lost tribes of Israel, who
had been located near the north pole, where they had become very
rich. While not tracing these declarations to Smith himself, Booth,
who was one of the party, says that they were told by persons in
daily intercourse with him. It is doing the prophet no injustice to
say that they bear his imprint.
The laying of the foundation of the City of Zion was next in
order. Rigdon delivered an address in consecrating the ground, in
which he enjoined them to obey all of Smith s commands. A small
scrub oak tree was then cut down and trimmed, and twelve men,
representing the Apostles, conveyed it to a designated place.
Cowdery sought out the best stone he could find for a corner-stone,
removed a little earth, and placed the stone in the excavation, de
livering an address. One end of the oak tree was laid on this stone,
" and there," says Booth, " was laid down the first stone and stick
which are to form an essential part of the splendid City of Zion."
The next day the site of the Temple was consecrated, Smith
laying the corner-stone. When the ceremonies were over, the spot
was merely marked by a sapling, from two sides of which the bark
was stripped, one side being marked with a "T " for Temple, and
the other with " ZOM," which Smith stated stood for " Zomas," the
original of Zion. At the foot of this sapling lay the corner-stone
"a small stone, covered over with bushes."
Such ceremonies might have been viewed with indulgence if
1 Phelps came from Canandaigua, New York, where, Howe says, he was an avowed
infidel. He had been prominent in politics and had edited a party newspaper. Disap
pointed in his political ambition, he threw in his lot with the new church.
168 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
conducted in some suburb of Kirtland. But when men had trav
elled hundreds of miles at Smith s command, suffering personal
privations as well as submitting to pecuniary sacrifices, it was a
severe test of their faith to have two small trees and two round
stones in the wilderness offered to them as the only tangible indi
cations of a land of plenty. Rigdon expressed dissatisfaction with
the outcome, as we have seen ; Booth left the church as soon as
he got back to Ohio ; members of the party called Cowdery and
Smith imperious, and the prophet and Rigdon incurred the charge
of " excessive cowardice " on the way.
Smith made a second trip to Independence, leaving Ohio on
April 2, 1832, and arriving there on his return the following June.
His stay in Missouri this time was marked by nothing more impor
tant than his acknowledgment as President of the high priesthood
by a council of the church there, and a " revelation " which declared
that Zion s " borders must be enlarged, her Stakes must be strength
ened."
CHAPTER III
THE EXPULSION FROM JACKSON COUNTY THE ARMY OF
ZION
THE efforts of the church leaders to check too precipitate an
emigration to the new Zion were not entirely successful, and,
according to the Evening and Morning Star of July, 1833, the
Mormons with their families then numbered more than twelve
hundred, or about one-third of the total population of the county.
The elders had been pushing their proselyting work throughout
the States and in Canada, and the idea of a land of plenty appealed
powerfully to the new believers, and especially to those of little
means. The branch of the church established at Colesville, New
York, numbering about sixty members, emigrated in a body and
settled twelve miles from Independence. Other settlements were
made in the rural districts, and the non-Mormons began to be
seriously exercised over the situation. The Saints boasted openly
of their future possession of the land, without making clear their
idea of the means by which they would obtain title to it. An
open defiance in the name of the church appeared in an article
in the Evening and Morning Starior July, 1833, which contained
this declaration :
" No matter what our ideas or notions may be on the subject ; no matter
what foolish report the wicked may circulate to gratify an evil disposition ; the
Lord will continue to gather the righteous and destroy the wicked, till the sound
goes forth, IT is FINISHED."
With even greater fatuity came the determination to publish
the prophet s " revelations " in the form of the " Book of Com
mandments." Of the effect of this publication David Whitmer
says, " The main reason why the printing-press [at Independence]
was destroyed, was because they published the Book of Com
mandments. It fell into the hands of the world, and the people
of Jackson County saw from the revelations that they were con-
169
THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
sidered intruders upon the Land of Zion, as enemies of the church,
and that they should be cut off out of the Land of Zion and sent
away." 1
Corrill says of the causes of friction between the Mormons
and their neighbors : 2
" The church got crazy to go up to Zion, as it was then called. The rich
were afraid to send up their money to purchase lands, and the poor crowded up
in numbers, without having any places provided, contrary to the advice of the
Bishop and others, until the old citizens began to be highly displeased. They
saw their country filling up with emigrants, principally poor. They disliked their
religion, and saw also that, if let alone, they would in a short time become a
majority, and of course rule the county. The church kept increasing, and the
old citizens became more and more dissatisfied, and from time to time offered to
sell their farms and possessions, but the Mormons, though desirous, were too
poor to purchase them." 3
The active manifestation of hostility toward the new-comers
by the residents of Jackson County first took shape in the spring
of 1832, in the stoning of Mormon houses at night and the break
ing of windows. Soon afterward a county meeting was called to
take measures to secure the removal of the Mormons from that
county, but nothing definite was done. The burning of haystacks,
shooting into houses, etc., continued until July, 1833, when the
Mormon opponents circulated a statement of their complaints,
closing with a call for a meeting in the courthouse at Indepen
dence, on Saturday, July 20. The text of this manifesto, which is
important as showing the spirit as well as the precise grounds of
the opposition, is as follows :
" We, the undersigned, citizens of Jackson County, believing that an impor
tant crisis is at hand, as regards our civil society, in consequence of a pretended
religious sect of people that have settled, and are still settling, in our county, styl
ing themselves Mormons, and intending, as we do, to rid our society, i peaceably
if we can, forcibly if we must ; and believing as we do, that the arm of the civil
law does not afford us a guarantee, or at least, a sufficient one, against the evils
which are now inflicted upon us, and seem to be increasing, by the said religious
sect, we deem it expedient and of the highest importance to form ourselves into
a company for the better and easier accomplishment of our purpose a purpose,
1 "Address to All Believers in Christ," p. 54.
2 CorrilFs " Brief History of the Church," p. 19.
8 After the survey of Jackson County, Congress granted to the state of Missouri a
large tract of land, the sale of which should be made for educational purposes, and the
Mormons took title to several thousand acres of this, west of Independence.
THE EXPULSION FROM JACKSON COUNTY 171
which we deem it almost superfluous to say, is justified as well by the law of
nature, as by the law of self preservation.
"It is more than two years since the first of these fanatics, or knaves, (for one
or the other they undoubtedly are,) made their first appearance amongst us, and,
pretending as they did, and now do, to hold personal communication and con
verse face to face with the Most High God ; to receive communications and
revelations direct from heaven ; to heal the sick by laying on hands ; and, in
short, to perform all the wonder-working miracles wrought by the inspired
Apostles and Prophets of old.
" We believed them deluded fanatics, or weak and designing knaves, and
that they and their pretensions would soon pass away ; but in this we were
deceived. The arts of a few designing leaders amongst them have thus far
succeeded in holding them together as a society ; and, since the arrival of the
first of them, they have been daily increasing in numbers ; and if they had been
respectable citizens in society, and thus deluded, they would have been entitled
to our pity rather than our contempt and hatred ; but from their appearance,
from their manners, and from their conduct since their coming among us, we
have every reason to fear that, with but few exceptions, they were of the very
dregs of that society from which they came, lazy, idle, and vicious. This we
conceive is not idle assertion, but a fact susceptible of proof, for with these few
exceptions above named, they brought into our county little or no property with
them, and left less behind them, and we infer that those only yoked themselves
to the Mormon car who had nothing earthly or heavenly to lose by the change ;
and we fear that if some of the leaders amongst them had paid the forfeit due to
crime, instead of being chosen ambassadors of the Most High, they would have
been inmates of solitary cells.
" But their conduct here stamps their characters in their true colors. More
than a year since, it was ascertained that they had been tampering with our
slaves, and endeavoring to rouse dissension and raise seditions amongst them.
Of this their Mormon leaders were informed, and they said they would deal with
any of their members who should again in like case offend. But how specious
are appearances. In a late number of the Star, published in Independence by
the leaders of the sect, there is an article inviting free negroes and mulattoes
from other states to become Mormons, and remove and settle among us. This
exhibits them in still more odious colors. It manifests a desire on the part of
their society to inflict on our society an injury, that they knew would be to us
entirely insupportable, and one of the surest means of driving us from the county ;
for it would require none of the supernatural gifts that they pretend to, to see
that the introduction of such a caste amongst us would corrupt our blacks, and
instigate them to bloodshed.
" They openly blaspheme the Most High God, and cast contempt on His
holy religion, by pretending to receive revelations direct from heaven, by pre
tending to speak unknown tongues by direct inspirations, and by divers pretences
derogatory of God and religion, and to the utter subversion of human reason.
" They declare openly that their God hath given them this county of land,
and that sooner or later they must and will have the possession of our lands for
1 72 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
an inheritance ; and, in fine, they have conducted themselves on many other
occasions in such a manner that we believe it a duty we owe to ourselves, our
wives, and children, to the cause of public morals, to remove them from among
us, as we are not prepared to give up our pleasant places and goodly possessions
to them, or to receive into the bosom of our families, as fit companions for our
wives and daughters, the degraded and corrupted free negroes and mulattoes that
are now invited to settle among us.
" Under such a state of things, even our beautiful county would cease to be a
desirable residence, and our situation intolerable! We, therefore, agree that, if
after timely warning, and receiving an adequate compensation for what little
property they cannot take with them, they refuse to leave us in peace, as they
found us we agree to use such means as may be sufficient to remove them, and
to that end we each pledge to each other our bodily powers, our lives, fortunes,
and sacred honors.
"We will meet at the court-house, at the Town of Independence, on Saturday
next, the 2oth inst., to consult ulterior movements." l
Some hundreds of names were signed to this call, and the
meeting of July 20 was attended by nearly five hundred persons.
There is no doubt that it was a representative county gathering.
P. P. Pratt says that the anti-Mormon organization, which he calls
" outlaws," was " composed of lawyers, magistrates, county officers,
civil and military, religious ministers, and a great number of the
ignorant and uninformed portion of the population." 2 The lan
guage of the address adopted shows that skilled pens were not
wanting in its preparation.
The first business of the meeting was the appointment of a
committee to prepare an address stating the grievances of the
people with somewhat greater fulness than the manifesto above
quoted. Like the latter, it conceded at the start that there was
no law under which the object in view could be obtained. It char
acterized the Mormons as but little above the negroes as regards
property or education ; charged them with having exerted a " cor
rupting influence " on the slaves ; 3 asserted that even the more
1 Evening and Morning Star, p. 227; Millennial Star, Vol. XIV, p. 516.
2 Pratt s " Autobiography," p. 103.
3 The Mormons never hesitated to change their position on the slavery question.
An elder s address, published in the Evening and Morning Star of July, 1833, said : " As
to slaves, we have nothing to say. In connection with the wonderful events of this age,
much is doing toward abolishing slavery and colonizing the blacks in Africa." Three
years later, in April, 1836, the Messenger and Advocate published a strong proslavery
article, denying the right of the people of the North to interfere with the institution, and
picturing the happy condition of the slaves. Orson Hyde, in the Frontier Guardian in
1850 (quoted in the Millennial Star, Vol. XIII, p. 63), said: "When a man in the
THE EXPULSION FROM JACKSON COUNTY 173
intelligent boasted daily to the Gentiles that the Mormons would
appropriate their lands for an inheritance, and that their news
paper organ taught them that the lands were to be taken by the
sword. Noting the rapid increase in the immigration of members
of the new church, the address, looking to a near day when they
would be in a majority in the county, asked : "What would be the
state of our lives and property in the hands of jurors and wit
nesses who do not blush to declare, and would not upon occasion
hesitate to swear, that they have wrought miracles, and have been
the subjects of miraculous and supernatural cures, have conversed
with God and his angels, and possess and exercise the gifts of
divination and of unknown tongues, and are fired with the pros
pect of obtaining inheritances without money and without price,
may be better imagined than described." That this apprehension
was not without grounds will be seen when we come to the admin
istration of justice in Nauvoo and in Salt Lake City.
The address closed with these demands :
" That no Mormon shall in future move and settle in this county.
" That those now here, who shall give a definite pledge of their intention
within a reasonable time to remove out of the county, shall be allowed to remain
unmolested until they have sufficient time to sell their property and close their
business without any material sacrifice.
" That the editor of the Star (W. W. Phelps) be required forthwith to close
his office and discontinue the business of printing in this county ; and, as to all
other stores and shops belonging to the sect, their owners must in every case
strictly comply with the terms of the second article of this declaration ; and,
upon failure, prompt and efficient measures will be taken to close the same.
" That the Mormon leaders here are required to use their influence in pre
venting any further emigration of their distant brethren to this county, and to
counsel and advise their brethren here to comply with the above regulations.
" That those who fail to comply with the requisitions be referred to those
of their brethren who have the gifts of divination and of unknown tongues, to
inform them of the lot that awaits them." l
Southern states embraces our faith and is the owner of slaves, the church says to him,
If your slaves wish to remain with you, and to go with you, put them not away; but if
they choose to leave you, and are not satisfied to remain with you, it is for you to sell
them or to let them go free, as your own conscience may direct you. The church on
this point assumes not the responsibility to direct. " Horace Greeley quoted Brigham
Young as saying to him in Salt Lake City, " We consider slavery of divine institution
and not to be abolished until the curse pronounced on Ham shall have been removed
from his descendants" ("Overland Journey," p. 21 1).
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XIV, pp. 487-489.
174 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
A recess of two hours was taken in which to permit a com
mittee of twelve to call on Bishop Partridge, Phelps, and Gilbert,
and present these terms. This committee reported that these men
" declined giving any direct answer to the requisitions made of
them, and wished an unreasonable time for consultation, not only
with their brethren here, but in Ohio." The meeting thereupon
voted unanimously that the Star printing-office should be razed to
the ground, and the type and press be " secured."
A report of the action of this meeting and its result was pre
pared by the chairman and two secretaries, and printed over their
signatures in the Western Monitor of Fayette, Missouri, on August
2, 1833, and it is transferred to Smith s autobiography. It agrees
with the Mormon account set forth in their later petition to Gover
nor Dunklin. It particularized, however, that the Mormon leaders
asked the committee first for three months, and then for ten days,
in which to consider the demands, and were told that they could
have only fifteen minutes.
What happened next is thus set forth in the chairman s re
port :
" Which resolution [for the razing of the Star office] was with the utmost order
and the least noise and disturbance possible, forthwith carried into execution, as
also some other steps of a similar tendency ; but no blood was spilled nor any blows
inflicted."
Mobs do not generally act with the " utmost order," and this one
was not an exception to the rule, as an explanation of the " other
steps " will make clear. The first object of attack was the printing-
office, a two-story brick building. This was demolished, causing a
loss of $6000, according to the Mormon claims. The mob next
visited the store kept by Gilbert, but refrained from attacking it on
receiving a pledge that the goods would be packed for removal by
the following Tuesday. They then called at the houses of some of
the leading Mormons, and conducted Bishop Partridge and a man
named Allen to the public square. Partridge told his captors that
the saints had been subjected to persecution in all ages ; that he was
willing to suffer for Christ s sake, but that he would not consent to
leave the country. Allen refused either to agree to depart or to
deny the inspiration of the Mormon Bible. Both men were then
relieved of their hats, coats, and vests, daubed with tar, and decorated
THE EXPULSION FROM JACKSON COUNTY 175
with feathers. This ended the proceedings of that day, and an ad
journment was announced until the following Tuesday.
On Tuesday, July 23 (the date of the laying of the corner-stone
of the Kirtland Temple), the Missourians gathered again in the town,
carrying a red flag and bearing arms. The Mormon statement to
Governor Dunklin says, "They proceeded to take some of the
leading elders by force, declaring it to be their intention to whip
them from fifty to five hundred lashes apiece, to demolish their
dwelling houses, and let their negroes loose to go through our planta
tions and lay open our fields for the destruction of our crops." l
The official report of the officers of the meeting 2 says that, when
the chairman had taken his seat, a committee was appointed to
wait on the Mormons at the request of the latter.
As a result of a conference with this committee, a written agree
ment was entered into, signed by the committee and the Mormons
named in it, to this effect : That Oliver Cowdery, W. W. Phelps,
W. E. McLellin, Edward Partridge, John Wright, Simeon Carter,
Peter and John Whitmer, and Harvey Whitlock, with their families,
should move from the county by January I next, and use their in
fluence to induce their fellow-Mormons in the county to do likewise
one half by January I and all by April I and to prevent fur
ther immigration of the brethren ; John Corrill and A. S. Gilbert to
remain as agents to wind up the business of the society, Gilbert to
be allowed to sell out his goods on hand ; no Mormon paper to be
published in the county ; Partridge and Phelps to be allowed to go
and come after January I, in winding up their business, if their fam
ilies were removed by that time ; the committee pledging themselves
to use their influence to prevent further violence, and assuring Phelps
that " whenever he was ready to move, the amount of all his losses
[on the printing-house] should be paid to him by the citizens." In
view of this arrangement there was no further trouble for more than
two months.
The Mormon leaders had, however, no intention of carrying out
their part of this undertaking. Corrill, in a letter to Oliver Cowdery
written in December, 1833, said that the agreement was made,
1 Greene, in his " Facts Relative to the Expulsion of the Mormons from the State
of Missouri" (1839), says that the mob seized a number of Mormons and, at the muzzle
of their guns, compelled them to confess that the Mormon Bible was a fraud.
2 Millennial Star, Vol. XIV, p. 500.
176 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
" supposing that before the time arrived the mob would see their
error and stop the violence, or that some means might be employed
so that we could stay in peace." 1 Oliver Cowdery was sent at once
to Kirtland to advise with the church officers there. On his arrival,
early in August, a council was convened, and it was decided that
legal measures should be taken to establish the rights of the Saints
in Missouri. Smith directed that they should neither sell their lands
nor move out of Jackson County, save those who had signed the
agreement. 2 It was also decided to send Orson Hyde and John
Gould to Missouri " with advice to the Saints in their unfortunate
situation through the late outrage of the mob." 3
To strengthen the courage of the flock in Missouri, Smith gave
forth at Kirtland, under date of August 2, 1833, a "revelation"
(Sec. 97), " in answer to our correspondence with the prophet,"
says P. P. Pratt, 4 in which the Lord was represented as saying,
" Surely, Zion is the city of our God, and surely Zion cannot fail,
neither be moved out of her place ; for God is there, and the hand
of God is there, and he has sworn by the power of his might to be
her salvation and her high tower." The same " revelation " directed
that the Temple should be built speedily by means of tithing, and
threatened Zion with pestilence, plague, sword, vengeance, and de
vouring fire unless she obeyed the Lord s commands.
The outcome of all the deliberations at Kirtland was the send
ing of W. W. Phelps and Orson Hyde to Jefferson City with a long
petition to Governor Dunklin, setting forth the charges of the Mis-
sourians against the Mormons, and the action of the two meetings
at Independence, and making a direct appeal to him for assistance,
asking him to employ troops in their defence, in order that they
might sue for damages, " and, if advisable, try for treason against
the government."
The governor sent them a written reply under date of October
19, in which, after expressing sympathy with them in their troubles,
he said : " I should think myself unworthy the confidence with
which I have been honored by my fellow-citizens did I not promptly
employ all the means which the constitution and laws have placed
at my disposal to avert the calamities with which you are threatened.
1 Evening and Morning Star, January, 1834
2 Elder Williams s Letter, Millennial Star, Vol. XIV, p. 519.
8 Millennial Star, Vol. XIV, p. 504. * Pratt s " Autobiography," p. 100.
THE EXPULSION FROM JACKSON COUNTY 177
. . . No citizen, or number of citizens, have a right to take the re
dress of their grievances, whether real or imaginary, into their own
hands. Such conduct strikes at the very existence of society."
He advised the Mormons to invoke the laws in their behalf ; to se
cure a warrant from a justice of the peace, and so test the question
" whether the law can be peaceably executed or not " ; if not, it
would be his duty to take steps to execute it.
The Mormons and their neighbors were thus brought face to
face in a manner which admitted of no compromise. The situa
tion naturally seemed rather a simple one to the governor, who
was probably ignorant of the intentions and ambition of the Mor
mons. If he had understood the nature and weight of the objec
tions to them, he would have understood also that he could protect
them in their possessions only by maintaining a military force.
His letter gave the Mormons of Jackson County new courage.
They had been maintaining a waiting attitude since the meeting
of July 23, but now they resumed their occupations, and began to
erect more houses, and to improve their places as if for a perma
nent stay, and meanwhile there was no cessation of the immigra
tion of new members from the East. Their leaders consulted four
lawyers in Clay County, and arranged with them to look after their
legal interests.
This evident repudiation by the Mormons of their part of their
agreement with the committee incensed the Jackson County people,
and hostilities were resumed. On the night of October 31, a mob
attacked a Mormon settlement called Big Blue, some ten miles west
of Independence, damaged a number of houses, whipped some
of the men, and frightened women and children so badly that
they fled to the outlying country for hiding-places. On the night
of November I, Mormon houses were stoned in Independence,
and the church store was broken into and its goods scattered
in the street. The Mormons thereupon showed the governor s
letter to a justice of the peace, and asked him for a warrant,
but their accounts say that he refused one. When they took
before the same officer a man whom they caught in the act of
destroying their property, the justice not only refused to hold him,
but granted a warrant in his behalf against Gilbert, Corrill, and
two other Mormons for false imprisonment, and they were locked
up. 1 Thrown on their own resources for defence, the Mormons
1 Corrill s letter, Evening and Morning Star, January, 1834.
THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
now armed themselves as well as they could, and established a
night picket service throughout their part of the county. On
Saturday night, November 2, a second attack was made by the
mob on Big Blue and, the Mormons resisting, the first " battle " of
this campaign took place. A sick woman received a pistol-shot
wound in the head, and one of the Mormons a wound in the thigh.
Parley P. Pratt and others were then sent to Lexington to procure
a warrant from Circuit Judge Ryland, but, according to Pratt, he
refused to grant one, and " advised us to fight and kill the outlaws
whenever they came upon us." 1
On Monday evening, November 4, a body of Missourians who
had been visiting some of the Mormon settlements came in contact
with a company of Mormons who had assembled for defence, and
an exchange of shots ensued, by which a number on both sides
were wounded, one of the Mormons dying the next day.
These conflicts increased the excitement, and the Mormons,
knowing how they were outnumbered, now realized that they could
not stay in Jackson County any longer, and they arranged to move.
At first they decided to make their new settlement only fifty miles
south of Independence, in Van Buren County, but to this the
Jackson County people would not consent. They therefore agreed
to move north into Clay County, between which and Jackson
County the Missouri River, which there runs east, formed the
boundary. Most of them went to Clay County, but others scat
tered throughout the other near-by counties, whose inhabitants
soon let them know that their presence was not agreeable.
The hasty removal of these people so late in the season was
accompanied by great personal hardships and considerable pecun
iary loss. The Mormons have stated the number of persons driven
out at fifteen hundred, and the number of houses burned, before
and after their departure, at from two hundred to three hundred.
Cattle and household effects that could not be moved were sold for
what they would bring, and those who took with them sufficient
provisions for their immediate wants considered themselves fortu
nate. One party of six men and about one hundred and fifty
women and children, panic-stricken by the action of the mob, wan
dered for several days over the prairie without even sufficient food.
The banks of the Missouri River where the fugitives were ferried
1 Pratt s "Autobiography," p. 105.
THE EXPULSION FROM JACKSON COUNTY 179
across presented a strange spectacle. In a pouring rain the big
company were encamped there on November 7, some with tents
and some without any cover, their household goods piled up around
them. Children were born in this camp, and the sick had to put up
with such protection as could be provided. So determined were the
Jackson County people that not a Mormon should remain among
them, that on November 23 they drove out a little settlement of
some twenty families living about fifteen miles from Independence,
compelling women and children to depart on immediate notice.
The Mormons made further efforts through legal proceedings
to assert their rights in Jackson County, but unsuccessfully. The
governor declared that the situation did not warrant him in call
ing out the militia, and referred them to the courts for redress for
civil injuries. In later years they appealed more than once to
the federal authorities at Washington for assistance in reestab
lishing themselves in Jackson County, 1 but were informed that
the matter rested with the state of Missouri. Their future bitter
ness toward the federal government was explained on the ground
of this refusal to come to their aid.
Meanwhile Smith had been preparing to use the authority at
his command to make good his predictions about the permanency
of the church in the Missouri Zion. On December 6, 1833, ne
gave out a long "revelation " at Kirtland (Sec. 101), which created
a great sensation among his followers. Beginning with the decla
ration that " I, the Lord," have suffered affliction to come on the
brethren in Missouri "in consequence of their transgressions,
envy ings and stripes, and lustful and covetous desires," it went
on to promise them as follows :
"Zion shall not be moved out of her place, notwithstanding her children are
scattered. . . . And, behold, there is none other place appointed than that which
I have appointed ; neither shall there be any other place appointed than that
which I have appointed, for the work of the gathering of my saints, until the day
cometh when there is found no more room for them."
The " revelation " then stated the Lord s will " concerning the
redemption of Zion " in the form of a long parable which con
tained these instructions :
1 James Hutchins, a resident of Wisconsin, addressed a long appeal " for justice " to
President Grant in 1876, asking him to reinstate the Mormons in the homes from which
they had been driven.
180 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
"And go ye straightway into the land of my vineyard, and redeem my vine
yard, for it is mine, I have bought it with money.
" Therefore get ye straightway unto my land ; break down the walls of mine
enemies ; throw down their tower and scatter their watchmen ;
"And inasmuch as they gather together against you, avenge me of mine ene
mies, that by and by I may come with the residue of mine house and possess the
land."
This " revelation " was industriously circulated in printed form
among the churches of Ohio and the East, and so great was the
demand for copies that they sold for one dollar each. The only
construction to be placed upon it was that Smith proposed to
make good his predictions by means of an armed force led against
the people of Missouri. This view soon had confirmation.
The arrival of P. P. Pratt and Lyman Wight in Kirtland in
February, 1834, was followed by a "revelation" (Sec. 103) promis
ing an outpouring of God s wrath on those who had expelled the
brethren from their Missouri possessions, and declaring that " the
redemption of Zion must needs come by power," and that Smith
was to lead them, as Moses led the children of Israel.
In obedience to this direction there was assembled a military
organization, known in church history as " The Army of Zion."
Recruiters, led by Smith and Rigdon, visited the Eastern states,
and by May I some two hundred men had assembled at Kirtland
ready to march to Missouri to aid their brethren. 1
The Army of Zion, as it called itself, was not an impressive
one in appearance. Military experience was not required of the
recruits ; but no one seems to have been accepted who was not in
possession of a weapon and at least $5 in cash. The weapons
ranged from butcher knives and rusty swords to pistols, muskets,
and rifles. Smith himself carried a fine sword, a brace of pistols
(purchased on six months credit), and a rifle, and had four horses
allotted to him. He had himself elected treasurer of the expedi
tion, and to him was intrusted all the money of the men, to be dis
bursed as his judgment dictated.
According to his own account, they were constantly threatened
by enemies during their march ; but they paid no attention to them,
knowing that angels accompanied them as protectors, " for we saw
them."
1 There are three detailed accounts of this expedition, one in Smith s autobiography,
another in H. C. Kimball s journal in Times and Seasons, Vol. 6, and another in Howe s
" Mormonism Unveiled," procured from one of the accompanying sharpshooters.
THE EXPULSION FROM JACKSON COUNTY 181
As they approached Clay County a committee from Ray
County called on them to inquire about their intention, and, when
a few miles from Liberty, in Clay County, General Atchison and
other Missourians met them and warned them not to defy popular
feeling by entering that town. Accepting this advice, they took
a circuitous route and camped on Rush Creek, whence Smith
on June 25 sent a letter to General Atchison s committee saying
that, in the interest of peace, " we have concluded that our com
pany shall be immediately dispersed."
The night before this letter was sent, cholera broke out in the
camp. Smith at once attempted to perform miraculous cures of
the victims, but he found actual cholera patients very different to
deal with from old women with imaginary ailments, or, as he puts
it, " I quickly learned by painful experience that, when the great
Jehovah decrees destruction upon any people, and makes known
his determination, man must not attempt to stay his hand." *
There were thirteen deaths in camp, among the victims being
Sidney Gilbert.
Of course, some explanation was necessary to reconcile the
prophet s surrender without a battle with the " revelation " which
directed the army to march and promised a victory. This came in
the shape of another "revelation " (Sec. 105) which declared that
the immediate redemption of the people must be delayed because
of their disobedience and lack of union (especially excepting him
self from this censure); that the Lord did not "require at their
hands to fight the battles of Zion " ; that a large enough force
had not assembled at the Lord s command, and that those who
had made the journey were "brought thus far for a trial of their
faith." The brethren were directed not to make boasts of the
judgment to come on the Missourians, but to keep quiet, and
"gather together, as much in one region as can be, consistently
with the feelings of the people " ; to purchase all the lands in
Jackson County they could, and then " I will hold the armies of
Israel guiltless in taking possession of their own lands, which
they have previously purchased with their monies, and of throw
ing down the powers of mine enemies." But first the Lord s
army was to become very great.
It seems incredible that any set of followers could retain faith
in " revelations " at once so conflicting and so nonsensical.
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XV, p. 86.
CHAPTER IV
FRUITLESS NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE JACKSON COUNTY
PEOPLE
MEANWHILE, the Mormons in Clay County, with the assent of
the natives there, had opened a factory for the manufacture of
arms " to pay the Jackson mob in their own way," l and it was
rumored that both sides were supplying themselves with cannon,
to make the coming contest the more determined. Governor Dunk-
lin, fearing a further injury to the good name of the state, wrote to
Colonel J. Thornton urging a compromise, and on June 10 Judge
Ryland sent a communication to A. S. Gilbert, asking him to call a
meeting of Mormons in Liberty for a discussion of the situation.
This meeting was held on June 16, and a committee from Jack
son County presented the following proposition : " That the value
of the lands, and the improvements thereon, of the Mormons in
Jackson County, be ascertained by three disinterested appraisers,
representatives of the Mormons to be allowed freely to point out
the lands claimed and the improvements ; that the people of Jack
son County would agree to pay the Mormons the valuation fixed
by the appraisers, with one hundred per cent added, within thirty
days of the award ; or, the Jackson County citizens would agree to
sell out their lands in that county to the Mormons on the same
terms." The Mormon leaders agreed to call a meeting of their
people to consider this proposition.
The fifteen Jackson County committeemen, it may be mentioned,
in crossing the river on their way home, were upset, and seven of
them were drowned, including their chairman, J. Campbell, who
was reported to have made threats against Smith. The latter thus
reports the accident in his autobiography, " The angel of God saw
fit to sink the boat about the middle of the river, and seven out of
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XV, p. 68.
182
NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE JACKSON COUNTY PEOPLE 183
the twelve that attempted to cross were drowned, thus suddenly
and justly went they to their own place by water."
On June 21 the Mormons gave written notice to the Jackson
County people that the terms proposed were rejected, and that
they were framing " honorable propositions " on their own part,
which they would soon submit, adding a denial of a rumor that
they intended a hostile invasion. Their objection to the terms
proposed was thus stated in an editorial in the Evening and Morn
ing Star of July, 1834, "When it is understood that the mob hold
possession of a large quantity of land more than our friends, and
that they only offer thirty days for the payment of the same, it
will be seen that they are only making a sham to cover their past
unlawful conduct." This explanation ignores entirely the offer of
the Missourians to buy out the Mormons at a valuation double that
fixed by the appraisers, and simply shows that they intended to
hold to the idea that their promised Zion was in Jackson County,
and that they would not give it up. 1
On June 23 (the date of Smith s last quoted "revelation"), the
Mormons presented their counter proposition in writing. It was
1 The idea of returning to a Zion in Jackson County has never been abandoned by
the Mormon church. Bishop Partridge took title to the Temple lot in Independence in
his own name. In 1839, when the Mormons were expelled from the state, still believ
ing that this was to be the site of the New Jerusalem, he deeded sixty-three acres of land
in Jackson County, including this lot, to three small children of Oliver Cowdery. In
1848, seven years after Partridge s death, and when all the Cowdery grantees were dead,
a man named Poole got a deed for this land from the heirs of the grantees, and subse
quent conveyances were made under Poole s deed. In 1851 a branch of the church,
under a title Church of Christ, known as Hendrickites, from Grandville Hendrick, its
originator, was organized in Illinois, with a basis of belief which rejects most of the inno
vations introduced since 1835. Hendrick in 1864 was favored with a "revelation"
which ordered the removal of his church to Jackson County. On arriving there differ
ent members quietly bought parts of the old Temple lot. In 1887 the sole surviving
sister and heir of the Cowdery children executed a quit claim deed of the lot to Bishop
Blakeslee of the Reorganized Church in Iowa, and that church at once began legal pro
ceedings to establish their title. Judge Philips, of the United States Circuit Court for the
Western Division of Missouri, decided the case in March, 1894, in favor of the Reorgan
ized Church, but the United States Court of Appeals reversed this decision on the ground
that the respondents had title through undisputed possession (" United States Court of
Appeals Reports," Vol. XVII, p. 387). The Hendrickites in this suit were actively aided
by the Utah Mormons, President Woodruff being among their witnesses. This Church
of Christ has now a membership of less than two hundred.
Two Mormon elders, describing their visit to Independence in 1888, said that they
went to the Temple lot and prayed as follows: "O Lord, remember thy words, and let
not Zion suffer forever. Hasten her redemption, and let thy name be glorified in the
victory of truth and righteousness over sin and iniquity. Confound the enemies of the
people and let Zion be free." " Infancy of the Church," Salt Lake City, 1889.
1 84 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
that a board of six Mormons and six Jackson County non-Mormons
should decide on the value of lands in that county belonging to
"those men who cannot consent to live with us," and that they
should receive this sum within a year, less the amount of damage
suffered by the Mormons, the latter to be determined by the same
persons. The Jackson County people replied that they would "do
nothing like according to their last proposition," and expressed a
hope that the Mormons " would cast an eye back of Clinton, to see
if that is not a county calculated for them." Clinton was the
county next north of Clay.
Governor Dunklin, in his annual message to the legislature
that year, expressed the opinion that " conviction for any violence
committed against a Mormon cannot be had in Jackson County,"
and told the lawmakers it was for them to determine what amend
ments were necessary " to guard against such acts of violence for
the future." The Mormons sent a petition in their own behalf to
the legislature, which was presented by Corrill, but no action was
taken.
CHAPTER V
IN CLAY, CALDWELL, AND DAVIESS COUNTIES
THE counties in which the Mormons settled after leaving Jack-
>n County were thinly populated at that time, Clay County having
5338 inhabitants, according to the census of 1830, and Cald-
well, Carroll, and Daviess counties together having only 6617
inhabitants by the census of 1840. County rivalry is always a
characteristic of our newly settled states and territories, and the
Clay County people welcomed the Mormons as an addition to their
number, notwithstanding the ill favor in which they stood with
their southern neighbors. The new-comers at first occupied what
vacant cabins they could find in the southern part of the county,
until they could erect houses of their own, while the men obtained
such employment as was offered, and many of the women sought
places as domestic servants and school-teachers. The Jackson
County people were not pleased with this friendly spirit, and they
not only tried to excite trouble between the new neighbors, but
styled the Clay County residents " Jack Mormons," a name applied
in later years in other places to non-Mormons who were supposed
to have Mormon sympathies.
Peace was maintained, however, for about three years. But
the Mormons grew in numbers, and, as the natives realized their
growth, they showed no more disposition to be in the minority
than did their southern neighbors. The Mormons, too, were with
out tact, and they did not conceal the intention of the church to
possess the land. Proof of their responsibility for what followed
is found in a remark of W. W. Phelps, in a letter from Clay County
to Ohio in December, 1833, that "our people fare very well, and,
when they are discreet, little or no persecution is felt." 1
The irritation kept on increasing, and by the spring of 1836
Clay County had become as hostile to the Mormons as Jackson
County had ever been. In June, the course adopted in Jackson
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XIV, p. 646.
185
THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
County to get rid of the new-comers was imitated, and a public
meeting in the court house at Liberty adopted resolutions 1 setting
forth that civil war was threatened by the rapid immigration of
Mormons ; that when the latter were received, in pity and kind
ness, after their expulsion across the river, it was understood that
they would leave " whenever a respectable portion of the citizens
of this county should require it," and that that time had now come.
The reasons for this demand included Mormon declarations that
the county was destined by Heaven to be theirs, opposition to
slavery, teaching the Indians that they were to possess the land
with the Saints, and their religious tenets, which, it was said,
"always will excite deep prejudices against them in any populous
country where they may locate." In explanations of the anti-Mor
mon feeling in Missouri frequent allusion is made to polygamous
practices. This was not charged in any of the formal statements
against them, and Corrill declares that they had done nothing
there that would incriminate them under the law. The Mormons
were urged to seek a new abiding-place, the territory of Wisconsin
being recommended for their investigation. The resolutions con
fessed that " we do not contend that we have the least right, under
the constitution and laws of the country, to expel them by force " ;
but gave as an excuse for the action taken the certainty of an
armed conflict if the Mormons remained. Newly arrived immi
grants were advised to leave immediately, non-landowners to follow
as soon as they could gather their crops and settle up their busi
ness, and owners of forty acres to remain indefinitely, until they
could dispose of their real estate without loss.
The Mormons, on July i, adopted resolutions denying the
charges against them, but agreeing to leave the county. The
Missourians then appointed a committee to raise money to assist
the needy Saints to move. Smith and his associates in Ohio had
not at that time the same interest in a Zion in Missouri that they
had three years earlier, and they only expressed sorrow over the
new troubles, and advised the fugitives to stop short of Wisconsin
if they could. An appeal was again made by the Missouri Mor
mons to the governor of that state, but he now replied that if they
could not convince their neighbors of their innocence, "all I can
say to you is that in this republic the vox populi is the vox dei"
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XV, p. 763.
IN CLAY, CALDWELL, AND DAVIESS COUNTIES 187
The Mormons selected that part of Ray County from which
Caldwell County was formed (just northeast of Clay County) for
their new abode, and on their petition the legislature framed the
new county for their occupancy. This was then almost unsettled
territory, and the few inhabitants made no objection to the coming
of their new neighbors. They secured a good deal of land, some
by purchase, and some by entry on government sections, and began
its improvement. Many of them were so poor that they had to
seek work in the neighboring counties for the support of their
families. Some of their most intelligent members afterward attrib
uted their future troubles in that state to their failure to keep
within their own county boundaries.
As the county seat they founded a town which they named Far
West, and which soon presented quite a collection of houses, both
log and frame, schools, and shops. Phelps wrote in the summer
of 1837, "Land cannot be had around town now much less than
$10 per acre." 1 There were practically no inhabitants but Mor
mons within fifteen or twenty miles of the town, 2 and the Saints
were allowed entire political freedom. Of the county officers, two
judges, thirteen magistrates, the county clerk, and all the militia
officers were of their sect. They had credit enough to make nec
essary loans, and, says Corrill, "friendship began to be restored
between them and their neighbors, the old prejudices were fast
dying away, and they were doing well, until the summer of 1838."
It was in January, 1838, that Smith fled from Kirtland. He
arrived in Far West in the following March ; Rigdon was detained
in Illinois a short time by the illness of a daughter. Smith s fam
ily went with him, and they were followed by many devoted adher
ents of the church, who, in order to pay church debts in Ohio and
the East, had given up their property in exchange for orders on
the Bishop at Far West. In other words, they were penniless.
The business scandals in Ohio had not affected the reputation
of the church leaders with their followers in Missouri (where the
bank bills had not circulated), and Smith and Rigdon received a
hearty welcome, their coming being accepted as a big step forward
in the realization of their prophesied Zion. It proved, however, to
be the cause of the expulsion of their followers from the state.
1 Messenger and Advocate, July, 1837.
2 Lee s " Mormonism Unveiled," p. 53.
CHAPTER VI
RADICAL DISSENSIONS IN THE CHURCH ORIGIN OF THE
DANITES TITHING
WHILE the church, in a material sense, might have been as
prosperous as Corrill pictured, Smith, on his arrival, found it in the
throes of serious internal discord. The month before he reached
Far West, W. W. Phelps and John Whitmer, of the Presidency
there, had been tried before a general assembly of the church, 1
and almost unanimously deposed on several charges, the principal
one being a claim on their part to $2000 of the church funds which
they had bound the Bishop to pay to them. Whitmer was also
accused of persisting in the use of tea, coffee, and tobacco. T. B.
Marsh, one of the Presidents pro tern, selected in their places, in a
letter to the prophet on this subject, said :
" Had we not taken the above measures, we think that nothing could have
prevented a rebellion against the whole High Council and Bishop ; so great was
the disaffection against the Presidents that the people began to be jealous that
the whole authorities were inclined to uphold these men in wickedness, and in a
little time the church undoubtedly would have gone every man his own way, like
sheep without a shepherd."
On April n, Elder Bronson presented nine charges against
Oliver Cowdery to the High Council, which promptly found him
guilty of six of them, viz. urging vexatious lawsuits against the
brethren, accusing the prophet of adultery, not attending meeting,
returning to the practice of law "for the sake of filthy lucre,"
" disgracing the church by being connected with the bogus [counter
feiting] business, retaining notes after they had been paid," and
generally " forsaking the cause of God." On this finding he was
expelled from the church. Two days later David Whitmer was
found guilty of unchristianlike conduct and defaming the prophet,
and was expelled, and Lyman E. Johnson met the same fate. 2
1 For the minutes of this General Assembly, and text of Marsh s letter, see Elder?
Journal, July, 1838.
2 For minutes of these councils, see Millennial Star, Vol. XVI, pp. 130-134.
188
RADICAL DISSENSIONS IN THE CHURCH 189
Smith soon announced a "revelation" (Sec. 114), directing the
places of the expelled to be filled by others.
It was in the June following that the paper drawn up by Rig-
don and signed by eighty-three prominent members of the church
was presented to the recalcitrants, ordering them to leave the
county, and painting their characters in the blackest hues. 1 This
radical action did not meet the approval of the more conservative
element, which included men like Corrill, and he soon announced
that he was no longer a Mormon. Not long afterward Thomas B.
Marsh, one of the original members of the High Council of Twelve
in Missouri, and now President of the Twelve, and Orson Hyde, one
of the original Apostles, also seceded, and both gave testimony
about the Mormon schemes in Caldwell and Daviess Counties.
Cowdery and Whitmer considered their lives in such danger that
they fled on horseback at night, leaving their families, and after
riding till daylight in a storm, reached the house of a friend, where
they found refuge until their families could join them.
The most important event that followed the expulsion of lead
ing members from the church by the High Council was the forma
tion of that organization which has been almost ever since known
as the Danites, whose dark deeds in Nauvoo were scarcely more
than hinted at, 2 but which, under Brigham Young s authority in
Utah, became a band of murderers, ready to carry out the most
radical suggestion which might be made by any higher authority
of the church.
Corrill, an active member of the church in Missouri, writing in
1839 with the events fresh in his memory, said 3 that the members
of the Danite society entered into solemn covenants to stand by one
another when in difficulty, whether right or wrong, and to correct
each other s wrongs among themselves, accepting strictly the man
dates of the Presidency as standing next to God. He explains
that " many were opposed to this society, but such was their deter
mination and also their threatenings, that those opposed dare not
speak their minds on the subject. ... It began to be taught that
the church, instead of God, or, rather, the church in the hands of
1 See p. 81 ante. For the full text of Rigdon s paper, see the "Correspondence,
Orders, etc., in Relation to the Mormon Disturbances in Missouri," published by order
of the Missouri legislature (1841).
2 Lee s " Mormonism Unveiled," p. 158.
3 " Brief History of the Church," pp. 31, 32.
THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
God, was to bring about these things (judgments on the wicked),
and I was told, but I cannot vouch for the truth of it, that some
of them went so far as to contrive plans how they might scatter
poison, pestilence, and disease among the inhabitants, and make
them think it was judgments sent from God. I accused Smith
and Rigdon of it, but they both denied it promptly."
Robinson, in his reminiscences in the Return in later years,
gave the same date of the organization of the Danites, and said
that their first manifesto was the one directed against Cowdery,
Whitmer, and others.
We must look for the actual origin of this organization, how
ever, to some of the prophet s instructions while still at Kirtland.
In his "revelation" of August 6, 1833 (Sec. 98), he thus defined
the treatment that the Saints might bestow upon their enemies :
" I have delivered thine enemy into thine hands, and then if thou wilt spare
him, thou shalt be rewarded for thy righteousness ; . . . nevertheless thine enemy
is in thine hands, and if thou reward him according to his works thou art justi
fied, if he has sought thy life, and thy life is endangered by him, thine enemy
is in thine hands and thou art justified."
What such a license would mean to a following like Smith s
can easily be understood.
The next step in the same direction was taken during the exer
cises which accompanied the opening of the Kirtland Temple.
Three days after the dedicatory services, all the high officers of
the church, and the official members of the stake, to the number
of about three hundred, met in the Temple by appointment to per
form the washing of feet. While this was going on (following
Smith s own account), 1 " the brethren began to prophesy blessings
upon each other s heads, and cursings upon the enemies of Christ
who inhabit Jackson County, Missouri, and continued prophesy
ing and blessing and sealing them, with hosannah and amen, until
nearly seven o clock P.M. The bread and wine were then brought
in. While waiting, I made the following remarks, I want to
enter into the following covenant, that if any more of our breth
ren are slain or driven from their lands in Missouri by the mob,
we will give ourselves no rest until we are avenged of our enemies
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XV, pp. 727-728.
RADICAL DISSENSIONS IN THE CHURCH 191
to the uttermost. This covenant was sealed unanimously, with a
hosannah and an amen." 1
The original name chosen for the Danites was " Daughters of
Zion," suggested by the text Micah iv. 13 : " Arise and thresh, O
daughter of Zion ; for I will make thine horn iron, and I will make
thine hoofs brass ; and thou shalt beat in pieces many people ; and
I will consecrate thy gain unto the Lord, and their substance unto
the Lord of the whole earth." " Daughters " of anybody was soon
decided to be an inappropriate designation for such a band, and
they were next called " Destroying (or Flying) Angels," a title still
in use in Utah days ; then the " Big Fan," suggested by Jeremiah
xv. 7, or Luke iii. 17; then "Brothers of Gideon," and finally
" Sons of Dan " (whence the name Danites,) from Genesis xlix.
17: " Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path,
that biteth the horse s heels, so that his rider shall fall back
ward. " 2
Avard presented the text of the constitution to the court at
Richmond, Missouri, during the inquiry before Judge King in
November, i838. 3 It begins with a preamble setting forth the
agreement of the members " to regulate ourselves under such laws
as in righteousness shall be deemed necessary for the preservation
of our holy religion, and of our most sacred rights, and the rights
of our wives and children," and declaring that, "not having the
privileges of others allowed to us, we have determined, like unto
our fathers, to resist tyranny, whether it be in kings or in the
people. It is all alike to us. Our rights we must have, and our
rights we shall have, in the name of Israel s God." The President
of the church and his counsellors were to hold the "executive
power," and also, along with the generals and colonels of the so
ciety, to hold the " legislative powers " ; this legislature to " have
power to make all laws regulating the society, and regulating pun
ishments to be administered to the guilty in accordance with the
offence." Thus was furnished machinery for carrying out any
decree of the officers of the church against either life or property.
The Danite oath as it was administered in Nauvoo was as
follows :
1 " The spirit of that covenant evidently bore fruit in the Fourth of July oration of
1838 and the Mountain Meadow Massacre." The Return, Vol. II, p. 271.
2 Hyde s " Mormonism Exposed," pp. 104-105.
8 Missouri " Correspondence, Orders, etc.," pp. 101-102.
IQ2 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
" In the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, I do solemnly obligate myself
ever to regard the Prophet and the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-Day Saints as the supreme head of the church on earth, and to obey
them in all things, the same as the supreme God ; that I will stand by my breth
ren in danger or difficulty, and will uphold the Presidency, right or wrong ; and
that I will ever conceal, and never reveal, the secret purposes of this society,
called Daughters of Zion. Should I ever do the same, I hold my life as the for
feiture, in a caldron of boiling oil." *
John D. Lee, who was a member of the organization, explaining
their secret signs, says, 2 "The sign or token of distress is made
by placing the right hand on the right side of the face, with the
points of the fingers upward, shoving the hand upward until the
ear is snug up between the thumb and forefinger."
It has always been the policy of the Mormon church to deny
to the outside world that any such organization as the Danites
existed, or at least that it received the countenance of the authori
ties. Smith s City Council in Nauvoo made an affidavit that there
was no such society there, and Utah Mormons have professed
similar ignorance. Brigham Young, himself, however, gave tes
timony to the contrary in the days when he was supreme in Salt
Lake City. In one of his discourses which will be found reported
in the Deseret News (Vol. VII, p. 143) he said : " If men come here
and do not behave themselves, they will not only find the Danites,
whom they talk so much about, biting the horses heels, but the
scoundrels will find something biting their heels. In my plain
remarks I merely call things by their own names." It need only
be added that the church authority has been powerful enough at
any time in the history of the church to crush out such an organi
zation if it so desired.
A second organization formed about the same time, at a fully
attended meeting of the Mormons of Daviess County, was called
"The Host of Israel." It was presided over by captains of tens,
of fifties, and of hundreds, and, according to Lee, " God com
manded Joseph Smith to place the Host of Israel in a situation
for defence against the enemies of God and the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-Day Saints."
Another important feature of the church rule that was estab-
1 Bennett s " History of the Saints," p. 267.
2 Lee s " Mormonism Unveiled," p. 57.
RADICAL DISSENSIONS IN THE CHURCH 193
lished at this time was the tithing system, announced in a " reve
lation " (Sec. 119), which is dated July 8, 1838. This required
the flock to put all their " surplus property " into the hands of the
Bishop for the building of the Temple and the payment of the
debts of the Presidency, and that, after that, " those who have thus
been tithed, shall pay one-tenth of all their interest annually ; and
this shall be a standing law unto them forever."
Ebenezer Robinson gives an interesting explanation of the
origin of tithing. 1 In May, 1838, the High Council at Far West,
after hearing a statement by Rigdon that it was absolutely neces
sary for the church to make some provision for the support of the
families of all those who gave their entire time to church affairs,
instructed the Bishop to deed to Smith and Rigdon an eighty-acre
lot belonging to the church, and appointed a committee of three to
confer with the Presidency concerning their salary for that year.
Smith and Rigdon thought that $1100 would be a proper sum,
and the committee reported in favor of a salary, but left the amount
blank. The council voted the salaries, but this action caused such
a protest from the church members that at the next meeting the
resolution was rescinded. Only a few days later came this " reve
lation " requiring the payment of tithes, in which there was no
mention of using any of the money for the poor, as was directed
in the Ohio " revelation " about the consecration of property to
the Bishop.
This tithing system has provided ever since the principal
revenue of the church. By means of it the Temple was built at
Nauvoo, and under it vast sums have been contributed in Utah.
By 1878 the income of the church by this source was placed at
[,000,000 a year, 2 and during Brigham Young s administration
the total receipts were estimated at $13,000,000. We shall see
that Young made practically no report of the expenditure of this
vast sum that passed into his control. To Horace Greeley s ques
tion, " What is done with the proceeds of this tithing ? " Young
replied, " Part of it is devoted to building temples and other places
of worship, part to helping the poor and needy converts on their
way to this country, and the largest portion to the support of the
poor among the Saints."
1 The Return, Vol. I, p. 136.
2 Salt Lake Tribune, June 25, 1879.
1Q4 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
As the authority of the church over its members increased, the
regulation about the payment of tithes was made plainer and more
severe. Parley P. Pratt, in addressing the General Conference in
Salt Lake City in October, 1849, sa id, " To fulfil the law of tithing,
a man should make out and lay before the Bishop a schedule of
all his property, and pay him one-tenth of it. When he hath
tithed his principal once, he has no occasion to tithe again ; but
the next year he must pay one-tenth of his increase, and one-tenth
of his time, of his cattle, money, goods, and trade ; and, what
ever use we put it to, it is still our own, for the Lord does not
carry it away with him to heaven." l
The Seventh General Epistle to the church (September, 1851)
made this statement, " It is time that the Saints understood that the
paying of their tithing is a prominent portion of the labor which
is allotted to them, by which they are to secure a future residence
in the heaven they are seeking after." 2 This view was constantly
presented to the converts abroad.
At the General Conference in Salt Lake City on September 8,
1850, Brigham Young made clear his radical view of tithing a
duty, he declared, that few had lived up to. Taking the case of a
supposed Mr. A, engaged in various pursuits (to represent the
community), starting with a capital of $100,000, he must surrender
$10,000 of this as tithing. With his remaining $90,000 he gains
$410,000; $41,000 of this gain must be given into the storehouse
of the Lord. Next he works nine days with his team ; the tenth
day s work is for the church, as is one-tenth of the wheat he
raises, one-tenth of his sheep, and one-tenth of his eggs. 3
Under date of July 18, came another "revelation" (Sec. 120),
declaring that the tithings " shall be disposed of by a Council,
composed of the First Presidency of my church, and of the Bishop
and his council, and by my High Council." The first meeting of
this body decided " that the First Presidency should keep all their
property that they could dispose of to advantage for their sup
port, and the remainder be put into the hands of the Bishop,
according to the commandments." 4 The coolness of this proceed
ing in excepting Smith and Rigdon from the obligation to pay a
tithe is worthy of admiration.
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XII, p. 134. 8 Ibid., Vol. XIII, p. 21.
2 Ibid., Vol. XIV, p. 1 8. 4 Ibid., Vol. XVI, p. 204.
CHAPTER VII
BEGINNING OF ACTIVE HOSTILITIES
SMITH had shown his dominating spirit as soon as he arrived
at Far West. In April, 1838, he announced a "revelation" (Sec.
115), commanding the building of a house of worship there, the
work to begin on July 4, the speedy building up of that city, and
the establishment of Stakes in the regions round about. This last
requirement showed once more Smith s lack of judgment, and it
became a source of irritation to the non-Mormons, as it was thought
to foreshadow a design to control the neighboring counties. Hyde
says that Smith and Rigdon deliberately planned the scattering
of the Saints beyond the borders of Clay County with a view to
political power. 1
In accordance with this scheme, a "revelation" of May 19
(Sec. 1 1 6), directed the founding of a town on Grand River in
Daviess County, twenty-five miles northwest of Far West. This
settlement was to be called " Adam-ondi-Ahman," " because it is the
place where Adam shall come to visit his people, or the Ancient of
Days shall sit, as spoken of by Daniel the Prophet." The " revela
tion " further explains that, three years before his death, Adam
called a number of high priests and all of his posterity who were
righteous, into the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and there blessed
them. Lee (who, following the common pronunciation, writes the
name " Adam-on-Diamond ") expresses the belief, which Smith in
stilled into his followers, that it "was at the point where Adam came
and settled and blessed his posterity, after being driven from the
Garden of Eden. There Adam and Eve tarried for several years,
and engaged in tilling the soil." 2 By order of the Presidency,
another town was started in Carroll County, where the Saints had
been living in peace. Immediately the new settlement was looked
1 Hyde s " Mormonism," p. 203. a " Mormonism Unveiled," p. 91.
195
196 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
upon as a possible rival of Gallatin, the county seat, and the non-
Mormons made known their objections.
With Smith and Rigdon on the ground, if these men had had
any tact, or any purpose except to enforce Mormon supremacy in
whatever part of Missouri they chose to call Zion, the troubles now
foreshadowed might easily have been prevented. Every step they
took, however, was in the nature of a defiance. The sermons
preached to the Mormons that summer taught them that they
would be able to withstand, not only the opposition of the Mis-
sourians, but of the United States, if this should be put to the
test. 1
The flock in and around Far West were under the influence
of such advice when they met on July 4 to lay the corner-stone
of the third Temple, whose building Smith had revealed, and to
celebrate the day. There was a procession, with a flagpole
raising, and Smith embraced the occasion to make public
announcement of the tithing "revelation" (although it bears a
later date).
The chief feature of the day, and the one that had most
influence on the fortunes of the church, was a sermon by Sidney
Rigdon, known ever since as the "salt sermon," from the text
Matt. v. 13: "If the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall
it be salted ? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast
out, and to be trodden under foot of men." He first applied
these words to the men who had made trouble in the church,
declaring that they ought to be trodden under foot until their
bowels gushed out, citing as a precedent that " the apostles threw
Judas Iscariot down and trampled out his bowels, and that Peter
stabbed Ananias and Sapphira." It was what followed, however,
which made the serious trouble, a defiance to their Missouri oppo
nents in these words :
" It is not because we cannot, if we were so disposed, enjoy both the honors
and flatteries of the world, but we have voluntarily offered them in sacrifice, and
the riches of the world also, for a more durable substance. Our God has prom
ised a reward of eternal inheritance, and we have believed his promise, and,
though we wade through great tribulations, we are in nothing discouraged, for
we know he that has promised is faithful. The promise is sure, and the reward
is certain. It is because of this that we have taken the spoiling of our goods.
1 Corrill s " Brief History of the Church," p. 29.
BEGINNING OF ACTIVE HOSTILITIES 197
Our cheeks have been given to the smiters, and our heads to those who have
plucked off the hair. We have not only, when smitten on one cheek, turned the
other, but we have done it again and again, until we are weary of being smitten,
and tired of being trampled upon. We have proved the world with kindness ;
we have suffered their abuse, without cause, with patience, and have endured
without resentment, until this day, and still their persecution and violence does
not cease. But from this day and this hour, we will suffer it no more.
" We take God and all the holy angels to witness this day, that we warn all
men, in the name of Jesus Christ, to come on us no more for ever, for, from this
hour, we will bear it no more. Our rights shall no more be trampled on with
impunity. The man, or set of men, who attempt it, does it at the expense of
their lives. And that mob that comes on us to disturb us, it shall be between
us and them a war of extermination, for we will follow them till the last drop
of their blood is spilled, or else they will have to exterminate us ; for we will carry
the seat of war to their own houses, and their own families, and one party or the
other shall be utterly destroyed. Remember it then, all men. ^
" We will never be aggressors ; we will infringe on rights of no people ; but
shall stand for our own until death. We claim our own rights, and are willing
that all shall enjoy theirs.
" No man shall be at liberty to come in our streets, to threaten us with mobs,
for if he does, he shall atone for it before he leaves the place : neither shall he be
at liberty to vilify or slander any of us, for suffer it we will not in this place.
" We therefore take all men to record this day, as did our fathers. And we
pledge this day to one another, our fortunes, our lives, and our sacred honors,
to be delivered from the persecutions which we have had to endure for the last
nine years, or nearly that. Neither will we indulge any man, or set of men, in
instituting vexatious lawsuits against us to cheat us out of our just rights. If
they attempt it we say, woe be unto them. We this day then proclaim ourselves
free, with a purpose and a determination that never can be broken, no never,
no never, NO NEVER."
Ebenezer Robinson in The Return (Vol I, p. 170) says:
" Let it be distinctly understood that President Rigdon was not alone respon
sible for the sentiment expressed in his oration, as that was a carefully prepared
document previously written, and well understood by the First Presidency ; but
Elder Rigdon was the mouthpiece to deliver it, as he was a natural orator, and
his delivery was powerful and effective.
" Several Missouri gentlemen of note, from other counties, were present on
the speaker s stand at its delivery, with Joseph Smith, Jr., President, and Hyrum
Smith, Vice President of the day ; and at the conclusion of the oration, when the
president of the day led off with a shout of Hosannah, Hosannah, Hosannah,
and joined in the shout by the vast multitude, these Missouri gentlemen began
to shout hurrah, but they soon saw that did not time with the other, and they
ceased shouting. A copy of the oration was furnished the editor, and printed
in the Far West, a weekly newspaper printed in Liberty, the county seat of Clay
county. It was also printed in pamphlet form, by the writer of this, in the
198 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
printing office of the Elders 1 Journal, in the city of Far West, a copy of which
we have preserved.
" This oration, and the stand taken by the church in endorsing it, and its
publication, undoubtedly exerted a powerful influence in arousing the people of
the whole upper Missouri country."
At the trial of Rigdon, when he was cast out at Nauvoo,
Young and others held him alone responsible for this sermon,
and declared that it was principally instrumental in stirring up
the hostilities that ensued.
A state election was to be held in Missouri early in August,
and there was a good deal of political feeling. Daviess County
was pretty equally divided between Whigs and Democrats, and
the vote of the Mormons was sought by the leaders of both parties.
In Caldwell County the Saints were classed as almost solidly
Democratic. When election day came, the Danites in the latter
county distributed tickets on which the Presidency had agreed,
but this resulted in nothing more serious than some criticism of
this interference of the church in politics. But in Daviess County
trouble occurred.
The Mormons there were warned by the Democrats that the
Whigs would attempt to prevent their voting at Gallatin. Of
the ten houses in that town at the time, three were saloons, and
the material for an election-day row was at hand. It began with
an attack on a Mormon preacher, and ended in a general fight,
in which there were many broken heads, but no loss of life ; after
which, says Lee, who took part in it, "the Mormons all voted." 1
Exaggerated reports of this melee reached Far West, and
Dr. Avard, collecting a force of 150 volunteers, and accompanied
by Smith and Rigdon, started for Daviess County for the support
of their brethren. They came across no mob, but they made a
tactical mistake. Instead of disbanding and returning to their
homes, they, the next morning (following Smith s own account) 2
" rode out to view the situation." Their ride took them to the
house of a justice of the peace, named Adam Black, who had
joined a band whose object was the expulsion of the Mormons.
Smith could not neglect the opportunity to remind the justice of
his violation of his oath, and to require of him some satisfaction,
1 Smith s autobiography says, " Very few of the brethren voted."
2 Millennial Star, Vol. XVI, p. 229.
BEGINNING OF ACTIVE HOSTILITIES
199
" so that we might know whether he was our friend or enemy."
With this view they compelled him to sign what they called " an
agreement of peace," which the justice drew up in this shape :
" I, Adam Black, A Justice of the Peace of Davies County, do hereby Sertify
to the people called Mormin that he is bound to suport the constitution of this
state and of the United States, and he is not attached to any mob, nor will not
attach himself to any such people, and so long as they will not molest me I will
not molest them. This the 8th day of August, 1838.
"ADAM BLACK, J.P."
When the Mormon force returned to Far West, the Daviess
;ople secured warrants for the arrest of Smith, L. Wight, and
others, charging them with violating the law by entering another
county armed, and compelling a justice of the peace to obey their
mandate, Black having made an affidavit that he was compelled to
sign the paper in order to save his life. Wight threatened to resist
arrest, and this caused such a gathering of Missourians that Smith
became alarmed and sent for two lawyers, General D. R. Atchison
and General Doniphan, to come to Far West as his legal advisers. 1
Acting on their advice, the accused surrendered themselves, and
were bound over to court in $500 bail for a hearing on Sep
tember 7.
1 General Atchison was the major general in command of that division of the state
militia. His early reports to the governor must be read in the light of his association
with Smith as counsel. General Doniphan afterward won fame at Chihuahua in the
Mexican War.
CHAPTER VIII
A STATE OF CIVIL WAR
ALL peaceable occupations were now at an end in Daviess
County. General Atchison reported to the governor that, on arriv
ing there on September 17, he found the county practically deserted,
the Gentiles being gathered in one camp and the Mormons in an
other. A justice of the peace, in a statement to the governor,
declared, " The Mormons are so numerous and so well armed [in
Daviess and Caldwell counties] that the judicial power of the
counties is wholly unable to execute any civil or criminal process
within the limits of either of the said counties against a Mormon or
Mormons, as they each and every one of them act in concert and
outnumber the other citizens." Lee says that an order had been
issued by the church authorities, commanding all the Mormons to
gather in two fortified camps, at Far West and Adam-ondi-Ahman.
The men were poorly armed, but demanded to be led against their
foes, being " confident that God was going to deliver the enemy
into our hands." l
Both parties now stood on the defensive, posting sentinels, and
making other preparations for a fight. Actual hostilities soon en
sued. The Mormons captured some arms which their opponents
had obtained, and took them, with three prisoners, to Far West.
"This was a glorious day, indeed," says Smith. 2 Citizens of Da
viess and Livingston counties sent a petition to Governor Boggs
(who had succeeded Dunklin), dated September 12, declaring
that they believed their lives, liberty, and property to be " in the
most imminent danger of being sacrificed by the hands of those
impostorous rebels," and asking for protection. The governor
had already directed General Atchison to raise immediately four
1 " Mormonism Unveiled," p. 78.
2 Smith s autobiography, at this point, says : " President Rigdon and I commenced
this day the study of law under the instruction of Generals Atchison and Doniphan.
They think by diligent application we can be admitted to the bar in twelve months."
Millennial Star, Vol. XVI, p. 246.
200
A STATE OF CIVIL WAR 2OI
hundred mounted men in view of "indications of Indian disturb
ances on our immediate frontier, and the recent civil disturbances
in the counties of Caldwell, Daviess, and Carroll." The calling
out of the militia followed, and General Doniphan found himself in
command of about one thousand militiamen. He seems to have
used tact, and to have employed his force only as peace preservers.
On September 20 he reported to Governor Boggs that he had dis
charged all his troops but two companies, and that he did not think
the services of these would be required more than twenty days.
He estimated the Mormon forces in the disturbed counties at from
thirteen hundred to fifteen hundred men, most of them carrying a
rifle, a brace of pistols, and a broadsword ; " so that," he added,
"from their position, and their fanaticism, and their unalterable
determination not to be driven, much blood will be spilt and much
suffering endured if a blow is at once struck, without the interposi
tion of your excellency."
The people of Carroll County began now to hold meetings
whose object was the expulsion of the Mormons from their bounda
ries, and some hundreds of them assembled in hostile attitude
around the little settlement of Dewitt. The Mormons there pre
pared for defence, and sent an appeal to Far West for aid. Ac
cordingly, one hundred Mormons, including Smith and Rigdon,
started to assist them, and two companies of militia, under General
Parks, were hurried to the spot. General Parks reported to Gen
eral Atchison on October 7 that, on arriving there the day before,
he found the place besieged by two hundred or three hundred Mis-
sourians, under a Dr. Austin, with a field-piece, and defended by
two hundred or three hundred Mormons under G. M. Hinckle,
"who says he will die before he is driven from thence." Austin
expected speedy reinforcements that would enable him to take the
place by assault. A petition addressed by the Mormons of Dewitt
to the governor, as early as September 22, having been ignored,
and finding themselves outnumbered, they agreed to abandon their
settlement on receiving pay for their improvements, and some fifty
wagons conveyed them and their effects to Far West.
A period of absolute lawlessness in all that section of the state
followed. Smith declared that civil war existed, and that, as the
state would not protect them, they must look out for themselves.
He and his associates made no concealment of their purpose to
202 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
"make clean work of it" in driving the non-Mormons from both
Daviess and Caldwell counties. When warned that this course
would array the whole state against them, Smith replied that the
" mob " (as the opponents of the Mormons were always styled)
were a small minority of the state, and would yield to armed oppo
sition ; the Mormons would defeat one band after another, and so
proceed across the state, until they reached St. Louis, where the
Mormon army would spend the winter. This calculation is a fair
illustration of Smith s judgment
Armed bands of both parties now rode over the country, pay
ing absolutely no respect to property rights, and ready for a
"brush" with any opponents. At Smith s suggestion, a band of
men, under the name of the " Fur Company," was formed to
"commandeer" food, teams, and men for the Mormon campaign.
This practical license to steal let loose the worst element in the
church organization, glad of any method of revenge on those whom
they considered their persecutors. " Men of former quiet," says
Lee, who was among the active raiders, " became perfect demons
in their efforts to spoil and waste away the enemies of the church." l
Cattle and hogs that could not be driven off were killed. 2 Houses
were burned, not only in the outlying country, but in the towns.
A night attack by a band of eighty men was made on Gallatin,
where some of the houses were set on fire, and two stores as well
as private houses were robbed. The house of one McBride, who,
Lee says, had been a good friend to him and to other Mormons,
did not escape : " Every article of moveable property was taken by
the troops ; he was utterly ruined." " It appeared to me," says
Corrill, "that the love of pillage grew upon them very fast, for they
plundered every kind of property they could get hold of, and burnt
many cabins in Daviess, some say 80, and some say I5O." 3
The Missourians retaliated in kind. Mormons were seized and
whipped, and their houses were burned. A lawless company
(Pratt calls them banditti), led by one Gilliam, embraced the oppor
tunity to make raids in the Mormon territory. It was soon found
necessary to collect the outlying Mormons at Far West and Adam-
1 Lee naively remarks, " In justice to Joseph Smith I cannot say that I ever heard
him teach, or even encourage, men to pilfer or steal little things." " Mormonism
Unveiled," p. 90.
2 W. Harris s " Mormonism Portrayed," p. 30.
8 " Brief History of the Church," p. 38.
A STATE OF CIVIL WAR 203
ondi-Ahman, where they were used for purposes both of offence
and defence. The movements of the Missourians were closely
watched, and preparations were made to burn any place from
which a force set out to attack the Saints.
One of the Missouri officers, Captain Bogart, on October 23,
warned some Mormons to leave the county, and, with his com
pany of thirty or forty men, announced his intention to " give
Far West thunder and lightning." When this news reached Far
West, Judge Higbee, of the county court, ordered Lieutenant Colo
nel Hinckle to go out with a company, disperse the " mob," and
retake some prisoners. The Mormons assembled at midnight,
and about seventy-five volunteers started at once, under command
of Captain Patton, the Danite leader, whose nickname was "Fear
Not," all on horseback. When they approached Crooked River,
on which Bogart s force was encamped, fifteen men were sent in
advance on foot to locate the enemy. Just at dawn a rifle shot
sounded, and a young Mormon, named O Barrion, fell mortally
wounded. Captain Patton ordered a charge, and led his men at a
gallop down a hill to the river, under the bank of which the Mis
sourians were drawn up. The latter had an advantage, as they
were in the shade, and the Mormons were between them and the
east, which the dawn was just lighting. Exchanges of volleys
occurred, and then Captain Patton ordered his men to rush on
with drawn swords they had no bayonets. This put the Mis
sourians to flight, but just as they fled Captain Patton received a
mortal wound. Three Mormons in all were killed as a result of
this battle, and seven wounded, while Captain Bogart reported the
death of one man. 1
The death of " Fear Not " was considered by the Mormons a
great loss. He was buried with the honors of war, says Robinson,
" and at his grave a solemn convention was made to avenge his
death." Smith, in the funeral sermon, reverted to his old tactics,
attributing the Mormon losses to the Lord s anger against his peo
ple, because of their unbelief and their unwillingness to devote
their worldly treasures to the church.
The rout of Captain Bogart s force, which was a part of the
state militia, increased the animosity against the Mormons, and
the wiser of the latter believed that they would suffer a dire ven-
1 Ebenezer Robinson s account in The Return, p. 191.
2O4
THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
geance. 1 This vengeance first made itself felt at a settlement called
Hawn s Mill (of which there are various spellings), some miles
from Far West, where there were a flour mill, blacksmith shop, and
other buildings. The Mormons there were advised, the day after the
fight on Crooked River, to move into Far West for protection, but
the owners of the buildings, knowing that these would be burned
as soon as deserted, decided to remain and defend their property.
On October 30 a mounted force of Missourians appeared
before the place. The Mormons ran into the log blacksmith shop,
which they thought would serve them as a blockhouse, but it
proved to be a slaughter-pen. The Missourians surrounded it, and,
sticking their rifles into every hole and crack, poured in a deadly
fire, killing, some reports say eighteen, and some thirty-one, of the
Mormons. The only persons in the town who escaped found
shelter in the woods. The Missourians did not lose a man. When
the firing ceased, they still showed no mercy, shooting a small boy
in the leg after dragging him out from under the bellows, and
hacking to death with a corn cutter an old man while he begged
for his life. Dead and wounded were thrown into a well, and
some of the wounded, taken out by rescuers from Far West, re
covered. " I heard one of the militia tell General Clark," says
Corrill, " that a well twenty or thirty feet deep was filled with their
dead bodies to within three feet of the top." 2
The Mormons have always considered this " massacre," as they
called it, the crowning outrage of their treatment in Missouri, and
for many years were especially bitter toward all participants in it.
A letter from two Mormons in the Frontier Guardian, dated Octo
ber, 1849, describing the disinterred human bones seen on their
journey across the plains, said that they recognized on the rude
tombstone the names of some of their Missouri persecutors :
" Among others, we noted at the South Pass of the Rocky Moun
tains the grave of one E. Dodd of Gallatin, Missouri. The wolves
had completely disinterred him. It is believed that he was the
same Dodd that took an active part as a prominent mobocrat in
the murder of the Saints at Hawn s Mill, Missouri ; if so, it is a
1 CorrilPs " Brief History of the Church," p. 38.
2 Details of this massacre will be found in Lee s " Mormonism Unveiled," pp. 78-80;
in the Missouri "Correspondence, Orders, etc.," p. 82; the Millennial Star, Vol. XVI,
p. 507, and in Greene s " Facts Relative to the Expulsion of the Mormons from Mis
souri," pp. 21-24.
A STATE OF CIVIL WAR 205
righteous retribution." Two Mormon elders, describing a visit in
1889 to the scenes of the Mormon troubles in Missouri, said, "The
notorious Colonel W. O. Jennings, who commanded the mob at
the [Hawn s Mill] massacre, was assaulted in Chillicothe, Missouri,
on the evening of January 20, 1862, by an unknown person, who
shot him on the street with a revolver or musket, as the Colonel
was going home after dark." 1 They are silent as to the avenger.
Governor Boggs now began to realize the seriousness of the
situation that he was called to meet, and on October 26 he directed
General John B. Clark (who was not the ranking general) to raise,
for the protection of the citizens of Daviess County, four hundred
mounted men. This order he followed the next day with the
following, which has become the most famous of the orders
issued during this campaign, under the designation " the order of
extermination " :
"HEADQUARTERS OF THE MILITIA,
"CITY OF JEFFERSON, Oct. 27, 1838.
" GEN. JOHN B. CLARK,
" Sir : Since the order of this morning to you, directing you to cause four
hundred mounted men to be raised within your Division, I have received by Amos
Rees, Esq., of Ray County and Wiley C. Williams, Esq., one of my aids, infor
mation of the most appalling character, which entirely changes the face of things,
and places the Mormons in the attitude of an open and avowed defiance of the
laws, and of having made war upon the people of this state. Your orders are,
therefore, to hasten your operations with all possible speed.
" The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or
driven from the State if necessary for the public peace their outrages are be
yond all description. If you can increase your force, you are authorized to do
so to any extent you may consider necessary. I have just issued orders to Maj.
Gen. Willock, of Marion County, to raise five hundred men, and to march them
to the northern part of Daviess, and there unite with Gen. Doniphan, of Clay,
who has been ordered with five hundred men to proceed to the same point for
the purpose of intercepting the retreat of the Mormons to the north. They have
been directed to communicate with you by express ; you can also communicate
with them if you find it necessary.
" Instead therefore of proceeding, as at first directed, to reinstate the citi
zens of Daviess in their homes, you will proceed immediately to Richmond and
then operate against the Mormons. Brig. Gen. Parks, of Ray, has been ordered
to have four hundred of his brigade in readiness to join you at Richmond. The
whole force will be placed under your command.
" I am very respectfully,
" Your ob t serv t,
<4 L. W. Boggs, Commander-in-chief"
1 " Infancy of the Church " (pamphlet).
20 6 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
The "appalling information" received by the governor from
his aids was contained in a letter dated October 25, which stated
that the Mormons were "destroying all before them"; that they
had burned Gallatin and Mill Pond, and almost every house be
tween these places, plundered the whole country, and defeated
Captain Bogart s company, and had determined to burn Richmond
that night. "These creatures," said the letter, "will never stop
until they are stopped by the strong hand of force, and something
must be done, and that speedily." l
The language of Governor Boggs s letter to General Clark can
not be defended. The Mormons have always made great capital
of his declaration that the Mormons "must be exterminated," and
a man of judicial temperament would have selected other words,
no matter how necessary he deemed it, for political reasons, to
show his sympathy with the popular cause. But, on the other
hand, the governor was only accepting the challenge given by
Rigdon in his recent Fourth of July address, when the latter de
clared that if a mob disturbed the Mormons, "it shall be between
us and them a war of extermination, for we will follow them till
the last drop of their blood is spilled, or else they will have to ex
terminate us." What compromise there could have been between
a band of fanatics obeying men like Smith and Rigdon, and the
class of settlers who made up the early Missouri population, it is
impossible to conceive. The Mormons were simply impossible as
neighbors, and it had become evident that they could no more re
main peaceably in the state than they could a few years previously
in Jackson County.
General Atchison, of Smith s counsel, was not called on by the
governor in these latest movements, because, as the governor ex
plained in a letter to General Clark, " there was much dissatisfaction
manifested toward him by the people opposed to the Mormons."
But he had seen his mistake, and he united with General Lucas in
a letter to the governor under date of October 28, in which they
said, " from late outrages committed by the Mormons, civil war is
inevitable," and urged the governor s presence in the disturbed
district. Governor Boggs excused himself from complying with
this request because of the near approach of the meeting of the
legislature.
1 For text of letter, see " Correspondence, Orders, etc.," p. 59.
A STATE OF CIVIL WAR 2O/
General Lucas, acting under his interpretation of the gov
ernor s order, had set out on October 28 for Far West from near
Richmond, with a force large enough to alarm the Mormon leaders.
Robinson, speaking of the outlook from their standpoint at this
time, says, " We looked for warm work, as there were large num
bers of armed men gathering in Daviess County, with avowed
determination of driving the Mormons from the county, and we
began to feel as determined that the Missourians should be ex
pelled from the county." * The Mormons did not hear of the ap
proach of General Lucas s force until it was near the town. Then
the southern boundary was hastily protected with a barricade of
wagons and logs, and the night of October 30-31 was employed
by all the inhabitants in securing their possessions for flight, in
anticipation of a battle the next day.
1 The Return, Vol. I, p. 189.
CHAPTER IX
THE FINAL EXPULSION FROM THE STATE
AT eight o clock the next morning the commander of the
militia sent a flag of truce to the Mormons which Colonel Hinckle,
for the Mormons, met. General Lucas submitted the following
terms, as necessary to carry out the governor s orders :
"i. To give up their leaders to be tried and punished.
" 2. To make an appropriation of their property, all who have taken up arms,
to the payment of their debts and indemnity for damage done by them.
"3. That the balance should leave the State, and be protected out by the
militia, but be permitted to remain under protection until further orders were re
ceived by the commander-in-chief.
" 4. To give up the arms of every description, to be receipted for."
While these propositions were under consideration, General
Lucas asked that Smith, Rigdon, Lyman Wight, P. P. Pratt, and
G. W. Robinson be given up as hostages, and this was done.
Contemporary Mormon accounts imputed treachery to Colonel
Hinckle in this matter, and said that Smith and his associates were
lured into the militia camp by a ruse. General Lucas s report to
the governor says that the proposition for a conference came from
Hinckle. Hyrum Smith, in an account of the trial of the prisoners,
printed some years later in the Times and Seasons, said that all the
men who surrendered were that night condemned by a court-martial
to be shot, but were saved by General Doniphan s interference.
Lee s account agrees with this, but says that Smith surrendered
voluntarily, to save the lives of his followers.
General Lucas received the surrender of Far West, on the
terms named, in advance of the arrival of General Clark, who was
making forced marches. After the surrender, General Lucas dis
banded the main body of his force, and set out with his prisoners
for Independence, the original site of Zion. General Clark, learn-
208
THE FINAL EXPULSION FROM THE STATE 209
ing of this, ordered him to transfer the prisoners to Richmond,
which was done.
Hearing that the guard left by General Lucas at Far West
were committing outrages, General Clark rode to that place
accompanied by his field officers. He found no disorder, 1 but
instituted a military court of inquiry, which resulted in the arrest
of forty-six additional Mormons, who were sent to Richmond for
trial. The facts on which these arrests were made were obtained
principally from Dr. Avard, the Danite, who was captured by a
militia officer. "No one," General Clark says, "disclosed any
useful matter until he was captured."
After these arrests had been made, General Clark called the
other Mormons at Far West together, and addressed them, telling
them that they could now go to their fields for corn, wood, etc.,
but that the terms of the surrender must be strictly lived up to.
Their leading men had been given up, their arms surrendered, and
their property assigned as stipulated, but it now remained for them
to leave the state forthwith. On that subject the general said :
" 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 not your leaders
been given up, and the terms of the treaty complied with, before this time you
and your families would have been destroyed, and your houses in ashes. There
is a discretionary power vested in my hands, which, considering your circum
stances, I shall exercise for a season. You are indebted to me for this 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 ; and if I am called here again, in a case of a non-compliance
of a treaty made, do not think that I shall do as I have done now. You need not
expect any mercy, but extermination, for I am determined the governor s orders
shall be executed. As for your leaders, do not think, do not imagine for a mo
ment, do not let it enter into your mind, that they will be delivered and restored
to you again, for their fate is fixed, their die is cast, their doom is sealed.
" I am sorry, gentlemen, to see so many apparently intelligent men found in
the situation you are ; and O ! if I could invoke the great spirit, the unknown
God, to rest upon and deliver you from that awful chain of superstition, and lib-
1 " Much property was destroyed by the troops in town during their stay there, such
as burning house logs, rails, corn cribs, boards, etc., the using of corn and hay, the plun
dering of houses, the killing of cattle, sheep, and hogs, and also the taking of horses not
their own." "Mormon Memorial to Missouri Legislature," December 10, 1838.
P
210 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
erate you from those fetters of fanaticism with which you are bound, that you
no longer do homage to a man. I would advise you to scatter abroad, and
never organize yourselves with bishops, presidents, etc., lest you excite the
jealousies of the people, and subject yourselves to the same calamities that have
now come upon you. You have always been the aggressors : you have brought
upon yourselves these difficulties by being disaffected, and not being subject to
rule. And my advice is that you become as other citizens, lest by a recurrence
of these events you bring upon yourselves irretrievable ruin."
General Clark then marched with his prisoners to Richmond,
where the trial of all the accused began on November 12, before
Judge A. A. King. By November 29 the called-out militia had
been disbanded, and on that date General Clark made his final
report to the governor. In this he asserted that the militia under
him had conducted themselves as honorable citizen soldiers, and
enclosed a certificate signed by five Mormons, including W. W.
Phelps, Colonel Hinckle, and John Corrill, confirming this state
ment, and saying, "We have no hesitation in saying that the
course taken by General Clark with the Mormons was necessary
for the public peace, and that the Mormons are generally satisfied
with his course."
In his summing up of the results of the campaign, General
Clark said:
"It [the Mormon insurrection] had for its object Dominion, the ultimate
subjugation of this State and the Union to the laws of a few men called the
Presidency. Their church was to be built up at any rate, peaceably if they could,
forcibly if necessary. These people had banded themselves together in societies,
the object of which was to first drive from their society such as refused to join
them in their unholy purposes, and then to plunder the surrounding country, and
ultimately to subject the state to their rule."
" The whole number of the Mormons killed through the whole difficulty, so
far as I can ascertain, are about forty, and several wounded. There has been one
citizen killed, and about fifteen badly wounded." l
Brigadier General R. Wilson was sent with his command to
settle the Mormon question in Daviess County. Finding the town
of Adam-ondi-Ahman unguarded, he placed guards around it, and
gathered in the Mormons of the neighborhood, to the number of
about two hundred. Most of these, he explained in his report, were
late comers from Canada and the northern border of the United
States, and were living mostly in tents, without any adequate pro
vision for the winter. Those against whom criminal charges had
1 " Correspondence, Orders, etc.," p. 92.
THE FINAL EXPULSION FROM THE STATE 211
been made were placed under arrest, and the others were informed
that General Wilson would protect them for ten days, and would
guarantee their safety to Caldwell County or out of the state.
"This appeared to me," said General Wilson, in his report to Gen
eral Clark, "to be the only course to prevent a general massacre."
In this report General Wilson presented the following picture of
the situation there as he found it :
"It is perfectly impossible for me to convey to you anything like the awful
state of things which exists here language is inadequate to the task. The citi
zens of a whole county first plundered, and then their houses and other buildings
burnt to ashes ; without houses, beds, furniture, or even clothing in many in
stances, to meet the inclemency of the weather. I confess that my feelings have
been shocked with the gross brutality of these Mormons, who have acted more
like demons from the infernal regions than human beings. Under these circum
stances, you will readily perceive that it would be perfectly impossible for me to
protect the Mormons against the just indignation of the citizens. . . . The
Mormons themselves appeared pleased with the idea of getting away from their
enemies and a justly insulted people, and I believe all have applied and received
permits to leave the county ; and I suppose about fifty families have left, and
others are hourly leaving, and at the end of ten days Mormonism will not be
known in Daviess county. This appeared to me to be the only course left to
prevent a general massacre." l
The Mormons began to depart at once, and in ten days nearly
all had left. Lee, who acted as guide to General Wilson, and
whose wife and babe were at Adam-ondi-Ahman, says :
"Every house in Adam-on-Diamond was searched by the troops for stolen
property. They succeeded in finding very much of the Gentile property that had
been captured by the Saints in the various raids they made through the country.
Bedding of every kind and in large quantities was found and reclaimed by the
owners. Even spinning wheels, soap barrels, and other articles were recovered.
Each house where stolen property was found was certain to receive a Missouri
blessing from the troops. The men who had been most active in gathering
plunder had fled to Illinois to escape the vengeance of the people, leaving their
families to suffer for the sins of the believing Saints." 2
We may now follow the fortunes of the Mormon prisoners.
On arriving at Richmond, they were confined in the unfinished
brick court-house. The only inside work on this building that
was completed was a partly laid floor, and to this the prisoners
were restricted by a railing, with a guard inside and out. " Two
three-pail iron kettles for boiling our meat, and two or more iron
1 " Correspondence, Orders, etc.," p. 78. 2 " Mormonism Unveiled," p. 89.
212 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
bake kettles, or Dutch ovens, were furnished us," says Robinson,
" together with sacks of corn meal and meat in bulk. We did our
own cooking. This arrangement suited us very well, and we en
joyed ourselves as well as men could under such circumstances." 1
Joseph and Hyrum Smith, Rigdon, Lyman Wight, Caleb Bald
win, and A. McRea were soon transferred to the jail at Liberty.
The others were then put into the debtor s room of Richmond jail,
a two-story log structure which was not well warmed, but they were
released on light bail in a few days.
A report of the testimony given at the hearing of the Mormon
prisoners before Judge King will be found in the " Correspond
ence, Orders, etc.," published by order of the Missouri legislature,
pp. 97-149. Among the Mormons who gave evidence against the
prisoners were Avard, the Danite, John Whitmer, W. W. Phelps,
John Corrill, and Colonel Hinckle. There were thirty-seven wit
nesses for the state and seven for the defence. As showing the
character of the testimony, the following selections will suffice.
Avard told the story of the origin of the Danites, and said that
he considered Joseph Smith their organizer ; that the constitution
was approved by Smith and his counsellors at Rigdon s house, and
that the members felt themselves as much bound to obey the heads
of the church as to obey God. Just previous to the arrival of Gen
eral Lucas at Far West, Smith had assembled his force, and told
them that, for every one they lacked in numbers as compared with
their opponents, the Lord would send angels to fight for them.
He presented the text of the indictment against Cowdery, Whit
mer, and others, drawn up by Rigdon.
John Corrill testified about the effect of Rigdon s " salt ser
mon," and also that he had attended meetings of the Danites, and
had expressed disapproval of the doctrine that, if one brother got
into difficulty, it was the duty of the others to help him out, right
or wrong ; that Smith and Rigdon attended one of these meetings,
and that he had heard Smith declare at a meeting, " if the people
would let us alone, we would preach the Gospel to them in peace,
but if they came on us to molest us, we would establish our religion
by the sword, and that he would become to this generation a sec
ond Mohammed " ; just after the expulsion of the Mormons from
Dewitt, Smith declared hostilities against their opponents in Cald-
1 The Return, Vol. I, p. 234.
THE FINAL EXPULSION FROM THE STATE 213
well and Daviess counties, and had a resolution passed, looking to
the confiscation of the property of the brethren who would not
join him in the march ; and on a Sunday he advised the people
that they might at times take property which at other times it
would be wrong to take, citing David s eating of the shew bread,
and the Saviour s plucking ears of corn. 1 Reed Peck testified to
the same effect.
John Clemison testified to the presence of Smith at the early
meetings of the Danites ; that Rigdon and Smith had advised that
those who were backward in joining his fighting force should be
placed in the front ranks at the point of pitchforks ; that a great
deal of Gentile property was brought into Mormon camps, and that
" it was frequently observed among the troops that the time had
come when the riches of the Gentiles should be consecrated to the
state."
W. W. Phelps testified that in the previous April he had heard
Rigdon say, at a meeting in Far West, that they had borne perse
cution and lawsuits long enough, and that, if a sheriff came with
writs against them, they would kill him, and that Smith approved
his words. Phelps said that the character of Rigdon s " salt ser
mon " was known and discussed in advance of its delivery.
John Whitmer testified that, soon after the preaching of the
" salt sermon," a leading Mormon told him that they did not intend
to regard any longer "the niceties of the law of the land," as "the
kingdom spoken of by the Prophet Daniel had been set up."
The testimony concerning the Danite organization and Smith s
threats against the Missourians received confirmation in an affida
vit by no less a person than Thomas B. Marsh, the First President
of the twelve Apostles, before a justice of the peace in Ray County,
in October, 1838. In this Marsh said :
"The plan of said Smith, the Prophet, is to take^this state ; and he professes
to his people to intend taking the United States and ultimately the whole world.
The Prophet inculcates the notion, and it is believed by every true Mormon, that
Smith s prophecies are superior to the law of the land. I have heard the Prophet
say that he would yet tread down his enemies, and walk over their dead bodies ;
that, if he was not let alone, he would be a second Mohammed to this generation,
and that he would make it one gore of blood from the Rocky Mountains to the
Atlantic Ocean."
1 Corrill, Avard, Hinckle, Marsh, and others were formally excommunicated at a
council held at Quincy, Illinois, on March 17, 1839, over which Brigham Young presided.
214
THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
This affidavit was accompanied by an affidavit by Orson Hyde,
who was afterward so prominent in the councils of the church,
stating that he knew most of Marsh s statements to be true, and
believed the others to be true also.
Of the witnesses for the defence, two women and one man gave
testimony to establish an alibi for Lyman Wight at the time of the
last Mormon expedition to Daviess County ; Rigdon s daughter
Nancy testified that she had heard Avard say that he would swear
to a lie to accomplish an object ; and J. W. Barlow gave testimony
to show that Smith and Rigdon were not with the men who took
part in the battle on Crooked Creek.
Rigdon, in an " Appeal to the American People," which he
wrote soon after, declared that this trial was a compound between
an inquisition and a criminal court, and that the testimony of Avard
was given to save his own life. " A part of an armed body of
men," he says, " stood in the presence of the court to see that the
witnesses swore right, and another part was scouring the country
to drive out of it every witness they could hear of whose testimony
would be favorable to the defendants. If a witness did not swear
to please the court, he or she would be threatened to be cast into
prison. ... A man by the name of Allen began to tell the story
of Bogart s burning houses in the south part of Caldwell; he was
kicked out of the house, and three men put after him with loaded
guns, and he hardly escaped with his life. [Finally] our lawyers,
General Doniphan and Amos Rees, told us not to bring our wit
nesses there at all, for if we did, there would not be one of them
left for the final trial. ... As to making any impression on King,
if a cohort of angels were to come down and declare we were clear,
Doniphan said it would be all the same, for he had determined from
the beginning to cast us into prison." Smith alleged that Judge
King was biassed against them because his brother-in-law had been
killed during the early conflicts in Jackson County.
Several of the defendants were discharged during or after the
close of the hearing. Smith, Rigdon, Lyman Wight, and three
others were ordered committed to the Clay County jail at Liberty
on a charge of treason ; Parley P. Pratt and four others to the Ray
County jail on a charge of murder ; and twenty-three others were
ordered to give bail on a charge of arson, burglary, robbery, and
larceny, and all but eight of these were locked up in default of
THE FINAL EXPULSION FROM THE STATE 215
bail. The prisoners confined at Liberty secured a writ of habeas
corpus soon after, but only Rigdon was ordered released, and he
thought it best for his safety to go back to the jail. He afterward,
dtli the connivance of the sheriff and jailer, made his escape at
tight, and reached Quincy, Illinois, in February, 1839.
P. P. Pratt, in his " Late Persecution," says that the prisoners
rere kept in chains most of the time, and that Rigdon, although
ill, "was compelled to sleep on the floor, with a chain and padlock
round his ankle, and fastened to six others." Hyrum Smith, in a
"Communication to the Saints" printed a year later, says; "We
suffered much from want of proper food, and from the nauseous
cell in which I was confined."
Joseph Smith remained in the Liberty jail until April, 1839. At
one time all the prisoners nearly made their escape, "but unfortu
nately for us, the timber of the wall being very hard, our augur
handles gave out, which hindered us longer than we expected,"
and the plan was discovered.
The prophet employed a good deal of his time in jail in
writing long epistles to the church. He gave out from there also
three "revelations," the chief direction of which was that the
brethren should gather up all possible information about their
persecutions, and make out a careful statement of their property
losses. His letters reveal the character of the man as it had
already been exhibited headlong in his purposes, vindictive
toward any enemy. He says in his biography that he paid his
lawyers about $50,000 " in cash, lands, etc." (a pretty good sum
for the refugee from Ohio to amass so soon), but got little prac
tical assistance from them, " for sometimes they were afraid to
act on account of the mob, and sometimes they were so drunk as
to incapacitate them for business." In one of his letters to the
church he thus speaks of some of his recent allies, " This poor
man [W. W. Phelps] who professes to be much of a prophet,
has no other dumb ass to ride but David Whitmer, or to forbid
his madness when he goes up to curse Israel ; but this not being
of the same kind as Balaam s, therefore, notwithstanding the angel
appeared unto him, yet he could not sufficiently penetrate his
understanding but that he brays out cursings instead of blessings." l
On April 6, Smith and his fellow-prisoners were taken to
1 Times and Seasons, Vol. I, p. 82.
2i6 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
Daviess County for trial. The judge and jury before whom their
cases came were, according to his account, all drunk. Smith
and four others were promptly indicted for murder, treason,
burglary, arson, larceny, theft, and stealing." They at once
secured a change of venue to Boone County, 120 miles east, and
set out for that place on April 15, but they never reached there.
Smith says they were enabled to escape because their guard got
drunk. In a newspaper interview printed many years later,
General Doniphan is quoted as saying that he had it on good
authority that Smith paid the sheriff and his guards $i 100 to allow
the prisoners to escape. Ebenezer Robinson says that Joseph
and Hyrum were allowed to ride away on two fine horses, and
that, a few weeks later, he saw the sheriff at Quincy making
Joseph a friendly visit, at which time he received pay for the
animals. 1 The party arrived at Quincy, Illinois, on April 22, and
were warmly welcomed by the brethren who had preceded them.
Among these was Brigham Young, who was among those who
had found it necessary to flee the state before the final surrender
was arranged. The Missouri authorities, as we shall see, for a
long time continued their efforts to secure the extradition of Smith,
but he never returned to Missouri.
As the Mormons had tried to set aside their original agreement
with the Jackson County people, so, while their leaders were in
jail, they endeavored to find means to break their treaty with
General Lucas. Their counsel, General Atchison, was a member
of the legislature, and he warmly espoused their cause. They
sent in a petition, 2 which John Corrill presented, giving a state
ment in detail of the opposition they had encountered in the state,
and asking for the enactment of a law " rescinding the order of
the governor to drive us from the state, and also giving us the
sanction of the legislature to inherit our lands in peace " ; as well
as disapproving of the " deed of trust," as they called the second
section of the Lucas treaty. The petition was laid on the table.
An effort for an investigation of the whole trouble by a legislative
committee was made, and an act to that effect was passed in 1839,
but nothing practical came of it. When the Mormon memorial
was called up, its further consideration was postponed until July,
1 The Return, p. 243.
2 For full text, see Millennial Star, Vol. XVI, pp. 586-589.
THE FINAL EXPULSION FROM THE STATE 217
and then the Mormons knew that they had no alternative except
to leave the state.
While the prisoners were in jail, things had not quieted down
in the Mormon counties. The decisive action of the state authori
ties had given the local Missourians to understand that the law of
the land was on their side, and when the militia withdrew they
took advantage of their opportunity. Mormon property was not
respected, and what was left to those people in the way of horses,
cattle, hogs, and even household belongings was taken by the
bands of men who rode at pleasure, 1 and who claimed that they
were only regaining what the Mormons had stolen from them.
The legislature appropriated $2000 for the relief of such
sufferers.
Facing the necessity of moving entirely out of the state, the
Mormons, as they had reached the western border line of civiliza
tion, now turned their face eastward to Quincy, Illinois, where
some of their members were already established. Not until April
20 did the last of them leave Far West. The migration was
attended with much suffering, as could not in such circumstances
be avoided. The people of the counties through which they passed
were, however, not hostile, and Mormon writers have testified that
they received invitations to stop and settle. These were declined,
and they pressed on to the banks of the Mississippi, where, in
February and March, there were at one time more than 130
families, waiting for the moving ice to enable them to cross, many
of them without food, and the best sheltered depending on tents
made of their bedclothing. 2
What the total of the pecuniary losses of the Mormons in
Missouri was cannot be accurately estimated. They asserted that
in Jackson County alone $120,000 worth of their property was
destroyed, and that fifteen thousand of their number fled from the
state. Smith, in a statement of his losses made after his arrival in
Illinois, placed them at $1,000,000. In a memorial presented to
Congress at this time the losses in Jackson County were placed at
$175,000, and in the state of Missouri at $2,000,000. The efforts
of the Mormons to secure redress were long continued. Not only
was Congress appealed to, but legislatures of other states were
1 See M. Arthur s letter, " Correspondence, Orders, etc.," p. 94.
2 Green s " Facts Relative to the Expulsion."
2i8 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
urged to petition in their behalf. The Senate committee at Wash
ington reported that the matter was entirely within the jurisdiction
of the state of Missouri. One of the latest appeals was addressed
by Smith at Nauvoo in December, 1843, to his native state, Ver
mont, calling on the Green Mountain boys, not only to assist him
in attaining justice in Missouri, "but also to humble and chastise
or abase her for the disgraces he has brought upon constitutional
liberty, until she atones for her sin."
The final act of the Mormon authorities in Missouri was some
what dramatic. Smith in his "revelation" of April 8, 1838, direct
ing the building of a Temple at Far West, had (the Lord speaking)
ordered the beginning to be made on the following Fourth of July,
adding, " in one year from this day let them recommence laying
the foundation of my house." The anniversary found the latest
Missouri Zion deserted, and its occupants fugitives ; but the com
mand of the Lord must be obeyed. Accordingly, the twelve
Apostles journeyed secretly to Far West, arriving there about
midnight of April 26, 1839. A conference was at once held, and,
after transacting some miscellaneous business, including the expul
sion of certain seceding members, all adjourned to the selected site
of the Temple, where, after the singing of a hymn, the foundation
was relaid by rolling a large stone to one corner. 1 The Apostles
then returned to Illinois as quietly as possible. The leader of this
expedition was Brigham Young, who had succeeded T. B. Marsh
as President of the Twelve.
Thus ended the early history of the Mormon church in Mis
souri.
1 The modern post-office name of Far West is Kerr. All the Mormon houses there
have disappeared. Traces of the foundation of the Temple, which in places was built to
a height of three or four feet, are still discernible.
BOOK IV
IN ILLINOIS
CHAPTER I
THE RECEPTION OF THE MORMONS
THE state of Illinois, when the Mormons crossed the Missouri
River to settle in it, might still be considered a pioneer country.
Iowa, to the west of it, was a territory, and only recently organized
as such. The population of the whole state was only 467,183 in
1840, as compared with 4,821,550 in 1900. Young as it was, how
ever, the state had had some severe financial experiences, which
might have served as warnings to the new-comers. A debt of
more than $14,000,000 had been contracted for state improvements,
and not a railroad or a canal had been completed. "The people,"
says Ford, " looked one way and another with surprise, and were
astonished at their own folly." The payment of interest on the
state debt ceased after July, 1841, and "in a short time Illinois
became a stench in the nostrils of the civilized world. . . . The
impossibility of selling kept us from losing population ; the fear of
disgrace or high taxes prevented us from gaining materially." l
The State Bank and the Shawneetown Bank failed in 1842, and
when Ford became governor in that year he estimated that the
good money in the state in the hands of the people did not exceed
one year s interest on the public debt.
The lawless conditions in many parts of the state in those days
can scarcely be realized now. It was in 1847 that the Rev. Owen
Lovejoy was killed at Alton in maintaining his right to print there
an abolition newspaper. All over the state, settlers who had occu
pied lands as " squatters " defended their claims by force, and seri
ous mobs often resulted. Large areas of military lands were owned
1 Ford s " History of Illinois," Chap. VII.
219
220 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
by non-residents, who were in very bad favor with the actual set
tlers. These settlers made free use of the timber on such lands,
and the non-residents, failing to secure justice at law, finally hired
preachers, who were paid by the sermon to preach against the sin
of " hooking " timber. 1
Bands of desperadoes in the northern counties openly defied
the officers of the law, and, in one instance, burned down the court
house (in Ogle County in 1841) in order to release some of their
fellows who were awaiting trial. One of these gangs ten years
earlier had actually built, in Pope County, a fort in which they
defied the authorities, and against which a piece of artillery had
to be brought before it could be taken. Even while the conflict
between the Mormons was going on, in 1846, there was vitality
enough in this old organization, in Pope and Massac counties, to
call for the interposition of a band of " regulators," who made
many arrests, not hesitating to employ torture to secure from one
prisoner information about his associates. Governor Ford sent
General J. T. Davies there, to try to effect a peaceable arrange
ment of the difficulties, but he failed to do so, and the "regula
tors," who found the county officers opposed to them, drove out of
the county the sheriff, the county clerk, and the representative-
elect to the legislature. When the judge of the Massac Circuit
Court charged the grand jury strongly against the " regulators,"
they, with sympathizers from Kentucky, threatened to lynch him,
and actually marched in such force to the county seat that the
sheriff s posse surrendered, and the mob let their friends out of
jail, and drowned some members of the posse in the Ohio River.
The reception and treatment of the Mormons in Illinois, and
the success of the new-comers in carrying out their business and
political schemes, must be viewed in connection with these inci
dents in the early history of the state.
The greeting of the Mormons in Illinois, in its practical shape,
had both a political and a business reason. 2 Party feeling ran very
high throughout the country in those days. The House of Repre
sentatives at Washington, after very great excitement, organized
1 Ford s " History of Illinois," Chap. VI.
2 " The first great error committed by the people of Hancock County was in accept
ing too readily the Mormon story of persecution. It was continually rung in their ears,
and believed as often as asserted." GREGG, " History of Hancock County," p. 270.
THE RECEPTION OF THE MORMONS 221
early in December, 1839, by choosing a Whig Speaker, and at the
same time the Whig National Convention, at Harrisburg, Pennsyl
vania, nominated General W. H. Harrison for President. Thus the
expulsion from Missouri occurred on the eve of one of our most
exciting presidential campaigns, and the Illinois politicians were
quick to appraise the value of the voting strength of the immigrants.
As a residence of six months in the state gave a man the right to
vote, the Mormon vote would count in the presidential election.
Accordingly, we find that in February, 1839, the Democratic
Association of Quincy, at a public meeting in the court-house,
received a report from a committee previously appointed, strongly
in favor of the refugees, and adopted resolutions condemning the
treatment of the Mormons by the people and officers of Missouri.
The Quincy Argus declared that, because of this treatment, Mis
souri was " now so fallen that we could wish her star stricken out
from the bright constellation of the Union." In April, 1839,
Rigdon wrote to the "Saints in prison" that Governor Carlin of
Illinois and his wife " enter with all the enthusiasm of their nature"
into his plan to have the governor of each state present to Con
gress the unconstitutional course of Missouri toward the Mormons,
with a view to federal relief. Governor Lucas of Iowa Territory,
in the same year (Iowa had only been organized as a territory the
year before, and was not admitted as a state until 1845), replying
to a query about the reception the Mormons would receive in his
domain, said : " Their religious opinions I consider have nothing
to do with our political transactions. They are citizens of the
United States, and are entitled to the same political rights and
legal protection that other citizens are entitled to." He gave
Rigdon at the same time cordial letters of introduction to President
Van Buren and Governor Shannon of Ohio, and Rigdon received
a similar letter to the President, recommending him " as a man of
piety and a valuable citizen," signed by Governor Carlin, United
States Senator Young, County Clerk Wren, and leading business
men of Quincy. Thus began that recognition of the Mormons as
a political power in Illinois which led to concessions to them that
had so much to do with finally driving them into the wilderness.
The business reason for the welcome of the Mormons in Illi
nois and Iowa was the natural ambition to secure an increase of
population. In all of Hancock County there were in 1830 only
222 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
483 inhabitants as compared with 32,215 in 1900. Along with
this public view of the matter was a private one. A Dr. Isaac
Galland owned (or claimed title to) a large tract of land on both sides
of the border line between Illinois and Iowa, that in Iowa being
included in what was known as "the half-breed tract," an area of
some 119,000 acres which, by a treaty between the United States
government and the Sacs and Foxes, was reserved to descendants
of Indian women of those tribes by white fathers, and the title to
much of which was in dispute. As soon as the Mormons began
to cross into Illinois, Galland approached them with an offer of
about 20,000 acres between the Mississippi and Des Moines rivers
at $2 per acre, to be paid in twenty annual instalments, without
interest. A meeting of the refugees was held in Quincy in Febru
ary, 1839, to consider this offer, but the vote was against it. The
failure of the efforts in Ohio and Missouri to establish the Mor
mons as a distinct community had made many of Smith s follow
ers sceptical about the success of any new scheme with this end in
view, and at this conference several members, including so influen
tial a man as Bishop Partridge, openly expressed their doubt about
the wisdom of another gathering of the Saints. Galland, however,
pursued the subject in a letter to D. W. Rodgers, inviting Rigdon
and others to inspect the tract with him, and assuring the Mormons
of his sympathy in their sufferings, and " deep solicitude for your
future triumphant conquest over every enemy." Rigdon, Partridge,
and others accepted Galland s invitation, but reported against pur
chasing his land, and the refugees began scattering over the coun
try around Quincy.
CHAPTER II
THE SETTLEMENT OF NAUVOO
SMITH S leadership was now to have another illustration.
Others might be discouraged by past persecutions and business
failures, and be ready to abandon the great scheme which the
prophet had so often laid before them in the language of " revela
tion " ; but it was no part of Smith s character to abandon that
scheme, and remain simply an object of lessened respect, with a
scattered congregation. He had been kept advised of Galland s
proposal, and, two days after his arrival in Quincy, we find him, on
April 24, presiding at a church council which voted to instruct him
with two associates to visit Iowa and select there a location for a
church settlement, and which advised all the brethren who could
do so to move to the town of Commerce, Illinois. Thus were the
doubters defeated, and the proposal to scatter the flock brought to
a sudden end. Smith and his two associates set out at once to
make their inspection.
The town of Commerce had been laid out (on paper) in 1834
by two Eastern owners of the property, A. White and J. B. Teas,
and adjoining its northern border H. R. Hotchkiss of New Haven,
Connecticut, had mapped out Commerce City. Neither enterprise
had proved a success, and when the Mormon agents arrived there
the place had scarcely attained the dignity of a settlement, the
only buildings being one storehouse, two frame dwellings and two
blockhouses. The Mormon agents, on May I, bought two farms
there, one for $5000 and one for $9000 (known afterward as the
White purchase), and on August 9 they bought of Hotchkiss five
hundred acres for the sum of $53,500. Bishop Knight, for the
church, soon afterward purchased part of the town of Keokuk,
Iowa, a town called Nashville six miles above, a part of the town
of Montrose, four miles above Nashville, and thirty thousand acres
223
224 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
in the " half-breed tract," which included Galland s original offer,
and ten thousand acres additional.
Thus was Smith prepared to make another attempt to estab
lish his followers in a permanent abiding-place. But how, it may
be asked, could the prophet reconcile this abandonment of the
Missouri Zion and this new site for a church settlement with pre
vious revelations ? By further " revelation," of course. Such a
mouthpiece of God can always enlighten his followers provided he
can find speech, and Smith was not slow of utterance. While in
jail in Liberty he had advised a committee which was sent to him
from Illinois to sell all the lands in Missouri, and in a letter to the
Saints, written while a prisoner, he spoke favorably of Galland s
offer, saying, " The Saints ought to lay hold of every door that
shall seem to be opened unto them to obtain foothold on the
earth." In order to make perfectly clear the new purpose of the
Lord in regard to Zion he gave out a long " revelation " (Sec. 124),
which is dated Nauvoo, January 19, 1841, and which contains the
following declarations :
" Verily, verily I say unto you, that when I give a commandment to any of the
sons of men to do a work under my name, and those sons of men go with all
their might and with all they have, to perform that work and cease not their dili
gence, and their enemies come upon them and hinder them from performing that
work, behold, it behooveth me to require that work no more at the hands of those
sons of men, but to accept their offerings.
" And the iniquity and transgression of my holy laws and commandments I
will visit upon the heads of those who hindered my work, unto the third and
fourth generation, so long as they repent not and hate me, saith the Lord God.
" Therefore for this cause have I accepted the offerings of those whom I
commanded to build up a city and house unto my name in Jackson County, Mis
souri, and were hindered by their enemies, saith the Lord your God."
This announcement seems to have been accepted without
question by the faithful, as reconciling the failure in Missouri with
the new establishment farther east.
The financiering of the new land purchases did credit to Smith s
genius in that line. For some of the smaller tracts a part payment
in cash was made. Hotchkiss accepted for his land two notes
signed by Smith and his brother Hyrum and Rigdon, one paya
ble in ten, and the other in twenty years. Galland took notes,
and, some time later, as explained in a letter to the Saints abroad,
the Mormon lands in Missouri, "in payment for the whole amount,
THE SETTLEMENT OF NAUVOO 225
and in addition to the first purchase we have exchanged lands with
him in Missouri to the amount of $80,000." l Galland s title to the
Iowa tract was vigorously assailed by Iowa newspapers some years
later. What cash he eventually realized from the transaction does
not appear. 2 Smith had influence enough over him to secure his
conversion to the Mormon belief, and he will be found associated
with the leaders in Nauvoo enterprises.
The Hotchkiss notes gave Smith a great deal of trouble. Not
withstanding the influx of immigrants to Nauvoo and the growth of
the place, which ought to have brought in large profits from the
sale of lots, the accrued interest due to Hotchkiss in two years
amounted to about $6000. Hotchkiss earnestly urged its pay
ment, and Smith was in dire straits to meet his demands. In a
correspondence between them, in 1841, Smith told Hotchkiss that
he had agreed to forego interest for five years, and not to " force
payment " even then. Smith assured Hotchkiss that the part of
the city bought from him was " a deathly sickly hole " on which
they had been able to realize nothing, " although," he added, with
unblushing affrontery for the head of a church, " we have been
keeping up appearances and holding out inducements to encourage
immigration that we scarcely think justifiable in consequence of
the mortality that almost invariably awaits those who come from
far distant parts." 3 In pursuance of this same policy (in a letter
dated October 12, 1841), the Eastern brethren were urged to trans
fer their lands there to Hotchkiss in payment of the notes, and to
accept lots in Nauvoo from the church in exchange.
The name of the town was changed to Nauvoo in April, 1840,
with the announcement that this name was of Hebrew origin, sig
nifying "a beautiful place." 4
1 Times and Seasons, Vol. II, p. 275.
2 " Galland died a pauper in Iowa." " Mormon Portraits," p. 253.
3 Millennial Star, Vol. XVIII, p. 631.
4 In answer to a query about this alleged derivation of the name of the city, a com
petent Hebrew scholar writes to me : " The nearest approach to Nauvoo in Hebrew is an
adjective which would be transliterated Naveh, meaning pleasant, a rather rare word.
The letter correctly represented by v could not possibly do the double duty of uv, nor
could a of the Hebrew ever be au in English, nor eh of the Hebrew be oo in English.
Students of theology at Middletown, Connecticut, used to have a saying that that name
was derived from Moses by dropping iddletown and adding oses. "
CHAPTER III
THE BUILDING UP OF THE CITY FOREIGN PROSELYTING
THE geographical situation of Nauvoo had something in its
favor. Lying on the east bank of the Mississippi, which is there
two miles wide, it had a water frontage on three sides, because of
a bend in the stream, and the land was somewhat rising back from
the river. But its water front was the only thing in its favor. " The
place was literally a wilderness," says Smith. "The land was
mostly covered with trees and bushes, and much of it so wet that
it was with the utmost difficulty a foot man could get through, and
totally impossible for teams. Commerce was so unhealthy very
few could live there, but, believing it might become a healthy place
by the blessing of heaven to the Saints, and no more eligible place
presenting itself, I considered it wisdom to make an attempt to
build up a city."
Contemporary accounts say that most of the refugees from
Missouri suffered from chills and fevers during their first year
in the new settlement. Smith, in his autobiography, laments the
mortality among the settlers. The Rev. Henry Caswall, in his
description of three days at Nauvoo in 1842, says:
" I was informed again and again in Montrose, Iowa, that nearly half of the
English who emigrated to Nauvoo in 1841 died soon after their arrival. ... In
his sermon at Montrose in May 9, 1841, the following words of most Christian
consolation were delivered by the Prophet to the poor deluded English : Many
of the English who have lately come here have expressed great disappointment
on their arrival. Such persons have every reason to be satisfied in this beautiful
and fertile country. If they choose to complain, they may ; but I don t want to
be troubled with their complaints. If they are not satisfied here, I have only this
to say to them, " Don t stay whining about me, but go back to England, and go to
h 1 and be d d." " *
1 "City of the Mormons," p. 55.
226
THE BUILDING UP OF THE CITY 227
Brigham Young, in after years, thus spoke of Smith s exhibi
tion of miraculous healing during the year after their arrival in
Illinois : " Joseph commenced in his own house and dooryard,
commanding the sick, in the name of Jesus Christ, to arise and be
made whole, and they were healed according to his word. He
then continued to travel from house to house, healing the sick as
he went." l Any attempt to reconcile this statement by Young
with the previously cited testimony about the mortality of the place
would be futile.
The growth of the town, however, was more rapid than that of
of the former Mormon settlements. The United States census
shows that the population of Hancock County, Illinois, increased
from 483 in 1830 to 9946 in 1840. Statements regarding the popu
lation of Nauvoo during the Mormon occupancy are conflicting and
often exaggerated. In a letter to the elders in England, printed in
the Times and Seasons of January I, 1841, Smith said, " There are
at present about 3000 inhabitants in Nauvoo." The same periodi
cal, in an article on the city, on December 15, 1841, said that it was
"a densely populated city of near 10,000 inhabitants." A visitor,
describing the place in a letter in the Columbus (Ohio) Advocate
of March, 1842, said that it contained about 7000 persons, and that
the buildings were small and much scattered, log cabins predomi
nating. The Times and Seasons of October, 1842, said, " It will
be no more than probably correct if we allow the city to contain
between 7000 and 8000 houses, with a population of 14,000 or
15,000," with two steam mills and other manufacturing concerns
in operation. W. W. Phelps estimated the population in 1844 at
14,000, almost all professed Mormons. The Times and Seasons in
1845 said that a census just taken showed a population of 11,057
in the city and one-third more outside the city limits.
As soon as the Mormons arrived, Nauvoo was laid out in blocks
measuring about 180 by 200 feet, with a river frontage of more
than three miles. An English visitor to the place in 1843 wrote :
" The city is of great dimensions, laid out in beautiful order ; the
streets are wide and cross each other at right angles, which will
add greatly to its order and magnificence when finished. The city
rises on a quick incline from the rolling Mississippi, and as you
stand near the Temple you may gaze on the picturesque scenery
1 " Life of Brigham Young " (Cannon & Son, publishers), p. 32.
228 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
round. At your side is the Temple, the wonder of the world ;
round about and beneath you may behold handsome stores, large
mansions, and fine cottages, interspersed with varied scenery." l
Whatever the exact population of the place may have been, its
rapid growth is indisputable. The cause of this must be sought,
not in natural business reasons, such as have given a permanent
increase of population to so many of our Western cities, but chiefly
in active and aggressive proselyting work both in this country and
in Europe. This work was assisted by the sympathy which the
treatment of the Mormons had very generally secured for them.
Copies of Mormon Bibles were rare outside of the hands of the
brethren, and the text of Smith s "revelations" bearing on his
property designs in Missouri was known to comparatively few even
in the church. While the Nauvoo edition of the " Doctrine and
Covenants " was in course of publication, the Times and Seasons,
on January I, 1842, said that it would be published in the spring,
" but, many of our readers being deprived of the privilege of pe
rusing its valuable pages, we insert the first section." Mormon
emissaries took advantage of this situation to tell their story in
their own way at all points of the compass. Meetings were held
in the large cities of the Eastern states to express sympathy with
these victims of the opponents of "freedom of religious opinion,"
and to raise money for their relief, and the voice of the press, from
the Mississippi to the Atlantic, was, without a discovered exception,
on the side of the refugees.
This paved the way for a vast extension of that mission work
which began with the trip of Cowdery and his associates in 1830,
was expanded throughout this country while the Saints were at
Kirtland, and was extended to foreign lands in 1837. The mis
sionaries sent out in the early days of the church represented vari
ous degrees of experience and qualification. There were among
them men like Orson Hyde and Willard Richards, who, although
they gave up secular callings on entering the church, were close
students of the Scriptures and debaters who could hold their own,
when it came to an interpretation of the Scriptures, before any
average audience. Many were sent out without any especial equip
ment for their task. John D. Lee, describing his first trip, says :
" I started forth an illiterate, inexperienced person, without purse
1 Mackay s "The Mormons," p. 128.
THE BUILDING UP OF THE CITY 229
or scrip. I could hardly quote a passage of Scripture. Yet I
went forth to say to the world that I was a minister of the Gos
pel." He was among the successful proselyters, and rose to in
fluence in the church. 1 Of the requirement that the missionaries
should be beggars, Lorenzo Snow, who was sent out on a mis
sion from Kirtland in 1837, says, "It was a severe trial to my
natural feelings of independence to go without purse or scrip
especially the purse ; for, from the time I was old enough to work,
the feeling that I paid my way always seemed a necessary adjunct
to self respect."
Parley P. Pratt, in a letter to Smith from New York in Novem
ber, 1839, describing the success of the work in the United States,
says, " You would now find churches of the Saints in Philadel
phia, in Albany, in Brooklyn, in New York, in Sing Sing, in Jer
sey, in Pennsylvania, on Long Island, and in various other places
all around us," and he speaks of the "spread of the work" in
Michigan and Maine.
The importance of England as a field from which to draw emi
grants to the new settlement was early recognized at Nauvoo, and
in 1840 such lights of the church as Brigham Young, Heber C.
Kimball, P. P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff,
and George A. Smith, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles,
were sent to cultivate that field. There they ordained Willard
Richards an Apostle, preached and labored for over a year, estab
lished a printing-office which turned out a vast amount of Mormon
literature, including their Bible and " Doctrine and Covenants,"
and began the publication of the Millennial Star.
In 1840 Orson Hyde was sent on a mission to the Jews in Lon
don, Amsterdam, Constantinople, and Jerusalem, and the same
year missionaries were sent to Australia, Wales, Ireland, the Isle
of Man, and the East Indies. In 1844 a missionary was sent to
the Sandwich Islands; in 1849 others were sent to France, Den
mark, Sweden, Norway and Iceland, Italy, and Switzerland ; in
1850 ten more elders were sent to the Sandwich Islands; in 1851
four converts were baptized in Hindostan ; in 1852 a branch of the
church was organized at Malta; in 1853 three elders reached the
Cape of Good Hope; and in 1861 two began work in Holland,
but with poor success. We shall see that this proselyting labor has
1 For an account of his travels and successes, see " Mormonism Unveiled."
230 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
continued with undiminished industry to the present day, in all
parts of the United States as well as in foreign lands.
England provided an especially promising field for Mormon
missionary work. The great manufacturing towns contained hun
dreds of people, densely ignorant, 1 superstitious, and so poor that
the ownership of a piece of land in their own country was practi
cally beyond the limit of their ambition. These people were nat
urally susceptible to the Mormon teachings, easily imposed upon
by stories of alleged miracles, and ready to migrate to any part of
the earth where a building lot or a farm was promised them. The
letters from the first missionaries in England gave glowing reports
of the results of their labors. Thus Wilford Woodruff, writing
from Manchester in 1840, said, "The work has been so rapid it
was impossible to ascertain the exact number belonging to each
branch, but the whole number is 33 churches, 534 members, 75
officers, all of which had embraced the work in less than four
months." Lorenzo Snow, in a letter from London in April, 1841,
said : " Throughout all England, in almost every town and city
of any considerable importance, we have chapels or public halls in
which we meet for public worship. All over this vast kingdom
the laws of Zion are rolling onward with the most astonishing
rapidity."
The visiting missionaries began their work in England at
Preston, Lancashire, in 1836 or 1837, and soon secured there some
five hundred converts. Then they worked on each side of the
Ribble, making converts in all the villages, and gaining over a few
farm owners and mechanics of some means. Their method was
first to drop hints to the villagers that the Holy Bible is defective
in translation and incomplete, and that the Mormon Bible corrects
all these defects. Not able to hold his own in any theological
discussion, the rustic was invited to a meeting. At that meeting
the missionary would announce that he would speak simply as
the Lord directed him, and he would then present the Mormon
view of their Bible and prophet. As soon as converts were won
over, they were immersed, at night, and given the sacrament.
Then they were initiated into the secret "church meeting," to
1 " It has been calculated that there are in England and Wales six million persons
who can neither read nor write, that is to say, about one-third of the population, includ
ing, of course, infants; but of all the children more than one-half attend no place of
public instruction." DICKENS, "Household Words."
THE BUILDING UP OF THE CITY 231
which only the faithful were admitted, and where the flock were
told of visions and " gifts," and exhorted to stand firm (along with
their earthly goods) for the church, and warned against apostasy.
One way in which the prophetic gift of the missionaries was
proved in the early days in England was as follows : " Whenever
a candidate was immersed, some of the brethren was given a
letter signed by Hyde and Kimball, setting forth that brother
will not abide in the spirit of the Lord, but will reject the
truth, and become the enemy of the people of God, etc., etc. If
the brother did not apostatize, this letter remained unopened ; if
he did, it was read as a striking verification of prophecy." 1
Miracles exerted a most potent influence among the people
in England with whom the early missionaries labored, and the
Millennial Star contains a long list of reported successes in this
line. There are accounts of very clumsy tricks that were at
tempted to carry out the deception. Thus, at Newport, Wales,
three Mormon elders announced that they would raise a dead
man to life. The " corpse " was laid out and surrounded by
weeping friends, and the elders were about to begin their incan
tations, when a doubting Thomas in the audience attacked the
"corpse " with a whip, and soon had him fleeing for dear life. 2
Thomas Webster, who was baptized in England in 1837 by
Orson Hyde and became an elder, saw the falsity of the Mormon
professions through the failure of their miracles and other pre
tensions, and, after renouncing their faith, published a pamphlet
exposing their methods. He relates many of the declarations
made by the first missionaries in Preston to their ignorant hearers.
Hyde declared that the apostles Peter, James, and John were still
alive. He and Kimball asserted that neither of them would
"taste death" before Christ s second coming. At one meeting
Kimball predicted that in ten or fifteen years the sea would be
dried up between Liverpool and America. " One of the most
glaring things they ever brought before the public," says Webster,
" was stated in a letter written by Orson Hyde to the brethren in
Preston, saying they were on the way to the promised land in
Missouri by hundreds, and the wagons reached a mile in length.
They fell in with some of their brethren in Canada, who told him
1 Caswall s " City of the Mormons," appendix.
2 Tract by Rev. F. B. Ashley, p. 22.
232 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
the Lord had been raining down manna in rich profusion, which
covered from seven to ten acres of land. It was like wafers
dipped in honey, and both Saints and sinners partook of it. I
was present in the pulpit when this letter was read."
However ridiculous such methods may appear, their success in
Great Britain was great. 1 In three years after the arrival of the
first missionaries, the General Conference reported a membership
of 4019 in England alone; in 1850 the General Conference re
ported that the Mormons in England and Scotland numbered
27,863, and in Wales 4342. The report for June, 1851, showed
a total of 30,747 in the United Kingdom, and said, " During the
last fourteen years more than 50,000 have been baptized in Eng
land, of which nearly 17,000 have migrated from her shores to
Zion." In the years between 1840 and 1843 it was estimated that
3758 foreign converts settled in and around Nauvoo. 2
The emigration of Mormon converts from Great Britain to
the United States, in its earlier stages, was thoroughly systemized
by the church authorities in this country. The first record of the
movement of any considerable body tells of a company of about
two hundred who sailed for New York from Liverpool in Aug
ust, 1840, on the ship North American, in charge of two elders.
A second vessel with emigrants, the Sheffield, sailed from Bristol
to New York in February, 1841. The expense of the trip from
New York to Nauvoo proved in excess of the means of many of
these immigrants, some of whom were obliged to stop at Kirtland
and other places in Ohio. This led to a change of route, by which
vessels sailed from British ports direct to New Orleans, the im
migrants ascending the Mississippi to Nauvoo.
1 " There is no page of religious history which more proudly tells its story than that
which relates this peculiar phase of Mormon experience. The excitement was contagious,
even affecting persons in the higher ranks of social life, and the result was a grand out
pouring of spiritual and miraculous healing power of the most astonishing description.
Miracles were heard of everywhere, and numerous competent and most reliable witnesses
bore testimony to their genuineness." " Rocky Mountain Saints," p. 10.
2 Two of the most intelligent English converts, who did proselyting work for the
church and in later years saw their error, have given testimony concerning this work in
Great Britain. John Hyde, Jr., summing up in 1 85 7 the proselyting system, said : " Enthu
siasm is the secret of the great success of Mormon proselyting; it is the universal char
acteristic of the people when proselyted; it is the hidden and strong cord that leads them
to Utah, and the iron clamp that keeps them there." " Mormonism," p. 171.
Stenhouse says : " Mormonism in England, Scotland and Wales was a grand triumph,
and was fast ripening for a vigorous campaign in Continental Europe " (when polygamy
was pronounced).
THE BUILDING UP OF THE CITY 233
The extent of this movement to the time of the departure of the
Saints from Nauvoo is thus given by James Linforth, who says the
figures are " as complete and correct as it is possible now to make
them": 1
Year No. of Vessels No. of Emigrants
1840 I 200
1841 6 1177
1842 8 1614
1843 5 769
1844 5 644
1845-46 3 346
Total 3750
The Mormon agents in England would charter a vessel at an
English port 2 when a sufficient company had assembled and an
nounce their intention to embark. The emigrants would be noti
fied of the date of sailing, and an agent would accompany them all
the way to Nauvoo. Men with money were especially desired, as
were mechanics of all kinds, since the one sound business view that
seems to have been taken by the leaders at Nauvoo was that it
would be necessary to establish manufactures there if the people
were to be able to earn a living. In some instances the passage
money was advanced to the converts.
1 " Route from Liverpool to Great Salt Lake Valley," 1855.
2 For Dickens s description of one of these vessels ready to sail, see " The Uncom
mercial Traveller," Chap. XXII.
CHAPTER IV
THE NAUVOO CITY GOVERNMENT TEMPLE AND OTHER
BUILDINGS
A TIDE of immigration having been turned toward the new
settlement, the next thing in order was to procure for the city a
legal organization. Several circumstances combined to place in
the hands of the Mormon leaders a scheme of municipal govern
ment, along with an extensive plan for buildings, which gave them
vast power without incurring the kind of financial rocks on which
they were wrecked in Ohio.
Dr. Galland l should probably be considered the inventor of the
general scheme adopted at Nauvoo. He was at that time a resi
dent of Cincinnati, but his intercourse with the Mormons had inter
ested him in their beliefs, and some time in 1840 he addressed a
letter to Elder R. B. Thompson, which gave the church leaders
some important advice. 2 First warning them that to promulgate
new doctrinal tenets will require not only tact and energy, but moral
conduct and industry among their people, he confessed that he had
not been able to discover why their religious views were not based
on truth. " The project of establishing extraordinary religious doc
trines being magnificent in its character," he went on to say, would
require " preparations commensurate with the plan." Nauvoo be
ing a suitable rallying-place, they would "want a temple that for
size, proportions and style shall attract, surprise and dazzle all
beholders " ; something " unique externally, and in the interior
peculiar, imposing and grand." The "clergymen " must be of the
1 " In the year 1834 one Dr. Galland was a candidate for the legislature in a district
composed of Hancock, Adams, and Pike Counties. He resided in the county of Han
cock, and, as he had in the early part of his life been a notorious horse thief and coun
terfeiter, belonging to the Massac gang, and was then no pretender to integrity, it was
useless to deny the charge. In all his speeches he freely admitted the fact." FORD S
" History of Illinois," p. 406.
2 Times and Seasons, Vol. II, pp. 277-278. The letter is signed with eight asterisks
Galland s usual signature to such communications.
234
THE NAUVOO CITY GOVERNMENT 235
best as regards menta.1 and vocal equipment, and there should be a
choir such as " was never before organized." A college, too, would
be of great value if funds for it could be collected.
These suggestions were accepted by Smith, with some impor
tant additional details, and they found place in the longest of the
" revelations " given out by him in Illinois (Sec. 124), the one, previ
ously quoted from, in which the Lord excused the failure to set up
a Zion in Missouri. There seemed to be some hesitation about
giving out this " revelation." It is dated after the meeting of the
General Conference at Nauvoo which ordered the building of a
church there, and it was not published in the Times and Seasons
until the following June, and then not entire. The "revelation"
shows how little effect adversity had had in modifying the prophet s
egotism, his arrogance, or his aggressiveness.
Starting out with, " Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my
servant Joseph Smith, I am well pleased with your offerings and
acknowledgments," it calls on him to make proclamation to the
kings of the world, the President of the United States, and the
governors of the states concerning the Lord s will, " fearing them
not, for they are as grass," and warning them of " a day of visita
tion if they reject my servants and my testimony." Various
direct commands to leading members of the church follow. Gal-
land here found himself in Smith s clutches, being directed to " put
stock " into the boarding-house to be built.
The principal commands in this " revelation " directed the
building of another "holy house," or Temple, and a boarding-
house. With regard to the Temple it was explained that the
Lord would show Smith everything about it, including its site.
All the Saints from afar were ordered to come to Nauvoo, " with
all your gold, and your silver, and your precious stones, and with
all your antiquities, . . . and bring the box tree, and the fir tree,
and the pine tree, together with all the precious trees of the earth,
and with iron, with copper, and with brass, and with zinc, and
with all your most precious things of the earth."
The boarding-house ordered built was to be called Nauvoo
House, and was to be "a house that strangers may come from
afar to lodge therein, ... a resting place for the weary traveler,
that he may contemplate the glory of Zion." It was explained
that a company must be formed, the members of which should
236 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
pay not less than $50 a share for the stock, no subscriber to be
allotted more than $1500 worth.
This "revelation" further announced once more that Joseph
was to be " a presiding elder over all my church, to be a trans
lator, a revelator, a seer and a prophet," with Sidney Rigdon and
William Law his counsellors, to constitute with him the First
Presidency, and Brigham Young to be president over the twelve
travelling council.
Legislation was, of course, necessary to carry out the large
schemes that the Mormon leaders had in mind ; but this was
secured at the state capital with a liberality that now seems
amazing. This was due to the desire of the politicians of all
parties to conciliate the Mormon vote, and to the good fortune of
the Mormons in finding at the capital a very practical lobbyist
to engineer their cause. This was a Dr. John C. Bennett, a man
who seems to have been without any moral character, but who
had filled positions of importance. Born in Massachusetts in
1804, he practised as a physician in Ohio, and later in Illinois,
holding a professorship in Willoughby University, Ohio, and
taking with him to Illinois testimonials as to his professional skill.
In the latter state he showed a taste for military affairs, and after
being elected brigadier general of the Invincible Dragoons, he
was appointed quartermaster general of the state in 1840, and
held that position at the state capital when the Mormons applied
to the legislature for a charter for Nauvoo.
With his assistance there was secured from the legislature an
act incorporating the city of Nauvoo, the Nauvoo Legion, and the
University of the City of Nauvoo. The powers granted to the
city government thus established were extraordinary. A City
Council was authorized, consisting of the mayor, four aldermen,
and nine councillors, which was empowered to pass any ordinances,
not in conflict with the federal and state constitutions, which it
deemed necessary for the peace and order of the city. The
mayor and aldermen were given all the power of justices of the
peace, and they were to constitute the Municipal Court. The
charter gave the mayor sole jurisdiction in all cases arising under
the city ordinances, with a right of appeal to the Municipal Court.
Further than this, the charter granted to the Municipal Court the
right to issue writs of habeas corpus in all cases arising under the
THE NAUVOO GITY GOVERNMENT 237
city ordinances. Thirty-six sections were required to define the
legislative powers of the City Council.
A more remarkable scheme of independent local government
could not have been devised even by the leaders of this Mormon
church, and the short-sightedness of the law makers in consenting
to it seems nothing short of marvellous. Under it the mayor, who
helped to make the local laws (as a member of the City Council),
was intrusted with their enforcement, and he could, as the head
of the Municipal Court, give them legal interpretation. Governor
Ford afterward defined the system as "a government within a
government ; a legislature to pass ordinances at war with the laws
of the state ; courts to execute them with but little dependence
upon the constitutional judiciary, and a military force at their own
command." 1
This military force, called the Nauvoo Legion, the City Council
was authorized to organize from the inhabitants of the city who
were subject to military duty. It was to be at the disposal of the
mayor in executing city laws and ordinances, and of the governor
of the state for the public defence. When organized, it embraced
three classes of troops flying artillery, lancers, and riflemen. Its
independence of state control was provided for by a provision of
law which allowed it to be governed by a court martial of its own
officers. The view of its independence taken by the Mormons may
be seen in the following general order signed by Smith and Ben
nett in May, 1841, founded on an opinion by Judge Stephen A.
Douglas :
" The officers and privates belonging to the Legion are exempt from all mili
tary duty not required by the legally constituted authorities thereof; they are
therefore expressly inhibited from performing any military service not ordered
by the general officers, or directed by the court martial. 1 " 2
1 A bill repealing this charter was passed by the Illinois House on February 3, 1843,
by a vote of fifty-eight to thirty-three, but failed in the Senate by a vote of sixteen ayes
to seventeen nays.
2 Times and Seasons, Vol. II, p. 417. Governor Ford commissioned Brigham
Young to succeed Smith as lieutenant general of the Legion from August 31, 1844. To
show the Mormon idea of authority, the following is quoted from Tullidge s " Life of
Brigham Young," p. 30 : " It is a singular fact that, after Washington, Joseph Smith was
the first man in America who held the rank of lieutenant general, and that Brigham
Young was the next. In reply to a comment by the author upon this fact Brigham
Young said : I was never much of a military man. The commission has since been
abrogated by the state of Illinois; but if Joseph had lived when the [Mexican] war
broke out he would have become commander-in-chief of the United States armies."* "
238 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
In other words, this city military company was entirely inde
pendent of even the governor of the state. Little wonder that the
Presidency, writing about the new law to the Saints abroad, said,
" Tis all we ever claimed." In view of the experience of the Mis-
sourians with the Mormons as directed by Smith and Rigdon, it
would be rash to say that they would have been tolerated as neigh
bors in Illinois under any circumstances, after their actual acquain
tance had been made ; but if the state of Illinois had deliberately
intended to incite the Mormons to a reckless assertion of indepen
dence, nothing could have been planned that would have accom
plished this more effectively than the passage of the charter of
Nauvoo.
What next followed remains an unexplained incident in Joseph
Smith s career. Instead of taking the mayoralty himself, he allowed
that office to be bestowed upon Bennett, Smith and Rigdon accept
ing places among the councillors, Bennett having taken up his
residence in Nauvoo in September, 1840. His election as mayor
took place in February, 1841. Bennet was also chosen major gen
eral of the Legion when that force was organized, was selected as
the first chancellor of the new university, and was elected to the
First Presidency of the church in the following April, to take the
place of Sidney Rigdon during the incapacity of the latter from
illness. Judge Stephen A. Douglas also appointed him a master
in chancery.
Bennett was introduced to the Mormon church at large in a
letter signed by Smith, Rigdon, and brother Hyrum, dated Janu
ary 15, 1841, as the first of the new acquisitions of influence. They
stated that his sympathies with the Saints were aroused while they
were still in Missouri, and that he then addressed them a letter
offering them his assistance, and the church was assured that "he
is a man of enterprise, extensive acquirements, and of independent
mind, and is calculated to be a great blessing to our community."
When his appointment as a master in chancery was criticised by
some Illinois newspapers, the Mormons defended him earnestly.
Sidney Rigdon (then attorney-at-law and postmaster at Nauvoo),
in a letter dated April 23, 1842, said, " He is a physician of great
celebrity, of great versatility of talent, of refined education and
accomplished manners ; discharges the duties of his respective
offices with honor to himself and credit to the people." All this
THE NAUVOO CITY GOVERNMENT 239
becomes of interest in the light of the abuse which the Mormons
soon after poured out upon this man when he " betrayed " them.
Bennett s inaugural address as mayor was radical in tone. He
advised the Council to prohibit all dram shops, allowing no liquor
to be sold in a quantity less than a quart. This suggestion was
carried out in a city ordinance. He condemned the existing sys
tem of education, which gave children merely a smattering of
everything, and made " every boarding school miss a Plato in petti
coats, without an ounce of genuine knowledge," pleading for edu
cation " of a purely practical character." The Legion he considered
a matter of immediate necessity, and he added, " The winged war
rior of the air perches upon the pole of American liberty, and the
beast that has the temerity to ruffle her feathers should be made to
feel the power of her talons."
Smith was commissioned lieutenant general of this Legion by
Governor Carlin on February 3, 1841, and he and Bennett blos
somed out at once as gorgeous commanders. An order was issued
requiring all persons in the city, of military obligation, between the
ages of eighteen and forty-five, to join the Legion, and on the occa
sion of the laying of the corner-stone of the Temple, on April 6,
1841, it comprised fourteen companies. An army officer passing
through Nauvoo in September, 1842, expressed the opinion that
the evolutions of the Legion would do honor to any militia in the
United States, but he queried : " Why this exact discipline of the
Mormon corps ? Do they intend to conquer Missouri, Illinois,
Mexico ? Before many years this Legion will be twenty, perhaps
fifty, thousand strong and still augmenting. A fearful host, filled
with religious enthusiasm, and led on by ambitious and talented
officers, what may not be effected by them ? Perhaps the subver
sion of the constitution of the United States." 1
Contemporary accounts of the appearance of the Legion on the
occasion of the laying of the Temple corner-stone indicate that the
display was a big one for a frontier settlement. Smith says in his
autobiography, "The appearance, order, and movements of the
Legion were chaste, grand, imposing." The Times and Seasons,
in its report of the day s doings, says that General Smith had a
staff of four aides-de-camp and twelve guards, " nearly all in splen
did uniforms. The several companies presented a beautiful and
iMackay s "The Mormons," p. 121.
240 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
interesting spectacle, several of them being uniformed and equipped,
while the rich and costly dresses of the officers would have become a
Bonaparte or a Washington." Ladies on horseback were an added
feature of the procession. The ceremonies attending the corner
stone laying attracted the people from all the outlying districts,
and marked an epoch in the church s history in Illinois.
The Temple at Nauvoo measured 83 by 128 feet on the ground,
and was nearly 60 feet high, surmounted by a steeple which was
planned to be more than 100 feet in height. The material was
white limestone, which was found underlying the site of the city.
The work of construction continued throughout the occupation of
Nauvoo by the Mormons, the laying of the capstone not being
accomplished until May 24, 1845, and the dedication taking place
on May i, 1846. The cost of the completed structure was esti
mated by the Mormons at $i,ooo,ooo. 1 Among the costly features
were thirty stone pilasters, which cost $3000 each.
The portico of the Temple was surrounded by these pilasters
of polished stone, on the base of which was carved a new moon,
the capital of each being a representation of the rising sun coming
from under a cloud, supported by two hands holding a trumpet.
Under the tower were the words, in golden letters : " The House
of the Lord, built by the Church of Latter-Day Saints. Com
menced April 6, 1841. Holiness to the Lord." The baptismal
font measured twelve by sixteen feet, with a basin four feet deep.
It was supported by twelve oxen " carved out of fine plank glued
together," says Smith, "and copied after the most beautiful five-
year-old steer that could be found." From the basement two
stairways led to the main floor, around the sides of which were
small rooms designed for various uses. In the large room on this
floor were three pulpits and a place for the choir. The upper floor
contained a large hall, and around this were twelve smaller rooms.
The erection of this Temple was carried on without incurring
such debts or entering upon such money-making schemes as caused
disaster at Kirtland. Labor and material were secured by success-
1 "The Temple is said to have cost, in labor and money, a million dollars. It may
be possible, and it is very probable, that contributions to that amount were made to it,
but that it cost that much to build it few will believe. Half that sum would be ample
to build a much more costly edifice to-day, and in the three or four years in which it was
being erected, labor was cheap and all the necessaries of life remarkably low." GREGG S
" History of Hancock County," p. 367.
THE NAUVOO CITY GOVERNMENT 241
ful appeals to the Saints on the ground and throughout the world.
Here the tithing system inaugurated in Missouri played an efficient
part. A man from the neighboring country who took produce to
Nauvoo for sale or barter said, " In the committee rooms they had
almost every conceivable thing, from all kinds of implements and
men and women s clothing, down to baby clothes and trinkets,
which had been deposited by the owners as tithing or for the
benefit of the Temple." 1
Nauvoo House, as planned, was to have a frontage of two
hundred feet and a depth of forty feet, and to be three stories in
height, with a basement. Its estimated cost was $ioo,ooo. 2 A
detailed explanation of the uses of this house was thus given in a
letter from the Twelve to the Saints abroad, dated November 15,
1841 :-
" The time set to favor the Stakes of Zion is at hand, and soon the kings and
the queens, the princes and the nobles, the rich and the honorable of the earth,
will come up hither to visit the Temple of our God, and to inquire concerning
this strange work ; and as kings are to become nursing fathers, and queens nurs
ing mothers in the habitation of the righteous, it is right to render honor to whom
honor is due ; and therefore expedient that such, as well as the Saints, should
have a comfortable house for boarding and lodging when they come hither, and
it is according to the revelations that such a house should be built. . . . All are
under equal obligations to do all in their power to complete the buildings by
their faith and their prayers ; with their thousands and their mites, their gold
and their silver, their copper and their zinc, their goods and their labors."
Nauvoo House was not finished during the Prophet s life, the
appeals in its behalf failing to secure liberal contributions. It was
completed in later years, and used as a hotel.
Smith s residence in Nauvoo was a frame building called the
Mansion House, not far from the river side. It was opened as a
hotel on October 3, 1843, with considerable ceremony, one of the
toasts responded to being as follows, " Resolved, that General
Joseph Smith, whether we view him as a prophet at the head of
the church, a general at the head of the Legion, a mayor at the
head of the City Council, or a landlord at the head of the table, has
few equals and no superiors."
Another church building was the Hall of the Seventies, the
upper story of which was used for the priesthood and the Council
1 Gregg s " History of Hancock County," p. 374.
2 Times and Seasons, Vol. II, p. 369.
242 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
of Fifty. Galland s suggestion about a college received practical
shape in the incorporation of a university, in whose board of
regents the leading men of the church, including Galland himself,
found places. The faculty consisted of James Keeley, a graduate
of Trinity College, Dublin, as president ; Orson Pratt as professor of
mathematics and English literature ; Orson Spencer, a graduate of
Union College and the Baptist Theological Seminary in New York,
as professor of languages ; and Sidney Rigdon as professor of
church history. The tuition fee was $$ per quarter.
CHAPTER V
THE MORMONS IN POLITICS MISSOURI REQUISITIONS FOR
SMITH
THE Mormons were now equipped in their new home with
large landed possessions, a capital city that exhibited a phenom
enal growth, and a form of local government which made Nauvoo
a little independency of itself ; their prophet wielding as much au
thority and receiving as much submission as ever ; a Temple under
way which would excel anything that had been designed in Ohio
or Missouri, and a stream of immigration pouring in which gave
assurance of continued numerical increase. What were the causes
of the complete overthrow of this apparent prosperity which so
speedily followed ? These causes were of a twofold character
political and social. The two were interwoven in many ways, but
we can best trace them separately.
We have seen that a Democratic organization gave the first
welcome to the Mormon refugees at Quincy. In the presidential
campaign of 1836 the vote of Illinois had been : Democratic, 17,275,
Whig, 14,292 ; that of Hancock County, Democratic, 260, Whig, 340.
The closeness of this vote explained the welcome that was extended
to the new-comers.
It does not appear that Smith had any original party predilec
tions. But he was not pleased with questions which President
Van Buren asked him when he was in Washington (from Novem
ber, 1839, to February, 1840) seeking federal aid to secure redress
from Missouri, and he wrote to the High Council from that city,
" We do not say the Saints shall not vote for him, but we do say
boldly (though it need not be published in the streets of Nauvoo,
neither among the daughters of the Gentiles), that we do not intend
he shall have our votes." l
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XVII, p. 452.
243
244 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
On his return to Illinois Smith was toadied to by the workers
of both parties. He candidly told them that he had no faith in
either ; but the Whigs secured his influence, and, by an intimation
that there was divine authority for their course, the Mormon vote
was cast for Harrison, giving him a majority of 752 in Hancock
County. In order to keep the Democrats in good humor, the
Mormons scratched the last name on the Whig electoral ticket
(Abraham Lincoln) 1 and substituted that of a Democrat. This
demonstration of their political weight made the Mormons an
object of consideration at the state capital, and was the direct
cause of the success of the petition which they sent there, signed
by some thousands of names, asking for a charter for Nauvoo.
The representatives of both parties were eager to show them favor.
Bennett, in a letter to the Times and Seasons from Springfield,
spoke of the readiness of all the members to vote for what the
Mormons wanted, adding that " Lincoln had the magnanimity to
vote for our act, and came forward after the final vote and con
gratulated me on its passage."
In the gubernatorial campaign of 1841-1842 Smith swung the
Mormon vote back to the Democrats, giving them a majority of
more than one thousand in the county. This was done publicly,
in a letter addressed " To my friends in Illinois," 2 dated December
20, 1841, in which the prophet, after pointing out that no persons
at the -state capital were more efficient in securing the passage of
the Nauvoo charter than the heads of the present Democratic
ticket, made this declaration :
" The partisans in this county who expect to divide the friends of humanity
and equal rights will find themselves mistaken. We care not a fig for Whig
or Democrat ; they are both alike to us ; but we shall go for our friends, OUR
TRIED FRIENDS, and the cause of human liberty which is the cause of God. . . .
Snyder and Moore are known to be our friends. . . . We will never be justly
charged with the sin of ingratitude, they have served us, and we will serve
them."
If Smith had been a man possessing any judgment, he would
have realized that the political course which he was pursuing,
instead of making friends in either party, would certainly soon
1 This is mentioned in "Joab s" (Bennett s) letter, Times and Seasons, Vol. II,
p. 267.
2 Times and Seasons, Vol. Ill, p. 651.
THE MORMONS IN POLITICS 245
arraign both parties against him and his followers. The Mormons
announced themselves distinctly to be a church, and they were
now exhibiting themselves as a religious body already numerically
strong and increasing in numbers, which stood ready to obey the
political mandate of one man, or at least of one controlling authority.
The natural consequence of this soon manifested itself.
A congressional and a county election were approaching, and a
mass meeting, made up of both Whigs and Democrats of Hancock
County, was held to place in the field a non-Mormon county ticket.
The fusion was not accomplished without heart-burnings on the
part of some unsuccessful aspirants for nominations. A few of
these went over to Smith, and the election resulted in the success
of the state Democratic and the Mormon local ticket, legislative
and county, Smith s brother William being elected to the House.
It is easy to realize that this victory did not lessen Smith s aggres
sive egotism.
Some important matters were involved in the next political
contest, the congressional election of August, 1843. The Whigs
nominated Cyrus Walker, a lawyer of reputation living in McDon-
ough County, and the Democrats J. P. Hoge, also a lawyer, but a
weaker candidate at the polls. Every one conceded that Smith s
dictum would decide the contest.
On May 6, 1842, Governor Boggs of Missouri, while sitting
near a window in his house in Independence, was fired at, and
wounded so severely that his recovery was for some days in doubt.
The crime was naturally charged to his Mormon enemies, 1 and
was finally narrowed down to O. P. Rockwell, 2 a Mormon living
1 The hatred felt toward Governor Boggs by the Mormon leaders was not concealed.
Thus, an editorial in the Times and Seasons of January I, 1841, headed "Lilburn W.
Boggs," began, "The THING whose name stands at the head of this article," etc. Re
ferring to the ending of his term of office, the article said, " Lilburn has gone down to
the dark and dreary abode of his brother and prototype, Nero, there to associate with
kindred spirits and partake of the dainties of his father s, the devil s, table."
Bennett afterward stated that he heard Joseph Smith say, on July 10, 1842, that
Governor Boggs, " the exterminator, should be exterminated," and that the Destroying
Angels (Danites) should do it; also that in the spring of that year he heard Smith, at a
meeting of Danites, offer to pay any man $500 who would secretly assassinate the gov
ernor. Bennett s statement is only cited for what it may be worth; that some Mormon
fired the shot is within the limit of strict probability.
2 Rockwell, who, in his latter days, was employed by General Connor to guard stock
in California, told the general that he fired the shot at Governor Boggs, and was sorry it
did not kill him. " Mormon Portraits," p. 255.
246 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
in Nauvoo, as the agent, and Joseph Smith, Jr., as the instigator.
Indictments were found against both of them in Missouri, and a
requisition for Smith s surrender was made by the governor of
that state on the governor of Illinois. Smith was arrested under
the governor s warrant. Now came an illustration of the value to
him of the form of government provided by the Nauvoo charter.
Taken before his own municipal court, he was released at once
on a writ of habeas corpus. This assumption of power by a local
court aroused the indignation of non-Mormons throughout the
state. Governor Carlin characterized it somewhat later, in a
letter to Smith s wife, as " most absurd and ridiculous ; to attempt
to exercise it is a gross usurpation of power that cannot be
tolerated." 1
Notwithstanding his release, Smith thought it best to remain
in hiding for some time to escape another arrest, for which the
governor ordered a reward of $200. About the middle of August
his associates in Nauvoo concluded that the outlook for him was
so bad, notwithstanding the protection which his city court was
ready to afford, that it might be best for him to flee to the pine
woods of the North country. Smith incorporates in his autobiog
raphy a long letter which he wrote to his wife at this time, 2 giving
her directions about this flight if it should become necessary.
Their goods were to be loaded on a boat manned by twenty of
the best men who could be selected, and who would meet them
at Prairie du Chien : " And from thence we will wend our way
like larks up the Mississippi, until the towering mountains and
rocks shall remind us of the places of our nativity, and shall look
like safety and home ; and there we will bid defiance to Carlin,
Boggs, Bennett, and all their whorish whores and motley clan,
that follow in their wake, Missouri not excepted, and until the
damnation of Hell rolls upon them by the voice and dread
thunders and trump of the eternal God."
In October Rigdon obtained from Justin Butterfield, United
States attorney for Illinois, an opinion that Smith could not be
held on a Missouri requisition for a crime committed in that state
when he was in Illinois. In December, 1842, Smith was placed
under arrest and taken before the United States District Court at
Springfield, Illinois, under a writ of habeas corpus issued by
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XX, p. 23. 2 Ibid., pp. 693-695.
THE MORMONS IN POLITICS 247
Judge Roger B. Taney of the State Supreme Court. Butterfield,
as his counsel, secured his discharge by Judge Pope (a Whig) who
held that Smith was not a fugitive from Missouri.
While these proceedings were pending, the Nauvoo City
Council (Smith was then mayor), passed two ordinances in re
gard to the habeas corpus powers of the Municipal Court, one
giving that court jurisdiction in any case where a person " shall
be or stand committed or detained for any criminal, or supposed
criminal, matter." 1 This was intended to make Smith secure
from the clutches of any Missouri officer so long as he was in his
own city.
But Smith s enemy, General Bennett (who before this date
had been cast out of the fold), was now very active, and through
his efforts another indictment against Smith on the old charges
of treason, murder, etc., was found in Missouri, in June, 1843,
and under it another demand was made on the governor of
Illinois for Smith s extradition. Governor Ford, a Democrat,
who had succeeded Carlin, issued a warrant on June 17, 1843,
and it was served on Smith while he was visiting his wife s sister
in Lee County, Illinois. An attempt to start with him at once
for Missouri was prevented by his Mormon friends, who rallied
in considerable numbers to his aid. Smith secured counsel, who
began proceedings against the Missouri agent and obtained a
writ in Smith s behalf returnable, the account in the Times and
Seasons says, before the nearest competent tribunal, which "it
was ascertained was at Nauvoo" Smith s own Municipal Court
The prophet had a sort of triumphal entry into Nauvoo, and the
question of the jurisdiction of the Municipal Court in his case
came up at once. Both of the candidates for Congress, Walker
(who was employed as his counsel) and Hoge, gave opinions in
favor of such jurisdiction, and, after a three hours plea by Walker,
the court ordered Smith s release. Smith addressed the people
of Nauvoo in the grove after his return. From the report of his
remarks in \ho. Journal of Discourses (Vol. II, p. 163) the follow
ing is taken :
" Before I will bear this unhallowed persecution any longer, before I will be
dragged away again among my enemies for trial, I will spill the last drop of
1 For text of these ordinances, see Millennial Star, Vol. XX, p. 165.
248 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
blood in my veins, and will see all my enemies in hell. . . . Deny me the writ
of habeas corpus, and I will fight with gun, sword, cannon, whirlwind, thunder,
until they are used up like the Kilkenny cats. ... If these [charter] powers are
dangerous, then the constitutions of the United States and of this state are dan
gerous. If the Legislature has granted Nauvoo the right of determining cases of
habeas corpus, it is no more than they ought to have done, or more than our
fathers fought for."
Smith expressed his gratitude to Walker for what the latter had
accomplished in his behalf, and the Whig candidate now had no
doubt that the Mormon vote was his.
But the Missouri agent, indignant that a governor s writ should
be set aside by a city court, hurried to Springfield and demanded
that Governor Ford should call out enough state militia to secure
Smith s arrest and delivery at the Missouri boundary. The gov
ernor, who was not a man of the firmest purpose, had no intention
of being mixed up in the pending congressional fight and struggle
for the Mormon vote ; so he asked for delay and finally decided
not to call out any troops.
The Hancock County Democrats were quick to see an oppor
tunity in this situation, and they sent to Springfield a man named
Backenstos (who took an active part in the violent scenes con
nected with the subsequent history of the Mormons in the state)
to ascertain for the Mormons just what the governor s intentions
were. Backenstos reported that the prophet need have no fear of
the Democratic governor so long as the Mormons voted the Demo
cratic ticket. 1
When this news was brought back to Nauvoo, a few days
before the election, a mass meeting of the Mormons was called,
and Hyrum Smith (then Patriarch, succeeding the prophet s father,
who was dead) announced the receipt of a " revelation " directing
the Mormons to vote for Hoge. William Law, an influential busi
ness man in the Mormon circle, immediately denied the existence
of any such "revelation." The prophet alone could decide the
matter. He was brought in and made a statement to the effect
that he himself proposed to vote for Walker ; that he considered
it a "mean business" to influence any man s vote by dictation, \
and that he had no great faith in revelations about elections ; " but i
I
1 Governor Ford, in his " History of Illinois," says that such a pledge was given by j
a prominent Democrat, but without his own knowledge.
THE MORMONS IN POLITICS 249
brother Hyrum was a man of truth ; he had known brother Hyrum
intimately ever since he was a boy, and he had never known him
to tell a lie. If brother Hyrum said he had received such a reve
lation, he had no doubt it was a fact. When the Lord speaks, let
all the earth be silent." l
The election resulted in the choice of Hoge by a majority of
455!
1 Ford s " History of Illinois," p. 318.
CHAPTER VI
SMITH A CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED
STATES
SMITH S latest triumph over his Missouri enemies, with the feel
ing that he had the governor of his state back of him, increased
his own and his followers audacity. The Nauvoo Council con
tinued to pass ordinances to protect its inhabitants from outside
legal processes, civil and criminal. One of these provided that no
writ issued outside of Nauvoo for the arrest of a person in that
city should be executed until it had received the mayor s approval,
any one violating this ordinance to be liable to imprisonment for
life, with no power of pardon in the governor without the mayor s
consent ! The acquittal of O. P. Rockwell on the charge of the
attempted assassination of Governor Boggs caused great delight
among the Mormons, and their organ declared on January I, 1844,
that " throughout the whole region of country around us those
bitter and acrimonious feelings, which have so long been engen
dered by many, are dying away."
Smith s political ideas now began to broaden. " Who shall be
our next President ? " was the title of an editorial in the Times and
Seasons of October I, 1843, which urged the selection of a man
who would be most likely to give the Mormons help in securing
redress for their grievances.
The next month Smith addressed a letter to Henry Clay and
John C. Calhoun, who were the leading candidates for the presi
dential nomination, citing the Mormons losses and sufferings in
Missouri, and their failure to obtain redress in the courts or from
Congress, and asking, " What will be your rule of action relative
to us as a people should fortune favor your ascendancy to the
chief magistracy ? " Clay replied that, if nominated, he could
" enter into no engagements, make no promises, give no pledges
to any particular portion of the people of the United States,"
adding, " If I ever enter into that high office, I must go into it
250
SMITH A CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT 251
free and unfettered, with no guarantees but such as are to be
drawn from my whole life, character and conduct." He closed
with an expression of sympathy with the Mormons " in their suf
ferings under injustice." Calhoun replied that, if elected Presi
dent, he would try to administer the government according to the
constitution and the laws, and that, as these made no distinction
between citizens of different religious creeds, he should make none.
He repeated an opinion which he had given Smith in Washington
that the Mormon case against the state of Missouri did not come
within the jurisdiction of the federal government.
These replies excited Smith to wrath and he answered them at
length, and in language characteristic of himself. A single quota
tion from his letter to Clay (dated May 13, 1844) will suffice :
" In your answer to my question, last fall, that peculiar trait of the modern
politician, declaring l if you ever enter into that high office, you must go into it
unfettered, with no guarantees but such as are to be drawn from your whole life,
character and conduct, so much resembles a lottery vender s sign, with the god
dess of good luck sitting on the car of fortune, astraddle of the horn of plenty,
and driving the merry steeds of beatitude, without reins or bridle, that I cannot
help exclaiming, l O, frail man, what have you done that will exalt you ? Can
anything be drawn from your life, character or conduct that is worthy of being
held up to the gaze of this nation as a model of virtue, character and wisdom ?
. . . Your whole life, character and conduct 1 have been spotted with deeds that
causes a blush upon the face of a virtuous patriot ; so you must be contented
with your lot, while crime, cowardice, cupidity or low cunning have handed you
down from the high tower of a statesman to the black hole of a gambler. . . .
Crape the heavens with weeds of woe ; gird the earth with sackcloth, and let hell
mutter one melody in commemoration of fallen splendor ! For the glory of
America has departed, and God will set a flaming sword to guard the tree of
liberty, while such mint-tithing Herods as Van Buren, Boggs, Benton, Calhoun,
and Clay are thrust out of the realms of virtue as fit subjects for the kingdom of
fallen greatness vox reprobi, vox Diaboli."
Calhoun was admonished to read the eighth section of article
one of the federal constitution, after which " God, who cooled the
heat of a Nebuchadnezzar s furnace, or shut the mouths of lions
for the honor of a Daniel, will raise your mind above the narrow
notion that the general government has no power, to the sublime
idea that Congress, with the President as executor, is as almighty
in its sphere as Jehovah is in his." x
1 For this correspondence in full, see Times and Seasons, January i and June I,
1844, r Mackay s "The Mormons," p. 143.
252 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
Smith s next step was to have Judge Phelps read to a public
meeting in Nauvoo on February 7, 1844, a very long address by
the prophet, setting forth his views on national politics. 1 He
declared that " no honest man can doubt for a moment but the
glory of American liberty is on the wane, and that calamity and
confusion will sooner or later destroy the peace of the people,"
while " the motto hangs on the nation s escutcheon, every man
has his price. "
Smith proposed an abundance of remedies for these evils :
Reduce the members of Congress at least one-half ; pay them $2
a day and board ; petition the legislature to pardon every convict,
and make the punishment for any felony working on the roads or
some other place where the culprit can be taught wisdom and
virtue, murder alone to be cause for confinement or death ; petition
for the abolition of slavery by the year 1850, the slaves to be paid
for out of the surplus from the sale of public lands, and the money
saved by reducing the pay of Congress ; establish a national bank,
with branches in every state and territory, " whose officers shall
be elected yearly by the people, with wages of $2 a day for ser
vices," the currency to be limited to "the amount of capital stock
in her vaults, and interest " ; " and the bills shall be par throughout
the nation, which will mercifully cure that fatal disorder known in
cities as brokery, and leave the people s money in their own pock
ets "; give the President full power to send an army to suppress
mobs ; " send every lawyer, as soon as he repents and obeys the
ordinances of heaven, to preach the Gospel to the destitute, without
purse or scrip " ; " spread the federal jurisdiction to the west sea,
when the red men give their consent " ; and give the right hand
of fellowship to Texas, Canada, and Mexico. He closed with this
declaration : "I would, as the universal friend of man, open the
prisons, open the eyes, open the ears, and open the hearts of all
people to behold and enjoy freedom, unadulterated freedom ; and
God, who once cleansed the violence of the earth with a flood,
whose Son laid down his life for the salvation of all his father
gave him out of the world, and who has promised that he will come
and purify the world again with fire in the last days, should be
supplicated by me for the good of all people. With the highest
esteem, I am a friend of virtue and of the people."
1 For its text, see Times and Seasons, May 15, 1844, or Mackay s "The Mormons," p. 133.
SMITH A CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT 253
It seems almost incomprehensible that the promulgator of
such political views should have taken himself seriously. But
Smith was in deadly earnest, and not only was he satisfied of his
political power, but, in the church conference of 1844, he declared,
" I feel that I am in more immediate communication with God,
and on a better footing with Him, than I have ever been in
my life."
The announcement of Smith s political " principles " was fol
lowed immediately by an article in the Times and Seasons, which
answered the question, " Whom shall the Mormons support for
President?" with the reply, "General Joseph Smith. A man of
sterling worth and integrity, and of enlarged views ; a man who
has raised himself from the humblest walks in life to stand at the
head of a large, intelligent, respectable, and increasing society ; . . .
and whose experience has rendered him every way adequate to
the onerous duty." The formal announcement that Smith was
the Mormon candidate was made in the Times and Seasons of
February 15, 1844, an d the ticket
FOR PRESIDENT,
GENERAL JOSEPH SMITH,
Nauvoo, Illinois.
was kept at the head of its editorial page from March i, until his
death.
A weekly newspaper called the Wasp, issued at Nauvoo under
Mormon editorship, had been succeeded by a larger one called
the Neighbor, edited by John Taylor (afterward President of the
church), who also had charge of the Times and Seasons. The
Neighbor likewise placed Smith s name, as the presidential candi
date, at the head of its columns, and on March 6 completed its
ticket with " General James A. Bennett of New York, for Vice-
President." 1 Three weeks later Bennett s name was taken down,
and on June 19, Sidney Rigdon s was substituted for it. There
was nothing modest in the Mormon political ambition.
1 This General Bennett was not the first mayor of Nauvoo, as some writers like
Smucker have supposed, but a lawyer who gave his address as " Arlington House," on
Long Island, New York, and who in 1843 n& d offered himself to Smith as " a most unde-
viating friend," etc.
254 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
Proof of Smith s serious view of his candidacy is furnished in
his next step, which was to send out a large body of missionaries
(two or three thousand, according to Governor Ford) to work up
his campaign in the Eastern and Southern states. These emissaries
were selected from among the ablest of Smith s allies, including
Brigham Young, Lorenzo Snow, and John D. Lee. Their absence
from Nauvoo was a great misfortune to Smith at the time of his
subsequent arrest and imprisonment at Carthage.
The campaigners began work at once. Lorenzo Snow, to
whom the state of Ohio was allotted, went to Kirtland, where he
had several thousand pamphlets printed, setting forth the prophet s
views and plans, and he then travelled around in a buggy, distrib
uting the pamphlets and making addresses in Smith s behalf.
"To many persons," he confesses, "who knew nothing of Joseph
but through the ludicrous reports in circulation, the movement
seemed a species of insanity." 1 John D. Lee was a most devout
Mormon, but his judgment revolted against this movement. " I
would a thousand times rather have been shut up in jail," he says.
He began his canvassing while on the boat bound for St. Louis.
" I told them," he relates, " the prophet would lead both candi
dates. There was a large crowd on the boat, and an election was
proposed. The prophet received a majority of 75 out of 125
votes polled. This created a tremendous laugh." 2
We have an account of one state convention called to consider
Smith s candidacy, and this was held in the Melodeon in Boston,
Massachusetts, on July I, 1844, the news of Smith s death not yet
having reached that city. A party of young rowdies practically
took possession of the hall as soon as the business of the conven
tion began, and so disturbed the proceedings that the police were
sent for, and they were able to clear the galleries only after a
determined fight. The convention then adjourned to Bunker
Hill, but nothing further is heard of its proceedings. The press
of the city condemned the action of the disturbers as a disgrace.
Mention is made in the Times and Seasons of July I, 1844, of
a conference of elders held in Dresden, Tennessee, on the 25th
of May previous, at which Smith s name was presented as a
presidential candidate. The meeting was broken up by a mob,
1 " Biography of Lorenzo Snow."
2 " Mormonism Unveiled," p. 149.
SMITH A CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT 255
which the sheriff confessed himself powerless to overcome, but it
met later and voted to print three thousand copies of Smith s
views.
The prophet s death, which occurred so soon after the announce
ment of his candidacy, rendered it impossible to learn how serious
a cause of political disturbance that candidacy might have been in
neighborhoods where the Mormons had a following,
CHAPTER VII
SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN NAUVOO
HAVING followed Smith s political operations to their close, it
is now necessary to retrace our steps, and examine the social con
ditions which prevailed in and around Nauvoo during the years of
his reign conditions which had quite as much to do in causing
the expulsion of the Mormons from the state as did his political
mistakes.
It must be remembered that Nauvoo was a pioneer town, on
the borders of a thinly settled country. Its population and that of
its suburbs consisted of the refugees from Missouri, of whose
character we have had proof; of the converts brought in from
the Eastern states and from Europe, not a very intelligent body ;
and of those pioneer settlers, without sympathy with the Mormon
beliefs, who were attracted to the place from various motives.
While active work was continued by the missionaries throughout
the United States, their labors in this country seem to have been
more efficient in establishing local congregations than in secur
ing large additions to the population of Nauvoo, although some
" branches " moved bodily to the Mormon centre. 1
Of the class of people reached by the early missionaries in
England we have this description, in a letter from Orson Hyde to
his wife, dated September 14, 1837:
" Those who have been baptized are mostly manufacturers and some other
mechanics. They know how to do but little else than to spin and weave cloth,
and make cambric, mull and lace ; and what they would do in Kirtland or the
city of Far West, I cannot say. They are extremely poor, most of them not
having a change of clothes decent to be baptized in." 2
In a letter of instructions from Smith to the travelling elders
in Great Britain, dated October, 1840, he warned them that the
1 Lee s " Mormonism Unveiled," p. 135.
2 Elder? Journal, Vol. I, No. 2.
256
SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN NAUVOO 257
gathering of the Saints must be " attended to in the order that the
Lord intends it should " ; and he explains that, as " great numbers
of the Saints in England are extremely poor, ... to prevent con
fusion and disappointment when they arrive here, let those men
who are accustomed to making machinery, and those who can
command a capital, though it be small, come here as soon as con
venient and put up machinery, and make such other preparations
as may be necessary, so that when the poor come on they may
have employment to come to."
The invitation to all converts having means was so urgent that
it took the form of a command. A letter to the Saints abroad,
signed by Joseph and Hyrum Smith, dated January 15, 1841,
directed those "blessed of heaven with the possession of this
world s goods " to sell out as soon as possible and move to Nau-
voo, adding in italics : " This is agreeable to the order of heaven,
and the only principal (sic) on which the gathering can be
effected." 1
We have seen how hard pressed Smith was for money with
which to meet his obligations for the payment of land purchased.
It was not necessary that a new-comer should be a Mormon in
order to buy a lot, special emphasis being laid on the freedom of
religious opinion in the city ; but it was early made known that
purchasers were expected to buy their lots of the church, and not
of private speculators. The determination with which this rule
1 The following is a quotation from a letter written by an American living near
Nauvoo, dated October 20, 1842, printed in the postscript to Caswall s "The City of the
Mormons " :
" If an English Mormon arrives, the first effort of Joe is to get his money. This in
most cases is easily accomplished, under a pledge that he can have it at any time on
giving ten days notice. The man after some time calls for his money; he is treated
kindly, and told that it is not convenient to pay. He calles a second time; the Prophet
cannot pay, but offers a town lot in Nauvoo for $1000 (which cost perhaps as many cents),
or land on the half-breed tract at $10 or $15 per acre. . . . Finally some of the irre
sponsible Bishops or Elders execute a deed for land to which they have no valid title, and
the poor fellow dares not complain. This is the history of hundreds of cases. . . . The
history of every dupe reaches Nauvoo in advance. When an Elder abroad wins one over
to the faith, he makes himself perfectly acquainted with all his family arrangements, his
standing in society, his ability, and (what is of most importance) the amount of ready
money and other property which he will take to Nauvoo. . . . They make no converts
in Xativoo, and it appears to me that they would never make another if all could witness
their conduct at Nauvoo for one month. ... In regard to this communication, I pre
fer, on account of my own safety, that you should not make known the author publicly.
You cannot appreciate these fears [in England]. You have no idea what it is to be
surrounded by a community of Mormons, guided by a leader the most unprincipled."
s
258 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
was enforced, as well as its unpopularity in some quarters, may be
seen in the following extract from Smith s autobiography, under
date of February 13, 1843: "I spent the evening at Elder O.
Hyde s. In the course of conversation I remarked that those
brethren who came here having money, and purchased without
the church and without counsel, must be cut off. This, with other
observations, aroused the feelings of Brother Dixon, from Salem,
Mass., and he appeared in great wrath."
The Nauvoo Neighbor of December 27, 1843, contained an ad
vertisement signed by the clerk of the church, calling the atten
tion of immigrants to the church lands, and saying, " Let all the
brethren, therefore, when they move into Nauvoo, consult Presi
dent Joseph Smith, the trustee in trust, and purchase their land
from him, and I am bold to say that God will bless them, and
[they] will hereafter be glad they did so."
A good many immigrants of more or less means took warning
as soon as they discovered the conditions prevailing there, and
returned home. A letter on this subject from the officers of the
church said :
" We have seen so many who have been disappointed and discouraged when
they visited this place, that we would have imagined they had never been in
structed in the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God, and thought that, instead
of coming into a society of men and women, subject to all the frailties of mortal
ity, they were about to enjoy the society of the spirits of just men made perfect,
the holy angels, and that this place should be as pure as the third heaven. But
when they found that this people were but flesh and blood . . . they have been
desirous to choose them a captain to lead them back."
The additions to the Mormon population from the settlers
whom they found in the outlying country in Illinois and Iowa were
not likely to be of a desirable class. The banks of the Mississippi
River had long been hiding-places for pirate bands, whose exploits
were notorious, and the " half-breed tract " was a known place of
refuge for the horse thief, the counterfeiter, and the desperado of
any calling. The settlement of the Mormons in such a region,
with an invitation to the world at large to join them and be saved,
was a piece of good luck for this lawless class, who found a cover
ing cloak in the new baptism, and a shield in the fidelity with which
the Mormon authorities, under their charter, defended their flock.
In this way Nauvoo became a great receptacle for stolen goods,
SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN NAUVOO 259
and the river banks up and down the stream concealed many more,
the takers of which walked boldly through the streets of the Mor
mon city. The retaliatory measures which Smith encouraged his
followers to practise on their neighbors in Missouri had inculcated
a disregard for the property rights of non-Mormons, which became
an inciting cause of hostilities with their neighbors in Illinois.
The complaints of thefts by Mormons became so frequent that
the church authorities deemed it necessary to recognize and rebuke
the practice. Lee quotes from an address by Smith at the confer
ence of April, 1840, in Nauvoo, in which the prophet said: "We
are no longer at war, and you must stop stealing. When the right
time comes, we will go in force and take the whole state of Mis
souri. It belongs to us as our inheritance ; but I want no more
petty stealing. A man that will steal petty articles from his ene
mies will, when occasion offers, steal from his brethren too. Now
I command you that have stolen must steal no more." 1
The case of Elder O. Walker bears on this subject. On Octo
ber n, 1840, he was brought before a High Council and accused
of discourtesy to the prophet, and " suggesting (at different places)
that in the church at Nauvoo there did exist a set of pilferers who
were actually thieving, robbing and plundering, taking and unlaw
fully carrying away from Missouri certain goods and chattels,
wares and property ; and that the act and acts of such supposed
thieving, etc., was fostered and conducted by the knowledge and
approval of the heads and leaders of the church, viz., by the Presi
dency and High Council." 2
The action of the church authorities themselves shows how seri
ous they considered the reports about thieving. As early as De
cember i, 1841, Hyrum Smith, then one of the First Presidency,
published in the Times and Seasons an affidavit denying that the
heads of the church " sanction and approbate the members of said
church in stealing property from those persons who do not belong
to said church," etc. This was followed by a long denial of a
similar character, signed by the Twelve, and later by an affidavit
by the prophet himself, denying that he ever " directly or indi
rectly encouraged the purloining of property, or taught the doc
trine of stealing." On March 25, 1843, Smith, as mayor, issued
1 Lee s " Mormonism Unveiled," p. ill.
2 Millennial Star, Vol. XVIII, p. 185.
260 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
a proclamation beginning with the declaration, " I have not altered
my views on the subject of stealing," reciting rumors of a secret
band of desperadoes bound by oath to self-protection, and pledg
ing pardon to any one who would give him any information about
" such abominable characters." This exhibition of the heads of
a church solemnly protesting that they were opposed to thieving is
unique in religious history.
The Patriarch, Hyrum Smith, made an announcement to the
conference of 1843, which further confirms the charges of organ
ized thieving made by the non-Mormons. While denouncing the
thieves as hypocrites, he said he had learned of the existence of a
band held together by secret oaths and penalties, " who hold it
right to steal from any one who does not belong to the church,
provided they consecrate one-third of it to the building of the Tem
ple. They are also making bogus money. . . . The man who
told me this said, This secret band referred to the Bible, Book
of Doctrine and Covenants, and Book of Mormon to substantiate
their doctrines ; and if any of them did not remain steadfast, they
ripped open their bowels and gave them to the cat fish. He
named two men, inmates of his own house, who, he had discovered,
were such thieves. The prophet followed this statement with some
remarks, declaring, "Thieving must be stopped." l
The Rev. Henry Caswall, in a description of a Sunday service
in Nauvoo in April, 1842 (" City of the Mormons," p. 15) says:
" The elder who had delivered the first discourse now rose and
said a certain brother whom he named had taken a keg of white
lead. Now, said he, if any of the brethren present has taken
it by mistake, thinking it was his own, he ought to restore it ; but
if any of the brethren present have stolen a keg, much more ought
he to restore it, or else maybe he will get catched. . . . Another
person rose and stated that he had lost a ten dollar bill. If any of
the brethren had found it or taken it, he hoped it would be re
stored." This introduction of calls for the restoration of stolen
property as a feature of a Sunday church service is probably unique
with the Mormons.
That the Mormons did not do all the thieving in the counties
around Nauvoo while they were there would be sufficiently proved
by the character of many of the persons whom they found there
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XX, pp. 757-758.
SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN NAUVOO 261
on their arrival, and also by the fact that their expulsion did not
make those counties a paradise. 1 The trouble with them was that,
as soon as a man joined them, no matter what his previous char
acter might have been, they gave him that protection which came
with their system of "standing together." An early and signifi
cant proof of this protection is found in the action of the confer
ence held in Nauvoo on October 3, 1840, two months before the
charter had given the city government its extended powers, which
voted that " no person be considered guilty of crime unless proved
by the testimony of two or three witnesses." 2
It became notorious in all the country round that it was practi
cally useless for a non-Mormon to attempt the recovery of stolen
property in Nauvoo, no matter how strong the proof in his posses
sion might be. S. J. Clarke 3 says that a great deal of stolen stock
was traced into Nauvoo, but that, " when found, it was extremely
difficult to gain possession of it." He cites as an illustration the
case of a resident of that county who traced a stolen horse into
Nauvoo, and took with him sixty witnesses to identify the animal
before a Mormon justice of the peace. He found himself, how
ever, confronted with seventy witnesses who swore that the horse
belonged to some Mormon, and the justice decided that the " weight
of evidence," numerically calculated, was against the non-Mormon.
A form of protection against outside inquirers for property,
which is well authenticated, was given by what were known as
"whittlers." When a non-Mormon came into the city, and by his
questions let it be known that he was looking for something stolen,
he would soon find himself approached by a Mormon who carried
a long knife and a stick, and who would follow him, silently whit
tling. Soon a companion would join this whittler, and then another,
until the stranger would find himself fairly surrounded by these
armed but silent observers. Unless he was a man of more than
ordinary grit, an hour or more of this companionship would con
vince him that it would be well for him to start for home. 4
1 " Long afterward, while the writer was travelling through Hancock, Pike and
Adams Counties, no family thought of retiring at night without barring and double-
locking every ingress." BEADLE, " Life in Utah," p. 65.
2 Millennial Star, Vol. XVIII, p. 153.
8 " History of McDonough County," p. 83.
* Lee s " Mormonism Unveiled," p. 168.
CHAPTER VIII
SMITH S PICTURE OF HIMSELF AS AUTOCRAT
SMITH S autobiography gives incidentally many interesting
glimpses of the prophet as he exercised his authority of dictator
during the height of his power at Nauvoo. It is fortunate for the
impartial student that these records are at his disposal, because
many of the statements, if made on any other authority, would
be met by the customary Mormon denials, and be considered
generally incredible.
That Smith s life, aside from the constant danger of extradition
which the Missouri authorities held over him, was not an easy one
at this time may readily be imagined. He had his position to
maintain as sole oracle of the church. He was also mayor, judge,
councillor, and lieutenant general. There were individual jeal
ousies to be disposed of among his associates, rivalries of different
parts of the city over wished-for improvements to be considered,
demands of the sellers of church lands for payment to be met, and
the claims of politicians to be attended to. But Smith rarely
showed any indication of compromise, apparently convinced that
his position at all points was now more secure than it had ever
been.
The big building enterprises in which the church was engaged
were a heavy tax on the people, and constant urging was necessary
to keep them up to the requirements. Thus we find an advertise
ment in the Wasp dated June 25, 1842, and signed by the " Temple
Recorder," saying, " Brethren, remember that your contracts with
your God are sacred ; the labor is wanted immediately." Smith
referred to the discontent of the laborers, and to some other mat
ters, in a sermon on February 21, 1843. The following quotations
are from his own report of it. " If any man [working on the Nau
voo House] is hungry, let him come to me and I will feed him at
262
SMITH S PICTURE OF HIMSELF AS AUTOCRAT 263
my table . . . and then if the man is not satisfied I will kick his
backside. . . . This meeting was got up by the Nauvoo House
committee. The Pagans, Roman Catholics, Methodists and Bap
tists shall have place in Nauvoo only they must be ground in
Joe Smith s mill. I have been in their mill . . . and those who
come here must go through my smut machine, and that is my
tongue." 1 The difficulty of carrying on these building enterprises
at this time was increased by the financial disturbance that was
convulsing the whole country. It was in these years that Congress
was wrestling with the questions of the deposits of the public funds,
the United States Bank, the subtreasury scheme, and the falling
off of customs and land-sale revenues, with a threatened deficit in
the federal treasury. The break-down of the Bank of the United
States caused a general failure of the banks of the Western and
Southern states, and money was so scarce at Nauvoo that one
Mormon writer records the fact that " when corn was brought to
my door at ten cents a bushel, and sadly needed, the money could
not be raised."
The relations between Smith and Rigdon had been strained
ever since the departure of the Mormons from Missouri. The
trouble between them was finally brought before a special confer
ence at Nauvoo, on October 7, 1843, at which Smith stated that he
had received no material benefits from Rigdon s labors or counsel
since they had left Missouri. He presented complaints against
Rigdon s management of the post-office, brought up a charge that
Rigdon had been in correspondence with General Bennett and
Governor Carlin, and offered " indirect testimony " that Rigdon had
given the Missourians information of Smith s whereabouts at the
time of his last arrest. Rigdon met these accusations, some with
denials and some with explanations, closing with a pitiful appeal
to the all-powerful head of the church, whose nod would decide the
verdict, reciting their long associations and sufferings, and signify
ing his willingness to resign his position as councillor to the First
Presidency, but not concealing the pain and humiliation that such
a step would cause him. Smith became magnanimous. " He ex
pressed entire willingness to have Elder Rigdon retain his station,
provided he would magnify his office, and walk and conduct him
self in all honesty, righteousness and integrity ; but signified his
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XX, p. 583.
264 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
lack of confidence in his integrity and steadfastness." 1 This inci
dent once more furnishes proof of some great power which Smith
held over Rigdon that induced the latter to associate with the prophet
on these terms.
Smith s creditors finally pressed him so hard that he attempted
to secure aid from the bankruptcy act. In this he did not succeed, 2
and he was very bitter in his denunciation of the law because it
was interpreted against him. It was about this time that Smith,
replying to reports of his wealth, declared that his assets consisted
of one old horse, two pet deer, ten turkeys, an old cow, one old
dog, a wife and child, and a little household furniture. On March
I, 1843, the Council of the Twelve wrote to the outlying branches
of the church, calling on them " to bring to our President as many
loads of wheat, corn, beef, pork, lard, tallow, eggs, poultry, veni
son, and everything eatable, at your command," in order that he
might be relieved of business cares and have time to attend to their
spiritual interests. It was characteristic of Smith to find him, at
a conference held the following month, lecturing the Twelve on
their own idleness, telling them it was not necessary for them
to be abroad all the time preaching and gathering funds, but
that they should spend a part of their time at home earning a
living.
At this same conference Smith was compelled to go into the
details of a transaction which showed of how little practical use to
him were his divining and prophetic powers. A man named Rem-
ick had come to him the previous summer and succeeded in getting
from him a loan of $200 by misrepresentation. Afterward Remick
offered to give him a quit-claim deed for all the land bought of
Galland, as well as the notes which Smith had given to Galland,
and one-half of all the land that Remick owned in Illinois and Iowa,
if Smith would use his influence to build up the city of Keokuk,
Iowa. Smith actually agreed to this in writing. At the conference
he had to explain this whole affair. After alleging that Remick
was a swindler, he said : " I am not so much of a Christian as
many suppose I am. When a man undertakes to ride me for a
1 Times and Seasons, Vol. IV, p. 330. H. C. Kimball stated afterward at Rigdon s
church trial that Smith did not accept him as an adviser after this, but took Amasa
Lyman in his place, and that it was Hyrum Smith who induced his brother to show some
apparent magnanimity.
2 See chapter on this subject in Bennett s " History of the Saints."
SMITH S PICTURE OF HIMSELF AS AUTOCRAT 265
horse I feel disposed to kick up, and throw him off and ride him.
David did so, and so did Joshua." 1
The old Kirtland business troubles came up to annoy Smith
from time to time, but he always found a way to meet them. While
his writ of habeas corpus was under argument out of the city in 1841,
a man presented to him a five-dollar bill of the Kirtland Bank, and
threatened to sue him on it. As the easiest way to dispose of this
matter, Smith handed the man $5.
Smith s Ohio experience did not lessen his estimation of him
self as an authority on finance. We find him, at the meeting of
the Nauvoo City Council on February 25, 1843, denouncing the
state law of Illinois making property a legal tender for the pay
ment of debts; asserting that their city charter gave them authority
to enact such local currency laws as did not conflict with the fed
eral and state constitutions, and continuing :
" Shall we be such fools as to be governed by their [Illinois] laws which are
unconstitutional? No. We will make a law for gold and silver; then their law
ceases, and we can collect our debts. Powers not delegated to the states, or
reserved from the states, are constitutional. The constitution acknowledges that
the people have all power not reserved to itself. I am a lawyer. I am a big
lawyer, and comprehend heaven, earth and hell, to bring forth knowledge that
shall cover up all lawyers, doctors and other big bodies." 2
Smith had his way, as usual, and on March 4, the Council
passed unanimously an ordinance making gold and silver the only
legal tender in payment of debts and fines in Nauvoo, and fixing a
punishment for the circulation of counterfeit money. Perhaps this
Council never took a broader view of its legislative authority than
in this instance.
Smith never laid aside his natural inclination for good fellow
ship, nor took himself too seriously while posing as a mouthpiece
of the Lord. Along with the entries recording his predictions he
notes such matters as these : " Played ball with the brethren."
* Cut wood all day." A visitor at Nauvoo, in 1843, describes him
as " a jolly fellow, and one of the last persons whom he would
have supposed God would have raised up as a Prophet." 3 Josiah
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XX, pp. 758-759. 2 Ibid., p. 6 1 6.
8 This same idea is presented by a writer in the Millennial Star, Vol. XVII, p.
820: "When the fact of Smith s divine character shall burst upon the nations, they will
be struck dumb with wonder and astonishment at the Lord s choice, the last individ
ual in the whole world whom they would have chosen."
266 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
Quincy said that Smith seemed to him to have a keen sense of the
humorous aspects of his position. " It seems to me, General,"
Quincy said to him, " that you have too much power to be safely
trusted in one man." " In your hands or that of any other person,"
was his reply, " so much power would no doubt be dangerous. I
am the only man in the world whom it would be safe to trust with
it. Remember, I am a prophet." "The last five words," says
Quincy, " were spoken in a rich comical aside, as if in hearty
recognition of the ridiculous sound they might have in the ears of
a Gentile." 1
Smith makes this entry on February 20, 1843: "While the
[Municipal] Court was in session, I saw two boys fighting in the
street. I left the business of the court, ran over immediately,
caught one of the boys and then the other, and after giving them
proper instruction, I gave the bystanders a lecture for not interfer
ing in such cases. I returned to the court, and told them nobody
was allowed to fight in Nauvoo but myself."
In January, 1842, Smith once more became a "storekeeper."
Writing to an absent brother on January 5, 1842, he described his
building, with a salesroom fitted up with shelves and drawers, a
private office, etc. He added that he had a fair stock, " although
some individuals have succeeded in detaining goods to a consider
able amount. I have stood behind the counter all day," he contin
ued, "dealing out goods as steadily as any clerk you ever saw." 2
The following entry is found under date of June I, 1842:
" Sent Dr. Richards to Carthage on business. On his return, old
Charley, while on a gallop, struck his knees and breast instead of
his feet, fell in the street and rolled over in an instant, and the
doctor narrowly escaped with his life. It was a trick of the devil
to kill my clerk. Similar attacks have been made upon myself of
late, and Satan is seeking our destruction on every hand."
Smith practically gave up " revealing " during his life in Nau
voo. At Rigdon s church trial, after Smith s death, President
Marks said, " Brother Joseph told us that he, for the future,
whenever there was a revelation to be presented to the church,
would first present it to the Quorum, and then, if it passed the
Quorum, it should be presented to the church." Strong pressure
must have been exerted upon the prophet to persuade him to
1 " Figures of the Past," p. 397. 2 Millennial Star, Vol. XIX, p. 21.
SMITH S PICTURE OF HIMSELF AS AUTOCRAT 267
consent to such a restriction, and it is the only instance of the kind
that is recorded during his career. But if he did not " reveal," he
could not be prevented from uttering oral prophecies and giving
his interpretation of the Scriptures. That he had become pos
sessed with the idea of a speedy ending of this world seems alto
gether probable. All through his autobiography he notes reports
of earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, etc., and he gives special em
phasis to accounts that reached him of "showers of flesh and
blood." Under date of February 18, 1843, he notes, " While at
dinner I remarked to my family and friends present that, when
the earth was sanctified and became like a sea of glass, it would
be one great Urim and Thummim, and the Saints could look in it
and see as they are seen." Another of his wise sayings is thus
recorded, "The battle of Gog and Magog will be after the
Millennial."
In some remarks, on April 2, 1843, Smith made the one predic
tion that came true, and one which has always given the greatest
satisfaction to the Saints. This was : " I prophesy in the name of
the Lord God that the commencement of the difficulties which will
cause much bloodshed previous to the coming of the Son of man
will be in South Carolina. It may probably arise through the
slave trade." This prediction was afterward amplified so as to
declare that the war between the Northern and Southern states
would involve other nations in Europe, and that the slaves would
rise up against their masters. It would have been better for his
fame had he left the announcement in its original shape.
Such is the picture of Smith the prophet as drawn by himself.
Of the rumors about the Mormons, current in all the counties near
Nauvoo, which cannot be proved by Mormon testimony there were
hundreds.
CHAPTER IX
SMITH S FALLING OUT WITH BENNETT AND HIGBEE
SURPRISE has been expressed that Smith would permit the new
comer, General John C. Bennett, to be elected the first mayor of
Nauvoo under the new charter. Much less surprising is the fact
that a falling out soon occurred between them which led to the
withdrawal of Bennett from the church on May 17, 1842, and
made for the prophet an enemy who pursued him with a method
and vindictiveness that he had not before encountered from any
of those who had withdrawn, or been driven, from the church
fellowship.
The exact nature of the dispute between the two men has never
been explained. That personal jealousy entered into it there is
little doubt. Smith never had submitted to any real division of
his supreme authority, and when Bennett entered the fold as politi
cal lobbyist, mayor, major general, etc., a clash seemed unavoid
able. It was stated, during Rigdon s church trial after Smith s
death, that Bennett declared, at the first conference he attended at
Nauvoo, that he sustained the same position in the First Presidency
that the Holy Ghost does to the Father and the Son ; and that,
after Smith s death, Bennett visited Nauvoo, and proposed to Rig-
don that the latter assume Smith s place in the church, and let
Bennett assume that which had been occupied by Rigdon. 1
The Mormon explanation given at the time of Bennett s expul
sion was that some of their travelling elders in the Eastern states
discovered that the general had a wife and family there while he
was paying attention to young ladies in Nauvoo ; but a very slight
acquaintance with Smith s ideas on the question of morality at that
time is needed to indicate that this was an afterthought. The
course of the church authorities showed that they were ready to
1 Times and Seasons, Vol. V, p. 655.
268
SMITH S FALLING OUT WITH BENNETT AND HIGBEE 269
make any concession to avoid a public explanation by Bennett.
Only about three weeks before his withdrawal, Rigdon wrote that
he was " honorable in his intercourse with his fellows, . . . and
every way qualified to be a useful citizen." Smith directed the
clerk of the church to permit Bennett to withdraw " if he desires
to do so, and this with the best of feelings toward you and General
Bennett." But as soon as Bennett began his attacks on Smith the
church made haste to withdraw the hand of fellowship from him,
and framed a formal writ of excommunication, and Smith could
not find enough phials of wrath to pour upon him. Thus, in a
statement published in the Times and Seasons of July I, 1842, he
called Bennett " an impostor and a base adulterer," brought up
the story of his having a wife in Ohio, and charged that he taught
women that it was proper to have promiscuous intercourse with
men.
As soon as Bennett left Nauvoo he began the publication of
a series of letters in the Sangamon (Illinois) Journal^ which pur
ported to give an inside view of the Mormon designs, and the
personal character and practices of the church leaders. These
were widely copied, and seem to have given people in the East
their first information that Smith was anything worse than a
religious pretender. Bennett also started East lecturing on the
same subject, and he published in Boston in the same year a
little book called " History of the Saints ; or an Expose" of Joe
Smith and Mormonism," containing, besides material which he
had collected, copious extracts from the books of Howe and
W. Harris.
Bennett declared that he had never believed in any of the
Mormon doctrines, but that, forming the opinion that their leaders
were planning to set up " a despotic and religious empire" over
the territory included in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, and Mis
souri, he decided to join them, learn their secrets, and expose
them. Bennett s personal rascality admits of no doubt, and not
the least faith need be placed in this explanation of his course,
which, indeed, is disproved by his later efforts to regain power in
the church. It does seem remarkable, however, that neither the
Lord nor his prophet knew anything about Bennett s rascality, and
that they should select him, among others, for special mention in
the long revelation of January 19, 1841, wherein the Lord calls
2/0 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
him " my servant," and directs him to help Smith " in sending my
word to the kings of the people of the earth." There is no doubt
that Bennett obtained an inside view of Smith s moral, political,
and religious schemes, and that, while his testimony uncorrobo
rated might be questioned, much that he wrote was amply con
firmed.
According to Bennett s statements, Mormon society at Nauvoo
was organized licentiousness. There were " Cyprian Saints,"
" Chartered Sisters of Charity," and " Cloistered Saints," or spirit
ual wives, all designed to pander to the passions of church mem
bers. Of the system of " spiritual wives " (which was set forth in
the revelation concerning polygamy), Bennett says in his book :
" When an Apostle, High Priest, Elder or Scribe conceives an affection for a
female, and he has satisfactorily ascertained that she experiences a mutual claim,
he communicates confidentially to the Prophet his affaire du caeur, and requests
him to inquire of the Lord whether or not it would be right and proper for him
to take unto himself the said woman for his spiritual wife. It is no obstacle
whatever to this spiritual marriage if one or both of the parties should happen to
have a husband or wife already united to them according to the laws of the land."
Bennett alleged that Smith forced him, at the point of a
pistol, to sign an affidavit stating that Smith had no part in the
practice of the spiritual wife doctrine ; but Bennett s later disclos
ures went into minute particulars of alleged attempts of Smith to
secure "spiritual wives," a charge which the commandments to
the prophet s wife in the " revelation " on polygamy amply sus
tain. A leading illustration cited concerned the wife of Orson
Pratt. 1 According to the story as told (largely in Mrs. Pratt s
words), Pratt was sent to England on a mission to get him out of
the way, and then Smith used every means in his power to secure
Mrs. Pratt s consent to his plan, but in vain. Nancy Rigdon, the
eldest unmarried daughter of Sidney Rigdon, was another alleged
intended victim of the prophet, and Bennett said that Smith
offered him $500 in cash, or a choice lot, if he would assist in the
plot. One day, when Smith was alone with her, he pressed his
request so hard that she threatened to cry for help. The con
tinuation of the story is not by General Bennett, but is taken from
1 Ebenezer Robinson says that when Orson Pratt returned from his mission to
England, and learned of the teaching of the spiritual wife doctrine, his mind gave way.
One day he disappeared, and a search party found him five miles below Nauvoo, hatless,
seated on the bank of the river. The Return, Vol. II, p. 363.
SMITH S FALLING OUT WITH BENNETT AND HIGBEE 271
a letter to James A. Bennett, he of "Arlington House," dated
Nauvoo, July 27, 1842, by George W. Robinson, one of Smith s
fellow-prisoners in Independence jail, and one of the generals of
the Nauvoo Legion :
" She left him with disgust, and came home and told her father of the trans
action ; upon which Smith was sent for. He came. She told the tale in the
presence of all the family, and to Smith s face. I was present. Smith attempted
to deny at first, and face her down with a lie ; but she told the facts with so
much earnestness, and the fact of a letter being proved which he had caused to
be written to her on the same subject, the day after the attempt made on her
virtue, breathing the same spirit, and which he had fondly hoped was destroyed,
all came with such force that he could not withstand the testimony; and he
then and there acknowledged that every word of Miss Rigdon s testimony was
true. Now for his excuse. He wished to ascertain if she was virtuous or not !"
To offset this damaging attack on Smith, a man named Mark-
ham was induced to make an affidavit assailing Miss Rigdon s
character, which was published in the Wasp. But Markham s
own character was so bad, and the charge caused so much indig
nation, that the editor was induced to say that the affidavit was
not published by the prophet s direction.
Bennett s charges aroused great interest among the non-Mor
mons in all the counties around Nauvoo, and increased the grow
ing enmity against Smith s flock which was already aroused by
their political course and their alleged propensity to steal.
A minor incident among those leading up to Smith s final
catastrophe was a quarrel, some time later, between the prophet
and Francis M. Higbee. This resulted in a suit for libel against
Smith, tried in May, 1844, in which much testimony disclosing
the rotten condition of affairs in Nauvoo was given, and in the
arrest of Smith in a suit for $5000 damages. The hearing, on a
writ of habeas corpus, in Smith s behalf, is reported in Times and
Seasons, Vol. V, No. 10. The court (Smith s Municipal Court)
ordered Smith discharged, and pronounced Higbee s character
proved "infamous."
CHAPTER X
THE INSTITUTION OF POLYGAMY
THE student of the history of the Mormon church to this date,
who seeks an answer to the question, Who originated the idea of
plural marriages among the Mormons ? will naturally credit that
idea to Joseph Smith, Jr. The Reorganized Church (non-polyga
mist), whose membership includes Smith s direct descendants,
defend the prophet s memory by alleging that "in the brain of
J. C. Bennett was conceived the idea, and in his practice was the
principle first introduced into the church." In maintaining this
ground, however, they contend that " the official character of Presi
dent Joseph Smith should be judged by his official ministrations as
set forth in the well-authenticated accepted official documents of
the church up to June 27, 1844. His personal, private conduct
should not enter into this discussion." l The secular investigator
finds it necessary to disregard this warning, and in studying the
question he discovers an incontrovertible mass of testimony to
prove that the "revelation " concerning polygamy was a produc
tion of Smith, 2 was familiar to the church leaders in Nauvoo, and
was lived up to by them before their expulsion from Illinois.
The Book of Mormon furnishes ample proof that the idea of
plural marriages was as far from any thought of the real " author"
of the doctrinal part of that book as it was from the mind of Rig-
don s fellow-Disciples in Ohio at the time. The declarations on
the subject in the Mormon Bible are so worded that they distinctly
forbid any following of the example of Old Testament leaders
1 Pamphlets Nos. 16 and 46 published by the Reorganized Church.
2 "Elder W. W. Phelps said in Salt Lake Tabernacle in 1862 that while Joseph
was translating the Book of Abraham in Kirtland, Ohio, in 1835, fr m tne papyrus found
with the Egyptian mummies, the Prophet became impressed with the idea that polygamy
would yet become an institution of the Mormon Church. Brigham Young was present,
and was much annoyed at the statement made by Phelps; but it is highly probable that
it was the real secret that the latter then divulged." " Rocky Mountain Saints," p. 182.
272
THE INSTITUTION OF POLYGAMY 2/3
like David and Solomon. In the Book of Jacob ii. 24-28, we find
these commands :
" Behold, David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which
thing was abominable before me saith the Lord ; wherefore, thus saith the Lord,
I have led this people forth out of the land of Jerusalem, by the power of mine
arm, that I might raise up unto me a righteous branch from the fruit of the loins
of Joseph.
"Wherefore, I, the Lord God, will not suffer that this people shall do like
unto them of old. Wherefore my brethren, hear me, and hearken to the
word of the Lord ; for there shall not any man among you hath save it be one
wife ; and concubines he shall have none ; for I, the Lord God, delighteth in the
chastity of women. And whoredoms are an abomination before me ; thus saith
the Lord of Hosts."
The same view is expressed in the Book of Mosiah, where,
among the sins of King Noah, it is mentioned that " he spent his
time in riotous living with his wives and concubines," and in the
Book of Ether x. 5, where it is said that " Riplakish did not do
that which was right in the sight of the Lord, for he did have
many wives and concubines."
Smith, at the beginning of his career as a prophet, inculcated
the same views on this subject in his " revelations." Thus, in the
one dated at Kirtland, February 9, 1831, it was commanded (Sec.
42), " Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and shalt cleave
unto her and none else ; and he that looketh upon a woman to
lust after her shall deny the faith, and shall not have the spirit,
and if he repents not he shall be cast out." In another "reve
lation," dated the following month (Sec. 49), it was declared,
"Wherefore it is lawful that he should have one wife, and they
twain shall be one flesh, and all this that the earth might answer
the end of its creation." l These teachings may be with justness
attributed to Rigdon, and we shall see on how little ground rests
a carelessly made charge that he was the originator of the " spir
itual wife " notion.
That there was a loosening of the views regarding the marriage
tie almost as soon as Smith began his reign at Kirtland can be
shown on abundant proof. Booth in one of his letters said, " It
has been made known to one who has left his wife in New York
1 " It is the strongest proof of the firm hold of a party, whether religious or politi
cal, upon the public mind, when it may offend with impunity against its own primary
principles." MILMAN, " History of Christianity."
T
2/4 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
State, that he is entirely free from his wife, and he is at pleasure
to take him a wife from among the Lamanites " (Indians). 1 That
reports of polygamous practices among the Mormons while they
were in Ohio were current was conceded in the section on mar
riage, inserted in the Kirtland edition of the " Book of Doctrine
and Covenants " " Inasmuch as this Church of Christ has been
reproached with the crime of fornication and polygamy," etc. ; and
is further proved by Smith s denial in the Elders Journal? and by
the declaration of the Presidents of the Seventies, withholding
fellowship with any elder "who is guilty of polygamy."
Of the enmity of the higher powers toward transgressors of
the law of morality of this time, we find an amusing (some will say
shocking) mention in Smith s "revelation" of October 25, 1831
(Sec. 66). This "revelation" (announced as the words of "the
Lord your Redeemer, the Saviour of the world ") was addressed
to W. E. McLellin (who was soon after " rebuked " by the prophet
for attempting to have a " revelation " on his own account). It
declared that McLellin was " blessed for receiving mine everlasting
covenant," directed him to go forth and preach, gave him power
to heal the sick, and then added, " Commit no adultery, a tempta
tion with which thou hast been troubled." Could religious bouffe
go to greater lengths ?
Testimony as to the liberal Mormon view of the marriage rela
tion while the church was in Missouri is found in the case of one
Lyon, reported by Smith on page 148 of Vol. XVI of the Mil
lennial Star. Lyon was the presiding high priest of one of the
outlying branches of the church. Desiring to marry a Mrs. Jack
son, whose husband was absent in the East, Lyon announced a
" revelation," ordering the marriage to take place, telling her that
he knew by revelation that her husband was dead. He gained her
consent in this way, but, before the ceremony was performed, Jack
son returned home, and, learning of Lyon s conduct, he had him
brought before the authorities for trial. The high priest was
found guilty enough to be deposed from his office, but not from his
church membership.
There is abundant testimony from Mormon sources to show
that the doctrine of polygamy, with the "spiritual wife" adjunct,
was practised in Nauvoo for some time before Joseph Smith s
1 Howe s " Mormonism Unveiled." 2 p. 157, ante.
THE INSTITUTION OF POLYGAMY 275
death. A very orthodox Mormon witness on this point is Eliza R.
Snow. In her biography of her brother, Lorenzo Snow, 1 the
recent head of the church, she gives this account of her connection
with polygamy :
"While my brother was absent on this [his first] mission to Europe [1840-
1843], changes had taken place with me, one of eternal import, of which I sup
posed him to be entirely ignorant. The Prophet Joseph had taught me the
principle of plural or celestial marriage, and I was married to him for time and
eternity. In consequence of the ignorance of most of the Saints, as well as
people of the world, on this subject, it was not mentioned, only privately between
the few whose minds were enlightened on the subject. Not knowing how my
brother [he returned on April 12, 1843] would receive it, I did not feel at liberty,
and did not wish to assume the responsibility, of instructing him in the principle
of plural marriage. ... I informed my husband [the prophet] of the situation,
and requested him to open the subject to my brother. A favorable opportunity
soon presented, and, seated together on the bank of the Mississippi River, they
had a most interesting conversation. The prophet afterward told me he found
that my brother s mind had been previously enlightened on the subject in ques
tion. That Comforter which Jesus says shall lead unto all truth 1 had penetrated
his understanding, and, while in England, had given him an intimation of what
at that time was to many a secret. This was the result of living near the Lord.
"It was at the private interview referred to above that the Prophet Joseph
unbosomed his heart, and described the trying ordeal he experienced in over
coming the repugnance of his feelings, the natural result of the force of education
and social custom, relative to the introduction of plural marriage. He knew the
voice of God he knew the command of the Almighty to him was to go forward
to set the example and establish celestial plural marriage. . . . Yet the
prophet hesitated and deferred from time to time, until an angel of God stood by
him with a drawn sword, and told him that, unless he moved forward and estab
lished plural marriage, his priesthood would be taken from him and he should be
destroyed. This testimony he not only bore to my brother, but also to others." 2
1 " This biography and autobiography of my brother Lorenzo Snow has been writ
ten as a tribute of sisterly affection for him, and as a token of sincere respect to his
family. It is designed to be handed down in lineal descent, from generation to genera
tion, to be preserved as a family memorial." Extract from the preface.
2 " Biography of Lorenzo Snow " ( 1 884) , pp. 68-70. Young married some of Smith s
spiritual widows after the prophet s death, and four of them, including Eliza Snow,
appear in Crockwell s illustrated " Biographies of Young s Wives," published in Utah.
Catherine Lewis, who, after passing two years with the Mormons, escaped from
Nauvoo, after taking the preliminary degrees of the endowment, says: "The Twelve
took Joseph s wives after his death. Kimball and Young took most of them; the
daughter of Kimball was one of Joseph s wives. I heard her say to her mother: I will
never be sealed to my father [meaning as a wife], and I would never have been sealed
[married] to Joseph had I known it was anything more than ceremony. I was young,
and they deceived me by saying the salvation of our whole family depended on it.
The Apostles said they only took Joseph s wives to raise up children, carry them through
2/6 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
Smith s versatility as a fabricator seems to give him a leading
place in that respect in the record of mankind. Snow says that
he asked the prophet to set him right if he should see him indulg
ing in any practice that might lead him astray, and the prophet
assured him that he would never be guilty of any serious error.
" It was one of Snow s peculiarities," observes his sister, "to do
nothing by halves " ; and he exemplified this in this instance by
having two wives " sealed " to him at the same time in 1845,
adding two more very soon afterward, and another in 1848. "It
was distinctly understood," says his sister, " and agreed between
them, that their marriage relations should not, for the time being,
be divulged to the world."
The testimony of John D. Lee in regard to the practice of
polygamy in Illinois is very circumstantial, and Lee was a con
scientious polygamist to the day of his death. He says 1 that he
was directed in this matter by principle and not by passion, and
goes on to explain :
" In those days I did not always make due allowance for the failings of the
weaker vessels. I then expected perfection in all women. I know now that I
was foolish in looking for that in anything human. I have, for slight offences,
turned away good-meaning young women that had been sealed to me, and
refused to hear their excuses, but sent them away broken-hearted. In this I did
wrong. I have regretted the same in sorrow for many years. . . . Should my
history ever fall into the hands of Emeline Woolsey or Polly Ann Workman, I
wish them to know that, with my last breath, I asked God to pardon me the
wrong I did them, when I drove them from me, poor young girls as they were."
Lee says that in the winter of 1843-1844 Smith set one Sidney
Hay Jacobs to writing a pamphlet giving selections from the
Scriptures bearing on the practice of polygamy and advocating
that doctrine. The appearance of this pamphlet created so much
unfavorable comment (even Hyrum Smith denouncing it " as from
beneath ") that Joseph deemed it best to condemn it in the Wasp,
although men in his confidence were busy advocating its teachings.
The " revelation " sanctioning plural marriages is dated July 12,
1843, an d Lee says that Smith "dared not proclaim it publicly,"
but taught it " confidentially," urging his followers " to surrender
themselves to God " for their salvation ; and " in the winter of 1845,
to the next world, and there deliver them up to him; by so doing they would gain his
approbation." "Narrative of Some of the Proceedings of the Mormons."
1 " Mormonism Unveiled," p. 200
THE INSTITUTION OF POLYGAMY 277
meetings were held all over the city of Nauvoo, and the spirit of
Elijah was taught in the different families, as a foundation to the
order of celestial marriage, as well as the law of adoption." 1 The
Saints were also taught that Gentiles had no right to perform the
marriage ceremony, and that their former marriage relations were
invalid, and that they could be " sealed " to new wives under the
authority of the church.
Lee gives a complete record of his plural marriages, which is
interesting, showing how the business was conducted at the start.
His second wife, the daughter of a wealthy farmer near Quincy,
Illinois, was "sealed" to him in Nauvoo in 1845, after she had
been an inmate of his house for three months. His third and
fourth wives were " sealed " to him soon after, but Young took a
fancy to wife No. 3 (who had borne Lee a son), and, after
much persuasion, she was " sealed " to Young. At this same " seal
ing " Lee took wife No. 4, a girl whom he had baptized in
Tennessee. In the spring of 1845 two sisters of his first wife and
their mother were " sealed " to him ; he married the mother, he
says, "for the salvation of her eternal state." At the completion
of the Nauvoo Temple he took three more wives. At Council
Bluffs, in 1847, Brigham Young "sealed" him to three more, two
of them sisters, in one night, and he secured the fourteenth soon
after, the fifteenth in 1851, the sixteenth in 1856, the seventeenth
in 1858 ("a dashing young bride"), the eighteenth in 1859, an d
the nineteenth and last in Salt Lake City. He says he claimed
"only eighteen true wives," as he married Mrs. Woolsey "for her
soul s sake, and she was nearly sixty years old." By these wives
he had sixty-four children, of whom fifty-four were living when
his book was written.
Ebenezer Robinson, explaining in the Rettirn a statement
signed by him and his wife in October, 1842, to offset Bennett s
charges, in which they declared that they " knew of no other form
of marriage ceremony " except the one in the " Book of Doctrine
and Covenants," said that this statement was then true, as the
heads of the church had not yet taught the new system to others.
But they had heard it talked of, and the prophet s brother, Don
Carlos, in June, 1841, had said to Robinson, "Any man who will
teach and practise spiritual wifery will go to hell, no matter if it is
1 " Mormonism Unveiled," p. 165.
278 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
my brother Joseph." Hyrum Smith, who first opposed the doc
trine, went to Robinson s house in December, 1843, and taught the
system to him and his wife. Robinson was told of the " revela
tion " to Joseph a few days after its date, and just as he was leav
ing Nauvoo on a mission to New York. He, Law, and William
Marks opposed the innovation. He continues : " We returned
home from that mission the latter part of November, 1843. Soon
after our return, I was told that when we were gone the revela
tion was presented to and read in the High Council in Nauvoo.
three of the members of which refused to accept it as from the Lord,
President Marks, Cowles, and Counsellor Leonard Soby." Cowles
at once resigned from the High Council and the Presidency of the
church at Nauvoo, and was looked on as a seceder.
Robinson gives convincing testimony that, as early as 1843,
the ceremonies of the Endowment House were performed in Nau
voo by a secret organization called "The Holy Order," and says
that in June, 1844, ne saw John Taylor clad in an endowment robe.
He quotes a letter to himself from Orson Hyde, dated September 19,
1844, in which Hyde refers guardedly to the new revelation and
the " Holy Order " as " the charge which the prophet gave us,"
adding, " and we know that Elder Rigdon does not know what it
was." l
We may find the following references to this subject in Smith s
diary :
"April 29, 1842. The Lord makes manifest to me many things which it is
not wisdom for me to make public until others can witness the proof of them."
" May i . I preached in the grove on the Keys of the Kingdom, etc. The
Keys are certain signs and words by which the false spirits and personages can be
detected from true, and which cannot be revealed to the Elders till the Temple is
completed."
" May 4. I spent the day in the upper part of my store ... in council with
(Hyrum, Brigham Young and others) instructing them in the principles and order
of the Priesthood, attending to washings, anointings, endowments. . . . The
communications I made to this Council were of things spiritual, and to be received
only by the spiritually minded ; and there was nothing made known to these men
but what will be made known to all the Saints of the last days as soon as they are
prepared to receive, and a proper place is prepared to communicate them." 2
In one of Smith s dissertations, which are inserted here and
there in his diary, is the following under date of August, 1842 :
1 The Return, Vol. II, p. 252. 2 Millennial Star, Vol. XIX, pp. 390-393.
THE INSTITUTION OF POLYGAMY 279
" If we seek first the kingdom of God, all good things will be added. So with
Solomon. First he asked wisdom and God gave it to him, and with it every de
sire of his heart, even things which might be considered abominable to all who
understand the order of heaven only in part, but which in reality were right,
because God gave and sanctioned them by special revelation." 1
While the Mormon leaders, Lorenzo Snow and others, were in
the Utah penitentiary after conviction under the Edmunds anti-
polygamy law, refusing pardons on condition that they would give
up the practice of polygamy, the Deseret News of May 20, 1886,
printed an affidavit made on February 16, 1874, at the request
of Joseph F. Smith, by William Clayton, who was a clerk in
the prophet s office in Nauvoo and temple recorder, to show the
world that " the martyred prophet is responsible to God and the
world for this doctrine." The affidavit recites that while Clayton
and the prophet were taking a walk, in February, 1843, Smith first
broached to him the subject of plural marriages, and told him that
the doctrine was right in the sight of God, adding, " It is your
privilege to have all the wives you want." He gives the names of
a number of the wives whom Smith married at this time, adding
that his wife Emma " was cognizant of the fact of some, if not all,
of these being his wives, and she generally treated them very
kindly." He says that on July 12, 1843, Hyrum offered to read
the " revelation " to Emma if the prophet would write it out, say
ing, " I believe I can convince her of its truth, and you will here
after have peace." Joseph smiled, and remarked, " You do not
know Emma as well as I do," but he thereupon dictated the "reve
lation " and Clayton wrote it down. An examination of its text
will show how largely it was devoted to Emma s subjugation.
When Hyrum returned from reading it to the prophet s lawful
wife, he said that " he had never received a more severe talking to
in his life ; that Emma was very bitter and full of resentment and
anger." Joseph repeated his remark that his brother did not know
Emma as well as he did, and, putting the " revelation " into his
pocket, they went out. 2
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XIX, p. 774.
2 Jensen s " Historical Record," Vol. VI, pp. 233-234, gives the names of twenty-
seven women who, " besides a few others about whom we have been unable to get all
the necessary information, were sealed to the Prophet Joseph during the last three years
of his life."
"At the present time," says Stenhouse ("Rocky Mountain Saints"), p. 185, "there
are probably about a dozen sisters in Utah who proudly acknowledge themselves to be
280 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
At the conference in Salt Lake City on August 28, 1852, at
which the first public announcement of the revelation was made,
Brigham Young said in the course of his remarks : " Though that
doctrine has not been preached by the Elders, this people have
believed in it for many years. 1 The original copy of this revela
tion was burned up. William Clayton was the man who wrote it
from the mouth of the Prophet. In the meantime it was in Bishop
Whitney s possession. He wished the privilege to copy it, which
brother Joseph granted. Sister Emma burnt the original." The
" revelation," he added, had been locked up for years in his desk,
on which he had a patent lock. 2
Further proof is not needed to show that this doctrine was the
offspring of Joseph Smith, and that its original object was to grant
him unrestricted indulgence of his passions.
Justice to Sidney Rigdon requires that his memory should be
cleared of the charge, which has been made by more than one
writer, that the spiritual wife doctrine was of his invention. There
is the strongest evidence to show that it was Smith s knowledge
that he could not win Rigdon over to polygamy which made the
prophet so bitter against his old counsellor, and that it was Rig-
the wives of Joseph, and how many others there may be who held that relationship
no man knoweth. "
1 As evidence that polygamy was not countenanced by Smith and his associates in
Nauvoo, there has been cited a notice in the Times and Seasons of February, 1844,
signed by Joseph and Hyrum Smith, cutting off an elder named Brown for preaching
* polygamy and other false and corrupt doctrines," and a letter of Hyrum, dated March
15, 1844, threatening to deprive of his license and membership any elder who preached
" that a man having a certain priesthood may have as many wives as he pleases." The
Deseret News of May 20, 1886, noticing these and other early denials, justifies the false
hoods, saying that " Jesus enjoined his Disciples on several occasions to keep to themselves
principles that he made known to them," that the " Book of Doctrine and Covenants "
gave the same instruction, and that the elders, as the " revelation " was not yet promul
gated, " were justified in denying those imputations, and at the same time avoiding the
avowal of such doctrines as were not yet intended for this world." P. P. Pratt flatly
denied, in England, in 1846, that any such doctrine was known or practised by the
Saints, and John Taylor (afterward the head of the church), in a discussion in France
in July, 1850, declared that "these things are too outrageous to admit of belief." The
latter false statements would be covered by the excuse of the Deseret News.
2 Deseret News, extra, September 14, 1852. Young declared in a sermon in Salt
Lake City in July, 1855, that he was among the doubters when the prophet revealed the
new doctrine, saying : " It was the first time in my life that I desired the grave, and I
could hardly get over it for a long time. . . . And I have had to examine myself from
that day to this, and watch my faith and carefully meditate, lest I should be found
desiring the grave more than I ought to." His examinations proved eminently suc
cessful.
THE INSTITUTION OF POLYGAMY 28 1
don s opposition to the new doctrine that made Young so deter
mined to drive him out of church after the prophet s death.
When Rigdon returned to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, to establish
his own Mormon church there, he began in October, 1844, the pub
lication of a revived Latter-Day Saints 1 Messenger and Advocate.
Stating " the greater cause " of the opposition of the leaders of
Nauvoo to him, in an editorial, he said :
" Know then that the so-called Twelve Apostles at Nauvoo are now teach
ing the doctrine of what is called Spiritual Wives ; that a man may have more
wives than one ; and they are not only teaching it, but practising it, and this doc
trine is spreading alarmingly through that apostate branch of the church of Latter-
Day Saints. Their greatest objection to us was our opposition to this doctrine,
knowing, as they did, that we had got the fact in possession. It created alarm,
great alarm ; every effort was made while we were there to effect something that
might screen them from the consequence of exposure. . . .
"This doctrine of a man having more wives than one is the cause which has
induced these men to put at defiance the ecclesiastical arrangements of the church,
and, what is equally criminal, to do despite unto the moral excellence of the doc
trine and covenants of the church, setting up an order of things of their own, in
violation of all the rules and regulations known to the Saints."
In the same editorial Rigdon prints a statement by a gentle
man who was at Nauvoo at the time, and for whose veracity he
vouches, which said, " It was said to me by many that they had no
objection to Elder Rigdon but his opposition to the spiritual wife
system."
Benjamin Winchester, who was one of the earliest missionaries
sent out from Kirtland, adds this testimony in a letter to Elder
John Hardy of Boston, Massachusetts, whose trial in 1844 for
opposing the spiritual wife doctrine occasioned wide comment :
" As regards the trial of Elder Rigdon at Nauvoo, it was a forced affair, got
up by the Twelve to get him out of their way, that they might the better arrogate
to themselves higher authority than they ever had, or anybody ever dreamed they
would have ; and also (as they perhaps hope) to prevent a complete expose* of the
spiritual wife system, which they knew would deeply implicate themselves."
CHAPTER XI
PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DOCTRINE OF POLYGAMY
ALTHOUGH there was practically no concealment of the prac
tice of polygamy by the Mormons resident in Utah after their
arrival there, it was not until five years from that date that open
announcement was made by the church of the important " revela
tion." This "revelation" constitutes Sec. 132 of the modern
edition of the " Book of Doctrine and Covenants," and bears this
heading : " Revelation on the Eternity of the Marriage Covenant,
including Plurality of Wives. Given through Joseph, the Seer, in
Nauvoo, Hancock County, Illinois, July 12, 1843." All its essen
tial parts are as follows :
" Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant Joseph, that inasmuch as
you have inquired of my hand, to know and understand wherein I, the Lord, justi
fied my servants Abraham, Isaac and Jacob ; as also Moses, David and Solomon,
my servants, as touching the principle and doctrine of their having many wives
and concubines :
" Behold ! and lo, I am the Lord thy God, and will answer thee as touching
this matter :
" Therefore, prepare thy heart to receive and obey the instructions which I
am about to give unto you ; for all those who have this law revealed unto them
must obey the same ;
" For behold ! I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant ; and if
ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned ; for no one can reject this cove
nant, and be permitted to enter into my glory ;
" For all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which
was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof, as were instituted
from before the foundation of the world :
" And as pertaining to the new and everlasting covenant, it was instituted for
the fullness of my glory ; and he that receiveth a fullness thereof, must and shall
abide the law, or he shall be damned, saith the Lord God.
" And verily I say unto you, that the conditions of this law are these : All
covenants, contracts, bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections,
associations, or expectations, that are not made, and entered into, and sealed, by
the Holy Spirit of promise, of him who is anointed, both as well for time and for
all eternity, and that too most holy, by revelation and commandment through
282
THE DOCTRINE OF POLYGAMY 283
the medium of mine anointed, whom I have appointed on the earth to hold this
power (and I have appointed unto my servant Joseph to hold this power in the
last days, and there is never but one on the earth at a time, on whom this power
and the keys of this Priesthood are conferred), are of no efficacy, virtue, or force,
in and after the resurrection from the dead ; for all contracts that are not made
unto this end, have an end when men are dead. . . .
" I am the Lord thy God, and I give unto you this commandment, that no
man shall come unto the Father but by me, or by my word, which is my law,
saith the Lord ; . . .
" Therefore, if a man marry him a wife in the world, and he marry her not
by me, nor by my word ; and he covenant with her so long as he is in the world,
and she with him, their covenant and marriage are not of force when they are
dead, and when they are out of the world ; therefore, they are not bound by any
law when they are out of the world ;
" Therefore, when they are out of the world, they neither marry, nor are
given in marriage ; but are appointed angels in heaven, which angels are minis
tering servants, to minister for those who are worthy of a far more, and an ex
ceeding, and an eternal weight of glory ;
" For these angels did not abide my law, therefore they cannot be enlarged,
but remain separately and singly, without exaltation, in their saved condition, to
all eternity, and from henceforth are not Gods, but are angels of God, for ever
and ever.
" And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife, and make a cove
nant with her for time and for all eternity, if that covenant is not by me, or by my
word, which is my law, and is not sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, through
him whom I have anointed, and appointed unto this power then it is not valid,
neither of force when they are out of the world, because they are not joined by
me, saith the Lord, neither by my word ; when they are out of the world, it can
not be received there, because the angels and the Gods are appointed there, by
whom they cannot pass ; they cannot, therefore, inherit my glory, for my house
is a house of order, saith the Lord God.
" And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which
is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by
the Holy Spirit of promise, by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed
this power, and the keys of this Priesthood ; and it shall be said unto them, ye
shall come forth in the first resurrection ; and if it be after the first resurrection,
in the next resurrection ; and shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and
powers, dominions, all heights and depths then shall it be written in the Lamb s
Book of Life, that he shall commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood,
and if ye abide in my covenant, and commit no murder whereby to shed innocent
blood, it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon
them, in time, and through all eternity, and shall be of full force when they are
out of the world ; and they shall pass by the angels, and the Gods, which are set
there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their
heads, which glory shall be a fullness and a continuation of the seeds for ever and
ever.
284 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
" Then shall they be Gods, because they have no end ; therefore shall they
be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue ; then shall they be
above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be Gods,
because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them.
" Verily, verily I say unto you, except ye abide my law, ye cannot attain to
this glory ; . . .
** And verily, verily I say unto you, that whatsoever you seal on earth, shall
be sealed in Heaven ; and whatsoever you bind on earth, in my name, and by my
word, saith the Lord, it shall be eternally bound in the heavens ; and whosesoever
sins you remit on earth shall be remitted eternally in the heavens ; and whoseso
ever sins you retain on earth, shall be retained in heaven.
" And again, verily I say, whomsoever you bless, I will bless, and whomso
ever you curse, I will curse, saith the Lord ; for I, the Lord, am thy God. . . .
" Verily I say unto you, a commandment I give unto mine handmaid, Emma
Smith, your wife, whom I have given unto you, that she stay herself, and partake
not of that which I commanded you to offer unto her ; for I did it, saith the Lord,
to prove you all, as I did Abraham ; and that I might require an offering at your
hand, by covenant and sacrifice.
"And let mine handmaid, Emma Smith, receive all those that have been
given unto my servant Joseph, and who are virtuous and pure before me ; and
those who are not pure, and have said they were pure, shall be destroyed, saith the
Lord God ;
" For I am the Lord, thy God, and ye shall obey my voice ; and I give unto
my servant Joseph that he shall be made ruler over many things, for he hath been
faithful over a few things, and from henceforth I will strengthen him.
" And I command mine handmaid, Emma Smith, to abide and cleave unto
my servant Joseph, and to none else. But if she will not abide this command
ment, she shall be destroyed, saith the Lord ; for I am the Lord thy God, and
will destroy her, if she abide not in my law ;
" But if she will not abide this commandment, then shall my servant Joseph
do all things for her, even as he hath said ; and I will bless him and multiply
him, and give unto him an hundred fold in this world, of fathers and mothers,
brothers and sisters, houses and lands, wives and children, and crowns of eternal
lives in the eternal worlds.
" And again, verily I say, let mine handmaid forgive my servant Joseph his
trespasses ; and then shall she be forgiven her trespasses, wherein she has tres
passed against me ; and I, the Lord thy God, will bless her, and multiply her, and
make her heart to rejoice. . . .
" And again, as pertaining to the law of the priesthood, if any man espouse
a virgin, and desire to espouse another, and the first give her consent ; and if he
espouse the second, and they are virgins, and have vowed to no other man, then
is he justified ; he cannot commit adultery, for they are given unto him ; for he
cannot commit adultery with that that belongeth unto him and to no one else.
" And if he have ten virgins given unto him by this law, he cannot commit
adultery, for they belong to him, and they are given unto him, therefore is he
justified.
THE DOCTRINE OF POLYGAMY 285
" But if one or either of the ten virgins, after she is espoused, shall be with
another man ; she has committed adultery, and shall be destroyed ; for they are
given unto him to multiply and replenish the earth, according to my command
ment, and to fulfill the promise which was given by my Father before the founda
tion of the world ; and for their exaltation in the eternal worlds, that they may
bear the souls of men ; for herein is the work of my Father continued, that he
may be glorified.
" And again, verily, verily I say unto you, if any man have a wife who holds
the keys of this power, and he teacheth unto her the law of my priesthood, as
pertaining to these things, then shall she believe, and administer unto him, or she
shall be destroyed, saith the Lord your God, for I will destroy her ; for I will
magnify my name upon all those who receive and abide in my law.
" Therefore, it shall be lawful in me, if she receive not this law, for him to
receive all things, whatsoever I, the Lord his God, will give unto him, because
she did not administer unto him according to my word ; and she then becomes
the transgressor ; and he is exempt from the law of Sarah ; who administered
unto Abraham according to the law, when I commanded Abraham to take Hagar
to wife.
" And now, as pertaining to this law, verily, verily I say unto you, I will
reveal more unto you, hereafter ; therefore, let this suffice for the present. Behold,
I am Alpha and Omega. Amen. 1
This jumble of doctrinal and family commands bears internal
evidence of the truth of Clayton s account of its offhand dictation
with a view to its immediate submission to the prophet s wife, who
was already in a state of rebellion because of his infidelities.
The publication of the " revelation " was made at a Church
Conference which opened in Salt Lake City on August 28, 1852,
and was called especially to select elders for missionary work. 1
At the beginning of the second day s session Orson Pratt an
nounced that, unexpectedly, he had been called on to address the
conference on the subject of a plurality of wives. " We shall
endeavor," he said, "to set forth before this enlightened assembly
some of the causes why the Almighty has revealed such a doc
trine, and why it is considered a part and portion of our religious
faith."
He then took up the attitude of the church, as a practiser of
this doctrine, toward the United States government, saying :
" I believe that they will not, under our present form of government (I mean
the government of the United States), try us for treason for believing and prac
tising our religious notions and ideas. I think, if I am not mistaken, that the
1 For text of the addresses at this conference, see Deseret News, extra, September
14, 1852.
286 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
constitution gives the privilege to all of the inhabitants of this country, of the free
exercise of their religious notions, and the freedom of their faith and the practice
of it. Then, if it can be proved to a demonstration that the Latter-Day Saints
have actually embraced, as a part and portion of their religion, the doctrine of a
plurality of wives, it is constitutional. And should there ever be laws enacted by
this government to restrict them from the free exercise of their religion, such laws
must be unconstitutional."
Thus, at this early date in the history of Utah, was stated the
Mormon doctrine of the constitutional foundation of this belief,
and, in the views then stated, may be discovered the reason for the
bitter opposition which the Mormon church is still making to a
constitutional amendment specifically declaring that polygamy is
a violation of the fundamental law of the United States.
Pratt then spoke at great length on the necessity and rightful-
ness of polygamy. Taking up the doctrine of a previous existence
of all souls and a kind of nobility among the spirits, he said that
the most likely place for the noblest spirits to take their tabernacles
was among the Saints, and he continued :
" Now let us inquire what will become of those individuals who have this law
taught unto them in plainness, if they reject it." (A voice in the stand " They will
be damned.") " I will tell you. They will be damned, saith the Lord, in the reve
lation he hath given. Why ? Because, where much is given, much is required.
Where there is great knowledge unfolded for the exaltation, glory and happiness
of the sons and daughters of God, if they close up their hearts, if they reject the
testimony of his word and will, and do not give heed to the principles he has
ordained for their good, they are worthy of damnation, and the Lord has said
they shall be damned."
After Brigham Young had made a statement concerning the
history of the " revelation," already referred to, the " revelation "
itself was read.
The Millennial Star (Liverpool) published the proceedings of
this conference in a supplement to its Volume XV, and the text of
the "revelation" in its issue of January i, 1853, saying editorially
in the next number :
" None [of the revelations] seem to penetrate so deep, or be so well calcu
lated to shake to its very center the social structure which has been reared and
vainly nurtured by this professedly wise and Christian generation ; none more
conclusively exhibit how surely an end must come to all the works, institutions,
ordinances and covenants of men ; none more portray the eternity of God s pur-
THE DOCTRINE OF POLYGAMY 287
p Ose a nd, we may say, none have carried so mighty an influence, or had the
power to stamp their divinity upon the mind by absorbing every feeling of the
soul, to the extent of the one which has appeared in our last."
With the Mormon church in England, however, the publication
of the new doctrine proved a bombshell, as is shown by the fact
that 2164 excommunications in the British Isles were reported to
the semiannual conference of December 31, 1852, and 1776 to the
conference of the following June.
The doctrine of " sealing " has been variously stated. Accord
ing to one early definition, the man and the woman who are to be
properly mated are selected in heaven in a preexistent state ; if,
through a mistake in an earthly marriage, A has got the spouse
intended for B, the latter may consider himself a husband to Mrs.
A. Another early explanation which may be cited was thus stated
by Henry Rowe in the Boston Investigator si February 3, 1845 :
" The spiritual wife doctrine I will explain, as taught me by Elder W e,
as taught by Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Elder Adams, William Smith, and
the rest of the Quorum, etc., etc. Joseph had a revelation from God that there
were a number of spirits to be born into the world before their exaltation in the
next; that Christ would not come until all these spirits received or entered
their < tabernacles of clay ; that these spirits were hovering around the world,
and at the door of bad houses, watching a chance of getting into their taber
nacles ; that God had provided an honorable way for them to come forth that
was, by the Elders in Israel sealing up virtuous women ; and as there was no
provision made for woman in the Scriptures, their only chance of heaven was to
be sealed up to some Elder for time and eternity, and be a star in his crown forever ;
that those who were the cause of bringing forth these spirits would receive a re
ward, the ratio of which reward should be the greater or less according to the num
ber they were the means of bringing forth."
Brigham Young s definition of " spiritual wifeism " was thus
expressed : " And I would say, as no man can be perfect without
the woman, so no woman can be perfect without a man to lead
her. I tell you the truth as it is in the bosom of eternity ; and I
say to every man upon the face of the earth, if he wishes to be
saved, he cannot be saved without a woman by his side. This is
spiritual wifeism, that is, the doctrine of spiritual wives." 1
The Mormon, under polygamy, was taught that he " married "
for time, but was " sealed " for eternity. The "sealing" was there
fore the more important ceremony, and was performed in the En-
1 Times and Seasons, Vol. VI, p. 955.
288 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
dowment House, with the accompaniment of secret oaths and
mystic ceremonies. If a wife disliked her husband, and wished
to be " sealed" to a man of her choice, the Mormon church would
marry her to the latter 1 a marriage made actual in every sense
if he was acceptable as a Mormon; and, if the first husband
also wanted to be " sealed " to her, the church would perform a
mock ceremony to satisfy this husband. " It is impossible," says
Hyde, "to state all the licentiousness, under the name of religion,
that these sealing ordinances have occasioned." 2
A Mormon preacher never hesitated to go to any lengths in
justifying the doctrine of plural marriages. One illustration of
this may suffice. Orson Hyde, in a discourse in the Salt Lake
Tabernacle in March, 1857, made the following argument to sup
port a claim that Jesus Christ was a polygamist :
" It will be borne in mind that, once on a time, there was a marriage in Cana
of Galilee ; and on a careful reading of that transaction it will be discovered that
no less a person than Jesus Christ was married on that occasion. If he was
never married, his intimacy with Mary and Martha, and the other Mary also,
whom Jesus loved, must have been highly unbecoming and improper, to say the
best of it. I will venture to say that, if Jesus Christ was now to pass through the
most pious countries in Christendom, with a train of women such as used to
follow him, fondling about him, combing his hair, anointing him with precious
ointments, washing his feet with tears and wiping them with the hair of their
heads, and unmarried, or even married, he would be mobbed, tarred and feathered,
and rode, not on an ass, but on a rail. . . . Did he multiply, and did he see
his seed ? Did he honor his Father s law by complying with it, or did he not ?
Others may do as they like, but I will not charge our Saviour with neglect or
transgression in this or any other duty." 3
The doctrine of "adoption," referred to, taught that the direct
line of the true priesthood was broken with the death of Christ s
apostles, and that the rights of the lineage of Abraham could be
secured only by being " adopted " by a modern apostle, all of
whom were recognized as lineal descendants of Abraham. Re
course was here had to the Scriptures, and Romans iv. 16 was
1 One of Stenhouse s informants about the "reformation" of 1856 in Utah writes:
" It was hinted, and secretly taught by authority, that women should form relations
with more than one man." On this Stenhouse says : " The author has no personal
knowledge, from the present leaders of the church, of this teaching; but he has often
heard that something would then be taught which would test the brethren as much as
polygamy had tried the sisters. " " Rocky Mountain Saints," p. 301.
2 " Mormonism," p. 84.
3 Journal of Discourses, Vol. IV, p. 259.
THE DOCTRINE OF POLYGAMY 289
quoted to sustain this doctrine. The first "adoptions " took place
in the Nauvoo Temple. Lee was " adopted to" Brigham Young,
and Young s and Lee s children were then " adopted to " their own
fathers.
With this necessary explanation of the introduction of polyg
amy, we may take up the narrative of events at Nauvoo.
CHAPTER XII
THE SUPPRESSION OF THE EXPOSITOR
SMITH was now to encounter a kind of resistance within the
church that he had never met. In all previous apostasies, where
members had dared to attack his character or question his
authority, they had been summarily silenced, and in most cases
driven at once out of the Mormon community. But there were
men at Nauvoo above the average of the Mormon convert as
regards intelligence and wealth, who refused to follow the prophet
in his new doctrine regarding marriage, and whose opposition took
the very practical shape of the establishment of a newspaper in
the Mormon city to expose him and to defend themselves.
In his testimony in the Higbee trial Smith had accused a
prominent Mormon, Dr. R. D. Foster, of stealing and of gross
insults to women. Dr. Foster, according to current report, had
found Smith at his house, and had received from his wife a con
fession that Smith had been persuading her to become one of his
spiritual wives. 1
Among the leading members of the church at Nauvoo at this
time were two brothers, William and Wilson Law. They were
Canadians, and had brought considerable property with them, and
in the "revelation" of January 19, 1841, William Law was among
those who were directed to take stock in Nauvoo House, and was
named as one of the First Presidency, and was made registrar of
the University. Wilson Law was a regent of the University and
a major general of the Legion. General Law had been an espe
cial favorite of Smith. In writing to him while in hiding from the
1 "At the May, 1844, term of the Hancock Circuit Court two indictments were
found against Smith by the grand jury one for adultery and one for perjury. To the
surprise of all, on the Monday following, the Prophet appeared in court and demanded
that he be tried on the last-named indictment. The prosecutor not being ready, a con
tinuance was entered to the next term." GREGG, " History of Hancock County," p. 301.
290
THE SUPPRESSION OF THE EXPOSITOR 291
Missouri authorities in 1842, Smith says, "I love that soul that
is so nobly established in that clay of yours." 1 At the conference
of April, 1844, Hyrum Smith said : " I wish to speak about Messrs.
Law s steam mill. There has been a great deal of bickering about
it. The mill has been a great benefit to the city. It has brought
in thousands who would not have come here. The Messrs. Law
have sunk their capital and done a great deal of good. It is out
of character to cast any aspersions on the Messrs. Law."
Dr. Foster, the Laws, and Counsellor Sylvester Emmons
became greatly stirred up about the spiritual wife doctrine, and
the effort of Smith and those in his confidence to teach and
enforce the doctrine of plural wives ; and they finally decided to
establish in Nauvoo a newspaper that would openly attack the
new order of things. The name chosen for this newspaper was
the Expositor, and Emmons was its editor. 2 Its motto was :
" The Truth, the whole Truth, and nothing but the Truth," and
its prospectus announced as its purpose, " Unconditional repeal of
the city charter to correct the abuses of the unit power to
advocate disobedience to political revelations." Only one number
of this newspaper was ever issued, but that number was almost
directly the cause of the prophet s death.
The most important feature of the Expositor (which bore date
of June 7, 1844) was a "preamble" and resolutions of " seceders
from the church at Nauvoo," and affidavits by Mr. and Mrs.
William Law and Austin Cowles setting forth that Hyrum Smith
had read the " revelation " concerning polygamy to William Law
and to the High Council, and that Mrs. Law had read it. 3
The " preamble " affirmed the belief of the seceders in the
Mormon Bible and the " Book of Doctrine and Covenants," but
declared their intention to "explode the vicious principles of
Joseph Smith," adding, " We are aware, however, that we are
hazarding every earthly blessing, particularly property, and prob-
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XX, p. 695.
2 Emmons went direct to Beardstown, Illinois, after the destruction of the paper,
and lived there till the day of his death, a leading citizen. He established the first
newspaper published in Beardstown, and was for sixteen years the mayor of the city.
3 These were the only affidavits printed in the Expositor. More than one descrip
tion of the paper has stated that it contained many more. Thus, Appleton s " American
Encyclopedia," under " Mormons," says, " In the first number (there was only one)
they printed the affidavits of sixteen women to the effect that Joseph Smith and Sidney
Rigdon and others had endeavored to convert them to the spiritual wife doctrine."
2Q2 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
ably life itself, in striking this blow at tyranny and oppression."
Many of them, it was explained, had sought a reformation of the
church without any public exposure, but they had been spurned,
" particularly by Joseph, who would state that, if he had been or
was guilty of the charges we would charge him with, he would
not make acknowledgment, but would rather be damned, for it
would detract from his dignity and would consequently prove the
overthrow of the church. We would ask him, on the other hand,
if the overthrow of the church were not inevitable ; to which he
often replied that we would all go to hell together and convert it
into a heaven by casting the devil out ; and, says he, hell is by no
means the place this world of fools supposes it to be, but, on the
contrary, it is quite an agreeable place."
The " preamble " further set forth the methods employed by
Smith to induce women from other countries, who had joined the
Mormons in Nauvoo, to become his spiritual wives, reciting the
arguments advanced, and thus summing up the general result :
" She is thunderstruck, faints, recovers and refuses. The
prophet damns her if she rejects. She thinks of the great sacri
fice, and of the many thousand miles she has travelled over sea
and land that she might save her soul from pending ruin, and
replies, God s will be done and not mine. The prophet and his
devotees in this way are gratified." Smith s political aspirations
were condemned as preposterous, and the false " doctrine of many
gods " was called blasphemy.
Fifteen resolutions followed. They declared against the evils
named, and also condemned the order to the Saints to gather in
haste at Nauvoo, explaining that the purpose of this command
was to enable the men in control of the church to sell property at
exorbitant prices, " and thus the wealth that is brought into the
place is swallowed up by the one great throat, from whence there
is no return." The seceders asserted that, although they had an
intimate acquaintance with the affairs of the church, they did not
know of any property belonging to it except the Temple. Finally,
as speaking for the true church, they ordered all preachers to
cease to teach the doctrine of plural gods, a plurality of wives,
sealing, etc., and directed offenders in this respect to report and
have their licenses renewed. Another feature of the issue was a
column address signed by Francis M. Higbee, advising the citizens
THE SUPPRESSION OF THE EXPOSITOR 293
of Hancock County not to send Hyrum Smith to the legislature,
since to support him was to support Joseph, " a man who contends
all governments are to be put down, and one established upon its
ruins."
The appearance of this sheet created the greatest excitement
among the Mormon leaders that they had experienced since leav
ing Missouri. They recognized in it immediately a mouthpiece
of men who were better informed than Bennett, and who were
ready to address an audience composed both of their own flock
and of their outlying non-Mormon neighbors, whose antipathy to
them was already manifesting itself aggressively. To permit the
continued publication of this sheet meant one of those surrenders
which Smith had never made.
The prophet therefore took just such action as would have
been expected of him in the circumstances. Calling a meeting of
the City Council, he proceeded to put the Expositor and its editors
on trial, as if that body was of a judicial instead of a legislative
character. The minutes of this trial, which lasted all of Saturday,
June 8, and a part of Monday, June 10, 1844, can be found in
the Neighbor of June 19, of that year, filling six columns. The
prophet-mayor occupied the chair, and the defendants were absent.
The testimony introduced aimed at the start to break down
the characters of Dr. Foster, Higbee, and the Laws. A mechanic
testified that the Laws had bought " bogus " (counterfeit) dies of
him. The prophet told how William Law had " pursued " him to
recover $40,000 that Smith owed him. Hyrum Smith alleged
that William Law had offered to give a man $500 if he would kill
Hyrum, and had confessed adultery to him, making a still more
heinous charge against Higbee. Hyrum referred " to the revela
tion of the High Council of the church, which has caused so much
talk about a multiplicity of wives," and declared that it "con
cerned things which transpired in former days, and had no refer
ence to the present time." Testimony was also given to show
that the Laws were not liberal to the poor, and that William s
motto with his fellow-churchmen who owed him was, " Punctual
ity, punctuality." l This was naturally a serious offence in the
eyes of the Smiths.
1 The Expositor contained this advertisement : " The subscribers wish to inform all
those who, through sickness or other misfortunes, are much limited in their means of
294 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
The prophet declared that the conduct of such men, and of
such papers as the Expositor, was calculated to destroy the peace
of the city. He unblushingly asserted that what he had preached
about marriage only showed the order in ancient days, having
nothing to do with the present time. In regard to the alleged
revelation about polygamy he explained that, on inquiring of the
Lord concerning the Scriptural teaching that " they neither marry
nor are given in marriage in heaven," he received a reply to the
effect that men in this life must marry in one of eternity, other
wise they must remain as angels, or be single in heaven.
Smith then proposed that the Council " make some provision "
for putting down the Expositor, declaring its allegations to be
"treasonable against all chartered rights and privileges." He
read from the federal and state constitutions to define his idea of
the rights of the press, and quoted Blackstone on private wrongs.
Hyrum openly advocated smashing the press and pieing the type.
One councillor alone raised his voice for moderation, proposing to
give the offenders a few days notice, and to assess a fine of $300
for every libel. W. W. Phelps (who was back in the fold again)
held that the city charter gave them power to declare the news
paper a nuisance, and cited the spilling of the tea in Boston
harbor as a precedent for an attack on the Expositor office.
Finally, on June 10, this resolution was passed unanimously :
" Resolved by the City Council of the City of Nauvoo that the printing office
from whence issues the Nauvoo Expositor is a public nuisance, and also all of
said Nauvoo Expositors which may be or exist in said establishment ; and the
mayor is instructed to cause said printing establishment and papers to be removed
without delay, in such manner as he shall direct."
Smith, of course, made very prompt use of this authority, issu
ing the following order to the city marshal :
"You are hereby commanded to destroy the printing press from whence
issues the Nauvoo Expositor, and pi the type of said printing establishment in
the street, and burn all the Expositors and libellous hand bills found in said
establishment ; and if resistance be offered to the execution of this order, by the
owners or others, destroy the house ; and if any one threatens you or the Mayor
or the officers of the city, arrest those who threaten you ; and fail not to execute
this order without delay, and make due return thereon.
"JOSEPH SMITH, Mayor"
procuring bread for their families, that we have allotted Thursday of every week to
grind toll free for them, till grain becomes plentiful after harvest. W. & W. LAW."
THE SUPPRESSION OF THE EXPOSITOR 295
To meet any armed opposition which might arise, the acting
major general of the Legion was thus directed :
" You are hereby commanded to hold the Nauvoo Legion in readiness forth
with to execute the city ordinances, and especially to remove the printing estab
lishment of the Nauvoo Expositor ; and this you are required to do at sight, under
the penalty of the laws, provided the marshal shall require it and need your
services.
"JOSEPH SMITH,
"Lieutenant General Nauvoo Legion"
The story of the compliance with the mayor s order is thus
concisely told in the "marshal s return," "The within-named press
and type is destroyed and pied according to order on this loth day
of June, 1844, at about eight o clock P.M." The work was accom
plished without any serious opposition. The marshal appeared at
the newspaper office, accompanied by an escort from the Legion,
and forced his way into the building. The press and type were
carried into the street, where the press was broken up with ham
mers, and all that was combustible was burned.
Dr. Foster and the Laws fled at once to Carthage, Illinois, under
the belief that their lives were in danger. The story of their flight
and of the destruction of their newspaper plant by order of the Nau
voo authorities spread quickly all over the state, and in the neigh
boring counties the anti-Mormon feeling, that had for some time
been growing more intense, was now fanned to fury. This feeling
the Mormon leaders seemed determined to increase still further.
The owners of the Expositor sued out at Carthage a writ for the
removal to that place of Joseph Smith and the Nauvoo counsellors
on a charge of a riot in connection with the destruction of their
plant. This writ, when presented, was at once set aside by a writ
of habeas corpus issued by the Nauvoo Municipal Court, but the
case was heard before a Mormon justice of the peace on June 17,
and he discharged the accused. As if this was not a sufficient
defiance of public opinion, Smith, as mayor, published a " procla
mation " in the Neighbor of June 19, reciting the events in connec
tion with the attack on the Expositor, and closing thus :
" Our city is infested with a set of blacklegs, counterfeiters and debauchees,
and that the proprietors of this press were of that class, the minutes of the
Municipal Court fully testify, and in ridding our young and flourishing city of such
characters, we are abused by not only villanous demagogues, but by some who,
296 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
from their station and influence in society, ought rather to raise than depress the
standard of human excellence. We have no disturbance or excitement among
us, save what is made by the thousand and one idle rumors afloat in the country.
Every one is protected in his person and property, and but few cities of a popula
tion of twenty thousand people, in the United States, hath less of dissipation or
vice of any kind than the city of Nauvoo.
" Of the correctness of our conduct in this affair, we appeal to every high
court in the state, and to its ordeal we are willing to appear at any time that His
Excellency, Governor Ford, shall please to call us before it. I, therefore, in be
half of the Municipal Court of Nauvoo, warn the lawless not to be precipitate in
any interference in our affairs, for as sure as there is a God in Israel we shall ride
triumphant over all oppression.
" JOSEPH SMITH, Mayor"
CHAPTER XIII
UPRISING OF THE NON-MORMONS SMITH S ARREST
THE gauntlet thus thrown down by Smith was promptly taken
up by his non-Mormon neighbors, and public meetings were held
in various places to give expression to the popular indignation. At
such a meeting in Warsaw, Hancock County, eighteen miles down
the river, the following was among the resolutions adopted :
" Resolved, that the time, in our opinion, has arrived when the adherents of
Smith, as a body, should be driven from the surrounding settlements into Nauvoo ;
that the Prophet and his miscreant adherents should then be demanded at their
hands, and, if not surrendered, a war of extermination should be waged, to the
entire destruction, if necessary for our protection, of his adherents."
Warsaw was considered the most violent anti-Mormon neigh
borhood, the Signal newspaper there being especially bitter in
its attacks ; but the people in all the surrounding country began
to prepare for "war" in earnest. At Warsaw 150 men were
mustered in under General Knox, and $1000 was voted for sup
plies. In Carthage, Rushville, Green Plains, and many other towns
in Illinois men began organizing themselves into military compa
nies, cannon were ordered from St. Louis, and the near-by places
in Iowa, as well as some in Missouri, sent word that their aid could
be counted on. Rumors of all sorts of Mormon outrages were
circulated, and calls were made for militia, here to protect the
people against armed Mormon bands, there against Mormon
thieves. Many farmhouses were deserted by their owners through
fear, and the steamboats on the river were crowded with women
and children, who were sent to some safe settlement while the men
were doing duty in the militia ranks. Many of the alarming re
ports were doubtless started by non-Mormons to inflame the public
Reeling against their opponents, others were the natural outgrowth
)f the existing excitement.
297
298 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
On June 17 a committee from Carthage made to Governor Ford
so urgent a request for the calling out of the militia, that he decided
to visit the disturbed district and make an investigation on his own
account. 1 On arriving at Carthage he found a considerable militia
force already assembled as a posse comitatus, at the call of the con
stables. This force, and similar ones in McDonough and Schuyler
counties, he placed under command of their own officers. Next,
the governor directed the mayor and council of Nauvoo to send a
committee to state to him their story of the recent doings. This
they did, convincing him, by their own account, of the outrageous
character of the proceedings against the Expositor. He therefore
arrived at two conclusions : first, that no authority at his command
should be spared in bringing the Mormon leaders to justice ; and,
second, that this must be done without putting the Mormons in
danger of an attack by any kind of a mob. He therefore addressed
the militia force from each county separately, urging on them the
necessity of acting only within the law, and securing from them
all a vote pledging their aid to the governor in following a strictly
legal course, and protecting from violence the Mormon leaders
when they should be arrested.
The governor then sent word to Smith that he and his associ
ates would be protected if they would surrender, but that arrested
they should be, even if it took the whole militia force of the state
to accomplish this. The constable and guards who carried the
governor s mandate to Nauvoo found the city a military camp.
Smith had placed it under martial law, assembled the Legion,
called in all the outlying Mormons, and ordered that no one should
enter or leave the place without submitting to the strictest inquiry.
The governor s messengers had no difficulty, however, in gaining
admission to Smith, who promised that he and the members of the
Council would accompany the officers to Carthage the next morning
(June 23) at eight o clock. But at that time the accused did not
appear, and, without any delay or any effort to arrest the men who
were wanted, the officers returned to Carthage and reported that
all the accused had fled.
Whatever had been the intention of Smith when the constable
first appeared, he and his associates did surrender, as the governor
1 The story of the events just preceding Joseph Smith s death are taken from Gov
ernor Ford s report to the Illinois legislature, and from his " History of Illinois."
UPRISING OF THE NON-MORMONS 299
had expressed a belief that they would do. Statements of the cir
cumstances of the surrender were written at the time by H. P.
Reid and James W. Woods of Iowa, who were employed by the
Mormons as counsel, and were printed in the Times and Seasons,
Vol. V, No. 12. Mr. Woods, according to these accounts, arrived
in Nauvoo on Friday, June 21, and, after an interview with Smith
and his friends, went to Carthage the next evening to assure Gov
ernor Ford that the Nauvoo officers were ready to obey the law.
There he learned that the constable and his assistants had gone to
Nauvoo to demand his clients surrender; but he does not mention
their return without the prisoners. He must have known, how
ever, that the first intention of Smith and the Council was to flee
from the wrath of their neighbors. The " Life of Brigham Young,"
published by Cannon & Sons, Salt Lake City, 1893, contains this
statement :
" The Prophet hesitated about giving himself up, and started, on the night of
June 22, with his brother Hyrum, W. Richards, John Taylor, and a few others
for the Rocky Mountains. He was, however, intercepted by his friends, and
induced to abandon his project, being chided with cowardice and with deserting
his people. This was more than he could bear, and so he returned, saying : l If
my life is of no value to my friends, it is of no value to myself. We are going
back to be slaughtered. "
It will be remembered that Young, Rigdon, Orson Pratt, and
many others of the leading men of the church were absent at this
time, most of them working up Smith s presidential "boom."
Orson Pratt, who was then in New Hampshire, said afterward, " If
the Twelve had been here, we would not have seen him given up."
Woods received from the governor a pledge of protection for
all who might be arrested, and an assurance that if the Mormons
would give themselves up at Carthage, on Monday, the 24th, this
would be accepted as a compliance with the governor s orders.
He therefore returned to Nauvoo with this message on Sunday
evening, and the next morning the accused left that place with
him for Carthage. They soon met Captain Dunn, who, with a
company of sixty men, was going to Nauvoo with an order from
the governor for the state arms in the possession of the Legion. 1
Woods made an agreement with Captain Dunn that the arms
1 It was stated that on two hours notice two thousand men appeared, all armed, and
that they surrendered their arms in compliance with the governor s plans.
300 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
should be given up by Smith s order, and that his clients should
place themselves under the captain s protection, and return with
him to Carthage. The return trip to Nauvoo, and thence to Car
thage, was not completed until about midnight. The Mormons
were not put under restraint that night, but the next morning they
surrendered themselves to the constable on a charge of riot in
connection with the destruction of the Expositor plant.
CHAPTER XIV
THE MURDER OF THE PROPHET HIS CHARACTER
ON Tuesday morning, Joseph and Hyrum Smith were arrested
again in Carthage, this time on a charge of treason in levying war
against the state, by declaring martial law in Nauvoo and calling
out the Legion. In the afternoon of that day all the accused,
numbering fifteen, appeared before a justice of the peace, and, to
prevent any increase in the public excitement, gave bonds in the
sum of $500 each for their appearance at the next term of the Cir
cuit Court to answer the charge of riot. 1 It was late in the evening
when this business was finished, and nothing was said at the time
about the charge of treason.
Very soon after their return to the hotel, however, the consta
ble who had arrested the Smiths on the new charge appeared with
a mittimus from the justice of the peace, and, under its authority,
conveyed them to the county jail. Their counsel immediately
argued before the governor that this action was illegal, as the
Smiths had had no hearing on the charge of treason, and the gov
ernor went with the lawyers to consult the justice concerning his
action. The justice explained that he had directed the removal of
the prisoners to jail because he did not consider them safe in the
hotel. The governor held that, from the time of their delivery to
the jailer, they were beyond his jurisdiction and responsibility, but
he granted a request of their counsel for a military guard about
the jail. He says, however, that he apprehended neither an attack
on the building nor an escape of the prisoners, adding that if they
had escaped, " it would have been the best way of getting rid of
1 The trial of the survivors resulted in a verdict of acquittal. " The Mormons," says
Governor Ford, " could have a Mormon jury to be tried by, selected by themselves, and
the anti-Mormons, by objecting to the sheriff and regular panel, could have one from the
anti-Mormons. No one could [then] be convicted of any crime in Hancock County."
" History of Illinois," p. 369.
301
302 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
the Mormons," since these leaders would never have dared to
return to the state, and all their followers would have joined them
in their place of refuge.
The militia force in Carthage at that time numbered some
twelve hundred men, with four hundred or five hundred more per
sons under arms in the town. There was great pressure on the
governor to march this entire force to Nauvoo, ostensibly to search
for a counterfeiting establishment, in order to overawe the Mor
mons by a show of force. The governor consented to this plan,
and it was arranged that the officers at Carthage and Warsaw
should meet on June 27 at a point on the Mississippi midway
between the latter place and Nauvoo.
Governdr Ford was not entirely certain about the safety of the
prisoners, and he proposed to take them with him in the march to
Nauvoo, for their protection. But while preparations for this
march were still under way, trustworthy information reached him
that, if the militia once entered the Mormon city, its destruction
would certainly follow, the plan being to accept a shot fired at the
militia by some one as a signal for a general slaughter and confla
gration. He determined to prevent this, not only on humane
grounds, " the number of women, inoffensive and young persons,
and innocent children which must be contained in such a city of
twelve hundred to fifteen thousand inhabitants " but because he
was not certain of the outcome of a conflict in which the Mormons
would outnumber his militia almost two to one. After a council
of the militia officers, in which a small majority adhered to the
original plan, the governor solved the question by summarily dis
banding all the state forces under arms, except three companies,
two of which would continue to guard the jail, and the other would
accompany the governor on a visit to Nauvoo, where he proposed to
search for counterfeiters, and to tell the inhabitants that any retali
atory measures against the non-Mormons would mean " the destruc
tion of their city, and the extermination of their people."
The jail at Carthage was a stone building, situated at the north
western boundary of the village, and near a piece of woods that
were convenient for concealment. It contained the jailer s apart
ments, cells for prisoners, and on the second story a sort of assem
bly room. At the governor s suggestion, Joseph and Hyrum were
allowed the freedom of this larger room, where their friends were
THE MURDER OF THE PROPHET 303
permitted to visit them, without any precautions against the intro
duction of weapons or tools for their escape.
Their guards were selected from the company known as the
Carthage Grays, Captain Smith, commander. In this choice the
governor made a mistake which always left him under a charge of
collusion in the murder of the prisoners. It was not, in the first
place, necessary to select any Hancock company for this service,
as he had militia from McDonough County on the ground. All
the people of Hancock County were in a fever of excitement
against the Mormons, while the McDonough County militia had
voted against the march into Nauvoo. Moreover, when the pris
oners, after their arrival at Carthage, had been exhibited to the
McDonough company at the request of the latter, who had never
seen them, the Grays were so indignant at what they called a tri
umphal display, that they refused to obey the officer in command,
and were for a time in revolt. " Although I knew that this com
pany were the enemies of the Smiths," says the governor, "yet I had
confidence in their loyalty and their integrity, because their cap
tain was universally spoken of as a most respectable citizen and
honorable man." The governor further excused himself for the
selection because the McDonough company were very anxious to
return home to attend to their crops, and because, as the prisoners
were likely to remain in jail all summer, he could not have de
tained the men from the other county so long. He presents also
the curious plea that the frequent appeals made to him direct for
the extermination or expulsion of the Mormons gave him assur
ance that no act of violence would be committed contrary to his
known opposition, and he observes, "This was a circumstance
well calculated to conceal from me the secret machinations on
foot ! "
In this state of happy confidence the governor set out for Nau
voo on the morning of June 27. On the way, one of the officers
who accompanied him told him that he was apprehensive of an
attack on the jail because of talk he had heard in Carthage. The
governor was reluctant to believe that such a thing could occur
while he was in the Mormon city, exposed to Mormon vengeance,
but he sent back a squad, with instructions to Captain Smith to see
that the jail was safely guarded. He had apprehensions of his
own, however, and on arriving at Nauvoo simply made an address
304 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
as above outlined, and hurried back to Carthage without even
looking for counterfeit money. He had not gone more than two
miles when messengers met him with the news that the Smith
brothers had been killed in the jail.
The Warsaw regiment (it is so called in the local histories),
under command of Colonel Levi Williams, set out on the morning
of June 27 for the rendezvous on the Mississippi, preparatory
to the march to Nauvoo. The resolutions adopted in Warsaw and
the tone of the local press had left no doubt about the feeling of
the people of that neighborhood toward the Mormons, and fully
justified the decision of the governor in countermanding the march
proposed. His unexpected order disbanding the militia reached
the Warsaw troops when they had advanced about eight miles.
A decided difference of opinion was expressed regarding it. Some
of the most violent, including Editor Sharp of the Signal, wanted
to continue the march to Carthage in order to discuss the situation
with the other forces there ; the more conservative advised an
immediate return to Warsaw. Each party followed its own incli
nation, those who continued toward Carthage numbering, it is said,
about two hundred.
While there is no doubt that the Warsaw regiment furnished
the men who made the attack on the jail, there is evidence that
the Carthage Grays were in collusion with them. William N.
Daniels, in his account of the assault, says that the Warsaw men,
when within four miles of Carthage, received a note from the
Grays (which he quotes) telling them of the good opportunity
presented " to murder the Smiths " in the governor s absence.
His testimony alone would be almost valueless, but Governor Ford
confirms it, and Gregg (who holds that the only purpose of the
mob was to seize the prisoners and run them into Missouri) says
he is " compelled " to accept the report. According to Governor
Ford, one of the companies designated as a guard for the jail dis
banded and went home, and the other was stationed by its captain
150 yards from the building, leaving only a sergeant and eight
men at the jail itself. "A communication," he adds, "was soon
established between the conspirators and the company, and it was
arranged that the guards should have their guns charged with
blank cartridges, and fire at the assailants when they attempted to
enter the jail."
THE MURDER OF THE PROPHET 305
Both Willard Richards and John Taylor were in the larger
room with the Smith brothers when the attack was made (other
visitors having recently left), and both gave detailed accounts of
the shooting, Richards soon afterward, in a statement printed in
the Neighbor and the Times and Seasons under the title "Two
Minutes in Gaol," and Taylor in his " Martyrdom of Joseph
Smith." 1 They differ only in minor particulars.
All in the room were sitting in their shirt sleeves except
Richards, when they saw a number of men, with blackened faces,
advancing around the corner of the jail toward the stairway. The
door leading from the room to the stairs was hurriedly closed, and,
as it was without a lock, Hyrum Smith and Richards placed their
shoulders against it. Finding their entrance opposed, the assail
ants fired a shot through the door (Richards says they fired a
volley up the stairway), which caused Hyrum and Richards to
leap back. While Hyrum was retreating across the room, with
his face to the door, a second shot fired through the door struck
him by the side of the nose, and at the same moment another ball,
fired through the window at the other side of the room, entered
his back, and, passing through his body, was stopped by the watch
in his vest pocket, smashing the works. He fell on his back
exclaiming, " I am a dead man," and did not speak again.
One of their callers had left a six-shooting pistol with the
prisoners, and, when Joseph saw his brother shot, he advanced with
this weapon to the door, and opening it a few inches, snapped each
barrel toward the men on the other side. Three barrels missed
fire, but each of the three that exploded seems to have wounded a
man ; accounts differ as to the seriousness of their injuries. While
Joseph was firing, Taylor stood by him armed with a stout hickory
stick, and Richards was on his other side holding a cane. As
soon as Joseph s firing, which had checked the assailants for a
moment, ceased, the latter stuck their weapons through the partly
opened doorway, and fired into the room. Taylor tried to parry
the guns with his cudgel. "That s right, Brother Taylor, parry
them off as well as you can," said the prophet, and these are the
last words he is remembered to have spoken. The assailants
hesitated to enter the room, perhaps not knowing what weapons
the Mormons had, and Taylor concluded to take his chances of a
1 To be found in Burton s " City of the Saints."
X
306 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
leap through an open window opposite the door, and some twenty-
five feet from the ground. But as he was about to jump out, a
ball struck him in the thigh, depriving him of all power of motion.
He fell inside the window, and as soon as he recovered power to
move, crawled under a bed which stood in one corner of the room.
The men in the hallway continued to thrust in their guns and fire,
and Richards kept trying to knock aside the muzzles with his
cane. Taylor in this way, before he reached the bed, received
three more balls, one below the left knee, one in the left arm, and
another in the left hip.
Almost as soon as Taylor fell, the prophet made a dash for
the window. As he was part way out, two balls fired through the
doorway struck him, and one from outside the building entered his
right breast. Richards says : " He fell outward, exclaiming O
Lord, my God. As his feet went out of the window, my head
went in, the balls whistling all around. At this instant the cry
was raised, * He s leaped the window, and the mob on the stairs
and in the entry ran out. I withdrew from the window, thinking
it of no use to leap out on a hundred bayonets, then around Gen
eral Smith s body. Not satisfied with this, I again reached my
head out of the window and watched some seconds, to see if there
were any signs of life, regardless of my own, determined to see
the end of him I loved. Being fully satisfied that he was dead,
with a hundred men near the body and more coming round the
corner of the gaol, and expecting a return to our room, I rushed
toward the prison door at the head of the stairs." Finding the
inner doors of the jail unlocked, Richards dragged Taylor into a
cell and covered him with an old mattress. Both expected a re
turn of the mob, but the lynchers disappeared as soon as they satis
fied themselves that the prophet was dead. Richards was not
injured at all, although his large size made him an ample target.
Most Mormon accounts of Smith s death say that, after he fell,
the body was set up against a well curb in the yard and riddled
with balls. Taylor mentions this report, but Richards, who specifi
cally says that he saw the prophet die, does not. Governor Ford s
account says that Smith was only stunned by the fall and was shot
in the yard. Perhaps the original authority for this version was a
lad named William N. Daniels, who accompanied the Warsaw men
to Carthage, and, after the shooting, went to Nauvoo and had his
THE MURDER OF THE PROPHET 307
story published by the Mormons in pamphlet form, with two
extravagant illustrations, in which one of the assailants is repre
sented as approaching Smith with a knife to cut off his head. 1
The bodies of the two brothers were removed to the hotel in
Carthage, and were taken the next day to Nauvoo, arriving there
about three o clock in the afternoon. They were met by practi
cally the entire population, and a procession made up of the City
Council, the generals of the Legion with their staffs, the Legion
and the citizens generally, all under command of the city marshal,
escorted them to the Nauvoo Mansion, where addresses were made
by Dr. Richards, W. W. Phelps, the lawyers Woods and Reid, and
Colonel Markham. The utmost grief was shown by the Mormons,
who seemed stunned by the blow.
The burial followed, but the bodies did not occupy the graves.
Stenhouse is authority for the statement that, fearing a grave rob
bery (which in fact occurred the next night), the coffins were filled
with stones, and the bodies were buried secretly beneath the unfin
ished Temple. Mistrustful that even this concealment would not
be sufficient, they were soon taken up and reburied under the
brick wall back of the Mansion House. 2
Brigham Young said at the conference in the Temple on Octo
ber 8, 1845, "We will petition Sister Emma, in the name of
Israel s God, to let us deposit the remains of Joseph according as
he has commanded us, and if she will not consent to it, our gar
ments are clear." She did not consent. For the following state
ment about the future disposition of the bodies I am indebted to
1 A detailed account of the murder of the Smiths, and events connected with it, was
contributed to the Atlantic Monthly for December, 1869, by John Hay. This is accepted
by Kennedy as written by "one whose opportunities for information were excellent,
whose fairness cannot be questioned, and whose ability to distinguish the true from the
false is of the highest order." H. H. Bancroft, whose tone is always pro- Mormon,
alludes to this article as " simply a tissue of falsehoods." In reply to a note of inquiry
Secretary Hay wrote to the author, under date of November 17, 1900: "I relied more
upon my memory and contemporary newspapers for my facts than on certified docu
ments. I will not take my oath to everything the article contains, but I think in
the main it is correct." This article says that Joseph Smith was severely wounded
before he ran to the window, "and half leaped, half fell into the jail yard below.
With his last dying energies he gathered himself up, and leaned in a sitting posture
against the rude stone well curb. His stricken condition, his vague wandering glances,
excited no pity in the mob thirsting for his life. A squad of Missourians, who were
standing by the fence, leveled their pieces at him, and, before they could see him again
for the smoke they made, Joe Smith was dead." This is not an account of an eye-witness.
2 " Rocky Mountain Saints," p. 174.
308 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
the grandson of the prophet, Mr. Frederick Madison Smith, one
of the editors of the Saints Herald (Reorganized Church) at
Lamoni, Iowa, dated December 15, 1900:
" The burial place of the brothers Joseph and Hyrum has always remained
a secret, being known only to a very few of the immediate family. In fact,
unless it has lately been revealed to others, the exact spot is known only to my
father and his brother. Others who knew the secret are now silent in death.
The reasons for the secrecy were that it was feared that, if the burial place was
known at the time, there might have been an inclination on the part of the ene
mies of those men to desecrate their bodies and graves. There is not now, and
probably has not been for years, any danger of such desecration, and the only
reason I can see for still keeping it a secret is the natural disinclination on the
part of the family to talk about such matters.
" However, I have been on the ground with my father when I knew I was
standing within a few feet of where the remains were lying, and it is known to
many about where that spot is. It is a short distance from the Nauvoo House,
on the bank of the Mississippi. The lot is still owned by the family, the title
being in my father s name. There is not, that I know, any intention of ever
taking the bodies to Far West or Independence, Missouri. The chances are that
their resting places will never be disturbed other than to erect on the spot a
monument. In fact, a movement is now under way to raise the means to do that.
A monument fund is being subscribed to by the members of the church. The
monument would have been erected by the family, but it is not financially able to
do it."
In the October following, indictments were found against Colo
nel Williams of the Warsaw regiment, State Senator J. C. Davis,
Editor Sharp, and six others, including three who were said to
have been wounded by Smith s pistol shots, but the sheriff did not
succeed in making any arrests. In the May following some of the
accused appeared for trial. A struck jury was obtained, but, in
the existing state of public feeling, an acquittal was a foregone
conclusion. The guards at the jail would identify no one, and
Daniels, the pamphlet writer, and another leading witness for the
prosecution gave contradictory accounts.
But the prophet, according to Mormon recitals, did not go
unavenged. Lieutenant Worrell, who commanded the detachment
of the guards at the jail, was shot not long after, as we shall see.
Murray McConnell, who represented the governor in the prose
cution of the alleged lynchers, was assassinated twenty-four years
later. P. P. Pratt gives an account of the fate of other " perse
cutors." The arm of one Townsend, who was wounded by Joe s
THE MURDER OF THE PROPHET 309
pistol, continued to rot until it was taken off, and then would not
heal. A colonel of the Missouri forces, who died in Sacramento
in 1849, "was eaten with worms, a large, black-headed kind of
maggot, seeming a half-pint at a time." Another Missourian s
"face and jaw on one side literally rotted, and half his face actu
ally fell off." !
It is difficult for the most fair-minded critic to find in the char
acter of Joseph Smith anything to commend, except an abundance
of good-nature which made him personally popular with the body
of his followers. He has been credited with power as a leader,
and it was certainly little less than marvellous that he could main
tain his leadership after his business failure in Ohio, and the utter
break-down of his revealed promises concerning a Zion in Mis
souri. The explanation of this success is to be found in the logi
cally impregnable position of his character as a prophet, so long as
the church itself retained its organization, and in the kind of
people who were gathered into his fold. If it was not true that
he received the golden plates from an angel ; if it was not true
that he translated them with divine assistance ; if it was not true
that he received from on high the " revelations " vouchsafed for
the guidance of the church, then there was no new Bible, no new
revelation, no Mormon church. If Smith was pulled down, the
whole church structure must crumble with him. Lee, referring
to the days in Missouri, says, " Every Mormon, if true to his
faith, believed as freely in Joseph Smith and his holy character as
they did that God existed." 2 Some of the Mormons who knew
Smith and his career in Missouri and Illinois were so convinced
of the ridiculousness of his claims that they proposed, after the
gathering in Utah, to drop him entirely. Proof of this, and of
Brigham Young s realization of the impossibility of doing so, is
found in Young s remarks at the conference which received the
public announcement of the "revelation" concerning polygamy.
Referring to the suggestion that had been made, " Don t mention
Joseph Smith, never mention the Book of Mormon and Zion, and
all the people will follow you," Young boldly declared: "What I
have received from the Lord, I have received by Joseph Smith ;
he was the instrument made use of. If I drop him, I must drop
these principles. They have not been revealed, declared, or
1 Pratt s " Autobiography," pp. 475-476. 2 " Mormonism Unveiled," p. 76.
310 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
explained by any other man since the days of the apostles." This
view is accepted by the Mormons in Utah to-day.
If it seems still more surprising that Smith s associates placed
so little restraint on his business schemes, it must be remembered
that none of his early colaborers Rigdon, Harris, Cowdery, and
the rest was a better business man than he, and that he absolutely
brooked no interference. It was Smith who decided every impor
tant step, as, for instance, the land purchases in and around
Nauvoo ; and men who would let him originate were compelled to
let him carry out. We have seen how useless better business men
like the Laws found it to argue with him on any practical ques
tion. The length to which he dared go in discountenancing any
restriction, even regarding his moral ideas, is illustrated in an inci
dent related in his autobiography. 1 At a service on Sunday, Novem
ber 7, 1841, in Nauvoo, an elder named Clark ventured to reprove
the brethren for their lack of sanctity, enjoining them to solemnity
and temperance. " I reproved him," says the prophet, " as phari-
saical and hypocritical, and not edifying the people, and showed
the Saints what temperance, faith, virtue, charity, and truth were.
I charged the Saints not to follow the example of the adversary
[non-Mormons] in accusing the brethren, and said, If you do not
accuse each other, God will not accuse you. If you have no
accuser, you will enter heaven ; if you will follow the revelations
and instructions which God gives you through me, I will take you
into heaven as my back load. If you will not accuse me, I will
not accuse you. If you will throw a cloak of charity over my sins,
I will over yours for charity covereth a multitude of sins. What
many people call sin is not sin. I do many things to break down
superstition/ " A congregation that would accept such teaching
without a protest, would follow their leader in any direction which
he chose to indicate.
Smith was the farthest possible from being what Spinoza has
been called, " a God-intoxicated man." Real reverence for sacred
things did not enter into his mental equipment. A story illustrat
ing his lack of reverence for what he called " long-faced " brethren
was told by J. M. Grant in Salt Lake City. A Baptist minister,
who talked much of " my dee-e-ar brethren," called on Smith in
Nauvoo, and, after conversing with him for a short time, stood up
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XVIII, p. 743.
THE MURDER OF THE PROPHET 311
before Smith and asked in solemn tones if it were possible that he
saw a man who was a prophet and who had conversed with the
Saviour. " Yes/ says the prophet, I don t know but you do ;
would you not like to wrestle with me ? After he had whirled
around a few times, like a duck shot in the head, he concluded
that his piety had been awfully shocked." l
In manhood Smith was about six feet tall, weighing something
over two hundred pounds. From among a number of descriptions
of him by visitors at Nauvoo, the following may be cited. Josiah
Quincy, describing his arrival at what he calls "the tavern" in
Nauvoo, in May, 1844, gives this impression of the prophet : " Pre
eminent among the stragglers at the door stood a man of command
ing appearance, clad in the costume of a journeyman carpenter
when about his work. He was a hearty, athletic fellow, with blue
eyes standing prominently out on his light complexion, a long nose,
and a retreating forehead. He wore striped pantaloons, a linen
jacket which had not lately seen the wash-tub, and a beard of three
days growth. A fine-looking man, is what the passer-by would
instinctively have murmured upon meeting the remarkable indi
vidual who had fashioned the mould which was to shape the feelings
of so many thousands of his fellow-mortals." 2
The Rev. Henry Caswall, M.A., who had an interview with the
prophet at Nauvoo, in 1842, thus describes him : " He is a coarse,
plebeian, sensual person in aspect, and his countenance exhibits a
curious mixture of the knave and the clown. His hands are large
and fat, and on one of his fingers he wears a massive gold ring,
upon which I saw an inscription. His eyes appear deficient in that
open and straightforward expression which often characterizes an
honest man."
John Taylor had death-casts taken of the faces of Joseph and
Hyrum after their murder. By the aid of these and of sketches
of the brothers which he had secured while they were living, he
had busts of them made by a modeller in Europe named Gahagan,
and these were offered to the Saints throughout the world, for a
price, of course. 3
The proofs already cited of Smith s immorality are convincing.
1 Journal of Discourses, Vol. Ill, p. 67.
2 " Figures of the Past," p. 380.
8 Millennial Star, November I, 1850.
312 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
Caswall names a number of occasions on which, he charges, the
prophet was intoxicated after his settlement in Nauvoo. He relates
that on one of these, when Smith was asked how it happened that
a prophet of the Lord could get drunk, Smith answered that it was
necessary that he should do so to prevent the Saints from worship
ping him as a god ! 1
No Mormon ever concedes that proof of Smith s personal failings
affects his character as a prophet. A Mormon doctor, with whom
Caswall argued at Nauvoo, said that Smith might be a murderer
and an adulterer, and yet be a true prophet. He cited St. Peter
as saying that, in his time, David had not yet ascended into heaven
(Acts ii. 34) ; David was in hell as a murderer ; so if Smith was
"as infamous as David, and even denied his own revelations, that
would not affect the revelations which God had given him."
1 "Mormonism and its Author," 1852.
CHAPTER XV
AFTER SMITH S DEATH RIGDON S LAST DAYS
THE murder of the Smiths caused a panic, not among the
Mormons, but among the other inhabitants of Hancock County,
who looked for summary vengeance at the hands of the prophet s
followers, with their famous Legion to support them. The state
militia having been disbanded, the people considered themselves
without protection, and Governor Ford shared their apprehension.
Carthage was at once almost depopulated, the people fleeing in
wagons, on horseback, and on foot, and most of the citizens of
Warsaw placed the river between them and their enemies. " I was
sensible," says Governor Ford, "that my command was at an end;
that my destruction was meditated as well as the Mormons , and
that I could not reasonably confide longer in one party or the other."
The panic-stricken executive therefore set out at once for Quincy,
forty miles from the scene of the murder.
From that city the governor issued a statement to the people
of the state, reciting the events leading up to the recent tragedy,
and, under date of June 29, ordered the enlistment of as many men
as possible in the militia of Adams, Marquette, Pike, Brown, Schuy-
ler, Morgan, Scott, Cass, Fulton, and McDonough counties, and the
regiments of General Stapp s brigade, for a twelve days campaign.
The independent companies of all sorts, in the same counties, were
also told to hold themselves in readiness, and the federal govern
ment was asked to station a force of five hundred men from the
regular army in Hancock County. This last request was not com
plied with. The governor then sent Colonel Fellows and Captain
Jonas to Nauvoo by the first boat, to find out the intentions of the
Mormons as well as those of the people of Warsaw.
Meanwhile the voice of the Mormon leaders was for peace.
Willard Richards, John Taylor, and Samuel H. Smith united in a
313
THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
letter (written in the first person singular by Richards), on the
night of the murders, addressed to the prophet s widow, General
Deming (commanding at Carthage), and others, which said :
" The people of the county are greatly excited, and fear the Mormons will
come out and take vengeance. I have pledged my word the Mormons will stay
at home as soon as they can be informed, and no violence will be on their part.
And say to my brethren in Nauvoo, in the name of the Lord, be still, be patient;
only let such friends as choose come here to see the bodies. Mr. Taylor s
wounds are dressed and not serious. I am sound."
This quieting advice was heeded without even a protest, and
after the funeral of the victims the Mormons voted unanimously to
depend on the law for retribution.
While things temporal in Nauvoo remained quiet, there were
deep feeling and great uncertainty concerning the future of the
church. The First Presidency had consisted, since the action of
the conference at Far West in 1837, of Joseph and Hyrum Smith
and Sidney Rigdon. Two of these were now dead. Did this
leave Rigdon as the natural head, did Smith s son inherit the suc-
cessorship, or did the supreme power rest with the Twelve
Apostles ? Discussion of this matter brought out many plans,
including a general reorganization of the church, and the appoint
ment of a trustee or a president. Rigdon had been sent to Pitts-
burg to build up a church, 1 and Brigham Young was electioneering
in New Hampshire for Smith. Accordingly, Phelps, Richards,
and Taylor, on July I, issued a brief statement to the church at
large, asking all to await the assembling of the Twelve.
Rigdon arrived in Nauvoo on August 3, and preached the next
day in the grove. He said the Lord had shown him a vision, and
that there must be a "guardian" appointed to "build the church
up to Joseph" as he had begun it. Cannon s account, in the
" Juvenile Instructor," says that at a meeting at John Taylor s the
next day Rigdon declared that the church was in confusion and
must have a head, and he wanted a special meeting called to
choose a " guardian." On the evening of August 6, Young, H. C.
Kimball, Lyman Wight, Orson Pratt, Orson Hyde, and Wilford
Woodruff arrived from the East. A meeting of the Twelve
1 John Taylor so stated at Rigdon s coming trial. This, perhaps, contradicts the
statement in the Cannons " Life of Brigham Young " that Rigdon had gone there " to
escape the turmoils of Nauvoo."
AFTER SMITH S DEATH RIGDON S LAST DAYS 315
Apostles, the High Council, and high priests was called for
August 7, at 4 P.M., which Rigdon attended. He declared that in
a vision at Pittsburg it had been shown to him that he had been
ordained a spokesman to Joseph, and that he must see that the
church was governed in a proper manner. " I propose," said he,
" to be a guardian of the people. In this I have discharged my
duty and done what God has commanded me, and the people can
please themselves, whether they accept me or not."
A special meeting of the church was held on the morning of
August 8. Rigdon had previously addressed a gathering in the
grove, but he had not been winning adherents. As we have seen,
he had alienated himself from the men who had accepted Smith s
new social doctrines, and a plan which he proposed, that the
church should move to Pennsylvania, appealed neither to the good
judgment nor the pecuniary interests of those to whom it was pre
sented. Young made an address at this meeting which so wrought
up his hearers that they declared that they saw the mantle of
Joseph fall upon him. When he asked, " Do you want a guardian,
a prophet, a spokesman, or what do you want ? " not a hand went
up. Young then went on to give his own view of the situation ;
his argument pointed to a single result the demolition of Rig-
don s claim and the establishment of the supreme authority of the
Twelve, of whom Young himself was the head. W. W. Phelps,
P. P. Pratt, and others sustained Young s view. Before a vote was
taken, according to the minutes quoted, Rigdon refused to have
his name voted on as " spokesman " or guardian. The meeting
then voted unanimously in favor of "supporting the Twelve in
their calling," and also that the Twelve should appoint two Bishops
to act as trustees for the church, and that the completion of the
Temple should be pushed. 1
On August 15 Young, as president of the Twelve, issued an
epistle to the church in all the world in which he said :
"Let no man presume for a moment that his [the Prophet s] place will be
filled by another ; for, remember he stands in his own place, and always will, and
the Twelve Apostles of this dispensation stand in their own place, and always
will, both in time and eternity, to minister, preside, and regulate the affairs of the
whole church."
1 For minutes of this church meeting, see Times and Seasons, Vol. V, p. 637. For
a full account of the happenings at Nauvoo, from August 3 to 8, see " Historical Record "
(Mormon), Vol. VIII, pp. 785-800.
316 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
The epistle told the Saints also that " it is not wisdom for the
Saints to have anything to do with politics, voting, or president-
making at present."
Rigdon remained in Nauvoo after the decision of the church in
favor of the Twelve, preaching as of old, declaring that he was with
the brethren heart and soul, and urging the completion of the
Temple. But Young regarded him as a rival, and determined to
put their strength to a test. Accordingly, on Tuesday, September
3, he had a notice printed in the Neighbor directing Rigdon to appear
on the following Sunday for trial before a High Council presided
over by Bishop Whitney. Rigdon did not attend this trial, not
only because he was not well, but because, after a conference with
his friends, he decided that the case against him was made up and
that his presence would do no good. 1
When the High Council met, Young expressed a disbelief in
Rigdon s reported illness. He said that, having heard that Rigdon
had ordained men to be prophets, priests, and kings, he and Orson
Hyde had obtained from Rigdon a confession that he had per
formed the act of ordination, and that he believed he held author
ity above any man in the church. That evening eight of the
Twelve had visited him at his house, and, getting confirmation of his
position, had sent a committee to him to demand his license.
This he had refused to surrender, saying, " I did not receive it
from you, neither shall I give it up to you." Then came the order
for his trial.
Orson Hyde presented the case against Rigdon in detail. He
declared that, when they demanded the surrender of his license,
Rigdon threatened to turn traitor, " His own language was, Inas
much as you have demanded my license, I shall feel it my duty to
publish all your secret meetings, and all the history of the secret
works of this church, in the public journals/ 2 He intimated that
1 For the minutes of this High Council, see Times and Seasons, Vol. V, pp. 647-655,
660-667.
2 Lee thus explains one of these "secret works": "The same winter [1843] he
[Smith] organized what was called The Council of Fifty. This was a confidential
organization. This Council was designated as a lawmaking department, but no record
was ever kept of its doings, or, if kept, they were burned at the close of each meeting.
Whenever anything of importance was on foot, this Council was called to deliberate
upon it. The Council was called the * Living Constitution. Joseph said that no legis
lature could enact laws that would meet every case, or attain the ends of justice in all
respects." " Mormonism Unveiled," p. 173.
AFTER SMITH S DEATH RIGDON S LAST DAYS 317
it would bring a mob upon us." Parley P. Pratt, the member of
Rigdon s old church in Ohio, who, according to his own account,
first called Rigdon s attention to the Mormon Bible, next spoke
against his old friend.
After Amasa Lyman, John Taylor, and H. C. Kimball had
spoken against Rigdon, Brigham Young took the floor again, and
in reply to the threat that Rigdon would expose the secrets of the
church, he denounced him in the following terms :
" Brother Sidney says, if we go to opposing him, he will tell our secrets. But
I would say, * O. don t, brother Sidney ! don : t tell our secrets O, don t ! But if
he tells our secrets, we will tell his. Tit for tat. He has had long visions in
Pittsburg, revealing to him wonderful iniquity among the Saints. Now, if he
knows of so much iniquity, and has got such wonderful power, why don t he purge
it out ? He professes to have the keys of David. Wonderful power and revela
tions! And he will publish our iniquity. O, dear brother Sidney, don t publish
our iniquity ! Now don t ! If Sidney Rigdon undertakes to publish all our
secrets, as he says, he will lie the first jump he takes. If he knew of all our
iniquity why did he not publish it sooner ? If there is so much iniquity in the
church as you talk of, Elder Rigdon, and you have known of it so long, you are a
black-hearted wretch because you have not published it sooner. If there is not
this iniquity, you are a black-hearted wretch for endeavoring to bring a mob upon
us, to murder innocent men, women and children. Any man that says the
Twelve are bogus-makers, or adulterers, or wicked men is a liar ; and all who say
such things shall have the fate of liars, where there is weeping and gnashing of
teeth. Who is there who has seen us do such things ? No man. The spirit
that I am of tramples such slanderous wickedness under my feet." l
At this point the proceedings had a rather startling interrup
tion. William Marks, president of the Stake at Nauvoo, and a
member of the High Council (who, as we have seen, had rebelled
against the doctrine of polygamy when it was presented to him)
took the floor in Rigdon s defence. But it was in vain.
W. W. Phelps moved that Rigdon " be cut off from the church,
and delivered over to the buffetings of Satan until he repents."
The vote by the Council in favor of this motion was unanimous,
but when it was offered to the church, some ten members voted
1 William Small, in a letter to the Pittsburg Messenger and Advocate, p. 70, relates
that when he met Rigdon on his arrival at St. Louis by boat after this trial, Orson
Hyde, who was also a passenger and thought Small was with the Twelve, addressed
Small, asking him to intercede with Rigdon not to publish the secret acts of the church,
and telling him that if Rigdon would come back and stand equal with the Twelve and
counsel with them, he would pledge himself, in behalf of the Twelve, that all they had
said against Rigdon would be revoked.
318 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
against it. Phelps at once moved that all who had voted to follow
Rigdon should be suspended until they could be tried by the High
Council, and this was agreed to unanimously, with an amendment
including the words, "or shall hereafter be found advocating his
principles." After compelling President Marks, by formal motion,
to acknowledge his satisfaction with the action of the church, the
meeting adjourned.
Rigdon s next steps certainly gave substance to his brother s
theory that his mind was unbalanced, the family having noticed
his peculiarities from the time he was thrown from a horse, when
a boy. 1 He soon returned to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where his
first step was to "resuscitate" the Messenger and Advocate, which
had died at Kirtland. In a signed article in the first number he
showed that he then intended " to contend for the same doctrines,
order of government, and discipline maintained by that paper
when first published at Kirtland," in other words, to uphold the
Mormon church as he had known it, with himself at its head. But
his old desire for original leadership got the better of him, and
after a conference of the membership he had gathered around
him, held in Pittsburg in April, 1845, at which he was voted
" First President, Prophet, Seer, Revelator, and Translator," he
issued an address to the public in which he declared that his Church
of Christ was neither a branch nor connection of the church at
Nauvoo, and that it received members of the Church of Latter-
Day Saints only after baptism and repentance. 2 In an article in
his organ, on July 15, 1845, he made assertions like these: "The
Church of Christ and the Mormons are so widely different in their
respective beliefs that they are of necessity opposed to one another,
as far as religion is concerned. . . . There is scarcely one point of
similarity. . . . The Church of Christ has obtained a distinctive
character."
Rigdon told the April conference that he had one unceasing
desire, namely, to know whether God would accept their work. At
the suggestion of the spirit, he had taken some of the brethren
into a room in his house that morning, and had consecrated them.
What there occurred he thus described :
" After the washing and anointing, and the patriarchal seal, as the Lord had
directed me, we kneeled and in solemn prayer asked God to accept the work we
1 Baptist Witness, March I, 1875. 2 Pittsburg Messenger and Advocate, p. 220.
AFTER SMITH S DEATH RIGDON S LAST DAYS 319
had done. During the time of prayer there appeared over our heads in the room
a ray of light forming a hollow square, inside of which stood a company of
heavenly messengers, each with a banner in his hand, with their eyes looking
downward upon us, their countenance expressive of the deep interest they felt in
what was passing on the earth. There also appeared heavenly messengers on
horseback, with crowns upon their heads, and plumes floating in the air, dressed
in glorious attire, until, like Elisha, we cried in our hearts, The chariots of
Israel and the horsemen thereof. Even my little son of fourteen years of age
saw the vision, and gazed with great astonishment, saying that he thought his
imagination was running away with him. After which we arose and lifted our
hands to heaven in holy convocation to God ; at which time was shown an angel
in heaven registering the acceptance of our work, and the decree of the Great
God that the kingdom is ours and we shall prevail."
While the conference was in session, Pittsburg was visited by a
disastrous conflagration. Rigdon prayed for the sufferers by the
fire and asked God to check it. " During the prayer " (this quota
tion is from the official report of the conference in the Messenger
and Advocate, p. 186), "an escort of the heavenly messengers
that had hovered around us during the time of this conference
were seen leaving the room ; the course of the wind was instantly
changed, and the violence of the flames was stayed."
Rigdon s attempt to build up a new church in the East was a
failure. Urgent appeals in its behalf in his periodical were made
in vain. The people addressed could not be cajoled with his
stones of revelations and miraculous visions, which both the secu
lar and religious press held up to ridicule, and he had no system
of foreign immigration to supply ignorant recruits. He soon after
took up his residence in Friendship, Allegheny County, New York,
where he died at the residence of his son-in-law, Earl Wingate, on
July 14, 1876. In an obituary sketch of him the Standard si that
place said :
" He was approached by the messengers of young Joseph Smith of Piano, 111.,
but he refused to converse or answer any communication which in any way
would bring him into notice in connection with the Mormon church of to-day.
It was his daily custom to visit the post-office, get the daily paper, read and con
verse upon the chief topics of the day. He often engaged in a friendly dispute
with the local ministers, and always came out first best on New Testament doc
trinal matters. Patriarchal in appearance, and kindly in address, he was often
approached by citizens and strangers with a view to obtaining something of the
unrecorded mysteries of his life ; but citizen, stranger and persistent reporter all
alike failed in eliciting any information as to his knowledge of the Mormon im
posture, the motives of his early life, or the religious faith, fears and hopes of his
320 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
declining years. Once or twice he spoke excitedly, in terms of scorn, of those
who attributed to him the manufacture of the Mormon Bible ; but beyond this,
nothing. His library was small ; he left no manuscripts, and refused persistently
to have a picture of himself taken. It can only be said that he was a compound
of ability, versatility, honesty, duplicity, and mystery."
One person succeeded in drawing out from Rigdon in his later
years a few words on his relations with the Mormon church.
This was Charles L. Woodward, a New York bookseller, who
some years ago made an important collection of Mormon litera
ture. While making this collection he sent an inquiry to Rigdon,
and received a reply, dated May 25, 1873. After apologizing for
his handwriting on account of his age and paralysis, the letter
says :
" We know nothing about the people called Mormons now. 1 The Lord noti
fied us that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints were going to be
destroyed, and for us to leave. We did so, and the Smiths were killed a few
days after we started. Since that, I have had no connection with any of the
people who staid and built up to themselves churches, and chose to themselves
leaders such as they chose, and then framed their own religion.
" The Church of Latter-Day Saints had three books that they acknowledged
as Canonical, the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Commandments. For
the existence of that church there had to be a revelater, one who received the
word of the Lord ; a spokesman, one inspired of God to expound all revelation,
so that the church might all be of one faith. Without these two men the Church
of Latter-Day Saints could not exist. This order ceased to exist, being over
come by the violence of armed men, by whom houses were beaten down by can
non which the assalents had furnished themselves with.
"Thus ended the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and it
never can move again till the Lord inspires men and women to believe it. All
the societies and assemblies of men collected together since then is not the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, nor never can there be such a
church till the Lord moves it by his own power, as he did the first.
" Should you fall in with one who was of the Church [of] Christ, though now
of advanced age, you will find one deep red in the revelations of heaven. But
many of them are dead, and many of them have turned away, so there are few left.
"I have a manuscript paper in my possession, written with my own hands
while in my Both, year, but I am to poor to do anything with it; and there-
1 The statement has been published that, after Young had established himself in
Utah, he received from Rigdon an intimation that the latter would be willing to join him.
I could obtain no confirmation of this in Salt Lake City. On the contrary, a leading
member of the church informed me that Young invited Rigdon to join the Mormons in
Utah, but that Rigdon did not accept the invitation.
AFTER SMITH S DEATH RIGDON S LAST DAYS 321
fore it must remain where it [is] . During the great fight of affliction I have had,
I have lost all my property, but I struggle along in poverty to which I am con
signed. I have finished all I feel necessary to write.
" Respectfully,
" SIDNEY RIGDON." l
Rigdon s affirmation of his belief in Smith as a prophet and the
Mormon Bible when he returned to Pennsylvania was proclaimed
by the Mormons as proof that there was no truth in the Spauld-
ing manuscript story, but it carries no weight as such evidence.
Rigdon burned all his old theological bridges behind him when he
entered into partnership with Smith, and his entire course after his
return to Pittsburg only adds to the proof that he was the origi
nator of the Mormon Bible, and that his object in writing it was to
enable him to be the head of a new church. Surely no one would
accept as proof of the divinity of the Mormon Bible any declara
tion by the man who told the story of angel visits in Pittsburg.
1 The original of this letter is in the collection of Mormon literature in the New
York Public Library. An effort to learn from Rigdon s descendants something about
the manuscript paper referred to by him has failed.
CHAPTER XVI
RIVALRIES OVER THE SUCCESSION
RIGDON was not alone in contending for the successorship to
Joseph Smith as the head of the Mormon church. The prophet s
family defended vigorously the claim of his eldest son to be his
successor. 1 Lee says that the prophet had bestowed the right of
succession on his eldest son by divination, and that " it was then
[after his father s death] understood among the Saints that young
Joseph was to succeed his father, and that right justly belonged to
him," when he should be old enough. Lee says further that he
heard the prophet s mother plead with Brigham Young, in Nauvoo,
in 1845, with tears, not to rob young Joseph of his birthright, and
that Young conceded the son s claim, but warned her to keep
quiet on the subject, because "you are only laying the knife to the
throat of the child. If it is known that he is the rightful successor
of his father, the enemy of the Priesthood will seek his life." 2
Strang says, " Any one who was in Nauvoo in 1846 or 1847
knows that the majority of those who started to the Western
exodus, started in this hope," that the younger Joseph would take
his father s place. 3
At the last day of the Conference held in the Temple in
Nauvoo, in October, 1845, Mother Smith, at her request, was per
mitted to make an address. She went over the history of her
family, and asked for an expression of opinion whether she was
"a mother in Israel." One universal " yes " rang out. She said
she hoped all her children would accompany the Saints to the
West, and if they did she would go ; but she wanted her bones
brought back to be buried beside her husband and children. Brig-
1 The prophet s sons were Joseph, born November 6, 1832; Fred G. W., June 20,
1836; Alexander, June 2, 1838; Don Carlos, June 13, 1840; and David H., November
1 8, 1844.
2 " Mormonism Unveiled," pp. 155, 161.
8 Strang s " Prophetic Controversy," p. 4.
322
RIVALRIES OVER THE SUCCESSION 323
ham Young then said : " We have extended the helping hand to
Mother Smith. She has the best carriage in the city, and, while
she lives, shall ride in it when and where she pleases." l Mother
Smith died in the summer of 1856 in Nauvoo, where she spent the
last two years of her life with Joseph s first wife, Emma, who had
married a Major Bideman.
Emma caused the Twelve a good deal of anxiety after her hus
band s death. Pratt describes a council held by her, Marks, and
others to endeavor to appoint a trustee-in-trust for the whole church,
the necessity of which she vigorously urged. Pratt opposed the
idea, and nothing was done about it. 2 Soon after her husband s
death the Times and Seasons noticed a report that she was prepar
ing, with the assistance of one of the prophet s Iowa lawyers, an
exposure of his " revelations," etc. James Arlington Bennett, who
visited Nauvoo after the prophet s death, acting as correspondent
for the New York Sun, gave in one of his letters the text of a
statement which he said Emma had written, to this effect, " I
never for a moment believed in what my husband called his appa
ritions or revelations, as I thought him laboring under a diseased
mind ; yet they may all be true, as a prophet is seldom without
credence or honor, excepting in his own family or country." Mrs.
Smith, in a letter to the Sun, dated December 30, 1845, pronounced
this letter a forgery, while Bennett maintained that he knew that
it was genuine. 3
The organization or, as they define it, the reorganization
of a church by those who claim that the mantle of Joseph Smith,
Jr., descended on his sons, had its practical inception at a confer
ence at Beloit, Wisconsin, in June, 1852, at which resolutions were
adopted disclaiming all fellowship with Young and other claim
ants to the leadership of the church, declaring that the suc
cessor of the prophet " must of necessity be the seed of Joseph
Smith, Jr." At a conference held in Amboy, Illinois, in April,
1860, Joseph Smith s son and namesake was placed at the head
of this church, a position which he still holds. The Reorganized
Church has been twice pronounced by United States courts to be
the one founded under the administration of the prophet. Its
* l Millennial Star, Vol. VII, p. 23. 2 Pratt s " Autobiography," p. 373.
8 Emma Smith is described as " a tall, dark, masculine looking woman " in " Sketches
and Anecdotes of the Old Settlers."
324 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
teachings may be called pure Mormonism, free from the doctrines
engrafted in after years. It holds that "the doctrines of a plu
rality and community of wives are heresies, and are opposed to
the law of God." Its declaration of faith declares its belief in
baptism by immersion, the same kind of organization (apostles,
prophets, pastors, etc.) that existed in the primitive church, revela
tions by God to man from time to time " until the end of time," and
in " the powers and gifts of the everlasting gospel, viz., the gift
of faith, discerning of spirits, prophesy, revelation, healing, visions,
tongues, and the interpretation of tongues." No one ever heard
of this church having any trouble with its Gentile neighbors.
The Reorganized Church moved its headquarters to Lamoni,
Iowa, in 1 88 1. It has a present membership of 45,381, according
to the report of the General Church Recorder to the conference of
April, 1901. Of these members, 6964 were foreign, 2867 in
Canada, 1080 in England, and 1955 in the Society Islands. The
largest membership in this country is 7952 in Iowa, 6280 in Mis
souri, and 3564 in Michigan. Utah reported 685 members.
The most determined claimant to the successorship of Smith
was James J. Strang. Born at Scipio, New York, in 1813, Strang
was admitted to the bar when a young man, and moved to Wis
consin. Some of the Mormons who went into the north woods to
get lumber for the Nauvoo Temple planted a Stake near La Crosse,
under Lyman Wight, in 1842. Trouble ensued very soon with
their non-Mormon neighbors, and after a rather brief career the
supporters of this Stake moved away quietly one night. Strang
heard of the Mormon doctrines from these settlers, accepted their
truth, and visiting Nauvoo, was baptized in February, 1844, made
an elder, and authorized to plant another Stake in Wisconsin. He
first attempted to found a city called Voree, where a temple cover
ing more than two acres of ground, with twelve towers, was
begun.
When Smith was killed, Strang at once came forward with a
declaration that the prophet s revelations indicated that, at the
close of his own prophetic office, another would be called to the
place by revelation, and ordained at the hands of angels ; that not
only had he (Strang) been so ordained, but that Smith had writ
ten to him in June, 1844, predicting the end of his own work, and
telling Strang that he was to gather the people in a Zion in Wis-
RIVALRIES OVER THE SUCCESSION 325
consin. Strang began at once giving out revelations, describing
visions, and announcing that an angel had shown him " plates of
the sealed record," and given him the Urim and Thummim to
translate them.
Although Strang s whole scheme was a very clumsy imitation
of Smith s, he drew a considerable number of followers to his Wis
consin branch, where he published a newspaper called the Voree
Herald, and issued pamphlets in defence of his position, and a
" Book of the Law," explaining his doctrinal teachings, which
included polygamy. He had five wives. His Herald printed a
statement, signed by the prophet s mother and his brother William,
his three married sisters, and the husband of one of them, certify
ing that "the Smith family do believe in the appointment of J. J.
Strang." Among other Mormons of note who gave in their alle
giance to Strang were John E. Page, one of the Twelve (whom
Phelps had called "the sun-dial"), General John C. Bennett, and
Martin Harris.
Strang gave the Mormon leaders considerable anxiety, espe
cially when he sent missionaries to England to work up his cause.
The Millennial Star of November 15, 1846, devoted a good deal of
space to the subject. The article began :
"SKETCHES OF NOTORIOUS CHARACTERS: James J. Strang, successor of
Sidney Rigdon, Judius Iscariot, Cain & Co., Envoy Extraordinary and a Minister
Plenipotentiary to His Most Gracious Majesty Lucifer I., assisted by his allied
cotemporary advisers, John C. Bennett, William Smith, G. T. Adams, and John
E. Page, Secretary of Legation."
Strang announced a revelation which declared that he was to
be "King in Zion," and his coronation took place on July 8, 1850,
when he was crowned with a metal crown having a cluster of stars
on its front. Burnt offerings were included in the programme.
This ceremony took place on Beaver Island, in Lake Superior,
where in 1847 Strang had gathered his people and assumed both
temporal and spiritual authority. Both of these claims got him
into trouble. His non-Mormon neighbors, fishermen and lumber
men, accused the Mormons of wholesale thefts ; his assumption of
regal authority brought him before the United States court,
(where he was not held); and his advocacy of the practice of
polygamy by his followers aroused insubordination, and on June
326 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
15, 1856, he was shot by two members of his flock whom he had
offended, and who were at once regarded as heroes by the people
of the mainland. A mob secured a vessel, visited Beaver Island,
where Strang had maintained a sort of fort, and compelled the
Mormon inhabitants to embark immediately, with what little prop
erty they could gather up. They were landed at different places,
most of them in Milwaukee. Thus ended Strang s Kingdom. 1
Another leader who " set up for himself " after Smith s death
was Lyman Wight, who had been one of the Twelve in Missouri,
and was arrested with Smith there. Wight did not lay claim to
the position of President of the church, but he resented what he
called Brigham Young s usurpation. In 1845 he led a small com
pany of his followers to Texas, where they first settled on the
Colorado River, near Austin. They made successive moves from
that place into Gillespie, Burnett, and Bandera counties. He died
near San Antonio in March, 1858. The fact that Wight entered
into the practice of polygamy almost as soon as he reached Texas,
and still escaped any conflict with his non-Mormon neighbors,
affords proof of his good character in other respects. The Gal-
veston News, in its notice of his death, said, " Mr. Wight first came
to Texas in November, 1845, and has been with his colony on
our extreme frontier ever since, moving still farther west as set
tlements formed around him, thus always being the pioneer of
advancing civilization, affording protection against the Indians."
After Wight s death his people scattered. A majority of them
became identified with the Reorganized Church, a few gave in their
allegiance to the organization in Utah, and others abandoned
Mormonism entirely.
1 " A Moses of the Mormons," by Henry E. Legler, Parkman Club Publications,
Nos. 15-16, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, May n, 1897; "An American Kingdom of Mor
mons," Magazine of Western History, Cleveland, Ohio, April, 1886.
CHAPTER XVII
BRIGHAM YOUNG
BRIGHAM YOUNG, the man who had succeeded in expelling
Rigdon and establishing his own position as head of the church,
was born in Whitingham, Windham County, Vermont, on June i,
1 80 1. The precise locality of his birth in that town is in dispute.
His father, a native of Massachusetts, is said to have served under
Washington during the Revolutionary War. The family consisted
of eleven children, five sons and six daughters, of whom Brigham
was the ninth. The Youngs moved to Whitingham in January,
1 80 1. In his address at the centennial celebration of that town in
1880, Clark Jillson said, "Henry Goodnow, Esq., of this town
says that Brigham Young s father came here the poorest man that
ever had been in town ; that he never owned a cow, horse, or any
land, but was a basket maker." Mormon accounts represent the
elder Young as having been a farmer.
His circumstances permitted him to give his children very little
education, and, when sixteen years old, Brigham seems to have
started out to make his own living, working as a carpenter, painter,
and glazier, as jobs were offered. He was living in Aurelius,
Cayuga County, New York, in 1824, working at his trade, and
there, in October of that year, he married his first wife, Miriam
Works. In 1829 they moved to Mendon, Monroe County, New
York.
Joseph Smith s brother, in the following year, left a copy of
the Mormon Bible at the house of Brigham s brother Phineas in
Mendon, and there Brigham first saw it. Occasional preaching
by Mormon elders made the new faith a subject of conversation
in the neighborhood, and Phineas was an early convert. Brigham
stated in a sermon in Salt Lake City, on August 8, 1852, that he
examined the new Bible for two years before deciding to receive
it. He was baptized into the Mormon church on April 14, 1832.
327
328 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
His wife, who also embraced the faith, died in September of that
year, leaving him two daughters.
Young married his second wife, Mary A. Angel, in Kirtland
on March 31, 1834. His application for a marriage license is still
on file among the records of the Probate Court at Chardon, now
the shire town of Geauga County, Ohio, and his signature is a proof
of his illiterateness, showing that he did not know how to spell his
own baptismal name, spelling it " Bricham."
Young began preaching and baptizing in the neighborhood,
having at once been made an elder, and in the autumn of 1832,
after Smith s second return from Missouri, he visited Kirtland and
first saw the prophet. Mormon accounts of this visit say that
Young " spoke in tongues," and that Smith pronounced his lan
guage " the pure Adamic," and then predicted that he would in time
preside over the church. It is not at all improbable that Joseph
did not hesitate to interpret Brigham s "tongues," but at that time
he was thinking of everything else but a successor to himself.
Young, with his brother Joseph, went from Kirtland on foot to
Canada, where he preached and baptized, and whence he brought
back a company of converts. He worked at his trade in Kirtland
(preaching as called upon) from that time until 1834, when he
accompanied the " Army of Zion " to Missouri, being one of the
captains of tens. Returning with the prophet, he was employed
on the Temple and other church buildings for the next three
years (superintending the painting of the Temple), when he was
not engaged in other church work. Having been made one of
the original Quorum of Twelve in 1835, ne devoted a good deal
of time in the warmer months holding conferences in New York
State and New England.
When open opposition to Smith manifested itself in Kirtland,
Young was one of his firmest defenders. He attended a meeting
in an upper room of the Temple, the object of which was to depose
Smith and place David Whitmer in the Presidency, leading in the
debate, and declaring that he " knew that Joseph was a prophet."
According to his own statement, he learne$ of a plot to kill Smith
as he was returning from Michigan in a stage-coach, and met the
coach with a horse and buggy, and drove the prophet to Kirtland
unharmed. When Smith found it necessary to flee from Ohio,
Young followed him to Missouri with his family, arriving at Far
,
fc
BRIGHAM YOUNG 329
West on March 14, 1838. He sailed to Liverpool on a mission in
1840, remaining there a little more than a year.
In all the discords of the church that occurred during Smith s
life, Young never incurred the prophet s displeasure, and there is
no evidence that he ever attempted to obtain any more power or
honor for himself than was voluntarily accorded to him. He gave
practical assistance to the refugees from Missouri as they arrived
at Quincy, but there is no record of his prominence in the discus
sions there over the future plans for the church. The prophet s
liking for him is shown in a revelation dated at Nauvoo, July 9,
1841 (Sec. 126), which said:
" Dear and beloved brother Brigham Young, verily thus saith the Lord unto
ou, my servant Brigham, it is no more required at your hand to leave your
family as in times past, for your offering is acceptable to me ; I have seen your
labor and toil in journeyings for my name. I therefore command you to
send my word abroad, and take special care of your family from this time, hence
forth, and forever. Amen."
The apostasy of Marsh and the death of Patton had left Young
the President of the Twelve, and that was the position in which he
found himself at the time of Smith s death.
One of the first subjects which Young had to decide concerned
"revelations." Did they cease with Smith s death, or, if not, who
would receive and publish them ? Young made a statement on
this subject at the church conference held at Nauvoo on October 6
of that year, which indicated his own uncertainty on the subject,
and which concluded as follows, " Every member has the right of
receiving revelations for themselves, both male and female." As
if conscious that all this was not very clear, he closed by making a
declaration which was very characteristic of his future policy : " If
you don t know whose right it is to give revelations, I will tell you.
It is I." l We shall see that the discontinuance of written " revela
tions " was a cause of complaint during all of Young s subsequent
career in Utah, but he never yielded to the demand for them.
At the conference in Nauvoo Young selected eighty-five men
from the Quorum of high priests to preside over branches of the
church in all the congressional districts of the United States ; and
he took pains to explain to them that they were not to stay six
months and then return, but " to go and settle down where they
1 Times and Seasons, Vol. V, pp. 682-683.
330 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
can take their families and tarry until the Temple is built, and then
come and get their endowments, and return to their families and
build up a Stake as large as this." Young s policy evidently was,
while not imitating Rigdon s plan to move the church bodily to the
East, to build up big branches all over the country, with a view to
such control of affairs, temporal and spiritual, as could be attained.
" If the people will let us alone," he said to this same conference,
"we will convert the world."
Many members did not look on the Twelve as that head of the
church which Smith s revelations had decreed. It was argued by
those who upheld Rigdon and Strang, and by some who remained
with the Twelve, that the " revelations " still required a First Presi
dency. The Twelve allowed this question to remain unsettled un
til the brethren were gathered at Winter Quarters, Iowa, after their
expulsion from Nauvoo, and Young had returned from his first
trip to Salt Lake valley. The matter was taken up at a council
at Orson Hyde s house on December 5, 1847, an d it was decided,
but not without some opposing views, to reorganize the church
according to the original plan, with a First Presidency and Patri
arch. In accordance with this plan, a conference was held in the
log tabernacle at Winter Quarters on December 24, and Young
was elected President and John Smith Patriarch. Young selected
Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards to be his counsellors, and
the action of this conference was confirmed in Salt Lake City the
following October. Young wrote immediately after his election,
"This is one of the happiest days of my life."
The vacancies in the Twelve caused by these promotions, and
by Wight s apostasy, were not filled until February 12, 1849, m
Salt Lake City, when Lorenzo Snow, Erastus Snow, C. C. Rich,
and F. D. Richards were chosen.
CHAPTER XVIII
RENEWED TROUBLE FOR THE MORMONS "THE
BURNINGS"
THE death of the prophet did not bring peace with their out
side neighbors to the Mormon church. Indeed, the causes of
enmity were too varied and radical to be removed by any changes
in the leadership, so long as the brethren remained where they
were.
In the winter of 1844-1845 charges of stealing made against the
Mormons by their neighbors became more frequent. Governor
Ford, in his message to the legislature, pronounced such reports
exaggerated, but it probably does the governor no injustice to say
that he now had his eye on the Mormon vote. The non-Mormons
in Hancock and the surrounding counties held meetings and
appointed committees to obtain accurate information about the
thefts, and the old complaints of the uselessness of tracing stolen
goods to Nauvoo were revived. The Mormons vigorously denied
these charges through formal action taken by the Nauvoo City
Council and a citizens meeting, alleging that in many cases " out
landish men " had visited the city at night to scatter counterfeit
money and deposit stolen goods, the responsibility for which was
laid on Mormon shoulders.
It is not at all improbable that many a theft in western Illinois
in those days that was charged to Mormons had other authors ;
but testimony regarding the dishonesty of many members of the
church, such as we have seen presented in Smith s day, was still
available. Thus, Young, in one of his addresses to the conference
assembled at Nauvoo about two months after Smith s death, made
this statement : " Elders who go to borrowing horses or money,
and running away with it, will be cut off from the church without
any ceremony. They will not have as much lenity as heretofore." l
1 Times and Seasons, Vol. V, p. 696.
331
332 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
A lady who published a sketch of her travels in 1845 through
Illinois and Iowa wrote : -
" We now entered a part of the country laid waste by the desperadoes among
the Mormons. Whole farms were deserted, fields were still covered with wheat
unreaped, and cornfields stood ungathered, the inhabitants having fled to a dis
tant part of the country. . . . Friends gave us a good deal of information about
the doings of these Saints at Nauvoo said that often, when their orchards were
full of fruit, some sixteen of these monsters would come with bowie knives and
drive the owners into their houses while they stripped their trees of the fruit. If
these rogues wanted cattle they would drive off the cattle of the Gentiles." 1
A trial concerning the title to some land in Adams County in
that year brought out the fact that there existed in the Mormon
church what was called a "Oneness." Five persons would asso
ciate and select one of their members as a guardian ; then, if any
of the property they jointly owned was levied on, they would
show that one or more of the other five was the real owner.
While the Mormons continued to send abroad glowing pictures
of the prosperity of Nauvoo, less prejudiced accounts gave a very
different view. The latter pointed out that the immigrants, who
supplied the only source of prosperity, had expended most of their
capital on houses and lots, that building operations had declined,
because houses could be bought cheaper than they could be built,
and that mechanics had been forced to seek employment in St.
Louis. Published reports that large numbers of the poor in the
city were dependent on charity received confirmation in a letter
published in the Millennial Star of October I, 1845, which said
that on a fast-day proclaimed by Young, when the poor were to be
remembered, " people were seen trotting in all directions to the
Bishops of the different wards" with their contributions.
We have seen that the gathering of the Saints at Nauvoo was
an idea of Joseph Smith, and was undertaken against the judg
ment of some of the wiser members of the church. The plan, so
far as its business features were concerned, was on a par with
the other business enterprises that the prophet had fathered.
There was nothing to sustain a population of 15,000 persons, arti
ficially collected, in this frontier settlement, and that disaster must
have resulted from the experiment, even without the hostile oppo
sition of their neighbors, is evident from the fact that Nauvoo to-
1 " Book for the Married and Single," by Ann Archbold.
RENEWED TROUBLE FOR THE MORMONS 333
day, when fifty years have settled up the surrounding district and
brought it in better communication with the world, is a village of
only 1321 inhabitants (census of 1900).
Politics were not eliminated from the causes of trouble by
Smith s death. Not only was 1844 a presidential year, but the
citizens of Hancock County were to vote for a member of Con
gress, two members of the legislature, and a sheriff. Governor
Ford urgently advised the Mormons not to vote at all, as a meas
ure of peace ; but political feeling ran very high, and the Demo
crats got the Mormon vote for President, and with the same
assistance elected as sheriff General Deming, the officer left by
Governor Ford in command of the militia at Carthage when the
Smiths were killed, as well as two members of the legislature who
had voted against the repeal of the Nauvoo city charter.
The tone of the Mormons toward their non-Mormon neighbors
seemed to become more defiant at this time than ever. The repeal
of the Nauvoo charter, in January, 1845, unloosened their tongues.
Their newspaper, the Neighbor, declared that the legislature " had
no more right to repeal the charter than the United States would
have to abrogate and make void the constitution of the state, or than
Great Britain would have to abolish the constitution of the United
States and the man that says differently is a coward, a traitor to
his own rights, and a tyrant ; no odds what Blackstone, Kent or
Story may have written to make themselves and their names popu
lar, to the contrary."
The Neighbor, in the same article, thus defined its view of the
situation, after the repeal :
" Nor is it less legal for an insulted individual or community to resist oppres
sion. For this reason, until the blood of Joseph and Hyrum Smith has been
atoned for by hanging, shooting or slaying in some manner every person engaged
in that cowardly, mean assassination, no Latter-Day Saint should give himself up
to the law ; for the presumption is that they will murder him in the same man
ner. . . . Neither should civil process come into Nauvoo till the United States^
by a vigorous course, causes the State of Missouri and the State of Illinois to re
dress every man that has suffered the loss of lands, goods or anything else by
expulsion. . . . If any man is bound to maintain the law, it is for the benefit he
may derive from it. ... Well, our charter is repealed ; the murderers of the
Smiths are running at large, and if the Mormons should wish to imitate their fore
fathers and fulfil the Scriptures by making it hard to kick against the pricks by
wearing cast steel pikes about four or five inches long in their boots and shoes
to kick with, what s the harm f "
334 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
Such utterances, which found imitation in the addresses of the
leaders, and were echoed in the columns of Pratt s Prophet in New
York, made it easy for their hostile neighbors to believe that the
Mormons considered themselves beyond the reach of any law but
their own. Some daring murders committed across the river in
Iowa in the spring of 1845 afforded confirmation to the non-Mor
mons of their belief in church-instigated crimes of this character,
and in the existence and activity of the Danite organization. The
Mormon authorities had denied that there were organized Danites
at Nauvoo, but the weight of testimony is against the denial.
Gregg, a resident of the locality when the Mormons dwelt there,
gives a fair idea of the accepted view of the Danites at that
time :
" They were bound together with oaths of the most solemn character, and
the punishment of traitors to the order was death. John A. Murrell s Band of
Pirates, who flourished at one time near Jackson, Tennessee, and up and down the
Mississippi River above New Orleans, was never so terrible as the Danite Band,
for the latter was a powerful organization, and was above the law. The band
made threats, and they were not idle threats. They went about on horseback,
under cover of darkness, disguised in long white robes with red girdles. Their
faces were covered with masks to conceal their identity. 11 1
Phineas Wilcox, a young man of good reputation, went to
Nauvoo on September 16, 1845, to get some wheat ground, and
while there disappeared completely. The inquiry made concern
ing him led his friends to believe that he was suspected of being a
Gentile spy, and was quietly put out of the way. 2
William Smith, the prophet s brother, contributed to the testi
mony against the Mormon leaders. Returning from the East,
where he had been living for three years when Joseph was killed,
he was warmly welcomed by the Mormon press, and elevated to
the position of Patriarch, and, as such, issued a sort of advertise
ment of his patriarchal wares in the Times and Seasons* and
Neighbor, inviting those in want of blessings to call at his resi
dence. William was not a man of tact, and it required but a little
time for him to arouse the jealousy of the leaders, the result of
which was a notice in the Times and Seasons of November I,
1 " History of Hancock County." See also " Sketches and Anecdotes of the Old
Settlers," p. 34.
2 See Lee s "Mormonism Unveiled," pp. 158-159, for accounts of methods of dis
posing of objectionable persons at Nauvoo. 3 Vol. VI, p. 904.
RENEWED TROUBLE FOR THE MORMONS 335
1845, that he had been "cut off and left in the hands of God."
Bat William was not a man to remain quiet even in such a retreat,
and he soon afterward issued to the Saints throughout the world
" a proclamation and faithful warning," which filled eight and a
half columns of the Warsaw Signal of October 29, 1845, in which,
" in all meekness of spirit, and without anger or malice " (William
possessed most of the family traits), he accused Young of instigat
ing murders, and spoke of him in this way :
"It is my firm and sincere conviction that, since the murder of my two
brothers, usurpation, and anarchy, and spiritual wickedness in high places have
crept into the church, with the cognizance and acquiescence of those whose
solemn duty it was to guardedly watch against such a state of things. Under
the reign of one whom I may call a Pontius Pilate, under the reign, I say, of this
Brigham Young, no greater tyrant ever existed since the days of Nero. He has
no other justification than ignorance to cover the most cruel acts acts disgrace
ful to any one bearing the stamp of humanity ; and this being has associated
around him men, bound by oaths and covenants, who are reckless enough to
commit almost any crime, or fulfil any command that their self-crowned head
might give them."
William was, of course, welcomed as a witness by the non-
Mormons. He soon after went to St. Louis, and while there
received a letter from Orson Hyde, which called his proclamation
"a cruel thrust," but urged him to return, pledging that they
would not harm him. William did not accept the invitation, but
settled in Illinois, became a respected citizen, and in later years
was elected to the legislature. When invited to join the Reor
ganized Church by his nephew Joseph, he declined, saying, " I am
not in sympathy, very strongly, with any of the present organized
bands of Mormons, your own not excepted."
By the spring of 1845 the Mormons were deserted even by
their Democratic allies, some three hundred of whom in Hancock
County issued an address denying that the opposition to them was
principally Whig, and declaring that it had arisen from compul
sion and in self-defence. Governor Ford, anxious to be rid of his
troublesome constituents, sent a confidential letter to Brigham
Young, dated April 8, 1845, saying, " If you can get off by your
selves you may enjoy peace," and suggesting California as open
ing " a field for the prettiest enterprise that has been undertaken
in modern times."
An era of the most disgraceful outrages that marked any of
336 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
the conflicts between the Mormons and their opponents east of the
Rocky Mountains began in Hancock County on the night of Sep
tember 9, when a schoolhouse in Green Plain, south of Warsaw,
in which the anti-Mormons were holding a meeting, was fired
upon. The Mormons always claimed that this was a sham attack,
made by the anti-Mormons to give an excuse for open hostilities,
and probabilities favor this view. Straightway ensued what were
known as the " burnings." A band of men, numbering from one
hundred to two hundred, and coming mostly from Warsaw, began
burning the houses, outbuildings, and grain stacks of Mormons all
over the southwest part of the county. The owners were given
time to remove their effects, and were ordered to make haste to
Nauvoo, and in this way the country region was rapidly rid of
Mormon settlers. 1
The sheriff of the county at that time was J. B. Backenstos,
who, Ford says, went to Hancock County from Sangamon, a
fraudulent debtor, and whose brother married a niece of the
Prophet Joseph. 2 He had been elected to the legislature the year
before, and had there so openly espoused the Mormon cause
opposing the repeal of the Nauvoo charter that his constituents
proposed to drive him from the county when he returned home.
Backenstos at once took up the cause of the Mormons, issued
proclamation after proclamation, 3 all breathing the utmost hostility
to the Mormon assailants, and calling on the citizens to aid him as
a posse in maintaining order.
A sheriff of different character might have secured the help
that was certainly his due on such an occasion, but no non-Mormon
would respond to a call by Backenstos. An occurrence incidental
to these disturbances now added to the public feeling. On Sep
tember 1 6, Lieutenant Worrell, who had been in command of the
guard at the jail when the Smith brothers were killed, was shot dead
while riding with two companions from Carthage to Warsaw. His
death was charged to Backenstos and to O. P. Rockwell, 4 the man
accused of the attempted assassination of Governor Boggs, and
1 Gregg s " History of Hancock County," p. 374.
2 Ford s " History of Illinois," pp. 407-408.
3 For the text of five of these proclamations, see Millennial Star, Vol. VI.
4 " Who was the actual guilty party may never be known. We have lately been
informed from Salt Lake that Rockwell did the deed, under order of the sheriff, which
is probably the case." GREGG, " History of Hancock County," p. 341.
RENEWED TROUBLE FOR THE MORMONS 337
both were afterward put on trial for it, but were acquitted.
The sheriff now turned to the Nauvoo Legion for recruits, and
in his third proclamation he announced that he then had a posse
of upward of two thousand " well-armed men " and two thousand
more ready to respond to his call. He marched in different
directions with this force, visiting Carthage, where he placed a
number of citizens under arrest and issued his Proclamation No. 4,
in which he characterized the Carthage Grays as " a band of the
most infamous and villanous scoundrels that ever infested any
community."
" During the ascendency of the sheriff and the absence of the
anti-Mormons from their homes," said Governor Ford, 1 "the
people who had been burnt out of their houses assembled at
Nauvoo, from whence, with many others, they sallied forth and
ravaged the country, stealing and plundering whatever was con
venient to carry or drive away." Thus it seems that the gov
ernor had changed his opinion about the honesty of the Mormons.
To remedy the chaotic condition of affairs in the county, Governor
Ford went to Jacksonville, Morgan County, where, in a conference,
it was decided that Judge Stephen A. Douglas, General J. J. Hardin,
Attorney General T. A. McDougal, and Major W. B. Warren should
go to Hancock County with such forces as could be raised, to put
an end to the lawlessness. When the sheriff heard of this, he pro
nounced the governor s proclamation directing the movement a
forgery, and said, in his own Proclamation No. 5, "I hope no
armed men will come into Hancock County under such circum
stances. I shall regard them in the character of a mob, and shall
treat them accordingly."
The sheriff labored under a mistake. The steps now taken
resulted, not in a demonstration of his authority, but in the final
expulsion of all the Mormons from Illinois and Iowa.
1 Ford s " History of Illinois," p. 410.
CHAPTER XIX
THE EXPULSION OF THE MORMONS
GENERAL HARDIN announced the coming of his force, which
numbered about four hundred men, in a proclamation addressed
" To the Citizens of Hancock County," dated September 27. He
called attention to the lawless acts of the last two years by both
parties, characterizing the recent burning of houses as " acts which
disgrace your county, and are a stigma to the state, the nation, and
the age." His force would simply see that the laws were obeyed,
without taking part with either side. He forbade the assembling
of any armed force of more than four men while his troops remained
in the county, urged the citizens to attend to their ordinary busi
ness, and directed officers having warrants for arrests in connection
with the recent disturbances to let the attorney general decide
whether they needed the assistance of troops.
But the citizens were in no mood for anything like a restoration
of the recent order of things, or for any compromise. The War
saw Signal si September 17 had appealed to the non-Mormons of
the neighboring counties to come to the rescue of Hancock, and
the citizens of these counties now began to hold meetings which
adopted resolutions declaring that the Mormons " must go," and
that they would not permit them to settle in any of the counties
interested. The most important of these meetings, held at Quincy,
resulted in the appointment of a committee of seven to visit Nauvoo,
and see what arrangements could be made with the Mormons re
garding their removal from the state. Notwithstanding their defi
ant utterances, the Mormon leaders had for some time realized that
their position in Illinois was untenable. That Smith himself under
stood this before his death is shown by the following entry in his
diary :
"Feb. 20, 1844. I instructed the Twelve Apostles to send out a delegation,
and investigate the locations of California and Oregon, and hunt out a good loca-
338
THE EXPULSION OF THE MORMONS 339
tion where we can remove to after the Temple is completed, and where we can
build a city in a day, and have a government of our own, get up into the moun
tains, where the devil cannot dig us out, and live in a healthy climate where we
can live as old as we have a mind to." l
The Mormon reply to the Quincy committee was given under
date of September 24 in the form of a proclamation signed by
President Brigham Young. 2 In a long preamble it asserted the
desire of the Mormons " to live in peace with all men, so far as we
can, without sacrificing the right to worship God according to the
dictates of our own consciences " ; recited their previous expulsion
from their homes, and the unfriendly view taken of their "views
and principles " by many of the people of Illinois, finally announc
ing that they proposed to leave that country in the spring " for
some point so remote that there will not need to be a difficulty
with the people and ourselves." The agreement to depart was,
however, conditioned on the following stipulations : that the citi
zens would help them to sell or rent their properties, to get means
to assist the widows, the fatherless, and the destitute to move with
the rest ; that " all men will let us alone with their vexatious law
suits " ; that cash, dry goods, oxen; cattle, horses, wagons, etc., be
given in exchange for Mormon property, the exchanges to be con
ducted by a committee of both parties ; and that they be subjected
to no more house burnings nor other depredations while they
remained.
The adjourned meeting at Quincy received the report of its
committee on September 26, and voted to accept the proposal of
the Mormons to move in the spring, but stated explicitly, " We do
not intend to bring ourselves under any obligation to purchase
their property, nor to furnish purchasers for the same ; but we will
in no way hinder or obstruct them in their efforts to sell, and will
expect them to dispose of their property and remove at the time
appointed." To manifest their sympathy with the unoffending
poor of Nauvoo, a committee of twenty was appointed to receive
subscriptions for their aid. The resignation of Sheriff Backenstos
was called for, and the judge of that circuit was advised to hold no
court in Hancock County that year.
The outcome of the meetings in the different counties was a
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XX, p. 819.
2 For text, see Millennial Star, Vol. VI, p. 187.
34O THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
convention which met in Carthage on October i and 2, and at
which nine counties (Hancock not included) were represented.
This convention adopted resolutions setting forth the inability of
non-Mormons to secure justice at the hands of juries under Mor
mon influence, declaring that the only settlement of the troubles
could be through the removal of the Mormons from the state, and
repudiating " the impudent assertion, so often and so constantly put
forth by the Mormons, that they are persecuted for righteousness
sake." The counties were advised to form a military organization,
and the Mormons were warned that their opponents " solemnly
pledge ourselves to be ready to act as the occasion may require."
Meanwhile, the commissioners appointed by Governor Ford
had been in negotiation with the Mormon authorities, and on Octo
ber I they, too, asked the latter to submit their intentions in writ
ing. This they did the same day. Their reply, signed by Brigham
Young, President, and Willard Richards, Clerk, 1 referred the com
mission to their response to the Quincy committee, and added that
they had begun arrangements to remove from the county before
the recent disturbances, one thousand families, including the
heads of the church, being determined to start in the spring, with
out regard to any sacrifice of their property ; that the whole church
desired to go with them, and would do so if the necessary means
could be secured by sales of their possessions, but that they wished
it " distinctly understood that, although we may not find purchasers
for our property, we will not sacrifice it or give it away, or suffer
it illegally to be wrested from us." To this the commissioners on
October 3 sent a reply, informing the Mormons that their proposi
tion seemed to be acquiesced in by the citizens of all the counties
interested, who would permit them to depart in peace the next
spring without further violence. They closed as follows :
u After what has been said and written by yourselves, it will be confidently
expected by us and the whole community, that you will remove from the state
with your whole church, in the manner you have agreed in your statement to us.
Should you not do so, we are satisfied, however much we may deprecate violence
and bloodshed, that violent measures will be resorted to, to compel your removal,
which will result in most disastrous consequences to yourselves and your oppo
nents, and that the end will be your expulsion from the state. We think that
steps should be taken by you to make it apparent that you are actually preparing
to remove in the spring.
1 Text in Millennial Star, Vol. VI, p. 190.
THE EXPULSION OF THE MORMONS 341
"By carrying out, in good faith, your proposition to remove, as submitted to
us, we think you should be, and will be, permitted to depart peaceably next spring
for your destination, west of the Rocky Mountains. For the purpose of main
taining law and order in this county, the commanding general purposes to leave
an armed force in this county which will be sufficient for that purpose, and which
will remain so long as the governor deems it necessary. And for the purpose of
preventing the use of such force for vexatious or improper objects, we will recom
mend the governor of the state to send some competent legal officer to remain
here, and have the power of deciding what process shall be executed by said
military force.
" We recommend to you to place every possible restraint in your power over
the members of your church, to prevent them from committing acts of aggression
or retaliation on any citizens of the state, as a contrary course may, and most
probably will, bring about a collision which will subvert all efforts to maintain the
peace in this county ; and we propose making a similar request of your oppo
nents in this and the surrounding counties.
" With many wishes that you may find that peace and prosperity in the land
of your destination which you desire, we have the honor to subscribe ourselves,
"JOHN J. HARDIN, W. B. WARREN.
S. A. DOUGLAS, J. A. McDouGAL."
On the following day these commissioners made official an
nouncement of the result of their negotiations, " to the anti-Mor
mon citizens of Hancock and the surrounding counties." They
expressed their belief in the sincerity of the Mormon promises ; ad
vised that the non-Mormons be satisfied with obtaining what was
practicable, even if some of their demands could not be granted, be
seeching them to be orderly, and at the same time warning them not
to violate the law, which the troops left in the county by General
H ardin would enforce at all hazards. The report closed as follows :
" Remember, whatever may be the aggression against you, the sympathy of the
public may be forfeited. It cannot be denied that the burning of the houses of
the Mormons in Hancock County, by which a large number of women and chil
dren have been rendered homeless and houseless, in the beginning of the winter,
was an act criminal in itself, and disgraceful to its perpetrators. And it should
also be known that it has led many persons to believe that, even if the Mormons
are so bad as they are represented, they are no worse than those who have burnt
their houses. Whether your cause is just or unjust, the acts of these incendiaries
have thus lost for you something of the sympathy and good-will of your fellow-
citizens ; and a resort to, or persistence in, such a course under existing circum
stances will make you forfeit all the respect and sympathy of the community. We
trust and believe, for this lovely portion of our state, a brighter day is dawning ;
and we beseech all parties not to seek to hasten its approach by the torch of the
incendiary, nor to disturb its dawn by the clash of arms."
342 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
The Millennial Star si December i, 1845, thus introduced this
correspondence :
THE END OF AMERICAN LIBERTY
" The following official correspondence shows that this government has given
thirty thousand American citizens THE CHOICE OF DEATH or BANISHMENT
beyond the Rocky Mountains. Of these two evils they have chosen the least.
WHAT BOASTED LIBERTY ! WHAT an honor to American character ! "
CHAPTER XX
THE EVACUATION OF NAUVOO "THE LAST MORMON WAR"
THE winter of 1845-1846 in Hancock County passed without
any renewed outbreak, but the credit for this seems to have been
due to the firmness and good judgment of Major W. B. Warren,
whom General Hardin placed in command of the force which he left
in that county to preserve order, rather than to any improvement
in the relations between the two parties, even after the Mormons
had agreed to depart.
Major Warren s command, which at first consisted of one hun
dred men, and was reduced during the winter to fifty and later to
ten, came from Quincy, and had as subordinate officers James D.
Morgan and B. M. Prentiss, whose names became famous as Union
generals in the war of the rebellion. Warren showed no favorit
ism in enforcing his authority, and he was called on to exercise it
against both sides. The local newspapers of the day contain
accounts of occasional burnings during the winter, and of murders
committed here and there. On November 17, a meeting of citi
zens of Warsaw, who styled themselves "a portion of the anti-
Mormon party," was held to protest against such acts as burnings
and the murder of a Mormon, ten miles south of Warsaw, and to
demand adherence to the agreement entered into. On February 5,
Major Warren had to issue a warning to an organization of anti-
Mormons who had ordered a number of Mormon families to leave
the county by May I, if they did not want to be burned out.
Governor Ford sent Mr. Brayman to Hancock County as legal
counsel for the military commander. In a report dated Decem
ber 14, 1845, Mr. Brayman said of the condition of affairs as he
found them :
"Judicial proceedings are but mockeries of the forms of law; juries, magis
trates and officers of every grade concerned in the civil affairs of the county par
take so deeply of the prevailing excitement that no reliance, as a general thing,
343
344 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
can be placed on their action. Crime enjoys a disgraceful impunity, and each
one feels at liberty to commit any aggression, or to avenge his own wrongs to any
extent, without legal accountability. . . . Whether the parties will become rec
onciled or quieted, so as to live together in peace, is doubted. . . . Such a
series of outrages and bold violations of law as have marked the history of Han
cock County for several years past is a blot upon our institutions ; ought not to
be endured by a civilized people." l
Meanwhile, the Mormons went on with their preparations for |
their westward march, selling their property as best they could,
and making every effort to trade real estate in and out of the city,
and such personal property as they could not take with them, for
cattle, oxen, mules, horses, sheep, and wagons. Early in Febru
ary the non-Mormons were surprised to learn that the Mormons
at Nauvoo had begun crossing the river as a beginning of their
departure for the far West. " We scarcely know what to make of
this movement," said the Warsaw Signal, the general belief being
that the Mormons would be slow in carrying out their agreement
to leave " so soon as grass would grow and water run." The date
of the first departure, it has since been learned, was hastened by
the fact that the grand jury in Springfield, Illinois, in December,
1845, had found certain indictments for counterfeiting, in regard
to which the Journal of that city, on December 25, gave the fol
lowing particulars :
" During the last week twelve bills of indictment for counterfeiting Mexican
dollars and our half dollars and dimes were found by the Grand Jury, and pre
sented to the United States Circuit Court in this city against different persons in
and about Nauvoo, embracing some of the f Holy Twelve and other prominent
Mormons, and persons in league with them. The manner in which the money
was put into circulation was stated. At one mill $1500 was paid out for wheat in
one week. Whenever a land sale was about to take place, wagons were sent o
with the coin into the land district where such sale was to take place, and no dif
ficulty occurred in exchanging off the counterfeit coin for paper. ... So soon
as the indictments were found, a request was made by the marshal of the Gov
ernor of this state for a posse, or the assistance of the military force stationed in
Hancock County, to enable him to arrest the alleged counterfeiters. Gov. Ford
refused to grant the request. An officer has since been sent to Nauvoo to make
the arrests, but we apprehend there is no probability of his success."
The report that a whole city was practically for sale had been
widely spread, and many persons some from the Eastern states
began visiting it to see what inducements were offered to new
1 Warsaw Signal, December 24, 1845.
THE EVACUATION OF NAUVOO 345
settlers, and what bargains were to be had. Among these was
W. E. Matlack, who on April 10 issued, in Nauvoo, the first num
ber of a weekly newspaper called the Hancock Eagle. Matlack
seems to have been a fair-minded man, possessed of the courage
of his convictions, and his paper was a better one in a literary
sense than the average weekly of the day. In his inaugural edi
torial he said that he favored the removal of the Mormons as a
peace measure, but denounced mob rule and threats against the
Mormons who had not departed. The ultra Antis took offence at
this at once, and, so far as the Eagle was supposed to represent
the views of the new-comers, who were henceforth called New
Citizens, counted them little better than the Mormons them
selves. Among these, however, was a class whom the county
should have welcomed, the boats, in one week in May, landing
four or five merchants, six physicians, three or four lawyers, two
dentists, and two or three hundred others, including laborers.
The people of Hancock and the surrounding counties still re
fused to believe that the Mormons were sincere in their intention
to depart, and the county meetings of the year before were reas
sembled to warn the Mormons that the citizens stood ready to
enforce their order. The vacillating course of Governor Ford did
not help the situation. He issued an order disbanding Major
Warren s force on May i, and on the following day instructed him
to muster it into service again. Warren was very outspoken in
his determination to protect the departing Mormons, and in a
proclamation which he issued he told them to " leave the fight
ing to be done by my detachment. If we are overpowered, then
recross the river and defend yourselves and your property."
The peace was preserved during May, and the Mormon exodus
continued, Young with the first company being already well ad
vanced in his march across Iowa. Major Warren sent a weekly
report on the movement to the Warsaw Signal. That dated May
14 said that the ferries at Nauvoo and at Fort Madison were each
taking across an average of 35 teams in twenty-four hours. For
the week ending May 22 he reported the departure of 539 teams
and 1617 persons; and for the weekending May 29, the departure
of 269 teams and 800 persons, and he said he had counted the day
before 617 wagons in Nauvoo ready to start.
But even this activity did not satisfy the ultra element among
346 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
the anti-Mormons, and at a meeting in Carthage, on Saturday,
June 6, resolutions drawn by Editor Sharp of the Signal expressed
the belief that many of the Mormons intended to remain in the
state, charged that they continued to commit depredations, and
declared that the time had come for the citizens of the counties
affected to arm and equip themselves for action. The Signal
headed its editorial remarks on this meeting, "War declared in
Hancock."
When the news of the gathering at Carthage reached Nauvoo
it created a panic. The Mormons, lessened in number by the
many departures, and with their goods mostly packed for moving,
were in no situation to repel an attack ; and they began hurrying
to the ferry until the streets were blocked with teams. The New
Citizens, although the Carthage meeting had appointed a commit
tee to confer with them, were almost as much alarmed, and those
who could do so sent away their families, while several merchants
packed up their goods for safety. On Friday, June 12, the com
mittee of New Citizens met some 600 anti-Mormons who had
assembled near Carthage, and strenuously objected to their march
ing into Nauvoo. As a sort of compromise, the force consented
to rendezvous at Golden Point, five miles south of Nauvoo, and
there they arrived the next day. This force, according to the
Signal s own account, was a mere mob, three-fourths of whom
went there against their own judgment, and only to try to prevent
extreme measures. A committee was at once sent to Nauvoo to
confer with the New Citizens, but it met with a decided snubbing.
The Nauvoo people then sent a committee to the camp, with a
proposition that thirty men of the Antis march into the city, and
leave three of their number there to report on the progress of the
Mormon exodus.
On Sunday morning, before any such agreement was reached,
word came from Nauvoo that Sheriff Backenstos had arrived there
and enrolled a posse of some 500 men, the New Citizens uniting
with the Mormons for the protection of the place. This led to an
examination of the war supplies of the Antis, and the discovery
that they had only five rounds of ammunition to a man, and one
day s provision. Thereupon they ingloriously broke camp and
made off to Carthage.
After this nothing more serious than a war of words occurred
THE EVACUATION OF NAUVOO 347
until July n, when an event happened which aroused the feeling
of both parties to the fighting pitch. Three Mormons from Nau-
voo had been harvesting a field of grain about eight miles from the
city. 1 In some way they angered a man living near by (according
to his wife s affidavit, by shooting around his fields, using his stable
for their horses, and feeding his oats), and he collected some neigh
bors, who gave the offenders a whipping, more or less severe,
according to the account accepted. The men went at once to Nau-
voo, and exhibited their backs, and that night a Mormon posse
arrested seventeen Antis and conveyed them to Nauvoo. The
Antis in turn seized five Mormons whom they held as " hostages,"
and the northern part of Hancock County and a part of McDon-
ough were in a state of alarm.
Civil chaos ensued. General Hardin and Major Warren had
joined the federal army that was to march against Mexico, and
their cool judgment was greatly missed. One Carlin, appointed
as a special constable, called on the citizens of Hancock County
to assemble as his posse to assist in executing warrants in Nauvoo,,
and the Mormons of that city at once took steps to resist arrests
by him. Governor Ford sent Major Parker of Fulton County,
who was a Whig, to make an inquiry at Nauvoo and defend that
city against rioting, and Mr. Brayman remained there to report to
him on the course of affairs.
What was called at that time, in Illinois, " the last Mormon
war " opened with a fusillade of correspondence between Carlin
and Major Parker. Parker issued a proclamation, calling on all
good citizens to return to their homes, and Carlin declared that he
would obey no authority which tried to prevent him from doing
his duty, telling the major that it would "take something more
than words " to disperse his posse. While Parker was issuing a
series of proclamations, the so-called posse was, on August 25,
placed under the command of Colonel J. B. Chittenden of Adams
County, who was superseded three days later by Colonel Single
ton. Colonel Singleton was successful in arranging with Major
Parker terms of peace, which provided among other things that
all the Mormons should be out of the state in sixty days, except
heads of families who remained to close their business ; but the
1 The Ragle stated that the farm where the Mormons were at work had been bought
by a New Citizen, who had sent out both Mormons and New Citizens to cut the grain.
348 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
colonel s officers rejected this agreement, and the colonel there
upon left the camp. Carlin at once appointed Colonel Brockman
to the chief command. He was a Campbellite preacher who,
according to Ford, had been a public defaulter and had been
" silenced " by his church. After rejecting another offer of com
promise made by the Mormons, Brockman, on September n, with
about seven hundred men who called themselves a posse, advanced
against Nauvoo, with some small field pieces. Governor Ford had
authorized Major Flood, commanding the militia of Adams County,
to raise a force to preserve order in Hancock; but the major,
knowing that such action would only incense the force of the
Antis, disregarded the governor s request. At this juncture Major
Parker was relieved of the command at Nauvoo and succeeded by
Major B. Clifford, Jr., of the 33rd regiment of Illinois Volunteers.
On the morning of September 12, Brockman sent into Nauvoo
a demand for its surrender, with the pledge that there would be
no destruction of property or life " unless absolutely necessary in
self-defence." Major Clifford rejected this proposition, advised
Brockman to disperse his force, and named Mayor Wood of
Quincy and J. P. Eddy, a St. Louis merchant then in Nauvoo, as
recipients of any further propositions from the Antis.
The forces at this time were drawn up against one another, the
Mormons behind a breastwork which they had erected during the
night, and the Antis on a piece of high ground nearer the city
than their camp. Brayman says that an estimate which placed
the Mormon force at five hundred or six hundred was a great
exaggeration, and that the only artillery they had was six pieces
which they fashioned for themselves, by breaking some steamboat
shafts to the proper length and boring them out so that they
would receive a six-pound shot.
When Clifford s reply was received, the commander of the Antis
sent out the Warsaw riflemen as flankers on the right and left ;
directed the Lima Guards, with one cannon, to take a position a
mile to the front of the camp and occupy the attention of the men
behind the Mormon breastwork, who had opened fire; and then
marched the main body through a cornfield and orchard to the
city itself. Both sides kept up an artillery fire while the advance
was taking place.
When the Antis reached the settled part of the city, the firing
THE EVACUATION OF NAUVOO 349
became general, but was of an independent character. The Mor
mons in most cases fired from their houses, while the Antis found
such shelter as they could in a cornfield and along a worm fence.
After about an hour of such fighting, Brockman, discovering that
all of the sixty-one cannon balls with which he had provided him
self had been shot away, decided that it was perilous "to risk a
further advance without these necessary instruments." Accord
ingly, he ordered a retreat and his whole force returned to its
camp. In this engagement no Antis were killed, and the sur
geon s list named only eight wounded, one of whom died. Three
citizens of Nauvoo were killed. The Mormons had the better
protection in their houses, but the other side made rather effective
use of their artillery.
The Antis began at once intrenching their camp, and sent to
Quincy for ammunition. There were some exchanges of shots on
Sunday and Monday, and three Antis were wounded on the latter
day.
Quincy responded promptly to the request for ammunition, but
the people of that town were by no means unanimously in favor
of the "war." On Sunday evening a meeting of the peaceably
inclined appointed a committee of one hundred to visit the scene
of hostilities and secure peace " on the basis of a removal of the
Mormons." The negotiations of this committee began on the
following Tuesday, and were continued, at times with apparent
hopelessness of success, until Wednesday evening, when terms of
peace were finally signed. It required the utmost effort of the
Quincy committee to induce the anti-Mormon force to delay an
assault on the city, which would have meant conflagration and
massacre. The terms of peace were as follows :
"i. The city of Nauvoo will surrender. The force of Col. Brockman
to enter and take possession of the city to-morrow, the I7th of September, at
3 o^lock P.M.
U 2. The arms to be delivered to the Quincy Committee, to be returned on
the crossing of the river.
" 3. The Quincy Committee pledge themselves to use their influence for the
protection of persons and property from all violence ; and the officers of the
camp and the men pledge themselves to protect all persons and property from
violence.
" 4. The sick and helpless to be protected and treated with humanity.
"5. The Mormon population of the city to leave the State, or disperse, as
soon as they can cross the river.
350 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
"6. Five men, including the trustees of the church, and five clerks, with
their families (William Pickett not one of the number), to be permitted to remain
in the city for the disposition of property, free from all molestation and personal
violence.
"7. Hostilities to cease immediately, and ten men of the Quincy Committee
to enter the city in the execution of their duty as soon as they think proper."
The noticeable features of these terms are the omission of any
reference to the execution of Carlin s writs, and the engagement
that the Mormons should depart immediately. The latter was the
real object of the " posse s " campaign.
The Mormons had realized that they could not continue their
defence, as no reinforcements could reach them, while any tempo
rary check to their adversaries would only increase the animosity
of the latter. They acted, therefore, in good faith as regards their
agreement to depart. How they went is thus described in Bray-
man s second report to Governor Ford : l
" These terms were not definitely signed until the morning of Thursday, the
1 7th, but, confident of their ratification, the Mormon population had been busy
through the night in removing. So firmly had they been taught to believe that
their lives, their city, and Temple, would fall a sacrifice to the vengeance of their
enemies, if surrendered to them, that they fled in consternation, determined to
be beyond their reach at all hazards. This scene of confusion, fright and dis
tress was continued throughout the forenoon. In every part of the city scenes
of destitution, misery and woe met the eye. Families were hurrying away from
their homes, without a shelter, without means of conveyance, without tents,
money, or a day s provision, with as much of their household stuff as they could
carry in their hands. Sick men and women were carried upon their beds weary
mothers, with helpless babes dying in the arms, hurried away all fleeing, they
scarcely knew or cared whither, so it was from their enemies, whom they feared
more than the waves of the Mississippi, or the heat, and hunger and lingering
life and dreaded death of the prairies on which they were about to be cast. The
ferry boats were crowded, and the river bank was lined with anxious fugitives,
sadly awaiting their turn to pass over and take up their solitary march to the
wilderness."
On the afternoon of the i/th, Brockman s force, with which
the members of the Quincy committee had been assigned a place,
marched into Nauvoo and through it, encamping near the river on
the southern boundary. Curiosity to see the Mormon city had
swelled the number who entered at the same time with the posse
to nearly two thousand men, but there was no disorder. The
1 For Brayman s reports, see Warsaw Signal, October 20, 1846.
THE EVACUATION OF NAUVOO 351
streets were practically deserted, and the few Mormons who
remained were busy with their preparations to cross the river.
Brockman, to make his victory certain, ordered that all citizens
of Nauvoo who had sided with the Mormons should leave the
state, thus including many of the New Citizens. The order was
enforced on September 18, "with many circumstances of the
utmost cruelty and injustice," according to Brayman s report.
" Bands of armed men," he said, " traversed the city, entering the
houses of citizens, robbing them of arms, throwing their household
goods out of doors, insulting them, and threatening their lives."
CHAPTER XXI
NAUVOO AFTER THE EXODUS
BROCKMAN S force was disbanded after its object had been
accomplished, and all returned to their homes but about one
hundred, who remained in Nauvoo to see that no Mormons
came back. These men, whose number gradually decreased,
provided what protection and government the place then enjoyed.
Governor Ford received much censure from the state at large for
the lawless doings of the recent months. A citizens meeting at
Springfield demanded that he call out a force sufficient " to restore
the supremacy of the law, and bring the offenders to justice." He
did call on Hancock County for volunteers to restore order, but a
public meeting in Carthage practically defied him. He, however,
secured a force of about two hundred men, with which he marched
into Nauvoo, greatly to the indignation of the Hancock County
people. His stay there was marked by incidents which showed
how his erratic course in recent years had deprived him of public
respect, and which explain some of the bitterness toward the
county which characterizes his " History." One of these was the
presentation to him of a petticoat as typical of his rule. When
Ford was succeeded as governor by French, the latter withdrew
the militia from the county, and, in an address to the citizens, said,
" I confidently rely upon your assistance and influence to aid in
preventing any act of a violent character in future." Matters in
the county then quieted down. The Warsaw newspapers, in place
of anti-Mormon literature, began to print appeals to new settlers,
setting forth the advantages of the neighborhood. But a news
paper war soon followed between two factions in Nauvoo, one of
which contended that the place was an assemblage of gamblers
and saloon-keepers, while the other defended its reputation. This
latter view, however, was not established, and most of the houses
remained tenantless.
352
NAUVOO AFTER THE EXODUS 353
Amid all their troubles in Nauvoo the Mormon authorities
never lost sight of one object, the completion of the Temple. To
the non-Mormons, and even to many in the church, it seemed inex
plicable why so much zeal and money should be expended in fin
ishing a structure that was to be at once abandoned. Before the
agreement to leave the state was made, a Warsaw newspaper pre
dicted that the completion of the Temple would end the reign of
the Mormon leaders, since their followers were held together by
the expectation of some supernatural manifestation of power in
their behalf at that time. 1 Another outside newspaper suggested
that they intended to use it as a fort.
Orson Pratt, in a letter to the Saints in the Eastern states, writ
ten at the time of the agreement to depart, answering the query
why the Lord commanded them to build a house out of which he
would then suffer them to be driven at once, quoted a paragraph
from the "revelation" of January 19, 1841, which commanded the
building of the Temple " that you may prove yourselves unto me,
that ye are faithful in all things whatsoever I command you, that
I may bless you and cover you with honor, immortality, and eternal
life."
The cap-stone of the Temple was laid in place early on the
morning of May 24, 1845, amid shouts of " Hosannah to God and
the Lamb," music by the band, and the singing of a hymn.
The first meeting was held in the Temple on October 5, 1845,
and from that time the edifice was used almost constantly in ad
ministering the ordinances (baptism, endowment, etc.). Brigham
Young says that on one occasion he continued this work from
5 P.M. to 3.30 A.M., and others of the Quorum assisted.
The ceremony of the "endowment," although considered very
secret, has been described by many persons who have gone through
it. The descriptions by Elder Hyde and I. McGee Van Dusen and
his wife go into details. A man and wife received notice to appear
1 A man from the neighborhood who visited Nauvoo in 1843 to buy calves called
on a blind man, of whom he says : " He told me he had a nice home in Massachusetts,
which gave them a good support. But one of the Mormon elders preaching in that
country called on him and told him if he would sell out and go to Nauvoo the Prophet
would restore his sight. He sold out and had come to the city and spent all his means,
and was now in great need. I asked why the Prophet did not open his eyes. He replied
that Joseph had informed him that he could not open his eyes till the Temple was fin
ished." GREGG, " History of Hancock County," p. 375.
354 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
at the Temple at Nauvoo at 5 A.M., he to wear white drawers, and
she to bring her nightclothes with her. Passing to the upper floor,
they were told to remove their hats and outer wraps, and were then
led into a narrow hall, at the end of which stood a man who directed
the husband to pass through a door on the right, and the wife to
one on the left. The candidates were then questioned as to their
preparation for the initiation, and if this resulted satisfactorily,
they were directed to remove all their outer clothing. This ended
the " first degree." In the next room their remaining clothing
was removed and they received a bath, with some mummeries
which may best be omitted. Next they were anointed all over
with oil poured from a horn, and pronounced " the Lord s anointed,"
and a priest ordained them to be " king (or queen) in time and
eternity." The man was now furnished with a white cotton under
garment of an original design, over which he put his shirt, and the
woman was given a somewhat similar article, together with a che
mise, nightgown, and white stockings. Each was then conducted
into another apartment and left there alone in silence for some
time. Then a rumbling noise was heard, and Brigham Young
appeared, reciting some words, beginning " Let there be light,"
and ending " Now let us make man in our image, after our like
ness." Approaching the man first, he went through a form of
making him out of the dust ; then, passing into the other room, he
formed the woman out of a rib he had taken from the man. Giv
ing this Eve to the man Adam, he led them into a large room
decorated to represent Eden, and, after giving them divers instruc
tions, left them to themselves.
Much was said in later years about the requirement of the
endowment oath. When General Maxwell tried to prevent the
seating of Cannon as Delegate to Congress in 1873, one of his
charges was that Camion had, in the Endowment House, taken an
oath against the United States government. This called out affi
davits by some of the leading anti-Young Mormons of the day,
including E. L. T. Harrison, that they had gone through the
Endowment House without taking any oath of the kind. But
Hyde, in his description of the ceremony, says :
" We were sworn to cherish constant enmity toward the United States Gov
ernment for not avenging the death of Smith, or righting the persecutions of the
Saints ; to do all that we could toward destroying, tearing down or overturning
NAUVOO AFTER THE EXODUS 355
that government ; to endeavor to baffle its designs and frustrate its intentions ;
to renounce all allegiance and refuse all submission. If unable to do anything
ourselves toward the accomplishment of these objects, to teach it to our children
from the nursery, impress it upon them from the death bed, entail it upon them
as a legacy. 1 l
In the suit of Charlotte Arthur against Brigham Young s estate,
to recover a lot in Salt Lake City which she alleged that Young
had unlawfully taken possession of, her verified complaint (filed
July 11, 1874) alleged that the endowment oath contained the fol
lowing declaration :
" To obey him, the Lord s anointed, in all his orders, spiritual and temporal,
and the priesthood or either of them, and all church authorities in like manner ;
that this obligation is superior to all the laws of the United States, and all earthly
laws ; that enmity should be cherished against the government of the United
States ; that the blood of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and Apostles slain in this
generation shall be avenged."
As soon as the agreement to leave the state was made, the
Mormons tried hard to sell or lease the Temple, but in vain ; and
when the last Mormon departed, the structure was left to the mercy
of the Hancock County "posse." Colonel Kane, in his description
of his visit to Nauvoo soon after the evacuation, says that the
militia had defiled and defaced such features as the shrines and the
baptismal font, the apartment containing the latter being rendered
"too noisome to abide in."
Had the building been permitted to stand, it would have been
to Nauvoo something on which the town could have looked as its
most remarkable feature. But early on the morning of Novem
ber 19, 1848, the structure was found to be on fire, evidently the
work of an incendiary, and what the flames could eat up was soon
destroyed. The Nauvoo Patriot deplored the destruction of "a
work of art at once the most elegant in its construction, and the
most renowned in its celebrity, of any in the whole West."
When the Icarians, a band of French Socialists, settled in
Nauvoo, they undertook, in 1850, to rebuild the edifice for use
as their halls of reunion and schools. After they had expended on
this work a good deal of time and labor, the city was visited by a
cyclone on May 27 of that year, which left standing only a part of
the west wall. Out of the stone the Icarians then built a school-
1 Hyde s " Mormonism," p. 97.
356 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
house, but nothing original now remains on the site except the old
well.
The Nauvoo of to-day is a town of only 1321 inhabitants. The
people are largely of German origin, and the leading occupation is
fruit growing. The site of the Temple is occupied by two modern
buildings. A part of Nauvoo House is still standing, as are
Brigham Young s former residence, Joseph Smith s " new man
sion," and other houses which Mormons occupied.
The Mormons in Iowa were no more popular with their non-
Mormon neighbors there than were those in Illinois, and after the
murders by the Hodges, and other crimes charged to the brethren,
a mass meeting of Lee County inhabitants was held, which adopted
resolutions declaring that the Mormons and the old settlers could
not live together and that the Mormons must depart, citizens being
requested to aid in this movement by exchanging property with the
emigrants. In 1847 the last of these objectionable citizens left the
county.
BOOK V
THE MIGRATION TO UTAH
CHAPTER I
PREPARATIONS FOR THE LONG MARCH
Two things may be accepted as facts with regard to the mi
gration of the Mormons westward from Illinois : first, that they
would not have moved had they not been compelled to; and second,
that they did not know definitely where they were going when
they started. Although Joseph Smith showed an uncertainty of
his position by his instruction that the Twelve should look for a
place in California or Oregon to which his people might move, he
considered this removal so remote a possibility that he was at the
same time beginning his campaign for the presidency of the United
States. As late as the spring of 1845, removal was considered by
the leaders as only an alternative. In April, Brigham Young,
Willard Richards, the two Pratts, and others issued an address to
President Polk, which was sent to the governors of all the states
but Illinois and Missouri, setting forth their previous trials, and
containing this declaration :
" In the name of Israel s God, and by virtue of multiplied ties of country and
kindred, we ask your friendly interposition in our favor. Will it be too much
for us to ask you to convene a special session of Congress and furnish us an asy
lum where we can enjoy our rights of conscience and religion unmolested ? Or
will you, in special message to that body when convened, recommend a remon
strance against such unhallowed acts of oppression and expatriation as this people
have continued to receive from the states of Missouri and Illinois ? Or will you
favor us by your personal influence and by your official rank ? Or will you ex
press your views concerning what is called the Great Western Measure of coloniz
ing the Latter-Day Saints in Oregon, the Northwestern Territory, or some
location remote from the states, where the hand of oppression will not crush
every noble principle and extinguish every patriotic feeling?"
357
358 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
After the publication of the correspondence between the Hardin
commission and the Mormon authorities, Orson Pratt issued an
appeal " to American citizens," in which, referring to what he
called the proposed "banishment" of the Mormons, he said: "Ye
fathers of the Revolution ! Ye patriots of 76 ! Is it for this ye
toiled and suffered and bled ? . . . Must they be driven from this
renowned republic to seek an asylum among other nations, or
wander as hopeless exiles among the red men of the western wilds ?
Americans, will ye suffer this ? Editors, will ye not speak ? Fel
low-citizens, will ye not awake?" 1
Their destination could not have been determined in advance,
because so little was known of the Far West. The territory now
embraced in the boundaries of California and Utah was then under
Mexican government, and " California " was, in common use, a
name covering the Pacific coast and a stretch of land extending
indefinitely eastward. Oregon had been heard of a good deal,
and it, as well as Vancouver Island, had been spoken of as a pos
sible goal if a westward migration became necessary. Lorenzo
Snow, in describing the westward start, said : " On the first of
March, the ground covered with snow, we broke encampment
about noon, and soon nearly four hundred wagons were moving to
we knew not where." 2
The first step taken by the Mormon authorities to explain the
removal to their people was an explanation made at a conference
in the new Temple, three days after the correspondence with the
commission closed. P. P. Pratt stated to the conference that the
removal meant that the Lord designed to lead them to a wider field
of action, where no one could say that they crowded their neigh
bors. In such a place they could, in five years, become richer
than they then were, and could build a bigger and a better Temple.
" It has cost us," said he, " more for sickness, defence against
mob exactions, persecutions, and to purchase lands in this place,
than as much improvement will cost in another." It was then
voted unanimously that the Saints would move en masse to the
West, and that every man would give all the help he could to assist
the poorer members of the community in making the journey. 3
1 Millennial Star, Vol. VI, p. 193. 2 "Biography of Lorenzo Snow," p. 86.
8 Millennial Star, Vol. VI, p. 196. Wilford Woodruff, in an appeal to the Saints in
Great Britain, asked them to buy Mormon books in order to assist the Presidency with
funds with which to take the poor Saints with them westward.
PREPARATIONS FOR THE LONG MARCH 359
Brigham Young next issued an address to the church at large,
stating that even the Mormon Bible had foretold what might be
the conduct of the American nation toward " the Israel of the last
days," and urging all to prepare to make the journey. A confer
ence of Mormons in New York City on November 12, 1845, at
tended by brethren from New York State, New Jersey, and
Connecticut, voted that "the church in this city move, one and all,
west of the Rocky Mountains between this and next season, either
by land or by water."
Active preparations for the removal began in and around
Nauvoo at once. All who had property began trading it for arti
cles that would be needed on the journey. Real estate was traded
or sold for what it would bring, and the Eagle was full of adver
tisements of property to sell, including the Mansion House, Ma
sonic Hall, and the Armory. The Mormons would load in wagons
what furniture they could not take West with them, and trade it
in the neighborhood for things more useful. The church author
ities advertised for one thousand yokes of oxen and all the cattle
and mules that might be offered, oxen bringing from $40 to $50
a yoke. The necessary outfit for a family of five was calculated
to be one wagon, three yokes of cattle, two cows, two beef cattle,
three sheep, one thousand pounds of flour, twenty pounds of sugar,
a tent and bedding, seeds, farming tools, and a rifle all estimated
to cost about $250. Three or four hundred Mormons were sent
to more distant points in Illinois and Iowa for draft animals, and,
when the Western procession started, they boasted that they owned
the best cattle and horses in the country.
In the city the men were organized into companies, each of
which included such workmen as wagonmakers, blacksmiths, and
carpenters, and the task of making wagons, tents, etc., was hurried
to the utmost. "Nauvoo was constituted into one great wagon
shop," wrote John Taylor. If any members of the community
were not skilled in the work now in demand, they were sent to
St. Louis, Galena, Burlington, or some other of the larger towns,
to find profitable employment during the winter, and thus add to
the moving fund.
On January 20, 1846, the High Council issued a circular an
nouncing that, early in March, a company of hardy young men,
with some families, would be sent into the Western country, with
360 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
farming utensils and seed, to put in a crop and erect houses for
others who would follow as soon as the grass was high enough for
pasture.
This circular contained also the following declaration :
" We venture to say that our brethren have made no counterfeit money ;
and if any miller has received $1500 base coin in a week from us, let him testify.
If any land agent of the general government has received wagon loads of base
coin from us in payment for lands, let him say so. Or if he has received any at
all, let him tell it. These witnesses against us have spun a long yarn."
This referred to the charges of counterfeiting, which had re
sulted in the indictment of some of the Twelve at Springfield, and
which hastened the first departures across the river. That coun
terfeiting was common in the Western country at that time is a
matter of history, and the Mormons themselves had accused such
leading members of their church as Cowdery of being engaged in
the business. The persons indicted at Springfield were never
tried, so that the question of their guilt cannot be decided. Tul-
lidge s pro-Mormon " Life of Brigham Young " mentions an
incident which occurred when the refugees had gone only as far
as the Chariton River in Iowa, which both admits that they had
counterfeit money among them, and shows the mild view which a
Bishop of the church took of the offence of passing it :
" About this time also an attempt was made to pass counterfeit money. It
was the case of a young man who bought from a Mr. Cochran a yoke of oxen, a
cow and a chain for $50. Bishop Miller wrote to Brigham to excuse the young
man, but to help Cochran to restitution. The President was roused to great an
ger, the Bishop was severely rebuked, and the anathemas of the leader from that
time were thundered against thieves and * bogus men, and passers of bogus
money. . . . The following is a minute of his diary of a council on the next
Sunday, with the twelve bishops and captains : i I told them I was satisfied the
course we were taking would prove to be the salvation, not only of the camp but
of the Saints left behind. But there had been things done which were wrong.
Some pleaded our sufferings from persecution, and the loss of our homes and
property, as a justification for retaliating on our enemies ; but such a course tends
to destroy the Kingdom of God."
As soon as the leaders decided to make a start, they sent a
petition to the governor of Iowa Territory, explaining their inten
tion to pass through that domain, and asking for his protection
during the temporary stay they might make there. No opposition
to them seems to have been shown by the lowans, who on the con-
PREPARATIONS FOR THE LONG MARCH 361
trary employed them as laborers, sold them such goods as they
could pay for, and invited their musicians to give concerts at the
resting points. Lee s experience in Iowa confirmed him, he says,
in his previous opinion that much of the Mormons trouble was due
to "wild, ignorant fanatics"; "for," he adds, "only a few years
before, these same people were our most bitter enemies, and, when
we came again and behaved ourselves, they treated us with the
utmost kindness and hospitality." l
How much property the Mormons sacrificed in Illinois cannot
be ascertained with accuracy. An investigation of all the testi
mony obtainable on the subject leads to the conclusion that a good
deal of their real estate was disposed of at a fair price, and that
there were many cases of severe individual loss. Major Warren,
in a communication to the Signal from Nauvoo, in May, 1846,
said that few of the Mormons farms remained unsold, and that
three-fourths of the improved property on the flat in Nauvoo had
been disposed of.
A correspondent of the Signal, answering on April n an
assertion that the Mormons had a good deal of real estate to dis
pose of before they could leave, replied that most of their farms
were sold, and that there were more inquiries after the others than
there were farms. As to the real estate in the city, he explained :
" It is scattered over an area of eight or ten square miles, and con
tains from 1500 to 2000 houses, four-fifths of which, at least, are
wretched cabins of no permanent value whatever. There are,
however, 200 or 300 houses, large and small, built of brick and
other desirable material. Such will mostly sell, though many of
them, owing to the distance from the river and other unfavorable
circumstances, only at a very great sacrifice." 2
A general epistle to the church from the Twelve, dated Win
ter Quarters, December 23, 1847, stated that the property of the
Saints in Hancock County was " little or no better than con
fiscated." 3
1 " Mormonism Unveiled," p. 179.
2 " A score or more of chimneys on the northern boundary of the city marked the
site of houses deliberately burned for fuel during the winter of 1845-1846." Hancock
Eagle, May 29, 1846.
8 See John Taylor s address, p. 411 post.
CHAPTER II
FROM THE MISSISSIPPI TO THE MISSOURI
THE first party to leave Nauvoo began crossing the Mississippi
early in February, 1846, using flatboats propelled by oars for the
wagons and animals, and small boats for persons and the lighter
baggage. It soon became colder and snow fell, and after the i6th
those who remained were able to cross on the ice.
Brigham Young, with a few attendants, had crossed on Febru
ary 10, and selected a point on Sugar Creek as a gathering place. 1
He seems to have returned secretly to the city for a few days to
arrange for the departure of his family, and Lee says that he did
not have teams enough at that time for their conveyance, adding,
" such as were in danger of being arrested were helped away first."
John Taylor says that those who crossed the river in February
included the Twelve, the High Council, and about four hundred
families. 2
" Camp of Israel " was the name adopted for the camp in which
President Young and the Twelve might be, and this name moved
westward with them. The camp on Sugar Creek was the first of
these, and there, on February 17, Young addressed the company
from a wagon. He outlined the journey before them, declaring
that order would be preserved, and that all who wished to live in
peace when the actual march began "must toe the mark," ending
with a call for a show of hands by those who wanted to make the
move. The vote in favor of going West was unanimous. 3
1 " Mormonism Unveiled," p. 171.
2 " February 14 I crossed the river with my family and teams, and encamped not
far from the Sugar Creek encampment, taking possession of a vacant log house on
account of the extreme cold." P. P. PRATT, "Autobiography," p. 378.
3 " At a Council in Nauvoo of the men who were to act as the captains of the peo
ple in that famous exodus, one after the other brought up difficulties in their path, until
the prospect was without one poor speck of daylight. The good nature of George A.
Smith was provoked at last, when he sprang up and observed, with his quaint humor,
that had now a touch of the grand in it, If there is no God in Israel we are a sucked-in
set of fellows. But I am going to take my family and the Lord will open the wav, "
TULLIDGE, " History of Salt Lake City," p. 1 7.
362
FROM THE MISSISSIPPI TO THE MISSOURI 363
The turning out of doors in midwinter of so many persons of
all ages and both sexes, accustomed to the shelter of comfortable
homes, entailed much suffering. A covered wagon or a tent is
a poor protection from wintry blasts, and a camp fire in the open
air, even with a bright sky overhead, is a poor substitute for
a stove. Their first move, therefore, gave the emigrants a taste of
the trials they were to endure. While they were at Sugar Creek
the thermometer dropped to 20 below zero, and heavy falls of
snow occurred. Several children were born at this point, before
the actual Western journey began, and the sick and the feeble
entered upon their sufferings at once. Before that camp broke
up it was found necessary, too, to buy grain for the animals.
The camp was directly in charge of the Twelve until the Chari-
ton River was reached. There, on March 27, it was divided into
companies containing from 50 to 60 wagons, the companies being
put in charge of captains of fifties and captains of tens sug
gesting Smith s " Army of Zion." The captains of fifties were
responsible directly to the High Council. There were also a com
missary general, and, for each fifty, a contracting commissary "to
make righteous distribution of grains and provisions." Strict order
was maintained by day while the column was in motion, and, when
ever there was a halt, special care was taken to secure the cattle
and the horses, while at night watches were constantly maintained.
The story of the march to the Missouri does not contain a mention
of any hostile meeting with Indians.
The company remained on Sugar Creek for about a month,
receiving constant accessions from across the river, and on the first
of March the real westward movement began. The first objective
point was Council Bluffs, Iowa, on the Missouri River, about 400
miles distant ; but on the way several camps were established, at
which some of the emigrants stopped to plant seeds and make
other arrangements for the comfort of those who were to follow.
The first of these camps was located at Richardson s Point in Lee
County, Iowa, 55 miles from Nauvoo; the next on Chariton River;
the next on Locust Creek ; the next, named by them Garden Grove,
on a branch of Grand River, some 150 miles from Nauvoo; and
another, which P. P. Pratt named Mt. Pisgah, on Grand River, 138
miles east of Council Bluffs. The camp on the Missouri first made
was called Winter Quarters, and was situated just north of the
364 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
present site of Omaha, where the town now called Florence is
located. It was not until July that the main body arrived at
Council Bluffs.
The story of this march is a remarkable one in many ways.
Begun in winter, with the ground soon covered with snow, the
travellers encountered arctic weather, with the inconveniences of
ice, rain, and mud, until May. After a snowfall they would have
to scrape the ground when they had selected a place for pitching
the tents. After a rain, or one of the occasional thaws, the coun
try (there were no regular roads) would be practically impassable
for teams, and they would have to remain in camp until the water
disappeared, and the soil would bear the weight of the wagons
after it was corduroyed with branches of trees. At one time bad
roads caused a halt of two or three weeks. Fuel was not always
abundant, and after a cold night it was no unusual thing to find
wet garments and bedding frozen stiff in the morning. Here is
an extract from Orson Pratt s diary :
" April 9. The rain poured down in torrents. With great exertion a part of
the camp were enabled to get about six miles, while others were stuck fast in the
deep mud. We encamped at a point of timber about sunset, after being drenched
several hours in rain. We were obliged to cut brush and limbs of trees, and
throw them upon the ground in our tents, to keep our beds from sinking in the
mud. Our animals were turned loose to look out for themselves ; the bark and
limbs of trees were their principal food." 1
Game was plenty, deer, wild turkeys, and prairie hens, but
while the members of this party were better supplied with provi
sions than their followers, there was no surplus among them, and
by April many families were really destitute of food. Eliza Snow
mentions that her brother Lorenzo one of the captains of tens
had two wagons, a small tent, a cow, and a scanty supply of
provisions and clothing, and that " he was much better off than
some of our neighbors." Heber C. Kimball, one of the Twelve,
says of the situation of his family, that he had the ague, and his
wife was in bed with it, with two children, one a few days old,
lying by her, and the oldest child well enough to do any house
hold work was a boy who could scarcely carry a two-quart pail of
water. Mrs. F. D. Richards, whose husband was ordered on a
mission to England while the camp was at Sugar Creek, was pre-
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XI, p. 370.
FROM THE MISSISSIPPI TO THE MISSOURI 365
maturely confined in a wagon on the way to the Missouri. The
babe died, as did an older daughter. " Our situation," she says,
" was pitiable ; I had not suitable food for myself or my child ;
the severe rain prevented our having any fire."
The adaptability of the American pioneer to his circum
stances was shown during this march in many ways. When a
halt occurred, a shoemaker might be seen looking for a stone to
serve as a lap stone in his repair work, or a gunsmith mending a
rifle, or a weaver at a wheel or loom. The women learned that
the jolting wagons would churn their milk, and, when a halt
occurred, it took them but a short time to heat an oven hollowed
out of a hillside, in which to bake the bread already " raised."
Colonel Kane says that he saw a piece of cloth, the wool for which
was sheared, dyed, spun, and woven during this march.
The leaders of the company understood the people they had in
charge, and they looked out for their good spirits. Captain Pitt s
brass band was included in the equipment, and the camp was not
thoroughly organized before, on a clear evening, a dance the
Mormons have always been great dancers was announced, and
the visiting lowans looked on in amazement, to see these exiles
from comfortable homes thus enjoying themselves on the open
prairie, the highest dignitaries leading in Virginia reels and
Copenhagen jigs.
John Taylor, whose pictures of this march, painted with a view
to attract English emigrants, were always highly colored, estimated
that, when he left Council Bluffs for England, in July, 1846, there
were in camp and on the way 15,000 Mormons, with 3000 wagons,
30,000 head of cattle, a great many horses and mules, and a vast
number of sheep. Colonel Kane says that, besides the wagons,
there was " a large number of nondescript turnouts, the motley
makeshifts of poverty ; from the unsuitable heavy cart that lum
bered on mysteriously, with its sick driver hidden under its coun
terpane cover, to the crazy two-wheeled trundle, such as our own
poor employ in the conveyance of their slop barrels, this pulled
along, it may be, by a little dry-dugged heifer, and rigged up only
to drag some such light weight as a baby, a sack of meal or a pack
of clothes and bedding." l
There was no large supply of cash to keep this army and its
1 " The Mormons," a lecture by Colonel T. L. Kane.
366 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
animals in provisions. Every member who could contribute to
the commissary department by his labor was expected to do so.
The settlers in the territory seem to have been in need of such
assistance, and were very glad to pay for it in grain, hay, or provi
sions. A letter from one of the emigrants to a friend in England l
said that, in every settlement they passed through, they found
plenty of work, digging wells and cellars, splitting rails, thresh
ing, ploughing, and clearing land. Some of the men in the spring
were sent south into Missouri, not more than forty miles from Far
West, in search of employment. This they readily secured, no one
raising the least objection to a Mormon who was not to be a perma
nent settler. Others were sent into that state to exchange horses,
feather beds, and other personal property for cows and provisions.
A part of the plan of operations provided for sending out
pioneers to select the route and camping sites, to make bridges
where they were necessary, and to open roads. The party car
ried light boats, but a good many bridges seem to have been re
quired because of the spring freshets. It was while resting after
a march through prolonged rain and mud, late in April, that it was
decided to establish the permanent camp called Garden Grove.
Hundreds of men were at once set to work, making log houses
and fences, digging wells, and ploughing, and soon hundreds of
acres were enclosed and planted.
The progress made during April was exasperatingly slow.
There was soft mud during the day, and rough ruts in the early
morning. Sometimes camp would be pitched after making only
a mile ; sometimes they would think they had done well if they
had made six. The animals, in fact, were so thin from lack of
food that they could not do a day s work even under favorable cir
cumstances. The route, after the middle of April, was turned to
the north, and they then travelled over a broken prairie country,
where the game had been mostly killed off by the Pottawottomi
Indians, whose trails and abandoned camps were encountered
constantly.
On May 16, as the two Pratts and others were in advance,
locating the route, P. P. Pratt discovered the site of what was
called Mt. Pisgah (the post-office of Mt. Pisgah of to-day) which
he thus describes : " Riding about three or four miles over beauti-
1 Millennial Star, Vol. VIII, p. 59.
FROM THE MISSISSIPPI TO THE MISSOURI 367
ful prairies, I came suddenly to some round sloping hills, grassy,
and crowned with beautiful groves of timber, while alternate open
groves and forests seemed blended into all the beauty and har
mony of an English park. Beneath and beyond, on the west,
rolled a main branch of Grand River, with its rich bottoms of
alternate forest and prairie." l As soon as Young and the other
high dignitaries arrived, it was decided to form a settlement there,
and several thousand acres were enclosed for cultivation, and many
houses were built.
Young and most of the first party continued their westward
march through an uninhabited country, where they had to make
their own roads. But they met with no opposition from Indians,
and the head of the procession reached the banks of the Missouri
near Council Bluffs in June, other companies following in quite
rapid succession.
The company which was the last to leave Nauvoo (on Septem
ber 17), driven out by the Hancock County forces, endured suffer
ings much greater than did the early companies who were conducted
by Brigham Young. The latter comprised the well-to-do of the
city and all the high officers of the church, while the remnant left
behind was made up of the sick and those who had not succeeded
in securing the necessary equipment for the journey. Bray man,
in his second report to Governor Ford, said :
" Those of the Mormons who were wealthy or possessed desirable real estate
in the city had sold and departed last spring. I am inclined to the opinion that
the leaders of the church took with them all the movable wealth of their people
that they could control, without making proper provision for those who remained.
Consequently there was much destitution among them ; much sickness and dis
tress. I traversed the city, and visited in company with a practising physician
the sick, and almost invariably found them destitute, to a painful extent, of the
comforts of life." 2
It was on the i8th of September that the last of these unfor
tunates crossed the river, making 640 who were then collected on
the west bank. Illness had not been accepted by the " posse" as
an excuse for delay. Thomas Bullock says that his family, con
sisting of a husband, wife, blind mother-in-law, four children, and
an aunt, " all shaking with the ague," were given twenty minutes
1 Pratt s "Autobiography," p. 381.
2 Warsaw Signal, October 20, 1846.
368 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
in which to get their goods into two wagons and start. 1 The
west bank in Iowa, where the people landed, was marshy and
unhealthy, and the suffering at what was called " Poor Camp," a
short distance above Montrose, was intense. Severe storms were
frequent, and the best cover that some of the people could obtain
was a tent made of a blanket or a quilt, or even of brush, or the
shelter to be had under the wagons of those who were fortunate
enough to be thus equipped. Bullock thus describes one night s
experience : " On Monday, September 23, while in my wagon on
the slough opposite Nauvoo, a most tremendous thunderstorm
passed over, which drenched everything we had. Not a dry thing
left us the bed a pool of water, my wife and mother-in-law lading
it out by basinfuls, and I in a burning fever and insensible, with all
my hair shorn off to cure me of my disease. A poor woman stood
among the bushes, wrapping her cloak around her three little
orphan children, to shield them from the storm as well as she
could." The supply of food, too, was limited, their flour being
wheat ground in hand mills, and even this at times failing; then
roasted corn was substituted, the grain being mixed by some with
slippery elm bark to eke it out. 2 The people of Hancock County
contributed something in the way of clothing and provisions and
a little money in aid of these sufferers, and the trustees of the
church who were left in Nauvoo to sell property gave what help
they could.
On October 9 wagons sent back by the earlier emigrants for
their unfortunate brethren had arrived, and the start for the Mis
souri began. Bullock relates that, just as they were ready to set
out, a great flight of quails settled in the camp, running around the
wagons so near that they could be knocked over with sticks, and
the children caught some alive. One bird lighted upon their tea
board, in the midst of the cups, while they were at breakfast. It
was estimated that five hundred of the birds were flying about the
camp that day, but when one hundred had been killed or caught,
the captain forbade the killing of any more, " as it was a direct
manifestation and visitation by the Lord." Young closes his
account of this incident with the words, " Tell this to the nations
of the earth! Tell it to the kings and nobles and great ones."
1 Millennial Star, Vol. X, p. 28.
a Bancroft s " History of Utah," p. 233.
FROM THE MISSISSIPPI TO THE MISSOURI 369
Wells, in his manuscript, "Utah Notes" (quoted by H. H. Ban
croft), says : " This phenomenon extended some thirty or forty
miles along the river, and was generally observed. The quail in
immense quantities had attempted to cross the river, but this
being beyond their strength, had dropped into the river boats or
on the banks." 1
The westward march of these refugees was marked by more
hardships than that of the earlier bodies, because they were in
bad physical condition and were in no sense properly equipped.
Council Bluffs was not reached till November 27.
The division of the emigrants and their progress was thus
noted in an interview, printed in the Nauvoo Eagle of July 10,
with a person who had left Council Bluffs on June 26, coming East.
The advance company, including the Twelve, with a train of 1000
wagons, was then encamped on the east bank of the Missouri, the
men being busy building boats. The second company, 3000 strong,
were at Mt. Pisgah, recruiting their cattle for a new start. The
third company had halted at Garden Grove. Between Garden
Grove and the Mississippi River the Eagle s informant counted
more than 1000 wagons on their way west. He estimated the total
number of teams engaged in this movement at about 3700, and the
number of persons on the road at 12,000. The Eagle added:
" From 2000 to 3000 have disappeared from Nauvoo in various
directions, and about 800 or less still remain in Illinois. This com
prises the entire Mormon population that once flourished in Han
cock County. In their palmy days they probably numbered 15,000
or 16,000."
The camp that had been formed at Mt. Pisgah suffered
severely from the start. Provisions were scarce, and a number
of families were dependent for food on neighbors who had little
enough for themselves. Fodder for the cattle gave out, too, and
in the early spring the only substitute was buds and twigs of trees.
Snow notes as a calamity the death of his milch cow, which had
been driven all the way from Ohio. Along with their destitution
came sickness, and at times during the following winter it seemed
as if there were not enough of the well to supply the needed nurses.
So many deaths occurred during that autumn and winter that a
funeral came to be conducted with little ceremony, and even the
1 Bancroft s " History of Utah," p. 234, note.
2B
3/0 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
customary burial clothes could not be provided. 1 Elder W. Hunt-
ington, the presiding officer of the settlement, was among the early
victims, and Lorenzo Snow, the recent head of the Mormon
church, succeeded him. During Snow s stay there three of his
four wives gave birth to children.
Notwithstanding these depressing circumstances, the camp was
by no means inactive during the winter. Those who were well
were kept busy repairing wagons, and making, in a rude way, such
household articles as were most needed chairs, tubs, and baskets.
Parties were sent out to the settlements within reach to work,
accepting food and clothing as pay, and two elders were selected
to visit the states in search of contributions. These efforts were
so successful that about $600 was raised, and the camp sent to
Brigham Young at Council Bluffs a load of provisions as a New
Year s gift.
The usual religious meetings were kept up during the winter,
and the utility of amusements in such a settlement was not for
gotten. Ingenuity was taxed to give variety to the social enter
tainments. Snow describes a " party " that he gave in his family
mansion "a one-story edifice about fifteen by thirty feet, con
structed of logs, with a dirt roof, a ground floor, and a chimney
made of sod." Many a man compelled to house four wives (one of
them with three sons by a former husband) in such a mansion
would have felt excused from entertaining company. But the
Snows did not. For a carpet the floor was strewn with straw.
The logs of the sides of the room were concealed with sheets.
Hollowed turnips provided candelabras, which were stuck around
the walls and suspended from the roof. The company were enter
tained with songs, recitations, conundrums, etc., and all voted that
they had a very jolly time.
In the larger camps the travellers were accustomed to make
what they called "boweries" large arbors covered with a frame
work of poles, and thatched with brush or branches. The making
of such "boweries " was continued by the Saints in Utah.
1 " Biography of Lorenzo Snow," p. 90.
CHAPTER III
THE MORMON BATTALION
DURING the halt of a part of the main body of the Mormons at
Mt. Pisgah, an incident occurred which has been made the sub
ject of a good deal of literature, and has been held up by the Mor
mons as a proof both of the severity of the American government
toward them and of their own patriotism. There is so little ground
for either of these claims that the story of the Battalion should be
correctly told.
When hostilities against Mexico began, early in 1846, the plan
of campaign designed by the United States authorities comprised
an invasion of Mexico at two points, by Generals Taylor and Wool,
and a descent on Santa Fe, and thence a march into California.
This march was to be made by General Stephen F. Kearney, who
was to command the volunteers raised in Missouri, and the few
hundred regular troops then at Fort Leavenworth. In gathering
his force General (then Colonel) Kearney sent Captain J. Allen
of the First Dragoons to the Mormons at Mt. Pisgah, not with an
order of any kind, but with a written proposition, dated June 26,
1846, that he " would accept the service, for twelve months, of four
or five companies of Mormon men" (each numbering from 73 to
109), to unite with the Army of the West at Santa Fe", and march
thence to California, where they would be discharged. These vol
unteers were to have the regular volunteers pay and allowances,
and permission to retain at their discharge the arms and equipments
with which they would be provided, the age limit to be between eigh
teen and forty-five years. The most practical inducement held
out to the Mormons to enlist was thus explained : " Thus is offered
to the Mormon people now this year an opportunity of send
ing a portion of their young and intelligent men to the ultimate
destination of their whole people, and entirely at the expense of
3/2 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
the United States ; and this advance party can thus pave the way
and look out the land for their brethren to come after them."
There was nothing like a " demand " on the Mormons in this
invitation, and the advantage of accepting it was largely on the
Mormon side. If it had not been, it would have been rejected.
That the government was in no stress for volunteers is shown by
the fact that General Kearney reported to the War Department in
the following August that he had more troops than he needed, and
that he proposed to use some of them to reenforce General Wool. 1
The initial suggestion about the raising of these Mormon vol
unteers came from a Mormon source. 2 In the spring of 1846
Jesse C. Little, a Mormon elder of the Eastern states, visited
Washington with letters of introduction from Governor Steele of
New Hampshire and Colonel Thomas L. Kane of Philadelphia,
hoping to secure from the government a contract to carry provi
sions or naval stores to the Pacific coast, and thus pay part of the
expense of conveying Mormons to California by water. Accord
ing to Little, this matter was laid before the cabinet, who proposed
that he should visit the Mormon camp and raise 1000 picked men
to make a dash for California overland, while as many more would
be sent around Cape Horn from the Eastern states. This big
scheme, according to Mormon accounts, was upset by one of the
hated Missourians, Senator Thomas H. Benton, whose Macchiavel-
lian mind had designed the plan of taking from the Mormons 500
of their best men for the Battalion, thus crippling them while in
the Indian country. All this part of their account is utterly
unworthy of belief. If 500 volunteers for the army "crippled"
the immigrants where they were, what would have been their con
dition if 1000 of their number had been hurried on to California? 3
Aside from the opportunity afforded by General Kearney s
invitation to send a pioneer band, without expense to themselves,
to the Pacific coast, the offer gave the Mormons great, and greatly
needed, pecuniary assistance. P. P. Pratt, on his way East to visit
1 Chase s " History of the Polk Administration," p. 16.
2 Tullidge s " Life of Brigham Young," p. 47.
8 Delegate Bernhisel, in a letter to President Fillmore (December I, 1851), replying
to a charge by Judge Brocchus that the 24th of July orators had complained of the con
duct of the government in taking the Battalion from them for service against Mexico,
said, "The government did not take from us a battalion of men," the Mormons furnish
ing them in response to a call for volunteers.
THE MORMON BATTALION 373
England with Taylor and Hyde, found the Battalion at Fort Leav-
enworth, and was sent back to the camp l with between $5000 and
$6000, a part of the Battalion s government allowance. This was
a godsend where cash was so scarce, as it enabled the commissary
officers to make purchases in St. Louis, where prices were much
lower than in western Iowa. 2 John Taylor, in a letter to the Saints
in Great Britain on arriving there, quoted the acceptance of this
Battalion as evidence that " the President of the United States is
favorably disposed to us," and said that their employment in the
army, as there was no prospect of any fighting, " amounts to the
same as paying them for going where they were destined to go
without." 3
The march of the federal force that went from Santa Fe (where
the Mormon Battalion arrived in October) to California was a nota
ble one, over unexplored deserts, where food was scarce and water
for long distances unobtainable. Arriving at the junction of the
Gila and Colorado rivers on December 26, they received there an
order to march to San Diego, California, and arrived there on Janu
ary 29, after a march of over two thousand miles.
The war in California was over at that date, but the Battalion did
garrison duty at San Luis Rey, and then at Los Angeles. Vari
ous propositions for their reenlistment were made to them, but
their church officers opposed this, and were obeyed except in some
individual instances. About 1 50 of those who set out from Santa Fe
were sent back invalided before California was reached, and the
number mustered out was only about 240. These at once started
eastward, but, owing to news received concerning the hardships of
the first Mormons who arrived in Salt Lake Valley, many of them
decided to remain in California, and a number were hired by Sutter,
on whose mill-race the first discovery of gold in that state was made.
Those who kept on reached Salt Lake Valley on October 16, 1847.
Thirty-two of their number continued their march to Winter Quar
ters on the Missouri, where they arrived on December 18.
Mormon historians not only present the raising of the Battalion
as a proof of patriotism, but ascribe to the members of that force
1 "Unexpected as this visit was, a member of my family had been warned in a
dream, and had predicted my arrival and the day." PRATT, "Autobiography," p. 384.
2 " History of Brigham Young," Ms., 1846, p. 150.
8 Millennial Star, Vol. VIII, p. 117.
3/4 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
the credit of securing California to the United States, and the dis
covery of gold. 1
When Elder Little left Washington for the West with despatches
for General Kearney concerning the Mormon enlistments, he was
accompanied by Colonel Thomas L. Kane, a brother of the famous
Arctic explorer. On his way West Colonel Kane visited Nauvoo
while the Hancock County posse were in possession of it, saw the
expelled Mormons in their camp across the river, followed the
trail of those who had reached the Missouri, and lay ill among
them in the unhealthy Missouri bottom in 1847. From that time
Colonel Kane became one of the most useful agents of the Mormon
church in the Eastern states, and, as we shall see, performed for
them services which only a man devoted to the church, but not
openly a member of it, could have accomplished.
It was stated at the time that Colonel Kane was baptized by
Young at Council Bluffs in 1847. His future course gives every
reason to accept the correctness of this view. He served the Mor
mons in the East as a Jesuit would have served his order in earlier
days in France or Spain. He bore false witness in regard to
polygamy and to the character of men high in the church as
unblushingly as a Brigham Young or a Kimball could have done.
His lecture before the Historical Society of Pennsylvania in 1850
was highly colored where it stated facts, and so inaccurate in other
parts that it is of little use to the historian. A Mormon writer who
denied that Kane was a member of the church offered as proof of
this the statement that, had Kane been a Mormon, Young would
have commanded him instead of treating him with so much respect.
But Young was not a fool, and was quite capable of appreciating
the value of a secret agent at the federal capital.
1 "The Mormons have always been disposed to overestimate the value of their ser
vices during this period, attaching undue importance to the current rumors of intending
revolt on the part of the Californians, and of the approach of Mexican troops to recon
quer the province. They also claim the credit of having enabled Kearney to sustain his
authority against the revolutionary pretensions of Fremont. The merit of this claim
will be apparent to the readers of preceding chapters." BANCROFT, " History of Cali
fornia," Vol. V, p. 487.
CHAPTER IV
THE CAMPS ON THE MISSOURI
MORMON accounts of the westward movement from Nauvoo
represent that the delay which occurred when they reached the
Missouri River was an interruption of their leaders plans, attribut
ing it to the weakening of their force by the enlistment of the
Battalion, and the necessity of waiting for the last Mormons who
were driven out of Nauvoo. But after their experiences in a
winter march from the Mississippi, with something like a base of
supplies in reach, it is inconceivable that the Council would have
led their followers farther into the unknown West that same year,
when their stores were so nearly exhausted, and there was no
region before them in which they could make purchases, even if
they had the means to do so.
When the Mormons arrived on the Missouri they met with a
very friendly welcome. They found the land east of the river
occupied by the Pottawottomi Indians, who had recently been
removed from their old home in what is now Michigan and north
ern Illinois and Indiana ; and the west side occupied by the
Omahas, who had once " considered all created things as made
for their peculiar use and benefit," but whom the smallpox and
the Sioux had many years before reduced to a miserable remnant.
The Mormons won the heart of the Pottawottomies by giving
them a concert at their agent s residence. A council followed, at
which their chief, Pied Riche, surnamed Le Clerc, made an address,
giving the Mormons permission to cut wood, make improvements,
and live where they pleased on their lands.
The principal camp on the Missouri, known as Winter Quar
ters, was on the west bank, on what is now the site of Florence,
Nebraska. A council was held with the Omaha chiefs in the latter
part of August, and Big Elk, in reply to an address by Brigham
375
376 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
Young, recited their sufferings at the hands of the Sioux, and told
the whites that they could stay there for two years and have the
use of firewood and timber, and that the young men of the Ind
ians would watch their cattle and warn them of any danger. In
return, the Indians asked for the use of teams to draw in their
harvest, for assistance in housebuilding, ploughing, and black-
smithing, and that a traffic in goods be established. An agree
ment to this effect was put in writing.
The arrival of party after party of Mormons made an unusually
busy scene on the river banks. On the east side every hill that
helped to make up the Council Bluffs was occupied with tents and
wagons, while the bottom was crowded with cattle and vehicles
on the way to the west side. Kane counted four thousand head
of cattle from a single elevation, and says that the Mormon herd
numbered thirty thousand. Along the banks of the river and
creeks the women were doing their family washing, while men
were making boats and superintending in every way the passage
of the river by some, and the preparations for a stay on the east
side by others building huts, breaking the sod for grain, etc.
The Pottawottomies had cut an approach to the river opposite a
trading post of the American Fur Company, and established a
ferry there, and they now did a big business carrying over, in their
flat-bottom boats, families and their wagons, and the cows and
sheep. As for the oxen, they were forced to swim, and great times
the boys had, driving them to the bank, compelling them to take
the initial plunge, and then guiding them across by taking the
lead astride some animal s back.
Sickness in the camps began almost as soon as they were
formed. " Misery Bottom," as it was then called, received the rich
deposit brought down by the river in the spring, and, when the river
retired into its banks, became a series of mud flats, described as
" mere quagmires of black dirt, stretching along for miles, unvaried
except by the limbs of half-buried carrion, tree trunks, or by
occasional yellow pools of what the children called frog s spawn ;
all together steaming up vapors redolent of the savor of death."
In the previous year not an unusually bad one one-ninth of
the Indian population on these flats had died in two months. The
Mormons suffered not only from the malaria of the river bottom,
but from the breaking up of many acres of the soil in their farm
ing operations.
THE CAMPS ON THE MISSOURI 377
The illness was diagnosed as the usual malarial fever, accom
panied in many cases with scorbutic symptoms, which they called
" black canker," due to a lack of vegetable food. In and around
Winter Quarters there were more than 600 burials before cold
weather set in, and 334 out of a population of 3483 were reported
on the sick list as late as December. The Papillon Camp, on the
Little Butterfly River, was a deadly site. Kane, who had the
fever there, in passing by the place earlier in the season had
opened an Indian mound, leaving a deep trench through it. "My
first airing," he says, "upon my convalescence, took me to the
mound, which, probably to save digging, had been readapted to
its original purpose. In this brief interval they had filled the
trench with bodies, and furrowed the ground with graves around
it, like the ploughing of a field."
But amid such affliction, in which cows went unmilked and
corpses became loathsome before men could be found to bury them,
preparations continued at all the camps for the winter s stay and
next year s supplies. Brigham Young, writing from Winter Quar
ters on January 6, 1847, to the elders in England, said : "We have
upward of seven hundred houses in our miniature city, composed
mostly of logs in the body, covered with puncheon, straw, and dirt,
which are warm and wholesome ; a few are composed of turf, wil
lows, straw, etc., which are comfortable this winter, but will not
endure the thaws, rain, and sunshine of spring." l This city was
divided into twenty-two wards, each presided over by a Bishop.
The principal buildings were the Council House, thirty-two by
twenty-four feet, and Dr. Richard s house, called the Octagon,
and described as resembling the heap of earth piled up over pota
toes to shield them from frost. In this Octagon the High Council
held most of their meetings. A great necessity was a flouring mill,
and accordingly they sent to St. Louis for the stones and gearing,
and, under Brigham Young s personal direction as a carpenter, the
mill was built and made ready for use in January. The money sent
back by the Battalion was expended in St. Louis for sugar and other
needed articles.
As usual with the pictures sent to Europe, Young s description
of the comfort of the winter camp was exaggerated. P. P. Pratt,
who arrived at Winter Quarters from his mission to Europe on
April 8, 1847, says :
1 Millennial Star, Vol. IX, p. 97.
378 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
" I found my family all alive, and dwelling in a log cabin. They had, however,
suffered much from cold, hunger, and sickness. They had oftentimes lived for
several days on a little corn meal, ground in a hand mill, with no other food.
One of the family was then lying very sick with the scurvy a disease which had
been very prevalent in camp during the winter, and of which many had died. I
found, on inquiry, that the winter had been very severe, the snow deep, and con
sequently that all my four horses were lost, and I afterward ascertained that out
of twelve cows, I had but seven left, and, out of some twelve or fourteen oxen,
only four or five were saved."
If this was the plight in which the spring found the family of
one of the Twelve, imagination can picture the suffering of the
hundreds who had arrived with less provision against the rigors of
such a winter climate.
CHAPTER V
THE PIONEER TRIP ACROSS THE PLAINS
DURING the winter of 1846-1847 preparations were under way
to send an organization of pioneers across the plains and beyond
the Rocky Mountains, to select a new dwelling-place for the Saints.
The only "revelation " to Brigham Young found in the " Book of
Doctrine and Covenants " is a direction about the organization and
mission of this expedition. It was dated January 14, 1847, an d it
directed the organization of the pioneers into companies, with cap
tains of hundreds, of fifties, and of tens, and a president and two
counsellors at their head, under charge of the Twelve. Each com
pany was to provide its own equipment, and to take seeds and
farming implements. " Let every man," it commanded, " use all
his influence and property to remove this people to the place
where the Lord shall locate a Stake of Zion." The power of the
head of the church was guarded by a threat that "if any man
shall seek to build up himself he shall have no power," and the
"revelation " ended, like a rustic s letter, with the words, " So no
more at present," "amen and amen" being added.
In accordance with this command, on April 14* a pioneer band
of volunteers set out to blaze a path, so to speak, across the plains
and mountains for the main body which was to follow.
It is difficult to-day, when this " Far West" is in possession of
the agriculturist, the merchant, and the miner, dotted with cities
and flourishing towns, and cut in all directions by railroads, which
have made pleasure routes for tourists of the trail over which the
pioneers of half a century ago toiled with difficulty and danger, to
realize how vague were the ideas of even the best informed in the
thirties and forties about the physical characteristics of that country
and its future possibilities. The conception of the latter may be
1 Date given in the General Epistle of December 23, 1847. Others say April 7.
379
380 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
best illustrated by quoting Washington Irving s idea, as expressed
in his "Astoria," written in 1836:
" Such is the nature of this immense wilderness of the far West ; which
apparently defies cultivation and the habitation of civilized life. Some portion
of it, along the rivers, may partially be subdued by agriculture, others may form
vast pastural tracts like those of the East ; but it is to be feared that a great part
of it will form a lawless interval between the abodes of civilized man, like the
wastes of the ocean or the deserts of Arabia, and, like them, be subject to the
depredations of the marauders. There may spring up new and mongrel races,
like new formations in zoology, the amalgamation of the debris and ; abrasions
of former races, civilized and savage ; the remains of broken and extinguished
tribes ; the descendants of wandering hunters and trappers ; of fugitives from
the Spanish-American frontiers ; of adventurers and desperadoes of every class
and country, yearly ejected from the bosom of society into the wilderness. . . .
Some may gradually become pastoral hordes, like those rude and migratory
people, half shepherd, half warrior, who, with their flocks and herds, roam the
plains of upper Asia ; but others, it is to be apprehended, will become predatory
bands, mounted on the fleet steeds of -the prairies, with the open plains for their
marauding grounds, and the mountains for their retreats and lurking places.
There they may resemble those great hordes of the North, Gog and Magog with
their bands, that haunted the gloomy imaginations of the prophets * A great
company and a mighty host, all riding upon horses, and warring upon those
nations which were at rest, and dwelt peaceably, and had gotten cattle and
goods. "
" What about the country between the Missouri River and the
Pacific," asked a father living near the Missouri, of his son on his
return from California across the plains in 1851. "Oh, it s of no
account," was the reply ; " the soil is poor, sandy, and too dry to
produce anything but this little short grass [afterward learned
to be so rich in nutriment], and, when it does rain, in three hours
afterward you could not tell that it had rained at all." l
But while this distant West was still so unknown to the settled
parts of the country, these Mormon pioneers were by no means the
first to traverse it, as the records of the journeyings of Lewis and
Clark, Ezekiel Williams, General W. H. Ashley, Wilson Price Hunt,
Major S. H. Long, Captain W. Sublette, Bonneville, Fremont, and
others show.
The pioneer band of the Mormons consisted of 143 men, three
women (wives of Brigham and Lorenzo Young and H. C. Kimball),
and two children. They took with them seventy-three wagons. Their
1 Nebraska Historical Society papers.
TPIE PIONEER TRIP ACROSS THE PLAINS 381
chief officers were Brigham Young, Lieutenant General ; Stephen
Markham, Colonel; John Pack, First Major; Shadrack Roundy,
Second Major, two captains of hundreds, and fourteen captains of
companies. The order of march was intelligently arranged, with a
view to the probability of meeting Indians who, if not dangerous to
life, had little regard for personal property. The Indians of the
Platte region were notorious thieves, but had not the reputation as
warriors of their more northern neighbors. The regulations re
quired that each private should walk constantly beside his wagon,
leaving it only by his officer s command. In order to make as
compact a force as possible, two wagons were to move abreast
whenever this could be done. Every man was to keep his weapons
loaded, and special care was insisted upon that the caps, flints, and
locks should be in good condition. They had with them one small
cannon mounted on wheels.
The bugle for rising sounded at 5 A.M., and two hours were
allowed for breakfast and prayers. At night each man was to
retire into his wagon for prayer at 8.30 o clock, and for the night s
rest at 9. The night camp was formed by drawing up the wagons
in a semicircle, with the river in the rear, if they camped near its
bank, or otherwise with the wagons in a circle, a fore wheel of one
touching the hind wheel of the next. In this way an effective
corral for the animals was provided within.
At the head of Grand Island, on April 30, they had their first
sight of buffaloes. A hunting party was organized at once, and a
herd of sixty-five of the animals was pursued for several miles in
full view of the camp (when game and hunters were not hidden by
the dust), and so successfully that eleven buffaloes were killed.
The first alarm of Indians occurred on May 4, when scouts
reported a band of about four hundred a few miles ahead. The
wagons were at once formed five abreast, the cannon was fired as
a means of alarm, and the company advanced in close formation.
The Indians did not attack them, but they set fire to the prairie,
and this caused a halt. A change of wind the next morning and
an early shower checked the flames, and the column moved on
again at daybreak. During the next few days the buffaloes were
seen in herds of hundreds of thousands on both sides of the Platte.
So numerous were they that the company had to stop at times and
let gangs of the animals pass on either side, and several calves
382 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
were captured alive. 1 With or near the buffaloes were seen ante
lopes and wolves.
At Grand Island the question of their further route was care
fully debated. There was a well-known trail to Fort Laramie on
the south side of the river, used by those who set out from Inde
pendence, Missouri, for Oregon. Good pasture was assured on
that side, but it was argued that, if this party made a new trail
along the north side of the river, the Mormons would have what
might be considered a route of their own, separated from other
westward emigrants. This view prevailed, and the course then
selected became known in after years as the Mormon Trail (some
times called the " Old Mormon Road ") ; the line of the Union
Pacific Railroad follows it for many miles.
Their decision caused them a good deal of anxiety about forage
for their animals before they reached Fort Laramie. It had not
rained at the latter point for two years, and the drought, together
with the vast herds of buffaloes and the Indian fires, made it for
days impossible to find any pasture except in small patches. When
the fort was reached, they had fed their animals not only a large
part of their grain, but some of their crackers and other bread
stuff, and the beasts were so weak that they could scarcely drag
the wagons.
During the previous winter the church officers had procured
for their use from England two sextants and other instruments
needed for taking solar observations, two barometers, thermome
ters, etc., and these were used by Orson Pratt daily to note their
progress. 2 Two of the party also constructed a sort of pedometer,
and, after leaving Fort Laramie, a mile-post was set up every ten
miles, for the guidance of those who were to follow.
In the camp made on May 10 the first of the Mormon post-
offices on the plains was established. Into a board six inches wide
and eighteen long, a cut was made with a saw, and in this cut
a letter was placed. After nailing on cleats to retain the letter,
and addressing the board to the officers of the next company, the
board was nailed to a fifteen-foot pole, which was set firmly in the
1 "The vast herds of buffalo were often in our way, and we were under the neces
sity of sending out advance guards to clear the track so that our teams might pass."
ERASTUS SNOW, "Address to the Pioneers," in 1880.
2 His diary of the trip will be found in the Millennial Star for 1849-1850, full of
interesting details, but evidently edited for English readers.
THE PIONEER TRIP ACROSS THE PLAINS 383
ground near the trail, and left to its fate. How successful this
attempt at communication proved is not stated, but similar means
of communication were in use during the whole period of Mormon
migration. Sometimes a copy of the camp journal was left con
spicuously in the crotch of a tree, for the edification of the next
camp, and scores of the buffaloes skulls that dotted the plains
were marked with messages and set up along the trail.
The weakness of the draught animals made progress slow at
this time, and marches of from 4 to 7 miles a day were recorded.
The men fared better, game being abundant. Signs of Indians
were seen from time to time, and precautions were constantly taken
to prevent a stampede of the animals; but no open attack was
made. A few Indians visited the camp on May 21, and gave
assurances of their friendliness ; and on the 24th they had a visit from
a party of thirty-five Dakotas (or Sioux), who tendered a written
letter of recommendation in French from one of the agents of the
American Fur Company. The Mormons had to grant their
request for permission to camp with them over night, which
meant also giving them supper and breakfast no small demand
on their hospitality when the capacity of the Indian stomach is
understood.
Little occurred during May to vary the monotony of the journey.
On the afternoon of June I they arrived nearly opposite Fort
Laramie and the ruins of old Fort Platte, a point 522 miles from
Winter Quarters, and 509 from Great Salt Lake. The so-called
forts were in fact trading posts, established by the fur companies,
both as points of supply for their trappers and trading places with
the Indians for peltries. On the evening of their arrival at this
point they had a visit from members of a party of Mormons gath
ered principally from Mississippi and southern Illinois, who had
passed the winter in Pueblo, and were waiting to join the emigrants
from Winter Quarters.
The Platte, usually a shallow stream, was at that place 108
yards wide, and too deep for wading. Brigham Young and some
others crossed over the next morning in a sole-leather skiff which
formed a part of their equipment, and were kindly welcomed by
the commandant. There they learned that it would be impractica
ble or at least very difficult to continue along the north bank
of the Platte, and they accordingly hired a flatboat to ferry the
384 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
company and their wagons across. The crossing began on June 3,
and on an average four wagons were ferried over in an hour.
Advantage was taken of this delay to set up a bellows and
forge, and make needed repairs to the wagons. At the Fort the
Mormons learned that their old object of hatred in Missouri,
ex-Governor Boggs, had recently passed by with a company of
emigrants bound for the Pacific coast. Young s company came
across other Missourians on the plains ; but no hostilities ensued,
the Missourians having no object now to interfere with the Saints,
and the latter contenting themselves by noting in their diaries the
profanity and quarrelsomeness of their old neighbors.
The journey was resumed at noon on June 4, along the Oregon
trail. A small party of the Mormons was sent on in advance to
the spot where the Oregon trail crossed the Platte, 124 miles west
of Fort Laramie. This crossing was generally made by fording,
but the river was too high for this, and the sole-leather boat, which
would carry from 1500 to 1800 pounds, was accordingly em
ployed. The men with this boat reached the crossing in advance
of the first party of Oregon emigrants whom they had encountered,
and were employed by the latter to ferry their goods across while
the empty wagons were floated. This proved a happy enterprise
for the Mormons. The drain on their stock of grain and provisions
had by this time so reduced their supply that they looked forward
with no little anxiety to the long march. The Oregon party
offered liberal pay in flour, sugar, bacon, and coffee for the use of
the boat, and the terms were gladly accepted, although most of the
persons served were Missourians. When the main body of pio
neers started on from that point, they left ten men with the boat
to maintain the ferry until the next company from Winter Quarters
should come up. 1
The Mormons themselves were delayed at this crossing until
June 19, making a boat on which a wagon could cross without
unloading. During the first few days after leaving the North
Platte grass and water were scarce. On June 21 they reached the
Sweet Water, and, fording it, encamped within sight of Indepen
dence Rock, near the upper end of Devil s Gate.
1 "The Missourians paid them $1.50 for each wagon and load, and paid it in flour
at $2.50 ; yet flour was worth $10 per hundredweight, at least at that point. They
divided their earnings among the camp equally." TULLIDGE, "Life of Brigham
Young," p. 165.
CHAPTER VI
FROM THE ROCKIES TO SALT LAKE VALLEY
MORE than one day s march was now made without finding
water or grass. Banks of snow were observed on the near-by
elevations, and overcoats were very comfortable at night. On
June 26 they reached the South Pass, where the waters running
to the Atlantic and to the Pacific separate. They found, however,
no well-marked dividing ridge only, as Pratt described it, "a
quietly undulating plain or prairie, some fifteen or twenty miles in
length and breadth, thickly covered with wild sage." There were
good pasture and plenty of water, and they met there a small party
who were making the journey from Oregon to the states on horse
back.
All this time the leaders of the expedition had no definite view
of their final stopping-place. Whenever Young was asked by any
of his party, as they trudged along, what locality they were aiming
for, his only reply was that he would recognize the site of their
new home when he saw it, and that they would surely go on as
the Lord would direct them. 1
While they were camping near South Pass, an incident occurred
which narrowly escaped changing the plans of the Lord, if he had
already selected Salt Lake Valley. One of the men whom the
company met there was a voyager whose judgment about a desir
able site for a settlement naturally seemed worthy of consideration.
This was T. L. Smith, better known as " Pegleg " Smith. He
had been a companion of Jedediah S. Smith, one of Ashley s com
pany of trappers, who had started from Great Salt Lake in August,
1826, and made his way to San Gabriel Mission in California, and
thence eastward, reaching the Lake again in the spring of 1827.
" Pegleg " had a trading post on Bear River above Soda Springs (in
the present Idaho). He gave the Mormons a great deal of infor-
1 Erastus Snow s "Address to the Pioneers," 1880.
2C 385
386 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
mation about all the valley which lay before them, and to the north
and south. "He earnestly advised us," says Erastus Snow, "to
direct our course northwestward from Bridger, and make our way
into Cache Valley; and he so far made an impression upon the
camp that we were induced to enter into an engagement with him
to meet us at a certain time and place two weeks afterward, to
pilot our company into that country. But for some reason, which
to this day never to my knowledge has been explained, he failed
to meet us; and I have ever recognized his failure to do so as a
providence of an all-wise God." 1
" Pegleg s " reputation was as bad as that of any of those reck
less trappers of his day, and perhaps, if the Mormons had known
more about him, they would have given less heed to his advice, and
counted less on his keeping his engagement.
With the returning Oregonians they also made the acquaint
ance of Major Harris, an old trapper and hunter in California and
Oregon, who gave them little encouragement about Salt Lake Val
ley, as a place of settlement, principally because of the lack of
timber. Two days later they met Colonel James Bridger, an
authority on that part of the country, whose "fort" was widely
known. Young told him that he proposed to take a look at Great
Salt Lake Valley with a view to its settlement. Bridger affirmed
that his experiments had more than convinced him that corn would
not grow in those mountains, and, when Young expressed doubts
about this, he offered to give the Mormon President $1000 for
the first ear raised in that valley. Next they met a mountaineer
named Goodyear, who had passed the last winter on the site of what
is now Ogden, Utah, where he had tried without success to raise
a little grain and a few vegetables. He told of severe cold in
winter and drought in summer. Irrigation had not suggested
itself to a man who had a large part of a continent in which to
look for a more congenial farm site.
Mormons in all later years have said that they were guided to
the Salt Lake Valley in fulfilment of the prediction of Joseph
Smith that they would have to flee to the Rocky Mountains. But
in their progress across the plains the leaders of the pioneers were
not indifferent to any advice that came in their way, and in a
manuscript "History of Brigham Young" (1847), quoted by H.
1 "Address to the Pioneers," 1880.
FROM THE ROCKIES TO SALT LAKE VALLEY 387
H. Bancroft, is the following entry, which may indicate the first
suggestion that turned their attention from " California " to
Utah: "On the I5th of June met James H. Grieve, William
Tucker, James Woodrie, James Bouvoir, and six other Frenchmen,
from whom we learned that Mr. Bridger was located about three
hundred miles west, that the mountaineers could ride to Salt
Lake from Fort Bridger in two days, and that the Utah country
was beautiful." l
The pioneers resumed their march on June 29, over a desolate
country, travelling seventeen miles without finding grass or water,
until they made their night camp on the Big Sandy. There they
encountered clouds of mosquitoes, which made more than one sub
sequent camping-place very uncomfortable. A march of eight
miles the next morning brought them to Green River. Finding
this stream 180 yards wide, and deep and swift, they stopped long
enough to make two rafts, on which they successfully ferried over
all their wagons without unloading them.
At this point the pioneers met a brother Mormon who had made
the journey to California round the Horn, and had started east
from there to meet the overland travellers. He had an interesting
story to tell, the points of which, in brief, were as follows :
A conference of Mormons, held in New York City on Novem
ber 12, 1845, resolved to move in a body to the new home of the
Saints. This emigration scheme was placed in charge of Samuel
Brannan, a native of Maine, and an elder in the church, who was
then editing the New York Prophet, and preaching there. Why so
important a project was confided to Brannan seems a mystery, in
view of P. P. Pratt s statement that, as early as the previous Jan
uary, he had discovered that Brannan was among certain elders
who " had been corrupting the Saints by introducing among them
all manner of false doctrines and immoral practices " ; he was
afterward disfellowshipped at Nauvoo. By Pratt s advice he im
mediately went to that city, and was restored to full standing in the
church, as any bad man always was when he acknowledged sub
mission to the church authorities. 2 Plenty of emigrants offered
themselves under Orson Pratt s call, but of the 300 first applicants
for passage only about 60 had money enough to pay their expenses,
1 Bancroft s " History of Utah," p. 257.
2 Pratt s " Autobiography," p. 374.
388 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
although it was estimated that $75 would cover the outlay for
the trip. Brannan chartered the Brooklyn, a ship of 450 tons, and
on February 4, 1846, she sailed with 70 men, 68 women, and 100
children. 1
The voyage to San Francisco ended on July 31. Ten deaths
and two births occurred during the trip, and four of the company,
including two elders and one woman, had to be excommunicated
"for their wicked and licentious conduct." Three others were
dealt with in the same way as soon as the company landed. 2 On
landing they found the United States in possession of the country,
which led to Brannan s reported remark, " There is that d d
flag again." The men of the party, some of whom had not paid all
their passage money, at once sought work, but the company did
not hold together. Before the end of the year some 20 more
" went astray," in church parlance ; some decided to remain on the
coast when they learned that the church was to make Salt Lake
Valley its headquarters, and some time later about 140 reached
Utah and took up their abode there.
Brannan fell from grace and was pronounced by P. P. Pratt
"a corrupt and wicked man." While he was getting his expedi
tion in shape, he sent to the church authorities in the West a copy
of an agreement which he said he had made with A. G. Benson,
an alleged agent of Postmaster General Kendall. Benson was
represented as saying that, unless the Mormon leaders signed an
agreement, to which President Polk was a " silent partner," by
which they would " transfer to A. G. Benson and Co., and to their
heirs and assigns, the odd number of all the lands and town lots
they may acquire in the country where they settle," the President
would order them to be dispersed. This seems to have been too
transparent a scheme to deceive Young, and the agreement was
not signed.
The march of the pioneers was resumed on July 3. That even
ing they were told that those who wished to return eastward to
meet their families, who were perhaps five hundred miles back with
the second company, could do so ; but only five of them took advan
tage of this permission. The event of Sunday, July 4, was the
arrival of thirteen members of the Battalion, who had pushed on in
1 Bancroft s figures, " History of California," Vol. V, Chap. 20.
2 Brannan s letter, Millennial Star, Vol. IX, pp. 306-307.
FROM THE ROCKIES TO SALT LAKE VALLEY 389
advance of the main body of those who were on the way from
Pueblo, in order that they might recover some horses stolen from
them, which they were told were at Bridger s Fort. They said that
the main body of 140 were near at hand. This company had been
directed in their course by instructions sent to them by Brigham
Young from a point near Fort Laramie.
The hardships of the trip had told on the pioneers, and a num
ber of them were now afflicted with what they called " mountain
fever." They attributed this to the clouds of dust that enveloped
the column of wagons when in motion, and to the decided change
of temperature from day to night. For six weeks, too, most of
them had been without bread, living on the meat provided by the
hunters, and saving the little flour that was left for the sick.
The route on July 5 kept along the right bank of the Green
River for about three miles, and then led over the bluffs and across
a sandy, waterless plain for sixteen miles, to the left bank of
Black s Fork, where they camped for the night. The two follow
ing days took them across this Fork several times, but, although
fording was not always comfortable, the stream added salmon
trout to their menu. On the /th the party had a look at Bridger s
Fort, of which they had heard often. Orson Pratt described it at
the time as consisting " of two adjoining log houses, dirt roofs, and
a small picket yard of logs set in the ground, and about eight feet
high. The number of men, squaws, and half-breed children in
these houses and lodges may be about fifty or sixty."
At the camp, half a mile from the fort, that night ice formed.
The next day the blacksmiths were kept busy repairing wagons
and shoeing horses in preparation for a trail through the moun
tains. On the Qth and loth they passed over a hilly country,
camping on Beaver River on the night of the loth.
The fever had compelled several halts on account of the con
dition of the patients, and on the I2th it was found that Brigham
Young was too ill to travel. In order not to lose time, Orson
Pratt, with forty-three men and twenty-three wagons, was directed
to push on into Salt Lake Valley, leaving a trail that the others
could follow. From the information obtainable at Fort Bridger it
was decided that the canon leading into the valley would be found
impassable on account of high water, and that they should direct
their course over the mountains.
390 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
These explorers set out on July 14, travelling down Red Fork, a
small stream which ran through a narrow valley, whose sides in
places were from eight hundred to twelve hundred feet high, red
sandstone walls, perpendicular or overhanging. This route was a
rough one, requiring frequent fordings of the stream, and they did
well to advance thirteen miles that day. On the 1 5th they discov
ered a mountain trail that had been recommended to them, but it
was a mere trace left by wagons that had passed over it a year
before. They came now to the roughest country they had found,
and it became necessary to send sappers in advance to open a road
before the wagons could pass over it. Almost discouraged, Pratt
turned back on foot the next day, to see if he could not find a better
route ; but he was soon convinced that only the one before them
led in the direction they were to take. The wagons were advanced
only four and three-quarters miles that day, even the creek bottom
being so covered with a growth of willows that to cut through
these was a tiresome labor. Pratt and a companion, during the day,
climbed a mountain, which they estimated to be about two thousand
feet high, but they only saw, before and around them, hills piled on
hills and mountains on mountains, the outlines of the Wahsatch
and Uinta ranges.
On Monday, the i8th, Pratt again acted as advance explorer,
and went ahead with one companion. Following a ravine on
horseback for four miles, they then dismounted and climbed to an
elevation from which, in the distance, they saw a level prairie
which they thought could not be far from Great Salt Lake. The
whole party advanced only six and a quarter miles that day and
six the next.
One day later Erastus Snow came up with them, and Pratt
took him along as a companion in his advance explorations. They
discovered a point where the travellers of the year before had
ascended a hill to avoid a canon through which a creek dashed
rapidly. Following in their predecessors footsteps, when they
arrived at the top of this hill there lay stretched out before them
" a broad, open valley about twenty miles wide and thirty long, at
the north end of which the waters of the Great Salt Lake glis
tened in the sunbeams." Snow s account of their first view of the
valley and lake is as follows :
FROM THE ROCKIES TO SALT LAKE VALLEY 391
" The thicket down the narrows, at the mouth of the canon, was so dense that
we could not penetrate through it. I crawled for some distance on my hands and
knees through this thicket, until I was compelled to return, admonished to by the
rattle of a snake which lay coiled up under my nose, having almost put my hand on
him ; but as he gave me the friendly warning, I thanked him and retreated. We
raised on to a high point south of the narrows, where we got a view of the Great
Salt Lake and this valley, and each of us, without saying a word to the other,
instinctively, as if by inspiration, raised our hats from our heads, and then,
swinging our hats, shouted, l Hosannah to God and the Lamb ! We could see
the canes down in the valley, on what is now called Mill Creek, which looked
like inviting grain, and thitherward we directed our course." l
Having made an inspection of the valley, the two explorers
rejoined their party about ten o clock that evening. The next
day, with great labor, a road was cut through the canon down
to the valley, and on July 22 Pratt s entire company camped on
City Creek, below the present Emigration Street in Salt Lake
City. The next morning, after sending word of their discovery to
Brigham Young, the whole party moved some two miles farther
north, and there, after prayer, the work of putting in a crop was
begun. The necessity of irrigation was recognized at once. " We
found the land so dry," says Snow, " that to plough it was impossi
ble, and in attempting to do so some of the ploughs were broken.
We therefore had to distribute the water over the land before it
could be worked." When the rest of the pioneers who had re
mained with Young reached the valley the next day, they found
about six acres of potatoes and other vegetables already planted.
While Apostles like Snow might have been as transported
with delight over the aspect of the valley as he professed to be,
others of the party could see only a desolate, treeless plain, with
sage brush supplying the vegetation. To the women especially
the outlook was most depressing.
1 "Address to the Pioneers," 1880.
CHAPTER VII
THE FOLLOWING COMPANIES LAST DAYS ON THE MISSOURI
WHEN the pioneers set out from the Missouri, instructions were
left for the organization of similar companies who were to follow
their trail, without waiting to learn their ultimate destination or how
they fared on the way. These companies were in charge of promi
nent men like Parley P. Pratt, John Taylor, Bishop Hunter, Daniel
Spencer, who succeeded Smith as mayor of Nauvoo, and J. M.
Grant, the first mayor of Salt Lake City after its incorporation.
P. P. Pratt set out early in June, as soon as he could get his
wagons and equipment in order, for Elk Horn River, where a sort
of rendezvous was established, and a rough ferry boat put in opera
tion. Hence started about the Fourth of July the big company
which has been called " the first emigration." It consisted, accord
ing to the most trustworthy statistics, of 1553 persons, equipped with
566 wagons, 2213 oxen, 124 horses, 887 cows, 358 sheep, 35
hogs, and 716 chickens. Pratt had brought back from England
469 sovereigns, collected as tithing, which were used in equipping
the first parties for Utah. This company had at its head, as
president, Brigham Young s brother John, with P. P. Pratt as chief
adviser.
Nothing more serious interrupted the movement of these hun
dreds of emigrants than dissatisfaction with Pratt, upsets, broken
wagons, and the occasional straying of cattle, and all arrived in the
valley in the latter part of September, Pratt s division on the 25th.
The company which started on the return trip with Young on
August 26 embraced those Apostles who had gone West with him,
some others of the pioneers, and most of the members of the Bat
talion who had joined them, and whose families were still on the
banks of the Missouri. The eastward trip was made interesting by
the meetings with the successive companies who were on their way
392
THE FOLLOWING COMPANIES 393
to the Salt Lake Valley. Early in September some Indians stole
48 of their horses, and ten weeks later 200 Sioux charged their
camp, but there was no loss of life.
On the i Qth of October the party were met by a mounted com
pany who had left Winter Quarters to offer any aid that might be
needed, and were escorted to that camp. They arrived there on
October 31, where they were welcomed by their families, and
feasted as well as the supplies would permit.
The winter of 1847-1848 was employed by Young and his asso
ciates in completing the church organization, mapping out a scheme
of European immigration, and preparing for the removal of the
remaining Mormons to Salt Lake Valley.
That winter was much milder than its predecessor, and the
health of the camps was improved, due, in part, to the better physi
cal condition of their occupants. On the west side of the river,
however, troubles had arisen with the Omahas, who complained to
the government that the Mormons were killing off the game and
depleting their lands of timber. The new-comers were accordingly
directed to recross the river, and it was in this way that the camp
near Council Bluffs in 1848 secured its principal population. In
Mormon letters of that date the name Winter Quarters is some
times applied to the settlement east of the river generally known
as Kanesville.
The programme then arranged provided for the removal in the
spring of 1848 to Salt Lake Valley of practically all Mormons who
remained on the Missouri, leaving only enough to look after the
crops there and to maintain a forwarding point for emigrants from
Europe and the Eastern states. The legislature of Iowa by request
organized a county embracing the camps on the east side of the
river. There seems to have been an idea in the minds of some of
the Mormons that they might effect a permanent settlement in
western Iowa. Orson Pratt, in a general epistle to the Saints
in Europe, encouraging emigration, dated August 15, 1848, said,
" A great, extensive, and rich tract of country has also been, by
the providence of God, put in the possession of the Saints in the
western borders of Iowa," which the Saints would have the first
chance to purchase, at five shillings per acre. A letter from
G. A. Smith and E. T. Benson to O. Pratt, dated December 20 in
that year, told of the formation of a company of 860 members to
394 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
enclose an additional tract of 1 1,000 acres, in shares of from 5 to 80
acres, and of the laying out of two new cities, ten miles north and
south. Orson Hyde set up a printing-press there, and for some
time published the Frontier Guardian. But wiser counsel pre
vailed, and by 1853 most of the emigrants from Nauvoo had passed
on to Utah, 1 and Linforth found Kanesville in 1853 "very dirty
and unhealthy," and full of gamblers, lawyers, and dealers in
"bargains," the latter made up principally of the outfits of dis
couraged immigrants who had given up the trip at that point.
Young himself took charge of the largest body that was to
cross the plains in 1848. The preparations were well advanced
by the first of May, and on the 24th he set out for Elk Horn (com
monly called " The Horn ") where the organization of the column
was to be made. The travellers were divided into two large com
panies, the first four "hundreds" comprising 1229 persons and
397 wagons ; the second section, led by H. C. Kimball, 662 persons
and 226 wagons; and the third, under Elders W. Richards and
A. Lyman, about 300 wagons. A census of the first two com
panies, made by the clerk of the camp, showed that their equipment
embraced the following items : horses, 131; mules, 44; oxen, 2012;
cows and other cattle, 1317; sheep, 654; pigs, 237; chickens, 904 ;
cats, 54; dogs, 134; goats, 3; geese, 10 ; ducks, 5; hives of bees,
5 ; doves, 1 1 ; and one squirrel. 2
The expense of fitting out these companies was necessarily
large, and the heads of the church left at Kanesville a debt
amounting to $3600, " without any means being provided for its
payment." 3
President Young s company began its actual westward march
on June 5, and the last detachment got away about the 25th. They
reached the site of Salt Lake City in September. The incidents
of the trip were not more interesting than those of the previous
year, and only four deaths occurred on the way.
1 On September 21, 1851, the First Presidency sent a letter to the Saints who were
still in Iowa, directing them all to come to Salt Lake Valley, and saying : " What are you
waiting for? Have you any good excuse for not coming? No. You have all of you
unitedly a far better chance than we had when we started as pioneers to find this place."
Millennial Star, Vol. XIV, p. 29.
2 Millennial Star, Vol. X, p. 319. 3 /#</., Vol. XI, p. 14.
BOOK VI
IN UTAH
CHAPTER I
THE FOUNDING OF SALT LAKE CITY
THE first white men to enter what is now Utah were a part of
the force of Coronado, under Captain Garcia Lopez de Cardenas,
if the reader of the evidence decides that their journey from Zuni
took them, in 1540, across the present Utah border line. 1 A more
definite account has been preserved of a second exploration, which
left Santa Fe in 1776, led by two priests, Dominguez and Escalante,
in search of a route to the California coast. A two months march
brought them to a lake, called Timpanogos by the natives now
Utah Lake on the map where they were told of another lake,
many leagues in extent, whose waters were so salt that they made
the body itch when wet with them ; but they turned to the south
west without visiting it. Lahontan s report of the discovery of a
body of bad-tasting water on the western side of the continent in
1689 is not accepted as more than a part of an imaginary narra
tive. S. A. Ruddock asserted that, in 1821, he with a trading
party made a journey from Council Bluffs to Oregon by way of
Santa Fe and Great Salt Lake. 2
Bancroft mentions this claim " for what it is worth," but awards
the honor of the discovery of the lake, as the earliest authenticated,
to James Bridger, the noted frontiersman who, some twelve years
later, built his well-known trading fort on Green River. Bridger,
with a party of trappers who had journeyed west from the Missouri
1 See Bancroft s "History of Utah," Chap. I.
2 House Report, No. 213, ist Session, I9th Congress.
395
396 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
with Henry and Ashley in 1824, got into a discussion that winter
with his fellows, while they were camped on Bear River, about the
course of that stream, and, to decide a bet, Bridger followed it
southward until he came to Great Salt Lake. In the following
spring four of the party explored the lake in boats made of skins,
hoping to find beavers, and they, it is believed, were the first white
men to float upon its waters. Fremont saw the lake from the
summit of a butte on September 6, 1843. " It was," he says, " one
of the great objects of the exploration, and, as we looked eagerly
over the lake in the first emotions of excited pleasure, I am doubt
ful if the followers of Balboa felt more enthusiasm when, from the
heights of the Andes, they saw for the first time the great Western
Ocean." This practical claim of discovery was not well founded,
nor was his sail on the lake in an india-rubber boat " the first ever
attempted on this interior sea."
Dating from 1825, the lake region of Utah became more and
more familiar to American trappers and explorers. In 1833 Cap
tain Bonneville, of the United States army, obtained leave of
absence, and with a company of no trappers set out for the Far
West by the Platte route. Crossing the Rockies through the
South Pass, he made a fortified camp on Green River, whence he
for three years explored the country. One of his parties, under
Joseph Walker, was sent to trap beavers on Great Salt Lake and
to explore it thoroughly, making notes and maps. Bonneville, in
his description of the lake to Irving, declared that lofty mountains
rose from its bosom, and greatly magnified its extent to the south. 1
Walker s party got within sight of the lake, but found themselves
in a desert, and accordingly changed their course and crossed the
Sierras into California. In Bonneville s map the lake is called
" Lake Bonneville or Great Salt Lake," and Irving calls it Lake
Bonneville in his " Astoria."
The day after the first arrival of Brigham Young in Salt Lake
Valley (Sunday, July 25), church services were held and the sacra
ment was administered. Young addressed his followers, indicating
at the start his idea of his leadership and of the ownership of the
land, which was then Mexican territory. " He said that no man
should buy any land who came here," says Woodruff ; " that he
had none to sell ; but every man should have his land measured
1 Bonneville s "Adventures," p. 184.
THE FOUNDING OF SALT LAKE CITY 397
out to him for city and farming purposes. He might till it as he
pleased, but he must be industrious and take care of it." 1
The next day a party, including all the Twelve who were
in the valley, set out to explore the neighborhood. They visited
and bathed in Great Salt Lake, climbed and named Ensign
Peak, and met a party of Utah Indians, who made signs that
they wanted to trade. On their return Young explained to the
people his ideas of an exploration of the country to the west
and north.
Meanwhile, those left in the valley had been busy staking off
fields, irrigating them, and planting vegetables and grain. Some
buildings, among them a blacksmith shop, were begun. The
members of the Battalion, about four hundred of whom had now
arrived, constructed a "bowery." Camps of Utah Indians were
visited, and the white men witnessed their method of securing
for food the abundant black crickets, by driving them into an
enclosure fenced with brush which they set on fire.
On July 28, after a council of the Quorum had been held, the
site of the Temple was selected by Brigham Young, who waved
his hand and said : " Here is the 40 acres for the Temple. The
city can be laid out perfectly square, east and west." 2 The 40
acres were a few days later reduced to 10, but the site then chosen
is that on which the big Temple now stands. It was also decided
that the city should be laid out in lots measuring 10 by 20 rods
each, 8 lots to a block, with streets 8 rods wide, and sidewalks 20
feet wide ; each house to be erected in the centre of a lot, and 20
feet from the front line. Land was also reserved for four parks
of 10 acres each.
Men were at once sent into the mountains to secure logs for
cabins, and work on adobe huts was also begun. On August 7
those of the Twelve present selected their " inheritances," each
taking a block near the Temple. A week later the Twelve in
council selected the blocks on which the companies under each
1 "After the assignments were made, persons commenced the usual speculations of
selling according to eligibility of situation. This called out anathemas from the spiritual
powers, and no one was permitted to traffic for fancy profit ; if any sales were made, the
first cost and actual value of improvements were all that was to be allowed. All specu
lative sales were made sub rosa. Exchanges are made and the records kept by the
register." GUNNISON, "The Mormons" (1852), p. 145.
2 Tullidge s " Life of Brigham Young," p. 178.
398 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
should settle. The city as then laid out covered a space nearly
four miles long and three broad. 1
On August 22 a General Conference decided that the city
should be called City of the Great Salt Lake. When the city was
incorporated, in 1851, the name was changed to Salt Lake City.
In view of the approaching return of Young and his fellow offi
cers to the Missouri River, the company in the valley were placed
in charge of the prophet s uncle, John Smith, as Patriarch, with a
high council and other officers of a Stake.
When P. P. Pratt and the following companies reached the
valley in September, they found a fort partly built, and every one
busy, preparing for the winter. The crops of that year had been
a disappointment, having been planted too late. The potatoes
raised varied in size from that of a pea to half an inch in diame
ter, but they were saved and used successfully for seed the next
year. A great deal of grain was sown during the autumn and
winter, considerable wheat having been brought from California
by members of the Battalion. Pratt says that the snow was several
inches deep when they did some of their ploughing, but that the
ground was clear early in March. A census taken in March, 1848,
gave the city a population of 1671, with 423 houses erected.
The Saints in the valley spent a good deal of that winter work
ing on their cabins, making furniture, and carting fuel. They dis
covered that the warning about the lack of timber was well
founded, all the logs and firewood being hauled from a point eight
miles distant, over bad roads, and with teams that had not recov
ered from the effect of the overland trip. Many settlers therefore
built huts of adobe bricks, some with cloth roofs. Lack of expe
rience in handling adobe clay for building purposes led to some sad
results, the rains and frosts causing the bricks to crumble or burst,
and more than one of these houses tumbled down around their
owners. Even the best of the houses had very flat roofs, the new
comers believing that the climate was always dry ; and when the
rains and melted snow came, those who had umbrellas frequently
raised them indoors to protect their beds or their fires.
1 Tullidge says : " The land portion of each family, as a rule, was the acre-and-a-
quarter lot designated in the plan of the city; but the chief men of the pioneers, who
had a plurality of wives and numerous children, received larger portions of the city lots.
The giving of farms, as shown in the General Epistle, was upon the same principle as
the apportioning of city lots. The farm of five, ten, or twenty acres was not for the
THE FOUNDING OF SALT LAKE CITY 399
Two years later, when Captain Stansbury of the United States
Topographical Engineers, with his surveying party, spent the
winter in Salt Lake City, in "a small, unfurnished house of unburnt
brick or adobe, unplastered, and roofed with boards loosely nailed
on," which let in the rains in streams, he says they were better
lodged than many of their neighbors. "Very many families," he
explains, " were obliged still to lodge wholly or in part in their
wagons, which, being covered, served, when taken off from the
wheels and set upon the ground, to make bedrooms, of limited
dimensions, it is true, but exceedingly comfortable. In the very
next enclosure to that of our party, a whole family of children
had no other shelter than one of these wagons, where they slept
all winter."
The furniture of the early houses was of the rudest kind, since
only the most necessary articles could be brought in the wagons.
A chest or a barrel would do for a table, a bunk built against the
side logs would be called a bed, and such rude stools as could be
most easily put together served for chairs.
The letters sent for publication in England to attract emigrants
spoke of a mild and pleasant winter, not telling of the privations
of these pioneers. The greatest actual suffering was caused by a
lack of food as spring advanced. A party had been sent to Cali
fornia, in November, for cattle, seeds, etc., but they lost forty of a
herd of two hundred on the way back. The cattle that had been
brought across the plains were in poor condition on their arrival,
and could find very little winter pasturage. Many of the milk
cows driven all the way from the Missouri had died by midsum
mer. By spring parched grain was substituted for coffee, a kind
of molasses was made from beets, and what little flour could be
obtained was home-ground and unbolted. Even so high an officer
of the church as P. P. Pratt, thus describes the privations of his
family : " In this labor [ploughing, cultivating, and sowing] every
woman and child in my family, so far as they were of sufficient
mechanic, nor the manufacturer, nor even for the farmer, as a mere personal property,
but for the good of the community at large, to give the substance of the earth to feed
the population. . . . While the farmer was planting and cultivating his farm, the
mechanic and tradesman produced his supplies and wrought his daily work for the com
munity." He adds, " It can be easily understood how some departures were made from
this original plan." This understanding can be gained in no better way than by inspect
ing the list of real estate left by Brigham Young in his will as his individual possession.
40O THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
age and strength, had joined to help me, and had toiled incessantly
in the field, suffering every hardship which human nature could
well endure. Myself and most of them were compelled to go with
bare feet for several months, reserving our Indian moccasins for
extra occasions. We toiled hard, and lived on a few greens, and
on thistle and other roots."
This was the year of the great visitation of crickets, the destruc
tion of which has given the Mormons material for the story of one
of their miracles. The crickets appeared in May, and they ate
the country clear before them. In a wheat-field they would aver
age two or three to a head of grain. Even ditches filled with
water would not stop them. Kane described them as " wingless,
dumpy, black, swollen-headed, with bulging eyes in cases like
goggles, mounted upon legs of steel wire and clock spring, and
with a general personal appearance that justified the Mormons in
comparing them to a cross of a spider and the buffalo." When
this plague was at its worst, the Mormons saw flocks of gulls
descend and devour the crickets so greedily that they would often
disgorge the food undigested. Day after day did the gulls appear
until the plague was removed. Utah guide-books of to-day refer
to this as a divine interposition of Heaven in behalf of the Saints.
But writers of that date, like P. P. Pratt, ignore the miraculous
feature, and the white gulls dot the fields between Salt Lake City
and Ogden in 1901 just as they did in the summer of 1848, and
as Fremont found them there in September, 1843. Gulls are
abundant all over the plains, and are found with the snipe and
geese as far north as North Dakota. Heaven s interposition, if
exercised, was not thorough, for, after the crickets, came grass
hoppers in such numbers that one writer says, " On one occasion
a quarter [of one cloud] dropped into the lake and were blown on
shore by the wind, in rows sometimes two feet deep, for a distance
of two miles."
But the crops, with all the drawbacks, did better than had been
deemed possible, and on August 10 the people held a kind of harvest
festival in the "bowery" in the centre of their fort, when "large
sheaves of wheat, rye, barley, oats, and other productions were
hoisted on poles for public exhibition." 1 Still, the outlook was so
alarming that word was sent to Winter Quarters advising against
1 Pratt s "Autobiography," p. 406.
THE FOUNDING OF SALT LAKE CITY 401
increasing their population at that time, and Brigham Young s
son urged that a message be sent to his father giving similar
advice. 1 Nevertheless P. P. Pratt did not hesitate in a letter
addressed to the Saints in England, on September 5, to say that
they had had ears of corn to boil for a month, that he had secured
" a good harvest of wheat and rye without irrigation," and that
there would be from ten thousand to twenty thousand bushels of
grain in the valley more than was needed for home consumption.
1 Bancroft s "History of Utah," p. 281.
2D
CHAPTER II
PROGRESS OF THE SETTLEMENT
WITH the arrival of the later companies from Winter Quarters
the population of the city was increased by the winter of 1848 to
about five thousand, or more than one-quarter of those who went
out from Nauvoo. The settlers then had three sawmills, one
flouring mill, and a threshing machine run by water, another saw
mill and flour mill nearly completed, and several mills under way
for the manufacture of sugar from corn stalks.
Brigham Young, again on the ground, took the lead at once
in pushing on the work. To save fencing, material for which was
hard to obtain, a tract of eight thousand acres was set apart and
fenced for the common use, within which farmhouses could be built.
The plan adopted for fencing in the city itself was to enclose each
ward separately, every lot owner building his share. A stone
council house, forty-five feet square, was begun, the labor count
ing as a part of the tithe ; unappropriated city lots were distributed
among the new-comers by a system of drawing, and the building
of houses went briskly on, the officers of the church sharing in the
labor. A number of bridges were also provided, a tax of one per
cent being levied to pay for them.
Among the incidents of the winter mentioned in an epistle of
the First Presidency was the establishment of schools in the dif
ferent wards, in which, it was stated, " the Hebrew, Greek, Latin,
French, German, Tahitian and English languages have been
taught successfully " ; and the organization of a temporary local
government, and of a Stake of Zion, with Daniel Spencer as
president. It was early the policy of the church to carry on an
extended system of public works, including manufacturing enter
prises. The assisted immigrants were expected to repay by work
on these buildings the advance made to them to cover their trav-
402
PROGRESS OF THE SETTLEMENT 403
elling expenses. Young saw at once the advantage of starting
branches of manufacture, both to make his people independent
of a distant supply and to give employment to the population.
Writing to Orson Pratt on October 14, 1849, when Pratt was in
England, he said that they would have the material for cotton and
woollen factories ready by the time men and machinery were pre
pared to handle it, and urged him to send on cotton operatives and
"all the necessary fixtures." The third General Epistle spoke of
the need of furnaces and forges, and Orson Pratt, in an address
to the Saints in Great Britain, dated July 2, 1850, urged the officers
of companies " to seek diligently in every branch for wise, skilful
and ingenious mechanics, manufacturers, potters, etc." *
The General Conference of October, 1849, ordered one man to
build a glass factory in the valley, and voted to organize a com
pany to transport passengers and freight between the Missouri
River and California, directing that settlements be established
along the route. This company was called the Great Salt Lake
Valley Carrying Company. Its prospectus in the Frontier Guardian
in December, 1849, stated that the fare from Kanesville to Sutter s
Fort, California, would be $300, and the freight rate to Great Salt
Lake City $12.50 per hundredweight, the passenger wagons to be
drawn by four horses or mules, and the freight wagons by oxen.
But the work of making the new Mormon home a business and
manufacturing success did not meet with rapid encouragement.
Where settlements were made outside of Salt Lake City, the
people were not scattered in farmhouses over the country, but
lived in what they called " forts," squalid looking settlements, laid
out in a square and defended by a dirt or adobe wall. The inhab
itants of these settlements had to depend on the soil for their subsis
tence, and such necessary workmen as carpenters and shoemakers
plied their trade as they could find leisure after working in the
fields. When Johnston s army entered the valley in 1858, the
largest attempt at manufacturing that had been undertaken there
a beet sugar factory, toward which English capitalists had con
tributed more than $100,000 had already proved a failure. There
1 The General Epistle of April, 1852, announced two potteries in operation, a small
woollen factory begun, a nail factory, wooden bowl factory, and many grist and saw mills.
The General Epistle of October, 1855, enumerated, as among the established industries,
a foundery, a cutlery shop, and manufactories of locks, cloth, leather, hats, cordage,
brushes, soap, paper, combs, and cutlery.
404 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
were tanneries, distilleries, and breweries in operation, a few rifles
and revolvers were made from iron supplied by wagon tires, and
in the larger settlements a few good mechanics were kept busy.
But if no outside influences had contributed to the prosperity of
the valley, and hastened the day when it secured railroad commu
nication, the future of the people whom Young gathered in Utah
would have been very different.
A correspondent of the New York Tribune, on his way to Cali
fornia, writing on July 8, 1849, tnus described Salt Lake City as it
presented itself to him at that time :
" There are no hotels, because there had been no travel ; no barber shops,
because every one chose to shave himself and no one had time to shave his neigh
bor ; no stores, because they had no goods to sell nor time to traffic ; no center
of business, because all were too busy to make a center. There was abundance
of mechanics 1 shops, of dressmakers, milliners and tailors, etc., but they needed
no sign, nor had they any time to paint or erect one, for they were crowded with
business. Besides their several trades, all must cultivate the land or die ; for the
country was new, and no cultivation but their own within 1000 miles. Everyone
had his lot and built on it ; every one cultivated it, and perhaps a small farm in
the distance. And the strangest of all was that this great city, extending over
several square miles, had been erected, and every house and fence made, within
nine or ten months of our arrival ; while at the same time good bridges were
erected over the principal streams, and the country settlements extended nearly
100 miles up and down the valley." l
The winter of 1 848 set in early and severe, with frequent snow
storms from December I until late in February, and the tempera
ture dropping one degree below zero as late as February 5. The
deep snow in the canons, the only outlets through the mountains,
rendered it difficult to bring in fuel, and the suffering from the
cold was terrible, as many families had arrived too late to provide
themselves with any shelter but their prairie wagons. The appre
hended scarcity of food, too, was realized. Early in February an
inventory of the breadstuffs in the valley, taken by the Bishops,
showed only three-quarters of a pound a day per head until July
5, although it was believed that many had concealed stores on
hand. When the first General Epistle of the First Presidency was
sent out from Salt Lake City in the spring of i849, 2 corn, which
had sold for $2 and $3 a bushel, was not to be had, wheat
1 New York Tribune, October 9, 1849.
2 Millennial Star, Vol. XI, p. 227.
PROGRESS OF THE SETTLEMENT 405
had ranged from $4 to $5 a bushel, and potatoes from $6 to $20,
with none then in market.
The people generally exerted themselves to obtain food for
those whose supplies had been exhausted, but the situation became
desperate before the snow melted. Three attempts to reach Fort
Bridger failed because of the depth of snow in the canons. There
is a record of a winter hunt of two rival parties of 100 men each,
but they killed "varmints" rather than game, the list including
700 wolves and foxes, 20 minks and skunks, 500 hawks, owls and
magpies, and 1000 ravens. 1 Some of the Mormons, with the aid
of Indian guides, dug roots that the savages had learned to eat,
and some removed the hide roofs from their cabins and stewed
them for food. The lack of breadstuffs continued until well into
the summer, and the celebration of the anniversary of the arrival
of the pioneers in the valley, which had been planned for July 4,
was postponed until the 24th, as Young explained in his address,
"that we might have a little bread to set on our tables."
Word was now sent to the states and to Europe that no more
of the brethren should make the trip to the valley at that time
unless they had means to get through without assistance, and
could bring breadstuffs to last them several months after their
arrival.
But something now occurred which turned the eyes of a large
part of the world to that new acquisition of the United States on
the Pacific coast which was called California, which made the
Mormon settlement in Utah a way station for thousands of trav
ellers where a dozen would not have passed it without the new
incentive, and which brought to the Mormon settlers, almost at
their own prices, supplies of which they were desperately in need,
and which they could not otherwise have obtained. This some
thing was the discovery of gold in California.
When the news of this discovery reached the Atlantic states
and those farther west, men simply calculated by what route they
could most quickly reach the new El Dorado, and the first com
panies of miners who travelled across the plains sacrificed every
thing for speed. The first rush passed through Salt Lake Valley in
August, 1849. Some of the Mormons who had reached California
with Brannan s company had by that time arrived in the valley,
1 General Epistle, Millennial Star, Vol. XI, p. 227.
406 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
bringing with them a few bags of gold dust. When the would-be
miners from the East saw this proof of the existence of gold in the
country ahead of them, their enthusiasm knew no limits, and their
one wish was to lighten themselves so that they could reach the
gold-fields in the shortest time possible. Then the harvest of the
Mormons began. Pack mules and horses that had been worth
only $25 or $30 would now bring $200 in exchange for other arti
cles at a low price, and the travellers were auctioning off their sur
plus supplies every day. For a light wagon they did not hesitate
to offer three or four heavy ones, with a yoke of oxen sometimes
thrown in. Such needed supplies as domestic sheetings could be
had at from five to ten cents a yard, spades and shovels, with
which the miners were overstocked, at fifty cents each, and nearly
everything in their outfit, except sugar and coffee, at half the price
that would have been charged at wholesale in the Eastern states. 1
The commercial profit to the Mormons from this emigration
was greater still in 1850, when the rush had increased. Before
the grain of that summer was cut, the gold seekers paid $i a
pound for flour in Salt Lake City. After the new grain was har
vested they eagerly bought the flour as fast as five mills could
grind it, at $25 per hundredweight. Un ground wheat sold for $8
a bushel, wood for $10 a cord, adobe bricks for more than seven
shillings a hundred, and skilled mechanics were getting twelve
shillings and sixpence a day. 2 At the same time that the emi
grants were paying so well for what they absolutely required, they
were sacrificing large supplies of what they did not need on almost
any terms. Some of them had started across the plains with heavy
loads of machinery and miscellaneous goods, on which they ex
pected to reap a big profit in California. Learning, however, when
they reached Salt Lake City, that ship-loads of such merchandise
were on their way around the Horn, the owners sacrificed their
stock where it was, and hurried on to get their share of the gold.
This is not the place in which to tell the story of that rush of
the gold seekers. The clerk at Fort Laramie reported, " The
total number of emigrants who passed this post up to June 10,
1850, included 16,915 men, 235 women, 242 children, 4672
wagons, 14,974 horses, 4641 mules, 7475 oxen, and 1653 cows."
1 Salt Lake City letter to the Frontier Guardian.
2 Millennial Star, Vol. XII, p. 350.
PROGRESS OF THE SETTLEMENT 407
A letter from Sacramento dated September 10, 1850, gave this
picture of the trail left by these travellers : " Many believed there
are dead animals enough on the desert (of 45 miles) between Hum-
boldt Lake and Carson River to pave a road the whole distance.
We will make a moderate estimate and say there is a dead animal
to every five feet, left on the desert this season. I counted 153
wagons within a mile and a half. Not half of those left were to
be seen, many having been burned to make lights in the night.
The desert is strewn with all kinds of property tools, clothes,
crockery, harnesses, etc."
Naturally, in this rush for sudden riches, many a Mormon had
a desire to join. A dozen families left Utah for California early
in 1849, an d in March, 1851, a company of more than five hundred
assembled in Payson, preparatory to making the trip. Here was
an unexpected danger to the growth of the Mormon population,
and one which the head of the church did not delay in checking.
The second General Epistle, dated October 12, I849, 1 stated that
the valley of the Sacramento was unhealthy, and that the Saints
could do better raising grain in Utah, adding, " The true use of
gold is for paving streets, covering houses, and making culinary
dishes, and when the Saints shall have preached the Gospel, raised
grain, and built up cities enough, the Lord will open up the way for
a supply of gold, to the perfect satisfaction of his people."
Notwithstanding this advice, a good many Mormons acted on
the idea that the Lord would help those who helped themselves,
and that if they were to have golden culinary dishes they must go
and dig the gold. Accordingly, we find the third General Epistle,
dated April 12, 1850, acknowledging that many brethren had gone
to the gold mines, but declaring that they were counselled only "by
their own wills and covetous feelings," and that they would have
done more good by staying in the valley. Young did not, how
ever, stop with a mere rebuke. He proposed to check the exodus.
" Let such men," the Epistle added, " remember that they are not
wanted in our midst. Let such leave their carcasses where they
do their work ; we want not our burial grounds polluted with such
hypocrites." Young was quite as plain spoken in his remarks to
the General Conference that spring, naming as those who " will go
down to hell, poverty-stricken and naked," the Mormons who felt
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XII, p. 1 19.
408 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
that they were so poor that they would have to go to the gold
mines. 1 Such talk had its effect, and Salt Lake Valley retained
most of its population.
The progress of the settlement received a serious check some
years later in the failure of the crops in 1855, followed by a near
approach to a famine in the ensuing winter. Very little reference
to this was made in the official church correspondence, but a pic
ture of the situation in Salt Lake City that winter was drawn in
two letters from Heber C. Kimball to his sons in England. 2 In
the first, written in February, he said that his family and Brigham
Young s were then on a ration of half a pound of bread each per
day, and that thousands had scarcely any breadstuff at all. Kim-
ball s family of one hundred persons then had on hand about seventy
bushels of potatoes and a few beets and carrots, "so you can judge,"
he says, " whether we can get through until harvest without dig
ging roots." There were then not more than five hundred bushels
of grain in the tithing office, and all public work was stopped until
the next harvest, and all mechanics were advised to drop their tools
and to set about raising grain. " There is not a settlement in the
territory," said the writer, " but is also in the same fix as we are.
Dollars and cents do not count in these times, for they are the
tightest I have ever seen in the territory of Utah." In April he
wrote : " I suppose one-half the church stock is dead. There are
not more than one-half the people that have bread, and they have
not more than one-half or one quarter of a pound a day to a
person. A great portion of the people are digging roots, and hun
dreds and thousands, their teams being dead, are under the neces
sity of spading their ground to put in their grain." The harvest
of 1856 also suffered from drought and insects, and the Deseret
Neivs that summer declared that " the most rigid economy and
untiring, well-directed industry may enable us to escape starvation
until a harvest in 1857, an d until the lapse of another year emi
grants and others will run great risks of starving unless they bring
their supplies with them." The first load of barley brought into
Salt Lake City that summer sold for $2 a bushel.
The first building erected in Salt Lake City in which to hold
church services was called a tabernacle. It was begun in 1851,
and was consecrated on April 6, 1852. It stood in Temple block,
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XII, p. 274. 2 Ibid., Vol. XVIII, pp. 395, 476.
PROGRESS OF THE SETTLEMENT 409
where the Assembly Hall now stands, measuring about 60 by
1 20 feet, and providing accommodation for 2500 people. The
present Tabernacle, in which the public church services are
held, was completed in 1870. It stands just west of the Temple,
is elliptical in shape, and, with its broad gallery running around
the entire interior, except the end occupied by the organ loft and
pulpit, it can seat about 9000 persons. Its acoustic properties
are remarkable, and one of the duties of any guide who exhibits
the auditorium to visitors is to station them at the end of the
gallery opposite the pulpit, and to drop a pin on the floor to
show them how distinctly that sound can be heard.
The Temple in Salt Lake City was begun in April, 1853, and
was not dedicated until April, 1893. This building is devoted to
the secret ceremonies of the church, and no Gentile is ever admitted
to it. The building, of granite taken from the near-by mountains,
is architecturally imposing, measuring 200 by 100 feet. Its cost is
admitted to have been about $4,000,000. The building could
probably be duplicated to-day for one-half that sum. The excuse
given by church authorities for the excessive cost is that, during
the early years of the work upon it, the granite had to be hauled
from the mountains by ox teams, and that everything in the way
of building material was expensive in Utah when the church there
was young. The interior is divided into different rooms, in which
such ceremonies as the baptism for the dead are performed ; the
baptismal font is copied after the one that was in the Temple at
Nauvoo.
There are three other temples in Utah, all of which were com
pleted before the one in Salt Lake City, namely, at St. George,
at Logan, and at Manti.
CHAPTER III
THE FOREIGN IMMIGRATION TO UTAH
WHEN the Mormons began their departure westward from
Nauvoo, the immigration of converts from Europe was suspended
because of the uncertainty about the location of the next settlement,
and the difficulty of transporting the existing population. But the
necessity of constant additions to the community of new-comers,
and especially those bringing some capital, was never lost sight of
by the heads of the church. An evidence of this was given even
before the first company reached the Missouri River.
While the Saints were marching through Iowa they received
intelligence of a big scandal in connection with the emigration
business in England, and P. P. Pratt, Orson Hyde, and John Tay
lor were hurriedly sent to that country to straighten the matter out.
The Millennial Star in the early part of 1 846 had frequent articles
about the British and American Commercial Joint Stock Company,
an organization incorporated to assist poor Saints in emigrating.
The principal emigration agent in Great Britain at that time was
R. Hedlock. He was the originator of the Joint Stock Company,
and Thomas Ward was its president. The Mormon investigators
found that more than 1644 of the contributions of the stock
holders had been squandered, and that Ward had been lending
Hedlock money with which to pay his personal debts. Ward and
Hedlock were at once disfellowshipped, and contributions to the
treasury of the company were stopped. Pratt says that Hedlock
fled when the investigators arrived, leaving many debts, "and
finally lived incog, in London with a vile woman." Thus it seems
that Mormon business enterprises in England were no freer from
scandals than those in America.
The efforts of the leaders of the church were now exerted to
make the prospects of the Saints in Utah attractive to the converts
410
THE FOREIGN IMMIGRATION TO UTAH 411
in England whom they wished to add to the population of their
valley. Young and his associates seem to have entertained the
idea, without reckoning on the rapid settlement of California, the
migration of the " Forty-niners," and the connection of the two
coasts by rail, that they could constitute a little empire all by itself
in Utah, which would be self-supporting as well as independent,
the farmer raising food for the mechanic, and the mechanic doing
the needed work for the farmer. Accordingly, the church did not
stop short of every kind of misrepresentation and deception in
belittling to the foreigners the misfortunes of the past, and pictur
ing to them the fruitfulness of their new country, and the ease
with which they could become landowners there.
Naturally, after the expulsion from Illinois, in which so many
foreign converts shared, an explanation and palliation of the emi
gration thence were necessary. In the United States, then and
ever since, the Mormons pictured themselves as the victims of an
almost unprecedented persecution. But as soon as John Taylor
reached England, in 1846, he issued an address to the Saints in
Great Britain 1 in which he presented a very different picture.
Granting that, on an average, they had not obtained more than
one-third the value of their real and personal property when they
left Illinois, he explained that, when they settled there, land in
Nauvoo was worth only from $3 to $20 per acre, while, when they
left, it was worth from $50 to $1500 per acre ; in the same period
the adjoining farm lands had risen in value from $1.25 and $5 to
from $5 to $50 per acre. He assured his hearers, therefore, that
the one-third value which they had obtained had paid them well
for their labor. Nor was this all. When they left, they had
exchanged their property for horses, cattle, provisions, clothing,
etc., which was exactly what was needed by settlers in a new coun
try. As a further bait he went on to explain : " When we arrive
in California, according to the provisions of the Mexican govern
ment, each family will be entitled to a large tract of land, amount
ing to several hundred acres," and, if that country passed into
American control, he looked for the passage of a law giving 640
acres to each male settler. " Thus," he summed up, " it will be
easy to see that we are in a better condition than when we were in
Nauvoo ! "
1 Millennial Star, Vol. VIII, p. 115.
4 I2 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
The misrepresentation did not cease here, however. After
announcing the departure of Brigham Young s pioneer company,
Taylor l wound up with this tissue of false statements : " The
way is now prepared ; the roads, bridges, and ferry-boats made ;
there are stopping places also on the way where they can rest,
obtain vegetables and corn, and, when they arrive at the far end,
instead of finding a wild waste, they will meet with friends, provi
sions and a home, so that all that will be requisite for them to do
will be to find sufficient teams to draw their families, and to take
along with them a few woollen or cotton goods, or other articles of
merchandise which will be light, and which the brethren will
require until they can manufacture for themselves. " How many a
poor Englishman, toiling over the plains in the next succeeding
years, and, arriving in arid Utah to find himself in the clutches of
an organization from which he could not escape, had reason to
curse the man who drew this picture !
In 1847, at tne suggestion of Taylor, Hyde, and Pratt, who
were still in England, a petition bearing nearly 13,000 names was
addressed to Queen Victoria, setting forth the misery existing
among the working classes in Great Britain, suggesting, as the
best means of relief, royal aid to those who wished to emigrate to
" the island of Vancouver or to the great territory of Oregon," and
asking her " to give them employment in improving the harbors of
those countries, or in erecting forts of defence ; or, if this be inex
pedient, to furnish them provisions and means of subsistence until
they can produce them from the soil." These American citizens
did not hesitate to point out that the United States government
was favoring the settlement of its territory on the Pacific coast, and
to add : " While the United States do manifest such a strong incli
nation, not only to extend and enlarge their possessions in the West,
1 John Taylor was born in England in 1808, and emigrated to Canada in 1829,
where, after joining the Methodists, he, like Joseph Smith, found existing churches
unsatisfactory, and was easily secured as a convert by P. P. Pratt. He was elected to
the Quorum, and was sent to Great Britain as a missionary in 1840, writing several
pamphlets while there. He arrived in Nauvoo with Brigham Young in 1841, and there
edited the Times and Seasons, was a member of the City Council, a regent of the uni
versity, and judge advocate of the Legion, and was in the room with the prophet when
the latter was shot. He was the Mormon representative in France in 1849, publish
ing a monthly paper there, translating the Mormon Bible into the French language, and
preaching later at Hamburg, Germany. He was superintendent of the Mormon church
in the Eastern states in 1857, when Young declared war against the United States, and
he succeeded Young as head of the church.
THE FOREIGN IMMIGRATION TO UTAH 413
but also to people them, will not your Majesty look well to British
interests in those regions, and adopt timely precautionary measures
to maintain a balance of power in that quarter which, in the opin
ion of your memorialists, is destined at no very distant period to
participate largely in the China trade ? " l
The Oregon boundary treaty was less than a year old when this
petition was presented. It was characteristic of Mormon duplicity
to find their representatives in Great Britain appealing to Queen
Victoria on the ground of self-interest, while their chiefs in the United
States were pointing to the organization of the Battalion as a proof
of their fidelity to the home government. Practically no notice was
taken of this petition. Vancouver Island, was, however, held out
to the converts in Great Britain as the one " gathering point of the
Saints from the islands and distant portions of the earth," until the
selection of Salt Lake Valley as the Saints abiding place.
On December 23, 1847, Young, in behalf of the Twelve, issued
from Winter Quarters a General Epistle to the church 2 which gave
an account of his trip to the Salt Lake Valley, directed all to gather
themselves speedily near Winter Quarters in readiness for the
march to Salt Lake Valley, and said to the Saints in Europe:
"Emigrate as speedily as possible to this vicinity. Those who
have but little means, and little or no labor, will soon exhaust that
means if they remain where they are. Therefore, it is wisdom
that they remove without delay ; for here is land on which, by
their labor, they can speedily better their condition for their fur
ther journey." The list of things which Young advised the emi
grants to bring with them embraced a wide assortment : grains,
trees, and vines ; live stock and fowls ; agricultural implements
and mills; firearms and ammunition; gold and silver and zinc
and tin and brass and ivory and precious stones ; curiosities,
"sweet instruments of music, sweet odors, and beautiful colors."
The care of the head of the church, that the immigrants should
not neglect to provide themselves with cologne and rouge for use
in crossing the prairies, was most thoughtful.
The Millennial Star of February I, 1848, made this announce
ment to the faithful in the British Isles :
" The channel of Saints 1 emigration to the land of Zion is now opened. The
resting place of Israel for the last days has been discovered. In the elevated val-
1 See Linforth s " Route," pp. 2-5. z Millennial Star, Vol. X, p. 81.
414 THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
ley of the Salt and Utah Lakes, with the beautiful river Jordan running through
it, is the newly established Stake of Zion. There vegetation flourishes with
magic rapidity. And the food of man, or staff of life, leaps into maturity from
the bowels of Mother Earth with astonishing celerity. Within one month from
planting, potatoes grew from six to eight inches, and corn from two to four feet.
There the frequent clouds introduce their fertilizing contents at a modest distance
from the fat valley, and send their humid influences from the mountain tops.
There the saline atmosphere of Salt Lake mingles in wedlock with the fresh hu
midity of the same vegetable element which comes over the mountain top, as if
the nuptial bonds of rare elements were introduced to exhibit a novel specimen
of a perfect vegetable progeny in the shortest possible time," etc.
Contrast this with Brigham Young s letter to Colonel Alex
ander in October, 1857, "We had hoped that in this barren,
desolate country we could have remained unmolested."
On the 2Oth of February, 1848, the shipment of Mormon
emigrants began again with the sailing of the Cornatic, with 120
passengers, for New Orleans.
In the following April, Orson Pratt was sent to England to
take charge of the affairs of the church there. On his arrival, in
August, he issued an " Epistle " which was influential in augment
ing the movement. He said that " in the solitary valleys of the
great interior " they hoped to hide " while the indignation of the
Almighty is poured upon the nations" ; and urged the rich to dis
pose of their property in order to help the poor, commanding all
who could do so to pay their tithing. " O ye saints of the Most
High," he said, " linger not! Make good your retreat before the
avenues are closed up ! "
Many other letters were published in the Millennial Star in
1848-1849, giving glowing accounts of the fertility of Salt Lake
Valley. One from the clerk of the camp observed : " Many cases
of twins. In a row of seven houses joining each other eight births
in one week."
In order to assist the poor converts in Europe, the General
Conference held in Salt Lake City in October, 1849, voted to raise
a fund, to be called "The Perpetual Emigrating Fund," and soon
$5000 had been secured for this purpose. In September, 1850, the
General Assembly of the Provisional State of Deseret incorporated
the Perpetual Emigration Fund Company, and Brigham Young was
elected its first president. Collections for this fund in Great Brit
ain amounted to ,1410 by January, 1852, and the emigrants sent
THE FOREIGN IMMIGRATION TO UTAH 415
out in that year were assisted from this fund. These expenditures
required an additional $5000, which was supplied from Salt Lake
City. A letter issued by the First Presidency in October, 1849,
urged the utmost economy in the expenditure of this money, and
explained that, when the assisted emigrants arrived in Salt Lake
City, they would give their obligations to the church to refund
as soon as possible what had been expended on them. 1 In this
way, any who were dissatisfied on their arrival in Utah found
themselves in the church clutches, from which they could not
escape.
There were outbreaks of cholera among the emigrant parties
crossing the plains in 1849, an d many deaths.
In October, 1849, an important company left Salt Lake City to
augment the list of missionaries in Europe. It included John
Taylor and two others, assigned to France; Lorenzo Snow and
one other, to Italy ; Erastus Snow and one other, to Denmark ; 2
F. D. Richards and eight others, to England ; and J. Fosgreene, to
Sweden.
The system of Mormon emigration from Great Britain at that
time seems to have been in the main a good one. The rule of the
agent in Liverpool was not to charter a vessel until enough pas
sengers had made their deposits to warrant him in doing so. The
rate of fare depended on the price paid for the charter. 3 As soon
as the passengers arrived in Liverpool they could go on board ship,
and, when enough came from one district, all sailed on one vessel.
Once on board, they were organized with a president and two
counsellors, men who had crossed the ocean, if possible, who
allotted the staterooms, appointed watchmen to serve in turn, and
looked after the sanitary arrangements. When the first through
passengers for Salt Lake City left Liverpool, in 1852, an experi
enced elder was sent in advance to have teams and supplies in
readiness at the point where the land journey would begin, and
other men of experience accompanied them to engage river trans-
1 Millennial Star, Vol. XII, p. 124.
2 Elder Dykes reported in October, 1851, that, on his arrival in Aalborg, Denmark,
he found that a mob had broken in the windows of the Saints meeting-house and
destroyed the furniture, and had also broken the windows of the Saints houses, and, by
the mayor s advice, he left the city by the first steamer. Millennial Star, Vol. XIII,
p. 346.
3 See Linforth s "Route," pp. 10, 17-22; Mackay s "History of the Mormons,"
pp. 298-302; Pratt s letter to the Millennial Star, Vol. XI, p. 277.
416
THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
portation when they reached New Orleans. The statistics of
the emigration thus called out were as follows :
YEAR
VESSELS
EMIGRANTS
1848 .
5
754
1849 ; . . .... .
9
2078
1850 . ... ...-.;
6
1612
1851 . . . . . .. ...
4
1869
The Frontier Guardian at Kanesville estimated the Mormon
movement across the plains in 1850 at about 703 wagons, taking
5000 horses and cattle and 4000 sheep.
Of the class of emigrants then going out, the manager of the
leading shipping agents at Liverpool who furnished the ships
said, "They are principally farmers and mechanics, with some
few clerks, surgeons, and so forth." He found on the company s
books, for the period between October, 1849, an d March, 1850, the
names of 16 miners, 20 engineers, 19 farmers, 108 laborers,
10 joiners, 25 weavers, 15 shoemakers, 12 smiths, 19 tailors, 8
watchmakers, 25 stone masons, 5 butchers, 4 bakers, 4 potters,
10 painters, 7 shipwrights, and 5 dyers.
The statistics of the Mormon emigration given by the British
agency for the years named were as follows :
YEAR
VESSELS
EMIGRANTS
1852
3
732
1853
7
2312
1854 .
9
2456
1852 1854, Scandinavian and German via
Liverpool
1053
1855
13
4425
In 1853 the experiment was made of engaging to send adults
from Liverpool to Utah for 10 each and children for half price ;
but this did not succeed, and those who embraced the offer had to
borrow money or teams to complete the journey.
In 1853, owing to extortions practised on the emigrants by
THE FOREIGN IMMIGRATION TO UTAH 417
the merchants and traders at Kanesville, as well as the unhealth-
fulness of the Missouri bottoms, the principal point of departure
from the river was changed to Keokuk, Iowa. The authorities
and people there showed the new-comers every kindness, and set
apart a plot of ground for their camp. In this camp each com
pany on its arrival was organized and provided with the necessary
teams, etc. In 1854 the point of departure was again changed to
Kansas, in western Missouri, fourteen miles west of Independence,
the route then running to the Big Blue River, and through what
are now the states of Kansas and Nebraska.
2 E
CHAPTER IV
THE HAND-CART TRAGEDY
IN 1855 the crops in Utah were almost a failure, and the church
authorities found themselves very much embarrassed by their debts.
A report in the seventh General Epistle, of April 18, 1852, set forth
that, from their entry into the valley to March 27, of that year,
there had been received as tithing, mostly in property, $244,747.03,
and in loans and from other sources $145,513.78, of which total
there had been expended in assisting immigrants and on church
buildings, city lots, manufacturing industries, etc., $353,765.69.
Young found it necessary therefore to cut down his expenses, and
he looked around for a method of doing this without checking the
stream of new-comers. The method which he evolved w 
