Parley Pratt's Conversion — Mission to the Lamanites — the Missionaries at Kirtland — Conversion of Sidney Rigdon — Mormon Success at Kirtland — the Missionaries in Missouri — Rigdon Visits Smith Edward Partridge — the Melchisedec Priesthood Given — Smith and Rigdon Journey to Missouri Bible Translation Smith's Second Visit to Missouri — Unexampled Prosperity — Causes of Persecutions — Mobocracy — the Saints Are Driven From Jackson County — Treachery of Boggs — Military Organization at Kirtland — the Name Latter-Day Saints — March to Missouri.
One evening as Hyrum Smith was driving cows along the road toward his father's house, he was overtaken by a stranger, who inquired for Joseph Smith, translator of the book of Mormon. "He is now residing in Pennsylvania, a hundred miles away," was the reply.
"And the father of Joseph?"
"He also is absent on a journey. That is his house yonder, and I am his son.'
The stranger then said that he was a preacher of the word; that he had just seen for the first time a copy of the wonderful book; that once it was in his hands he could not lay it down until he had devoured it, for the spirit of the Lord was upon him as he read, and he knew that it was true; the spirit of the Lord had directed him thither, and his heart was full of joy.
Hyrum gazed at him in amazement; for converts of this quality, and after this fashion, were not common in those days of poverty and sore trial. He was little more than a boy, being but twenty-three,
|p. 72||and of that fresh,
fair innocence which sits only on a youthful face beaming with high
enthusiasm. But it was more than a boy's soul that was seen through those
eyes of deep and solemn earnestness; it was more than a boy's strength of
endurance that was indicated by the broad chest and comely, compact limbs;
and more than a boy's intelligence and powers of reasoning' that the
massive brow betokened.
Hyrum took the stranger to the house, and they passed the night in discourse, sleeping little. The convert's name was Parley P. Pratt. He was a native of Burlington, New York, and born April 12, 1807. His father was a farmer of limited means and education, and though not a member of any religious society, had a respect for all. the boy had a passion for books; the bible especially he read over and over again with deep interest and enthusiasm. He early manifested strong religious feeling; mind and soul seemed all on fire as he read of the patriarchs and kings of the old testament, and of Christ and his apostles of the new. In winter at. school, and in summer at work, his life passed until he was sixteen, when he went west with his father William, some two hundred miles on foot, to Oswego, two miles from which town they bargained for a thickly wooded tract of seventy acres, at four dollars an acre, paying some seventy dollars in cash. After a summer's work for wages back near the old home, and a winter's work clearing the forest farm, the place was lost through failure to meet the remaining payments. Another attempt to make a forest home, this time in Ohio, thirty miles west of Cleveland, was more successful; and after much tell and many hardships, he found himself; in 1827, comfortably established there, with Thankful Halsey as his wife.
Meanwhile religion ran riot through his brain. His mind, however, was of a reasoning, logical caste. "Why this difference," he argued, "between the ancient and modern Christians, their doctrines and their
|p. 73||practice? Had I
lived and believed in the days of the apostles, and had so desired, they
would have said, 'Repent, be baptized, and receive the holy ghost.' The
scriptures are the same now as then; why should not results be the
same?" In the absence of anything better, he joined the baptists, and
was immersed; but he was not satisfied. In 1829 Sidney Rigdon, of whom
more hereafter, preached in his neighborhood; he heard him and was
refreshed. It was the ancient gospel revived—repentance, baptism, the
gift of the holy ghost. And yet there was something lacking—the
authority to minister; the power which should accompany the form of
apostleship. At length he and others, who had heard Rigdon, organized a
society on the basis of his teachings, and Parley began to preach. The
spirit working in him finally compelled him to abandon his farm and go
forth to meet his destiny, he knew not whither. In this frame of mind he
wandered eastward, and while his family were visiting friends, he came
upon the book of Mormon and Hyrum Smith. Now did his soul find rest. Here
was inspiration and revelation as of old; here was a new dispensation with
attendant signs and miracles.
As he left Smith's house the following morning, having an appointment to preach some thirty miles distant, Hyrum gave him a copy of the sacred book. Travelling on foot, and stopping now and then to rest, he read at intervals, and found to his great joy that soon after his ascension Christ had appeared in his glorified body to the remnant of the tribe of Joseph in America, that he had administered in person to the ten lost tribes, that the gospel had been revealed and written among nations unknown to the apostles, and that thus preserved it had escaped the corruptions of the great and abominable church.
Returning to Smith's house, Parley demanded of Hyrum baptism. They went to Whitmer's, where they were warmly welcomed by a little branch of the church there assembled. The new convert was baptized
|p. 74||by Cowdery, and was
ordained an elder. He continued to preach in those parts with great power.
Congregations were moved to tears, and many heads of families came forward
and accepted the faith. Then he went to his old home. His father, mother,
and some of the neighbors believed only in part; but his brother Orson,
nineteen years of age, embraced with eagerness the new religion, and
preached it from that time forth. Returning to Manchester, Parley for the
first time met Joseph Smith, who received him warmly, and asked him to
preach on Sunday, which he did, Joseph following with a discourse.
Revelations continued, now in the way of command, and now in the spirit of prophecy. In Harmony, to the first elder it was spoken: "Magnify thine office; and after thou hast sowed thy fields and secured them, go speedily unto the churches which are in Colesville, Fayette, and Manchester, and they shall support thee; and I will bless them, both spiritually and temporally; but if they receive thee not, I will send on them a cursing instead of a blessing, and thou shalt shake the dust off thy feet against them as a testimony, and wipe thy feet by the wayside." And to Cowdery, thus: "Oliver shall continue in bearing lily name before the world, and also to the church; and he shall take neither purse nor scrip, neither staves nor even two coats." To Emma, wife of Joseph: "Thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou art an elect lady, whom I have called; and thou shalt comfort thy husband, my servant Joseph, and shalt go with him, and be unto him as a scribe in the absence of my servant Oliver, and he shall support thee." Emma was also further directed to make a selection of hymns to be used in church.1
1The hymn-book of Emma Smith does not appear to have been published, but a little book containing hymns selected by Brigham Young passed through eight editions up to 1849, the eighth being published in Liverpool in that year. Smucker's Hist. of Mor., 57-61; Millenial Star, iv. 150-1. The preface to the first edition was signed by Brigham Young, Parley P. Pratt, and John (cont.)
|p. 75|| In
the presence of six elders, at Fayette, in September 1880, came the voice
of Jesus Christ, promising them every blessing, while the wicked should be
destroyed. The millennium should come; but first dire destruction should
fall upon the earth, and the great and abominable church should be cast
down. Hiram Page renounced his stone. David Whitmer was ordered to his
father's house, there to await further instructions. Peter Whitmer junior,
Parley P. Pratt, and Ziba Peterson were directed to go with Oliver and
assist him in preaching the gospel to the Lamanites, that is to say, to
the Indians in the west, the remnant of the tribe of Joseph. Thomas B.
Marsh was promised that he should begin to preach. Miracles were limited
to casting out devils and healing the sick. Wine for sacramental purposes
must not be bought, but made at home.2
Taking with them a copy of the revelation assigning to them this work, these first appointed missionaries set out, and continued their journey, preaching in the villages through which they passed, and stopping at Buffalo to instruct the Indians as to their ancestry, until they came to Kirtland, Ohio. There they remained some time, as many came forward and embraced their faith, among others Sidney Rigdon, a preaching elder in the reformed baptist church, who presided over a congregation there, a large portion of whom likewise became interested in the latter-day church.3
(1cont.) Taylor. The preface to the ninth edition, published at Liverpool and London in 1851, is by Franklin D. Richards, who states that 54,000 copies of the several editions have been sold in the European missions alone within eleven years. Several editions have since been published in Europe and America.
2Smith says: 'In order to prepare for this (confirmation) I set out to go to procure some wine for the occasion, but had gone only a short distance when I was met by a heavenly messenger, and received the revelation.' Millennial Star, iv. 151; Times and Seasons, iv. 117-18.
3At the town of Kirtland, two miles from Rigdon's residence, was a number of the members of his church who lived together, and had all things in common, from which circumstance, Smith says, the idea arose that this was the case with the Mormon believers. To these people the missionaries repaired and preached with some success, gathering in seventeen on the first occasion. Rigdon after spending some time in the study of the book of Mormon (cont.)
Rigdon was a native of Pennsylvania, and was now thirty-seven years of age. He worked on his father's farm until he was twenty-six, when he went to live with the Rev. Andrew Clark, and the same year, 1819, was licensed to preach. Thence he went to Warren, Ohio, and married; and after preaching for a time he was called to take charge of a church at Pittsburgh, where he met with success, and soon became very popular. But his mind was perplexed over the doctrines he was required to promulgate, and in 1824 he retired from his ministry. There were two friends who had likewise withdrawn from their respective churches, and with whom he conferred freely, Alexander Campbell, of his own congregation, and one Walter Scott, of the Scandinavian church of that city. Campbell had formerly lived at Bethany, Virginia, where was issued under his auspices a monthly journal called the Christian Baptist. Out of this friendship and association arose a new church, called the Campbellites, its doctrines having been published by Campbell in his paper. During the next two years Rigdon was obliged to work in a tannery to support his family; then he removed to Bainbridge, Ohio, where he again began to preach, confining himself to no creed, but leaning toward that of the Campbellites. Crowds flocked to hear him, and a church was established in a neighboring town through his instrumentality. After a year of this work he accepted a call to Mentor, thirty miles distant. Slanderous reports followed him, and a storm of persecution set in against him; but by his surpassing eloquence and deep reasoning it was not only soon allayed, but greater multitudes than ever waited on his ministrations.
(3cont.) concluded to accept its doctrines, and together with his wife was baptized into the church, which now numbered about twenty in this section. Millennial Star, iv. 181-4; v. 4-7, 17; Times and Seasons, iv. 177, 193-4. Rigdon had for nearly three years already taught the literal interpretation of scripture prophecies, the gathering of the Israelites to receive the second coming, the literal reign of the saints on earth, and the use of miraculous gifts in the church. Gunnison's Mormons, 101.
|p. 77|| Rigdon
was a cogent speaker of imposing mien and impassioned address. As a man,
however, his character seems to have had a tinge of insincerity. He was
fickle, now and then petulant, irascible, and sometimes domineering.
Later, Joseph Smith took occasion more than once to rebuke him sharply,
fearing that he might assume the supremacy.
Upon hearing the arguments of Pratt and Cowdery, and investigating the book of Mormon, Rigdon was convinced that he had not been legally ordained, and that his present; ministry was without the divine authority. In regard to the revival of the old dispensation, he argued thus: "If we have not familiarity enough with our creator to ask of him a sign, we are no Christians; if God will not give his creatures one, he is no better than Juggernaut." The result was, that he and others accepted the book and its teachings,4 received baptism and the gift of the holy ghost, and were ordained to preach.
On one occasion Cowdery preached, followed by Rigdon. After service they went to the Chagrin River to baptize. Rigdon stood in the stream and poured forth his exhortations with eloquent fervor. One after another stepped forward until thirty had been baptized. Present upon the bank was a hard-headed lawyer, Varnem J. Card, who as he listened grew pale with emotion. Suddenly he seized the arm of a friend and whispered, Quick, take me away, or in a moment more I shall be in that water!" One hundred and twenty-seven converts at once, the number
4Howe intimates that Rigdon knew more of the book and the people than he pretended. Of the proselytes made in his church he says: 'Near the residence of Rigdon, in Kirtland, there had been for some time previous a few families belonging to his congregation, who had formed themselves into a common stock society, and had become considerably fanatical, and were daily looking for some wonderful event to take place in the world. Their minds had become fully prepared to embrace Mormonism, or any other mysteriousism that should first, present itself. Seventeen in number of these persons readily believed the whole story of Cowdery about the finding of the golden plates and the spectacles. They were all reimmersed in one night by Cowdery.' Mormonism Unveiled, 103.
increasing to a thousand, were here gathered into the fold.5
After adding to their number one Frederic G. Williams, the missionaries continued on their way, arriving first at Sandusky, where they gave instructions to the Indians in regard to their forefathers, as they had done at Buffalo, and thence proceeded to Cincinnati and St Louis. In passing by his old forest home, Pratt was arrested on some trivial charge, but made his escape. The winter was very severe, and it was some time before they could continue their journey. At length they set out again, wading in snow knee-deep, carrying their few effects on their backs, and having to eat corn bread and frozen raw pork; and after travelling in all fifteen hundred miles, most of the way on foot, preaching to tens of thousands by the way, and organizing hundreds into churches, they reached Independence, Missouri, in the early part of 1831. There Whitmer and Peterson went to work as tailors, while Pratt and Cowdery passed over the
5Speaking of the doings at Kirtland after the departure of the Lamanite mission, Mr Howe says: 'Scenes of the most wild, frantic, and horrible fanaticism ensued. They pretended that the power of miracles was about to be given to all those who embraced the new faith, and commenced communicating the holy spirit by laying their hands upon the heads of the converts, which operation at first produced an instantaneous prostration of body and mind. Many would fall upon the floor, where they would lie for a long time apparently lifeless. They thus continued these enthusiastic exhibitions for several weeks. The fits usually came on during or after their prayer meetings, which were held nearly every evening. The young men and women were more particularly subject to this delirium. They would exhibit all the apish actions imaginable, making the most ridiculous grimaces, creeping upon their hands and feet, rolling upon the frozen ground, go through with all the Indian modes of warfare, such as knocking down, scalping, ripping open and tearing out the bowels. At other times they would run through the fields, get upon stumps, preach to imaginary congregations, enter the water and perform all the ceremony of baptizing, etc. Many would have fits of speaking all the different Indian dialects, which none could understand. Again, at the dead hour of night the young men might be seen running over the fields and hills in pursuit, as they said, of the balls of fire, light, etc., which they saw moving through the atmosphere…On the arrival of Smith in Kirtland he appeared astonished at the wild enthusiasm and scalping performances of his proselytes there. He told them that he had inquired of the Lord concerning the matter, and had been informed that it was all the work of the devil, as heretofore related. The disturbance therefore ceased.' Mormonism Unveiled, 104, 116.
|p. 79||border, crossed the
Kansas River, and began their work among the Lamanites, or Indians,
The chief of the Delawares was sachem of ten tribes. He received the missionaries with courtesy, and set food before them. When they asked him to call a council before which they might expound their doctrines, he at first declined, then assented; whereupon Cowdery gave them an account of their ancestors, as contained in the wonderful book, a copy of which he left with the chief on taking his departure, which soon occurred; for when it was known upon the border settlements what the missionaries were doing, they were ordered out of the Indian country as disturbers of the peace.6 After preaching a short time in Missouri, the five brethren thought it best that one of their number should return east and report. The choice fell on Pratt. Starting out on foot, he reached St Louis, three hundred miles distant, in nine days. Thence he proceeded by steamer to Cincinnati, and from that point journeyed on foot to Strongville, forty miles from Kirtland. Overcome by fatigue and illness, he was forced to remain at this place some ten days, when he continued his journey on horseback. He was welcomed at Kirtland by hundreds of the saints, Joseph Smith himself being present.
In December 1830 comes Sidney Rigdon to Joseph Smith at Manchester, and with him Edward Partridge, to inquire of the Lord; and they are told what they shall do; they shall preach thereabout, and also on the Ohio.7
6'One of their leading articles of faith is, that the Indians of North America, in a very few years, will be converted to Mormonism, and through rivers of blood will again take possession of their ancient inheritance.' Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 145.
7'We believe had Moses and Aaron in the persons of Smith and Cowdery, and we now have John the Baptist, in the person of Sidney Rigdon. Their plans of deception appear to have been more fully matured and developed after the meeting of Smith and Rigdon. The latter being found very intimate with the scriptures, a close reasoner, and as fully competent to make (cont.)
The year 1831 opens with flattering prospects. On the 2d of January a conference is held at Fayette, attended by revelations and prophecy. James Colville, a baptist minister, accepts the faith, but shortly recants, being tempted of Satan, and in fear of persecution.8 Smith and his wife go with Rigdon and
(7cont.) white appear black and black white as any other man; and at all times prepared to establish, to the satisfaction of great numbers of people, the negative or affirmative of any and every question from scripture, he was forthwith appointed to promulgate all the absurdities and ridiculous pretensions of Mormonism, and call on the holy prophets to prove all the words of Smith. But the miraculous powers conferred upon him we do not learn have yet been put in requisition. It seems that the spirit had not, before the arrival of Rigdon, told Smith anything about the promised land, or his removal to Ohio. It is therefore very questionable what manner of spirit it was which dictated most of the after movements of the prophet. The spirit of Rigdon, it must be presumed, however, generally held sway; for a revelation was soon had that Kirtland, the residence of Rigdon and his brethren, was to be the eastern border of the promised land, and from thence to the Pacific Ocean· On this land the New Jerusalem, the city of refuge, was to be built. Upon it all true Mormons were to assemble, to escape the destruction of the world which was so soon to take place.' Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 109-10. Tucker, Origin and Prog. Mor., 76-8, thus speaks of the first appearance of this first regular Mormon preacher before a Palmyra congregation: 'Rigdon introduced himself as the messenger of God, declaring that he was commanded from above to proclaim the Mormon revelation. After going through with a ceremonious form of prayer, in which he expressed his grateful sense of the blessings of the glorious gospel dispensation now opening to the world, and the miraculous light from heaven to be displayed through the instrumentality of the chosen revelator, Joseph Smith Jr,…he announced his text as follows: First book of Nephi, chapter iv.—"And the angel spoke unto me, saying, These last records which thou hast seen among the gentiles shall establish the truth of the first, which is of the twelve apostles of the lamb, and shall make known the plain and precious things which have been taken away from them; and shall make known to all kindreds, tongues, and people that the lamb of God is the son of the eternal father and saviour of the world; and that all men must come unto him or they cannot be saved." The preacher assumed to establish the theory that the book of Mormon and the old bible were one in inspiration and importance, and that the precious things now revealed had for wise purposes been withheld from the book first promulgated to the world, and were necessary to establish its truth. In the course of his argument he applied various quotations from the two books to prove his position. Holding the book of Mormon in his right hand, and the bible in his left hand, he brought them together in a manner corresponding to the emphatic declaration made by him, that they were both equally the word of God; that neither was perfect without the other; and that they were inseparably necessary to complete the everlasting gospel of the saviour Jesus Christ.' It is said that Rigdon, after his return to Kirtland from his visit to Smith, in one of his eloquent discourses on the new faith, 'gave a challenge to the world to disprove the new bible, and the pretensions of its authors.' Rigdon's old friend, Thomas Campbell, hearing of it, wrote him from Mentor accepting, at the same time enclosing an outline of what his line of argument would be. There the matter dropped.
8See Millennial Star, v. 33-5; Times and Seasons, iv. 352-4. Mather, in Lippincott's Mag., Aug. 1880, states that to escape persecution sixty believers (cont.)
|p. 81|| Partridge
to Kirtland, arriving there early in February, and taking up their residence
with N. K. Whitney, who shows them great kindness. Among the hundred believers
there at the time, certain false doctrines have crept in; these are quickly
overcome, and a plan for community of goods which the family of saints had
adopted is abolished. Commandment comes by revelation that a house shall
be built for Joseph; that Sidney shall live as seems to him good, for his
heart is pure; that Edward Partridge shall be ordained a bishop;9
that all but Joseph and Sidney shall go forth, two by two, into the regions
westward and preach the gospel.10
"And now, behold, I speak unto the church: thou shalt not kill; thou shalt not steal; thou shalt not lie; thou shalt love thy wife, cleaving unto her and to none else; thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not speak evil of thy neighbor, nor do him any harm. Thou knowest my laws, given in my scriptures; he that sinneth and repenteth not shall be east out. And behold, thou wilt remember the poor, and consecrate of thy properties for their support, laying the same before the bishop of my church, the residue not to be taken back, but to be used by the church in buying lands and building houses of worship, for I will consecrate of the riches of those who embrace my gospel among the gentiles unto the poor of my people who are of the house of Israel. Let him that goeth to
(8cont.) abandoned their homes in the Susquehanna valley and moved westward. 'Some of the followers,' he says, 'were moved by a spirit of adventure, while others placed their property in the common lot and determined to accompany the prophet to his earthly as well as to his heavenly kingdom. Smith Baker was one of the teamsters, and reports that the train consisted of three baggage and eleven passenger wagons. The exodus was along the old state road, north of Binghamton, to Ithaca, and thence across Cayuga Lake to Palmra.'
9'Smith had appointed as his bishop one Edward Partridge, a very honest and industrious hatter of Painesville, Ohio, who had withal a comfortable stock of the good things of the world. He was stationed at Independence, sad had the sole control of all the temporal and spiritual affairs of the colony, always obedient, however, to the revelations promulgated by Smith.'
10'Some of the members pretended to receive parchment commissions miraculously, which vanished from their sight as soon as they had been copied.' For a copy of one of these, with seal attached, see Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 107; Kidder's Mormonism, 73.
|p. 82||the east tell them
that shall be converted to flee to the west. And again, thou shalt not be
proud; let thy garments be plain, the work of thine own hand, and cleanly.
Thou shalt not be idle. And whosoever among you is sick, and has faith,
shall be healed; and if he has not faith to be healed, but believe, he
shall be nourished with all tenderness. If thou wilt ask, thou shalt
receive revelation and knowledge. Whosoever hath faith sufficient shall
never taste death. Ye shall live together in love; that whether ye live ye
may live in me, or if ye die ye may die in me. So saith the Lord."
Edward Partridge was born at Pittsfield, Massachusetts, August 27, 1793. At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to a hatter. His was an earnest, thoughtful nature, and his mind much troubled about religion. In 1828 he entered Sidney Rigdon's Campbellite church, and in that faith remained until met by the missionaries Pratt, Cowdery, and the others, when he accepted the new revelation, and was subsequently baptized by Joseph in the Seneca River. He had a profitable business at the time; but when it was revealed that he should leave his merchandise and devote his whole time to the church, he obeyed without a murmur.
Joseph and Sidney were much together now in their revelations and rulings. A woman attempted prophesying and was rebuked. Sarcasm was employed, and scurrilous stories were printed in the newspapers; an account of a great Asiatic earthquake was headed "Mormonism in China." Revelations during March were frequent. In one of them John Whitmer was appointed church historian; and it was revealed that he should keep the church records, write and keep a regular history, and act as secretary to Joseph, as had Oliver Cowdery formerly.11 Lands might be bought
11'Since the organization of the church on the sixth day of April, 1830, there has been a record kept in our church of its general transactions, of its (cont.)
for immediate necessity; but remember the city to be presently built, and be prudent.12 And now from the shaking quakers came one Lemon Copley and accepted the gospel, though not in its fullness, as he retained
(11cont.) persecutions and general history. The one in charge of this duty is called by us "the historian and general church recorder. The first who occupied this position was John Whitmer, until 1838, when he was excommunicated from the church for transgression, and took portions of the church records with him.' Richards' Bibliography of Utah, MS., 2. 'The earliest clerk service rendered the prophet Joseph, of which there is any account, was by Martin Harris; Joseph's wife, Emma, then Oliver Cowdery, who, as is claimed, wrote the greater portion of the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon, as he translated it from the gold plates by the urim and thummim which he obtained with the plates. In March 1831 John Whitmer was appointed to keep the church record and history continually, Oliver having been appointed to other labors. Whitmer was assisted, temporarily, on occasions of absence or illness by Warren Parrish. At a meeting of high council at Kirtland, Sept. 14, 1835, it was decided that "Oliver Cowdery be appointed, and that he act hereafter as recorder for the church," Whitmer having just been called to be editor of the Messenger and Advocate. At a general conference held in Far West April 6, 1838, John Corrill and Elias Higbee were appointed historians, and George W. Robinson "general church recorder and clerk for the first presidency." On the death of Elder Robert B. Thompson, which occurred at Nauvoo on the twenty-seventh of August 1841, in his obituary it is stated: "Nearly two years past he had officiated as scribe to President Joseph Smith and clerk for the church, which important stations he filled with that dignity and honor befitting a man of God." During the expulsion from Missouri, and the early settlement of Nauvoo, James Mulholland, William Clayton, and perhaps others rendered temporary service in this line until the 13th of December, 1841 when Willard Richards was appointed recorder, general clerk, and private secretary to the prophet, which offices he occupied until his death, in March 1854, when he was succeeded by George A. Smith, who held it until his death on the first of September, 1875, with Wilford Woodruff as his assistant. Soon after, Orson Pratt succeeded to the office, retaining Woodruff as his assistant, until his demise on the third of October, 1881. Directly after President Woodruff was appointed to the office, and in January 1884, Apostle Franklin D. Richards was appointed his assistant.' See Times and Seasons, v. 401; Millennial Star, v. 82; Richards' Narrative, MS., 94-8.
12Of the future of this city there were many revelations and many conjectures. 'It was said that it would in a few years exceed in splendor everything known in ancient times. Its streets were to be paved with gold; all that escaped the general destruction which was soon to take place would there assemble with all their wealth; the ten lost tribes of Israel had been discovered in their retreat in the vicinity of the north pole, where the had for ages been secluded by immense barriers of ice, anti became vastly rich; the ice in a few years was to be melted away, when those tribes, with St John and some of the Nephites, which the book of Mormon bad immortalized, would be seen making their appearance in the new city, loaded with immense quantities of gold and silver. Whether the prophet himself ever declared nat these things bad been revealed to him, or that he had seen them through his magic stone or silver spectacles, we will not say; but that such stories and hundreds of others equally absurd were told by those who were in daily Intercourse with him, as being events which would probably take place, are susceptible of proof.' Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 127-8. 'Kirtland was never intended to be the metropolis of Mormonism; it was selected as a temporary abiding place, to make money in reference to a removal farther west.' Ferris' Utah and the Mormons, 72.
|p. 84||somewhat of his
former faith; whereupon a revelation ordered him to go with Parley P.
Pratt and preach to the shakers, not according to his old ideas, but as
Parley should direct.
"And again, I say unto you that whoso forbiddeth to marry is not ordained of God, for marriage is ordained of God unto man; wherefore it is lawful that he should have one wife, and they twain shall be one flesh. Beware of false spirits. Given May 1831."
The saints from New York began to come in numbers, and Bishop Partridge was ordered to look after them and attend to their requirements. It was ordered that if any had more than they required, let them give to the church; if any had less, let the church relieve their necessities. The 6th of June a conference of elders was held at Kirtland, and several received the authority of the Melchisedec priesthood. The next conference should be held in Missouri, whither Joseph and Sidney should proceed at once, and there it would be told them what to do. And to the same place others should go, two by two, each couple taking different routes and preaching by the way. Among those who went forth were Lyman Wight and John Corrill, John Murdock and Hyrum Smith by the way of Detroit, Thomas B. Marsh and Selah J. Griffin, Isaac Morley and Ezra Booth, David Whitmer and Harvey Whitlock, Parley P. Pratt and Orson Pratt, Solomon Hancock and Simeon Carter, Edson Fuller and Jacob Scott, Levi Hancock and Zebedee Coltrin, Reynolds Cahoon and Samuel H. Smith, Wheeler Baldwin and William Carter, Joseph Wakefield and Solomon Humphrey. With Joseph and Sidney were to go Martin Harris and Edward Partridge, taking with them a letter of recommendation from the church.13 "And thus, even as I have
13'From this point in the history of this delusion,' says Howe, 'it began to spread with considerable rapidity. Nearly all of their male converts, however ignorant and worthless, were forthwith transformed into elders, and sent forth to proclaim, with all their wild enthusiasm, the wonders and mysteries of Mormonism. All those having a taste for the marvellous and delighting (cont.)
|p. 85||said, if ye are
faithful, ye shall assemble yourselves together to rejoice upon the land
of Missouri, which is the land of your inheritance, which is now the land
of your enemies. Behold, I the Lord will hasten the city in its time, and
will crown the faithful with joy and with rejoicing. Behold I am Jesus
Christ the son of God, and I will lift them up at the last day.
While preparing for the journey to Missouri, a letter was received from Oliver Cowdery, reporting on his missionary work, and speaking of another tribe of Lamanites, living three hundred miles west of Santa Fé, called the Navarhoes (Navajoes), who had large flocks of sheep and cattle, and who made blankets. W. W. Phelps,14 with his family joining the society, was commissioned to assist Oliver Cowdery in selecting, writing, and printing books for schools. Thus the move from Ohio to Missouri was begun, Joseph and his party starting from Kirtland the 19th of June, going by wagon, canal-boat, and stage to Cincinnati, by steamer to St Louis, and thence on foot to Independence, arriving about the middle of July.
(13cont.) in novelties flocked to hear them. Many travelled fifty and a hundred miles to the throne of the prophet in Kirtland, to hear from his own mouth the certainty of his excavating a bible and spectacles. Many, even in the New England states, after hearing the frantic story of some of these elders, would forthwith place their all into a wagon, and wend their way to the promised land, in order, as they supposed, to escape the judgments of heaven, which were soon to be poured out upon the land. The state of New York, they were privately told, would most probably be sunk, unless the people thereof believed in the pretensions of Smith.' Mormonism Unveiled, 115-16.
14Howe writes thus of Phelps: 'Before the rise of Mormonism he was an avowed infidel; having a remarkable propensity for fame and eminence, he was supercilious, haughty, and egotistical. His great ambition was to embark in some speculation where he could shine preëminent. He took an active part for several years in the political contests of New York, and made no little display as an editor of a partisan newspaper, and after being foiled in his desires to become a candidate for lieutenant-governor of that state, his attention was suddenly diverted by the prospects which were held out to him in the gold-bible speculation. In this he was sure of becoming a great man, and made the dupes believe he was master of fourteen different languages, of which they frequently boasted. But he soon found that the prophet would suffer no growing rivalships, whose sagacity he had not well calculated, until he was met by a revelation which informed him that he could rise no higher than a printer.' Mormonism Unveiled, 274.
|p. 86|| "Harken,
O ye elders of my church, saith the Lord your God, who have assembled
yourselves together, according to my commandments, in this land, which is
the land of Missouri, which is the land which I have appointed and
consecrated for the gathering of the saints; wherefore this is the land of
promise, and the place for the city of Zion. And thus saith the Lord your
God, if you will receive wisdom here is wisdom. Behold the place which is
now called Independence is the centre place, and the spot for the temple
is lying westward upon a lot which is not far from the court-house:
wherefore it is wisdom 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; and also every tract bordering by the prairies,
inasmuch as my disciples are enabled to buy lands."
Further, Sidney Gilbert was made church agent, to receive money and buy lands; he was also directed to establish a store. Partridge was to partition the lands purchased among the people; Phelps was made church printer. But the last two becoming a little headstrong on entering upon their new duties, Joseph found it necessary to reprimand and warn them. Harris was held up as an example to emulate, for he had given much to the church. It was ordered that an agent be appointed to raise money in Ohio to buy lands in Missouri, and Rigdon was commissioned to write a description of the new land of Zion for the same purpose. Ziba Peterson was dispossessed of his lands, and made to work for others, in punishment for his misdemeanors.
Thus the latter-day saints had come to the border line of civilization, and looking over it into the west they thought here to establish themselves forever. Here was to be the temple of God; here the city of refuge; here the second advent of the savior. Meanwhile their headquarters were to be at the town of Independence.
|p. 87|| In
Kaw township, twelve miles west of Independence, the Colesville branch of
the church built a log house; the visible head of the church, on the 2d of
August, laying the first log, brought thither by twelve men, in honor of
the twelve tribes of Israel. Next day the ground for the temple, situated
a little west of Independence,15
was dedicated, and the day following was held the first conference in the
land of Zion.16
It was now commanded that Smith, Rigdon, Cowdery, and others should return east, and make more proselytes, money for the purpose to be furnished them out of the general fund.17 Accordingly on the
15Of Independence one of them says: 'It is a new town, containing a court-house built of brick, two or three merchants' stores, and 15 or 20 dwelling-houses built mostly of logs hewed on both sides; and is situated on a handsome rise of ground about three miles south of Missouri River, and about 12 miles east of the dividing line between the United States and the Indian reserve, and is the county scat of Jackson county.' Booth's letter in Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 196. On the south side of the Missouri, Parley Pratt says, Autobiography, 78, some families were entirely dressed in skins, without any other clothing, including ladies young and old. Buildings were generally without glass windows, and the door open in winter for a light.'
16Booth, in Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 196-9, says: 'The designation of the site where the city of Zion was to begin was attended with considerable parade and an ostentatious display of talents, both by Rigdon and Cowdery. And the next day the ground for the temple was consecrated, Smith claiming the honor of laying the corner-stone himself. The location of the stone was marked by a sapling from which the bark was removed on the north and east sides: on the south side a letter T was cut, which stood for temple, and on the east side Zom., for Zomas; which Smith said is the original word for Zion. This stone was placed near the foot of the sapling and covered with bushes cut for the purpose; the spot being on an elevation half a mile from Independence.' 'The Colesville branch was among the first organized by Joseph Smith, and constituted the first settlers of the members of the church in Missouri. They had arrived late in the summer and cut some hay for their cattle, sowed a little grain, prepared some ground for cultivation, and were engaged during the fall and winter in building log cabins, etc. The winter was cold, and for some time about 10 families lived in one cabin, which was open and unfinished, while the frozen ground served for a floor. Our food consisted of beef, and a little bread made of corn which had been grated into coarse meal by rubbing the ears on a tin grater.' Pratt's Autobiography, 76. See also Millennial Star, v. 131. It was revealed through Joseph the seer that the property of the Colesville branch should be held in common, and that Partridge (its bishop) have charge and distribute from the community storehouse according to the needs of each. Smith's Doctrine and Covenants (1876), 187-8 Smith in the beginning of the church attempted establish communism, each giving their all to the bishop, and only drawing out of the office sufficient to live upon. This was found to be impracticable, and it was silently permitted to glide into the payment of tithing. Hyde's Mormonism, 37.
17'This year, 1831, passed off with a gradual increase, and considerable wealth was drawn in, so that they began to boast of a capital stock of ten or (cont.)
|p. 88||9th Joseph and ten
elders started down the river in sixteen canoes, the leaders arriving at
Kirtland the 27th,18 after having
suffered hardship and mortification through disaffection among the elders.
Titus Billings, who had charge of the church property there, was ordered
to dispose of the lands, and prepare to remove to Missouri in the
following spring, together with part of the people, and such money as
could be raised. It was provided that those wishing to buy land in Zion
could do so by forwarding the purchase-money. The account of the new
country written by Sidney Rigdon did not please Joseph, and he was ordered
to write another; if that should not prove satisfactory, he was to be
deprived of office.19
On the 12th of September Joseph removed to the town of Hiram, thirty miles away, and prepared to begin again the translation of the bible, with Rigdon as scribe. The farm of Isaac Morley was ordered sold, while Frederic G. Williams should retain his, for it was desirable to keep a footing at Kirtland yet for
(17cont.) fifteen thousand dollars. Their common-stock principles appear to be somewhat similar to those of the shakers.' Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 128-9.
18Booth intimates that Smith and Rigdon preferred living in Ohio to enduring the hardships of Missouri. 'Before they went to Missouri their language was, "We shall winter in Ohio but one winter more;" and when in Missouri, "It will be many years before we come here, for the lord has a great work for us to do in Ohio." And the great work is to make a thorough alteration of the bible, and invent new revelations, and these are to be sent to Missouri in order to be printed.' Letter in Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 199.
19'Some dispute, of which the nature is not clearly known, appears to have arisen between Joseph and his friend Sidney Rigdon before their return. It is probable, from the course of subsequent events, that Sidney, even at this time, aspired to greater power in the church than suited the prophet,… who saw fit to rebuke him by a revelation accusing him of "being exalted in his heart, and despising the counsel of the lord. They afterward became reconciled."' Smucker's Mormons, 75-6, confirmed by Millennial Star, v. 149; Times and Seasons, v. 467. From this time till January 1832, Joseph continued preaching in various parts of the United States, making converts with great rapidity. He found it necessary, however, further to check the presumption of some new and indiscreet converts who also had revelations from the Lord, which they endeavored to palm off upon the public. Among others, one W. E. McLellan was rebuked for endeavoring to 'write a commandment like unto one of the least of the Lord's.' Mackay's Mormons, 67-8. See anecdote of 'The Swamp Angel;' also account of raising the dead by Smith, about this time. Ward's Mormon Wife, 10-11, 15-24. For text of rebuke, where the name of the offender is given William E. M'Lellin, see Millennial Star, v. 185-6; Times and Seasons, v. 496.
five years. The store kept by Newel K. Whitney and Sidney Gilbert should likewise be continued. A system of tithes should be established. Ezra Booth apostatized, and wrote letters against the church.20 Orson Hyde, clerk in Gilbert and Whitney's store, was baptized, and later make an elder. Phelps was told to buy at Cincinnati a printing-press and type, and start a monthly paper at Independence, to be called the Evening and Morning Star, which was done. Oliver Cowdery was instructed in November to return to Missouri, and with him John Whitmer, the latter to visit the several stations, and gather further materials for church history. Newel K. Whitney
20Booth's letters were first printed at Ravenna, in the Ohio Star, and afterward by E. D. Howe in his book, Mormonism Unveiled, 175-221. They are nine in number, and are full of general denunciation and sorrow over his past blindness, and an account of the hardships and disappointments attending his journey to and from Missouri. I quote the more pertinent points. When I embraced Mormonism I conscientiously believed it to be of God.' 'The relation in which Smith stands to the church is that of a prophet, seer, revealer, and translator; and when he speaks by the spirit, or says he knows a thing by the communication of the spirit, it is received as coming directly from the mouth of the Lord.' 'This system, to some, carries the force of plausibility, and appears under an imposing form. It claims the bible for its patron, and proffers the restoration of the apostolic church, with all the gifts and graces with which the primitive saints were endowed.' 'Many of them have been ordained to the high priesthood, or the order of Melchisedec, and profess to be endowed with the same power as the ancient apostles were. But they have been hitherto unsuccessful in finding the lame, the halt, and the blind who had. the faith sufficient to become the subjects of their miracles, and it is now concluded that this work must be postponed until they get to Missouri; for the Lord will not show those signs to this wicked and adulterous generation. In the commandment given to the churches in the state of New York to remove to the state of Ohio, they were assured that these miracles should be wrought in the state of Ohio; but now they must be deferred until they are settled in Missouri.' 'Everything in the church is done by commandment; and yet it is said to be done by the voice of rite church. For instance. Smith gets a commandment that he shall be the head of the church, or that he shall rule the conference, or that the church shall build him an elegant house and give him 1,000 dollars. For this the members of the church must vote, or they will be cast off for rebelling against the commandments of the Lord.' 'Smith describes an angel as having the appearance of a tall, slim, well built, handsome man, with a bright pillar upon his head.' The bishop's 'business is to superintend the secular concerns of the church. He holds a deed el the lands; and the members receive a writing from him signifying that they are to possess the land as their own so long as they are obedient to Smith's commandments.' 'The Lord's storehouse is to be furnished with goods suited to the Indian trade, and persons are to obtain license from the government to dispose of them to the Indians in their own territory; at the Same time they are to disseminate the principles of Mormonism among them.'
|p. 90||was appointed
bishop, to receive and account for church funds collected by the various
elders. Many of the eiders who went to Missouri were by this time at work
in different parts of the east and the west.21
On the 16th of February, 1832, while Smith and Rigdon were translating the gospel of St John, they were favored by a glorious vision from the Lord,22 which gave them great comfort and encouragement. The revelations about this time were frequent and lengthy, their purport being in great part to direct the movements of missionaries. Simonds Rider and Eli, Edward, and John Johnson now apostatized.
On the night of the 25th of March, Smith and Rigdon were seized by a mob, composed partly of the Campbellites, methodists, and baptists of Hiram, twelve or fifteen being apostate Mormons. The captives were roughly treated, and expected to be killed; but after they had been stripped, beaten, and well covered with tar and feathers, they were released. Smith preached and baptized as usual the next day, Sunday, but Rigdon was delirious for some time afterward.23 This broke up for the present the translation
21'Thirty or forty elders were sent off in various directlens in pursuit of proselytes, and the year passed off with a gradual increase.' Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 128-9. The men, after baptism, are elders, and are empowered to perform the ceremony upon others. Carvalho's Incidents of Travel, 148. For names of apostates at this time, see Smucker's Hist. Mor., 77. For instances of young women induced to unite with the sect about this time, see Ward's Mormon Wife, 42-81. Mackay erroneously states that the number of saints in Kirtland at this time, including women and children, was but 150. The Mormons, 71-2.
22In January it was revealed that the work of translating should be proceeded with by Smith and Rigdon until finished; and that several of the elders, among whom was Orson Hyde, a recent convert, should go forth in various directions in pairs as before, and preach. Smith and some of the elders attended a conference at Amherst, Loraine Co., after returning from which both himself and Rigdon were shown the devil in a vision, and had the revelation of St John explained to them. In March it was revealed that steps should be taken to regulate and establish storehouses for the benefit of the poor, both at Kirtland and at Zion. More missionaries were sent out, and word was received that the emigrants had safely reached Missouri. Times and Seasons, v. 576-7, 592-6, 608-9.
23Times and Seasons, v. 611-12. Mackay, Mormons, 68-71, erroneously dates the outrage Jan. 25th. One account says aqua-fortis was poured into Smith's mouth. Deseret News Aug. 6, 1862. Smith says 'they tried to force a vial into my mouth, and broke it in my teeth.' One reason assigned for this treatment was that they were attempting to establish communism and (cont.)
of the bible; Rigdon went to Kirtland, and on the 2d of April, in obedience to a revelation, Smith started for Missouri, having for his companions Whitney, Peter Whitmer, and Gause. The spirit of mobocracy was aroused throughout the entire country. Joseph even feared to go to Kirtland, and escaped by way of Warren, where he was joined by Rigdon, whence the two proceeded to Cincinnati and St Louis by way of Wheeling, Virginia, a mob following them a good part of the way. The brethren at Independence and vicinity welcomed their leaders warmly, but the unbelievers there as elsewhere hourly threatened violence.24 In May the first edition of the Book of Commandments25 was ordered printed; the following month, published
(23cont.) dishonorable dealing, forgery, and swindling. Burton's City of the Saints, 672. Smith merely says that Rigdon was mad; but his mother asserts that he counterfeited the madness in order to mislead the saints into the belief that the keys of the kingdom had been taken from the church, and would not be restored, as he said, until they had built him a new house. This, she says, gave rise to great scandal, which Joseph however succeeded in silencing. Rigdon repented and was forgiven. He stated that as a punishment for his fault, the devil had three times thrown him out of his bed in one night. Remy's Journey to Great Salt Lake, i. 283 (note).
24The 26th of April Smith called a general council, which acknowledged him as president of the high priesthood, to which he had been ordained at the Amherst conference in January, and Bishop Partridge and Rigdon, who had quarrelled, were reconciled, probably by Smith, as Rigdon was supposed to be at Kirtland at the time. This greatly rejoiced Smith; and he immediately received a revelation, in which it was announced that the stakes must be strengthened, and all property was to be held in common. Times and Seasons, v. 624-5; Mackay's The Mormons, 71.
25The first edition of Doctrine and Covenants presents the following title page: A Book of Commandments for the Government of the Church of Christ organized according to law on the 6th of April, 1830. Zion: Published by W. W. Phelps & Co., 1833. This edition contains the revelations given up to September, 1831. There were 3,000 copies printed of this edition. Then there was The Book of Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints; Selected from the Revelations of God. By Joseph Smith, President. First European Edition, Liverpool, no date. The preface, however, by Thomas Ward, is dated Liverpool, June 14, 1845. There are two principal divisions and an appendix. The first consists of seven lectures on faith, delivered by Sidney Rigdon before a class of elders at Kirtland; the second is called Covenants and Commandments, and consists chiefly of revelations given 1830-42, to Joseph Smith, the same for the most part that are also printed in Times and Seasons, under title of History of Joseph Smith. There are also rules, minutes of council, visions, and expositions. The appendix contains rules on marriage, a dissertation on government and laws, and a brief account of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. 'The book of Mormon, although most known, is not the chief book of the sect. The Book of Teachings and Covenants, containing some of the revelations which Smith pretended to have re ceived from heaven, is regarded by his disciples as a book of the law which God (cont.)
|p. 92||in connection with
the Upper Missiouri Advertiser, appeared the first number of the Evening
and Morning Star, under the auspices of W. W. Phelps, whose
printing-press was the only one within a hundred and twenty miles of
Independence. On the 6th of May Smith, Rigdon, and Whitney again set out
on their return to Kirtland.26 On
the way Whitney broke his leg. Smith was poisoned, and that so badly that
he dislocated his jaw in vomiting, and the hair upon his head became
loosened; Whitney, however, laid his hands on him, and administered in the
name of the Lord, and he was healed in an instant.27
Some three or four hundred saints being now gathered in Missouri, most of them settled on their own inheritances in this land of Zion, besides many others scattered abroad throughout the land, who were yet to come hither, it was deemed best to give the matter of schools some attention. Parley P. Pratt was laboring in Illinois. Newel K. Whitney was directed in September to leave his business in other hands, visit
(25cont.) has given this generation. Smith also published other revelations, which are contained in a little book called The Pearl of Great Price.' De Smet's Western Missions, 393. 'This book abounds in grammatical inaccuracies, even to a greater extent than the book of Mormon.' Mackay's The Mormons, 43. A bungling statement is made by Mather, Lippincott's Mag., Aug. 1880, to the effect that in 1835 'Rigdon's Book of Doctrine and Covenants and his Lectures on Faith were adopted.'
26Arrangements were early made for the establishment of a store. Ferris' Utah and Mormons, 75. When the printing press was bought—see Deseret News, June 30, 1869—a supply of goods was purchased; and arrangements were made at the May council to keep up the supply, which, with few exceptions, were considered satisfactory. On April 27th considerable business was transacted 'for the salvation of the saints who were settling among a ferocious set of mobbers, like lambs among wolves.' On the 28th and 29th Smith visited the settlement above Big Blue River in Kaw township, 12 miles west of Independence, including the Colesville branch, and returned on the 30th, when it was revealed that all minors should be supported by their parents, but after becoming of age 'they had claims upon the church, or in other words, the Lord's storehouse,' as was also the case with widows left destitute. Times and Seasons, v. 625-6.
27On May 6th, leaving affairs as he supposed in a flourishing condition, Smith started for Kirtland to look after the mill, store, and farm in that neighborhood, but owing to an accident which resulted in the breaking of Whitney's leg, Smith was delayed 4 weeks en route. Rigdon, who was also of the party, proceeded through without stopping, and the other two arrived some time in June. The season was passed by Smith in his work of translating the scriptures, and in attending to business affairs. Times and Seasons, v. 626.
|p. 93||the churches,
collect money, and administer to the wants of the poor. The new
translation of the bible was again taken up and continued through the
winter, the new testament being completed and sealed up, not to be opened
till it reached Zion.28
On January 23, 1833, the ceremony of washing feet is instituted after John's gospel. Each elder washes his own feet first, after which Joseph girds himself with a towel and washes the feet of them all. "Behold, verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, in consequence of evils and designs, which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarned you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation, that inasmuch as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good, nor meet in the sight of your father. And again, tobacco is not for the body, neither for the belly, and it is not good for man. And again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly."
28Hardly had President Smith turned his back upon Zion, when dissensions broke out among the saints there. He corresponded regularly with the Star, giving advice and warning, but matters apparently grew worse, for in January 1833 a conference of twelve high priests was held at Kirtland, or Kirtland Mills, as they now called their settlement, at which Orson Hyde and Hyrum Smith were appointed to write an epistle to the brotherhood of Zion. The document was dated Jan. 14th, and began: 'From a conference of 12 high priests to the bishop, his council, and the inhabitants of Zion.' After pre-raising that Smith and certain others had written on this all-important subject, and that the replies received had not given satisfactory assurances of confession and repentance, charges were made that old grievances, supposed to be settled, had been again brought up in a censorious spirit, and that they had accused Brother Smith of seeking after monarchical power and authority. This complaint was made by Carroll in a letter dated June 2d. Again, Brother Gilbert, on Dec. 10th, wrote a letter which contained 'low, dark, and blind insinuations, which they declined to entertain, though the writer's claims and pretensions to holiness were great.' Brother Phelps, Dec. 15th, Wrote a letter betraying 'a lightness of spirit that ill becomes a man placed in the important and responsible station that he is placed in.' To a request that Smith should come to Zion, made by Phelps in a previous letter, it was answered that 'Brother Smith will not settle in Zion until she repent and purify herself…and remember the commandments that have been given her to do them as well as say them.' Finally, it was threatened that unless these disturbances should cease, they should all be cut off, and the Lord would seek another place. Brother Ziba Peterson was delivered 'over to the buffetings of Satan, in the name of the Lord, that he may learn not to transgress the commandments of God.' Times and Seasons, v. 801.
|p. 94|| The
first presidency is organized on the 8th of March, Sidney Rigdon and
Frederick G. Williams being Smith's councillors. Money flows in, and a
council of high priests, March 23d, orders the purchasing for $11,100 of
three farms at Kirtland, upon which the saints may build a stake, or
support, in Zion,29 and the
foundations of the temple are laid, for here they will remain for five
years and make money until the western Zion shall be made ready and a
temple built there also. On the land is a valuable quarry of stone, and
good clay for bricks; they also buy a tannery. In April the school of the
prophets closes, to reopen in the autumn. Shederlaomach is made by
revelation a member of the united firm. It is not the will of the Lord to
print any of the new translation in the Star; but when it is
published, it will all go to the world together, in a volume by itself,
and the new testament and the book of Mormon will be printed together.
Those preparing to go to Zion should organize.
Commandment comes to lay at Kirtland the foundation of the city of the stake in Zion, with a house of the Lord, a school-house for the instruction of elders, a house for the presidency, a house of worship and for the school of the prophets, an endowment house with a room for the school of apostles, and a house in which to print the translation of the scriptures. A church is established in Medina county,
29'The church that was to be established in Jackson county was called Zion, the centre of gathering, and those established by revelation in other places were called stakes of Zion, or stakes; hence the stake at Kirtland, the stake at Far West, etc. Each stake was to have a presidency, consisting of three high priests, chosen and set apart for that purpose, whose jurisdiction was confined to the limits of the stake over which they took the watch care.' Kidder's Mormonism, 121-2. A stake of Zion is an organization comprising a presidency, high priests, and its council of 12 high priests. The latter is a tribunal for the trial of brethren. It is a court of appeal from the bishops, and has also jurisdiction in spiritual matters. Richards' Narrative, MS., 55. For origin of name, see Doctrine and Convenants (1876), 263. 'The next year, 1833, commenced with something like a change of operations. Instead of selling their possessions in Ohio, they again began to buy up improved land, mills, and water privileges. It would seem that the Missouri country began to look rather dreary to the prophet and his head men, supposing that they could not enjoy their power there as well as in Ohio.' Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 130.
|p. 95||Ohio, by Sidney
Rigdon, who sometimes proves himself unruly. Dr Hurlbut is tried before
the bishop's council of high priests on a charge of unchristian-like
conduct with the female sex, and condemned, but on confession is pardoned.30
Temples are ordered built in the city of Zion, in Missouri, as follow: a house of the Lord for the presidency of the high and most holy priesthood after the order of Melchisedec; the sacred apostolic repository,
30Four years after the first printing of the Book of Mormon, at Palmyra, New York, was issued in Ohio the following work: Mormonism Unveiled: or, A faithful account of that singular Imposition and Delusion, from its rise to the present time. With sketches of the characters of its Propagators, and a full detail of the manner in which the famous Golden Bible was brought before the World. To which are added inquiries into the probability that the historical part of the said bible was written by one Solomon Spaulding, more than twenty years ago, and by him intended to have been published as a romance. By E. D. Howe. Painesville, Printed and Published by the Author, 1834. 12mo, 290 pages. Painesville is situated but a short distance from Kirtland, then the headquarters of Mormonism, where about that time was ordained the first quorum of the twelve apostles, and Sidney Rigdon was delivering Joseph Smith's famous lectures on faith, subsequently printed in Doctrine and Covenants, already noticed. Here also, shortly afterward, the first Mormon temple was dedicated. Great excitement prevailed throughout that section regarding religion, and the book was widely circulated. It was a powerful weapon, and promptly and skillfully handled; yet it seems to have been no serious barrier to the dissemination of the new doctrines. The work is well written; and while not vehement in its denunciations, it brings forward a large mass of evidence to prove, as he says, 'the depths of folly, degradation, and superstition to which human nature can be carried.' He observes that 'the difficulty of procuring, or arriving at the whole truth, in relation to a religious imposition which has from its birth been so studiously veiled in secrecy, and generally under a belief that the judgments of God would follow any disclosures of what its votaries had seen or heard, will be readily discovered.' The author begins with some account of the Smith family. Their thoughts turned greatly toward gaining possession of hidden treasures. Young Joseph 'had become very expert in the arts of necromancy, juggling, the use of the divining rod, and looking into what they termed a peep-stone, by which means he soon collected about him a gang of idle, credulous young men, to perform the labor of digging into the hills and mountains, and other lonely places in that vicinity in search of gold.' After comments on Cowdery, Harris, and Whitmer, Mr Howe gives a commentary on the golden bible. Some 63 pages are devoted to this, and to observations on the credibility of the three and the eight witnesses. Sarcasm is the weapon employed, and generally with effect; the exposition in regard to contradictions and historical inaccuries might apply with equal force to the bible, the koran, or any other sacred book. Mention is next made of Pratt's conversion, which, he intimates, was not accidental, followed by an account of the expedition to the Lamanites. Thus the line of events is followed by Mr Howe to the time of the publication of his book, at the end of which are given letters amid testimonials to disprove the statements and doctrines of the Mormons, and also to prove that the book of Mormon was the work of Spaulding. On the whole, besides being the first book published in opposition to the Mormons, it is also one of the most ably written, the most original, and the most respectable.
|p. 96||for the use of the
bishop; the holy evangelical house, for the high priesthood of the holy
order of God; house of the Lord for the elders of Zion; house of the Lord
for the presidency of the high priesthood; house of the Lord for the high
priesthood after the order of Aaron; house of the Lord for the teachers in
Zion; house of the Lord for the deacons in Zion; and others. There are
also to be farms, barns, and dwellings. The ground secured for the purpose
is a mile square, and will accommodate fifteen or twenty thousand people.31
Affairs in Missouri were very prosperous. "Immigration had poured into the county of Jackson in great numbers," says Parley P. Pratt, "and the church
31A plan and specifications for the new city of Zion were sent out from Kirtland. The plot was one mile square, drawn to a scale of 660 feet to one inch. Each square was to contain ten acres, or 660 feet fronts. Lots were to be laid out alternately in the squares; in one, fronting north or south; in the next east or west; each lot extending to the centre line of its square, with a frontage of 66 feet and a depth of 330 feet, or half an acre. By this arrangement in one square the houses would stand on one street, and in the square opposite on another street. Through the middle of the plot ran a range of blocks 660 feet by 990 feet set apart for the public buildings, and in these the lots were all laid off north and south, the greatest length of the blocks being from east to west: thus making all the lots equal in size. The whole plot was supposed to be sufficient for the accommodation of from 15,000 to 20,000 people. All stables, barns, etc., were to be built north or south of the plot, none being permitted in the city among the houses. Sufficient adjoining ground on all sides was to be reserved for supplying the city with vegetables, etc. All streets were to be 132 feet (8 perches) wide, and a like width was to be laid off between the temple and its surrounding streets. But one house was to be built on a lot, and that must front on a line 25 feet from the street, the space in front to be set out with trees, shrubs, etc., according to the builder's taste. All houses to be of either brick or stone. The house of the Lord for the presidency was to be 61 feet by 87 feet, 10 feet of the length for a stairway. The interior was so arranged as to permit its division into 4 parts by curtains. At the east and west ends were to be pulpits arranged for the several grades of president and council, bishop and council, high priests and elders, at the west; and the lesser priesthood, comprising presidency, priests, teachers, and deacons, at the east. Provision was also made to seat visiting officers according to their grades. The pews were fitted with sliding seats, so that the audience could face either pulpit as required. There was to be no gallery, but the house was to be divided into 2 stories of 14 feet each. A bell of very large size was also ordered. Finally, on each public building must be written, Holiness to the Lord. When this plot was settled, another was to be laid out, and so on. Times and Seasons, vi. 785-7, 800. Zion City—its prototype in Enoch's City. Young's History of the Seventies, 9-15, no. 10, in Mormon Pamphlets. It was revealed to Smith that the waters of the gulf of Mexico covered the site of a prehistoric city, built by and named for Enoch; and that it was translated because its inhabitants had become so far advanced that further earthly residence was unnecessary. Zion, Smith's ideal city, was finally to reach a like state of perfection.
|p. 97||in that county now
numbered upward of one thousand souls. These had all purchased lands and
paid for them, and most of them were improving in buildings and in
cultivation. Peace and plenty had crowned their labors, and the wilderness
became a fruitful field, and the solitary place began to bud and blossom
as the rose. They lived in peace and quiet, no lawsuits with each other or
with the world; few or no debts were contracted, few promises broken;
there were no thieves, robbers, or murderers; few or no idlers; all seemed
to worship God with a ready heart. On Sundays the people assembled to
preach, pray, sing, and receive, the ordinances of God. Other days all
seemed busy in the various pursuits of industry. In short, there has
seldom, if ever, been a happier people upon the earth than the church of
the saints now were." They were for the most part small farmers,
tradesmen, and mechanics, and were not without shrewdness in the
management of their secular affairs.
But all this must now be changed. The saints of God must be tried as by fire. Persecutions such as never before were witnessed in these latter days, and the coming of which were foretold by Joseph, are upon them; they shall be buffeted for five years, and the end is not yet. "Political demagogues were afraid we should rule the country," says Parley, "and religious priests and bigots felt that we were powerful rivals."32 Moreover, there is no doubt that they were indiscreet; they were blinded by their prosperity; already the kingdom of God and the kingdom of this world had come unto them; now let the gentiles tremble!33
33'Their prophet had declared that Zion should be established, and should put down her enemies under her feet. Why, then, should they hesitate to proclaim their anticipations? They boasted openly that they should soon possess the whole country, and that the unbelievers should be rooted out from the land.' Edinburgh Review, April 1854. 'We have been, credibly informed that Rigdon has given it as his opinion that the Mormons will be able to elect a member of congress in five years, and that in three years they would take the offices in the town of Kirtland. They say that when they get the (cont.)
|p. 98|| And
the gentiles did tremble, as they saw so rapidly increasing their
unwelcome neighbors, whose compact organization gave them a strength
disproportionate to their numbers. Since there was no law to stop their
coming, they determined to face the issue without law.34
In April the people held consultations as to the best way of disposing of the Mormons; and again about the middle of July three hundred persons met at Independence to form a plan for driving them out. A declaration, in substance as follows, was drawn up and signed by nearly all present. The citizens of Jackson county fear the effect upon society of a pretended religious sect, fanatics or knaves, settling among them, and mean to get rid of them at any hazard, and for the following reasons: They blasphemously pretend to personal intercourse with the deity, to revelations, miracles, healing the sick, casting out devils, and other delusions; they are the dregs of society, held together by the acts of designing leaders, and are idle and vicious. They are poor. They tamper with the slaves and free negroes. They declare the Indian region to be theirs by heavenly inheritance.
In answer, Parley P. Pratt asks if their supernatural pretensions are more extravagant than those of the old and new testament; if it is anywhere written that there shall be no more spiritual manifestations as of old; does the word of God or the law of man make poverty a crime? and have they not paid for all the land they occupy? They are no more dregs than their neighbors, and the charge of fraternizing with the blacks is not true; neither is that of vice or crime, as
(33cont.) secular power into their hands, everything will be performed by immediate revelations from God. We shall then have Pope Joseph the First and his hierarchy.' Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 145.
34'So early as April 1832, the saints were made to feel themselves unwelcome sojourners in Jackson co. Stones and brickbats were thrown through the windows of their houses, and they were otherwise annoyed and insulted. Meetings were held during that year and the early part of 1833, at which resolutions were sometimes passed, and sometimes the assembly indulged in a fight among its members; but nothing more serious resulted. Stoning houses, however, was resumed in the early summer of the last-mentioned year.' Times and Season, i. 17; vi. 851.
|p. 99||the county records
will show. In regard to the lands of the Indians, no violence or injustice
is contemplated; and if it were, what record of robbery, murder, and
treacherous betrayal could excel that already made by the people of
Missouri and others in the United States for our example?35
On the 20th the people again met according to appointment. The old charges were reiterated, and the old resolutions renewed, with some additions.36 To put them into action the men of Jackson county
35Persecution of the Saints, 21-8. Mackay, The Mormons, 72-4, says 'the manner in which the Mormons behaved in their Zion was not calculated to make friends. The superiority they assumed gave offense, and the rumors that were spread by some false friends, who had been turned out of the church for misconduct, excited against them an intense feeling of alarm and hatred. They were accused of communism, and not simply a community of goods and chattels, but of wives…Joined to the odium unjustly cast upon them for these reasons, they talked so imprudently of their determination to possess the whole state of Missouri, and to suffer no one to live in it who would not conform to their faith, that a party was secretly formed against them, of which the object was nothing less than their total and immediate expulsion from their promised Zion…The anti-Mormon press contained at the same time an article entitled "Beware of false prophets," written by a person whom Joseph called a black rod in the hand of Satan. This article was distributed from house to house in Independence and its neighborhood, and contained many false charges against Smith and his associates, reiterating the calumny about the community of goods and wives.' Smith calls this man 'one Pixley,' and says he was sent by the missionary society, to civilize and christianize the heathen of the west, and that he was not only a black red, but 'a poisoned shaft in the power of our foes, to spread lies and falsehoods'…It is also probable that the more indolent Missourians gazed with jealous eyes as the new-comers exhibited that agricultural thrift which has always characterized them as a people; for we find the twelve high priests, through Hyde and Hyrum Smith, reprimanding Brother Phelps as follows: "If you have fat beef and potatoes, eat them in singleness of heart, and boast not yourselves in these things."' Times and Seasons, v. 721; vi. 816. 'It was conjectured by the inhabitants of Jackson county that the Mormonites as a body are wealthy, and many of them entertain fears that next December, when the list of land is exposed for sale, they will outbid others, and establish themselves as the most powerful body in the county.' Booth, in Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 195.
36It was further declared: '1st, That no Mormon shall in future move and settle in this county. 2d, That those nowhere, 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 shall have sufficient time to sell their property and close their business without any sacrifice. 3d, That the editor of the Star be required forthwith to close his office, and discontinue the business of printing in this county; and as to all other stores and shops belonging to the sect, their owners must in every case comply with the terms strictly agreeably to the 2d article of this declaration; and upon failure, prompt and efficient measures will be taken to close the same. 4th, That the Mormon leaders here are required to use their influence in preventing any further emigration of their distant brethren to this county, and (cont.)
|p. 100||sallied forth for
the office of the Star,37
and demanded that the publication be discontinued. Compliance being
refused, Phelps' house, containing the printing-office, was torn down,
materials and paper destroyed,38
and Bishop Partridge and Elder Allen were tarred and feathered.39
Meanwhile, clergymen of other denominations, and officers of the state and
county, looked on, saying, "Mormons are the common enemies of
mankind, and ought to be destroyed," and "You now know what our
Jackson boys can do, and you must leave the country."40
Again the mob appeared on the morning of the 23d, bearing a red flag, and demanding the departure of the Mormons. Seeing no way of escape, the elders entered into treaty with the assailants, and promised to leave the county within a certain time.41 Cowdery
(36cont.) counsel and advise their brethren to comply with the above requisitions. 5th, That those who fail to comply with the above requisitions be referred to those of their brethren who have the gift of tongues, to inform them of the lot that awaits them.' Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 141.
37'Six of the principal elders met the mob's committee. The latter demanded that the printing-office, the shops, and the store, be closed forthwith, and that the society leave the county immediately. The elders asked for three months' delay, which was refused; then for ten days, which was also refused; the latter refusal being accompanied with a notification that fifteen minutes was the longest time that could be granted. Each elder having declined to accede to the terms, one of the mob remarked on leaving that he was sorry, for, said he, "the work of destruction will commence immediately."' Times and Seasons, i. 18. Phelps, the editor, Partridge, the bishop, and Gilbert, the store-keeper, are mentioned. Smucker's Hist. Mor., 89.
38'In a short time time hundreds of the mob gathered around the printing-office (a two-story brick building), which they soon threw down. The press was thrown from the upper story, and all the books, stock, and material scattered through the streets. After destroying the printing house, they proceeded to Gilbert and Whitney's store for the same purpose, but Gilbert agreeing to shut it, and box the goods soon, they concluded to let it alone.' Times and Seasons, i. 18; Pratt's Persecution of the Saints, 29.
39'A number more were taken, but succeeded in escaping through the over-anxiety of their keepers, who crowded forward to enjoy the sport.' Times and Seasons, i. 18. Phelps the editor was one. Smucker's Hist. Mor., 89. Partridge says the mob was led by George Simpson. Times and Seasons, vi. 819.
40Spoken by Lilburn W. Boggs, lieutenant-governor, a man who thenceforward appears to have persecuted the Mormons with unrelenting hostility. He 'was in the immediate neighborhood of the riot, but declined to take any part in preserving the peace.' Smucker's Hist. Mor., 89-90; Times and Seasons, vi. 819.
41Six persons signed the agreement that one half of the Mormons should leave in January and one half in April 1834, the publication of the paper to be discontinued. Mackay's The Mormons, 76; Pratt's Persecution, 30.
|p. 101||was despatched to
Kirtland to consult as to what was best to be done. Meanwhile, incendiary
articles appeared in the Western Monitor, printed at Fayette,
Missouri. "Two years ago," said that journal, "some two or
three of this people made their appearance on the upper Missouri, and they
now number some twelve hundred souls in this county." They look at
the land as theirs to inherit, by either fair means or foul; and when the
officers of law and government shall be Mormon, we must go. "One of
the means resorted to by them, in order to drive us to emigrate, is an
indirect invitation to the free brethren of color in Illinois to come up
like the rest to the land of Zion." True, they deny this, but that is
only subterfuge. So it is resolved that no more Mormons shall be permitted
to come; that those here must go within a reasonable time; and that the Star
printing-office shall be declared confiscated.
An appeal was made to the governor, Daniel Dunklin, for redress, and while awaiting the answer matters were continued much in the usual way. The brethren were instructed by their elders not to retaliate, but to bear all with meekness and patience. At length a letter came from the governor, assuring them of his protection, and advising them to resort to the courts for damages. The church leaders ordered that none should leave Independence except those who had signed an agreement to that effect. Four lawyers were engaged for one thousand dollars to carry the matter into the courts. No sooner was this known than the whole country rose in arms and made war upon the Mormons. On the nights of October 30th, 31st, and November 1st, armed men attacked branches of the church west of Big Blue, and at the prairie unreeled the houses and beat the men. Almost simultaneously attacks were made at other points. Stones flew freely in Independence, and houses were destroyed and the inmates wounded. Gilbert's store was broken open, and the goods scattered
|p. 102||in the streets. On
November 2d thirty saints retired with their families and effects to a
point half a mile from town. Next day four of the brethren went to
Lexington for a peace warrant, but the circuit judge refused to issue one
through fear of the mob. "You had better fight it out and kill the
outlaws if they come upon you," said the judge.42
The saints then armed, and on the 4th there was a fight, in which two
gentiles and one Mormon were killed, and several on both sides wounded.
One of the store-breakers was brought before the court, and during the
trial the populace became so furious that Gilbert, Morley, and Corrill
were thrust into jail for protection. The morning of the 5th broke with
signs of yet more bloody determination on both sides. The militia were
called out to preserve the peace, but this only made matters worse. The
lieutenant-governor, Boggs, pretending friendship, got possession of the
Mormons' arms, and seized a number to be tried for murder.43
Further and yet more violent attacks were made; hope was abandoned; the
now defenceless saints were forced to fly in every direction, some out
into the open prairie, some up and some down the river. "The struggle
was over," writes Pratt, "our liberties were gone!" On the
7th both banks were lined with men, women, and children, with wagons,
provisions, and personal effects. Cold weather came on with wind and rain,
to which most of the fugitives were exposed, few of them having tents.
Some took refuge in Clay county, some in Lafayette county, and elsewhere.44
Throughout all these trying scenes, Governor
42Pratt's Autobiography, 105; Mackay's The Mormons, 77-8; Pratt's Persecution, 31-6.
43In a memorial to the legislature of Missouri, dated Far West, Dec. 10, 1838, and signed by nine prominent Mormons, is this statement: 'A battle took place in which some two or three of the mob and one of our people were killed. This raised, as it were, the whole county in arms, and nothing could satisfy them but an immediate surrender of the arms of our people, and they forthwith had to leave the county. Fifty-one guns were given up, which have never been returned or paid for to this day.'
44'About 1,500 people were expelled from Jackson co. in Nov. 1833, and about 300 of their houses burned.' Geo. A. Smith, in Deseret News, June 30, 1869, 247. 'Several women thus driven from their homes gave birth to children in the woods and on the prairies.' Greene's Facts, 18. Pratt says 203 houses were burned, according to the estimate of the enemy.
|p. 103||Dunklin endeavored
to uphold the law, but Boggs, lieutenant-governor, was with the
assailants. Wells, attorney-general, wrote to the council for the church,
the 21st, saying that if they wished to replace their houses in Jackson
county the governor would send them an adequate force, and if they would
organize themselves into companies, he would supply them with arms.
Application was made accordingly. "It is a disgrace to the
state," writes Judge Ryland, "for such acts to happen within its
limits, and the disgrace will attach to our official characters if we
neglect to take proper means to insure the punishment due such
offenders." In view of this advice from the state authorities, the
saints resolved to return to their homes as soon as protection should be
afforded them, and it was ordered by revelation that they should do so,
but with circumspection and not in haste.45
All this time President Joseph Smith was at Kirtland, harassed with anxiety over affairs in Missouri, still pursuing the usual tenor of his way, and not knowing what moment like evils might befall him and his fold there.46 It was resolved by the first presidency that the Star should be published at Kirtland
45On Dec. 15th, Phelps writes to Smith from Clay co.: 'The situation of the saints, as scattered, is dubious, and affords a gloomy prospect…We are in Clay, Ray, Lafayette, Jackson, Van Buren, etc. [countres], and cannot hear from each other oftener than we do from you…The governor is willing to restore us, but as the constitution gives him no power to guard us when back, we are not willing to go. The mob swear if we come we shall die! Our people fare very well, and when they are discreet, little or no persecution is felt. The militia in the upper counties is in readiness at a moment's warning, having been ordered out by the governor, to guard a court-martial and court of inquiry etc., but we cannot attend a court of inquiry on account of the expense, until we are restored and protected.' Times and Seasons, vi. 944.
46Smith wrote to the saints about this time that he had heard they had surrendered their arms and fled across the river. If this report was true, he advised them not to recommence hostilities; but if they were still in possession, they should 'maintain the ground as long as there is a man left.' They were also advised to prosecute to the extent of the law; but must not look for pecuniary assistance from Kirtland, for matters there were by no means in a flourishing condition. It was recommended that a tract of land be purchased in Clay co. for present necessaries. Times and Seasons, vi. 914-15.
|p. 104||until it could be
reinstated in Missouri; another journal, the Latter-day Saints'
Messenger and Advocate, was also established at Kirtland, and a
mission organized for Canada.47
The work of proselyting continued east and west without abatement through the year 1834. Two by two and singly the elders went forth: Lyman Johnson and Milton Holmes to Canada, also Zebedee Coltrin and Henry Harriman; John S. Carter and Jesse Smith should go eastward together, also James Durfee and Edward Marvin. Elders Oliver Granger, Martin Harris, and Brigham Young preferred to travel alone. To redeem the farm on which stood the house of the Lord, elders Orson Hyde and Orson Pratt were sent east to solicit funds. The movements of many others of the brethren are given. Parley Pratt and Lyman Wight were instructed not to return to Missouri until men were organized into companies of
47'Concerning our means of diffusing the principles we profess, we have used the art of printing almost from the beginning of our work. At Independence, Missouri in 1832-3-4 two volumes of the Evening and Morning Star were issued by William W. Phelps and Oliver Cowdery. This was a monthly octavo of 16 pages, devoted to the faith and doctrines of the church, and was continued from Independence from June 1832 until July 1833, when its publication was transferred to Kirtland, Ohio, from whence it was continued until September 1834, when it gave place to the Latter-day Saints' Messenger and Advocate, which continued to cheer the prospectus saints until August 1837, when there appeared in its columns a prospectus for a new paper to be published at Kirtland, called the Elders' Journal of the Church of Latter-day Saints, also a monthly, the first number of which bore date October 1837. The gathering of the people from Kirtland to Far West in Missouri transferred the publication of the journal also to that place, from whence it issued until stopped by the persecution and extermination of the saints in the fall and winter of 1838 from the state of Missouri. The first number of the Millennial Star was issued at Liverpool in May 1840, at first a monthly, then fortnightly, and for many years a weekly, with at one time a circulation of 22,000 copies, edited and published variously by elders appointed and sent to edit the paper, manage the emigration, and preside over the work generally in the European countries. This work is still issued weekly, and greatly aids the cause in Europe. The Skandinaviens' Stjerne has been published in Copenhagen nearly thirty years in the Danish language, edited by those who have from time to time presided over the Scandinavian missions. The first number was issued in 1851, and is well supported, being a great aid in the missionary service in northern Europe. For several years a periodical entitled the Udgorn Seion was published at Merthyr Tydfil, and was continued until the number of saints in the Welsh mission was so reduced by emigration as to render its further publication impracticable.' Richards' Bibliography of Utah, MS., 7-9.
|p. 105||ten, twenty, fifty,
or one hundred. Thereupon these and others went out in various directions
to raise men and means for a religio-military expedition to Missouri.
There were churches now in every direction, and the brethren were
scattered over a broad area.
Several appeals for redress were made by the saints at Independence to the governor of Missouri, and to the president of the United States. The president said it was a matter for the governor to regulate, and the governor did not see what could be done except through the courts. A court of inquiry was instituted, which decided, but to little purpose, that there was no insurrection on the 5th of November, 1833, and therefore the arms taken by the militia from the Mormons on that occasion must be restored to them.48 "And now a commandment I give unto you concerning Zion, that you shall no longer be bound as an united order to your brethren of Zion, only in this wise; after you are organized you shall be called the united order of this stake of Zion, the city of Shinehah,49 and your brethren, after they are organized, shall be called the united order of the city of Zion."
On the 7th of May, 1834, a military company was organized at Kirtland under the name of Zion's camp, consisting of one hundred and fifty brethren, mostly young men, elders, priests, teachers, and deacons, with
48'About this time a court of inquiry held at Liberty for the purpose of investigating the action of Col Pitcher in connection with the expulsion of the saints from Jackson co., found sufficient evidence against that officer to result in his being placed in arrest for trial by court-martial. The plant of the printing-office was given by the citizens to Davis & Kelly, who removed it to Liberty, where they commenced the publication of a weekly paper called the Missouri Enquirer.' 'The citizens also paid $300 on the $1,000 note given by the elders to their lawyers, thus acknowledging their action had been wrong.' Times and Seasons, vi. 961. 'The governor also ordered them to restore our arms which they had taken from us, but they never were restored.' Pratt's Persecution, 52. See also Tayler's Mormons, xliii.-xlvi.; Deseret News, Dec. 27, 1851, and June 30, 1860; Utah Tracts, no. 4, 56-64; Millennial Star, xxv. 535-6, 550-2; Gunnison's Mormons, 104-14; Ferris' Utah and Mormons, 87-8.
49They 'called their Kirtland colony Shinahar.' Gunnison's Mormons, 167.
F. G. Williams paymaster and Zerubbabel Snow commissary general. They had twenty wagons loaded with arms and effects, and next day set out for Missouri, President Smith joining them, leaving Rigdon and Cowdery to look after matters in Ohio. They passed through Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, reaching Missouri50 in June, Pratt and others still continuing
50'They were trying times, requiring the combined wisdom of the prophet and his head men…But the prophet more readily discovered the new advantages that would ultimately accrue to his cause by a little perseverance. He well knew that the laws could not continue to be violated in our country for any length of time, and that he and his followers would, in the end, be the greatest gainers by the cry of persecution which they could raise…A revelation was printed in the form of a handbill. it was taken up by all their priests and carried to all their congregations, some of which were actually sold for one dollar per copy. Preparations immediately began to be made for a crusade to their holy land to drive out the infidels…Old muskets, rifles, pistols, rusty swords, and butcher knives were soon put in a state of repair and scoured up. Some were borrowed and some were bought, on a credit if possible, and others were manufactured by their own mechanics…About the first of May the grand army of fanatics commenced its march in small detachments from the different places of concentration. On the 3d the prophet, with a life guard of about 80 men, the elite of his army, left his quarters in Kirtland with a few baggage wagons, containing their arms, ammunition, stores, etc. …On arriving at Salt Creek, Illinois, they were joined by Lyman Wight and Hyrum Smith, brother of the prophet, with a reinforcement of twenty men, which they had picked up on the way. Here the grand army, which being fully completed, encamped for the space of three days. the whole number was now estimated at 220, rank and file. During their stay here the troops were kept under a constant drill of manual exercise with guns and swords, and their arms put in a state of repair; the prophet became very expert with a sword, and felt himself equal to his prototype Coriantumr. He had the best sword in the army; probably a true model of Laban's, if not the identical one itself, an elegant brace of pistols, which were purchased on a credit of six months, a rifle, and four horses. Wight was appointed second in command, or fighting general, who, together with the prophet, had an armor-bearer appointed, selected from among the most expert tacticians, whose duty it was to be in constant attendance upon their masters with their arms.' Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 147-59. ' Cholera broke out in his camp on the 24th of June, and Joseph attempted to cure it by laying on of hands and prayer…Joseph lost thirteen of his band by the ravages of the disease… He arrived in Clay co. on the 2d, and started back for Kirtland on the 9th… Short as was the time he stayed, he did not depart without organizing and encouraging the main body…and establishing the community in Clay co. on a better footing than when he arrived.' Mackay's The Mormons, 85. Churches were visited in New York, Pennsylvania, and the New England States, about 100 recruits obtained, and 50 more in the vicinity of Kirtland. the first detachment, about 160 strong, left Kirtland May 5th, and by the next Sunday about 60 more had joined, part from Ohio and part from the east. The body was organized in companies of tens, each being furnished with camp equipage. Messes for cooking purposes were formed, and guards mounted at night. Deseret News, Oct. 10, 1869. These men were well armed. A detachment of twenty men had preceded them as an advanced guard. Remy's Journey, i. 297. They were divided into companies of 12, consisting of 2 cooks, 2 fire-men, 2 tent-makers, 2 watermen, one runner or scout, one commissary, and 2 (cont.)
their efforts en route as recruiting officers. It was an army of the Lord; they would not be known as Mormons, which was a name they hated; moreover, they would be incognito; and the better to accomplish all these purposes, three days before they started, Sidney Rigdon proposed in conference that the name by which hereafter they would call themselves should be The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which proposal was adopted.51 On the way the brethren
(50cont.) wagoners. 20 wagons accompanied them, and they had fire-arms and all sorts of munitions of war of the most portable kind for self-defence. Smucker's Hist. Mor., 95; Times and Seasons, vi. 1074. On June 3d, when in camp on the Illinois River, Smith had a mound opened and took out a skeleton, between whose ribs an arrow was sticking. A revelation followed, in which the prophet was informed that the bones were those of a white Lamanite, a warrior named Zelph, who served under the great prophet Omandagus. Times and Seasons, vi. 1076; Smucker's Hist. Mor., 95-6; Remy's Journey, i. 297; Ferris' Utah and the Mormons, 83-4. June 4th to 6th was occupied in crossing the Mississippi, there being but one boat. The company now consisted of 205 men and 25 wagons, with 2 or 3 horses each. The company camped on Rush Creek, Clay co., on June 23d, and on the night of the 24th the cholera broke out among them, causing several deaths. On the 25th Smith broke up his command, and the men were scattered among their neighbors. Times and Seasons, vi. 1076, 1088, 1105-6; Deseret News, Oct. 19, 1864. Up to June 22d, Smith had travelled incognito, apparently fearing assassination. Times and Seasons, vi. 1104. A list of the members of Zion's camp will be found in Deseret News, Oct. 19, 1864, and those living in 1876 in Id., Apr. 26, 1876. Smith disbanded his forces in obedience to a revelation. Doctrine and Covenants, 345-9. As the prophet approached Missouri he selected a body-guard of 20 men, appointing his brother Hyrum as their captain, and another brother, George, his armor-bearer. He also appointed a general, who daily inspected the army and drilled them. Smucker's Hist. Mor., 99. On April 10, 1834, the president was again petitioned from Liberty, Mo. (a petition had been sent on in October 1833); the persecutions were recounted, it was related that an unavailing appeal had been made to the state executive, and it was asked that they be restored to the lands in Jackson co. they had purchased from the U.S. For text of correspondence, etc., see Times and Seasons, vi. 1041-2, 1056-9, 1071-8, 1088-92, 1103, 1107-9, 1120-4. On the march Pratt still acted as recruiting officer, and visited the churches in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri, obtaining men and money which he forwarded to the main betty from time to time. Pratt's Autobiog., 122-3. The band finally numbered 205 in all. Utah Pioneers, 33d Anniversary, 17. The march to Clay co., Mo., occupied 46 days, 9 of which were spent in camp. During the existence of the body 2 deserted because they could not fight the mob, and one left without a discharge; the rest remained faithful. Deseret News, Oct. 19, 1864. Further details of the march will be found in Mackay's Mormons, 80-5; Kidder's Mormonism, 111-167 Howe's Mormonism Unveiled, 156-63. Campbell and others who threatened to attack Smith were drowned by the upsetting of a boat whilst attempting to cross the Missouri. Campell's vow, and what became of it. Smucker's Hist. Mor., 100. When the prophet returned to Kirtland, in August, the council met and proeeeded to investigate charges against Smith and others on this march. Deseret News, Nov. 15 and 29, 1851.
51The society never styled themselves Mormons; it is a name popularly attached to them. The true name is Latter-day Saints. Pratt's Persecution, 21. Hyde, Mormonism, 202, states that the sect was first called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Sidney Rigdon at a convention at Kirtland May 4, 1834. See chap. iii., note 22. (cont.)
|p. 108||learned of the
outrages which had again occurred in Jackson county.
Just before his arrival in Clay county, Missouri, a committee of citizens waited on President Smith and proposed the purchase of the lands in Jackson county from which the Mormons had been driven. The offer was declined, the president and council making the following proposal in return: Let each side choose six men, and let the twelve determine the amount of damages due to the Mormons, and also the value of the possessions of all those who do not wish to live near them in peace, and the money shall be paid within a year. The offer was not accepted.52
On the 3d of July a high council of twelve was organized by the head of the church, with David Whitmer as president and W. W. Phelps and John Whitmer as assistant presidents. The twelve were: Simeon Carter, Parley P. Pratt, Wm E. McLellan, Calvin Beebe, Levi Jackman, Solomon Hancock, Christian Whitmer, Newel Knight, Orson Pratt, Lyman Wight, Thomas B. Marsh, and John Murdock. Later Phelps became president of the church in Missouri. In company with his brother Hyrum, F. G. Williams, and W. E. McLellan, President Joseph returned to Kirtland, arriving about the 1st of August.
"Now, that the world may know that our faith in the work and word of the Lord is firm and unshaken, and to shew all nations, kindreds, tongues, and peoples that our object is good, for the good of all, we come before the great family of mankind for peace, and ask their hospitality and assurance for our comfort, and the preservation
(51cont.) Hyde, Mormonism, 202, states that the sect was first called The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Sidney Rigdon at a convention at Kirtland May 4, 1834. See chap. iii., note 22.
52When the camp arrived near Salt River, Orson Hyde and Parley P. Pratt were despatched to Jefferson City to request military aid from Gov. Dunklin, in repossessing the saints of their lands in Jackson co., which aid was refused. Pratt's Autobiog., 123-4. Upon the approach of Smith and his party the people of Jackson co. held a meeting and sent a committee to Smith with proposals to buy all the Mormon property in the county. The offer was declined, and the Mormons in turn offered to buy out the Missourians. See correspondence in Howe's Mormonism, 164-76.
|p. 109||of our persons and
property, and solicit their charity for the great cause of God. We are
well aware that many slanderous reports and ridiculous stories are in
circulation against our religion and society; but as wise men will hear
both sides and then judge, we sincerely hope and trust that the still
small voice of truth will be heard, and our great revelations read and
candidly compared with the prophecies of the bible, that the great cause
of our redeemer may be supported by a liberal share of public opinion, as
well as the unseen power of God. The faith and religion of the latter-day
saints are founded upon the old scriptures, the book of Mormon, and direct
revelation from God."
Thus far have I given the History of Joseph Smith, in substance as written by himself in his journal,53 and
53The most complete history of the early Mormon church is the Journal of Joseph Smith, extracts from which were made by himself, so as to form a consecutive narrative, under title of History of Joseph Smith, and published in Times and Seasons, beginning with vol. iii. no. 10, March 15, 1842, and ending Feb. 15, 1846, after the prophet's death. The narrative would fill a good-sized 12mo volume. It is composed largely of revelations, which, save in the one point of commandment which it was the purpose specially to give, are all quite similar. Publication of the Times and Seasons was begun at Commerce, afterward called Nauvoo, Illinois, Nov. 1839, and issued monthly. The number for May 1840 was dated Nauvoo. Later it was published semi-monthly, and was so continued till Feb. 1846. It is filled with church proceedings, movements of officers, correspondence of missionaries, history, and general information, with some poetry. To write a complete history of the Mormons down to 1846 without these volumes would not be possible. The names of E. Robinson and D. C. Smith first appear as publishers, then Robinson alone, then D. C. Smith, then E. Robinson and G. Hills, next Joseph Smith, and finally John Taylor. The organ of that branch of the church which remained in Iowa was the Frontier Guardian, published by Orson Hyde at Potawatamie, or Kanesville, 1849-52, and of the church in Utah the Deseret News, which was first issued at Salt Lake City in June 1850.
'At the organization of this church, the Lord commanded Joseph the prophet to keep a record of his doings in the great and important work that he was commencing to perform. It thus became a duty imperative. After John Whitmer anti others had purloined the records in 1838, the persecution and expulsion from Missouri soon followed. When again located, now in Nauvoo, Illinois, and steamboat loads of emigrants were arriving from England via New Orleans, the sound thereof awakened an interest in the country that led Hen John Wentworth of Chicago to write to the prophet, Joseph Smith, making inquiries about the rise, progress, persecution, and faith of the Latter-day Saints, the origin of this work, the Book of Mormon, the plates from which the record was translated, etc.; and it is the answer to this letter contained in Times and Seasons, March 1, 1842, that precedes or prefaces the present history of Joseph Smith, which is the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This request of Mr Wentworth's seethed to forcibly remind the prophet of the importance of having the history of his wonderful work restored to such a condition that correct (cont.)
printed in the Times and Seasons, which ends here. It is taken up in the Millennial Star, in diary form, beginning with volume xv. and continuing to the day of his death.
(53cont.) information could be given to editors, authors, publishers, and any or all classes of inquirers that might apply, and be undertook with his clerks, recorder, and all available aid from private journals, correspondence, and his own indelible memory, and made it a labor to get his own history, which was indeed that of the church in all the stages of its growth, while he remained with his people, compiled and written up to date, which with his own current journal enabled the historian to complete the history to the time of his assassination, with the utmost fidelity to facts as they occurred. Our method of verification, afar compilation and rough draft, was to read the same before a session of the council, composed of the First Presidency and Twelve Apostles, and there scan everything under consideration.' Richards' Bibliography of Utah, MS., 2-6.
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