| Missouri Persecutions (1838): Hyrum (1) |
| In June 1843 the state of Missouri tries to arrest Joseph in Illinois on charges of treason. Naturally, Joseph is not inclined to cooperate, so in early in July the municipal court of Nauvoo sits to consider granting him a writ of habeas corpus. (This would prevent Missouri officials from taking him out of the state.) There is not much question of the outcome, with Stake President William Marks presiding as chief justice and associate justices being Daniel H. Wells, Newel K. Whitney, George W. Harris, Gustavus Hills and Hiram Kimball. However, the testimony of Hyrum, Parley, Brigham, George W. Pitkin, Lyman Wight (h) (swh), and Sidney Rigdon is interesting for recollections and perspectives they provide for Missouri events of 1838. | ||||
| Introduction | ||||
| Joseph and Hyrum never apart even six months | ¶ | HYRUM SMITH sworn. Said that the defendant now in court is his brother, … and has been for more than two years past. I have been acquainted with him ever since he was born, which was thirty seven years December last, and I have not been absent from him at any one time, not even the space of six months since his birth … | Times and Seasons, vol. 4, no. 16 (July 1, 1834), 246–256 | |
| Gallatin
election August 1838 Mob threatens extermination |
… whilst he was in the State of Missouri, that the People commonly called Mormons, were threatened with violence and extermination, and on or about the first Monday in August 1838, at the election at Gallatin, the county seat in Daviess county; the citizens who were commonly called Mormons were forbidden to exercise the rights of franchise, and from that unhallowed circumstance an affray commenced, and a fight ensued among the citizens of that place, and from that time a mob commenced gathering in that county threatening the extermination of the Mormons; | |||
| Heard
two Mormons murdered Joseph and Hyrum to Daviess |
the said Smith and myself upon hearing that mobs were collecting together, and that they had also murdered two of the citizens of the same place, and would not suffer them to be buried; the said Smith and myself went over to Daviess county to learn the particulars of the affray, | |||
| False report | but upon our arrival at Diahman, we learned that none were killed but several were wounded— | |||
| Overnight
at Lyman's (Adam-ondi-Ahman) Drought condition To Judge Black's for water with a few others |
we tarried all night at Col. Lyman Wight's (h) (swh), the next morning the weather being very warm and having been very dry for some time previously, the springs and wells in that region were dried up; on mounting our horses to return, we rode up to Mr. Black's, who was then an acting Justice of the Peace, to obtain some water for ourselves and horses; some few of the citizens accompanied us there, | |||
| Joseph
asks for enforcement of laws Black puts it in writing |
and after obtaining the refreshment of water, Mr. Black was asked by said Joseph Smith Senior, if he would use his influence to see that the laws were faithfully executed and to put down mob violence, and he gave us a paper, written by his own hand, stating that he would do so. | Senior: Joseph's and Hyrum's father has died. | ||
| Joseph asks Black for meeting with prominent citizens | He also requested him to call together the most influential men of the county on the next day that we might have an interview with them; to this he acquiesced, | |||
| Peace
agreement Good feelings on both sides |
and accordingly the next day they assembled at the house of Col. Wight and entered into a mutual covenant of peace, to put down mob violence and to protect each other in the enjoyment of their rights: after this we all parted with the best of feelings and each man returned to his own home. | |||
| Mob of hundreds at Millport | This mutual agreement of peace however did not last long; for but a few days afterwards the mob began to collect again until several hundreds rendezvoused at Millport, a few miles distant from Diahman. | |||
|
Steal livestock |
They immediately commenced making aggressions upon the citizens called Mormons, taking away their hogs and cattle, and threatening them with extermination or utter extinction; saying that they had a cannon and there should be no compromise only at its mouth: frequently taking men, women and children prisoners, whipping them and lacerating their bodies with hickory withes, and tying them to trees and depriving them of food until they were compelled to gnaw the bark from the trees to which they were bound in order to sustain life; treating them in the most cruel manner they could invent or think of, and doing every thing they could to excite the indignation of the Mormon [247] people to rescue them, in order that they might make that a pretext of an accusation for the breach of the law and that they might the better excite the prejudice of the populace and thereby get aid and assistance to carry out their hellish purposes of extermination. | |||
| Messengers to King, Atchison, Doniphan | Immediately on the authentication of these facts, messengers were despatched from Far West to Austin A. King, Judge of the fifth judicial district of the State of Missouri, and also to Major General Atchison, Commander-in-chief of that division, and Brigadier General Doniphan, giving them information of the existing facts, and demanding immediate assistance. | |||
| Atchison finds 200–300 vigilantes Orders out militia |
Gen. Atchison returned with the messengers and went immediately to Diahman and from thence to Millport, and he found the facts were true as reported to him;—that the citizens of that county were assembled together in a hostile attitude to the amount of two or three hundred men, threatening the utter extermination of the Mormons, he immediately returned to Clay county and ordered out a sufficient military force to quell the mob. | |||
| Disperse mob, but gather again | Immediately after they were dispersed and the army returned; the mob commenced collecting again soon after: | |||
| Doniphan to Far West with 60 insubordinate
men Sidney and Hinkle: send them back |
we again applied for military aid, when General Doniphan came out with a force of sixty armed men to Far West; but they were in such a state of insubordination that he said he could not control them, and it was thought advisable by Col. Hinkle, Mr. Rigdon and others that they should return home; | |||
| Doniphan to Hinkle: call out militia | General Doniphan ordered Col. Hinkle to call out the militia of Caldwell and defend the town against the mob, for said he, you have great reason to be alarmed, | |||
| Mob of 200 at Hunter's Mill Hundreds at Millport, Daviess county |
for said he, you have great reason to be alarmed, for he said Neil Gillum from the Platte country had come down with 200 armed men and had taken up their station at Hunter's mill, a place distant about 17 or 18 miles north west of the town of Far West, and also that an armed force had collected again at Millport, in Daviess county, consisting of several hundred men, | |||
| Mob at DeWitt | and that another armed force had collected at DeWitt, in Carroll county, about 50 miles south east of Far West, where about 70 families of the Mormon people had settled upon the bank of the Missouri river at a little town called DeWitt. | |||
| Messenger: mob off 300–400
surround DeWitt Suffering from hunger |
Immediately a messenger, whilst he was yet talking, came in from DeWitt, stating that three or four hundred men had assembled together at that place armed cap-a-pie, and that they threatened the utter extinction of the citizens of that place if they did not leave the place immediately, and that they had also surrounded the town and cut off all supplies of food, so that many of them were suffering with hunger. | |||
| Doniphan advises petition to governor Also sent to Judge King |
Gen. Doniphan seemed to be very much alarmed, and appeared to be willing to do all he could to assist, and to relieve the sufferings of the Mormon people; he advised that a petition be immediately got up and sent to the Governor. A petition was accordingly prepared and a messenger despatched immediately to the Governor, and another petition was sent to Judge King. | |||
| Mobs on north, northwest, south | The Mormon people throughout the country were in a great state of alarm, and also in great distress; they saw themselves completely surrounded with armed forces on the north and on the north west and on the south, | |||
|
Bogart's 150 pillage in the south |
and also Bogart, who was a Methodist
preacher, and who was then a captain over a militia company of 50 soldiers,
but who had added to his number out of the surrounding counties about a
hundred more, which made his force about 150 strong, was stationed at Crooked
Creek, sending out his scouting parties, taking men, women and children
prisoners, driving off cattle, hogs and horses, entering into every house
on Log and Long Creeks, rifling their houses of their most precious article,
such as money, bedding, and clothing, taking all their old muskets and their
rifles or military implements, threatening the people with instant death
if they did not deliver up all their precious things, |
original:
Bogard Crooked Creek: presumably Crooked River, south of Far West |
||
| Driving people to Far West | and enter into a covenant to leave the state or go into the city of Far West by the next morning, saying that "they calculated to drive the people into Far West, and then drive them to hell." | |||
| Gillum and Woods pillage in the northwest | Gillum also was doing the same on the north west side of Far West; and Sashel Woods, a Presbyterian minister, was the leader of the mob in Daviess county; and a very noted man of the same society was the leader of the mob in Carroll county; and they were also sending out their scouting parties, robbing and pillaging houses, driving away hogs, horses and cattle, taking men, women and children and carrying them off, threatening their lives and subjecting them to all manner of abuses that they could invent or think of. | original: Sashall | ||
| Governor's reply: No help | ¶ | Under this state of alarm, excitement and distress, the messengers returned from the Governor and from the other authorities, bringing the fatal news, that the Mormons could have no assistance. They stated that the Governor said that "the Mormons had got into a difficulty with the citizens, and they might fight it out for all what he cared. He could not render them any assistance." | ||
| DeWitt
settlers to Far West Many starved to death Buried on the way side without ceremony |
¶ | The people of DeWitt were obliged to leave their homes and go into Far West; but did not until after many of them had starved to death for want of proper sustenance, and several died on the road there, and were buried by the way side, without a coffin or a funeral ceremony, and the distress, sufferings, and privations of the people cannot be expressed. All the scattered families of the Mormon people, in all the counties except Davies, were driven into Far West, with but few exceptions. | ||
| Refugees
without housing two months Badly injured |
¶ | [248] This only increased their distress, for many thousands who were driven there, had no habitations or houses to shelter them, and were huddled together, some in tents and others under blankets, while others had no shelter from the inclemency of the weather. Nearly two months the people had been in this awful state of consternation, many of them had been killed, whilst others had been whipped until they had to swathe up their bowels to prevent them from falling out. | swathe: to bind, wrap, or swaddle with a long, broad strip or belt. | |
| General Parks comes from Richmond | About this time, General Parks came out from Richmond, Ray county, who was one of the commissioned officers who was sent out to Diahman, and I myself and my brother Joseph Smith Senior, went out at the same time. | |||
| Don Carlos's wife and children wade the Grand, 3 miles through snow | On the evening that General Parks arrived at Diahman, my brother, the late Don Carlos Smith's wife came in to Col. Wight's about eleven o'clock at night, bringing her two children along with her, one about two years and a half old, the other a babe in her arms. She came in on foot, a distance of three miles, and waded Grand River, and the water was then about waist deep, and the snow about 3 inches deep. | wife:
Agnes Moulton Coolbrith (1811–1828) children: Agnes C. Smith (b. August 1836) Sophronia C. Smith (b. May 1838) Agnes' most well-known child, Josephine (Ina) Coolbrith née Smith, would be born in Nauvoo, March 1841. |
||
| Home burned | She stated that a party of the mob, a gang of ruffians, had turned her out of doors, had taken her household goods and had burnt up her house, and she had escaped by the skin of her teeth.—Her husband at that time was in Virginia, and she was living alone. | |||
| Lyman Wight furious | This cruel transaction excited the feelings of the people in Diahman, especially Col. Wight (h) (swh), and he asked Gen. Parks, in my hearing, how long we had got to suffer such base violence? | |||
| Parks and Joseph turn Lyman loose | Gen. Parks said he did not know how long. Col. Wight then asked him what should be done? Gen. Parks told him "he should take a company of men, well armed, and go and disperse the mob wherever he should find any collected together, and take away their arms." Col. Wight did so precisely, according to the orders of Gen. Parks. And my brother Joseph Smith Sen. made no words about it.— | Adam-ondi-Ahman is on the northern bank of the Grand. | ||
| Lyman stops the burnings | And after Col. Wight had dispersed the mob and put a stop to their burning houses belonging to the Mormon people and turning women and children out of doors, which they had done up to that time to the amount of 8 or 10 houses which were consumed to ashes—after being cut short in their intended designs, the mob started up a new plan. | |||
| Mob burns own homes to provoke Mormons | They went to work and moved their families out of the county and set fire to their houses, and not being able to incense the Mormons to commit crimes; they had recourse to this stratagem to set their houses on fire and send runners into all the counties adjacent, to declare to the people that the Mormons had burnt up their houses and destroyed their fields, and if the people would not believe them, they would tell them to go and see if what they had said was not true. | |||
| Mormons didn't do it | Many people came to see, they saw the houses burning, and being filled with prejudice, they could not be made to believe but that the Mormons set them on fire, which deed was most diabolical and of the blackest kind, for indeed the Mormons did not set them on fire, nor meddle with their houses or their fields. | |||
| Mormons had bought the burned houses | And the houses that were burnt, together with the pre emption rights, and the corn in the fields, had all been previously purchased by the Mormons of the people and paid for in money and with wagons and horses and with other property, about two weeks before; but they had not taken possession of the premises; but this wicked transaction was for the purpose of clandestinely exciting the minds of a prejudiced populace and the Executive, that they might get an order, that they could the more easily carry out their hellish purposes, in expulsion or extermination or utter extinction of the Mormon people. | |||
| Joseph
and Hyrum survey destruction in Adam-ondi-Ahman Write Atchison |
After witnessing the distressed situation of the people in Diahman, my brother Joseph Smith Senior and myself returned back to the city of Far West, and immediately dispatched a messenger, with written documents, to General Atchison, stating the facts as they did then exist, praying for assistance if possible, and requesting the editor of the "Far West" to insert the same in his newspaper, but he utterly refused to do so. | |||
| Appeal to governor | We still believed that we should get assistance from the Governor, and again petitioned him, praying for assistance, setting forth our distressed situation; | |||
| Militia ordered out to protect | and in the mean time the presiding Judge of the County Court issued orders—upon affidavits made to him by the citizens—to the Sheriff of the county, to order out the Militia of the county to stand in constant readiness, night and day, to prevent the citizens from being massacred, which fearful situation they were exposed to every moment. Every thing was very portentous and alarming. | |||
| Army approaches | Notwithstanding all this, there was a ray of hope yet existing in the minds of the people that the Governor would render us assistance; and whilst the people were waiting anxiously for deliverance—men women and children frightened, praying and weeping—we beheld at a distance, crossing the prairies and approaching the town, a large army in military array, brandishing their glittering swords in the sunshine, and we could not but feel joyful for a moment, thinking that probably the Governor had sent an armed force to our relief, notwithstanding the awful forebodings that pervaded our breasts. | |||
| Surround Far West | But to our great surprise, when the army arrived they came up and formed a line in double file in one half mile on the east of the city of Far West, and despatched three messengers with a white flag to come to the city. | |||
| Morrmon representatives | They were met by Captain Morey with a few other individuals, whose names I do not now recollect. | |||
| Hyrum overhears "negotiations" | I was myself standing close by, and could very distinctly hear every word they said. Being filled with anxiety, I rushed forward to the spot, expecting to hear good news—but alas! and heart-thrilling to every soul that heard them— | |||
| Army wants 3 out, then will massacre rest | they demanded three persons to be brought out of the city before they should massacre the rest. The names of the persons they demanded, were Adam Lightner, John Cleminson and his wife. | |||
| 3 offered chance to save their lives | Immediately the three persons were brought forth to hold an interview with the officers who had made the demand, and the officers told them they had now a chance to save their lives, for they calculated to destroy the people and lay the city in ashes. | |||
| 3 refuse offer | They replied to the officer, and said, "If the people must be destroyed, and the city burned to ashes, they would remain in the city and die with them." | |||
| Army camps 1.5 miles from city | The officers immediately returned, and the army retreated and encamped about a mile and a half from the city. | |||
| Mormon
white flag Bogart shoots at messenger |
A messenger was immediately despatched with a while flag from the Colonel of the Militia of Far West, requesting an interview with General Atchison and General Doniphan; but as the messenger approached the camp, he was shot at by Bogard, the Methodist preacher. The name of the messenger was Charles C. Rich, who is now Brigadier General in the Nauvoo legion. | |||
| Sees
Doniphan Atchison ordered back to Liberty (too sympathetic to Mormons) |
However, he gained permission to see General Doniphan; he also requested an interview with General Atchison. General Doniphan said that General Atchison had been dismounted by a special order of the Governor a few miles back, and had been sent back to Liberty, Clay county. He also stated that the reason was that he (Atchison,) was too merciful unto the Mormons, | |||
| Boggs replaces him with Lucas | and Boggs would not let him have the command,
but had given it to General Lucas, who was from Jackson County, and whose
heart had become hardened by his former acts of rapine and bloodshed, he
being one of the leaders in murdering, driving, plundering and burning some
two or three hundred houses belonging to the Mormon people in that county
in the years 1833 and 1834. To be continued … |
Lucas in 1833: ¶ Missouri Persecutions (1833–1834) (2) | ||