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THE suffering and privation of the saints in the winter of 1838-39, during their removal from the State of Missouri, no pen can describe. To tell of all the incidents of interest would fill a volume, so we will give the history of this event in a general way as recorded by other pens.
The following is from the pen of Lucy Smith, the mother of the prophet, concerning her banishment from Missouri:-
"Just as we got our goods into the wagon a man came to us and said that Sidney Rigdon's family were ready to start and must have the wagon immediately. Accordingly our goods were taken out, and we were compelled to wait until the team could come after us again. We put our goods into the wagon a second time, but the wagon was wanted for Emma and her family, so our goods were again taken out. However, we succeeded after a long time, in getting one single wagon to convey beds, clothing, and provisions for our family, Salisbury's family, and Mr. M'Cleary's family, besides considerable luggage for Don Carlos, who, with his family and the remainder of his baggage, was crowded into a buggy, 1 and went in the same company with us.
"For the want of teams we were compelled to leave most of our provisions and furniture. Another inconvenience
1A light vehicle, drawn by one horse.
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which we suffered was, the horses were windbroken, consequently we were obliged to walk much of the way, especially up all the hills, which was very tiresome work.
"The first day we arrived at a place called Tinney's Grove, where we lodged over night in an old log house, which was very uncomfortable. Half of the succeeding day I traveled on foot. That night we stayed at the house of one Mr. Thomas, who was then a member of the church. On the third day, in the afternoon, it began to rain. At night we stopped at a house and asked permission to stay till morning. The man to whom we applied showed us a miserable outhouse, which was filthy enough to sicken the stomach, and told us if we would clean this place and haul our own wood and water we might lodge there. To this we agreed, and with much trouble we succeeded in making a place for our beds. For the use of this loathsome hovel he charged us seventy-five cents. We traveled all the next day in a pouring rain. We asked for shelter at many places, but were refused. At last we came to a place quite like the one where we spent the previous night. Here we spent the night without fire. On the fifth day, just before arriving at Palmyra, in Missouri, Don Carlos called to Mr. Smith, and said, 'Father, this exposure is too bad, and I will not bear it any longer; the first place that I come to that looks comfortable I shall drive up and go into the house, and do you follow me.'
"We soon came to a farmhouse, surrounded with every appearance of plenty. The house was but a short distance from the road, having in front of it a large gate. Through this Don Carlos drove without hesitating to ask the privilege, and after assisting us through, he started to the house, and meeting the landlord, he said: 'I do not know but that I am trespassing, but I have with me an aged father, who is sick, besides my mother and a number of women with small children. We have traveled two days and a half in this rain, and if we are compelled to go much farther we shall all of us die. If you will allow us to stay with you over night we will pay you almost any price for our accommodation.'
"'Why, what do you mean, sir!' said the gentleman,
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'do you not consider us human beings? Do you think that we would turn anything that is flesh and blood from our door in such a time as this! Drive up to the house and help your wife and children out: I'll attend to your father and mother and the rest of them.' The landlord then assisted Mr. Smith and myself into the room in which his lady was sitting, but as she was rather ill, and he feared that the dampness of our clothing would cause her to take cold, he ordered a black servant to make a fire for her in another room. He then assisted each of our family into the house, and hung up our cloaks and shawls to dry.
"At this house we had everything which could conduce to comfort. The gentleman, who was Esquire Mann, brought us milk for our children, hauled us water to wash with, and furnished us good beds to sleep in.
"In the evening he remarked that he was sent by his county the year before to the House of Representatives, where he met one Mr. Carroll, who was sent from the county in which the 'Mormons' resided; 'and if ever,' said Esquire Mann, 'I felt like fighting any man, it was him. He never once raised his voice nor even his hand in behalf of that abused people while the House was in session. I was never a member of the House before, and had not sufficient confidence to take a stand upon the floor in their behalf, as I should have done had I been a man of a little more experience.'
"After spending the night with this good man we proceeded on our journey, although it continued raining, for we were obliged to travel through mud and rain to avoid being detained by high water. When we came within six miles of the Mississippi River the weather grew colder, and in the place of rain we had snow and hail; and the ground between us and the river was so low and swampy that a person on foot would sink in over his ankles at every step; yet we were all of us forced to walk, or rather wade, the whole six miles.
"On reaching the Mississippi we found that we could not cross that night, nor yet find a shelter, for many saints were there before us waiting to go over into Quincy. The snow was now six inches deep and still falling. We made our
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beds upon it, and went to rest with what comfort we might under such circumstances. The next morning our beds were covered with snow, and much of the bedding under which we lay was frozen. We rose and tried to light a fire, but finding it impossible, we resigned ourselves to our comfortless situation.
"Soon after this Samuel came over from Quincy, and he, with the assistance of Seymour Brunson, obtained permission of the ferryman for us to cross that day. About sunset we landed in Quincy. Here Samuel had hired a house, and we moved into it, with four other families."-Joseph Smith the Prophet and His Progenitors, pp. 272-275.
The story of the journey of Joseph's family is best told in a sketch of the life of Emma Smith, written by her son, for a work entitled, "The Pioneer Women of Lee County, Illinois," some years ago:-
"After making such arrangements for the safety of herself and her children as she could, Mrs. Smith turned her face from the home whence she and hers were being driven, towards Illinois and freedom. The winter shut in early, and when the fleeing pilgrims reached the Mississippi River, it was freshly frozen over, and Mrs. Smith, carrying her two youngest, with the oldest boy and the little girl clinging to her dress, crossed the mighty river, to Quincy, Illinois, on foot, weary, heartbroken, and sad.
"She found a hospitable welcome at the home of a man by the name of Cleaveland, where she remained during the long winter, sad but trusting, and in faithful expectancy, waiting for her husband's relief, and delivery from bonds."
The History of Caldwell and Livingston Counties, Missouri, contains the following statement concerning these troublesome times:-
"In the consummation of the 'treaty' with General Lucas, and by the orders of Governor Boggs, when, as a Mormon poet says:-
"'The people of Missouri,
Like a whirlwind in its fury,
And without judge or jury,
Drove the saints and spilled their blood.'-
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there were many distressing scenes. Having been banished from the State, they concluded to settle in Illinois, on the upper Mississippi, and eventually selected Hancock County, on the Mississippi, opposite the southeastern part of Iowa, as their future home.
"In the midst of an inclement winter, in December, 1838, and in January, 1839, many of the Mormon men, women, and children, the sick and the aged as well as the young and strong, were turned out of their homes in this county and Daviess, into the prairies and forests, without food or sufficient protection from the weather. In some instances in Daviess their houses were burnt before their eyes and they turned out into the deep snow. Only a few cabins in the southwestern part of Caldwell were burned at this time.
"Numerous families set out at once for Illinois, making the entire distance in midwinter, on foot. A large majority, however, remained until spring, as under the terms of the treaty they were allowed to remain in the county until that time. All through the winter and early spring those who remained prepared to leave. They offered their lands for sale at very small figures. In fact, many bartered their farms for teams and wagons to get away on. Some traded for any sort of property. Charles Ross, of Black Oak, bought forty acres of good land, north of Breckenridge, for a blind mare and a clock. Some tracts of good land north of Shoal Creek, in Kidder Township, brought only fifty cents an acre. Many of the Mormons had not yet secured the patents to their lands, and though they had regularly entered them, they could not sell them; the Gentiles would not buy unless they could receive the government's deeds, as well as the grantor's. These kinds of lands were abandoned altogether, in most instances, and afterward settled upon by Gentiles, who secured titles by keeping the taxes paid."-History of Caldwell and Livingston Counties, Missouri, pp. 141, 142.
The Democratic Association of Quincy, Illinois, on February 28, 1839, after inviting other citizens to meet with them, passed appropriate resolutions, which were signed
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by Samuel Leach, chairman, and J. D. Morgan, secretary. 2
The Quincy, Illinois, Argus for March 16, 1839, contains the following editorial:-
"We give in to-day's paper the details of the recent bloody tragedy acted in Missouri-the details of a scene of terror and blood unparalleled in the annals of modern and, under the circumstances of the case, in ancient history-a tragedy of so deep and fearful and absorbing interest that the very lifeblood of the heart is chilled at the simple contemplation. We are prompted to ask ourselves if it be really true that we are living in an enlightened, a humane and civilized age-in an age and quarter of the world boasting of its progress in everything good, and great, and honorable, and virtuous, and high-minded-in a country of which, as American citizens, we could be proud-whether we are living under a constitution and laws, or have not rather returned to the ruthless times of the stern Attila-to the times of the fiery Hun, when the sword and flame ravaged the fair fields of Italy and Europe, and the darkest passions held full revel in all the revolting scenes of unchecked brutality and unbridled desire?
"We have no language sufficiently strong for the expression of our indignation and shame at the recent transaction in a sister State-and that State MISSOURI-a State of which we had long been proud, alike for her men and history, but now so fallen that we could wish her star stricken out from the bright constellation of the Union. We say we
2Resolved, that we regard the rights of conscience as natural and inalienable, and the most sacred guaranteed by the Constitution of our free government.
Resolved, that we regard the acts of all mobs as flagrant violations of law, and those who compose them individually responsible, both to the laws of God or man, for every depredation committed upon the property, rights, or life of any citizen.
Resolved, that the inhabitants upon the western frontier of the State of Missouri in their late persecutions of the class of people denominated Mormons, have violated the sacred rights of conscience, and every law of justice and humanity
Resolved, that the Governor of Missouri in refusing protection to this class of people when pressed upon by a heartless mob, and turning upon them a band of unprincipled militia, with orders encouraging their extermination, has brought a lasting disgrace upon the State over which he presides.-Persecution of the Saints, pp. 190, 191.
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know of no language sufficiently strong for the expression of our shame and abhorrence of her recent conduct. She has written her own character in letters of blood-and stained it by acts of merciless cruelty and brutality that the waters of ages cannot efface. It will be observed that an organized mob aided by many of the civil and military officers of Missouri, with Governor Boggs at their head, have been the prominent actors in this business, incited, too, it appears, against the Mormons by political hatred, and by the additional motives of plunder and revenge. They have but too well put in execution their threats of extermination and expulsion, and fully wreaked their vengeance on a body of industrious and enterprising men, who had never wronged nor wished to wrong them, but on the contrary had ever comported themselves as good and honest citizens, living under the same laws and having the same right with themselves to the sacred immunities of life, liberty, and property."-Persecution of the Saints, pp. 178-180.
The New York Commercial-Advertiser published resolutions passed shortly after by a mass meeting held at National Hall. 3
3 Resolved, that as Americans we have heard with shame and indignation the narrative given by Mr. Green, of the persecutions, sufferings, and lawless violence of which a body of American citizens have been the objects and the victims, for no other apparent cause than that without hindrance to others or violation of any law of the land, they acted on the right guaranteed to them by the Constitution of the United States of a free exercise of religion.
Resolved, that without meaning to express any opinion whatever as to the religious tenets or practices of the Mormons as a sect, we condemn and desire to bear our testimony against mob law, lynch law, and all other forms of violence and outrage, where an excited populace becomes at once jury, judge, and executioner.
Resolved, that the Mormons, as wronged, persecuted, exiled, and defrauded Americans, are entitled to the sympathy and support of their countrymen, and that especially in behalf of the women and children driven from their homes at the point of the bayonet, we appeal to the known benevolence of our fellow citizens at large for pecuniary aid.
Resolved, that the chairman and secretary be a committee with power to add to their numbers-to obtain subscriptions in aid of the women and children of the Mormons-such subscriptions to be applied after due investigation by the committee themselves.
Resolved, that these resolutions be signed by the chairman and secretary, and be published in the newspapers.
Charles King, Chairman
Marcus Spring, Secretary
-Persecution of the Saints, pp. l62, 163
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The Boston Atlas published a letter showing the contrast between the Mormons and their neighbors. 4
4 FROM THE BOSTON ATLAS.-Letter from a Gentleman at the West to his friend in Boston.
Dear Sir:-You ask me for information concerning the Mormon trouble in Missouri. In giving it I shall be compelled to state particulars that will stagger your belief; and I shall be betrayed into a warmth of expression which may be construed into the signs of partisan bitterness but which will be in truth only the language of honest indignation. The series of wrongs and outrages perpetrated on the Mormons, and the closing act of injustice by which those wrongs and outrages were suffered to escape, not only unpunished but triumphant, from the elements of persecution, which in vain seeks a parallel in the history of our country. For example of similar outrages on the rights of justice and humanity, I am compelled to resort to barbarous nations and dark ages, which alone furnish precedents to excuse the conduct of the people of Missouri.
The Mormons, I need not say, are a weak and credulous people, whose chief fault is the misfortune of having become the dupes of a villainous impostor. * They have an excess of that as to which the world at large is exceedingly deficient, i. e., faith. They have been misled; and they are to be pitied. But I have yet to learn that their faith taught them immorality. I have yet to learn that it encouraged disobedience to the laws or encroachments on the rights of any fellow citizen.
The Mormons were in truth a moral, orderly, and sober population. They were industrious farmers and ingenious mechanics. They were busy about their own affairs, and never intermeddled in the concerns of their neighbors. They were exceedingly peaceful and averse to strife, quarrels, and violence. They had established schools, they encouraged education; and they all had the rudiments of learning, taught under our school system at the East. They had begun to open fine farms and put their lands in a high state of improvement. Many of them were surrounded by numerous comforts, and some with even the elegancies of life.
In all these respects their condition presented a broad contrast to that of their neighbors. Of these neighbors, many had been there for years-much longer in fact than the Mormons-and had made few advances upon the Indians they had displaced. Mud hovels, a "truck patch," hunting, and buckskin breeches were their highest aspirations. Letters they despised as much as they did the conveniences or comforts of life. Bold, violent, unscrupulous, and grasping-hating all who differed from, much more who excelled them in the art of living, the relations between them and the Mormons may readily be inferred by any man who has read a single chapter in the history of human strife.
The Anti-Mormons (for I must distinguish this horde of demi-savages) are exceedingly intolerant. They are refuse Kentuckians and Tennesseans, intermixed with Virginians of the same caste, in whom the vice of sectional pride, which marks these people, and a prejudice against all others, especially those belonging to the free States, whom they indiscriminately brand as Yankees-is exaggerated to the highest pitch. Such persons, if they could do it, would incorporate in the Constitution of Missouri a provision to prohibit emigrating thither of anybody not belonging to their own "kith and kin." They have also personal pride
*The writer, though just in other remarks, falls into the common error of crying imposition, without showing wherein the deception consists. *
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Bancroft's version is as follows:-
"There was no help for them; they must leave the State or be killed; of this they were assured on all sides, publicly and privately.
"And now begins another painful march-painful in the thought of it, painful in the telling of it. It is midwinter; whither can they go, and how? They have homes, but they may not enjoy them; land which they have bought, houses which they have built, and barns and cattle and food, but hereabout they are hunted to death. Is it Russia or Tartary or Hindostan, that people are thus forced to fly for opinion's sake? True, the people of the United States do not like such opinions; they do not like a religious sect that votes solid, or a class of men whom they look upon as fools and fanatics talking about taking the country, claimed as theirs by divine right; but in any event this was no way to settle the difficulty. Here are men who have been stripped in a moment of the results of years of toil-all that they have in the world gone; here are women weighed down with work and care, some whose husbands are in prison, and who are thus left to bear the heavy burden of this infliction alone; here are little children, some comfortably clad, others obliged to encounter the wind and frozen ground with bare heads and bleeding feet.
"Whither can they go? There is a small following of the prophet at Quincy, Illinois; some propose to go there, some start for other places. But what if they are not welcome at Quincy, and what can they do with such a multitude? There is no help for it, however, no other spot where the outcasts can hope for refuge at the moment. Some have horses and cattle and wagons; some have none. Some have tents and bedding; some have none. But the start is made,
to an excess, which leads them, however, not to emulate a rival's exertions, but to envy his success and hate his person. They have, however a grasping disposition, which stimulates them to acquire; but not industry and enterprise enough to lead them to acquire honestly. They prefer plunder to fair means, if they can only conceal the knowledge of their foul play; because rapine gratifies their propensities to force, indolence, and acquisition. They are bold, crafty, and when inspired by revenge, energetic and persevering beyond almost any other race of men. . . .-Persecution of the Saints, pp. 144-147.
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and the march is slowly to the eastward. In the months of February and March over one hundred and thirty families are on the west bank of the Mississippi unable to cross the river, which is full of floating ice. There they wait and suffer; they scour the country for food and clothing for the destitute; many sicken and die."-History of Utah, pp. 135, 136.
Though we might fill a volume with such testimony, and with such denunciations of Governor Boggs and Missouri, from nonpartisan sources, we will add but one more, which is an extract from an editorial published in the Western Messenger, of Cincinnati, Ohio, about November or December, 1840:-
"OUTRAGES OF MISSOURI MOBS ON MORMONS.
"Reader! Let not the word Mormon repel you! Think not that you have no interest in the cruelties perpetrated on this poor people! Read, we pray you, the history of this persecuted community; examine the detailed facts of these atrocities; reflect upon the hallowed principles and usages trampled under foot by ruffians; bring before your mind the violations of all law, human and divine, of all right, natural and civil, of all ties of society and humanity, of all duties of justice, honor, honesty, and mercy, committed by so-called freemen and Christians-and then speak out, speak out for prostrate law, for liberty disgraced, for outraged man, for heaven insulted;
"'Loud as a summer thunderbolt shall waken
A people's voice.'
"We speak strongly, for we feel strongly; and we wish to attract attention to a tragedy of almost unequaled horror, which has been unblushingly enacted in a State of this Union. Its history should be trumpeted abroad until the indignant rebuke of the whole land compels the authors, abettors, and tolerators of these wrongs to make the small return now in their power for their aggravated injustice. Life cannot be restored to the murdered nor health to the broken down in body and soul, nor peace to the bereaved; but the spoils on which robbers are now fattening can be repaid; the loss of the destitute can be made up; the captive
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can be freed, and, until by legislative acts she makes redress-Missouri is degraced!
"It seems like some horrid dream, that these enormities, which Nicholas would have shrunk from inflicting on the Poles, have been deliberately committed in an age of peace, in a land of laws and freedom, upon our own brethren. 5 Is it actually true that citizens-peaceable, industrious, temperate, orderly citizens-have been driven from their property, their houses burned, the furniture broken and scattered, their crops laid waste, their stores plundered, their cattle killed, their horses stolen, their clothes stripped from them, and themselves expelled under threats of instant death? Is it true that men have been tarred and feathered, whipped till they were raw from head to foot, till their bowels gushed out, that their skulls have been knocked in, and brains scattered with musket butts, that they have been shot down while crying for quarter, shot down unarmed and defenseless like hogs in a pen? Is it true that sick women have been driven from burning houses at midnight on the snowy prairies, where they have given birth to children on the frozen ground, that they have forded rivers with helpless infants in their arms, fleeing from heartless pursuers, that they have been insulted when their natural protectors were hid from the murderers, that they have been violated by the guards appointed for their defense? And were the guilty instigators and executioners of the massacres, arsons, and rapes, really men of standing, ministers of the gospel, judges, senators, military officers, and the Governor of the State? Were not the evidence on which the narrative of each one of these cruelties rests incontrovertible, no one could conceive that such fiendlike acts had actually been wrought by beings in human shape. Would that for the honor of our nature they could be discredited. Our statement is strictly, unexaggeratedly true. It is only TOO MEAGER, TOO FEEBLE. . . .
"These, it may be said, were the acts of unauthorized mobs, against whom the militia of the State had been called
5This was not a Mormon paper, and the word brethren was not used in the sense of church fellowship.
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out. True! But when after months, we may say years, of suffering from similar outrages, harassed by anxieties, goaded by wrongs, and under the advice of authorities, civil and military, these poor fellows deserted by the militia guard, unprotected by the State, did at last defend their houses from pillage, their children and wives from abuse, themselves from murder-then was the cry of 'Mormon war' raised; and Governor Boggs, to his lasting infamy, sent out his order for exterminating these citizens of Missouri, whom it was his duty under oath to save. In his order of October 27, he says:-
"'The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State, if necessary, for the public good.'
"The Mormons had only defended themselves against infuriated and lawless rioters; so soon as General Lucas arrived and presented the Governor's orders, they submitted to the authorities of the State. They gave up their arms and were made prisoners. . . .
"And thus, during the greatest cold of the last winter, were men, women and children, aged, sick and helpless, driven out from shelter, and, half-clothed, unfed, robbed of teams and horses even, forced to make their way as they could to other States. One more picture we must present in order to give a glimpse of the horrors thus permitted by a State Executive-thus authorized and commanded by the highest power of Missouri. We take the account given under oath by Lyman Wight, of 'a few facts concerning his family (while he was in jail).'
"His wife was confined on the 3d of November, whilst Cornelius C. Gillium, with one hundred painted men, surrounded the house, screeching and hallooing in the attitude of Delaware Indians; and it was with the utmost difficulty that the militia officers could keep them out of the house. In this situation the family remained, threatened day by day that they must leave the country or be exterminated. Accordingly, when her babe was eight days old she was informed she could stay no longer, that she must not only leave the county, but the State; that she need not
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flatter herself that she would ever see her husband again, for if they could not find law to kill him, they would kill him without law. She was stripped of her bed and bedding, and of her household furniture, then placed in an open wagon with six helpless children, to make the best shift she could to get out of the State. The last news received from her she was on the banks of the Mississippi River in a tent, depending on the charity of the people for her support. This is the fifth time that I and my family have been unlawfully driven from house and home.'
"Now let everyone on reading this tale of horror speak out fully, fearlessly. Had the Mormons been pirates, bloodstained, had they been Indians, girdled with scalps, they would have deserved better treatment. Let the unsupported accusations brought against them be true, and yet the conduct of their plunderers and murderers was utterly without a palliation or excuse. Before the face of heaven and in the sight of men such acts are devilish.
"What, in a word, were the causes of the madness of these mobs? The Mormons were deluded, obstinate, zealous, exclusive in their faith. They used the vague prophetic denunciations of an enthusiastic sect. They retaliated the reproaches heaped upon them by religious opponents. This, we believe, was the great exciting cause. Their first persecutions were attacks on their opinions, and ridicule of their absurdity.
"Again, there were suspicions against the sincerity of their leading men. They were thought to be speculators on the credulity of the ignorant. Blind prejudice multiplied evil suspicions; enmity misconstrued natural acts; slander swelled trifles into monstrous wrongs; idle curiosity, greedy of alarm, and eager to gossip, circulated rumors. Now add that they were a larger and growing community, allied together both by necessity and choice, and withal prosperous, and we have an explanation of the fear, jealousy, envy, and hatred felt against them; an explanation, but no justification. The same elements were active and fierce in these Missouri outrages, which have kindled the faggot, and bared the sword, and opened the dungeon in all times. These elements
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were bigotry, ignorance, panic. And when we talk of living in an age of enlightenment, liberty, and law, let us recollect with shame the burning of the convent at Charlestown, the absurd humbug of Maria Monk, and the countless wrongs which other mobs, for as slight pretexts, have wrought in almost every State in the Union. The blaze of these other disgraceful proceedings is lost, however, in the hot glare of this infernal outbreak."-Times and Seasons vol. 2, pp. 235-238.
It was to counteract this wave of indignation which went over the United States that the Missouri Legislature compiled all the scurrilous reports obtainable, and published them in 1841.
To close this chapter we insert a few testimonies to the good character of Joseph Smith and the church members in general. It is true that Joseph and others had to leave their business in Ohio in an unfinished condition because of violent persecution which compelled them to leave, but they sent Oliver Granger as an agent, who settled up their business in an honorable way, as the following testimonies will show:-
"A CARD.
"PAINESVILLE, October 19, 1838.
"We, the undersigned, being personal acquaintances of Oliver Granger, firmly believe that the course which he has pursued in settling the claims, accounts, etc., against the former citizens of Kirtland Township, has done much credit to himself and all others that committed to him the care of adjusting their business with this community, which also furnishes evidence that there was no intention on their part of defrauding their creditors.
"Thomas Griffith.
"John S. Seymour."
-Millennial Star, vol. 16, p. 406.
"To all persons that are or may be interested. I, Horace Kingsbury, of Painesville Township, Geauga County, and State of Ohio, feeling the importance of recommending to remembrance every worthy citizen who has by their conduct commended themselves to personal acquaintance by their
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course of strict integrity, and desire for truth and common justice, feel it my duty to state that Oliver Granger's management in the arrangement of the unfinished business of people that have moved to the Far West, in redeeming their pledges and thereby sustaining their integrity, has been truly praiseworthy, and has entitled him to my highest esteem, and ever grateful recollection.
"Horace Kingsbury.
"Painesville, October 26, 1838."
-Millennial Star, vol. 16, p. 445.
"To all whom it may concern:-This may certify that during the year of eighteen hundred and thirty-seven, I had dealings with Messrs. Joseph Smith, Jr., and Sidney Rigdon, together with other members of the society, to the amount of about three thousand dollars, and during the spring of eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, I have received my pay in full of Colonel Oliver Granger, to my satisfaction. And I would here remark, that it is due Messrs. Smith and Rigdon, and the society generally, to say that they have ever dealt honorably and fair with me: and I have received as good treatment from them as I have received from any other society in this vicinity; and so far as I have been correctly informed and made known of their business transactions generally, they have, so far as I can judge, been honorable and honest, and have made every exertion to arrange and settle their affairs. And I would further state that the closing up of my business with said society has been with their agent, Colonel Granger, appointed by them for that purpose; and I consider it highly due Colonel Granger from me here to state that he has acted truly and honestly in all his business with me, and has accomplished more than I could have reasonably expected. And I have also been made acquainted with his business in that section; and wherever he has been called upon to act, he has done so, and with good management he has accomplished and effected a close of a large amount of business for said society, and, as I believe, to the entire satisfaction of all concerned.
"John W. Hawden.
"Painesville, Geauga County, Ohio, Oct. 27,1838."
-Millennial Star, vol. 16, pp. 445, 446.
The Kansas City Journal published an interview with General A. W. Doniphan,
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which was reproduced in the Saints' Herald for August 1, 1881, and from which we make extracts:-
"'What kind of people were the Mormons?'
"'They were northern people, who, on account of their declining to own slaves and their denunciation of the system of slavery, were termed "free soilers." The majority of them were intelligent, industrious, and law-abiding citizens, but there were some ignorant, simple-minded fanatics among them, whom that people said would steal. . . .
"'The majority of the Mormons, after being driven from Jackson County, went to Clay County, where they were received and provided for as well as it was possible by the citizens. The Mormons remained in Clay County until 1836, in an unorganized community, when it was agreed between them and the citizens of Clay and Ray Counties that if they (the Mormons) would buy out a few inhabitants then inhabiting what is now Caldwell County, then a part of Ray County, the balance of the land being public, they could enter it at their leisure, and we would urge the legislature to create a county for them, which was done at the session of the legislature of 1836-37. . . .
"'It has been said that in the treaty I made with the Mormons I stipulated that they must leave the State, under penalty of annihilation if they refused to do so. This is entirely untrue, as I made no stipulation. It is true, however, that in an order to me and other officers, Governor Boggs used the expression "that the Mormons leave the State or be exterminated," whereas this order was entirely illegal. I paid no attention to it. In my report to Governor Boggs I stated to him that I had disregarded that part of his order, as the age of extermination was over, and if I attempted to remove them to some other State it would cause additional trouble. The Mormons commenced immediately after this to move to Nauvoo, Illinois, and I know nothing further about them. While the Mormons resided in Clay County, they were a peaceable, sober, industrious, and law-abiding people, and during their stay with us not one was ever accused of a crime of any kind."'-Saints' Herald, August 1, 1881.
(page 351)
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