CHAPTER IX.
The Final Expulsion From The State
General Lucas's Terms to the Mormons--Surrender of Far West and Arrest of Mormon Leaders--General Clark's Address to the Mormons--His Report to the Governor--General Wilson's Picture of Adam-ondi-Ahman--Fate of the Mormon Prisoners--Testimony at their Trial--Smith's Escape--Migration to Illinois
AT eight o'clock the next morning the
commander of the militia sent a flag of truce to the Mormons which Colonel
Hinckle, for the Mormons, met. General Lucas submitted the following terms, as
necessary to carry out the governor's orders: --
"1. To give up their leaders to be tried
and punished.
"2. To make an appropriation of their property,
all who have taken up arms, to the payment of their debts and indemnity for
damage done by them.
"3. That the balance should leave the State, and
be protected out by the militia, but be permitted to remain under protection
until further orders were received by the commander-in-chief.
"4. To give up the arms of every description, to
be receipted for."
While these propositions were under consideration,
General Lucas asked that Smith, Rigdon, Lyman Wight, P. P. Pratt, and G. W.
Robinson be given up as hostages, and this was done. Contemporary Mormon
accounts imputed treachery to Colonel Hinckle in this matter, and said that
Smith and his associates were lured into the militia camp by a ruse. General
Lucas's report to the governor says that the proposition for a conference came
from Hinckle. Hyrum Smith, in an account of the trial of the prisoners, printed
some years later in the Times and Seasons, said that all the men who
surrendered were that night condemned by a court-martial to be shot, but were
saved by General Doniphan's interference. Lee's account agrees with this, but
says that Smith surrendered voluntarily, to save the lives of his followers.
General Lucas received the surrender of Far West, on
the terms named, in advance of the arrival of General Clark, who was making
forced marches. After the surrender, General Lucas disbanded the main body of
his force, and set out with his prisoners for Independence, the original site
of Zion. General Clark, learning of this, ordered him to transfer the prisoners
to Richmond, which was done.
Hearing that the guard left by General Lucas at Far
West were committing outrages, General Clark rode to that place accompanied by
his field officers. He found no disorder,1 but instituted a military
court of inquiry, which resulted in the arrest of forty-six additional Mormons,
who were sent to Richmond for trial. The facts on which these arrests were made
were obtained principally from Dr. Avard, the Danite, who was captured by a
militia officer. "No one," General Clark says, "disclosed any
useful matter until he was captured."
1 "Much property was destroyed by the troops in town during their stay there, such as burning house logs, rails, corn cribs, boards, etc., the using of corn and hay, the plundering of houses, the killing of cattle, sheep, and hogs, and also the taking of horses not their own." -- "Mormon Memorial to Missouri Legislature," December 10, 1838.
After these arrests had been made, General Clark
called the other Mormons at Far West together, and addressed them, telling them
that they could now go to their fields for corn, wood, etc., but that the terms
of the surrender must be strictly lived up to. Their leading men had been given
up, their arms surrendered, and their property assigned as stipulated, but it
now remained for them to leave the state forthwith. On that subject the general
said: --
"The character of this state has suffered almost
beyond redemption, from the character, conduct, and influence that you have
exerted; and we deem it an act of justice to restore her character to its
former standing among the states by every proper means. The orders of the
governor to me were that you should be exterminated and not allowed to remain
in the state. And had not your leaders been given up, and the terms of the
treaty complied with, before this time you and your families would have been
destroyed, and your houses in ashes. There is a discretionary power vested in
my hands, which, considering your circumstances, I shall exercise for a season.
You are indebted to me for this clemency.
"I do not say that you shall go now, but you must
not think of staying here another season, or of putting in crops, for the
moment you do this the citizens will be upon you; and if I am called here
again, in a case of a non-compliance of a treaty made, do not think that I
shall do as I have done now. You need not expect any mercy, but extermination,
for I am determined the governor's orders shall be executed. As for your
leaders, do not think, do not imagine for a moment, do not let it enter into
your mind, that they will be delivered and restored to you again, for their
fate is fixed, their die is cast, their doom is sealed.
"I am sorry, gentlemen, to see so many apparently
intelligent men found in the situation you are; and O! if I could invoke the
great spirit, the unknown God, to rest upon and deliver you from that awful
chain of superstition, and liberate you from those fetters of fanaticism with
which you are bound, that you nolonger do homage to a man. I would advise you
to scatter abroad, and never organize yourselves with bishops, presidents,
etc., lest you excite the jealousies of the people, and subject yourselves to
the same calamities that have now come upon you. You have always been the
aggressors: you have brought upon yourselves these difficulties by being
disaffected, and not being subject to rule. And my advice is that you become as
other citizens, lest by a recurrence of these events you bring upon yourselves
irretrievable ruin."
General Clark then marched with his prisoners to
Richmond, where the trial of all the accused began on November 12, before Judge
A. A. King. By November 29 the called-out militia had been disbanded, and on
that date General Clark made his final report to the governor. In this he
asserted that the militia under him had conducted themselves as honorable
citizen soldiers, and enclosed a certificate signed by five Mormons, including
W. W. Phelps, Colonel Hinckle, and John Corrill, confirming this statement, and
saying, "We have no hesitation in saying that the course taken by General
Clark with the Mormons was necessary for the public peace, and that the Mormons
are generally satisfied with his course."
In his summing up of the results of the campaign,
General Clark said: --
"It {the Mormon insurrection} had for its
object Dominion, the ultimate subjugation of this State and the Union to the
laws of a few men called the Presidency. Their church was to be built up at any
rate, peaceably if they could, forcibly if necessary. These people had banded
themselves together in societies, the object of which was to first drive from
their society such as refused to join them in their unholy purposes, and then
to plunder the surrounding country, and ultimately to subject the state to
their rule."
"The whole number of the Mormons killed through
the whole difficulty, so far as I can ascertain, are about forty, and several
wounded. There has been one citizen killed, and about fifteen badly
wounded."2
2 "Correspondence, Orders, etc.," p. 92.
Brigadier General R. Wilson was sent with his
command to settle the Mormon question in Daviess County. Finding the town of
Adamondi-Ahman unguarded, he placed guards around it, and gathered in the
Mormons of the neighborhood, to the number of about two hundred. Most of these,
he explained in his report, were late comers from Canada and the northern
border of the United States, and were living mostly in tents, without any
adequate provision for the winter. Those against whom criminal charges had been
made were placed under arrest, and the others were informed that General Wilson
would protect them for ten days, and would guarantee their safety to Caldwell
County or out of the state. "This appeared to me," said General
Wilson, in his report to General Clark, "to be the only course to prevent
a general massacre." In this report General Wilson presented the following
picture of the situation there as he found it: --
"It is perfectly impossible for me to convey to
you anything like the awful state of things which exists here -- language is
inadequate to the task. The citizens of a whole county first plundered, and
then their houses and other buildings burnt to ashes; without houses, beds,
furniture, or even clothing in many instances, to meet the inclemency of the
weather. I confess that my feelings have been shocked with the gross brutality
of these Mormons, who have acted more like demons from the infernal regions
than human beings. Under these circumstances, you will readily perceive that it
would be perfectly impossible for me to protect the Mormons against the just
indignation of the citizens.... The Mormons themselves appeared pleased with
the idea of getting away from their enemies and a justly insulted people, and I
believe all have applied and received permits to leave the county; and I
suppose about fifty families have left, and others are hourly leaving, and at
the end of ten days Mormo nism will not be known in Daviess county. This
appeared to me to be the only course left to prevent a general
massacre."3
3 "Correspondence, Orders, etc.," p. 78.
The Mormons began to depart at once, and in ten
days nearly all had left. Lee, who acted as guide to General Wilson, and whose
wife and babe were at Adamondi-Ahman, says: --
"Every house in Adamondi-Ahman was searched by the
troops for stolen property. They succeeded in finding very much of the Gentile
property that had been captured by the Saints in the various raids they made
through the country. Bedding of every kind and in large quantities was found
and reclaimed by the owners. Even spinning wheels, soap barrels, and other
articles were recovered. Each house where stolen property was found was certain
to receive a Missouri blessing from the troops. The men who had been most
active in gathering plunder had fled to Illinois to escape the vengeance of the
people, leaving their families to suffer for the sins of the believing
Saints."4
4 "Mormonism Unveiled," p. 89.
We may now follow the fortunes of the Mormon prisoners. On arriving at Richmond, they were confined in the unfinished brick court-house. The only inside work on this building that was completed was a partly laid floor, and to this the prisoners were restricted by a railing, with a guard inside and out. "Two three-pail iron kettles for boiling our meat, and two or more iron bake kettles, or Dutch ovens, were furnished us," says Robinson, "together with sacks of corn meal and meat in bulk. We did our own cooking. This arrangement suited us very well, and we enjoyed ourselves as well as men could under such circumstances."5
5 The Return, Vol. I, p. 234.
Joseph and Hyrum Smith, Rigdon, Lyman Wight, Caleb
Baldwin, and A. McRea were soon transferred to the jail at Liberty. The others
were then put into the debtor's room of Richmond jail, a two-story log
structure which was not well warmed, but they were released on light bail in a
few days.
A report of the testimony given at the hearing of the
Mormon prisoners before judge King will be found in the "Correspondence,
Orders, etc.," published by order of the Missouri legislature, pp. 97-149.
Among the Mormons who gave evidence against the prisoners were Avard, the
Danite, John Whitmer, W. W. Phelps, John Corrill, and Colonel Hinckle. There
were thirty-seven witnesses for the state and seven for the defence. As showing
the character of the testimony, the following selections will suffice.
Avard told the story of the origin of the Danites, and
said that he considered Joseph Smith their organizer; that the constitution was
approved by Smith and his counsellors at Rigdon's house, and that the members
felt themselves as much bound to obey the heads of the church as to obey God.
Just previous to the arrival of General Lucas at Far West, Smith had assembled
his force, and told them that, for every one they lacked in numbers as compared
with their opponents, the Lord would send angels to fight for them. He
presented the text of the indictment against Cowdery, Whitmer, and others,
drawn up by Rigdon.
John Corrill testified about the effect of Rigdon's
"salt sermon," and also that he had attended meetings of the Danites,
and had expressed disapproval of the doctrine that, if one brother got into
difficulty, it was the duty of the others to help him out, right or wrong; that
Smith and Rigdon attended one of these meetings, and that he had heard Smith
declare at a meeting, "if the people would let us alone, we would preach
the Gospel to them in peace, but if they came on us to molest us, we would
establish our religion by the sword, and that he would become to this
generation a second Mohammed;" just after the expulsion of the Mormons
from Dewitt, Smith declared hostilities against their opponents in Caldwell and
Daviess counties, and had a resolution passed, looking to the confiscation of
the property of the brethren who would not join him in the march; and on a
Sunday he advised the people that they might at times take property which at
other times it would be wrong to take, citing David's eating of the shew bread,
and the Saviour's plucking ears of corn.6 Reed Peck testified to the
same effect.
6 Corrill, Avard, Hinckle, Marsh, and others were formally excommunicated at a council held at Quincy, Illinois, on March 17, 1839, over which Brigham Young presided.
John Clemison testified to the presence of Smith at
the early meetings of the Danites; that Rigdon and Smith had advised that those
who were backward in joining his fighting force should be placed in the front
ranks at the point of pitchforks; that a great deal of Gentile property was
brought into Mormon camps, and that "it was frequently observed among the
troops that the time had come when the riches of the Gentiles should be
consecrated to the state."
W. W. Phelps testified that in the previous April he
had heard Rigdon say, at a meeting in Far West, that they had borne persecution
and lawsuits long enough, and that, if a sheriff came with writs against them,
they would kill him, and that Smith approved his words. Phelps said that the
character of Rigdon's "salt sermon" was known and discussed in
advance of its delivery.
John Whitmer testified that, soon after the preaching
of the "salt sermon," a leading Mormon told him that they did not
intend to regard any longer "the niceties of the law of the land," as
"the kingdom spoken of by the Prophet Daniel had been set up."
The testimony concerning the Danite organization and
Smith's threats against the Missourians received confirmation in an affidavit
by no less a person than Thomas B. Marsh, the First President of the twelve
Apostles, before a justice of the peace in Ray County, in October, 1838. In
this Marsh said: --
"The plan of said Smith, the Prophet, is to take
this state; and he professes to his people to intend taking the United States
and ultimately the whole world. The Prophet inculcates the notion, and it is
believed by every true Mormon, that Smith's prophecies are superior to the law
of the land. I have heard the Prophet say that he would yet tread down his
enemies, and walk over their dead bodies; that, if he was not let alone, he
would be a second Mohammed to this generation, and that he would make it one
gore of blood from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean."
This affidavit was accompanied by an affidavit by
Orson Hyde, who was afterward so prominent in the councils of the church,
stating that he knew most of Marsh's statements to be true, and believed the
others to be true also.
Of the witnesses for the defence, two women and one man
gave testimony to establish an alibi for Lyman Wight at the time of the last
Mormon expedition to Daviess County; Rigdon's daughter Nancy testified that she
had heard Avard say that he would swear to a lie to accomplish an object; and
J. W. Barlow gave testimony to show that Smith and Rigdon were not with the men
who took part in the battle on Crooked Creek.
Rigdon, in an "Appeal to the American
People," which he wrote soon after, declared that this trial was a
compound between an inquisition and a criminal court, and that the testimony of
Avard was given to save his own life. "A part of an armed body of
men," he says, "stood in the presence of the court to see that the
witnesses swore right, and another part was scouring the country to drive out
of it every witness they could hear of whose testimony would be favorable to
the defendants. If a witness did not swear to please the court, he or she would
be threatened to be cast into prison.... A man by the name of Allen began to
tell the story of Bogart's burning houses in the south part of Caldwell; he was
kicked out of the house, and three men put after him with loaded guns, and he
hardly escaped with his life. Finally, our lawyers, General Doniphan and Amos
Rees, told us not to bring our witnesses there at all, for if we did, there
would not be one of them left for the final trial.... As to making any
impression on King, if a cohort of angels were to come down and declare we were
clear, Doniphan said it would be all the same, for he had determined from the
beginning to cast us into prison. Smith alleged that judge King was biased
against them because his brother-in-law had been killed during the early
conflicts in Jackson County.
Several of the defendants were discharged during or
after the close of the hearing. Smith, Rigdon, Lyman Wight, and three others
were ordered committed to the Clay County jail at Liberty on a charge of
treason; Parley P. Pratt and four others to the Ray County jail on a charge of
murder; and twenty-three others were ordered to give bail on a charge of arson,
burglary, robbery, and larceny, and all but eight of these were locked up in
default of bail. The prisoners confined at Liberty secured a writ of habeas
corpus soon after, but only Rigdon was ordered released, and he thought it
best for his safety to go back to the jail. He afterward, with the connivance
of the sheriff and jailer, made his escape at night, and reached Quincy,
Illinois, in February, 1839.
P. P. Pratt, in his "Late Persecution," says
that the prisoners were kept in chains most of the time, and that Rigdon,
although ill, "was compelled to sleep on the floor, with a chain and
padlock round his ankle, and fastened to six others." Hyrum Smith, in a
"Communication to the Saints" printed a year later, says; "We
suffered much from want of proper food, and from the nauseous cell in which I
was confined."
Joseph Smith remained in the Liberty jail until April,
1839. At one time all the prisoners nearly made their escape, "but
unfortunately for us, the timber of the wall being very hard, our augur handles
gave out, which hindered us longer than we expected," and the plan was
discovered.
The prophet employed a good deal of his time in jail in
writing long epistles to the church. He gave out from there also three
"revelations," the chief direction of which was that the brethren
should gather up all possible information about their persecutions, and make
out a careful statement of their property losses. His letters reveal the
character of the man as it had already been exhibited -- headlong in his
purposes, vindictive toward any enemy. He says in his biography that he paid
his lawyers about $50,000 "in cash, lands, etc." (a pretty good sum
for the refugee from Ohio to amass so soon), but got little practical
assistance from them, "for sometimes they were afraid to act on account of
the mob, and sometimes they were so drunk as to incapacitate them for
business." In one of his letters to the church he thus speaks of some of
his recent allies," This poor man {W. W. Phelps} who professes to be much
of a prophet, has no other dumb ass to ride but David Whitmer, or to forbid his
madness when he goes up to curse Israel; but this not being of the same kind as
Balaam's, therefore, notwithstanding the angel appeared unto him, yet he could
not sufficiently penetrate his understanding but that he brays out cursings
instead of blessings."7
7 Times and Seasons, Vol. I, p. 82.
On April 6, Smith and his fellow-prisoners were taken to Daviess County for trial. The judge and jury before whom their cases came were, according to his account, all drunk. Smith and four others were promptly indicted for "murder, treason, burglary, arson, larceny, theft, and stealing." They at once secured a change of venue to Boone County, 120 miles east, and set out for that place on April 15, but they never reached there. Smith says they were enabled to escape because their guard got drunk. In a newspaper interview printed many years later, General Doniphan is quoted as saying that he had it on good authority that Smith paid the sheriff and his guards $1100 to allow the prisoners to escape. Ebenezer Robinson says that Joseph and Hyrum were allowed to ride away on two fine horses, and that, a few weeks later, he saw the sheriff at Quincy making Joseph a friendly visit, at which time he received pay for the animals.8 The party arrived at Quincy, Illinois, on April 22, and were warmly welcomed by the brethren who had preceded them. Among these was Brigham Young, who was among those who had found it necessary to flee the state before the final surrender was arranged. The Missouri authorities, as we shall see, for a long time continued their efforts to secure the extradition of Smith, but he never returned to Missouri.
8 The Return, p. 243.
As the Mormons had tried to set aside their original agreement with the Jackson County people, so, while their leaders were in jail, they endeavored to find means to break their treaty with General Lucas. Their counsel, General Atchison, was a member of the legislature, and he warmly espoused their cause. They sent in a petition,9 which John Corrill presented, giving a statement in detail of the opposition they had encountered in the state, and asking for the enactment of a law "rescinding the order of the governor to drive us from the state, and also giving us the sanction of the legislature to inherit our lands in peace;" as well as disapproving of the "deed of trust," as they called the second section of the Lucas treaty. The petition was laid on the table. An effort for an investigation of the whole trouble by a legislative committee was made, and an act to that effect was passed in 1839, but nothing practical came of it. When the Mormon memorial was called up, its furt her consideration was postponed until July, and then the Mormons knew that they had no alternative except to leave the state.
9 For full text, see Millennial Star, Vol. XVI, pp. 586-589.
While the prisoners were in jail, things had not quieted down in the Mormon counties. The decisive action of the state authorities had given the local Missourians to understand that the law of the land was on their side, and when the militia withdrew they took advantage of their opportunity. Mormon property was not respected, and what was left to those people in the way of horses, cattle, hogs, and even household belongings was taken by the bands of men who rode at pleasure,10 and who claimed that they were only regaining what the Mormons had stolen from them. The legislature appropriated $2000 for the relief of such sufferers.
10 See M. Arthur's letter, "Correspondence, Orders, etc.," p. 94.
Facing the necessity of moving entirely out of the state, the Mormons, as they had reached the western border line of civilization, now turned their face eastward to Quincy, Illinois, where some of their members were already established. Not until April 20 did the last of them leave Far West. The migration was attended with much suffering, as could not in such circumstances be avoided. The people of the counties through which they passed were, however, not hostile, and Mormon writers have testified that they received invitations to stop and settle. These were declined, and they pressed on to the banks of the Mississippi, where, in February and March, there were at one time more than 130 families, waiting for the moving ice to enable them to cross, many of them without food, and the best sheltered depending on tents made of their bedclothing.11
11 Green's "Facts Relative to the Expulsion."
What the total of the pecuniary losses of the
Mormons in Missouri was cannot be accurately estimated. They asserted that in
Jackson County alone, $120,000 worth of their property was destroyed, and that
fifteen thousand of their number fled from the state. Smith, in a statement of
his losses made after his arrival in Illinois, placed them at $1,000,000. In a
memorial presented to Congress at this time the losses in Jackson County were
placed at $175,000, and in the state of Missouri at $2,000,000. The efforts of
the Mormons to secure redress were long continued. Not only was Congress
appealed to, but legislatures of other states were urged to petition in their
behalf. The Senate committee at Washington reported that the matter was
entirely within the jurisdiction of the state of Missouri. One of the latest
appeals was addressed by Smith at Nauvoo in December, 1843, to his native
state, Vermont, calling on the Green Mountain boys, not only to assist him in
attaining justice in Missouri, "but also to humble and chastise or abase
her for the disgraces she has brought upon constitutional liberty, until she
atones for her sin."
The final act of the Mormon authorities in Missouri was
somewhat dramatic. Smith in his "revelation" of April 8, 1838,
directing the building of a Temple at Far West, had (the Lord speaking) ordered
the beginning to be made on the following Fourth of July, adding, "in one
year from this day let them recommence laying the foundation of my house."
The anniversary found the latest Missouri Zion deserted, and its occupants
fugitives; but the command of the Lord must be obeyed. Accordingly, the twelve
Apostles journeyed secretly to Far West, arriving there about midnight of April
26, 1839. A conference was at once held, and, after transacting some
miscellaneous business, including the expulsion of certain seceding members,
all adjourned to the selected site of the Temple, where, after the singing of a
hymn, the foundation was relaid by rolling a large stone to one
corner.12 The Apostles then returned to Illinois as quietly as
possible. The leader of this expedition was Brigham Young, who had succeeded T.
B. Marsh as President of the Twelve.
12 The modern post-office name of Far West is Kerr. All the Mormon houses there have disappeared. Traces of the foundation of the Temple, which in places was built to a height of three or four feet, are still discernible.
Thus ended the early history of the Mormon church in
Missouri.