|
MORMON STUDIES PRESENTS: THE EARLY DAYS OF MORMONISM By James H. Kennedy (1888) Part Four of Four Parts [ Pages 189-280 ] go to: Title | Preface | Contents | Appendix |
|
[ 189 ] IX. FAR WEST AND NAUVOO. The exiles who had been so relentlessly driven across the Missouri into Clay County, were for a time allowed to rest in peace, and make some attempt to repair their broken fortunes. But the causes that had led to their persecution upon one side of the river, were soon at work upon the other, although no overt act against them occurred until in June, 1836, when they were formally requested by the residents of Clay to move still further on. The demands and replies were similar in purpose and temper to those already heard in Jackson County, and the final result was of a like character. Disposing of their possessions at such figures as they could command, the wanderers once more turned their faces toward the north, and in the semi-wilderness that afterward became Caldwell County, founded the town of Far West. While the hostility of their old enemies was by no means appeased, nor the popular fear of Mormon designs removed, a season of comparative quiet ensued, in which their settlement grew in size and business, until at one time its population reached into the thousands. Log and frame houses were erected, as if by magic, shops and factories built, and schools opened. An air of thrift and a spirit of industry were everywhere apparent. It was in this young and energetic community that Smith and Rigdon found welcome and safety at the termination of their hurried flight from Kirtland, in January, 1838. The Prophet had saved from the Kirtland wreck his dream of a great city, and almost immediately ordered such measures as would create in Far West that which had proved impossible in Ohio. A map was constructed after the Kirtland plan, surveys made, and in the centre of the proposed town a grand square laid out, upon which a second temple was to be erected. Work upon the building was commenced in the summer of 1838, and ceremonies of consecration performed on July 4th. The structure was carried forward, until the walls were two feet high, when the storm of persecution and anger once more broke forth, and the third temple dream of Joseph came to an untimely end. * Smith was as active in the new home as he had been in the old. In April he published a revelation commanding the Saints in the East to join their brethren in the West. On May 18th he directed the founding of a new city, several miles from Far West, to be called Adam-Ondi-Ahman, or "The Valley of __________ * "All that remains of this temple to-day is a depression in the earth three or four feet deep, the size of the original excavation, and some fragments of crumbling walls. Only one building remains in the city, said by some of the older settlers to have been occupied by Smith and his first wife. It is on a slight eminence, of log and frame, one and a half stories high, contains four rooms, has a large fire-place, and chimney of rude home-made bricks. It is now occupied as a farm-house. Two or three of the buildings of Far West were hauled to Kingston after they were abandoned by the Mormons, and are still in use there as shops and dwellings." -- Judge William A. Wood, in Magazine of American History, July, 1886. God, in which Adam placed his children." * Among the commands issued in rapid succession was one requiring the Saints to give the surplus of their property for the construction of a temple, for the founding of Zion, for the support of the clergy, and for the payment of the debts of the presidency; another establishing a permanent ten per cent. income tax; and still another prohibiting the sale of spirituous liquors in Far West. Yet the course of authority here, as in Ohio, was full of thorns for the Prophet's feet. Internal dissensions that struck at the very root of Smith's power, had found their way into the church at Far West. None but extreme measures were 'possible on his part, and he proved himself equal to the emergency. Oliver Cowdery and Martin Harris were cut off from the church, while Orson Hyde and others † __________ * Extract from "Mormonism Unveiled; or, The Life and Confessions of the late Mormon Bishop, John D. Lee," page 91: "Adam-on-Diamond (the popular pronunciation of the word) was at the point where Adam came and settled and blest his posterity, after being driven from the Garden, of Eden. This was revealed to the people through Joseph Smith, the Prophet. The temple-block, in Jackson County, Missouri, stands on the identical spot where once stood the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden, they travelled in a northwesterly course until they came to a valley on the east side of Grand River. There they tarried for several years, and engaged in tilling the soil.... On the top of this range of bills Adam erected an altar of stone, on which he offered sacrifice unto the Lord. There was at that time (in 1838) a pile of stones there, which the Prophet said was a portion of the altar on which Adam offered sacrifice. Although these stones bad been exposed to the elements for many generations of time, still the traces remained to show the dimensions and design of the altar.'" † In the concluding pages of the original edition of the Book of apostatized and used their influence to fan into new flame the hatred and suspicious fear already smouldering in Gentile breasts. Thomas B. Marsh, no less __________ Mormon may be found the certificate of three men, -- Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Martin Harris, -- who made express declaration that they had seen the plates from which the book had been translated: "And we declare with words of soberness that an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and laid before our eyes, that we beheld and saw the plates. and the engravings thereon," with more to the same effect. Following this is another certificate of the same character, signed by eight wit. nesses, among whom were John Whitmer, Joseph Smith, Sr., and Hyrum Smith. The fate of the three first named in their connection with Mormonism is remarkable. All left the church at about the period of trouble above described. Oliver Cowdery went to Richmond, Ray County, Missouri, where he died on March 3, 1850. He never repudiated the Mormon faith as originally adopted and practiced, but, on the contrary, defended it on his death-bed. Trouble occurred between Smith and himself, as early as 1837, caused, according to the declarations of the latter. by the Prophet's selfish disposition and desire to gain the possessions of others. David Whitmer decided, in 1838, to cut loose from the church, having no liking for the course things were then taking, and proceeded also to Richmond, which he made his home, and where he died on January 25, 1888. He was a useful and respected member of the community, and a faithful believer in Mormonism to the end, declaring during the last few hours of his life, "I want to say to you all, the Bible and the record of the Nephites (the Book of Mormon) is true, so you can say that you have heard me bear my testimony on my death-bed." Whitmer always claimed to have the original manuscript of the Book of Mormon in his pos. session, refusing all offers made for it by the Salt Lake Mormons whose claims and practices he repudiated. The third of the three, Martin Harris, had made repeated efforts to gain advancement in the church, but Smith had no further need of him now that his money was gone, and finally answered his demands and threats by expelling him from the church. He was afterward offered a restoration, which he declined, although still holding to his faith in Mormonism. He deserved far better treatment than he received. With property and a personage than the President of, the Twelve Apostles, also seceded, and united with others in publicly charging Smith and the Mormons with many crimes and misdemeanors -- treason against the State, conspiracy with the Indians, counterfeiting, cattle stealing, immorality, and other offences of less degree. While the Mormons would have been justified in attempting such defense as was possible to these charges -- they did not content themselves with the exercise of that right, but repeated the mistakes that had been the main cause of their troubles in Jackson County. Their boldness grew with their numbers, and their defiance increased with their prosperity. Their arrogant claims of spiritual superiority, and confession of a purpose to ultimately possess all that land, stirred up the old enmity, which was by no means allayed when Sidney Rigdon, on July 4th of this year of trouble, preached a sermon that was full of vengeance and death, not only to the Gentiles, but to all who dissented from the doctrine of fire and the sword that he enunciated, Brigham Young, in speaking of this episode in after-years, said: * "Elder Rigdon was the prime cause of our troubles in Missouri, by his Fourth of July oration;" while another Mormon † referred. to it as "a flaming speech, which had reputation gone, the wife of his youth forever sundered from him, and faith in those about him shattered, he returned to Ohio, and lived in Painesville, where, as rumor declares, he was sought out by an agent of Brigham Young, who gave him money with which to go to Utah, where he ended his days in peace. He died at Clarkston, Cache County, Utah, on July 10, 1875, at the age of ninety-three. __________ * "Times and Seasons," vol. v., p. 667. † The apostle Woodruff, "Times and Seasons," p. 698. a tendency to bring persecution upon the whole church, especially the head of it." The text was from Matthew v. 13: If the salt have lost its savor, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out and to be trodden under foot of men." The significant passage in this address -- which has passed into history as "Sidney's Salt Sermon" -- was as follows: "We take God and all the holy angels to witness this day that we warn all men, in the name of Jesus Christ, to come on us no more forever. The man, or the set of men, who attempts it, does so at the expense of their lives; and the mob that comes on to disturb us, it shall be between us and them a war of extermination, for we will follow them till the last drop of blood is spilled, or else they will have to exterminate us; for we will carry the seat of war to their own houses and their own families, and one part or the other shall be utterly destroyed. Remember it then, all men!" The exasperation caused by this impolitic outburst; political contests in which the Mormons took a vig. orous part, and sowed the seed of new and fruitful enmities; quarrels among individuals of the opposing factions; collisions of armed Mormons and Missourians equally well armed, in which life was lost and property destroyed; the calling out of the State militia -- these events followed each other in rapid succession. * That deep blame lay upon both sides is a conclusion easily proved by the facts; but a relation of all that occurred during these direful days of Far __________ * Appendix C. West, would be a profitless task, and, in the main, foreign to the purpose of this sketch. The one important result of it all was the arrest, on October 31st, of Joseph Smith, Lyman Wight, Hyrum Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Parley P. Pratt, and a number of Mormons of lesser degree, who were taken to Independence, and afterward to Richmond, Where they were lodged in jail upon various charges, among which were treason against the State, and murder-men having been killed in a number of the collisions between the Mormons and the troops. * The lack of any substantial grounds upon which a conviction could be had, is clearly shown in the course now pursued by the authorities as Smith would have been brought to a speedy trial, and published to the full extent of the law, if it could have been done without committing an outrage upon justice. The prisoners were held in Richmond till April, 1839, when they were indicted upon the charges of treason, murder, theft, and arson. They asked for a change of venue to Marion County. The request was granted, but Boone rather than Marion designated. __________ * "Document containing the Correspondence, Orders, etc., in relation to the Disturbances with the Mormons; and the Evidence given before the Hon. Austin A. King, judge of the Fifth judicial Circuit of the State of Missouri, at the Court-house in Richmond, in a Criminal Court of inquiry, begun November 12, 1838, on the trial of Joseph Smith, Jr., and others, for High Treason and other crimes against the State. Published by order of the General Assembly. Printed at the office of the Boon's Lick Democrat, Fayette, Missouri, 1841." Page 97: "State vs. Joseph Smith, Jr., Hiram Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Parley P. Pratt, Lyman Wight, [and forty-eight others] who were charged with the several crimes of high treason against the State, murder, burglary, arson, robbery, and larceny." As they were being conveyed to the seat of Boone County, the sheriff solved a vexatious problem for the' authorities by allowing the prisoners to make their escape. As the main body of the Mormons had now left the State, public feeling was so far allayed, that the departure of Smith and his companions caused little excitement and no general protest. * While Joseph and Hyrum were being carried away by the officers of the law, and ruin and death threatened from every side, the Mormons naturally turned for help and leadership to Brigham Young. His coot head, sound judgment, and steady nerves were of far more practical benefit at this crisis of affairs than all the revelations of Smith, or the eloquence of Rigdon or Pratt. To remain in Missouri was impossible. A deliberate plan of extermination had been announced __________ * From "Document" above quoted, page 157: "A change of venue was granted by our said court at said April term, to Jos. Smith, Jr., Lyman Wight, Hiram Smith, Caleb Baldwin, and Alex. McRay, in all the foregoing cases in which they are parties, to the circuit court of Boone County, in this State, the last named defendants being in the custody of the Sheriff of Daviess County, who was commanded by our said court to convey the said defendants to the jail of said county of Boone, and the said Sheriff returned the several orders of commitment into our said court, at the next ensuing term thereof, with a certificate of the escape of the said Joseph Smith, Jr., Lyman Wight, Hiram Smith, Caleb Baldwin, and Alex. McRay endorsed thereon. And writs of capias were issued against all the other defendants in the foregoing indictments, immediately after the finding of the same, and they were all returned at the next succeeding term of our said court without Any service, none of the aforesaid defendants being found in the county of Daviess, and the said causes were all continued until the next succeeding December term, 1839, at which time a nolle prosequi was entered in each of the above causes, except those in which a change of venue, as aforesaid, were taken." by so high an authority as the Governor of the State, and all classes of citizens had shown by their works a grim purpose of carrying that policy into effect. Young rallied about him such men as could act as well as advise, and a speedy and permanent departure from the inhospitable soil of Missouri was agreed upon. An asylum had been offered by the people of Quincy, Illinois, and that point was selected as the haven toward which the church should direct itself. The burden of travel was once more resumed, and forsaking their homes at Far West, as they had those in Clay County and in Zion, the faithful band journeyed across Eastern Missouri, put the broad Mississippi between themselves and their old enemies, and with such courage and hope as their faith could give, began the building of a new habitation in a new land.. Young had been compelled to flee for his life from Far West, in February, and proceeding to Quincy, where the majority had preceded him, worked day and night to restore order, inspire confidence, and relieve distress. The condition of the exiles was pitiable in the extreme. Their property had been destroyed __________ * On October 27, 1838, Governor L. W. Boggs, in an order to General Clark, who bad charge of the State troops operating in Caldwell County and vicinity, used these words: "The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated, or driven from the State, if necessary for the public peace -- their outrages are beyond all description." Above "Documents," page 6r. General Clark, in an address delivered to the Mormons at Far West, on November 6th, made use of the following remarkable language: "The Governor has commanded me to exterminate you, and not to permit you to remain in the State; and had you not delivered up your leaders, and executed the conditions of our treaty, you would have been massacred, you yourselves, and your families; and your houses would have been reduced to ashes." or confiscated, and the land they had reclaimed and improved in Caldwell County, became a total loss. Smith was permitted to again meet with his driven and disheartened followers at their temporary refuge in Quincy, on April 26, 1839. He was welcomed as one given back from the grave, and hope and courage made their appearance in his company. With the Prophet of the Lord once more among them, the devout were persuaded that Heaven's favor was not altogether withdrawn, and that at last the long-delayed promises were to be fulfilled. For a few succeeding years of wonderful growth and prosperity it indeed seemed as if that belief had its foundation upon a sure resting-place. In Nauvoo, the place beautiful," that soon arose as by magic, and was filled with thrift and the works thereof, the dream of a great city seemed sure of realization and for a time there fell upon it no shadow of the tragedy and ruin in which it should end. The inner history of this strangely created and ill-fated town, if written with reference to all that was accomplished or at. tempted within it, would touch upon the borders of romance. Much of that history the world will never know, as it was buried in the graves of the chief act. ors therein. There was need of resolution and prompt action upon the part of the Mormon leaders, if they would hold their following together, and prevent the breaking up of the church under misfortunes that might well have shaken the boldest, and unsettled the faith of the most devout. That need was fully supplied. Immediate preparations were carried forward for the founding of yet another Mormon capital. After various proffered sites had been examined, a selection was made in a bend of the Mississippi River, in Hancock County, some sixty miles above Quincy. The situation was one of natural beauty and advantage, the soil fertile, and adapted to the growth of various products, with the prairie stretching away as far as the eye could reach. The ground was undulating, and the point chosen as the immediate site of the city was bounded upon three sides by the river. A small settlement called Commerce, containing only a few rude houses, had already been commenced upon it. On May 1st, a purchase was made by Smith, in behalf of the Mormon Church, of a tract of land, for which he paid fourteen-thousand dollars. The ground. work of the city was speedily laid out, the name Commerce giving place to Nauvoo -- a word furnished by Smith, who explained its meaning as "A beautiful site," conveying, at the same time, the idea of repose. The persecution by the Missourians had one result by no means intended sympathy for the Mormons had been excited through the North and East, their missionaries were given hearings that would otherwise have been denied, and many pilgrims were soon wending their way toward Nauvoo. So rapid was the city's advance that by June, 1840, it contained two hundred and fifty buildings, with many more in course of construction. The wisdom displayed in the choice of its location was made still further apparent when the builders found a few feet below the surface a vast bed of limestone suitable for their purpose, so that all the needed material of that character was quarried within the limits of the city itself. Within a short period, steam saw-mills, a steam flour-mill, a tool-factory, foundry, and a manufactory for chinaware, were in busy operation. A steamboat owned by the Mormons made its appearance upon the Mississippi, giving means of transportation from Nauvoo to points above and below. Many of the dwelling-houses were small, and of wood, with more imposing structures scattered here and there among them. The plan of the city was similar to that proposed at Kirtland, and afterward at Far West, with wide streets crossing each other at right angles. The dimensions of Nauvoo were four miles by three in its widest measurements, narrowing as it approached the river. Smith learned wisdom with age and experience, and the freedom with which revelations were issued in the early days, was cautiously restricted in these, times of enlarged responsibility and world-wide attention. The decrees of Heaven, as sent through Joseph, were restricted to measures of importance, and issued only when some work of moment was in contemplation, some rebellious or doubting Mormon to be persuaded, or an especial favor granted or promised. One of the most important messages of which the Prophet was ever unburdened, was issued on January 19, 1841, when Nauvoo had gained a fair start in a prosperous career, and was giving promise of the more important things yet to come. It was a revelation of general direction and blessing, confirming some thin gs already done, directing the beginnings of others, promising rewards to certain men whose faith may have needed stimulation, and speaking with grim meaning to 'such as had openly rebelled, Beginning with the assuring annunciation that Joseph Smith Sr., the first Patriarch of the church, whose earthly race had now been run, was sitting in honor at Abraham's right hand, the revelation proceeded directly to the consideration of material things by commanding the immediate erection of a hotel. The structure was to be "such an one as my servant Joseph shall show to them; upon the place which he shall show unto them also. And it shall be a house for boarding, a house that strangers may come from afar to lodge therein." The orders as to the manner of construction and finances were explicit, and left little to the officials of the church except obedience -- a prime virtue of Mormonism from the days of Palmyra to those of Salt Lake. "And now I say unto you, as pertaining to my boarding-house which I have commanded you to build for the boarding of strangers, let it be built unto m name, and let my name be named upon it, and let my servant Joseph and his house have place therein from generation to generation." This advantageous provision for his family and himself was by no means left dependent by the Prophet upon the love and faith of his followers, but made a good claim in law -- it being distinctly stated in the charter under which the building was erected, that as Smith had furnished the land upon which the house was to be built, a suite of rooms in said house should be set aside by the trustees for his use. * __________ * From "An Act to incorporate the Nauvoo House Association," approved by the Illinois General Assembly, February 23, 1841: "Section 10. And whereas Joseph Smith has furnished the said association with the ground whereon to erect said house, it is further declared, that the said Smith and his heirs shall hold by perpetual succession a suite of rooms in the said house, to be set Express directions were given in the revelation that George Miller, Lyman Wight, John Snider, and Peter Haws should form a society and receive stock subscriptions; no one man to subscribe less than fifty dollars nor over fifteen thousand, and no one to be accepted unless he paid cash down. Nor was any one to be enrolled among the stockholders who was not a member of the Mormon Church. Special orders were given Vinson Knight, William Marks, William Law, and others, that they should subscribe according to their means. The command was also given -- now for the fourth time, that a temple should be erected. That at Kirtland had been already sold under the sheriff's hammer, and was in the hands of the enemy. The foundation commenced with such flourish of promises and outpouring of prophecies at Zion was weed-grown and forgotten. A heap of rubbish marked the site at Far West. A new plea and promise found incorporation in this fourth command -- that a dedicated temple should be erected in which might bc performed baptism for the dead. * The directions in this case were as minute as in the others, and Smith's orders were to be followed in everything: "And I will show unto my servant Joseph all things pertaining unto __________ apart and conveyed in due form of law to him and his heirs by said trustees, as soon as the same are completed." * This seems to have been an ingenious device for hastening the building's erection. The new doctrine announced that the living might be baptized for the salvation of the dead who had died out of Mormonism. But as this could be done only in a consecrated temple, one can see how great a leverage was secured for labor upon the ignorant. who would gladly give of their means to release their friends from torment. this house, and the priesthood. thereof; and the place whereon it shall be built." The revelation having thus disposed of the building question, proceeded to promote Hyrum Smith to the position of Patriarch, left vacant by his father's death; warned Sidney Rigdon to humble himself, to become counsellor to Joseph, and renounce his purpose of removing his family to the East; declared that if Robert D. Foster "will obey my voice" he must "build a house for my servant Joseph according to the contract which he has made with him "a neat stroke of diplomacy on the part of Smith that probably saved him the expense of a lawsuit; and proceeded to the appointment of a large company of apostles, high. priests, and missionaries. In this wholesale apportionment of honors Brigham Young was made President of the Twelve Apostles, in place of Thomas B. Marsh, who had renounced Mormonism and become one of its bitterest foes. That portion of the "Book of Doctrines and Covenants" of the Mormon Church which belongs to Nauvoo, contains but a few recorded revelations that can be traced with certainty to Smith. In March of the year last named he uttered one which ordered the Saints in Iowa to build a city upon the river bank across from Nauvoo to be christened "Zarahemla." In July one was published which declared that Brigham Young need travel abroad no more, that he had well earned a rest, and should henceforth "stay at home and take care of his family." One more, and only one, of these unique utterances will we quote -- that delivered a short period before his death, in which he gave the following formula for distinguishing a good angel from a bad: "'When. a messenger comes, saying he has a message from God, offer him your. hand, and request him to shake hands with you. If he be an angel, he will do so, and you will feel his hand.. If it be ..the Devil as an angel of light, when you ask him to shake hands, he will offer you his hand, and you will not feel anything: You May therefore detect him." As has been remarked in an earlier portion of this work, Smith was a natural adept in politics, and now that he had control of the votes of at least three thousand men * he was not slow to turn that power to the use of the church and himself. Even in 1840 his influence had reached a point where he could not be safely ignored by the political parties in any event, and certainly not in a close election. An illustration of that point is clearly given in Nicolay and Hay's "Life of Lincoln," where we find this statement: "In the same letter (to Congressman Stuart, in March, 1840) Mr. Lincoln gives a long list of names to which he wants documents to be sent. It shows a remarkable personal acquaintance with. the minutest needs of the canvass: This one is a doubtful Whig; that one is an inquiring Democrat; that other a zealous young fellow who would be pleased by the attention; three brothers are mentioned who I fell out with us about Early and are doubtful now'; and finally he tells Stuart that Joe Smith is an admirer of his, and that a few documents had better be mailed to the Mormons." The Mormon. power in the local elections of Hancock __________ * At one election in Nauvoo only six votes were cast In opposition to Smith's wishes, County was absolute, and the Congressional district of which Nauvoo was a part may well be placed in the same category. By the coming election it might be left to Smith to give the final vote in the choice of a Governor of the State. The influence which he would thus wielding well described by J. H. Beadle, in his admirable work: * "For the first time since its organization, the Whig party had a fair prospect of carrying the State and the nation, but Illinois was doubtful. If Henry Clay should again be the nominee of the Whigs, Kentucky, Louisiana, and other Southern States were considered certain for that party, and in certain very probable contingencies, Illinois would turn the scale one way or the other. It was quite certain the Mormons would, by 1844, give the casting vote in Illinois, and Joe Smith had perfect control of the Mormon vote.... The Harrison campaign of 1840 was in full tide, and the politicians gathered thick around Joe Smith." The Mormon leader shrewdly made sure of his reward before committal to either side. After secret consultations with prominent party leaders, and a conference with his advisers at Nauvoo, he was delivered of a revelation directing that the church should support the Whig ticket, which Was elected. In payment for this service the Whigs in the Illinois Legislature made haste to grant the Mormons a special charter for their new city, 'in which were conveyed powers to an almost unlimited extent. The Mormons dictated the provisions of that remarkable document, and at a church conference, Smith, Doctor J. C. __________ * "Life in Utah." By J. H. Beadle, Philadelphia, 1870, p. 68. Bennett, and R. B. Thompson were directed to prepare a charter which should fulfill their purposes, and place the whole city government absolutely in Mormon control. They did so, and Bennett was deputized to proceed to Springfield, and see it safely through the Legislature. He found his task one of uncommon ease, neither Democrat nor Whig caring to oppose his desire, lest the Mormon vote should be driven over to the other side to permanently remain. When the desired charter was reported to the Assembly by the judiciary committee which had it in charge, with a recommendation for its passage, the party leaders crowded upon each other in their haste to vote in the affirmative. Not a dissenting vote was cast; and in that one act the Legislature of Illinois did more to foster a spirit of ambition and arrogance on the part of the Mormon leaders, and to hasten and intensify the bitter quarrels already upon their way, than was ever done by any act of Joseph Smith, or the bloodiest outrage by any Mormon or Missourian in the dark days of Independence and Far West. The politician saw only the small advantage of the day, and gave no thought of the evil seed he was sowing, to be garnered in the blood and disorder of the future. The charter for Nauvoo was passed on December 16, 1840. It conferred almost unlimited powers, the language employed being as follows: "The City Council shall have power and authority to make, ordain, establish, and execute, all such ordinances, not repugnant to the Constitution of the United States or of this State, as they may deem necessary for the peace, benefit, good order, regulation, convenience, and cleanliness of said city." So wide was this grant of power, that the Mormons, at one time, felt justified in the claim that under it they could pass laws in opposition to those of Illinois! The officials allowed were a mayor, a vice-mayor, four aldermen, and nine councillors. A municipal court was organized, with the mayor as chief-justice, and four aldermen as his associates. This strangely-constituted and highly centralized judicial body could not only issue writs of habeas corpus, but could try the sufficiency of those issued by other courts, and even go on and try the original cause of action -- an arrangement by which Smith and his followers more than once profited. The Mormons were not slow to make use of this plenitude of power, and eventually went so far as to establish a recorder's office at Nauvoo, in which alone could transfers of land be recorded; and also an office for the issuing of marriage licenses a direct ignoring of the rights and perquisites of the county in which Nauvoo was situated, The municipal council at one time proceeded so far along the line of audacity as to petition Congress to set the city aside as a territory until Missouri should make good the losses she had caused the Mormons to suffer; and that the mayor of the city be given the power to call in and use the United States troops whenever he should feel the need of protection for himself or his followers. Governor Ford refers to that remarkable document in the following words: * "The powers conferred were expressed in language at once ambiguous and undefined, as if on purpose to __________ * "History of Illinois," p. 265. allow of misconstruction. The great law of the separation of the powers of government was wholly disregarded. The mayor was at once the executive power, the judiciary, and part of the Legislature. The common council, in passing ordinances, were restrained only by the Constitution. One. would have thought that these charters (the city, the Legion, and the Nauvoo house) stood a poor chance of passing the legislature of a republican people, jealous of their liberties. Nevertheless, they did pass unanimously through both houses. Messrs. Little and Douglas managed with great dexterity with their respective parties. Each party was afraid to object to them, for fear of losing the Mormon vote, and each believed that it had secured their favor. "A city government under the charter was organized in 1841, and Joe Smith was elected mayor. * In this capacity he presided in the common council, and assisted in making the laws for the government of the city, and as mayor, also, he was to see these laws put into force. He was ex officio judge of the mayor's court, and chief-justice of the municipal court, and in these capacities he was to interpret the laws which he had assisted to make. The Nauvoo Legion was also organized, with a great multitude of high officers. It was divided into divisions, __________ * From this, the conclusion would be reached that Smith was elected first mayor of Nauvoo, which was not the case. The charter was passed in December, 1840, and on February 1, 1841, John C. Bennett was elected to that office, and received a commission as justice of the peace from Governor Carlin, in which was the following reference to that fact: "Know ye, that John C. Bennett, having been duly elected to the office of mayor of the city of Nauvoo, in the county of Hancock, I, Thomas Carlin," etc., as above related. brigades, cohorts, regiments, battalions, and companies. Each division, brigade, and cohort had its general, and over the whole, as commander-in-chief, Joe Smith was appointed lieutenant-general.... Thus, if was proposed to reestablish for the Mormons a government within a government; a legislature, with power to pass ordinances at war with the laws of the State; courts to execute them, with but little dependence upon the constitutional judiciary; and a military force at their own command, to be governed by its own laws and ordinances, and subject to no State authority but that of the Governor." |
|
APPENDIX. _______ A. SOLOMON SPAULDING. So long as a mystery hangs over the origin of the Book of Mormon, so long will the name of Solomon Spaulding be associated with a creed which was formulated years after his death, and with a church of which he never heard. The claim put forward with such certainty by some, and denied with equal vigor by others, that it was upon a heavy and else forgotten romance of his that the Mormon book was founded, has rescued him from oblivion, and made him one of the unsolved enigmas of the century. Fate has indeed reserved him to a unique fame, so different from that to which his natural aspirations turned. The story may be briefly told, although volumes have been devoted to it. Mr. Spaulding was born in Ashford, Conn., in 1761; graduated at Dartmouth College in 1785; became a minister of the Congregational Church; preached for a while, and then because of ill-health gave his time to mercantile pursuits; failed, and in 1809 removed to Salem -- now Conneaut -- Ohio, where he made another business venture that was no more successful than the first. With enforced leisure upon his hands, and a strong literary faculty that demanded use, he wrote much; taking as his theme the prehistoric inhabitants of America, and making his imagination furnish that information which the then discovered facts of Archaeology did not supply. In 18l2, in the hope that a publisher might be found for what he had written, he removed to Pittsburgh, and took his manuscript to the printing. office of Rev. Robert Patterson, to see if arrangements could not be made to that end. As he had no means of his own, and as the publisher could see no chance of success for the venture, the "Historical Romance" upon which his hope had been built, was not given to the world. Broken in spirit and health, poor in pocket, and with old age approaching, he removed to Amity, Washington County, Pennsylvania, where he died within two years. There, recently, a visitor who felt that life had not dealt altogether fairly with the poor old man, and 'that history had not always been considerate in the use of his name, went into the deserted little graveyard, and under the moss of a crumbling stone, discovered this inscription, and rescued it from an early oblivion : SOLOMON SPAULDING, WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE OCTOBER 20TH, A.D. 1816. AGED 55 YEARS. Kind cherubs, guard the sleeping clay, Until the great decision day, And saints complete in glory rite To share the triumphs of the skies. The claim is put forth, and supported by a great deal of direct if not conclusive evidence, that the manuscript of the Spaulding book was left in Patterson's printing-office; that Sidney Rigdon came into possession of the original or a copy; that he was thrown into connection with Joseph Smith; and that chance, circumstances, deep cunning, a keen eye to the main chance, and a public anxious to be duped by any religious vagary that might present itself, performed the rest. Many witnesses have been placed on record as deposing that parts of the Book of Mormon are identical with the romance of Solomon Spaulding, as read to them, by the author during the long leisure of winter, in pioneer days. An analysis of the testimony pro or con. is foreign to the purpose of this book; but those who have the desire to pursue the matter to the limits of all information now extant, are referred to the following works, devoted entirely to this phase of Mormon history: The pamphlet publication, written by the son of the Robert Patterson above referred to, "Who Wrote The Book of Mormon," by Robert Patterson, Pittsburgh., 1882; and "New Light on Mormonism," by Mrs. Ellen E. Dickenson, New York, 1885. MARTIN HARRIS AND CHARLES ANTHON. Rev. Mr. Clark, in "Gleanings by the Way," pp. 222 to 238, lets a flood of light in upon this episode of Mormonism: "It was early in the autumn of 1827" (quoting Mr. Clark's personal experience) "that Martin Harris called at my house in Palmyra, one morning about sunrise. His whole appearance indicated more than usual excitement, and he had scarcely passed the threshold of my dwelling before he inquired whether he could see me alone, remarking that he had a matter to communicate that he wished to be strictly confidential. Previous to this I had but very slight acquaintance with Mr. Harris. He had occasionally attended divine service at our church I invited him to accompany me to my study, where, after having closed the door, he began to draw a package out of his pocket with great and manifest caution. Suddenly, however, he stopped, and wished to know if there was any possibility of our being interrupted or overheard. When answered in the negative, he proceeded to remark that he reposed great confidence In me as a minister of Jesus Christ, and that what he had now to communicate he wished me to regard as strictly confidential. He said he verily believed ' that an important epoch had arrived…. The whole thing appeared to me so ludicrous and puerile, that I could not refrain from telling Mr. Harris that I believed it a mere hoax, got up to practice upon his credulity, or an artifice to extort from him money; for I had already, in the course of the conversation, learned that he had advanced some twenty-five dollars to Jo Smith as a sort of premium for sharing with him in the glories and profits of this new revelation My intimations to him in reference to the possible imposition that was being practiced upon him, however, were indignantly repelled He then carefully unfolded a slip of paper which contained three or four lines of characters, as unlike letters or hieroglyphics of any sort as well could be produced were one to shut up his eyes and play off the most antic movements with his pen upon paper….. My ignorance of the characters in which this pretended ancient record was written, was to Martin Harris new proof that Smith's whole account of the divine revelation made to him was entirely to be relied on…. He was so much in earnest on this subject, that he immediately started off with some of the manuscripts that Smith furnished him, on a journey to New York and Washington, to consult some learned men to ascertain the nature of the language in which this record was engraven.... The Rev. Dr. Coit, rector of Trinity Church, New Rochelle, Westchester County, N. Y., hearing that the Mormons in that place.... were claiming the patronage of Professor Anthon's name in behalf of their notions, took the liberty to state the fact to him, and ask in what possible way they had contrived to associate him with themselves, In reply to this inquiry Professor Anthon wrote the letter above referred to [first published in The Church Record] which we here insert:
"NEW YORK, April 3, 1841.
"’REV. AND DEAR SIR: -- I have often heard that the Mormons claimed me for an auxiliary, but as no one until the present time has ever requested from me a statement in writing, I have not deemed it worth while to say anything publicly on the subject. What I do know of the sect relates to some of their early movements; and as the facts may amuse you, while they will furnish a satisfactory answer to the charge of my being a Mormon proselyte, I proceed to lay them before you in detail. Many years ago, the precise date I do not now recollect, a plain-looking countryman called upon me with a letter from Dr. Samuel L. Mitchell, requesting me to examine and give my opinion upon a certain paper, -- marked with various characters, which the doctor confessed he could not decipher, and which the bearer of the note was very anxious to have explained. A very brief examination of the paper convinced 'me that it was a mere hoax, and a very clumsy one too. The characters were arranged in columns like the Chinese mode of writing, and presented the most singular medley that I ever beheld. Greek, Hebrew, and all sorts of letters more or less distorted, either through unskilfulness, or from actual design, were intermingled with sundry delineations of half-moons, stars, and other natural objects, and the whole ended in a rude representation of the Mexican zodiac. The conclusion was irresistible that some cunning fellow had prepared the paper in question, for the purpose of imposing upon the countryman who brought it, and I told the man so, without any hesitation. He then proceeded to give me a history of the whole affair, which convinced me that he had fallen into the hands of some sharper, while it left me in great astonishment at his own simplicity. [Professor Anthon here repeats the story of the golden plates, as told by Smith and repeated by Harris.] On my telling the bearer of the paper that an attempt had been made to impose on him and defraud him of his property, he requested me to give him my opinion in writing about the paper which he had shown to me. I did so without hesitation, partly for the man's sake, and partly to let the individual "behind the curtain" see that his trick was discovered. The import of what I
wrote was, as far as I can now recollect, simply this, that the marks in the paper appeared to be merely an imitation of various alphabetical characters, and had, in my opinion, no meaning at all connected with them. The countryman then took his leave, with many thanks, and with the express declaration that he would in no shape part with his farm, or embark in the speculation of printing the golden book. [Professor Anthon here describes a second call, at a later date, and his refusal to accept a copy of the newly-published Book of Mormon, or have anything to do with it.] That the Prophet aided me by his inspiration in interpreting the volume, is only one of the many amusing falsehoods which the Mormonites utter relative to my participation in their doctrines. Of these doctrines I know nothing whatever, nor have I ever heard a single discourse from any one of their preachers, although I have often felt a strong curiosity to become an auditor, since my friends tell me that they frequently name me in their sermons, and even go so far as to say that I am alluded to in the prophecies of Scripture! If what I have here written shall prove of any service in opening the eyes of some of their deluded followers to the real designs of those who profess to be the apostles of Mormonism, it will afford me a satisfaction, equalled, I have no doubt, only by that which you yourself will feel on this subject. I remain very respectfully and truly, your. friend,
CHARLES ANTHON.
REV. DR. COIT,New Rochelle, N. Y. THE DANITES. The dark deeds of the "Danites" belong properly to the days of Salt Lake, but that the organization already existed in Missouri and there performed its bloody work, seems to be proved, in spite of Joseph Smith's emphatic denial. When Thomas B. Marsh, the chief of the Twelve Apostles, left the Mormon Church, he made an affidavit, under date of October 24, 1838, before Henry Jacobs, a justice of the peace for Ray County, Missouri, in which he used the following words: "They have among them a company, considered true Mormons, called the Danites, who have taken an oath to support the heads of the Church in all things that they say or do, whether right or wrong." To this Orson Hyde, at that time at war with the Church, added his testimony, in a like oath, in which he said: "The most of the statements in the foregoing disclosure I know to be true; the remainder I believe to be true." John Hyde, also an apostate Mormon, in his "Mormonism," p. 104, says: "When the citizens of Carroll and Davis Counties, Missouri, began to threaten the Mormons with expulsion in 1838, a death society was organized, under the direction of Sidney Rigdon, and with the sanction of Smith. Its first captain was Captain Fearnot alias David Patten, an apostle. Its object was the punishment of the obnoxious. Some time elapsed before finding a suitable name. They desired one that should seem to combine spiritual authority with a suitable sound. Micah iv; 13 furnished the first name, 'Arise, and thresh, O daughter of Zion; for I will make thy horn iron, and thy hoofs brass; and thou shalt beat in pieces many people; and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord, and their sub. stance unto the Lord of the whole earth.' This furnished them with a pretext; it accurately described their intentions, and they called themselves the 'Daughters of Zion.' Some ridicule was made at these bearded and bloody I daughters,' and the name did not sit easily. ' Destroying Angels,' came next; the 'Big Fan' of the thresher that I should thoroughly purge the floor,' was tried and dropped. Genesis xlix. 17 furnished the name that they finally assumed. The verse is quite significant : ' Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.' The 'Sons of Dan' was the style they adopted: and many have been the times that they have been adders in the path, and many a man has fall backward, and has been seen no more. At Salt Lake, among themselves, they ferociously exult in these things, rather than seek to deny or extenuate them." Were testimony needed to prove the existence of this body, it could be produced in abundance. John D. Lee, the Mormon bishop, in his Confessions, on p. 5 7, says: "At the same conference (that Of 1838) another organization was perfected, or then first formed -- it was called the Danites. The members of this order were placed under the most sacred obligations that language could invent. They were sworn to stand by and sustain each other. Sustain, protect, defend, and obey, the leaders of the Church under any and all circumstances unto death; and to disobey the orders of the leaders of the Church, or divulge the name of a Danite to an outsider, or to make public any of the secrets of the order of Danites, was to be punished with death. And I can say of a truth, many have paid the penalty for failing to keep their covenants." For more light upon this subject see the little work "Brigham's Destroying Angel; being the Life, Confessions, and Startling Disclosures of the Notorious Bill Hickman, the Danite Chief of Utah," written by himself, with explanatory notes by J. H. Beadle, New York, 1872. POLYGAMY. That the plural-wife system had no part in the Mormon doctrine of early days, is a matter of evidence and record, as it is commanded in a revelation that a man shall have only one wife, and cleave unto her. Polygamy may, therefore, be regarded as an out. growth of the enlarged powers and opportunities of later days. When Bennett, the Higbees, and other members of the Mormon Church apostatized at Nauvoo, and made their furious attacks upon the whole Mormon scheme, one of their main points of argument was that the system of spiritual wifehood was already in secret practice, and that under the guise of celestial marriage, Smith and other leaders of the Church were living in adultery with scores of women. Addressing a public ready to believe that Mormonism was a cloak for the covering of any abomination known to man, they had no difficulty in securing belief for their charges; taming against the Church the whole moral and religious sentiment of the country. The revelation commanding polygamy was first published in the Deseret News Extra, of Salt Lake City, on September 14, 1852; although given, as the Church claimed, to Joseph Smith at Nauvoo, on July 12, 1843. The sons of Smith, and the members of the Reorganized Church of Latter-Day Saints, deny not only the charges of Bennett et al. as to the Prophet's immoral practices, but all reputed connection of his with the revelation itself; claiming that the latter was a device invented by Young to defend his own practices, and cunningly given on the authority of Smith that it might carry greater weight with the Church. "The Mormon history relates," says Mr. Beadle, in "Life in Utah," p. 337, "that when the full force of the new covenant was perceived the Prophet was filled with astonishment and dread. All the traditions of his early education were overthrown, and yet he felt that it was the work of the Lord. In vain he sought to be released from the burden of communicating the new doctrine to the world, and at length obtained permission to keep ft secret, as yet, from all but the Twelve Apostles, and a few other leading men. As the hour approached when he was to meet them in council, horror and fear of what might be the result, overcame him, and be hastily mounted his horse and fled from the city. But a mighty angel met him on the road, stood in the way with a drawn sword, and with awful voice and offended mien, bade him return." Whether the work of Smith or Young, the revelation was not announced to the Church until on August 29, 1852, when Brigham made it public, and preached a sermon commanding obedience to its requirements -- paving the way for others by himself becoming eventually the possessor of nineteen wives. The effect upon the people of Utah was not marked as they only now saw the open doing of what they had long known in secret, but elsewhere it became an immediate damage to the Church, and the forerunner of many ills in the future -- of which the recently passed Edmunds law, and the prosecutions and convictions thereunder are not the least. "In England, especially," says Mr. Beadle, in continuation of the above, the demoralization was fearful; hundreds after hundreds apostatized, whole churches and conferences dissolved; talented knaves in many instances, finding in this the excuse for going off without surrendering the money-bags which they held. The missions entirely disappeared in many parts of Europe, and even in America, thousands of new converts who had not gone to Zion turned away and joined the Josephites, Gladdenites, Strangites, and other sects of recusant Mormons." The practical and theological sides of the system are thus briefly condensed by the same author -- who has resided in Salt Lake City for a number of years, and made of Utah Mormonism a practical study: "Of their theology as it relates to polygamy, but little need be added. It is so thoroughly grafted into and interwoven with their whole system, that at no point can one be touched without attacking the other. Polygamy is not, as recusant Mormons assert, a mere addition by Brigham Young to the original faith; it is a necessary and logical outgrowth of the system. If Mormonism be true, their polygamy is right; for 'pre-existence of the soul,' 'progression of the gods,' and all other peculiarities of the system, depend by a thousand combinations and interrelations upon the system. A man's or woman’s glory in eternity, is to depend upon the size of the family for a woman to remain childless is a sin and calamity, and she cannot secure I exaltation' as the wife of a Gentile or an apostate; her husband's rank in eternity must greatly depend upon the number of his wives, and she will share in that glory whatever it is. All this points unerringly to polygamy. Hence, also, the last feature of this complex and unnatural relationship known as 'spiritual wives,' which is to be understood as follows: Any woman, having an earthly husband of whose final exaltation she is in doubt, may be ' sealed for eternity' to some prominent Mormon, who will raise her and make her a part of his final kingdom…. By 'marriage for the dead' living women are sealed to dead men, and vice versa, some one standing proxy for the deceased…. So a man may have a wife 'for time' who belongs to some man already dead 'for eternity,' in which case all the children will belong to the latter in eternity, the living man merely ' raising up seed unto his dead brother.' To such lengths of vain imaginings may a credulous people be led by artful impostors." THE MORMONS OF SALT LAKE. There were many claimants for the position of prophet and president made vacant by the death of Joseph Smith, but, as in many other cases, he who was wise enough to claim the least, eventually received the most. William Smith claimed the succession because he was the prophet's brother; Sidney Rigdon began to have visions and dream dreams, and announced himself as the chosen one; James Jesse Strang advanced his right, under special commission from Joseph; while Lyman Wight, Gladden Bishop, John E. Page, and others, began to feel the spirit of prophecy, and announced themselves as ready to take the lead. But Brigham Young, advancing no special plea of spiritual direction, and depending upon that strong common-sense that aided him in so many emergencies, came home to Nauvoo as rapidly as possible, took matters into his own hands, and by his courage and address saved the society and the Church from going to pieces. He caused the Twelve Apostles, of whom he was head, to issue on August 15th an "Encyclical letter to all the Saints in the world," and on October 7th a general council was held at Nauvoo. Under his advice it was decided that for the present the government should be in the hands of the Twelve, which lodged the chief executive power in the strong hands of Young. Rigdon's claims were derided, while he, and those who had sided with him, were cut off from the church and sent forever adrift. Young addressed himself with energy to the repair of the shattered fortunes of the Saints, hastened the completion of the temple, and used his best endeavors to keep peace with the hostile elements now ranged all about the fold. But the enmity was too deep and lasting to wear easily away. The politicians of Illinois had no further hope from the Mormon vote, and accordingly the General Assembly repealed the charter of Nauvoo. Warned by the signs of the times, the Mormon leaders decided to emigrate to some place in the far West, In 1846 a number emigrated to Council Bluffs, Iowa; while those who remained behind were driven from Nauvoo by force, and compelled, in a large measure, to abandon their homes and possessions. Meanwhile men had been sent forward to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake, in Utah; and as their report was favorable, Young gathered up all who would trust themselves to his guidance, and led them across the hills and plains to a place that in those days was far beyond the confines of even such semi-civilization as that of Missouri and Iowa. Salt Lake City was founded, and the barren wilderness was made to blossom as the rose. The weaker brethren who had remained behind, came on in numbers, while great accessions were received through the labors of missionaries who had been sent abroad. In March, 1849, a State was organized, under the name of Deseret, the "land of the honey-bee." A legislature was chosen and a constitution framed, and an application made to the General Government for admission to the Union. The plea was refused, but as a compromise, the country occupied by the Mormons was, in 1850, organized into the Territory of Utah, and Brigham Young appointed Governor. A United States court for the Territory was organized and judges appointed, but were not allowed to exercise their functions when they arrived at Salt Lake. Young was suspended, and Colonel Steptoe, of the United States army, appointed in his stead. A conflict between the Government and Mormons was carried on -- in which armed forces on both sides confronted each other at times -- until 1858, when the Mormons submitted to Federal authority, on condition that all past offenses against the Government should be pardoned. On the conclusion of the war of the Rebellion a Federal governor was again appointed, and in 1871 a law was passed declaring polygamy to be ad criminal offense; although the statute was for a long time a dead letter. Young remained the head of the Church, an absolute autocrat in matters spiritual and temporal, until his death on August 29, 1877. He left a fortune of two million dollars, and nineteen wives and fifty-six children. He was succeeded in office by Elder John Taylor, who remained at the head of the Church until his death in the summer of 1887. Since then no formal choice of a successor has been made. From the time that the newly-formed Republican party in its first national platform adopted in 1856 referred to "those twin relics of barbarism, polygamy and slavery," to the present, many efforts have been made by the Government and people to limit the power and influence of the Mormon Church, and avert the dangers its existence and growth so surely threatened. An estimate of the strength of the Mormon organization may be given as follows: The population of Utah, at the last enumeration, was 147,000, of whom 123,000 are Mormons; but as adherents of the Church are scattered all over the world, it is impossible to arrive at a just idea of their numerical strength. They have of late years made considerable progress in Idaho, Arizona, Colorado, Montana, Wyoming, and Washington Territories, and their number in the United States outside of Utah cannot fall much below 27,000. In Europe they have also many adherents, and their number the world over cannot be less than 213,000. back to the top of this web-page |