USA > Illinois > Schuyler County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Volume 2 > Part 51
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Corporals-William II. Dieterich. James N. Denny. Joseph Johnston, Walter Shannon, George Moench. Jr .. Carl Z. Work, Lewis L. O'Connor. Clarence Snyder, Charles II. Branstool, Fred W. Vanorder, Harlen Ash- ley, Samuel Wheelhouse.
First Musician. George W. Dewitt ; Second Musician, George B. Griffith.
Wagoner -- W. D. Cooney.
Artificer -- Isaac N. Skiles.
There was also a company organized at Fred- erick, comprising citizens of that place and Beardstown, which was a part of Anderson's Provisional Regiment, and the company roster was also placed on file at Springfield. The elec- tive officers of this company were :
J. W. Knight, Captain.
Henry Nolden, First Lieutenant.
John W. Fagan, Second Lieutenant.
When the war between the United States and Spain was pending. and the administration at Washington was talking peace while preparing for war, there was one Schuyler resident who was looking forward eagerly to an armed elash of the nations, Harold Hammond was at that time a student in the United States Military Academy at West Point, and, in the course of events, he was destined to serve his country ou the firing line in three foreign countries.
His elass was graduated in April. 1898, and he went into service At once with the rank of See- ond Lieutenant. and was assigned to the Ninth United States Infantry. He was sent to Cuba with General Shafter's army and was stationed at Santiago. In June of that year he was sent home on a furlongh. having contracted fever in Cuba, and remained in Rushville until October when he joined his regiment at Madison Bar- racks, N. Y., and was soon after promoted to Lieutenant. In April, 1899, Lieutenant Hammond went to the Philippines, where he participated in many engagements and was recommended by General Lawton for promotion for "bravery and good judgment in handling his company" at the Zapote River fight, Island of Luzon. in June, 1901.
In Jime. 1900, Lieutenant Hammond went with relief army to China in command of a company in the Ninth United States Infantry, and was in all- the fighting on the march to Pekin. At the battle of Tien-Tsin the Ninth Infantry bore the
brunt of the battle and the loss of officers was unusually heavy. Colonel Liscomb being one of the killed.
After the "Boxer" uprising had been quelled by the alliel forces. Lieut. Hammond returned to the Island of Samar, and was in active service until June, 1902, being then promoted to Captain and transferred to the Twenty-third United States Infantry.
Capt. Orson Pettijohn. of Huntsville Township. was commissioned Commissary Captain in the early days of the Spanish-American War, and was assigned to duty in the Third Brigade, Second Division, Second Army Corps. He served at Camp Alger. Washington, D. C .. Camp Mead, Harrisburg, Pa., and Camp Fornance, Columbia, S. C.
Lieut. W. W. Colt enlisted in the United States Volunteer Signal Corps, at Washington, D. C., and was sent to Cuba, landing at Havana, De- cember 3, 1898. Ile was assigned to duty in Pinar del Rio Province, and remained there until the following Jane. On his return to the United States he was granted a furlough, having sus- tained a broken collar-bone in camp at the Flor- ida Keys, and was ordered to report at San Fran- cisco, October 31. 1899, for service in the Philip- pines.
Lieutenant Colt was in service in the Philip- .pines almost two years, being stationed success- ively at Luzon, Samar and all the southern is- lands of the Philippine group. He was in com- mand of a company of signal corps men that accompanied General Lawton in his last fight, and news of this valiant soldier's fatal injury was first telephoned to General McArthur's head- quarters at Manila by Lieutenant Colt. Among the treasured mementoes of the war Lieutenant Colt has seven commissions signed by President Mckinley. Hle entered the service as Second Lieutenant and was later promoted and. inas- much as Congress was not in session at the time he was commissioned, duplicate commissions were issued for each appointment or promotion, in all numbering seven.
John C. Work enlisted as a private in the United States Volunteer Signal Corps in Chicago, .June 28, 189S, and was assigned to the Seventh Company. He was later transferred to the Fourth Company United States Volunteer Signal Corps. and was promoted to First Sergeant. He went with his company to San Juan, Porto Rico, and was mustered out of service March 31, 1899.
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HISTORY OF SCHUYLER COUNTY.
Martin Moors enlisted as a musician in Com- pany F. Eighth United States Volunteers. April 14. 1899, and was assigned to duty in Cuba. On May 27. 1900, he was transferred to the ranks for a two years' enlistment and was ordered to China. By the time his reziment arrived the allied forces had captured Pekin and the Eighth Infantry was sent to the Philippines. Here they made their headquarters in Laguna Province and made expeditions from there to Cavite and Bagtansas. His company was in fourteen skir- mishes during his term of enlistment and he re- received his discharge June 2, 1902.
George DeWitt, of Littleton. enlisted in the Forty-second United States Volunteers, as musi- cian. and saw service in the Philippines.
John Moore, of Littleton, was a member of the Fourteenth United States Volunteers, and was stationed in China and the Philippines during his term of service. ,
Fred A. Knock served in Company C, Sixth Illinois Infantry.
Arthur B. Wright was a member of Company M, Fifth Illinois Infantry.
Walter and Richard Rittenhouse enlisted in a Colorado regiment, and served in the Philippines.
John W. Fagan, of Frederick, was Quarter- master Sergeant of Company D. Forty-fourth Regiment. United States Volunteers, and served in the Philippine Islands. .
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE MORMONS IN ILLINOIS.
COMING OF THE MORMONS TO ILLINOIS IN 1839- THEY LOCATE AT COMMERCE AND CHANGE THE NAME TO NAUVOO-SKETCH OF JOE SMITH AND THE FOUNDING OF THE SECT-EXPULSION IROM MISSOURI PRECEDES THEIR COMING TO ILLINOIS- THEIR ENTRANCE INTO AND INFLUENCE IN STATE POLITICS-EXTRAORDINARY POWERS CHANTED IN NAUVOO CITY CHARTER SERVE AS PROTECTION TO CRIMINALS-CLASH WITH "THE GENTILFS"- SUMMONING OF TROOPS FROM SCHUYLER AND MC DONOUGH COUNTIES-GOV. FORD'S ACCOUNT
OF THE SITUATION-ARREST OF THE SMITHS AND THEIR ASSASSINATION IN HANCOCK COUNTY JAIL --- PANIC IN WESTERN ILLINOIS-DEPUTY U. S. MARSHAL BENSON'S STATEMENT-GOV. TORD'S EXPERIENCE AS VIOLATOR OF A RESIIVILLE VIL- LACE ORDINANCE-MORMONS EXPELLED FROM IL- LINOIS IN 1546. FOUND A NEW COMMUNITY AT SALT LAKE.
By reason of close proximity to Hancock County, the early settlers of Schuyler County were in- ton-ely interested in the Mormon settlement at Nauvoo, and this continued up to the time that religions seet was driven from the State. A re- view of the Mormon occupation of Illinois may, therefore, bring out some interesting bits of local history.
Even before Joseph Smith had decided upon Nanvoo as the home for his religious colony the town was well known to Schuyler people by the name of Commerce, and Dr. Isaac Galland. the town-site promoter, who was instrumental in lo- cating the Mormons there, had gained more than local notoriety by an indietment and trial for perjury before a Schuyler County court.
It was in 1839 that the Mormons first located in Illinois, but to give the proper historical con- nection of this marvelously organized religious body, that has since founded and built one of the most populous cities of the west, and largely con- trols the affairs and destiny of the State of Utah, we go back to the first period of the church his- tory, and briefly chroniele the history of the sect prior to the time Nauvoo was selected as the home of the "Latter Day Saints."
Joseph Smith, the founder and pretended prophet of the Mormon church, was born at Sharon, Windsor County, Vt .. December 23, 1805. Early in life he gained local renown as a "water wizard." professing to locate never failing sources of water through the medium of the "water witch," which he constructed from a forked twig of green timber.
In his youth he was noted for his vagrant hab- its and illusory schemes and, at Palmyra. N. Y .. to which place his father had removed in 1815. he made the acquaintance of Sidney Rigdon, a young man of ability and natural talent who had conceived the idea of starting a new religion. A religions romance, written by a Presbyterian clergyman of Ohio. formed the basis for their hew creed. and they then devised the story that
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HISTORY OF SCHUYLER COUNTY.
Smith had discovered golden plates buried in the ground near Palmyra, and that their religious romanee was a translation of these mystically engraved plates.
Soon after this, the family removed to Kirt- land, Ohio, where Joseph Smith began to teach and preach the new religion. Ile soon aroused the antagonism of other denominations, and both Joseph and his brother Hiram, who aided him in the work, were tarred and feathered and driven out of town.
We next bear of the Mormons in Missouri, where they settled in Davis and Calhoun Coun- ties. Here they built the town of Far West. but It was not long until they had incurred the en- mity of their neighbors, and they were once more the center of a vigorous strife, which became so embittered that a resort to physical force was the only alternative by which the quarrel could be adjusted.
The Mormons, now numbering several thou- sand, armed themselves for the fray and patroled their villages and sent out maranding parties to invade surrounding communities. So notorious did they become that Governor Boggs summoned the State militia, laid siege to the town of Far West and took the leaders prisoners. and. had it not been for the interference of General Doniphan, the officer in command. the volunteers would have executed them on the spot. As it was, they were taken before a judicial tribunal and in- dieted, charges being lodged against them for murder, treason, robbery and other erimes. Jo- seph and Hiram Smith, with other leaders of the church, were committeed to jail, but before · their trial was called they made their escape and fled the State.
Hence it was, that the entrance of the Mor- mons was brought about by what they termed their persecution in Missouri, and they were re- ceived with a spirit of tolerance that was ebar- aeteristic of the early Illinois settlers. But later events proved the folly of "Separatism" in a Republie, and showed how utterly impossible is the peaceful existence of a comimmity governed by religious and moral laws differing from their neighbors.
It was in 1839 that the Mormons first located In Commerce and changed the name of the town to Nauvoo, which signifies beautiful location, and here they built a great city for those pioneer times, the population in 1812 amounting to 16,000.
General attention was first attracted to the
Mormons in Illinois by the efforts of the poll- ticians to get their votes, and this in time stirred up animosity. not alone in Hancock County, but in neighboring counties as well; and it was, in fact, one of the causes of the uprising which brought about the death of Joseph and Hiram Smith and led to the western migration of their religious followers in 18-16.
The eagerness of the politicians to favor the Mormons is shown in the charter granted to the city of Nauvoo. It gave extraordinary powers to the city authorities, even to the point of permit- ting them to ampul statutory enactments, when not in conflict with the State Constitution, and this charter was granted without any sign of op- position by either Democrats or Whigs.
The Mormons were sharp enough to take ad- vantage of the political situation, and as they voted practically as a unit, they easily controlled the political policy of Hancock County and the Congressional District as well. In 1843. when Cyrus Walker of Macomb was the Whig candi- date for Congress, he had the assurance of the Mormon vote, but just before the election Hiram Smith had a "revelation" that the Mormons should support Joseph P. Hoge, of Galena, the Democratie candidate, and he received the full church vote and was elected. The Whigs, finding themselves outgeneraled, commenced a tirade of denunciation of the Mormons, which, with the ill-advised policies of the Mormon leaders, teuded to create a bitter feeling towards them. One aet of the rulers of Nauvoo was particularly obnox- jous to the settlers of adjoining counties. This was under the law passed in the winter of 1813- 44, which provided that no writ issued from any other place except Nauvoo, for the arrest of any person in the city, should be executed without an approval endorsed thereon by the mayor.
After this law went into operation, if robberies were committed in adjoining counties the thieves would flee to Nauvoo. Every crime of every character which was committed in the Military Tract was charged to the Mormons, and when thieves were released on writs of habeas corpus, it did look as though the Mormons were desirous of setting up an independent government within the State. About this time a band of despera- does operated along Crooked Creek in Schuyler County, and horses and eattle were stolen and driven out of the country, which greatly incensed the settlers who were quick to blame the Mor- mons.
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HISTORY OF SCHUYLER COUNTY.
.
This was the state of affairs in the summer of 1844 when a crisis was precipitated by Joseph Smith ordering the destruction of the office of "The Expositor," a newspaper started by anti- Mormons in the city of Nauvoo. This proceed- ing created intense feeling against the Mormons, for Illinois settlers were quick to resent any- thing calenlated to destroy the liberty of the press. Warrants were issued. but the prisoners were liberated on writs of habeas corpus at Nau- voo. Then a wave of excitement spread over Western Illinois, Orders were sent out for the State militia from Hancock, MeDonough and Schuyler Counties to assemble and enforce the service of civil processes, and Gov. Ford hastened from Springfield to Carthage, the county seat of Hancock County,
Gov. Ford reached Carthage June 21, 1844. and upon his arrival found an armed force assembled. In his "History of Illinois," Gov. Ford states that the General of the brigade had called for the militia, en maxse, from the counties of MeDon- ough and Schuyler to serve as posse comitatus to assist in the execution of process.
On the arrival of the Governor an attempt was made to perfect a military organization, but as most of the volunteers had never even practiced the mimic evolutions of warfare. it was a well nigh hopeless task. When the troops were as- sembled. Gov. Ford made an address in which he pleaded with the volunteers not to take hasty action or allow the mob spirit to dominate, as the intense feeling against the Mormons was now at fever heat.
With this assurance on the part of the troops, an officer and guard of ten men were sent to Nau- voo to arrest the Mayor and Common Council and bring them to Carthage for trial. S. S. Benson, now a resident of Huntsville Township. Schuyler County, was the officer sent to Nauvoo, and, in an interview with the editor of this history. he tells the story of the arrest and subsequent mur- der of the Mormon prophets.
Mr. Benson at the time of the Mormon war was a deputy I'nited States Marshal and also dep- uty to Sheriff Deming, and he was in close touch with the men in command of the forces gathered at Carthage, and he himself took an active part in affairs.
Mr. Benson says that, on receiving the war- rants for the arrest of Joseph and Hiram Smith and other officials of the Mormon city, he left at once for Nauvoo. Joseph Smith was placed nn-
der arrest in his own house, but as it was then late in the evening. he stated that he and his companions would meet the Marshal the next morning and accompany them to Carthage, Mr. Benson took his guard of ten men to the tavern to spend the night, but when morning came the Smiths were no where to be found and he marched his men back to Carthage.
Gov. Ford, in his "History of Illinois." seeks to justify his own weak and vacillating action by casting aspersion upon others and Mr. Benson comes in tor his full share, as the following quo- tation indicates,
"Upon the arrival of the constable and guard. the Mayor and Common Council at once signified their willingness to surrender, and stated their readiness to proceed to Carthage next morning at S o'clock. Martial law had previously been abol- ished. The hour of S o'clock came, and the ae- eused failed to make their appearance. The con- stable and his escort returned. The constable made no effort to arrest any of them, nor would he or the guard delay their departure one minute beyond the time. to see whether an arrest conld be made. Upon their return they reported that they had been informed that the aceused had fled and could not be found.
"I was soon informed, however, of the conduct of the constable and guard, and then I was per- fectly satisfied that a most base frand bad been attempted: that. in fact. it was feared that the Mormons would submit and thereby entitle them- selves to the protection of the law. It was very apparent that many of the bustling, active spirits were afraid that there would be no occasion for calling out an overwhelming militia force; for marching it into Nauvoo: for probable meeting when there, and for the extermination of the Mormon race. It appeared that the constable and the escort were fully in the secret and acted well their part to promote the conspiracy."
The truth of the matter is, Mr. Benson had a better knowledge of the situation than Gov. Ford. and his action in not forcing the service of his warrants at Nauvoo averted a clash that would surely have terminated in bloody warfare. At both Nauvoo and Carthage were large bodies of men excited to frenzy, and fully armed, and any overt act on either side would have precipitated a conflict.
There had gathered at Carthage a force of bo- tween twelve and thirteen hundred men, and the Mormon Legions, two thousand strong, were fully
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HISTORY OF SCHUYLER COUNTY.
armed and under military command. This was even after the State-arms and cannons had been turned over to the Governor at Carthage, and it goes to show the Mormons were expecting and had made preparation for an attack in force.
This was the state of affairs when Joseph Smith, Mayor of Nauvoo, his brother Hiram amt all the members of the council came into Carthage and surrendered themselves to the officers on the charge of riot. All of them were discharged from custody except Joseph and Iliram Smith. against whom the magistrate had issued a new writ. on a complaint of treason. ¢
Mr. Benson, in telling of the arrest of the pre- tended prophets, says they were at first taken to Hamilton's hotel, where they were guarded by six or seven men. and later were transferred to the stone jail, where they were confined in the jailor's quarters upstairs, which afforded more commodious quarters than the prison cells, and here they remained to the time of their tragic death two days following.
At the first call for troops by Hancock County officers the militia of Schuyler County was as- sembled. Major Jonathan G. Randall took a com- pany from Rushville and Capt. Brant Brown and Capt. A. L. Wells, of Camden, went to Carthage. each with a company of sixty men.
On the morning of June 27. 1844. that fateful day which marked the beginning of the end of Mormon ocenpancy in Hlinois. Gov. Ford called a council of officers of the militia. A hne and cry had gone up from the ranks to march on Nauvoo. and the Governor counseled more deliberate ac- tion. In his story of this military council Gov. Ford says: "Many of the officers admitted that there might be danger of collision. But such was the blind fury prevailing at the time, though not showing itself by much visible excitement. that a small majority of the council adhered to the first resolution of marching into Nauvoo, most of the officers of the Schuyler and MeDonough militia voting against it. and most of those of the county of Hancort voting in its favor."
As Commander-in-Chief of the State militia. Gov. Ford refused to ratify the action of a ma- jority of his officers and the force at 'Carthage was ordered disbanded with the exception of three companies, two of which were retained as a guard to the jail and the other for an escort to the Governor on his intended journey to Nauvoo. This action terminated the service of the Schuy-
Jer militia in the Mormon war, so far as an ef- fective fighting force was concerned.
Atter issuing the orders for the militia to dis- band, Gov. Ford left a small detachment at Car- thage on the morning of June 27th to guard the jail, while he started for Nauvoo eighteen miles distant. A cavalry escort accompanied Gov. Ford and they arrived at the Mormon headquarters about four o'clock in the afternoon, and the Gov- ernor addressed a large assembly and was given respectful attention. A short time before sun- down the return march was begun and. when two miles out of Nauvoo, the little company met two men who told them the Smiths had been assassi- nated at Carthage between five and six o'clock. Mr. Benson was a member of this cavalry escort. and he says they lost no time in bundling the two inen into their baggage wagon, as they wanted to get farther away before the news reached Nau- voo, as it was suspected the Mormon Legion would seek to avenge the death of their "saints." This opinion was general throughout Hancock County immediately following the tragedy, and the community was in a state of terror and ap- prehension for days.
It appears from the story told by Mr. Benson. corroborated by historians of that period. that the company of Carthage Greys left to guard the jail were expecting an attack on the Smiths and made no effort to tepel it. Sergeant Franklin A. Wor- rell was guarding the jail with a detachment of eight or ten men, and when the mob appeared with their faces blackened and coats turned in- side out. the guards made feeble resistance. Jos- eph Smith. his brother Hiram. Dr. Richards and John Taylor were in the Jail when the raid was made. the two last named being prominent Mor- mons who had called to visit the prisoners. When the guards gave way the mob mounted the stairs and when their progress was blocked by the heavy door to the debtor's room. where the Smiths were confined. they began firing through the door. Hiram Smith was killed in this first fusillade. Taylor was badly wounded and Dr. Richards sought safety behind the door when it was burst open. Joseph Smith was armed with a six barrel pistol and made a show of resistance. When his pistol was exhausted he ran to the prison window and partly leaped and partly fell into the yard below. Even had he not received a mortal wound at this time, the volley fired at him as he fell would have proved fatal. Four balls pierced his body and before the smoke had time to clear
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HISTORY OF SCHUYLER COUNTY.
away the Mormon prophet was dead. In a sum- ming up of Smith's character. Gov. Ford says: "Thus fell Joseph Smith, the most successful impostor of modern times. A man who, though ignorant and coarse, possessed some great nat- ural parts which titted him ffor temporary snc- eess, Imt which were so obscured and counter- acted by the inherent corruption and vices of his nature, that he could never succeed in establish- ing a system or policy which looked to permanent success in the future. llis lusts. his love of money and power. always set him to studying present gratification and convenience, rather than the remote consequences of his plans. It seems that no power of intellect can save a cor- rupt man from this error. The strong cravings of the animal nature will never give fair play to a fine understanding ; the judgment is never al- lowed to choose that good which is far away in preference to enticing evil near at hand. And this may be considered a wise ordinance of Prov- idenee, by which the counsel of talented, but eor- rupt, men are defeated in the very act which promised success.".
It was everywhere supposed that the murder of the Smiths would ereare an outburst of ven- geance on the part of the Mormons and. on the night following the tragedy. women and children were hastened out of Carthage to seek safety in flight. It was the same in all surrounding towns. and exaggerated rumors of atrocities committed by Mormons added to terrors of the next few days.
News of the assassination of the Smiths was carried to Rushville by Abner Bacon, of Pulaski. who changed horses three times within the thirty miles to hasten his speed. He reached Rushville on the morning following the tragedy, and the populace was summoned by the ringing of the court house hell. His mission was to raise troops to repel the threatened onslaught of the frenzied Mormons, and while the men burnished up their old rifles the women and boys moulded bullets. That afternoon an unorganized company of volun- teers left Rushville for the seat of war, and so great was the terror of the people in Rushville that the town was patrolled by a guard during the night. The Rushville company had crossed Crooked Creek and were on their second day's march when they were met by a courier from Gov. Ford and ordered to return home.
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