USA > Illinois > Hancock County > History of Hancock County, Illinois, together with an outline history of the State, and a digest of State laws > Part 34
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364
HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
JOHN D. LEE.
Our readers will remember this individual as having been tried. found guilty, and executed a few years ago in Utah, for his partic- ipation in the Mountain Meadow Massacre. In looking over the Church organ. we find his name as having been a resident at Nauvoo in 1843, and a traveling elder, preaching and healing the sick, as reported. He was afterward advanced to the position of bishop, and at the time of the Mountain Meadow affair was known as Bishop Lee.
THE " REVELATIONS"
uttered in the name of the Lord. by the prophet. Smith, soon after his appearance in Illinois, and indeed throughout his whole career, would of themselves form a curious chapter in religious literature. The limit and scope of this work will not permit us to devote much space to them; but we copy parts of one given Jan. 19. 1841. as found in the Times and Seasons, of June 1. 1841. It is long. and we only quote its essential portions:
Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant. Joseph Smith. I am well pleased with your offerings and acknowledgments which you have made: for unto this end have I raised you up. that I might shew forth my wisdom through the weak things of the earth. Your prayers are acceptable before me, and in answer to them. I say unto you that you are now called immediately to make a solemn proclamation of my gospel, and of this stake which I have planted to be a cornerstone of Zion, which shall be polished with that refinement which is after the similitude of a palace. This proclamation shall be made to all the kings of the world, to the four corners thereof, to the honorable President-elect, and the high-minded Governors of the nation in which you live, and to all the nations of the earth scattered abroad. * * % * %
And again I say unto you, let my servant, Robert B. Thompson. help you to write this proclamation, for I am well pleased with him, etc.
And again I verily say unto you, blessed is my servant Hyrum Smith, for I. the Lord, loveth him, etc.
Again, let my servant John C. Bennett help you in your labor, in sending my word to the kings and people of the earth. * * * I have seen the work he hath done, which I accept. if he continue. and will erown him with blessings and great glory.
And again. it is my will that my servant Lyman Wright should continue in preaching for Zion, etc.
And again, my servant George Miller is without guile: I seal upon his head the office of a bishoprick. Let my servant George, and my servant Lyman, and my servant John Suider and others, build a house unto my name, such an one as my servant Joseph shall show unto them, upon the place which he shall show unto them also. And it shall be for a house of boarding, a house that strangers may come from afar to lodge therein: therefore let it be a good house, worthy of all acceptation, that the weary traveler may find health and safety while he shall contemplate the word of the Lord, and the corner-stone I have appointed for Zion. This house shall be a healthy habitation. if it be built unto my name, and if the Governor which shall be appointed unto it shall not sutfer any pollution to come upon it. It shall be holy, or the Lord your God will not dwell therein.
And again, verily I say unto you, let all my saints from afar, and send ye swift messengers. yea. chosen messengers, and say unto them, come ye, with all your gold and your silver, and your precious stones, and with all your antiquities: and with all who have knowledge of antiquities, that will come, may come, and bring the box- tree and the fir-tree and the pine-tree, together with all the precious trees of the earth: and with iron, and with copper, and with brass, and with zine. and with all your precious things of the earth, and build a house to my name for the Most High to dwell therein, etc.
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
And now I say unto you, as pertaining to my boarding house, which I have com- manded you to build for the boarding of strangers, let it be built unto my name, and let my name be named upon it, and let my servant Joseph and his house have place therein from generation to generation. * * Therefore, let my servant Joseph and his seed after him. have place in that house from generation to generation, for- ever and ever. saith the Lord, and let the name of that house be called the Nauvoo House. *
Let my servant Isaac Galland put stock in that house, for I. the Lord loveth him for the work he hath done, and will forgive all his sins, etc. * * And let my * servant William Law pay stock in that house for himself and his seed after him, etc. * *
* And again, verily I say unto you. if my servant Sidney will serve me, and be a counselor unto my servant Joseph, let him arise and stand in the office of his calling, and humble himself before me. * Verily I say unto you, even now. if he will hearken to my voice it shall be well with him.
POLYGAMY.
Who may be entitled to the infamy of introducing polygamy as part of the system of Mormonism is not positively known to the outside world. It is a question on which the saints themselves disagree. That it was instituted and practiced some time before it was publicly acknowledged is certain. It needs no argument to prove that it is a direct and flagrant violation of law throughout all Christendom, the bane of the social system, destructive of the best influences of home and the family circle, and an outrage upon civilized society. It has not one ennobling and humanizing feature; and could have only been engrafted into their system and practiced for the most debasing and lustful purposes. But no people. no set of men and women, however well-meaning they may be, have a right to shield themselves from just punishment for such prac- tices, under cover of a religions creed. And it is a wonder and a shame, that more determined efforts have not been made by the constituted authorities to put an end to these illegal practices. It is now claimed that the system has been so long in operation, that to break it up would cause great injury to many innocent persons. It is a principle of law. that one shall not take advantage of his own wrong: and besides, every one is presumed to know the law. These pretended revelators, while claiming the sanction of heaven to cover their selfish purposes. knew that the law and the morality of the country were against them, and that their so-called revelation was an infamous and blasphemous falsehood. Religious creed, too often used as a cloak for sin. cannot be permitted to shield its wearer from the consequences of crime.
That Joseph Smith ever advocated or encouraged polygamy, as a branch of the creed. is now strenuously denied by the followers of his son, of the re-organized branch. They justly denounce it with all the rest of Christendom; and they quote strong proof from his writings and from the Book of Mormon, that he set his face against it. The Salt Lake Mormons as flatly assert that he was its author and introducer. We think the new branch will have hard work to convince the world,-as they certainly have not convinced us,- that the prophet was innocent of this outrage. He may not in his day have fully incorporated it into his creed and taught it to his
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
followers in public; but we think there is indubitable evidence that he was its originator. Who, without his sanction, had a right to broach such a thing, and preach it, by degrees and parcels, as was done in his life-time and in his chosen city? And how came it to be so fully established so soon after his death, that it had become a sweet morsel in the creed of the leaders, at the time they left for the West two years afterward, so sweet a morsel that it divided man and wife ? In his life-time it had not reached the dignity of title it has since. Now, it is "Polygamy " (and didn't Solomon and David and Abraham, and all the patriarchs practice polygamy ?). Then it was "Spiritual-wifery," a sort of clandestine, sneaking system of concubinage, with an I-would-if-I-dare effort to adopt it, and an I-do-and-I-don't acceptance; but with a crushing public denial and denunciation. All who remember the days of Mormon- ism in this county and are conversant with its workings, know that this is the way in which polygamy became a constituent of its creed and a chief pillar in its system. Had the main body remained here it would have been " spiritual-wifery" still, most probably-denied to the outside world, and practiced in the harems of the leaders. Before they left it was the accepted creed of the governing class; and we know of one legal wife of a prominent man among them, who refused to go with him, and did not, because he would not agree to forego the anticipated delights of the system in the wilder- ness; while others generally went, by force of circumstances, though their best natures as women cried ont against the unnatural dogma.
The Salt Lake people now publish a revelation which they assert was delivered by the prophet before his death, in which this doc- trine is promulgated. The reorganized branch here claim this to be a forgery; whether justly or not, we leave the reader to decide. John Taylor is now and has ever been a prominent leader at Salt Lake; while here, and after the prophet's death, we believe throughout, he was editor of both the Mormon papers. The files of those sheets show that he was continually denying the doctrine, and ridiculing it as an invention of their enemies. If said revela- tion had been genuine, as now claimed, Taylor must have known it; and what can be said of his and their truthfulness?
TEMPERANCE CLAUSE.
The Act to incorporate the " Nauvoo House Association " con- tained one clause which can be recommended to all similar asso- ciations :
SEC. 9. It is moreover established as a perpetual rule of said house, to be observed by all persons who may keep or occupy the same, that spirituous liquors of every description are prohibited, and that such liquors shall never be vended as a beverage, or introduced into common use in said house.
A TOLERATION ORDINANCE.
The following ordinance was flourished in the Nauvoo papers, without date, as proof of the tolerant spirit prevailing there:
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
AN ORDINANCE IN RELATION TO RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.
SEC. 1. Be it Ordained by the City Council of the city of Nauvoo, That the Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Latter-Day Saints, Quakers, Epis- copalians, Universalists, Unitarians, Mohammedans, and all other religious sects and denominations whatever, shall have free toleration and equal privileges in this city ; and should any person be guilty of ridiculing, abusing, or otherwise depreciating another in consequence of his religion, or of disturbing or interrupting any religious meeting, within the limits of this city, he shall, on conviction thereof before the Mayor or Municipal Court, be considered a disturber of the public peace, and fined in any sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, or imprisoned not exceeding six months, or both, at the discretion of said Mayor or Court.
The foregoing was paraded as proof of the extremely liberal spirit prevailing in the city; and yet it will be perceived that it empowers the Mayor to fine a man five hundred dollars and imprison him six months, for merely speaking in depreciation of the Mormon religion !
THE MANSION HOUSE,
which many have confounded with the Nauvoo House, was a neat frame building situated some hundreds of yards from the river, and was in all the prophet's after years his residence and home, and where he dispensed hospitality and good cheer to friends and visitors. It was a hotel, and was opened with great ostentation on the 3d of October, 1843, on which occasion a large crowd sat down to the table. The following is one of the volunteer toasts passed: " Resolved, That Gen. Joseph Smith, whether we view him as a Prophet at the head of the Church; a General at the head of the Legion; a Mayor at the head of the City Council, or as a Landlord at the head of his table, has few equals and no superiors."
EGYPTIAN HIEROGLYPHICS.
Prof. Caswell, of Kemper College, near St. Louis, told the follow- ing story: He paid a visit to Nauvoo and the Mormon prophet, and had in his possession a Greek psalter of great age-one that had been in his family several hundred years. Why he took it to Nau- voo does not appear; but some of the brethren saw it, and insisted that he should give brother Joseph a chance of translating it. The professor consented, and the book was handed over. The spirit of prophecy-the same as in the days of the golden plates-descended upon Joseph, and he said, "This book I pronounce to be a Dic- tionary of Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphics."
THE TEMPLE
is said to have cost in labor and money over a million of dollars. It may be possible, and is very probable, that contributions to that amount were made to it, but that it cost that much to build it, few will believe. Half that sum would be ample to build a much more costly edifice to-day; and in the three or four years in which it was being erected, labor was cheap and all the necessaries of life remark- ably low. Wheat was quoted in the county markets at forty to
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
sixty cents; corn, 20; flour, $4.00, and pork, $2.00. If a million of dollars were contributed by the faithful for the temple fund, it is easy to guess where at least half the sum was expended.
THE NAUVOO HOUSE
was never half finished during the prophet's life-time, and was never occupied by him or any one. It stood, one of its wings under roof, but the walls of the main building unfinished, an imposing struc- ture, until long since the prophet had met his fate, and his follow- ers had located in the wilderness. It was left or somehow passed to the ownership of the widow and her second husband, Major Bid- amon, and has recently been fitted up and kept by them as a hotel. The location is most beautiful and commanding, being on the slop- ing and rocky bank of the Mississippi, facing southward at the curve of the river, and about 150 yards from the water's edge.
The work upon this building was never prosecuted by the faith- ful with the same zeal as that upon the temple. While the contri- butions flowed in freely for the temple, those for the hotel lagged; and it took much hard begging to keep the latter going forward. At the April conference, 1841, President Smith said: " It is neces- sary that this conference give importance to the Nauvoo House. A prejudice exists against building the Nauvoo House, in favor of the Lord's House, and the conference are required to give stress to the building of the Nauvoo House. This is the most important matter for the time being; for there is no place in this city where men of wealth and character and influence from abroad can go to repose themselves, and it is necessary we should have such a place."
So the Times and Seasons, under date of Nov. 15, 1841, in an editorial says: "Let us not forget that we have another house also to build in this place, even the Nauvoo House; and which is as important to us as the temple; inasmn chas great things are depend- ing upon that house, and it is commanded us of God."
JAMES C. BREWSTER.
This was an ambitious young man, who resided in Springfield Ill., and a member of the Church. He claimed to be gifted with the spirit of prophecy, and issued a pamphlet in which he put forth his claims. But this was not allowed. He was dealt with, and the organ, Dec. 1, 1842, admonishes the brethren against him, quoting from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants: " But behold, verily, verily, I say unto thee, no one shall be appointed to receive commandments and revelations in this Church, excepting my ser- vant Joseph Smith, junior, for he receiveth them even as Moses," etc. So Mr. Brewster was squelched. But this command must have been afterward abrogated in favor of brother Hyrum; for we find him declaring a revelation in the 'election of 1843, in favor of Hoge for Congress; and the prophet vouched that " brother Hyrum never told a lie."
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
A STORY FROM STENHOUSE.
" It is stated that on leaving Nauvoo for Carthage, he said: 'I am going like a lamb to the slaughter, but I am calm as a summer morning. I have a conscience void of offense toward God and toward all men. I shall die innocent, and it shall yet be said of me, "He was murdered in cold blood."' "-[Doctrine and Cove- nants, p. 335.
Stenhouse says:
Notwithstanding this apparent readiness to meet death, and the deep and clear divine impressions claimed to have been imparted to the prophet of his forthcoming end, it is understood that he managed to send from prison a communication to the Mormon officers in military command at Nauvoo, to bring with all possible dispatch a portion of the Legion to protect him from treachery and from that assassination which he had then so much cause to apprehend. This military commander put the prophet's communication into his pocket and gave no heed to the call for help. No one was acquainted with the contents of the paper, and the officer was therefore, he presumed, safe in disregarding it.
After the prophet's death, by some accident or other, this communication was lost, and picked up on the street and read. The intelligence that Joseph had called for aid, and none had been rendered him, was soon bruited among the Saints, and excited their deepest indignation, as they were not only ready to march at a moment's notice, but were eager for the opportunity.
Some time afterward, when all was quiet, this "coward and traitor," as some of the Mormons called him, or "fool and idiot," as others said, was sent on a mission to the Western frontiers, accompanied by a faithful elder. While traveling alone with his companion he fell ill and died, it is said of dysentery! His companion buried him. Page 164, Note.
If the foregoing statement is true, it reveals a fact which we have never heard from any other source. The whole story bears the semblance of truth; and from the narrator's twenty-five years' connection with the priesthood afterward, it is evident he had every facility to learn the truth. It was always accounted a wonder that the Legion did not make some demonstration while their leaders were in jail, either to protect or release them. That they did not, we have attributed to their reliance upon the prophet's previous good luck. This story, taken in connection with the admission of Gov. Ford, that he, too, contemplated a rescue, presents a very important suggestion: whether the disobedience of the officer of the Legion did not frustrate a resene, and the consequent massacre of the guards and citizens. The belief has always been general, that had not the murders been perpetrated as they were by the mob, the affair would soon have terminated in a bloody encounter by an attack from the other side. This belief cannot be offered as an excuse for the murders, but it does exeuse the people of Carth- age and the Greys for the feverish apprehension under which they labored, and which their vacillating and excitable Governor blamed them so severely for. Who that Legion commander was, thus alluded to in the quotation, and who died afterward of dysentery (the italics are Stenhouse's own) we are unable to state. The italics suggest a popular Mormon mode of dealing with offenders.
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
COL. THOMAS GEDDES' STATEMENT.
We have shown from his own admission, that Gov. Ford was willing to connive at the escape of the Smiths, notwithstanding his virtuous indignation at the citizens for suspecting him. We shall now show that, notwithstanding his devotion to law and order, he did, what was asserted at the time, counsel the violent expulsion of the Mormons from the State .. Col. Thomas Geddes, then still residing at Fountain Green in this county, and at the time of the troubles in command of a portion of the troops at Carthage, has recently made us this statement, of which he says his recollection is clear:
" While the Smiths were in jail, I went to the jail in company with Gov. Ford, and there we conversed with them for some time, the burden of Smith's talk being that they were only acting in self-defense, and only wanted to be let alone. After leaving the jail, and while returning from it, the Governor and I had still further conversation about the subject matter. After some time the Governor exclaimed, 'O, it's all nonsense; you will have to drive these Mormons out yet!' I then said, 'If we undertake that, Governor, when the proper time comes, will you interfere?' ' No, I will not,' said he; then, after a pause, adding, 'until you are through.'"'
MRS. ELIZA R. WELLS,
wife of the now General Daniel H. Wells, one of the dignitaries at Salt Lake, was a daughter of Rev. Charles Robison. She now resides at Burlington, Iowa. On the authority of her brother, Chauncey Robison, of Appanoose, we have the statement that when the Mormons left for the Far West, Mrs. Wells refused to go with her husband because he would not consent to confine him- self to one wife-which he refused to do. She had never joined the Church. Thus they were separated and divorceds, he remain- ing behind, and he following the fortunes of the Brighamites, with whom he was then and has since remained in high authority. This fact tends to show that polygamy was a cherished institution with the leaders before they left Nauvoo.
THE CARTHAGE GREYS.
A good deal was said by Gov. Ford and in the Mormon papers, about the insubordination of the Carthage Greys toward Gen. Deming, while the Smiths were in custody. From a gentleman who was a member of that company, we have procured the follow- ing statement of the facts, as near as he can recollect them. It seems that after the McDonough regiment had been disbanded and were about to return home, they expressed a desire to see the prisoners. The wish was reasonable, and as the easiest mode of gratifying it, they were drawn up in line, and Gen. Deming, with the two prisoners, one on each arm, and the Greys as an escort,
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
passed along the line of the troops, Deming introducing them as " Gen. Joseph Smith," and "Gen. Hyrum Smith, of the Nauvoo Legion." The Greys, not aware that this was done at the request of the McDonongh men, and not satisfied to be made an escort to such a display, exhibited signs of dissatisfaction, and finally gave vent to their feelings by hisses and groans. As a punishment for this offense, they were afterward ordered under arrest. In the mean time there was great excitement in the company. As a detachment of the troops was being detailed for the purpose of putting the General's order into execution, the officer in command of the Greys addressed them a few words, and then said, "Boys, will you submit to an arrest for so trifling an offense?" "No!"' was the unanimous response. "Then load your pieces with ball!" was his sullen order. In the mean time some explanations had been made, which permitted Gen. Deming to countermand the order for arrest, and the Greys were quietly marched to their encampment.
PARLEY P. PRATT AS A PROPHET.
In 1838 Parley P. Pratt was engaged in a controversy with LaRoy Sunderland, editor of Zion's Watchman, an Eastern paper. During the controversy, Mr. Pratt was seized with the spirit of prophecy, and poured forth the following: " Within ten years from now the people of this country who are not Mormons will be entirely subdued by the Latter-Day Saints, or swept from the face of the earth; and if this prediction fails, then you may know the ' Book of Mormon' is not true."
It has now been forty-two years since this prediction was uttered, and Pratt himself, and the prophet, and Rigdon, and Young, have been " swept from the face of the earth." So we have Pratt's own testimony to the falsity of the Book of Mormon. Mr. Pratt mis- took his own intense fanaticism for the voice of the Lord,-a mistake which many men wiser than he have made before him.
THE BAPTISMAL FONT,
in the temple at Nauvoo, was in itself a curiosity, and a fit accompaniment to the building. It was first constructed of wood, but this being deemed not sufficiently durable, was taken away, and another built of stone. It rested on the backs of twelve stone oxen of colossal size-four abreast at the sides, and two at each end, standing back to back. The oxen had the appearance of being sunk in the floor half-way to their knees, and the font rested on their shoulders, their horns, heads, necks and shoulders being exposed to view outside. The font itself was of immense size-18 feet long, eight feet wide, and four feet deep. It thus stood about eight feet high, from the top of its rim to the floor. It was placed in the basement, or first story of the building-an object of great curiosity and comment to all stranger visitors.
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
INCIDENTS OF THE BURNING.
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