USA > Illinois > Hancock County > History of Hancock County, Illinois, together with an outline history of the State, and a digest of State laws > Part 35
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From a very respectable old gentleman who was an eye-witness of some of the house-burning operations in the fall of 1845. we have the following statement received from him verbally during the last year. He says that for such lawless and outrageous acts, they were done in such a quiet and orderly manner as to be aston- ishing. He resided not far from some of the houses that were burned ; and hearing what was going on. he mounted his horse and rode to where the work was in progress. There seemed to be a company of 25 or 30 men engaged-mostly, as he thought. Warsaw clerks. though he only knew a portion. They were commanded. he thinks. by a man from the north part of the county, whose name he could not recollect.
The burning began at what is now Tioga-then called Morley- town, or Yelrome, in Walker township-and continued on up to Green Plains. The last house burnt in that section of the county. was the one they were at when attacked by the Mormon posse under Sheriff Backenstos, and where MeBratney was killed. The houses burnt were mostly log cabins of not much value, though some pretty good dwellings were included.
The manner was to go to the house and warn the inmates out- that they were going to burn it. Usually there would be no show of resistance; but all hands. burners and all. would proceed to take out the goods and place them out of danger. When the goods were all securely removed, the torch would be applied, and the house consumed. Then on to another. We are not aware that a correct count was ever made of the number thus burned: but our inform- ant states that there were probably 70 or So. Some accounts have placed it as high as 125.
As an evidence of the coolness and good temper in which this work was done, our informant relates the following. to which he says he was an eye-witness. While the burners were engaged in burning a certain house, a young woman belonging to the family, standing and looking on, felt an inclination to smoke, and asked one of the burners for some tobacco. Having none himself, he pointed to one of his comrades and said he would give her some. She approached the other; he unconcernedly put his hand in his pocket, handed her the tobacco, from which she took what she wanted, and handed it back: when he went on with the work in hand, and the young woman proceeded to smoke !
MORMON METHODS.
I. R. Tull. Esq .. of Pontoosuc, gives us the following items. as illustrating Mormon methods: "I often went with produce to Nauvoo; and it mattered little what kind it was, so it was some- thing people could live on; and if at any time my stuff was dull sale. I would go to the committee rooms, and could always trade it off for something. They had almost every conceivable thing, from
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all kinds of implements and men's and women's clothing down to baby clothes and trinkets, which had been deposited by the owners as tithing, or for the benefit of the temple.'
Again he says: " In the fall of 1843 I went to Nauvoo to buy calves. and called on a blind man who had one to sell. I bought his calf. and being curious to learn his history, went in and saw his wife, with two little twin infants in a cradle. and great destitution. He told me that he had a nice home in Massachusetts, which gare them a good support. But one of the Mormon elders preaching in that country called on him and told him if he would sell out and go to Nauvoo. the prophet would open his eyes and restore his sight. And he sold out. and had come to the city, and had spent all his means, and was now in great need. I asked why the prophet did not open his eyes. He replied that Joseph had informed him that he could not open his eyes until the temple was finished, and then when the temple was finished he would open them, and he should see better than before! And he believed, and was waiting patiently for the last stroke to be made on the temple."
And again. of this same poor family: "After this interview. when in Nauvoo I often took them something, and the blind man's wife seemed to think I was one of the Saints. One day I inquired how they were getting along. She told me they had been getting along finely: that there was a company formed to go out on the prairie and butcher cattle to get beef for the destitute. and they had been well supplied until about a week ago: but brother - was mean enough to tell on them. and now they dare not go out any more to kill beef on the prairie, and . what to do we don't know.'"
GOV. FORD'S INACCURACIES.
As a specimen of Gor. Ford's general inaccuracy of statement in regard to our ditheulties. we mention the following: He says in his History of Illinois. p. 319. of Walker and Hoge's canvass: " Mr. Hoge received about 3.000 votes in Nauvoo, and was elected by 600 or 800 majority." The facts are: the rote for Hoge through- out the whole county, including regular Democrats and Mormons outside the city, was just 2,08s. and he was elected by 455 majority in the district.
THE PROPHET A LAND SPECULATOR.
The prophet was quite a speculator in lands and town lots. in and about Nauvoo. Of course. he desired a monopoly of the busi- ness. One of his methods was to keep the following notice stand- ing in the Neighbor:
NOTICE.
To Emigrants arul Latter-Dry S ints Gener. Vy:
I.feel it my duty to say to the brethren generally, and especially those who are emigrating to this place. that there is in the hands of the trustees in trust. a large quantity of lands, both in the city and adjoining townships in this county, which is
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for sale, some of whichjbelongs to the Church and is designed for the benefit of the poor, and also to liquidate debts owing by the Church, for which the trustee in trust is responsible. Some, also, is land which has been consecrated for the building of the Temple and the Nauvoo House.
If the brethren who move in here and want an inheritance, will buy their lands of the trustees in trust, they will thereby benefit the poor, the Temple, and the Nauvoo House, and even then only be doing that which is their duty, and which I know, by considerable experience, will be vastly for their benefit and satisfaction in days to come. Let all the brethren, therefore, when they move into Nauvoo, consult Presi- dent Joseph Smith, the trustee, etc., and purchase their lands of him; and I am bold to say that God will bless them, and they will hereafter be glad they did so.
We hold ourselves ready at any time to wait upon the brethren and show them the lands belonging to the Church, and Temple, etc., and can be found any day, either at President Joseph Smith's bar-room or the Temple Recorder's office at the Temple.
NAUVOO, Dec. 16, 1843. W. CLAYTON, Clerk.
THE RE-ORGANIZED CHURCH.
In concluding this history of the Mormon Era in Hancock county, it will not be out of place to refer to JOSEPH SMITH, junior, who, it is known, is building up a sect which he denominates the " Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints." (While he was about it he might have reorganized the phraseology of its title to advantage.)
At the time of the exodus from Nauvoo Joseph was a mere child, and with his mother and the rest of the family remained behind; she not choosing to relinquish a competence and a home here, for the uncertain honors and the certain privations of a sojourn in the new promised land. In this she acted wisely; but by doing so she greatly thwarted the purposes of the leaders. It was their ambition to carry with them the widow, and above all, the young son of their martyred leader. For years afterward they adhered to this darling scheme, and many efforts were made to induce the youth to join them. Embassies were sent to him, and glowing representations made; but to no purpose. His ever- watchful mother and his own disinclination proved effective against all their solicitations and blandishments.
Joseph grew up to be a sober, temperate, and steady young man, and with a fair reputation among his neighbors. We never heard that he aspired to any extra share of holiness, or to the pos- session of any miraculous gifts; or pretended to have had any special call from heaven, for the course he has seen proper to pursue. Nor do we know just at what time or in what manner he under- took his work of reorganization. Strange as it may seem, we must infer that he believes in the divine mission of his father and the truth of his claims; as he makes these in effect the basis of his work.
This reorganized Church is based on the " Book of Mormon," the " Book of Doctrines and Covenants," and other works common to Utah Mormonism; but it totally rejects the polygamy features of the Utah creed. We are not able to perceive any other marked features of difference either in creed or form. The practice of the new Church, however, has been widely different. Instead of call- ing all the believers together to one " Zion," or "New Jerusalem,"
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the building of one magnificent temple, and the pampering of a domineering and infallible priesthood, as under the old system, the new organization thus far has allowed its members the freedom of choice as to where they may make their homes and pursne the business of life. Consequently here and there through the States, societies are springing up, churches being erected, and regular worship carried on, much as is done by societies of other denomi- nations. There are several of these reorganized Churches in this county. And why not? Joseph Smith has just as good a right to head a sect as any man has, and to build up a creed and ransack the country for proselytes. And he has a right to base his creed on Spaulding's Manuscript Found or Esop's Fables, if he so choose. That is a right to which no man or set of men has a monopoly. And so long as he will continue in what seems to be his present course and policy, and avoid the rocks on which his father went down-and which are sooner or later to be the destruc- tion of Utah Mormonism-while we may not respect his judg- ment or wish him God-speed, no man can desire him evil.
While Methodism, Presbyterianism, Quakerism, or any other form of Christianity can live and be at peace even with Paganism, no so-called Gentile people in a land of light and liberty can quietly dwell side by side with Mormonism, as it existed of yore under the dynasty of Smith, the elder, in this county, and since under Brigham Young in Utah. Under them it was eternally aggressive upon the rights, the consciences, the property of their neighbors. "This land is for the home of the Saints-This prop- erty you call your own, is consecrated to their use and the service of the Lord-Your blood is as water, to be poured out upon the earth, for the unbeliever shall be utterly destroyed,"-is now and has been from the beginning, the teaching from their temples and the burden of their songs. And should this reorganizer ("Presi- dent," we believe he calls himself ) ever fall into this fatal and wicked error, it will as certainly bring to him disaster, as it did to his predecessors who adopted it.
Whatever may be in the future for Utah Mormonism, it looks as if the reorganized branch might take and hold a respectable place among the religious sects of the day, could but the facts of its ori- gin and the character of its founders be effaced from memory.
CONCLUSION.
And we now close our account of the Mormons and Mormon history in Hancock county and the State of Illinois. Much more we are compelled for want of room to omit. We believe, however, that we have brought together in these preceding chapters, a more complete and reliable statement of Mormon affairs, during their eight years' sojourn in this county, than can elsewhere be found, or that has ever before been given to the public.
And, in conclusion, we beg to be indulged in a few reflections. It would seem that no one can take the trouble to acquaint himself
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with Joseph Smith's character and career, as seen in the light of history and truth, and not KNOW that he was a very bad man-a hypocrite, a blasphemer, a knave. And yet hundreds and thousands believe otherwise, that he was a holy man, a saint and a martyr to the truth. Such is the difference in men. And while we are forced to believe that he was as before stated, we are also compelled to conclude that many of his professed followers and believers were equally guilty-were, in truth, not his dupes, but his tools. That while he was taking care of number one, and rioting in luxury and debauchery, they were doing the same thing, as his aiders and abet- tors. His own talents could never have secured for him the posi- tion and notoriety he obtained; but to Sidney Rigdon, Parley P. Pratt, Brigham Young, and scores of others, whom his interests and their interests drew around him, he was largely indebted for his success. They submitted to be managed by him, because their in- terest lay in submission.
Beyond these and around them, supporting, feeding, pampering, and ready to fight for them, rallied a host of others, of many grades of character, sincere, devout, ignorant, willing and unwilling dupes, to whose sustaining power the sect owes its life. They furnish the bonds that hold the rotten system together.
CHAPTER VII. FORTS JOHNSON AND EDWARDS.
In Andreas' " Illustrated Historical Atlas of Hancock county," published in 1874, we find the following:
About the beginning of the eighteenth century, the French built Fort Johnson at this place (Warsaw). It stood on the point of bluff near where Albers' mill now stands. In the middle of the eighteenth century, during the trouble between the French and English, it was abandoned, because of an expected attack from the latter, via the Great Lakes. In the latter part of the eighteenth century, Fort Ed- wards, named after Gov. Edwards, of Illinois, was built by Capt. (afterwards Presi- dent) Zachary Taylor. It stood on the bluff at the foot of Clay street, and was aban- doned in 1825, and afterward used by the fur company.
It would be difficult to jumble together a dozen lines of " history " containing more palpable errors than are to be found in the fore- going. First, the eighteenth century began in 1701, now 180 years ago, only 30 or 40 years after the discovery of the Northwes- tern country by the French. Secondly, had the French built Fort Johnson at that early day, they would not likely have named it after the killer of Tecumseh, who flourished more than a hundred years afterward. Thirdly, " It was abandoned about the middle of the eighteenth century," sixty-three years before it was actually built. And, Fourthly, Fort Edwards was built by Capt. Zach. Taylor, and named after Gov. Edwards, in the latter part of the eighteenth century, while Zach. Taylor and Ninian Edwards were both in their infancy!
Not wishing to record history by guess, we addressed a note of inquiry to the War Department, and received the following in reply :
WAR DEPARTMENT, WASHINGTON CITY, Sept. 7, 1878. 5
SIR :- In regard to the history of old Forts Johnson and Edwards, which were situated in Hancock county, Illinois, information concerning which was desired in your letter of the 27th ultimo, I have the honor to state that the only data in possession of this Department regarding Fort Edwards, is that it was established about the year 1814, and abandoned in July, 1824, per general order No. 36, from the Adjutant-General's office, June 11, 1824, at which date it was garrisoned by Company F, Fifth Infantry, commanded by Lieut. Gideon Low, Fifth Infantry. There is nothing of record here regarding Fort Johnson.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant, GEO. W. MCCRARY, Secretary of War. THOMAS GREGG, EsQ., Hamilton, Ill.
ORDER NO. 36.
ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, WESTERN DEPARTMENT, LOUISVILLE, KY., 11th June, 1824. 5
The position of Fort Edwards, Ill., will forthwith be evacuated, and its garri- son (excepting a faithful non-commissioned officer and six privates, who will be
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left for the preservation of the public property, and the crop at present standing) be removed to Fort Armstrong.
Assistant Surgeon McMillan will, on the receipt of this order, report by letter to the Surgeon-General for orders, as to his present station, and will accompany the garrison at Fort Edwards to Fort Armstrong, where he is required as a witness before the Court to be convened at that post, for the trial of Brevet-Major Mars- ton, of the Fifth Infantry.
The Quartermaster's Department will furnish the necessary facilities for the most prompt execution of this order. By order of
MAJOR-GENERAL SCOTT.
H. SMITH, Lt. and Aid-de-Camp.
The foregoing is to be taken as conclusive as to Fort Edwards, but it settles nothing regarding Fort Johnson. Recourse must be had, then, to the history of the times. This we have searched until we feel sure that the mystery is explained, and conclude that the two forts were built within a few months of each other, in 1814.
Peck's " Annals of the West," second edition, St. Louis, 1850, on page 744, says :
A detachment under command of Major Taylor left Cape au Gris on the 23rd of August, 1814, in boats, for the Indian town at Rock river. The detachment consisted of 334 men, officers and privates. A report from the commanding officer to Gen. Howard, dated from Fort Madison, Sept. 6, and published in the Missouri Gazette of the 17th, gives the details of the expedition.
The expedition met with a superior force at Rock Island, were repulsed and fell back. The report says:
I then determined to drop down the river to the Des Moines without delay, as some of the officers of the Rangers informed me their men were short of provis- ions, and execute the principal object of the expedition, in erecting a fort to com- mand the river.
Fort Johnson (says the Annals), a rough stockade with block-houses of round logs, was then erected, on the present site of the town of Warsaw, opposite the mouth of the Des Moines.
Then, on page 746, the Annals continues:
Fort Madison, after sustaining repeated attacks from the Indians, was evacuated and burnt. And in the month of October the people of St. Louis were astounded with the intelligence that the troops stationed at Fort Johnson had burnt the block- houses, destroyed the works, and retreated down the river to Cape au Gris. The officers in command (Maj. Taylor having previously left that post), reported they were out of provisions and could not sustain the position.
That there was no fort between Cape au Gris and Fort Madison previous to 1814, is proven by several circumstances. In the sev- eral expeditions made up the river before that time, mention is made of the Des Moines river and rapids, but no mention of a fort till Madison is reached. Again, about 1813, Gov. Edwards fur- nished the War Department with a long table of distances from Prairie du Chien down. in which Madison, the head of the rapids, the foot of the rapids, Des Moines river, are all named, but noth- ing about a fort.
And so we conclude, and so state, as veritable history, that, instead of having been built one hundred and eighty years ago by
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the French, and named Johnson, that fort was erected during our war with Great Britain, by our own soldiery and by command of our own Government, in 1814; and that Fort Edwards was also built and occupied the same year, after the destruction of the former, and named after the Governor of Illinois Territory; and that Capt. Zachary Taylor, afterward President of the United States, was the builder of them both.
CHAPTER VIII. BIOGRAPHICAL.
MUCK-AH-TAH-MISH-E-KA-AH-KE-AK.
Referring to the foregoing State History, page 84, for a general account of the Black Hawk war, we deem a more particular account of that noted chieftain proper in this place. Many of the citizens of Hancock county were more or less engaged in that struggle, or interested in it from its proximity to them; and besides, there was a tradition that he was born within the limits of the county, upon Camp creek. For this there was probably no good foundation.
That Black Hawk was a man of genius and bravery cannot be denied. He fought, and fought bravely, for what he deemed his rights. But when, at the battle of Bad-Axe, he was conquered and made prisoner, his spirit was broken, and he yielded to inexorable fate. He was carried a prisoner to Washington, and on a tour through the Eastern States, and then returned to his tribe beyond the Mississippi, with presents and an admonition. That tour of itself, showing him the vast power and resources of the people with whom he had been contending, was sufficient to convince him of the futility of war as a means of redressing his wrongs, and he buried the hatchet forever. He mingled with his tribe more as an humble follower than as a warlike chief. And when passing about among the whites, his deportment was always quiet and resigned. He acted as a deposed chief might be presumed to act, whose spirit was broken and whose will had ceased to be law.
The writer of this first met Black Hawk in 1837, at Fort Des Moines, now Montrose. He was usually accompanied by his wife, and they were always treated with attention and respect by those whites upon whom they called. More than once have Black Hawk and his well-behaved squaw sat at our table; and while the two women would chat freely over their tea, talking "Greek " to each other, the "chief's " were compelled per force to maintain respectful silence. These tea-parties are remembered with as much pleasure as though the entertained had been a duke and duchess. Black Hawk in those days usually wore a black hat and a white blanket, and took no pride in trinkets and feathers. Keokuk, whom he hated, and whose hate was returned, seldom appeared in public without being decked out in fanciful style. He was portly and made an imposing appearance.
These joint tribes were then settled up the Des Moines river, and their chief villages were, we believe, near where the city of Des Moines now stands.
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But the old chieftain's career as a brave and a warrior had closed, and it was soon to close as a man. He, whose scalping- knife and tomahawk had gleamed in the face of many a foe, whose war-whoop had wakened the echoes of the night from the Missouri to the Wisconsin, and whose martial shout had sent defiance and threat across the Father of Waters, was soon to take his departure to the far-off hunting grounds prepared for him by the great Manitou! He died on the banks of the Des Moines river, in what is now the county of Davis.
At this day, and among a people so familiar with him and his career, it will he hard to assign him his true place in history. His abilities as a commander and leader were doubtless inferior to those of Philip, of Pokonoket, or Powhattan; his talent for strategy and his energy of purpose were excelled by those of Tecumseh; his oratory, of which little has been handed down to us, very likely fell short of that of Logan; but his name on history's page will stand along with these, and serve with theirs" " to point a moral and adorn a tale."
We have been unable to fix with absolute certainty, the date of the old chief's death, or of his age at the time. Gov. Ford, in his History of Illinois, gives his age at eighty, and places his death on the 3d of October, 1840. We should have called him at least ten years younger. It is stated that he had been aid-de-camp to Tecumseh, in the war of 1812-'15. A correspondent of the Keosauqua Republican states his death to have occurred in 1837; Mr. Wm. Garrett, an old resident of Burlington, places it in 1838, or '39; while Mr. James H. Jordan, of Davis county, who resided near and owned the land on which Black Hawk resided at his death, claims that it occurred in Sept., 1838. His remains were not buried, but deposited in usual Indian style above ground. Previous to his death he requested to be buried on the spot where he had held his last council with the Iowas, near by, which was complied with.
He was dressed in a full suit of regimentals, frock coat with gold epanlettes, a cocked hat, sword and belt and spear cane. Fastened about him were three large medals-one presented him by Gen. Jackson, one by President Madison, and one by the British. The body was placed on puncheons at an angle of 30 or 40 degrees, and covered with puncheons like a house roof. The whole was sur- rounded by a strong palisade of posts.
The remains were afterwards stolen and carried away, but recovered by the Governor of Iowa, and placed in the Museum of the Historical Society at Burlington, where they were destroyed by fire.
Mr. J. H. Lawton, of Plymouth, tells the following anecdote of Black Hawk: About 1837 or '38, he was employed by Mr. Hiram Kimball, who had a store at Commerce, to clerk while Mr. K. went East. He had been instructed to keep a good watch over the
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Indians when they came about the store, and to call in an old settler there to interpret for him when necessary.
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