History of McDonough County, Illinois, together with sketches of the towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent individuals, and biographies of the representative citizens, Part 14

Author:
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Springfield, Ill. : Continental Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 1150

USA > Illinois > McDonough County > History of McDonough County, Illinois, together with sketches of the towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent individuals, and biographies of the representative citizens > Part 14

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revelations. This belief in a continual divine revelation through the prophet- a belief which enjoins absolute obedi- ence to the commands of the revelation on the part of the persons who accept it, is the corner stone of the social building of Mormonism, the only vital agency in its history, the whole secret of its success; and the day it dies out Mormonism is nothing but a heap of nonsense. The Mormons accept both the bible and the book of Mormon as divine revelations, but they hold them both subject to the explanations and corrections of the prophet.' This book of Mormon was the record by which Joseph Smith, the founder of the faith, first introduced himself to the world, the guaranty he gave for the divine character of his vis- ion. His story was that an angel from heaven appeared before him and told him where this book, the bible of the western continent, the supplement of the new testament, was hidden. On the spot designated by the heavenly visi- tor, Smith found in a stone box a volume six inches thick and composed of thin gold plates, eight inches by seven, held together by three gold rings. These plates were covered with characters in an unknown tongue, but beside the volume he also found Urim and Thummin, a sort of supernatural spectacles, which ena- bled him to read and understand the characters. Sitting behind a curtain drawn across the room, he then dictated a translation-for he could not write himself-to his secretary, Oliver Cow- drey, and his translation was printed in 1830, accompanied by testimonials from eleven persons prominent among whom were Martin Harris and David White-

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more, who had seen the golden plates before they unfortunately disappeared. It was soon proved beyond doubt that the book of Mormon was simply a sort of historical romance written in 1812, by one Solomon Spalding, a Presbyterian minister of Ohio, who indulged in that kind of pseudo history, though he never succeeded in getting his productions published, and that the manuscript had been lost in a printing office, in Pitts- burg under the hands of an apprentice, Sidney Rigdon, who in 1829 became an associate of Joseph Smith. The book pretends to give the history of America up to the fifth century of our era; the first settlement of the country after the destruction of the tower of Babel, and the dispersion of the nations; the sec- ond settlement in the sixth century, B. C. by Lehi and his sons, arriving directly from Jerusalem; the origin of the Amer- ican Indians from the unfaithful Jews who were condemned to have dark skins; the arrival and preaching of Christ in America; the final destruction of the faithful; and the command of God to the prophet Mormon to write down an abridgement of all these events and hide the volume. With this book as the basis of his teaching, Smith began to preach, and in January, 1831, he led the first Mormon congregation, consisting of thirty members, from Manchester, New York, to Kirtland, Ohio, which became the headquarters of the sect for the next seven years. The great body of these pecple then migrated to Missouri, but their conduct growing obnoxious to their neighbors, they were kept in a state of actual warfare, and at the close of 1838, they were driven from that state. They

crossed the Mississippi, and founded the city of Nauvoo, in Illinois, where they lived for seven years. Several families, as mentioned previously came to this county and located. Says Mr. Clarke, in his History of McDonough county:

"In the summer of 1843, George Mil- ler, then a member of the Presbyterian church, in Macomb, living in that town, and in a house on the corner of east Carroll and north Randolph streets, made a trip to Nauvoo, returning appar- ently with not a very favorable opinion of the "saints," unless we except Joe Smith, the prophet. Still, as occasion offered, he would refer to the Mormons and express a desire to again hear them preach. He said to the citizens of Macomb that if they desired to hear, he would have Joe Smith come over and . preach for them. A few days later he went to the woods, near the present town of Bardolph, in search of black- berries. After a little he threw up his arms, screamed and fell to the ground. He was taken up, a bed was provided, and he was taken home. Dr. J. B. Kyle was called in and relieved him of about a quart of blood, and gave him a good, strong dose of calomel. The beginning of this fit occurred about the middle of the afternoon on Thursday, and for forty-eight hours he continued to rave. About the middle of the afternoon on Saturday, a couple of men, on horse- back, rode up to the square, and meeting William Hamilton, now of Bushnell, inquired if he knew where George Mil- ler lived. Being directed to the place, they rode over, and tying their horses, went into the house, knelt down by the bedside of the sick man, commenced

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praying in a loud tone. On the conclu- sion of their prayer, they arose, and laid their hands upon Mr. Miller. This they repeated, calling upon Mr. M. to have faith-by faith all things were possible. In a few moments he became calm, and soon was sitting up in bed, and the next day was as well as ever, though a little weak. He was indeed well enough to attend the preaching of these saints, one of whom was the renowned Sidney Rigdon. Whether all this was a 'put up job' between Mr. Miller and the saints, we know not. Suffice it to say that on Monday morning Mr. Miller was baptised in the creek north of town, and in a few days he removed to Nauvoo and became a leader in the Mormon people."

In 1840, these peple began to figure in the politics of the state, and in August, 1843, during the congressional contest between Cyrus Walker and James P. Hoge, both parties labored to secure the vote of the Mormons, as is related in the chapter on politics, in this volume.

During all this time the Mormons had continued to increase in numbers until they had become a powerful body. As they grew in strength, they became ar- rogant, and, under the assumption that "the earth was the Lord's, and the full- ness thereof," and that they being his peculiar people, were entitled to all the fruits of it, the Gentiles having no rights which they were bound to respect. This doctrine led to considerable trouble between the "saints" and those who were not disposed to accept it. Much stock disappeared from all parts of the county, a great deal of it being found in the "holy city. But when found, it was

extremely difficult to regain possession. Under a provision of the city charter of Nauvoo, the Mormons enacted "that no writ issued from any other place, for the arrest of any of her citizens, should be recognized in the city, without an approval endorsed thereon by the mayor; that if any public officer, by virtue of any foreign writ, should at- tempt to make an arrest in the city, without such approval of his process, he should be subject to imprisonment for life; and that even the governor of the state should not have the power of pardoning the offender without the con- sent of the mayor." If an attempt was made to obtain property by a writ of replevin, witnesses without number would promptly swear it belonged to some Morman claimant. The following is a case in point: A gentleman living in the southern part of this county had a valuable horse stolen, which he after- ward found in Nauvoo, and seized. During the trial resulting therefrom he had sixty witnesses to identify the horse as his property, but the Mormons brought forward seventy to prove that it belonged to some "saint," and having a preponderance of testimony, the Mor- mon justice decided in favor of his brother.

The citizens of Hancock county sub- mitted to this state of affairs until en- durance ceased to be a virtue, and the governor was appealed to for aid. This assistance was asked more especially on account of the failure to arrest Joseph Smith and other leading Mormons for engaging in a riot in destroying the office of an anti-Mormon paper. A war- rant was issued at Carthage and served

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upon them, when they were taken at once to the municipal court, at Nauvoo, on a writ of. habeas corpus, and dis- charged from custody.

Trouble now began and an armed force of the militia of the state gathered at Carthage, where Governor Ford ar- rived on the 23d of June, 1844. He organized the troops and when all was ready sent for the leaders of the Mor- mons to appear before him. No apology is necessary for the full length quota- tion from the able history of Governor Ford's history of Illinois, as he was an eye-witness and a prominent actor in these scenes.

"It appeared clearly, both from the complaints of the citizens and the ac- knowledgments of the Mormon commit- tee, that the whole proceedings of the mayor, the common council, and the municipal court, were irregular and ille- gal, and not to be endured in a free country; though perhaps some apology might be made for the court, as it had been repeatedly assured by some of the best lawyers in the state who had been candidates for office before that people, · that it had full and competent power to issue writs of habeas corpus in all cases whatever. The common council violated the law in assuming the exercise of judi- cial power; in proceeding ex-parte with- out notice to the owners of the property; in proceeding against the property in rem, in not calling a jury; in not swear- ing all the witnesses; in not giving the owners of the property,accused of being a nuisance, in consequence of being libelous, an opportunity of giving the truth in evidence; and in fact, by not proceeding by civil suit or indictment,

as in other cases of libel. The mayor violated the law in ordering this errone- ous and absurd judgment of the common council to be executed, and the munici- pality erred in discharging them from arrest.

"As this proceeding touched the liberty of the press, which is justly dear to any republican people, it was well cal- culated to raise a great flame of excite- ment. And it may well be questioned whether years of misrepresentation by the most profligate newspaper could have engendered such a feeling as was pro- duced by the destruction of this one press. It is apparent that the Mormon leaders but little understood, and re- garded less, the true principles of civil liberty. A free press, well conducted, is a great blessing to a free people. A profligate one is likely soon to deprive itself of all credit and influence by the multitude of falsehoods put forth by it. But let this be as it may, there is more lost to rational liberty by a censorship of the press, by suppressing informa- tion proper to be known by the people, than can be lost by an individual now and then by a temporary injury to his character and influence by the utmost licentiousness.

* *

"It was asserted that Joe Smith, the founder and head of the Mormon church, had caused himself to be crown- ed and anointed king of the Mormons; that he had embodied a band of his fol- lowers called 'Danites,' who were sworn to obey him as God, and to do his com- mands, murder and treason not excepted; that he had instituted an order in the church whereby those who composed it

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were pretended to be sealed up to eter- nal life against all crimes, save the shed- ding of innocent blood, or consenting thereto; that this order was instructed that no blood was innocent blood except that of the members of the church; and that these two orders were made the ministers of his vengeance, and the in- struments of an intolerable tyranny which he had established over his peo- ple, and which he was about to extend over the neighboring country.

The people affected to believe that with this power in the hands of an un- scrupulous leader there was no safety for the lives or property of any one who opposed him. They affected likewise to believe that Smith inculcated the legal- ity of perjury, or any other crime in de- fense or to advance the interests of true believers; and that himself had set them the example by swearing to a false accu- sation against a certain person for the crime of murder. It was likewise as- serted to be a fundamental article of the Mormon faith that God had given the world and all it contained to them as his Saints; that they secretly believed in their rights to all the goodly lands, farms and property in the country; that at present they were kept out of their rightful inheritance by force; that con- sequently there was no moral offense in anticipating God's good time to put them in possession by stealing if oppor- tunity offered; that in fact the whole church was a community of murderers, thieves, robbers, and outlaws; that Jos- eph Smith had established a bogus fact- ory in Nauvoo for the manufacture of counterfeit money, and that he main- tained about his person a tribe of swin-

dlers, blacklegs, and counterfeiters to make it and put it into circulation.

" It was also believed that he had an- nounced a revelation from heaven san- tioning polygamy, by a kind of spiritual wife system, whereby a man was allowed one wife in pursuance of the laws of the country, and an indefinite number of others to be enjoyed in some mystical and spiritual mode; and that he himself, and many of his followers, had prac- ticed upon the principles of this revela- tion by seducing a large number of women.

" It was also asserted that he was in alliance with the Indians of the western territories, and had obtained over them such a control that in case of a war he could command their assistance to mur- der his enemies.

" But the great cause of popular fury was that the Mormons at several preced- ing elections had cast their vote as a unit, thereby making the fact apparent that no one could aspire to the honors of the offices of the country within the sphere of their influence, without their approbation and votes. It appears to be one of the principles upon which they insist upon being governed as a com- munity, to act as a unit in all matters of government and religion. They express themselves to be fearful that if division should be encouraged in politics, it would soon extend to their religion and rend their church with schism and into sects."

The governor now held several con- ferences with the Mormon leaders, and it was finally agreed that Smith and some of those highest in the council of

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the Mormon church, would come for- ward and surrender themselves, and stand a trial at Carthage, the governor passing his word for their safety and assuring them of his protection. To quote again from the same source:

"On the twenty-third, or twenty-fourth day of June, Joseph Smith, the mayor of Nauvoo, together with his brother Hiram and all the members of the coun- cil, and all others demanded, came into Carthage and surrendered themselves prisoners to the constable on the charge of riot. They all voluntarily entered into a recognizance before the justice of the peace, for their appearance at court to answer the charge, and all of them were discharged from custody except Joseph and Hiram Smith, against whom the magistrate had issued a new writ, on a complaint of treason. They were im- mediately arrested by the constable on this charge, and retained in his custody to answer it."

"The overt act of treason charged against them consisted in the alleged levying of war against the state by de- claring martial law in Nauvoo, and in ordering out the legion to resist the posse comitatus. Their actual guiltiness of the charge would depend upon circum- stances. If their opponents had been seeking to put the law in force in good faith, and nothing more, then an array of military force in open resistence to the posse comitatus and the militia of the state, most probably would have amounted to treason. But if those op- ponents merely intended to use the pro- cess of the law, the militia of the state and the posse comitatus, as cat's paws to compass the possession of their persons

for the purpose of murdering them after- wards, as the sequel demonstrated the fact to be, it might be doubted whether they were guilty of treason.

"After the Smith's had been arrested on the new charge of treason, the justice of the peace postponed the examination, because neither of the parties were pre- pared with their witnesses for trial. In the meantime, he committed them to the jail of the county for greater security."

On the morning of the 27th of June, Smith, under the guard of the Carthage guards was marched around the square that the men of the various sections of the state forming the militia, might see the great prophet of Mormons. The great body of the troops were then dis- banded, and the jail, in which the Mor- mons were placed was committed to the care of the Carthage guards. The gov- ernor then proceeded to Nauvoo to reason with the Mormons on their con- duct, and in the interest of peace. In the morning, having accomplished his purpose, he started back to Carthage, and was met, on the way, by two men who informed him that Smith had been killed. He pushed on toward Carthage. In referring to the news of the murder, the governor says:

"As for myself it was perfectly as- tounding, and I anticipated the very worst consequences from it. The Mor- mons had been represented to me as a lawless, infatuated and fanatical people, not governed by the ordinary motives which influence the rest of mankind. If so, most likely an exterminating war would ensue, and the whole land would be covered with desolation. Acting up- on this supposition, it was my duty to

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provide as well as I could for the event. I therefore ordered the two messengers into custody, and to be returned with us to Carthage. This was done to make such arrangements as could be made, and to prevent any sudden explosion of Mormon excitement before they could be written to by their friends at Carthage. I also dispatched messengers to Warsaw to advise the citizens of the event. But the people there knew all about it before my messengers arrived. They, like my- self, anticipated attack all over the country. The women and children were moved across the river, and a committee was dispatched that night to Quincy for · assistance. The next morning by day- light the ringing of bells in the city of Quincy announced a public meeting. The people assembled in great numbers at an early hour. The Warsaw commit- tee stated to the meeting that a party of Mormons had attempted to rescue the Smiths out of jail; that a party of Mis- sourians and others had killed the pris- oners to prevent their escape; that the governor and his party were at Nauvoo at the time when intelligence of the fact was brought there; that they had been attacked by the Nauvoo Legion, and had retreated to a house where they were then closely besieged; that the governor had sent out word that he could main- tain his position for two days, and would be certain to be massacred if assistance did not arrive by the end of that time. It is unnecessary to say that this entire story was fabricated. It was of a piece of the other reports put into circulation by the anti-Mormon party to influence the public mind and call the people to their assistance. The effect of it, how-

ever, was that by 10 o'clock on the twenty-eighth of June between two and three hundred men from Quincy, under command of Major Flood, embarked on board of a steamboat for Nauvoo, to assist in raising the siege, as they hon- estly believed.

"As for myself, was well convinced that those, whoever they were, who assas- inated the Smiths meditated in turn my assassination by the Mormons. The very circumstances of the case fully corrobora- ted the information which I afterwards received, that upon consultation of the assassins, it was agreed amongst them that the murder must be committed whilst the governor was at Nauvoo; that the Mormons would naturally suppose he planned it, and in the first outpouring of their indignation, they would assas- sinate him, by way of retaliation. And that thus they would get clear of the Smiths and the governor all at once. They also supposed, that if they could so contrive the matter as to have the governor of the state assassinated by the Mormons, the public excitement would be greatly increased against that people, and would result in their expulsion from the state at least."

Governor Ford gives the following account of the murder:

"It was many days after the assassina- tion of the Smiths before the circum- stances of the murder fully became known. It then appeared that, agreea- bly to previous orders, the posse at Warsaw had marched, on the 27th of June, in the direction of Golden's Point, with a view to join the force from Car- thage, the whole body then to be marched into Nauvoo. But by the time they had

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gone eight miles, they were met by the order to disband; and learning at the same time that the governor was absent at Nauvoo, about 200 of these inen, many of them being disguised by black- ing their faces with powder and mud, hastened to Carthage. There they en- camped at some distance from the vil- lage, and soon learned that one of the companies left as guard had disbanded and returned to their homes; the other company, the Carthage Grays, was sta- tioned by the captain in the public square, 150 yards from the jail, whilst eight men were detailed by him, under the command of Sergeant Franklin A. Worrell, to guard the prisoners. A com- munication was soon established between the conspirators and the company, and it was arranged that the guards should have their guns charged with blank car- tridges, and fire at the assailants when they attempted to enter the jail. Gen. Deming, who was left in command, being deserted by some of his troops and perceiving the arrangements with the others, and having no force upon which he could rely, for fear of his life retired from the village. The conspira- tors came up, jumped the slight fence around the jail, were fired upon by the guards, which, according to arrange- ments, were overpowered immediately, and the assailants entered the prison to the door of the room, where the two prisoners were confined with two of their friends who voluntarily bore them com- pany. An attempt was made to break open the door; but Joseph Smith being armed with a six barrelled pistol, fur- nished by his friends, fired several times as the door was bursted open, and

wounded three of the assailants. At the same time several shots were fired into the room by some of which John Taylor received four wounds, and Hiram Smith was instantly killed. Joe Smith attempted to escape by jumping out the second story window; but the fall so stunned him that he was unable to rise; and being placed in a sitting posture by the conspirators below, they dispatched him with four balls shot through his body.

It was the idea of the murderers that these strong measures would induce the great body of the Mormons to leave, but they did not evacuate Nauvoo for two years afterwards. All this time the excitement was kept up. Every case of theft or crime was laid at the door of these people, who although somewhat guilty, did not commit one tenth of the offenses laid at their door. To quote again from Mr. Clarke:

" Before the spring of 1846 the great majority of the Mormons had left Nau- voo, but still a large number remained. About this time a man by the name of Debenheyer was killed near the town of Pontoosuc, and buried in a ditch by the side of a sod fence. The murderers were unknown, but a number of Mor- mons had been lying around the neigh- borhood for some time making night hideous with their noise, and were or- dered away. They refused to go, when, one day while at work in a field sur- rounded on three sides by timber, they were surrounded by forty or fifty anti- Mormons, who captured them, took them to the place where Debenheyer had been buried, stripped them of their clothing, gave each of them thirty and nine lashes

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upon their bare backs, and again bid them go, They went to Nauvoo, re- ported the matter, and a few nights afterwards a large number of the Mor- mons surrounded the house of Major McCauley, who lived in the neigbor- hood of the occurrence, and demanded his surrender. J. W. Brattle, now of Macomb, was stopping with him, and was likewise arrested and taken with him to Nauvoo. The men were held for, sever- al days, when, after due trial, they were discharged. They would probably not have been let off so easily had not sev- eral leading Mormons been taken by the anti-Mormon party and held as host- ages.

"About the first of September, 1846, a writ was issued against several leading Mormons, and placed in the hands of John Carlin, of Carthage, for execution. Carlin called out a posse to help make the arrest. Two or three companies of men went from this county to his aid, and quite a large force was soon gath- ered in the neighborhood of Nauvoo. Carlin, not being a military man, placed the command of the posse first under General Singleton, and afterward under Colonel Brockman, who proceeded to invest the city, erecting breastworks, and taking other means for defensive as well as offensive operations. What was then termed a battle next took place, resulting in the death of one Mormon and the wounding of several others, and mortally wounding one man who volun- teered from this county, but a citizen of Pennsylvania, who was here on a visit, and slightly wounding several others.

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History of McDonough County, Illinois, together with sketches of the towns, villages and townships, educational, civil, military and political history; portraits of prominent individuals, and biographies of the representative citizens, Part 14

Author: Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Springfield, Ill. : Continental Historical Co. Number of Pages: 1150

Author:
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Springfield, Ill. : Continental Historical Co.
Number of Pages: 1150