USA > Missouri > Livingston County > History of Caldwell and Livingston counties, Missouri, written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of their townships, towns and villages, together with a condensed history of Missouri; a reliable and detailed history of Caldwell and Livingston counties--their pioneer record, resources, biographical sketches of prominent citizens; general and local statistics of great value; incidents and reminiscences > Part 12
USA > Missouri > Caldwell County > History of Caldwell and Livingston counties, Missouri, written and compiled from the most authentic official and private sources, including a history of their townships, towns and villages, together with a condensed history of Missouri; a reliable and detailed history of Caldwell and Livingston counties--their pioneer record, resources, biographical sketches of prominent citizens; general and local statistics of great value; incidents and reminiscences > Part 12
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Having made a number of converts, Smith and his apostles and fol- lowers removed to Kirtland, Ohio, in 1831. Meeting with much op- position from the people of that section, the Mormons decided to remove to the far West. Joe Smith made a visit to Missouri to find a location for the new " Zion " of his church.
He at first visited Saline county, and spent some days in looking over the country in the Grand Pass neighborhood. He then passed on through Lafayette county, and into Jackson. At Independence he received a " revelation " that this was to be the seat of his kingdom. He made arrangements to enter several thousand acres of land, and called the place " The New Jerusalem." He then returned to Kirtland.
In 1832, Smith returned with many of his followers to Jackson county. The land upon which they settled mostly lay west of Inde- pendence. The land and all the other property professedly belonged to the Mormons in common, but really the bishops and leaders owned everything, the land titles specially vesting in them. A storehouse called " the Lord's," but controlled by the leaders, was established at Independence. A newspaper called The Morning and Evening Star, the official organ of the church, was established. In this paper appeared every week divers " revelations," promising great things to
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the faithful, and direful woes against the unbelievers, the " wicked Gentiles."
The Mormons met with but little welcome from their new neighbors in Missouri. Their presence was distasteful to the citizens of Jackson county - " the Gentiles " - who could not tolerate the nonsense of " new revelations," the " second kingdom," etc.
The Mormon paper of June, 1833, published an article entitled, " Free People of Color," which roused against the sect the bitter hostility of the pro-slavery people of the county, then, as for years afterward, especially sensitive on the subject of abolitionism. The anti-Mormon paper at Independence about the same time came out with an article entitled, " Beware of False Prophets," leveled especially at the Mormon leaders, and which charged them with all sorts of wickedness, alleging among other things that the " goods " which the church claimed to own " in common," comprised the wives ! It is but the truth to say that no evidence worth attention was adduced in support of this allegation. The article was bitter and very hostile in its tone, and produced the effect its author ( who, it is said, was Hon. Lilburn W. Boggs, then a citizen of Independence and Lieutenant-Governor, afterwards Governor) intended. The people were stirred up and insulted and maltreated the Mormons on all occa- sions. Numbers of the " Saints " were brutally beaten, and some were tied up and whipped unmercifully.
A general meeting of the citizens of Jackson county " for the pur- pose of adopting measures to rid ourselves of the sect of fanatics called Mormons," was held at Independence July 20 (1833 ). About 500 Gentile people from all parts of the county attended, and an " ad- dress to the public " was agreed upon. This address stated that only a little more than two years previously, " some two or three of these people appeared in Missouri ; now they number upwards of 1,200;" that each successive spring and autumn poured forth a new swarm; that the mass of them were ignorant and poverty-stricken, " a little above the condition of the blacks; " that they exercised " a corrupt- ing influence " over the slaves ; and that, they believed and boasted that the whole country of Missouri was their destined inheritance, and that all the Gentiles, or unbelievers in Mormonism, were to be " cut off" in the Lord's good time. The address concluded : -
Of their pretended revelations from heaven - their personal inter- course with God and his angels - the maladies they pretended to heal by laying on of hands - and the contemptible gibberish with which
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they habitually profane the Sabbath, and which they dignify with the appellation of unknown tongues, we have nothing to say : vengeance belongs to God alone. But as to the other matters set forth in this paper, we feel called on, by every consideration of self-preservation, good society, publie morals, and the fair prospects that, if they are not blasted in the germ, awaits this young and beautiful country - a once to declare, and we do hereby most solemnly declare : -
" That no Mormon shall in future move and settle in this country.
" That those now here, who shall give a definite pledge of their in- tention within a reasonable time to remove out of the country, shall be allowed to remain unmolested until they have sufficient time to sell their property and close their business without any material sacrifice.
" That the editor of the Star be required forthwith to close his office, and discontinue the business of printing in this county ; and, as to all other stores and shops belonging to the sect, their owners must in every case comply with the terms of the second article of this declaration, and upon failure, prompt and efficient measures will be taken to close the same.
" That the Mormon leaders here are required to use their influence in preventing any further emigration of their distant brethren to this country, and to counsel and advise their brethren here to comply with the above requisitions.
" That those who fail to comply with these requisitions be referred to those of their brethren who have gifts of divination and of unknown tongues, to inform them of the lot that awaits them."
The address being unanimously adopted, the meeting adjourned for two hours, and a deputation waited upon W. W. Phelps, the editor of the Star and of the Advertiser, and Edward Partridge, the bishop, and on the keeper of the Mormon store, and warned them to comply with the resolutions at once. This deputation soon reported to the meeting that no direct answer had been obtained ; that the Mormons wished an unreasonable time in which to confer with Joseph Smith, their " Prophet," who was then at Kirtland, Ohio. It was therefore resolved that the Star printing office should be immediately razed to the ground, and the types and presses destroyed. This was done. The printing material was thrown into the Missouri river, after which several Mormons were severely beaten, and Bishop Partridge and store keeper Allen were seized, stripped naked, tarred and feathered liberally, and turned loose. One paddle of tar was thrust into Part- ridge's mouth and he was nearly suffocated. Lieut .- Gov. Boggs was in the vicinity and had full knowledge of the lawless proceedings, but refused to interfere.
July 23 the Jackson county citizens again assembled. There were several hundred of them, well armed and bearing a red flag. They
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declared their intention of driving the " Saints " forcibly out of Mis- souri if they would not go peaceably. Thoroughly overawed, the Mormons agreed, if time were given them, that they would leave the county. An agreement was signed that one-half of the Mormons with their wives and families should depart by the Ist of January and the other half by the 1st of April following ; that the paper should be suspended, and that no more Mormons should come into the country. No violence was to be done to the Mormons, provided these conditions were complied with.
In their uncomfortable situation the Mormons petitioned Gov. Dan- iel Dunklin for aid, protection, relief and reparation. The Governor replied in a very sensible and conciliatory letter, in which he stated that the attack on them was illegal and unjustifiable, and recommended them to remain where they were, and to apply for redress to the courts of the country. The Mormons thereupon resolved to remain in Missouri, and to proceed in the " building up of Zion," trusting to the protection of the Governor and the other State authorities. They also commenced legal action against the ringleaders of the mob, and paid a strong legal firm $1,000 to prosecute them.
But October 30 the Jackson county Gentiles were again in arms and raiding the " Saints." Ten houses of the Mormons were demol- ished and the inmates driven away on the Big Blue. The following day a number of other houses at Independence and in other parts of the county were plundered, and much Mormon property was forcibly taken and appropriated. Some of the scenes enacted are said to have been altogether disgraceful, rivaling, if not surpassing, the worst ex- cesses of the Kansas jayhawkers and Missouri bushwhackers during the Civil War.
In some instances the Mormons resisted. November 2, in a skir- mish at Linwood, two miles southeast of Kansas City, in what was known as the Whitmer settlement, two Gentiles were killed and several wounded. At last the State militia, under Lieut .- Gov. Boggs, was called out to " preserve the peace." The militia, however, was anti-Mormon to a man, and the unhappy Saints, knowing this, realized that they were at the mercy of their enemies, and saw that they had no alternative but to flee. It was absolutely perilous for a solitary Mormon to show himself in a town or village.
Affrighted and almost terror stricken, the Mormons crossed the river and sought safety in Clay county. November 7 the crossing began. There was great discomfort and misery among the fugitives ; the weather was cold and rainy, and the plundered, half-clad women and
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children suffered severely. But the people of Clay received the new comers kindly. They allowed them to remain, rented them houses, furnished them provisions, and gave numbers employment. For this the Clay county people were long intensely hated by their Jackson county neighbors. Some of the Mormons fled to Cass county (then Van Buren ), but were again driven and compelled to flee.1
The public authorities of the State, or some of them at least, were indignant at these lawless proceedings, and sympathized with the efforts made by the Mormons to obtain redress. The Attorney- General, then Hon. Robert W. Wells, wrote to them that if they de- sired to be re-established in their possessions in Jackson county an adequate public force would be sent for their protection. He also advised them to remain in the State and organize themselves into a regular company of militia, promising them a supply of the public arms if they should do so.
But the Mormons were averse to fighting, or to taking any steps that should lead to open dissensions or any further trouble with the citizens of Missouri, whose good will they seemed anxious to obtain and secure, in order that they might be allowed to remain in the State in peace. They desired to go to what is now the State of Kansas, but that Territory then belonged to the Indians and was not open to settle- ment by the whites. So they began to seek for new homes on the north side of the Missouri. In June, 1834, Joe Smith visited them in Clay county and counseled them to make no violent or forcible at- tempts to recover the " New Jerusalem," to which he assured them his church should be restored " in God's own time."
As the Jackson county people had seized upon and occupied the houses and lands of the Mormons, and expected to retain them, it was but natural that they should desire some legal title to them. So they sent a proposition to the Mormons in Clay to buy their lands, offering them per acre the government price, $1.25, allowing nothing for im- provements. The greater portion of these lands had been entered and were in the name of Bishop Edward Partridge, the same whom the Jack- son county Gentiles had tarred and feathered. The Mormons refused the proposition, and it was finally agreed that the matter should be sub- mitted to certain prominent citizens of Clay for arbitration. The arbiters met at Liberty, and Jackson sent over thirteen commissioners ;
1 When, during the Civil War, in August, 1863, the counties of Cass and Jackson were among those depopulated and devastated by Gen. Ewing's "Order No. 11 " the Mormons declared it a Divine judgment on those counties for their persecutions of the "Saints " thirty years before.
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the Mormons were properly represented. The Jackson men, seeing that their case was a poor one, and that the decision would in all prob- ability be against them, withdrew after an hour or two's session of the council, and, accusing the Clay county men of sympathy with the Mormons, left Liberty in great indignation after a general fight had been prevented only by persistent effort.
One of the most prominent of the delegation, James Campbell, swore that the war against the Mormons would now be renewed, and that he himself intended to kill Joe Smith and " give his carcass to the buzzards." That night, in recrossing the Missouri, the ferry boat sank, and six or seven of the delegation, Campbell among the number were drowned. Campbell's body floated down stream some distance and lodged on a sand bar. When found, the buzzards had devoured and mutilated it horribly. Joe Smith announced the fact to his followers and claimed that Campbell had brought his fate upon himself by his threats against " the Prophet of the Lord !" Many if not all of the Mormons believed him, and that the retributive justice of Heaven had fallen upon the others who were drowned because of their persecution of and unreasonable demands upon the Mormons !
A few days later Smith returned to Kirtland, Ohio, and did not return to Missouri until more than three years afterward. The Mor- mons in Missouri gradually extended their settlements in this quarter of the State, occupying portions of Clay, Ray, Carroll, Daviess, Liv- ingston, and Caldwell counties -the last three named counties not being organized until 1836.
It was, perhaps, in 1833, when the very first Mormon families came to what is now called Caldwell county, locating at first in the south- western portions, as can best be now determined. In 1834 other families followed ; in 1835, more ; and in 1836 the Mormons came in great force, in obedience to what they considered divine authority.
It was during the summer of 1836 that the Mormons began their settlement of the county in earnest. It was then a portion of Ray, but the people of the northern portion of that county, as well as the Mormons, were informed that a new county was to be organized expressly for the occupation and general benefit of the latter. In- deed, an arrangement of that character had been made by the leaders of the Mormon church and certain prominent Gentiles. An entire county was to be set apart as a sort of reservation for the Saints. To be sure Gentiles were not to be forbidden to enter it, but it was believed that under the circumstances few, if any, would desire to do 80. The Mormons were to have undisturbed possession of the new
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county ; they were to hold the county offices, send a representative to the Legislature, and in return for these privileges they were not to settle in any other county save by express consent and permission, previously obtained, of two-thirds of the non-Mormon residents of the township in said county wherein they desired to make location.
Everybody thought this a complete and satisfactory solution of the Mormon problem, which then, as often since, demanded attention and settlement. The Missourians were satisfied, because they had a poor opinion of the prairie soil of the proposed new county, which they declared was fit only for Mormons and Indians, and doubted whether it could ever be made really valuable. Moreover, they wished to rid themselves of the presence of the despised sect, whose members were clannish and exclusive, as well as unpleasantly peculiar. The Mor- mons were satisfied, because they wished for peace and security and desired above all to enjoy their religion undisturbed and undismayed.
Very soon in the summer and fall of 1836 the Mormons left Ray and Clay and pushed up into the new Canaan, which had been reported upon by Phelps and Whitmer, and which when visited was found to be equal to the representations made of it. A few Gentile settlers were found, but nearly all of them were bought out - all who would sell. Nothing could have been fairer or more equitable than the acquisition of the territory afterward called Caldwell county by the Mormons.
The leading authorities and shining lights of the Mormon Church came up with the emigration to the new country. There were W. W. Phelps, Bishop Edward Partridge, Sidney Rigdon, Philo Dibble, Elias Higbee, John Whitmer, Oliver Cowdery and others. In time came Joseph Smith, Hiram (or Hyrum) Smith, John Taylor, Lyman Wight, Parley P. Pratt, Orson Hyde, Thos. B. March, G. W. Hinkle, and Alexander McRae.
In December, 1836, the county of Caldwell was organized, a meas- ure of much importance to the Mormons. The county seat was located at Far West, and courts held in the school-house. Justices of the peace were appointed in the different townships and all the political machinery of the county was controlled by the Mormons. The militia of the county, all or nearly all Mormons, organized and mustered, and a regiment was formed under the laws of the State, of which either "General " George W. Hinkle or Lyman Wight was Colonel.
Settlements were made up and down Shoal creek and thickly along the southern tier of townships of the county. Mills were built, shops
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were opened, stores established, and the foundations for a thrifty and successful community were securely laid. Emigrants came in from Ohio and other States, but chiefly from the Mormon colony at Kirt- and, Ohio, while the Saints in Ray and Clay and elsewhere in Mis- souri joined their brethren in Caldwell as soon as they could do so.
By the summer of 1838 the population of the county was about 5,000 of whom, it is safe to say, 4,900 were Mormons. All of what were considered valuable lands for settlement were taken in one form or other - either " squatted " upon or entered at the land office in regular form. The most desirable locations in Caldwell having been taken, the Mormon settlement extended into other counties. In the spring of 1837 quite a detachment went up into Daviess, and by written permission of the few Gentile settlers there, made locations in that county. Three miles above Gallatin, on the cast bluffs of Grand river, they laid out a town which they called Diamon (pronounced Di-a-mon ). The locality was named " Adam-on-Diamon," signifying, it is said, " the grave of Adam," as certain of the Mormon wise men claimed it to be the burial place of the progenitor of the human race ! Some of the Mormons located at Gallatin and elsewhere throughout the county. Over in Clinton county there were perhaps 50 Mormon families in 1833. Down in Carroll county, at DeWitt, on the Mis- souri, in the spring of 1838, Gen. Geo. W. Hinkle and John Mur- dock, as trustees for the Mormons, purchased the town site, laid it off into lots, and soon a thriving village of one hundred houses was built. De Witt was designed to be a steamboat landing and a point from which goods and immigrants could be forwarded to Caldwell county.
It is claimed that all the Mormon settlements outside of this county were made with the prior consent of the inhabitants then living where the settlements were made ; the consent was obtained, in nearly every instance, by the payment of money, either for the lands of the pioneer Gentiles or for some articles of personal property they owned. Money was scarce at that day, and although the pioneers did not ap- prove Mormon doctrines, they did approve of Mormon gold and silver, and they were willing to tolerate the one if they could obtain the other. But afterward certain of the Gentiles claimed that the Mormon occupation had been by stealth and fraud, and perhaps in some instances this was true.
By far the majority of the Mormon settlers in this quarter were poor. Many of them were able to enter and improve but 40 acres of land, and nearly all their houses were cabins. Like other pioneers they had come to the country to better their condition ; to worship as
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they pleased, and to be with their brethren, were of course considera- tions. Every head of family was guaranteed a home, and if he was unable to buy one it was given him from the lands held by the trustees of the church. Among so many, however, there could but be those of some wealth, as well as craftsmen of various kinds, skilled mechan- ics and artisans. There were also many persons of education and accomplishments. School teachers were plenty and schools were numerous.
Among the many preachers and " elders " were some eloquent and accomplished speakers. Some of the preachers occasionally spoke in a sort of gibberish and jargon, which was termed " the unknown tongue," and which was claimed to be a species of supernatural lan- guage, spoken only under Divine inspiration for holy purposes, and only to be understood and interpreted by the especially gifted. It was held by many that this " unknown tongue " was the language in which the original plates of the Book of Mormon was written.
In the summer of 1838 dissensions broke out among the Mormons themselves in Caldwell and other parts of Missouri. The prophet, Joseph Smith, had come out from 'Ohio the previous winter or early spring, and undertook the government and conduct of his people in person. In order to successfully administer affairs he invariably an- nounced that, his commands were the results of Divine revelations, were the orders of the Deity, in fact, communicated to the people through him. He had a " revelation " regarding this matter or that as it seemed to please him. The people of course could not refuse to obey the orders of the Almighty, and so for a time Smith kept them in tolerable subjection.
At last, however, certain of the Mormons declared that the prophet had been seduced and corrupted by evil counselors, and that his pre- tended " revelations " regarding certain matters were fraudulent, and his conduct at variance with his own former teachings as well as in violation of the commands of the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Bitter controversies arose and finally David Whitmer, and Oliver Cowdery, two of the three " original witnesses " of the finding of the sacred plates, withdrew from the colony at Far West and removed to Richmond, Ray county, where Cowdery died in 1850, and was buried, and where David Whitmer yet lives. Others withdrew - the noted Sidney Rigdon among them. Some left the county, while others merely " dissented " and refused to either emigrate or continue in fel- lowship with the church. Cowdery, Whitmer, Martin Harris, who were all of the three "witnesses," were expelled by Smith from the
3
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church, as were Rigdon and many others. Smith afterward forgave Cowdery and Rigdon.
FAR WEST.
The headquarters of the Mormons in Missouri were now located in Caldwell county, at a new city called Far West. This was a second " New Jerusalem," it must be presumed, the first being at Independ- ence. Here the "Saints" set to work to recover their wasted for- tunes, and began the upbuilding of a new Zion. As Far West was at one time a locality towards which all eyes in Missouri were turned, and about which all ears were hearing, an extended mention thereof will not be out of place here.
The site of Far West was selected by John Whitmer and W. W. Phelps, constituting an exploring committee sent out by the Mor- mons when they had crossed the river from Jackson county into Clay, to find for them a new location where they might locate and not be disturbed. The committee came out in the summer of 1836, rode for days throughout this and Clinton and Daviess counties, and finally made choice of the locality referred to. The town site was a mile square, and lay five miles in a direct line northwest of where Kingston now stands, eight miles southwest of Hamilton, in Mirabile township, two miles from its east line and the same distance from the northern boundary of that township. (The numbers of the land com- prising the original plat were the sw. ¿ section 11, se. ¿ section 10, ne. { section 15, nw. ¿ section 14, all in township 56, range 29.)
W. W. Phelps seems to have been the Mormon Joshua who led the latter day spies up from the Paran of Clay county to spy out the Canaan of Caldwell. Doubtless he was instructed, too, as was Joshua, to " see the land, what it is; and the people that dwelleth therein, whether they be strong or weak, few or many ; and what the land is that they dwell in, whether it be good or bad ; whether it be fat or lean ; whether there be wood therein or not." It was as important to ascertain at that day in this prairie region regarding the land whether or not there was " wood therein," as whether or not it was " fat."
The town site was entered August 8th, 1836. The north half was entered in the name of W. W. Phelps ; the south half in the name of John Whitmer ; but both Phelps and Whitmer merely held the land in trust for " the Church." The date of the entry goes to prove that the first exploration was in the summer of 1836.
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