History of Salt Lake City, Part 41

Author: Tullidge, Edward Wheelock
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Salt Lake City, Star printing company
Number of Pages: 1194

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" Therefore, We respectfully petition your Excellency to forthwith remove the aforesaid persons from the offices they now hold, and to appoint in their places men who will attend to the duties of their offices, honor their appointments, and re- gard the rights of all, attending to their own affairs and leaving alone the affairs of others ; and in all their conduct demeaning themselves as honorable citizens and officers worthy of commendation by yourself, our Government and all good men ; and for the aforesaid removals and appointments your petitioners will most respectfully continue to pray.

" Great Salt Lake City, Territory of Utah, March 3, 1863."

The same unanimous approval followed the reading of the petition. The band then played " The Marsellaise," and the chairman dissolved the meeting. The News says-

" By way of conclusion, we must add that we never saw a more earnest, vet calm and deliberate assembly in Utah or elsewhere; the rights of the people were threatened, and they solemnly entered their protest, leaving the results for the future in the hands of an overruling Providence. Before eight o'clock last even- ing, upwards of 2, 100 signatures were affixed to the petition, and, no doubt, there will be a large addition to that number in the course of to-day."

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The following is the report of the committee :

"G. S. L. CITY, March 5, 1863. 1.

" To the citizens of Great Salt Lake City :

" GENTLEMEN :

" Your committee, appointed at the mass meeting held in the Tabernacle on the 3d inst., waited upon his Excellency Governor Harding and their Honors Judges Waite and Drake, on the morning of the 4th.

" Governor Harding received us cordially, but, upon being informed of the purport of our visit, both himself and Judge Drake, who was in the Governor's office, emphatically refused to comply with the wishes of the people, notwith- standing the Governor had repeatedly stated that he would leave whenever he learned that his acts and course were not agreeable to the people.

" Upon being informed that, if he was not satisfied that the action of the mass meeting expressed the feelings of the people, he could have the expression of the whole Territory, he replied, ' I am aware of that, but that would make no difference.'

" Your committee called at the residence of Judge Waite, who, being absent at the time, has since informed us, by letter, that he also refuses to comply with the wishes of the people.

JOHN TAYLOR, JETER CLINTON, ORSON PRATT, Sen."

CHAPTER XXXIV.

A COUNTER PETITION FROM CAMP DOUGLAS TO PREST. LINCOLN. IMPEND- ING CONFLICT BETWEEN CAMP DOUGLAS AND THE CITY. A SUPPOSED CONSPIRACY TO ARREST BRIGHAM YOUNG AND RUN HIM OFF TO THE STATES. JUDGES WAITE AND DRAKE HOLD UNLAWFUL COURTS IN JUDGE KINNEY'S DISTRICT. THE CHIEF JUSTICE INTERPOSES WITH A WRIT TO ARREST BRIGHAM YOUNG FOR POLYGAMY. IT IS SERVED BY THE U. S. MARSHAL INSTEAD OF A MILITARY POSSE. THE CITY IN ARMS, EX- PECTING A DESCENT FROM CAMP DOUGLAS. THE WARNING VOICE OF CALIFORNIA HEARD. BOOMING OF THE GUNS OF CAMP DOUGLAS AT MIDNIGHT. THE CITY AGAIN IN ARMS. FALSE ALARM. CONNOR CRE- ATED BRIGADIER-GENERAL.

"A counter petition signed by the officers of Camp Douglas and the non-Mor- mons of Salt Lake City was sent to President Lincoln urging the retention of Governor Harding, and Judges Drake and Waite.

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The issue of affairs had now reached the condition of impending war between the camp and the city, while Chief Justice John F. Kinney occupied a similiar position in the case to that of Governor Cumming, when the conflict was threatened between the city and Camp Floyd. It was the prevailing opinion of the citizens that a descent upon the city by Colonel Connor and his troops to arrest Brigham and his counselors might be expected at any moment. It was also further believed that could this be accomplished, by a dashing "surprise," the intention was to run these Mormon leaders off to the States for trial. General Connor and his officers have indignantly denied any such intentions on the part of Camp Douglas; but, it is certain, that the citizens thus viewed the prospect in those days, which to them signified the prospect of a fierce conflict and the shed- ding of much blood ; for the citizens never would have permitted Brigham Young to have been taken to Camp Douglas, and held under military guard, as the Mayor of Great Salt Lake City was a decade later. No mere historical summary could harmonize the views of the camp and the city ; but for an appreciation of the situation and the excited condition of the then public mind, both of California and Utah, we must cull from the chronicles of those times. The first presented is from the Deseret News of March 11, 1863 :

" We have been aware for a number of days that the issuance of writs against President Yonng was in contemplation. There has been an unusual stir at Camp Douglas, the most ample preparations made for the purpose of making a descent with an armed force upon the President, whenever those writs should be placed in the hands of the marshal. It was vainly and foolishly supposed that he would resist the service of a writ issued under the act referred to. Persons desiring col- lision were anxious to make the pretext of an armed military force in executing this process, the excuse for gratifying their wicked purposes. But in this they have been disappointed. As a people we believe in, and have ever taught obedi- ence and submission to the laws of the land. No one has more earnestly taught this than the President of this church. It is well known that in his private and public teachings he has taken the position of obedience to any legal writ emanat- ing from proper authority, whether against him or any of the people under this or any other law.

" On the 10th inst., an affidavit was made before His Honor Chief Justice J. F. Kinney, charging Brigham Young with having violated the act of Congress, by taking another wife. Judge Kinney promptly issued a writ for his arrest and placed it in the hands of Mr. Gibbs, United States marshal. The marshal adopted the very prudent course of serving the writ himself, without calling a · posse,' and accordingly waited upon the President, only fortified by the process and with such civil authority as the law invested him.

" An immediate response was made to the writ, by the prompt appearance of the defendant before Judge Kinney at the State House, accompanied by two or three of his immediate friends. An investigation was made of the facts charged in the affidavit, by the introduction of evidence, resulting in the Judge holding the defendant to bail in the sum of two thousand dollars, for his appearance at the next term of the United States Court for the Third Judicial District.

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" The sureties were required to justify under oath, when it appeared that they were worth some twenty thousand dollars.

" We have no fault to find with Judge Kinney for issuing the process, or his determination upon the testimony. As the judge of this district, he can make no distinction, and it is his duty to magnify all constitutional law, as we trust it will ever be the pleasure of the people to submit to and obey the authority with which such law invests him."

Of simultaneous date the California press on Utah affairs gives the following pungent views :

[From the Daily Alta California, March 11.]

" We have some strange news to-day from Salt Lake, via New York. It is to the effect that there is danger of a collision between the Mormons and our troops there. The despatch goes so far as to state that Governor Harding and Associate Justices Waite and Drake have called upon Col. Connor to arrest Brig- ham Young and some of the Mormon leaders. It is strange that we have heard nothing on this side of these important events, and that the first intimation we should have of what is going on should reach us via New York. We had, to be sure, a report, recently of some angry meetings which had taken place there, but we had no idea that anything serious was going on.

" To get at the facts of the case we telegraphed to Salt Lake last night. The telegram which we received does not clear up matters fully. Our correspondent speaks of an anti-bigamy law as the cause of the trouble. We do not know of any except the one providing for the admission of Utah as a State, provided polygamy was abolished. The whole affair therefore is still enveloped in some confusion. There is one thing, however, that we do know; Colonel P. Edward Connor and his regiment were sent across the mountains to protect the telegraph and the overland mail, and to fight the Indians, and not to kick up trouble with the Mormons or any other class of persons The Government has enough of fighting now on its hands and there is no necessity for increasing it. Perhaps an expenditure of a few more millions of dollars in a Utah war is deemed necessary to promote the happiness of somebody behind the scenes."

[From Sacramento Daily Union, March 12.]

" It seems that matters at Salt Lake are in an unsettled and uncertain state. Some difficulty has grown up between the Governor, the United States Judges, and the head of the Mormon Church, which may-though we hope not-termin- ate in a collision. We never deemed it particularly an act of wisdom to order a single regiment to Salt Lake. It was not needed there for protection, and in the event of a collision was to weak too be of any particular use. We fear, too, that the Governor has been imprudent. The Mormons should, of course, submit to the laws, but laws ought not be forced upon them which are repugnant to a very large majority of that singular people. A conflict at this time would prove a great misfortune to California. It would also prove fatal to the Mormons, and hence we reason that they will avoid any hostile demonstrations except in self-

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defense. The pretty-much let-alone policy is the one which should be adopted toward the Mormons."

[From the Daily Alta California, March 14.]

"In our columns to-day will be found an interesting letter from Salt Lake. It gives an account of the commencement of the troubles there. Our next will, in all probability, bring down the narrative to the late proceedings. Mr. Lin- coln, it must be admitted, has been very unfortunate in the selection of office- holders. If his intention in sending Harding to rule over the Mormons was to kick up a row there, he has succeeded. The policy of such a proceeding, just at this juncture, however, may very well be doubted. We have enough of fighting on hand at present."

It will be observed, from the above editorial passages, that the two great journals of San Francisco and Sacramento, speaking for California, manifested a decided agreement with the judgment of California's senators, as stated by Sena- tor McDougal in his speech opposing the passage of the anti-polygamic bill and emphasized by the votes of himself and colleague, Senator Latham. Neither of these statesmen favored polygamy, much less did they intend to imply by their solitary " nays " against both Houses of Congress that Utah could continue the practice of polygamy with the consent of California. Senator McDougal's words very sagely but simply expounded the case and the situation.

Only a few months had elapsed since the passage of the anti-polygamy bill of '62 and California and Utah were now nearly brought into a conflict over an im- proper attempt at its execution, for it is apparent that had a conflict ensued between the Utah militia and the California Volunteers, these "sister States of the Pacific" must themselves have been brought into the conflict. The warning passage from the Sacramento Daily Union was very pointed : "A conflict at this time would prove a great misfortune to California. It would also prove fatal to the Mormons." This with the stinging passage from the Daily Alta doubtless had the desired effect, both upon the Volunteers and the people of Great Salt Lake City. Colonel Con- nor and his officers could not with indifference read California's reminder to them that they were sent across the mountains to protect the overland mail and to fight the Indians " and not to kick up trouble with the Mormons."

But in the foregoing excerpts from the Deseret News and the California press there are merely a few points of detail of the stirring events which came nigh to the very pitch of battle.

It must be told for a comprehension of the alarm of those times that not only had Governor Harding vetoed nearly every act passed by the Legislature of that year, as he soon afterwards overrode nearly all the judicial decisions of the Chief Justice by wholesale pardons, which whether deserved or not leaves the sequence of events the same, but Judges Waite and Drake were also setting aside the Chief Justice in his own district, where they presumed unlawfully to hold courts, and that, too, while he was holding his regular term with a grand jury at business daily bringing in their indictments. The Deseret News commenting upon " Judge Waite and his judicial presumption " said :

" We are not a little astonished at His Honor Judge Waite assuming the pre-

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rogative of holding court in the third district, when the Legislature had assigned him to the second.

" We confess we were prepared to witness almost anything from the dis- affected Judge, but hardly ready to behold so strange a spectacle as a Judge assuming judicial authority in defiance of law.

"The ninth section of the Organic Law provides as follows:

""" The Territory shall be divided into three judicial districts, and a district court shall be held in each of said districts by one of the justices of the supreme court, at such time and place as shall be prescribed by law, and the judges shall, after their appointment, respectively reside in the districts which shall be assigned them.'

" This is a plain, unequivocal provision and should be complied with by those whose duty it is to administer the law. Two months have elapsed since the Legislature assigned Judge Waite to the second district, and yet, in place of sub- mitting to and obeying the law, which His Honor has sworn to support, we find him still in this city issuing writs and holding an examining court.

" Aside from the illegality of the proceeding, common courtesy, it seems to ns, if His Honor had no regard for the law, should have operated to deter the Judge from assuming judicial power in Judge Kinney's district."

There had been no alarm in the city over a proper warrant of arrest of Brig- ham Young, to test in his person the constitutionality of the anti-polygamy bill of 1862, or its operative powers, which latter it may be said was at that time as nothing with a polygamic grand jury, who believed that bill to be unconstitutional and that it would be so decided when it came before the Supreme Court of the United States. The alarm was at the prospect of the issuance of a writ for the arrest of President Young through the same associate Justice Waite who, it was be- lieved, for this and similar purposes was with Associate Justice Drake administering in the district of the Chief Justice. It was with this view that the Deseret News noted: " We have been aware for a number of days that the issuance of writs against President Young was in contemplation ; " and further, " there has been an unusual stir at Camp Douglas, the most ample preparations made for the pur- pose of making a descent with an armed force upon the President whenever those writs should be placed in the hands of the marshal." In fine, the writ which was issued by Chief Justice Kinney, upon an affidavit made by one of the citizens, charging Brigham Young with violating the act of Congress prohibiting polyg- amy, was designed to prevent the arrest of Brigham Young by those other im- proper writs in contemplation to be executed by military force. The further note on the execution is like a volume of history of the case : " Judge Kinney promptly issued a writ for his arrest and placed it in the hands of Mr. Gibbs, United States marshal. The marshal adopted the very prudent course of serving the writ himself, without calling for a posse, and accordingly waited upon the President, only fortified by the process and with such civil authority as the law in- vested him." Thus was a very different result obtained from that of the arrest of Brigham Young by the " descent of an armed force," as a " posse " to execute a writ issued by Judge Waite to bring the prisoner before his court, to be held at

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HISTORY OF SALT LAKE CITY.

Camp Douglas or wherever it might have pleased him and his Associate Judge Drake and Governor Harding. Here may be told a part of the story of those times by Mr. Stenhouse, from his Rocky Mountain Saints, though in some respects it is different from his " interesting letters," published in the San Francisco Alta, the Sacramento Union, and in the New York Herald, which gave the current views of Utah affairs to the American public, east and west :

"Colonel Connor had visited Judge Waite, and, on leaving his house, one of the elders, who was loitering about, believed that he overheard the colonel say : 'These three men must be surprised.' That was sufficient. Instantly the eavesdropper flew to Brigham. The Prophet believed the story, hoisted a signal to rally the militia, and in half an hour a thousand armed men surrounded his premises, and within an hour another thousand were armed and on duty. The city was in commotion, and rifles, lead, and powder, were brought out of their hiding places. On the inside of the high walls surrounding Brigham's premises, scaffolding was hastily erected in order to enable the militia to fire down upon passing Volunteers. The houses on the route which occupied a commanding posi- tion where an attack could be made upon the troops were taken possession of, the small cannon were brought out and the brethren prepared to protect the Prophet.

" There was no truth in the rumor of an intended arrest of Brigham and his counsellors. The Mormon leaders, all the same, believed it to be true, and they were cautious and watchful. A powerful telescope was placed on the top of Brigham's 'BeeHive' residence, and every move of the Volunteers in Camp Douglas was watched with great care. Night and day, for several weeks, there was a body of armed men around the Prophet, and signals agreed upon, by which the whole people could be rallied by night or by day.

* * *

" The Volunteers were not numerous enough to 'overawe' the Mormons, and their presence was on that account, all the more irksome. To know that they 'could use them up any morning before breakfast,' and yet be forced to tolerate their presence on the brow of a hill, like a watch-tower, was irritating to the Prophet's mind. The Tabernacle resounded with fierce denunciations every Sunday. Mischief-makers poured into the ears of the Prophet every story that could increase his prejudice against Colonel Connor ; and the latter heard quite as much to incense him against Brigham. A collision for a long time seemed inevitable.

" Providing for the possibility of a rupture at any moment, it was agreed that, if the struggle came by night, the citizens were to be summoned to arms by firing cannon from the hill-side, at the east of Brigham's residence; and, if the difficulty began during the day, the flag was to be hoisted over his Bee-Hive resi- dence. To the latter signal the citizens had once responded ; and it was believed that their readiness to fight for the Prophet had intimidated the commander of the Volunteers, so that he would be unlikely to make an attack by day. At that time, it was believed that Colonel Connor, having been foiled in this first attempt, entertained the idea of making a dash upon the Prophet's bed-room 'in the dead

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of night,' seizing him, and running him off to the States before the Mormons could learn of his situation, and render him any assistance.

" General Connor never had orders to arrest Brigham Young, or he would have done so-or tried. At the time of the conversation with Judge Waite, al- ready referred to, which created the panic and the assembling of the Mormons in arms, the Prophet was not the subject of consideration. One of the brethren had married the three widows of a wealthy merchant within sight of Judge Waite's residence, and as that was an excellent case in which to try the application of the Anti-Polygamic Law, the General replied to the Judge that he would arrest him if the court furnished the order. The anticipation that difficulty would arise, from Judge Waite acting within Judge Kinney's judicial district while the latter was present, was the only thing that prevented the arrest.

" On the night of the 29th of March, the citizens were aroused by the boom- ing of cannon. As hastily as garments could be thrown on, and arms could be seized, the brethren were seen hurrying from their homes towards the Prophet's residence. The struggle was apparently at hand. The signal cannon had been distinctly heard, and, as there was a gentle current of air from the east, those who lived west of the Prophet could hear the very music to which the Volunteers were supposed to be marching into the heart of the city !

" For his great victory over Bear Hunter and other Indian chiefs, in a des- perate battle in the depth of winter, two months before, Colonel Connor had now been promoted to the rank of Brigadier General, and the news had only just reached Camp Douglas ! The military band had been called out to serenade the promoted commander, and the cannon was roaring over the mountains in honor of the victor !

" Fortunately for those concerned, Elder A. O. Smoot, and not some mad fanatic, was mayor of the city of the Saints in those troublesome times."

CHAPTER XXXV.

TRIAL OF THE MORRISITES. SENTENCE OF THE PRISONERS. THEY ARE IMMEDIATELY PARDONED BY GOVERNOR HARDING. COPIES OF THE EXTRAORDINARY PARDONS. THE GRAND JURY DECLARES THE LAW OUTRAGED AND PRESENTS GOVERNOR HARDING IN THE THIRD U. S. DISTRICT COURT FOR JUDICIAL CENSURE. THEIR HISTORY OF THE MORRISITE DISTURBANCE. THE COURT SUSTAINS THE CENSURE.

At the March term of the Third U. S. District Court the famous Morrisite trial took place with Chief Justice John F. Kinney presiding. Ten of the pris- oners were indicted for killing two of the U. S. posse sent to enforce the law which the Morrisite community openly defied; seven of these were convicted, one

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" nolled," and two were acquitted. Sixty-six others were fined one hundred dol- lars each for resisting the posse. Of the seven convicted of " murder in the second degree " one was sentenced to fifteen years' imprisonment, one to twelve years, and five to ten years each. Immediately after the passing of the sentence the fol- lowing pardons were granted by Governor Harding, embracing the whole of the Morrisite prisoners.

" UTAH TERRITORY, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT.

To all to whom these presents shall come greeting :

" Whereas, at the March term of the District Court for the Third Judicial Dis- trict in said Territory, A. D. 1863. The Honorable John F. Kinney presiding. Peter Klemgard, Christen Nielsen, Gens Christensen, Kadrup Nielsen, Abraham Taylor, Andrew Lee, and Andrew M. Mason were convicted of murder in the second degree, and sentenced each for a term of years, at hard labor in the Peni- tentiary.

"Now, know ye, that I, Stephen S. Harding, Governor of the Territory of Utah, divers good causes me thereto moving, by virtue of the power in me vested, have given and granted, and by these presents do give and grant unto the said Peter Klemgard, Christen Nielsen, Gens Christensen, Kadrup Nielsen, Abra- ham Taylor, Andrew Lee, and Andrew M. Mason, and to each of them, full and perfect pardon for the offense aforesaid, of which they stand convicted, and they are, and each of them is, hereby forever exonerated, discharged, and absolved from the punishment imposed upon them or either of them, in pursuance of said conviction.

" In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the [L.S.] Great Seal of the Territory of Utah to be affixed at Great Salt Lake City this 31st day of March, A. D. 1863.

STE. S. HARDING. Gov. of Utah Territory.

" By the Governor :

FRANK FULLER, Secretary."

" UTAH TERRITORY, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. " To all to whom these presents shall come greeting :

" Whereas, at the March term of the District Court for the Third Judicial District in said Territory, A. D. 1863. The Honorable John F. Kinney presiding. Richard Cook, John Parson, Edward Moss, Daniel Smith, John B. Ledgeway, John O. Mather, James Mather, Richard D. Aloey, Alexander Warrender, Wil- liam McGhie, Elijah L. Chappel, John E. Jones, John Cook, David Thomas, Peter John Moss, Joseph Taylor, Mathew Mudd, James Bowman, Robert E. Far- ley, William W. Thomas, Alexander Dow, John Keehorn, John C. Edwards, John Gray, Joseph Dove, Thomas L. Williams, William Davis, Alonzo Brown, Edward Lloyd, Samuel Halse, Elijah Clifford, George Thompson, Goodman Goodmunsen, Charles Higham, John E. Reese, Soren Peter Gould, Jorjen Jensen, Soren Willis- sen, Lars Christen Hanson, Andres Jensen, Swen Hagg, Soren Peter Rasmussen,

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History of Salt Lake City, Part 41

Author: Tullidge, Edward Wheelock Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Salt Lake City, Star printing company Number of Pages: 1194

Author: Tullidge, Edward Wheelock
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Salt Lake City, Star printing company
Number of Pages: 1194