History of Utah, Part 7

Author: Whitney, Orson Ferguson
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Salt Lake City, Cannon
Number of Pages: 1026

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Such were the doctrines that Parley P. Pratt desired to present to his former friends in and around Kirtland. The commission of the Elders being to "preach the gospel to every creature," regardless of creed or color, they were nothing loth to tarry for a season within the confines of civilization and "thrust in their sickles and reap," wherever the field of souls appeared "white unto the harvest." Calling on Mr. Rigdon, they presented him with the Book of Mormon, at the same time relating to him its history. This was his first knowledge of the record which, a few years later, he was accused of assisting Joseph Smith to create out of the materials of the Spaulding story. He entertained the Elders hospitably, and promised to read the book carefully. The result was his conversion to Mormonism. After due deliberation he offered himself to the Elders as a candidate for baptism. Many of his flock were likewise converted. Within three weeks after their arrival at Kirtland, the Elders baptized one hundred and twenty-seven souls. Among these were Sidney Rigdon, Newel K. Whitney, Frederick G. Williams, Isaac Morley, Lyman Wight, John Murdock and others whose names became more or less notable in the annals of Mormonism. Edward Partridge was also converted, but was not immediately baptized.

But the Elders must not tarry too long at Kirtland. The season is far advanced, the storms of winter will soon burst forth, and a vast journey still lies before them. They now prepare for departure. Ordaining Sidney Rigdon and others to the priesthood, and setting

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them apart to minister for the rest, the four Elders reported by letter to the Prophet, and bidding their new-found brethren and sisters adieu, resumed their westward pilgrimage. Frederick G. Williams accompanied them.

Near the mouth of Black River, in the neighborhood of Parley P. Pratt's former home, they stopped one night at the house of Simeon Carter. Here Parley was arrested on some trivial charge and held in durance till morning. Escaping by strategy he rejoined his companions, and they trudged on through mud and rain toward the interior. Everywhere they found that their fame had preceded them. Though ill-treated by some, they preached to crowded con- gregations, and sowed the seed broad-cast of a future bounteous har- vest. Simeon Carter, at whose home Parley, on the night of his arrest, had left a copy of the Book of Mormon, perused it carefully, was converted, and walked fifty miles to Kirtland, where he was bap- tized and ordained an Elder. Returning, he began himself to preach and baptize, and built up a branch of the Church in his neighborhood numbering sixty members.

At Sandusky, Elder Cowdery and his companions came upon another Indian nation, the Wyandots, with whom they spent several days very agreeably. Like the Catteraugus Indians, they warmly welcomed the missionaries, listened with interest to their teachings, and at parting gave them God-speed. They also requested the Elders to write to them regarding their success among the tribes farther west. Proceeding to Cincinnati, the Elders tarried certain days, preaching, and in the latter part of December took passage on a steamboat bound for St. Louis. The mouth of the Ohio River being blocked with ice, their boat could proceed no farther. At that point, therefore, they landed and continued their journey afoot. Two hun- dred miles traveled in this manner brought them to the vicinity of St. Louis. Heavy storms of rain and snow now detained them for over a week, during which they were kindly cared for by hospitable people in that section.

With the opening year-1831-they resumed their journey,

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passing through St. Louis and St. Charles. Then out over the bleak and storm-swept prairies, through wintry winds and stinging hail and driving sleet, at times half frozen, often fatigued, but never dis- heartened. Their frequent diet was frozen bread and raw pork, munched by the wayside, as they trudged along weary and foot-sore through deep and drifting snows, looking in vain for house or sign of shelter. Three hundred miles were thus traversed. Finally, after much privation and some suffering, they reached Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, then on the extreme western frontier of the United States. Their pilgrimage was now practically ended. Beyond lay the trackless wilderness,-trackless indeed save for the foot-prints of wild beast or savage, hovering in friendliness near the border, or roaming at will the vast plains stretching westward to the unexplored regions of the Rocky Mountains.

The country in which they found themselves was settled, or partly settled by whites, mostly ignorant and half civilized, with Indians and negroes interspersed,-a typical frontier population. Renegades and refugees from justice, who had fled from the older states to this out-of-the-way region, formed at that time no inconsid- erable portion of the inhabitants of western Missouri. Civilization, however, was advancing; schools had been introduced and were beginning to thrive, and to offset the reckless criminal element many intelligent, upright and respectable people were numbered among the citizens. The curse of the country was the political demagogue, playing as ever for personal ends behind the mask of patriotism,- proverbially "the last refuge of a scoundrel." Missouri, only nine years a state,-having been admitted to the Union under the cele- brated pro-slavery compromise of 1821,- was just the field where such characters might flourish, and flourish they did, to the infinite sorrow of their betters.

Jackson County, named for General Andrew Jackson-then President of the United States-was settled principally by people from Tennessee and farther south. Clay County, immediately north, and separated from Jackson County by the Missouri River, had

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been named for Henry Clay, Jackson's opponent in the presidential · contest of 1828. Its settlers were mostly Kentuckians. Indepen- dence, the county seat of Jackson, was a new town prettily situated on a piece of rising ground, about three miles south of the river, and twelve miles east of the state boundary line. It contained a court- house built of brick, two or three merchants' stores, and a score or more of private dwellings. The houses generally were log cabins, without glass windows or floors, and many of the settlers, women as well as men, dressed entirely in skins. Their food was also of the coarsest, consisting usually of wild meat, wild honey, pork and corn bread, prepared in the most primitive manner. These conditions prevailed among the poor. The rich and those well-to-do of course had things in much better style. The settlers of Jackson County, as said, were mostly from the south, and were either slaveholders or advocates of slavery. Christian churches had their representatives there, as elsewhere, and the general government its Indian agents and other functionaries. West of Jackson County was the Indian Territory, now the State of Kansas.

Leaving their companions at Independence, where two of them obtained temporary employment as tailors, Oliver Cowdery and Parley P. Pratt crossed over the line into Indian Territory, entering the country of the Shawnees and Delawares. The Delaware chief was the sachem of ten tribes. He was also a polygamist, having several wives. He welcomed his white visitors cordially, and though averse to missionaries in general, after some hesitation called a council of his leading men and permitted Elder Cowdery to address them. The Elder explained through an interpreter the import of his visit, and the mission of himself and his brethren to that land ; gave an account of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, with a brief statement of its contents, and closing presented the aged chief with one of the volumes. The gift was graciously accepted, the sachem testifying his appreciation of the efforts of the Elders in behalf of him and his people, and promising that in the spring they would build a large council house wherein they might be taught

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more fully. Several days elapsed, during which the two Elders continued to instruct the aged sachem and his people. They + lodged meanwhile at the house of Mr. Pool, a blacksmith employed for the Indians by the government. He became a believer in the Book of Mormon, and served the Elders as an interpreter. The Indians manifested great interest in what was told them, insomuch that considerable excitement began to prevail among them. This coming to the ears of Christian missionaries, excited their jealousy, and inspired by them the agents of the government ordered the Elders to quit the Indian country. Threatened with the military if they failed to comply, Elders Cowdery and Pratt reluctantly recrossed the border and rejoined their companions. During the remainder of their sojourn in that land, they confined their proselyting labors mainly to the white settlers of Jackson County, some of whom were converted and baptized. And so ended this mission to the Laman- ites.

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CHAPTER VI.

1830-1833.

THE CHURCH REMOVES TO OHIO-THE UNITED ORDER-ORGANIZATION OF THE BISHOPRIC-JOS- EPH SMITH'S FIRST VISIT TO MISSOURI-JACKSON COUNTY THE CHOSEN SITE OF THE CITY OF ZION-THE LAND DEDICATED FOR THE GATHERING OF ISRAEL AND THE BUILDING OF THE NEW JERUSALEM-THE RETURN TO KIRTLAND-THE PROPHET AND ELDER RIGDON AT HIRAM-A VISION OF HUMAN DESTINY-THE MOBBING OF JOSEPH AND SIDNEY-A SECOND VISIT TO MISSOURI -- THE WAR OF THE REBELLION PREDICTED-THE FIRST PRESIDENCY ORGANIZED-THE KIRTLAND TEMPLE PROJECTED.

EANTIME, in Ohio and in the east the cause of Mormonism had been steadily, even rapidly progressing. The Prophet and his co-laborers, after the departure of the Lamanite mission, had been kept busy preaching, baptizing and building up the Church in the states of New York and Pennsylvania. Among those who had recently become associated with the Mormon leader were Thomas B. Marsh, the future President of the Twelve Apostles, and Orson Pratt, another member of that council.

In December, 1830, there came to Fayette on a visit to the Prophet, Sidney Rigdon and Edward Partridge, from Kirtland, Ohio. Sidney, as seen, had been baptized, and was now an Elder of the Church. His companion, though converted, had not yet entered the fold, but was baptized by Joseph in Seneca River, a few days after his arrival at Fayette. Both these men, Sidney Rigdon and Edward Partridge, whose acquaintance with the Mormon leader here began, afterwards attained high positions in the Church.

A work now engaging the attention of the Prophet was a revi- sion of the Scriptures. In the absence of Oliver Cowdery in the west, and of John Whitmer, who had been sent to preside over the

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Saints in Ohio, he had need of an expert scribe to assist him in his literary labors. Such an assistant he found in Sidney Rigdon, who now became his secretary and near associate. In a revelation re- corded about this time, Sidney is likened unto John the Baptist,- referring to his former labors as a Campbellite preacher, whereby, he was informed, he had prepared the way unwittingly for a greater one to follow.

It now became evident to the Prophet, whose mind had already conceived the idea that the west, and not the east, was the field of Mormonism's greater destiny, that the season was ripe for a general movement of his people in the direction of their promised Zion. The site of the future city had not yet been definitely declared, though it was understood in general terms to be "on the borders by the Lamanites." Thither Oliver Cowdery and his companions were now wending their way. But the success of those Elders in northern Ohio had indicated an eligible spot for the founding of a "stake of Zion," a temporary gathering place, where, pending further move- ments toward the building up of their central city, the Saints might assemble .* Accordingly, ere the month of December had expired, the word went forth from the Prophet to his followers in the eastern states to dispose of their possessions, migrate westward and "assem- ble together at the Ohio."

Not that the east was to be relinquished as a field for prose- lytism. Not that the Prophet and his people, as might be imagined, had become dispirited and lost confidence in the cause with which they were identified. On the contrary, never had the sun of hope beamed for them more brightly; never had their thorny pathway seemed so thickly bestrewn with flowers. True, they were hated and opposed on every hand, their leader's life was threatened, and secret plots, he had been warned, were even then forming for his destruction. But such had been their experience heretofore, and

* The distinction between Zion and the Stakes of Zion should be borne in mind by he reader who desires to properly understand Mormon history.

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these were not the impelling causes of the migratory movement now in contemplation. Joseph Smith's character has not been read aright, nor the record of his people from the beginning, if it be imagined that fear for his personal safety or the hope of immunity from further persecution were the motives that then actuated them. No; it was to them the beginning of Israel's latter-day gathering, an initiatory step toward the building up of Zion; and though the reason may have been, in part, that Mormonism,-hated, defamed, and struggling against apparently overwhelming odds,-might gain a firmer foot-hold for its fight of faith than seemed possible amid the warring spiritual elements of the more thickly populated portions of the land, it was far from being the chief purpose and principal end in view. These Latter-day Saints believed they were fulfilling a God-given destiny in thus flocking Zionward,-in fleeing, as Isaiah had said Israel should, "upon the shoulders of the Philistines toward the west." They were destined to make literal these words of the ancient seer to an extent little dreamed of at that time in their philosophy.

A farewell conference was held at Fayette on the 2nd of Jan- uary, 1831. The affairs of the Church in the eastern parts were settled, or left in the hands of trusty agents to wind up as speedily as possible, and the Prophet, accompanied by his wife, and by Sidney Rigdon, Edward Partridge, Ezra Thayre and Newel Knight, toward the latter part of the month set out for Kirtland.

They arrived there about the 1st of February. Driving his sleigh through the streets of the little town, the Prophet drew up at the mercantile door of Messrs. Gilbert and Whitney. Alighting from his vehicle he entered the store and introduced himself as "Joseph the Prophet," to Newel K. Whitney, the junior partner of the firm. By him and his household, Joseph and his wife, pending other arrangements for their reception, were cordially received and enter- tained.

The first step taken by the Prophet, after setting in order the Church at Kirtland,-the affairs of which, after the departure of

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Elder Cowdery and his confreres, had become somewhat demoralized spiritually,-was to lay the foundation of what is known to Latter-day Saints as the United Order. A brief exposition of this principle of their religion will here be necessary.

Some of the views of the Saints relative to the up-building of Zion have already been dwelt upon. Of the United Order, or the Order of Enoch, as it is otherwise named, it may be said it is a religio-social system involving the methods whereby that "up-build- ing" is to be accomplished. Said Joseph Smith: "It is not given that one man should possess that which is above another." This is the key-note of the United Order.

Co-operative or communistic schemes the world had known before. Saint Simon and Fourier in France, Owen in England and in America, each ere this had launched his bark of philanthropic thought and theory upon the waters of social reform. As early as 1825 Robert Owen and his associates had established industrial communities on both sides of the Atlantic. There was even at this time, in the vicinity of Kirtland-though not of Owen's origin-a small community called "the family," which, following the example of some of the early Christians, held their temporal possessions in common. But the United Order introduced by Joseph Smith proba- bly went further toward realizing, or foreshadowing, the Millennarian dream of the prophet, poet and philanthropist, than anything the world had before witnessed.

Nor are these idle words, words of unmerited eulogy. A Mil- lennium without a God is impossible. A communistic scheme, a plan for social reconstruction, without a religious basis, the love of God and man as its central idea, is born but to perish, howsoever for a season it may thrive. And even with religion,-the highest and strongest motive that can impel selfish humanity,-will it not be found a stupendous and all but impossible task? Instance the fail- ures of those would-be social reformers, secularists, who have thought to leave God and religion out of their otherwise grand schemes for society's reconstruction and regeneration. Deity must

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be recognized, must be at the head and helm of all plans for man's perfecting. Otherwise they cannot endure. The "natural man" is too much an enemy to God, too much the enemy of his fellow man, to conquer covetousness and love his neighbor as himself, save God be with him. And without self-conquest, without love of humanity, no Millennium, no universal brotherhood, no reign of peace and righteousness is possible.

Herein lay the superiority of Joseph Smith's concept over those of the eminent social reformers, his predecessors and cotempor- aries. The United Order was not a mere financial scheme, not a co-operative, joint-stock mercantile concern; not a mere plan for social reconstruction, involving only a community of temporal inter- ests. It was all these and more. It was religious, not secular in its character; spiritual, not temporal in its genius; and yet, being spir- itual, it comprehended and circumscribed the temporal. How and where Joseph Smith obtained it is not the question to be here deter- mined. He declared that it was revealed to him by the Almighty. Impartial history can neither affirm nor deny it. The province of the historian is the field of facts, and it is a fact that Joseph Smith so stated. At all events, God was recognized as its author, its laws as His laws, its aim and purpose His. Its avowed object was to glor- ify God by lifting up man, mentally, physically, morally, spiritually. It was to the Saints the Millennial lever that was to move the world, gradually but effectually, toward the glorious goal of universal brotherhood and good will. It was as the voice of Elias,-the voice of one crying in the wilderness : "Prepare ye the way of the

Lord." "Make His paths straight." " Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain." In other words, it meant the leveling of class distinctions,-the bringing down of the mountains of pride, the exalting of the valleys of humility; the extirpation of fraud and crookedness, and the eventual triumph of true culture and civilization. By means of it Zion was to "arise and shine," the "joy of the whole earth," ere the coming of Him whose

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peaceful and righteous reign has been the theme of prophet tongues and poet pens in all ages.

It was an order of industry, too, and not of idleness; a rule of law and not of anarchy, wherein each soul, having consecrated his all, and being assigned his stewardship, was to labor faithfully for the common weal in that field or pursuit for which he proved best fitted and designed. "Every man seeking the interest of his neigh- bor, and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of God." Such was the theory of the United Order.

More practically speaking, the system meant that each indi- vidual, on entering the Order, was to deed to the Church, or its authorized representative, his or her property in toto, utterly relin- quishing its possession. It might be a farm, a workshop or a sum of money, much or little, that was thus "consecrated." But what- ever it was, it thenceforth belonged to the Order, and not to the indi- vidual. All would then be owners alike, and equality in temporal things be inaugurated.

A deed would then be given by the Church, or its representa- tive, to each member of the Order, conveying to him or her a certain portion of the general property, probably the same farm or work- shop that the individual had before consecrated. This was a " stew- ardship," thenceforth possessed by the individual, but to be used for the general good; all gains reverting to a common fund or store, whence each steward should derive his or her support. All were required to labor diligently-there were to be no drones in the hive -and to deal fairly and justly with one another. Apostasy from the Church was equivalent to withdrawal from the Order. The individual might then retain his stewardship, but not reclaim the residue of property, over and above that portion, which he had conse- crated to the common cause. Unity and equality were the watch- words of the Order; man's salvation and God's glory the ends to be kept constantly in view.

According to the faith of the Saints, it was just such a system as this that sanctified in antediluvian times the City of Enoch and

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prepared it for translation, when, according to the record, " the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind and dwelt in righteousness, and there was no poor among them;" a system established in after ages by the Apostles at Jerusa- lem, when "the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul,-neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common ; " a system which, according to the Book of Mormon, prevailed upon this land among the Nephites for nearly two centuries after the coming of Christ. An order of unity and equality, a system of consecrations and stewardships, the abolition of fraud and monopoly in all their phases, a sinking of individual interests into and for the purpose of the common good, the sacrifice of self at the shrine of principle-of pure religion-whose incense, call it charity, phil- anthropy, or what we will, is the pure love of God and humanity.

It was to the establishment of such an order,-one object of which, in the arcana of the faith, was to pave the way for the return of the Zion of Enoch, which the Saints believe will yet descend to earth, the planet whence it was taken,-that Joseph Smith, as early as February, 1831, more than fifty years before Edward Bellamy and his ingenious book " Looking Backward " were heard of, directed his thoughts and labors.

A movement to that end was the organization of the Bishopric, representing the temporal wing of the Mormon Church government. The Apostleship, which pertains to the Priesthood of Melchisedek, though possessing general powers has a special calling to minister in spiritual things; while the Bishopric, which is the presidency of the Priesthood of Aaron, administers, under the direction of the higher authority, in things temporal.

The first call to the Bishopric was that of Edward Partridge, who received his appointment on the fourth day of February. He was required "to leave his merchandise and spend all his time in the service of the Church," for which he was to receive his support, or a just remuneration. Two other Elders were called to officiate

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as his counselors. The duties of this Bishopric were outlined as follows : *

And behold, thou wilt remember the poor, and consecrate of thy properties for their support, that which thou hast to impart unto them with a covenant and a deed which cannot be broken.

And inasmuch as ye impart of your substance unto the poor, ye will do it unto me, and they shall be laid before the bishop of my church and his counselors, two of the Elders, or High Priests, such as he shall or has appointed and set apart for that purpose.

And it shall come to pass, that after they are laid before the bishop of my church, and after that he has received these testimonies concerning the consecration of the pro- perties of my church, that they cannot be taken from the church agreeable to my com- mandments; every man shall be made accountable unto me, a steward over his own property, or that which he has received by consecration, inasmuch as is sufficient for himself and family.

* *

Wherefore let my servant Edward Partridge, and those whom he has chosen, in whom I am well pleased, appoint unto this people their portion, every man equal accord- ing to their families, according to their circumstances, and their wants and needs.

And let my servant Edward Partridge, when he shall appoint a man his portion, give unto him a writing that shall secure unto him his portion, that he shall hold it, even this right and this inheritance in the church, until he transgresses and is not accounted worthy by the voice of the church, according to the laws and covenants of the church, to belong to the church ;

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History of Utah, Part 7

Author: Whitney, Orson Ferguson Publication date: 1892 Publisher: Salt Lake City, Cannon Number of Pages: 1026

Author: Whitney, Orson Ferguson
Publication date: 1892
Publisher: Salt Lake City, Cannon
Number of Pages: 1026