The  Mormon  Prophet.

It is but a few months since the death of Joe Smith was announced. His body now sleeps, and his spirit has gone to its reward. Various are the opinions of men concerning this singular personage; but whatever may be the views of any in reference to his principles, object, or moral character, all must admit that he was one of the most remarkable men of the age.

Not fifteen years have elapsed since a band composed of six persons, was formed in Palmyra, New York, of which Joseph Smith, jr. was the presiding genius. Most of these were connected with the family of Smith the Senior. They were notorious for breach of contracts, and for refusing to pay their honest debts. All of them were addicted to vice. They obtained the living, but by deceiving their neighbors with their marvellous tales of money digging. Notwithstanding the low origin, poverty, and profligacy of the members of that band of montebank have augmented their members till more than 100,000 persons are numbered among the followers of the Mormon prophet, and they were never increasing so rapidly as at the time of his death. Joe Smith arose from the very lowest grade of society to the head of this large body, without any of those aids by which most other men have ascended to their stations. He is represented by those unacquainted with him, as uneducated uncooth in his manners, dissipated in his habits, and disgusting in his personal appearance; and yet, unaided by the influence of literature, or the patronage of the great, he induced thousands to obey his mandates, and to rally around his standard. He fought his way through these adverse circumstances, and left the impress of his depraved genius upon the age, and his name will not be forgotten when that of many a statesman will be in oblivion. Born in the very lowest walks of life, reared in poverty, educated in vice, having no claims to even common intelligence, coarse and vulgar in deportment, the prophet Smith succeeded in establishing a religious creed, the tenets of which have been taught throughout the length and breadth of America. The prophet's virtues have been rehearsed and admired in Europe; the ministers of Nauvoo have even found a welcome in Asia, and Africa has listened to the grave sayings of the seer of modern Palmyra. The standard of the Latter Day Saints has been reared on the banks of the Nile, & even the Holy Land has been entered by the emissaries of the wicked impostor. He founded a city of no mean pretension in one of the finest situations in the world, in a curve of the "father of waters," and in it he has collected a population of 25,000 from every part of the earth. He planned the architecture of a magnificent temple, and reared its walls nearly fifty feet, which if completed will be the most beautiful, most costly, and the most noble building in America. Its walls are of solid stone, four feet in thickness; supported by thirty stone pillars. That building is a monument pointing the traveller to the genius of its founder.

The acts of his life exhibit a character as incongruous as it is remarkable. If we can credit his own words and the testimony of eye witnesses, he was at the same time the vicegerent of God, and a tavern-keeper -- a popular Jehovah, and a base libertine -- a minister of the religion of peace, and a lieutenant general -- a ruler of tens of thousands, and a slave to all his base unbridled passions -- a preacher of righteousness, and a profane swearer -- a worshipper of the God of Israel, and a devotee of Bacchus -- mayor of a city, and a miserable bar-room fiddler -- a judge upon the judicial bench, and an invader of the social, moral, and civil relations of men.

And notwithstanding all these inconsistencies of character, there are not wanting thousands who are willing to stake their soul's eternal salvation on his veracity. For aught we know, time and distance will embellish life with some new and rare virtues which his most intimate friends failed to discover while living with him.

Reasoning from cause to effect we must conclude that the Mormon prophet was of no common genius; few are able to commence and carry out an imposition like his; so long, and to such an extent. And we see in the history of his labors and success, most striking proofs of the gullability of a large portion of the human family. What may not men be induced to believe and follow. -- Christian Reflector.


Note: The April 1, 1845 issue of the Nauvoo Times and Seasons carried a reprint of this unusual and insightful article. The editor of the Mormon paper adds these remarks: "There is a spirit in man, possessed of so much 'divinity,' that it will discover truth by its own light; no matter whether it is covered with a 'sectarian cloak,' or thrown among the rubbish of scoffers. For this reason we copy the foregoing eulogy on General Joseph Smith, one of the greatest men that ever lived on the earth; emphatically proved so, by being inspired by God to bring forth the Book of Mormon, which gives the true history of the natives of this continent; their ancient glory and cities:-- which cities have been discovered by Mr. Stevens in Central America, exactly were the Book of Mormon left them."

THE MORMONS. -- We had been inclined to think, from the accounts which reached us from time to time, that the Mormons, although a deluded people, were more sinned against than sinning.

The recent intelligence, however, from Illinois, presents the case of these people in a new light. Proof has been adduced that the leaders and prophets have been engaged in a regular and extensive business of counterfeiting the coin of the United States, and that it has been carried on for some years. Joe Smith and the heads of the Church have been in the habit of working at the business with their own hands. The amount counterfeited has been immense, and the execution so fine as to elude any but the most critical examination. Other disclosures have been made of murders and robberies by these people, not before known.

These proofs have been laid before the Grand Jury, in attendance upon the United States District Court at Springfield, Illinois, and the result is the finding of twelve bills by that body against the chief men of the Mormons at Nauvoo.


Notes: (forthcoming)

... In the early part of 1846, a body of Mormons removed to the "Cross Timbers" the region in which Cooper is traveling, "and then returned to the Creek Nation, and are endeavoring to excite the Indians of that tribe against the citizens of Missouri...

(under construction)

Note: Full text not yet available.

MORMONS: Gov. Ford has disbanded the militia and five thousand of Mormons have left on their trek farther west, some to Council Bluffs, others to Wisconsin.

Notes: (forthcoming)

MORMON   SETTLEMENT,  TEXAS. -- The Mormons have lately been negotiating for the purchase of a large tract of land on the Pierdenalos, above Fredericksburg, and intend to form a new settlement there. The anxiety they manifest to purchase this land has excited some suspicions that they have discovered mines upon it. They have also probably discovered that the soil of the Pierdenalos valley is admirably adapted to the culture of wheat and other grains, which they had been accustomed to raise in Missouri and Illinois, and will afford them all the facilities they desire for a new and extensive settlement. They have also a pretended prophecy that the new Jerusalem of their great prophet, is to be found in Texas. This opinion has long been prevalent among them, and we have been informed by an English gentleman that the presiding elder of the Mormon society in London has often said that the Mormons will, ultimately, all congregate in Texas. We should be sorry to learn that they have located the New Jerusalem on the Pierdenalos, or the San Saba, for our frontier settlement will soon be pushed beyond these streams, and then wars might arise between "the saints" and new settlers. If the Mormons, however, should find the New Jerusalem on the Puerea, many years would probably elapse before the frontier settlements would reach them, and they might build up their city, and fortify it with seven walls, if they desired, long before the advancing limits of the frontier settlements would be pushed even to the sources of the Colorado.


Notes: (forthcoming)

Interesting Account of the Gold Region.

(Correspondence of the New Orleans Crescent.)

Monterey, California, Aug. 26, 1848.            

At last, my dear brother, I can tell you of something wonderful in this hitherto uninteresting service. I listened an unbeliever to all the gold-diggers' stories of those who have been dropping in from the Placer, these last three or four months, until the Governor and Sherman returned; and even then, when the Colonel brought home handfuls of the pure metal, which had been given to him as specimens, and remarked to me, "Yes, it is all true, and the most remarkable part of it is that it is not exaggerated," I could not, or rather did not, want to believe that an El Dorado had at last been found; and as Captain Smith, of the Dragoons, had just arrived from Los Angeles, to pay us a visit at my invitation, and to look at this upper country, I asked the Colonel to let me go with him to the mines, that we too might see. We left this on the 21st, and as the plains and mountains are rather dry and uninteresting now, we got over them as soon as convenient, passing, every few miles, carts, wagons and families, foot and horsemen, all bound to the Placer. We found the farm-houses and villages almost deserted; and at the cabins where we stopped for meals, we heard only of the gold! The women would, after a little talk, go to their chests and bring our their bags to show what fine large pieces the men had got for them. At San Jose, or the Pueblo, as they call it here, we found most of the houses shut up, and their owners gone too -- one or two carts in the streets, and these were being got ready for the journey up.

I was agreeably surprised to find San Francisco a pretty little Yankee looking town, though... on the third day the town had lost its novelty, for it was cold and no fire to be had. We began to criticize the cooking -- want of ladies -- the bleak wind and the sand -- the wholesoul eagerness with which every man, woman and child, in this place, appeared to pursue gold. We were glad when the launch-owner could not find another bale to send up in his boat. So we were off, the tide making, and the wind blowing a gale almost, after we got round the point; and in a few hours our little craft, with the ci-devant Mormon leader as owner and master, some half-dozen runaway sailors, and a grog-shop keeper or two as fellow-passengers, had entered the narrows at the head of the bay; and evening found us in the mouth of the river -- marshes and musquitoes on either side -- where we waited till day, and then found a broad, pretty and quiet stream, up which we sailed some sixty miles, to Sutter's landing, passing a few bound up. This is the only long, navigable and important river in this western acquisition of Uncle Sam's. Steamers will in a year be running many leagues above the mouth of Feather river, which is some distance above Sutter's. We found here half-a-dozen launches, a few wagons, and a motley set of vagabonds (Whites, Indians, Negroes, Kanakas, Chinese and Chilenos.) We walked with the late Mormon, now thriving merchant, over a dusty three miles to Sutter's Fort, which stands out from the bank of the river, on the open plain, and on ground so low that it is almost an island during the winter floods.... By sunset our horses were ready, and we were off for a night's ride to the lower, or Mormon diggings -- so called from the Mormons, who discovered it. But it was cold, and we could not see the road -- so we stopped and took some sleep, and the next morning rode down the hill to the bank of the American fork, which here makes a rapid between two rocky hills, and has deposited an island of an acre or so of sand and gravel among some rocks, which obstructed the way. It was like a camp meeting -- plenty of booths and brush shanties lined the river bank; and, upon riding over the rough stones and gravel bank of the island -- which we did with difficulty, for it was full of newly dug pits and piles of stone—to reach the creek, now quite low and retired to the main channel, we saw, for the first time, the gold washers at work....

We had satisfied our curiosity here, and wanted to reach the mill, or first discovery, that day. The road led us through a hilly country -- hills getting higher, oaks scarcer, more slate and soapstone, with dry ravines and occasional pine groves. We found, as heretofore, every few miles where there was a spring or patch of grass, camp fires and wagons, families of Mormons, or of the roving race that have wended westward for the last generation, at length turned east again, and perfectly contented with their luck at last. -- With some of them I had spent the evening chatting over their gains, prospects, etc., in the newly established city on the shores of the Salt Lake, which will afford them a quiet roof and rest from their wandering. I here met, on several occasions, men who had gold enough. We found the mill, as it is called, quite a settlement -- some eight stores, in log, board, or bush shanties, and several hundred persons digging and washing along the banks. A piece, of ten acres, or so, has been penned off for Capt. Sutter, whose enterprising efforts to civilize this wilderness led to the discovery. He was having a race opened for a saw mill among the hills, and his workmen found the gold, washed and sent it down to him. It was too peculiar not to be soon recognized.

They tried to keep the matter secret, but too many knew it, and in three months from that time that wilderness of hills -- among which none but Sutter's men and Indians ever ventured alone for fear of the wild Indians -- was now fast being settled; and the grisly bears, wolves and jackals listened in astonishment to the frying-pans hissing, babies crying, cow bells tinkling, and boys kicking up a shindy among the wagons -- and there was no place left then for them to go to. The climate high up the hills, though exceedingly warm in summer, is tolerably healthy, and on the river banks and grassy glades now and then to be met with, towns are locating, log-cabins already building, and Uncle Sam's land sales anticipated before we have even a right by treaty to territory acknowledged to belong to another government....


Note 1: The exact publication date of the above article has not yet been determined. It may have appeared in the Crescent of Jan. 2nd. The text is taken from a reprint that appeared on the front page of the Jan. 16th New York Herald -- see that paper for the full content.

Note 2: The "late Mormon, now thriving merchant" (a.k.a. "ci-devant Mormon leader") may have been Sam Brannan, or one of Brannan's ex-Mormon associates then living in San Francisco.

To  Our  Readers.

We have undertaken the publication of this paper for the purpose of disseminating abroad in the earth, those truths which God has manifested unto us concerning the principles of the doctrine of Christ, and the marvelous work of the Most High in these latter days which marvelous work is near at hand.

We do not intend to speculate on our fellow beings by this publication. We shall have no fixed price to subscribers, but ever person who contributes to the support of this publication will be considered by us as subscribers. Every person who contributes can contribute whatever they please in advance, whether it be a large or small amount. The price of each number will be just what the printing of it costs us, including the cost of paper. The price will be published in every number. We intend to enlarge it to the full extent of the means placed in our hands for that purpose. We intend to publish it monthly even if we should have to do it at our own expense, but we expect to be enable to publish it oftener in a short time.

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==> Our readers are requested to distribute copies of this paper among their friends and acquaintances. We shall send it far and wide into different nations of the earth. Let all who receive it do so too, and come up "to the help of the Lord against the mighty," for soon the sinners in Zion shall be afraid and fearfulness shall surprise the hypocrite; yea, soon the Lord will come and will destroy the son of perdition "with the brightness of his coming."

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The  Man  of  Sin.

In 2d Thes. 2d ch., is a prophecy of Paul concerning an individual who is described as that man of sin, the son of perdition, and that wicked [man]. It is the general opinion of professors of christianity that this individual is the Pope of Rome. There are several reasons which prevent me from coinciding in this opinion. In the first place, no Pope of Rome ever saw a temple of God, and hence could not sit in the temple of God, as the 4th verse says the man of sin would. Neither could Paul apply this prophesy to all the Popes, for he speaks of one person only, and one who is to be on the earth when the Lord comes, for the 8th verse says, "And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming." Here are two important facts to guide us in the investigation of this subject, namely that there was to be a temple of God on the earth when the son of perdition is revealed, and that his destruction will be at the coming of the Lord. Again, the 4th verse gives us the outlines of the work which the son of perdition would perform in the temple of God. It says of him, "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." It appears then that there is a Being higher than the one called God or that is worshipped, and the son of perdition would represent himself in the character of this Great Personage, the same as in the theatrical performances, one person represents another. The proof of this is in the expression here used, "that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." This part of this prophecy was fulfilled in the temple of God, in Nauvoo, by Brigham Young. He is that man of sin, the son of perdition, which Paul here prophecies of. In the pretended endowments in the temple at Nauvoo, (according to the testimony of some who went through those performances,) there was a pretence made to represent the garden of Eden, and Adam and Eve therein, whilst Brigham Young blasphemously personified the God of Gods, answering to his name.

The old sects don't believe in the existence of any being higher than the Father of Jesus Christ, and therefore cannot counterfeit that which they have no idea or belief in. But it is a doctrine of the Church of J. C. of L. D. S. that there is such a being, and Brigham Young has has the daring audacity to personify such a being.

The doctrine of Paul in this chapter shows that there is a being higher than "all that is called God or that is worshipped," and that the man who shouls represent himself in that capacity should be preceeded by another distinguished individual. The 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th verses sets forth this idea as folloes: -- Remember yet not, that when I was yet with you, I told you those things? And now you know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way: And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. The Apostle here shows that something was or would withhold, that the son of perdition might revealed in his time. He further shows that some one would stand in the way to hinder the man of sin from being revealed until his time. The expression of the Apostle that "he who now letteth will let," is believed by many, should be rendered thus. He who hindereth will hinder until he be taken out of the way. The question now arises, who hindered Brigham Young from commencing his work as the man of sin? I answer Joseph was the man who hindered him, until he was taken out of the way. Hence the prophet Joseph said that if Brigham Young ever led this church he would lead it to the devil. -- Paul also further shows us how this would be accomplished. He gives us further information concerning the work of the man of sin, from the [9th] to the 12th verses, as follows: "Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness." The deceivableness of unrighteousness and the strong delusion is strictly characteristic of Brigham Young. The spiritual wife doctrine of the Brighamite church is an essential part of the strong delusion here referred to. That which has supported and caused this strong delusion is the love of iniquity of many who are called saints. -- The Great God seeing the iniquity of many in the church, sent them strong delusion that all such might be damned. The Lord sent a lying spirit unto Ahab king of Israel, who had sold himself to work wickedness. So that Micaiah a prophet of God told him to go against Ramath Gilead to battle; for said he, the "Lord shall deliver it unto the king." -- The prophet knew at the same time that the king would not conquer, but would be slain. (See 1 kings 22 ch.) A strong delusion had possessed the king in that day, because he had pleasure in unrighteousness, and so it is now with the man of sin and his apostate adherents.

We will in the next place refer our readers to an extract of the Journal of the Prophet Joseph Smith, which was published in the Times and Seasons. -- We do so with the firm belief that Brigham Young is the man who is there discribed as "that man who was called of God and appointed, that putteth forth his hand to steady the ark of God, shall fall by the shaft of death like as a tree that is smitten by the vivid shaft of lightning." Many important subjects are prophecied of in connection with that relating to the destruction of the man of sin.

See Times & Seasons, Oct. 15, 1844, page 674.

B. Young was legally called and appointed to the quorum of the twelve, but in putting forth his hand to preside over the church has made himself a vessel of wrath doomed to destruction

In Luke 15 ch. 11-32 v., is a parable of a man who had two sons. The younger son who went into a far country "and there wasted his substance with riotous living," we believe means the Brighamites who have gone to the West with their concubines; that a mighty famine will be there, that "the citizen of that country," is the man of sin, that the Father is the Prophet Joseph to whom they come.

In Ezekiel, 21 ch. 25-27 v., we believe the man of sin is called the profane wicked prince of Israel. His overthrow is there also described as in many other prophecies.

"And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel, whose day is come, when iniquity shall have an end, Thus saith the Lord God; Remove the diadem, and take off the crown; this shall not be the same: exalt him that is low, and abase him that is high, I will overturn, overturn, overturn it: and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is; and I will give it him."

Zech. 11 ch., 17 v., defines the man of sin as the idol shepherd thus: Wo to the idol shepherd that leaveth the flock, the sword shall be upon his arm, and upon his right eye; his arm shall be clean dried up, and his right eye shall be utterly darkened."

The following prophecies we refer you to for further testimony concerning the man of sin: Joseph, a faithful and wise servant. Brigham, that evil servent. Mat. 24 ch. 42-45-48-51 v. Joseph the good man. Brigham, the great man. Micah 7th. 2-3-20 v. Brigham a wicked counsellor. Nahum 1 ch. 1-9-11-15 v.

In Blackwood's Magazine for Dec. 1848, there are some prophecies of men in modern times, principally relating to the revolutions in France, which have been fulfilling in such a remarkable manner, that the government of France has endeavored to prevent the circulation. -- One of these prophets says that the man of sin will be born of two races.

This man's prophecy concludes with these words: "God will combat in the persons of His two just ones. The man of sin shall carry of the victory. But all is over! The mighty God has placed before my comprehension a wall of fire. I can see no more. May he be blessed for evermore. Amen."

Thus ends the prophecy of Orval. We do not assert that he was, or was not divinely inspired, for false prophets often prophesy correctly, but inasmuch as he prophesied of so many remarkable events with so much correctness, his prophecy concerning the man of sin is worthy of our consideration. The victory of the man of sin in combat with the two just ones, being the finale of his vision, he did not see his final overthrow. We have brought forward the foregoing testimony on this subject, hoping that we may be instrumental in disseminating light and doing good to our fellow beings and in snatching some of our species, from the mesmeric and Satanic power of the man of sin. We have only arrived to the threshold of the testimony on this subject, but we intend to continue the subject in our next number. We intend also to show what authority the Prophet Joseph holds at this time, and the hereditary rights and authority in the church and kingdom of God of his brother William and his son Joseph.


Note 1: The editor of the above communication was Elder Isaac Sheen, a Mormon who had followed Joseph Smith, Jr. at Nauvoo, but who had refused to follow Brigham Young to Utah. Isaac Sheen's biography was published in the Jan. 26, 1910 issue of the RLDS Saints' Herald, where his 1849 Covington, Kentucky newspaper was acknowledged as one of the "Forerunners of the Saints' Herald." In fact, if it was not with the exact same press and type, it was with a set up very much the same, that Elder Sheen edited and published the first several issues of the Saints' Herald, across the river from Covington, in Cincinnati, Ohio, commencing in Jan., 1860. It is not much of an exaggeration to say that Sheen's 1849 Herald was the same publication as Sheen's 1860 Herald, albeit after the lapse of a decade and after the full blossoming of Reorganized LDS doctrine -- a doctrine which developed directly out of the early teachings and practices of Elder William B. Smith, the younger brother of Sheen's hyperbolic "two just ones" (Joseph and Hyrum) who died in combating "the man of sin" (Brigham).

Note 2: Although Isaac Sheen was the ostensible editor, publisher and proprietor of the 1849 Herald, the paper's true director was "President" William Smith, and it is unlikely that Sheen published anything in the paper's columns which did not either originate with President Smith or meet with his specific approval. Having ceased fellowship with J. J. Strang, and having issued published pronouncements in his own behalf, during the summer of 1847, William was no doubt delighted to convert Elder Sheen and his printing press to the fledging Smithite cause. William Smith's official residence was in Lee Co., Illinois -- if the constant traveler of those times can be said to have lived anywhere in particular. Therefore, President Smith projected his media voice from a distance of hundreds of miles away from his center of administration. William's nephew, the subsequent President of the RLDS, attempted, for a time, to continue this troublesome situation, but Sheen's 1860's Herald was eventually brought under the firm control of the Church at Plano, Illinois, where Joseph Smith III closely managed its production and content. Perhaps this same sort of press relocation was an idea sitting in the back of William Smith's mind all through the year 1849 -- but the uncle was unable to accomplish what his nephew did, and in the spring of 1850 the Smithite Herald on the banks of the Ohio, ceased publication for a decade. Isaac Sheen had at last grown weary of William's peccadillic peculiarities and the dour English elder parted ways with the wayward patriarch. William never again had a publication of his own and William's church died out in Illinois between 1855 and 1856.

It is now near two years since it was revealed unto us that the Prophet Joseph Smith will continue to hold the keys of the kingdom until the coming of Christ; that his kindred would enjoy extraordinary and special privileges and blessings in the kingdom of God -- the office of patriarch over the church of God is hereditary, and therefore belongs to Brother Wm. Smith; that the priesthood of Aaron is hereditary to the end of time, that we are of the lineage of Aaron. -- (See B. of Cov. 3, 4 and 22 sec.)

For more than a year after these things were made known to us, were entirely in ignorance of the ideas entertained by Bro. Lyman Wight, and nearly as much in ignorance concerning his location. When his position was made known to us, we found that we were united in spirit with a flourishing branch of the church, who are laboring for the redemption of Zion. Last fall we met with Bro. Wm. Smith, who instructed us more perfectly in the doctrine of the lineal rights of the presidency of the church. Since that time the subject has been unfolded to us with great plainness by the spirit of the living God.

Having corresponded with Bro. Wm. Smith, he has sent us for publication two letters from Bro. Wight and Bishop Miller, and a letter from Mother Smith, and one of his own.

We have prefixed the name of "Melchisedec" at the head of our paper, because Bro. Wm. has offered his aid in the publication of this paper, which we cheerfully accept/ We hope also that our brethren in Texas will unite with us, and the pure in heart everywhere, as soon as possible, that we may build a temple to our God in Jackson county, Mo., that Zion may be "redeemed with judgment and her converts with righteousness."

LETTER  FROM  BRO.  L. WIGHT.

Zodiac Mills,           
August 22d, 1848.           

Brother William Smith: We are in a bustle this morning with business, not having been over 13 hours since we have appointed two messengers to go to your place, in which time we have spared no pains in writing our feelings concerning the Smith family.

In answer to your interrogation concerning your standing, we as a branch of the Church of Jesus Christ, organised under the hand of the ever to be remembered, your beloved brother Joseph and your father, one of the noblest Patriarchs on earth. -- We have considered it the most grievous part of our mission that you, the last survivor of six sons and a very aged father, should be turned from the house of their widowed mother, in her old age, for standing up for your rights, and then for it to be said by the authorities of the church, that your mother, between 70 and 80 years of age, should turn you from her door for the pitiful sum of $200 a year, after she had been a mother in Israel for the last 18 years, and being the mother of the seventh Angel of the seventh and last dispensation of God on earth, she will eventually be the mother of all those in the last dispensation or thousand years.

Now, Brother William, we hold you as a Patriarch, as being the last survivor of the Archangel of the seventh and last dispensation -- as being the Patriarch of the whole church, and the blessing of prophet and seer to rest upon his oldest son if he will receive it, if not, we shall look unto you until the Lord shall make some one of his posterity willing to receive it. Now tell your aged mother that she is not to be proscribed in her living. If she sees fit to come to Texas she can have all she wishes for her support on earth, and a home for her children; and if she wishes her bones to be carried to Nauvoo, I pledge myself it shall be done. If she wishes to remain there, our support will not be withheld from her as oft as we can make remittances, and if she should come here, she can have the privilege of going to and from as oft as she shall think it necessary. Tell Orange from the time he left up to the 1st of December next, there will be from fifty to one hundred new numbers of the citizens of Texas, and not less than 1,000 head of cattle. The bearers are waiting and I must close. -- With all due deference to the priesthood and lineage thereof, I remain your sincere brother in the Lord.
                                                   LYMAN WIGHT.

The following certificate was annexed to Bro. Wight's letter to Mother Smith and a letter from Mother Smith to her son William: --

P. S. -- We being appointed by the unanimous voice of the brethren here to write to Mother Smith and Wm. Smith, we join in sending the foregoing, approved by the Church.

L. WIGHT.           
GEO. MILLER.           

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          Nauvoo, the 4th of January, 1849.
My dear son William: These letters I received the same time I received yours, which I send you. I received your letter dated Philadelphia, December, 1848, which gave me consolation to hear that you are alive, and building up the cause of our Heavenly Father, and I hope the Lord will prosper you.

I am sick and feeble. I hope you will write as quick as you get this. They all join me in sending their love to you.

This from your mother,

LUCY SMITH.           

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An extract from a letter which we wrote to brother Wm. Smith, Nov. 26, 1848: Last week I examined the book of Mormon to find what testimony it contains concerning the lineal rights of those who stood at the head of the Nephites, and who hold the records and sacred things, and handed them down from age to age. I found that (except in three instances) the plates, &c., were handed down from father to son, or from brother to brother, from Nephi to Moroni who hid them in the earth. It does not appear that when Amaleki conferred the plates upon king Benjamin, whether he, whether he was his nearest relative or not. The reasons assigned to Amaleki for delivering the plates to Benjamin are, "having no seed, and knowing king Benjamin to be a just man before the Lord, wherefore I shall deliver up these plates unto him." The right of his seed to possess the plates, (if he had any seed,) is here implied. -- Mosiah conferred upon Alma the son of Alma all the records, interpreters, &c., although he had sons living. He was also appointed to be first chief judge. -- Mosiah declared the right of his son to the kingdom, but that he declined to take on him the kingdom. On page 211 in the 3rd edition, it is stated that Mosiah's sons went into the wilderness. It then reads thus: "Now King Mosiah had no one to confer the kingdom on, for there was not any of his sons who would accept the kingdom." It goes on and shows that for these reasons the records, &c., were conferred upon Alma. On the 504 p. it is stated that Ammaron deposited all the sacred engravings in the hill Shim, and directed Mormon to go there when he should be about 24 years old, (he being then about 10 years old,) and take up the plates of Nephi, &c. Mormon obtained the plates accordingly. It is not stated what relationship there was between Mormon and Ammaron, but from the history contained in the book of Mormon, it is plain that the high priesthood descended in lineal order. Those who held the plates, &c., are frequently called high priests over the church, and on 211 p., they are called seers holding the interpreters or Urim and Thummim. -- There is also a peculiar circumstance connected with the handing down of this priesthood somewhat analogous to the present circumstances in which the church is placed. On the 394 p., it appears that Helaman died, and Shiblon his brother took possession of the sacred things, although Helaman had a son named Helaman. Shiblon held them three years and conferred them upon his nephew Helaman and died. It appears probable that his nephew was a minor when his father died.

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LETTER  FROM  BRO.  WILLIAM SMITH.

Hartford Connecticut,            
March 7, 1849.            

Brother Sheen: I have perused your letter of November 26, 1848, on a lineal priesthood, and give place to the following because of the correctness of your remarks. This doctrine of a lineal priesthood was so universally taught and believed by the church, that there was not a single individual member but what looked towards the Smith family (this family being first called) to continue their lead at the head of the church; until the plan was conceived of by either Brigham or his associate council in the spring and summer of 1845, to seize hold on the throne of the presidency, which was done at the same time and maintained at all hazzards, as they said they would do right or wrong.

As it regards my rights of patriarchal priesthood over the whole church, you will notice that the doctrine of Brigham Young upon this subject at one time was precisely the same as set forth in your letter, and no difference was attempted to be maintained until the work of usurpation commenced. The following were the views of Brigham only three months after the death of Joseph and Hyram: "In the place of Hyram Smith to the patriarchal office to the whole church, the right rests upon your (Wm.) head no doubt." See letter signed B. Young, dated Nauvoo, Sept. 28, 1844, published in the N. York Prophet, Nov. 9, 1844. See also Brigham's remarks on the same subject published in the conference minutes of Oct. 1844, in the Times and Seasons: "Young arose and said that it had been moved and seconded that Ashael Smith should be ordained to the office of Patriarch; he went on to show that the right of the office of Patriarche to the whole church belonged to Wm. Smith, as a legal right by descent." It was nearly one year after the publication of this position taken by B. Young, that John Taylor published a long article under the head of Patriarchal, declaring that my right to office only extended to the office of "Patriarch to the church and not over it;" claiming at the same time that the question of the 12 of which I was a member, had a right to ordain me; a right that could not belong to any one except the first Presidency of the church. If, indeed, the 12 held that authority over the church of God, I hold as much of this authority as any one member of that quorum, and by seniority of membership and lineage held a superior claim to any. Mine was not the claim (according to Brigham) to the office of patriarch in the church, or to the church, but it was a claim to the office of Patriarch over the whole church, or "to the whole church," as B. Y. calls it, which is virtually the same. That the "12 had a right to ordain patriarchs in all large branches of the church abroad," I did not pretend to deny, but that they had a right to ordain one of their own number and place him under the direction of the presidency, or to ordain a patriarch to the whole church, I do deny, and pronounce the position a false doctrine, and from the devil, to destroy the church. It was a right that belonged to the first Presidents of the church, and it is plain that the 12 had not this right or power over the church to act as first Presidents, as their position and place in the church is defined by revelation as a travelling council and not a local Presidency.

[ To be continued. ]
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==> We intend to publish the conclusions of the above in our next, and also the letter of Br. L. Wight to Mother Smith.

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==> "As I said unto Abraham, concerning the kindreds of the earth; even so I say unto my servant Joseph, in thee and in thy seed, shall the kindred of the earth be blessed." -- B. of Cov. 402 page, 4th edition.


Notes: (forthcoming)

The  Mormon  Temple.

By a letter received from our brother, P. W. Cook, who was one that left Council Bluff last spring for the Salt Lake, dated August 2d, written while encamped on the Sweet Water River, at the South Pass, (in sight of Fremont's Peak,) we gather some information which may not be uninteresting to our readers. The new Mormon Temple at the Salt Lake is to be a splendid building. They enclosed a lot 17 miles long and 12 miles wide with a mud wall 8 feet high and 4 feet thick. There are to be four cities inside. They have discovered mountain rock that resembles Cornelian stone, which the writer says is beautiful for temples and pillars.

The size of the temple is not stated, but its highest point is to be 600 feet, and can be seen eighty miles either way. The party that went out last season lost many of their oxen, having died with what they called the "swell head." Many of the streams which they crossed were so impregnated with alkali that they dare not let their cattle drink. On the shores of many of the lakes a crust is formed an inch and a half thick. They breakup this crust, scrape off the dirt on the top and bottom, and find it pure salaratus. Strange as this may seem it is nevertheless true, and the writer collected in a short time 74 pounds.

A mountain of pure rock salt has been discovered near the Mormon settlement. The Mormons have discovered a rich gold mine 150 miles south west from the Salt Lake. The last end of the journey to the Salt Lake, say 200 miles, is attended with little fatigue. Nearly all the way the roads are as good as on any prairie in Michigan. The writer was living on the meat of bears, antelope and buffaloes -- animals very numerous on the route. He recommends mule teams instead of oxen, and that cows drove along for their milk, and for beef if necessary. -- Niles Republican.


Note: This same article from a mid-March issue of the Niles, Mich. Republican was also reprinted in the Ohio Painesville Telegraph of March 28, 1849

A REVELATION, given to Selah Lane and others, March 19th, 1849, to choose twelve Apostles, and to call other laborers into the vineyard; to set in order the Churches, plant stakes, &c. -- It is also a commandment to all the Churches, and to all in every place that call on the name of [the] Lord; setting forth also the true light that was to come.

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Behold, I say unto you, my servant, Selah Lane, gird up they loins, be sober and watch unto prayer, for I have called thee to an high and holy calling -- to preach my gospel; even as my servants were called in days of old: to preach and to teach by the Comforter, which is my holy spirit -- which Comforter I will send unto you, and by no other spirit shalt thou teach.

And now behold I say unto you all my servants that have taken upon them my name, let them not count the ministry to which they have been called as a thing of naught, or as a light thing, or darkness followeth after: for I am God, Jehovah, even Jesus Christ, your Lord and your God; and will be honored and glorified of them whom I have appointed to do my work, if faithful to their calling and ministry; otherwise, others will I plant in their stead, that will serve me with a pure and perfect heart.

Therefore I say unto you again, cease from all your light speeches, for my coming is nigh even unto your doors. Behold I say unto you, be one, as the Father and I are one, that ye may be in me and I in you, as I am in the Father and the Father in me; that as the Father and I are one, that we may be one also. For this is my commandment unto you all my saints: Be one in faith, be one in doctrine, be one in spirit, be one in your temporal things as well as in your spiritual things. Be one, I say, in all things. Give without grading; and let all count themselves as stewards of the manifold grace of God. Ye must be equal. Nevertheless, let every man have his own, and covet not anothers. -- Yet of that which a man hath shall he be judged; and he that will sow sparingly shall reap sparingly, and he that will sow grudgingly shall reap grudgingly, and he that will sow to the wind shall of the the wind reap corruption; and how hardly shall a rich man, that will make a god of his riches, enter into the kingdom of heaven. Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, he cannot enter in until he has paid the uttermost farthing. Ye must be one; ye must have charity, for this is profitable withal. For if ye have not charity, and are not one, ye are none of mine: and if ye will do these things, and keep my commandments, I will come unto you, and receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also.

And now, behold I say unto you my servant Selah, be thou a strength unto my Church, a counsellor in Zion, to comfort the poor of my people, and to gather up the scattered remnants of my people Israel, and establish them in peace forever. Behold, I say, go ye out into my vineyard; tarry not, and call other laborers into my vineyard, even twelve servants, that shall be ordained like my apostles of old. And behold I will ordain them, and endow them with power from on high, and they shall be my disciples. And ye shall lay your hands upon them to ordain them, and they shall go out into the highways and hedges, to gather up my elect and to compel them to come in, that my supper may be full. Make haste, then, for a short work will I perform upon the face of the whole earth. It is the last and eleventh hour. And unto you that are standing idle, as well as unto those that have been upon the watch-tower waiting for my coming, have I raised up and sent unto you a Prophet, even Elijah that was to come, and a John in the spirit of Elias, to do his work, and to prepare the way of my coming, and make straight paths in the wilderness.

William Smith is the Prophet of whom I have spoken, and my servant that I have endowed with the keys and with the powers of the holy priesthood, and unto him, also, have I appointed to hold the Keys of Elijah, and also of Elias and of John, to stand at the head of this last dispensation on earth, to regulate my church and kingdom, to ordain apostles and prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, and to confer the same spirit of Elijah and Elias upon them, by the laying on of hands, as did my apostles of old, and to ordain all that shall come unto him and shall desire to be ordained. -- And I have appointed also my servant Aaron Hook, and my servant Selah Lane to be his counsellors, and to go forth and choose other servants, yea even twelve apostles, setting in order all the churches that Zion may flourish again upon the hills and upon every high mountain. Go ye, therefore, and plant stakes in every land, and let thy faithfulness be seen of all men, and power shall be given thee from on high, even an endowment of which I have spoken; and power shall be given thee also to discern between the righteous and the wicked -- between them that serve God and them that serve him not; for their works shall be made manifest, of what sort it is, whether it be good or whether it be evil. And the righteous will I gather into the garner, and the wicked will burn with unquenchable fire. Behold I say ye shall honor him whom I have placed at your head, and abide faithfully his counsel; for I will bless him with wisdom and with might. And if you wilt abide, and do as I have commanded, that (gift) priesthood which was ordained upon you in eternity shall not fail thee of an inheritance in my everlasting kingdom, to go no more out. -- Go ye into every city, teaching my word, baptising and ordaining elders and apostles, healing the sick, casting out devils in my name, as the spirit of truth shall direct, in meekness and in humility. And lo, I am with you to the end of the world. Even so -- Amen.

The above revelation was received and written Hartford, March 18, 1849 by the Prophet Elijah, and suffice it to say for the present, that in regard to the vision, it was like a burning fire shut up in my bones untill it was written.

A proclamation, calling the members to their places, will soon follow.

Mr. Editor: you are at liberty to publish this strange and singular affair, with my request for other papers to copy.
                                                ELIJAH, the Prophet.

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The Progress of the Work.

We have at different times during the last two months, received cheering intelligence concerning the progress of the work of God in the eastern states. For this information we are indebted to brother Wm. Smith and brother Aaron Hook.

We regret that our limited space detains us from laying before our readers a large portion of the interesting documents we have received from them. We shall however comply with the wishes of both correspondents and readers as fast as possible in this matter. After the dark night of apostacy through which the Church has passed since the martyrdom of our Prophet and Patriarch the work is now reviving. Quite a number of branches have been organized in the east. Many elders are now engaged in preaching the gospel and organizing branches. We have received much encouragement from the saints in that region, in support of our publication, both by word and deed, and we hope we shall soon be enabled to enlarge it.

We hope that the saints throughout this land and other lands will unite in one grand effort to push forward the work by sending us the means of disseminating the truth abroad. Now is the time to work, for soon "the overflowing scourge will pass through," and as Joseph declared some years ago "pestilence, hail, famine and earthquakes will sweep the wicked of this generation from off the face of the land to open and prepare the way for the return of the lost tribes of Israel from the north country." Seeing these things are now near at hand we want to make a loud appeal to all sects and parties, clergy and laity, professors and non-professors to examine the doctrines and precepts of the church of J. C. of L. D. S. We want to show that it is an erroneous idea, that because ungodly men have crept in among us, turning the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ into lasciviousness, that therefore they are justified in rejecting the fulness of the gospel which was revealed unto Joseph the prophet and the saints of the latter days. We don't want to bestow all our labors upon apostates, but we also desire to bring new converts into the work, for the Lord hath said, even "the Lord God which gathereth the outcasts of Israel saith, yet will I gather others to him, besides those that are gathered unto him." We want to make a general appeal to mankind to repent, for the hour of God's judgment has come -- to repent of their schisms and false doctrines and priestcrafts, and all their abominations and obey the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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PROGRESS  ADDITIONAL.

We have delayed the publication of this number in consequence of receiving late intelligence from Br. Wm. Smith and additional aid. We have therefore inserted twice the amount of reading that we intended to insert and still we shall have to omit publishing several important communications at this time. We hope however that by the liberality of the saints we shall continue to enlarge our publication from time to time. This is what we are striving after, to accomplish this, all monies received from subscribers, will be immediately expended on the paper, besides our own contributions. We want the saints to understand distinctly that we don't want your money for yourself [sic - ourself?], no, not one cent of it, but we want to give you a full equivalent for it. We want to send gospel truth from the center to the circumference of the United States, and to earth's remotest bounds.

Br. William at the date of his last letter (April 19th) was at Ellington, Tolland county, Conn., where he had been preaching and also at Mansfield, with success.

Br. Lane, counsellor, and Br. Samuel T. Capin who has been ordained to the apostleship are also laboring in that region with success. Among the people in that region there was a great desire to become acquainted with our doctrine. In Hartford county a branch of the church has been organized, and three elders, one high priest, and one apostle (Br. Capin) ordained.

In New Jersey the work is progressing.

Revelation versus Grammar.

The editor of the Hartford Weekly Gazette in a long article concerning Br. William and his revelation of March 19, 1849, finds fault with him and the revelation, because he and the revelation does not exhibit a conformity to the rules of grammer. Now we think that this learned editor must be grossly ignorant of some important facts, with which he ought to be acquainted, which stand connected with this subject. Whenever the Lord gives a revelation unto man he does not pay strict attention to the changeable laws of grammer which men establish from time to time. But he is independent enough to make laws of language for himself. Those learned nabobs who think that this is an infringement on their rights, will have to bear with it for there is no remedy. We would suggest to the editor of the Gazette, the propriety of an examination of the prophecies in the Bible that he may ascertain the truth concerning this matter. We will only mention one out of a multitude of such cases in that book. It is an expression which is very often used, namely, "the Most High." The author of Hervey's meditations vindicates this deviation from the laws of grammar, and admits that according to those laws it should be the Highest God instead of the Most High or the Most High God. But in publishing the revelation of March 19th, the Gazette has made a few mistakes, as Br. William informs us and he has omitted to copy off from the manuscript the pronoun I, in one or two places. We have had to copy from the Gazette without any correction of these errors.

The Lord has very frequently heretofore, raised up illiterate and unlearned men to confound the wisdom of the wise of this world. Peter and his colleagues were mostly illiterate fishermen. The prophet Joseph was an unlearned youth when the Lord called him, to bring forth his word, and to hold the keys of this last dispensation. His enemies urged the same objection to his calling as a prophet, which the Gazette now brings forward against his brother William. -- This objection they continued to urge against him long after the time, when God had bestowed upon him a knowledge of ancient and modern languages, astronomy and various other branches of learning, far superior to the learning of any man in this age of the world. Towards the close of his life this objection was not advanced so frequently for it was a self evident fact that he had surpassed the whole race of men now living in knowledge.

It appears truly that as Solomon says :there is nothing new under the sun," theredore the same insipid and ignorant objection is now advanced again in opposition to his brother who is the legal lineal head of the church of Christ.

Take warning Mr. Editor and all ye wise objectors for this is God's work and his counsel will stand and the wisdom of the wise shall perish and the understanding of the prudent shall be hid.

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EN-SMALLED.

Hyde’s apostate sheet has met with a reduction in its size. The extortionate price of that journal of the 2d beast is an index to the greedy speculative spirit of its conductor, which coincides with the exhibition of his character by A. W. Babbit, in the late controversy between them. Probably the publication of this controversy by Hyde has operated unfavorable to himself.

Notwithstanding this reduction in size, it appears he has got space enough to enforce Brighamism, and to publish foolish novels too.

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A Singular Committee;

When brother William visited Cincinnati last November, the Brighamites in that city were greatly excited in consequence, which reminded us of that prophecy of his brother Joseph concerning him, in which it is said that "hell shall tremble because of him." They appointed a committee to watch his movements and ours. Since that time an attempt was made in one of their meetings to discharge the committee which was overruled by the presiding officer. The mode of watching enjoined upon this committee has not been satisfactorally explained. Upon the whole this committee may be considered as a Brighamite inquisition in miniature form.

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Our Letter to Brother W. Smith.
(Concluded.)

The succession from Nephi I have laid down as follows: Nephi consecrates and ordains With all this testimony staring me in the face concerning the lineal rights of


Notes: Hyde’s apostate sheet = Frontier Guardian

THE  PROPHET’S  DEPARTMENT.
__________________

The Prophet Wm. Smith’s reply to
bro. Lyman Wight.

Ellington, Tolland Co. Con.
April 21, 1849.

Dear brother Lyman Wight. -- I received your very interesting letter directed to me in charge of the bearers, date Zodiac Mills, August 22, 1848. I was glad to hear from you and to learn of your prosperity in the fat valleys of Texas. This letter I did not receive until it had been mailed three times, once from Nauvoo to Palestine, and then to Walnut Grove, and from thence to Philadelphia. I am also in receipt of your letter to Mother Smith, and have taken the liberty of placing them before the public, for the benefit of The Saints. I should like to see you much, brother Wight, to talk with you further upon these matters, to council together concerning the order of arrangements for the furtherance of the cause, the redemption of Zion, &c. &c.

You will see by the revelation of Dec. 5, 1845, that nine of the twelve that were formerly chosen by Joseph as traveling apostles have fallen and are removed by the revelation of God, out of the place (office) for their usurpation, wickedness and oppression, and it becomes now necessary, that this quorum should be filled up, that a healthy and faithful ministry may be kept up throughout the world for the safety, preservation and government of the church. To this end you will see by the revelation of March 19, 1849, that I am instructed to hasten this work and to call other laborers into the vineyard. I have therefore, since this revelation was given, ordained one apostle in the place of one that is fallen and shall continue to do so until the quorum is full. I most earnestly desire and solicit your cooperation, with that of all the saints in Texas and throughout the world, that the glory of God may be accomplished in this thing and the salvation of his church, that Zion also may "be redeemed with judgment, and her converts with righteousness. And the destruction of the transgressors and of the sinners shall be together, and they that forsake the Lord shall be consumed. For they shall be ashamed of the oaks that ye have desired, and ye shall be confounded for the gardens that ye have chosen. For she shall be as the oak that fadeth, and as a garden that hath no water. And the strong shall be as tow and the maker of it as a spark, and they shall both burn together, and none shall quench them." Isaiah 1 ch. 27-31 v. The prophet is here speaking of the apostates in the wilderness, and of Zion... This then brings us to the reason, why God has called us to the work (named in the last revelation referred to above) of choosing other servants, coinciding with what Isaiah foretold in the 26th verse of the chapter under consideration... I will give you one more reference and then drop this part of the subject. I will remark, however, that the Shepherd David, spoken of in the 23d and 24th verses of this chapter, is he to whom the keys of the Melchisedek priesthood belong, and he whose right it is to stand at the head of the church. The work that must now follow is to gather Israel -- God’s people, (not thieves, adulterers, Brighamites, liars, swindlers, scoundrels, hypocrites, Pagans no) but the people of God, Mormons, Latter Day Saints in one, to be one people upon the mountains of Israel, the land of Joseph, and with this people God will make a covenant of peace forever. No guns, swords, bowieknives, pistols nor cannon in this priesthood is needed....

...This covenant is to be confirmed in the future. Zion is not yet redeemed, and we are not at a loss to know who the sons of Jacob are, and from whom Joseph the Seer sprang, according to the book of Mormon, and who of that same stock remain, to come out of the church, raised up by the Prophet Joseph the Deliverer, the man of sin (Brigham) being hindered until Joseph was taken out of the way. I might still add one word more in confirmation of this position, and that is the apostasy which Paul speaks of, to take place in the last days. 1 Tim. 4th chap. and 2 Tim. 31 chap. 1-9 v.

A newspaper entitled the Melchesidec and Aaronic Herald, is just now getting up, and if sustained brother Wight, it will do us good and prove a great strength to Zion. Will you help to sustain it, or shall it be removed to your stake in Texas

As to John E. page, it is not very probable that he will ever be of any use to the church any more, as he is much strang-led with strang-domism, and his history for the last four years is blank, and in having co-operated with one of the most violent persecutors of the Smith family, he has lost all the power of his mission, and has made himself a perfect nuisance to society, consequently he has been cut off from the church. I had well nigh fallen victim to the same snare of the devil, but out of it all, the Lord delivered me, and it is perhaps the only thing that I may have to regret for having done since the death of my brothers, and that was in having anything to do with this impostor Strang. I think that others who have given their influence to this man, will soon find themselves bitten in the same way that I have been, yet may not be as honest to confess it. But in the evil that I have done in this thing, I feel that God has forgiven me, inasmuch, as I have returned to the church and to the duties of my own calling. But it was not until I had bowed down in much sorrow and trouble and had called on the Lord in mighty prayer and faith for deliverance; but now I feel my strength renewed and my prospects brightening for the great work before me. I will say also that at the time my very soul and body was passing through this furnace of fire and trial, I might have been drawn into even a great evil through the pledges and promises of some of my pretended friends, had it not have been for the timely interference of a kind providence, and the apostate Orson Hyde, who wrote me from Council Bluffs, in a most scandalous and ridiculous manner, charging me with crimes that I knew were as false as hell, and that neither he nor any other human being on earth, could prove, or would dare have the impudence or audacity to name to my face. He advised his brethren to shut up the bowels of compassion and charity against me, and post me to the wilderness on foot and alone without money, or I might lay down my high and holy calling to take to malling rails or chopping wood for a sin offering, as he had done, saying that this was what he had to do when he first apostatised from the church, in order to get back into it again, which was a lie of his own making, for this chopping wood was his own voluntary act, while he was in apostacy, but when he returned to the church, Joseph received him with open arms, and baptism into the church was the penance gate for a sin offering, and my calling was to preach the gospel and open the kingdom of God to all nations. I have therefore chosen to follow my calling instead of apostatising and going to "chopping wood," as Orson Hyde did, having a more noble work to accomplish, than this champion of apostacy had, while he was planning in the bogs of Missouri, how he might slay the Prophet, or if not in person to do the desperate deed, to kindle the match by his libels which did at last burn in the fire locks of those who slew the Prophet at Carthage jail. My words were all kindness to them as the proof will show. You may very readily perceive that the spirit that manifested itself, being so unlike that of Joseph's without love or charity, my eyes were more fully opened to the hypocricy of those men, and I account this as a providential deliverance from the jaws of death, and to keep me in the channel where I am now moving, that I might fulfill the blessings that Joseph, and also my father place on my head. My afflictions, trials, and troubles, that I have passed through since the awful murder of my two brothers, are more than language can paint to you in one short epistle; yet because of the promise, my soul takes courage and I faint not, and
Though dark are the waters and rough are the waves,
If Jesus permit the wild surges I’ll brave,
All armed for conflict I’ll never give o’er,
Until I have carried the battle to the gate,
And entered the heavenly Canaan where mobs are no more. I have made these explanations and remarks, to silence the clamors of fools; as I am aware that all these things must come up in their turn and many enquiries will be made to know why this thing was so, and why that thing was so, and they that will be turned out of the way can make almost any thing answer for an excuse or a stumbling block, and to all such I feel to give my testimony, and to do my duty, and should they then fall, their blood will not be found in my skirts.

Your letters dear brother Wight breathe a kind spirit not only to one member of the family but to the whole family. You may be assured therefore that you have friends among us, that we are your friends and will stand with you, if this love continues while life shall last.

Much exertion has been made by the Brighamites with flattering letters to Mother Smith to decoy her away to the Salt Lakes, but they did not succeed. Mother Smith cannot so easily be decoyed off by boasting braggards to a place that God never appointed for his people, and to leave all her children behind, or make a sacrifice of them to please the great god Brigham.

It is our most intense and anxious desire to all locate with you in Texas, and to this end I write that you may make such arrangements as may best suit your purpose for rendering us assistance on the journey. You may send us a pilot and some two or three strong men as council, and with what aid you have, and the Lord willing, we will meet with you in Texas to await the day, and to prepare the way, for the redemption of Zion, to live together in heavenly union and love forever. I am as ever your old and well tried friend and brother in the bonds of the everlasting covenant.

WILLIAM SMITH.              

P. S. Bro. Orange was at my place in Palestine, Ill., some time in August or the first of September last, in good spirits. He stayed at my house and in the neighbourhood some five or six days. He brought us good news from a far country, and refreshed our spirits much. He also went to see Mother Smith in Nauvoo. In that place I first met with him while on his visit among us. He left my place, Palestine, in company with a family, and expected to accompany several more on their way for Texas, with many wishes and good blessings for his safe arrival in the valley of his home. Many more who were left behind would have been glad to have gone along, and did not feel much like staying behind.

God bless you Bro. Wight, for such is the word of the Lord to me. Amen.

W. S.              

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Mr.  Appleby.

Mr. Appleby was an elder of the Brighamite church. Last January he wrote a letter to sister Wells, the wife of Br. James Wells, of Bordertown, N. J., denouncing her for having left the Brighamites and united with the church of J. C. of L. D. S. He also slandered Bro. Wm. Smith in the same letter. Bro. William wrote a letter to Appleby in defence of himself and sister Wells, which contains a remarkable prophecy concerning him, that has already been fulfilled. The following is an extract from Br. William's letter:

"Appleby, you state in your letter to sister Wells, many things that I declare to be palpable falsehoods. God shall smite [thee,] thou whited wall, and thou shall die with the plague, and thy bones shall consume away in the tomb of the flesh, and if your life is prolonged, it will only be to augment thy paines and increase thy misery, and the Lord shall only have mercy upon thy family for their sake, and not for your sake. Because of thy lyings and thy abominations, the seeds of death are already sown in thy mortal body, and scarcely shall thy body and bones find a burial place or grave, for thus speaketh the spirit of the God of Joseph and William, for thy lies. Amen."

We can only say now, for want of space, that Appleby is dead. He died with the Cholera on his way to Council Bluffs.

(under construction)

Notes: (forthcoming)

GOLD MOUNTAIN. -- [A telegraphic dispatch informs that] news has been received of the discovery of an extraordinary mountain of gold on the banks of the Great Salt Lake. One thousand Mormons were hastening to the spot.


Note: This unlikely report may have resulted from a conflation of recent gold discoveries in the West and contemporary accounts of Mormon mass movements. The Houston Democratic Register of Aug. 16, 1850 said: "We noticed some time since, a report published in the St. Louis papers, that valuable gold mines had been discovered near the Great Salt Lake in the Great Basin of Fremont, and the emigrants from Missouri were so elated with the news that many of them left their wagons and pushed on with pack mules, so eager were they to reach the newly found mines. It is by no means improbable that gold will be found as abundant on the Gila and throughout the whole country between the Sierra Nevada and the Rocky Mountains, as it is on the western slope of the Sierra. ... The St. Louis papers mention that a train of about five thousand Mormons crossed the river at Council Bluffs lately, on their way to the Great Salt Lake."

THE  WORK  ABROAD.

Since our last issue we have received cheering intelligence from Elders and Saints abroad, We learn from letters received from Nathaniel T. James, one of the 12 apostles who has been laboring in various places in Connecticut with success. He has sown the good seed at least that will, we trust, bring forth an abundant harvest. The first Presidency highly approves of the spirit manifested by him, and of his diligent exertions in the cause of our Redeemer. We have received a letter from Elder O. Olney, and also his pamphlet which was published by him (in St. Louis in 1845) concerning the apostacy from the faith. We intend to publish his letter and some remarks of our own in connexion with it in our next.

We have received reliable intelligence that Selah Lane and Samuel T. Capin have foresaken their high and holy calling and gone back to the spirit of the world. They did run well for a season who did hinder. God will not be mocked, nor accept of such ignoble sacrifice. They that forsake such a high and holy calling and will trifle with the most sacred institution which God has revealed on earth, namely, the holy priesthood, while standng upon the very brink of eternity, are not fit to be apostles and high priests of God nor worthy of a name among the Saints of God. There is yet a chance for these brethren if they will repent and return to their calling again, otherwise the candlestick will be removed.

---

Wm. I. Appleby, if the truth is told by the Frontier Guardian, is still alive. We published the report of his death as we obtained it from the Brighamites themselves. If it was a mistake ir a lie, they were the authors of it. -- As to the prophecy of Pres. Wm. Smith concerning Mr. Appleby, surely God has plenty of time to fulfill all his judgments, and the messenger of death is still on the alert, and should Mr. Appleby's life be prolonged, "it will only be to augment his pains and in crease his miseries," as it is stated in the prophecy.

(under construction)

Note: Nearly thirty years after he presided over the Recklesstown LDS Branch, in Burlington co., New Jersey, High Priest William I. Appleby was still alive and well, living in Utah. He died there on May 20, 1870, and no mention of unusual circumstances is recorded at his passing. Perhaps William Smith's prophetic vision was a bit "hazy" in this particular case.

LETTER  FROM  PRES.  WILLIAM  SMITH.

To the Saints scattered abroad, greeting:

We have received a long communication from Bro. Lyman Wight, which we give in this number of the Herald. He is now appointed by revelation to be a member of the quorum of the first presidency. Bro. Wight is instructed in the same revelation to obtain apostles and send them among us. Bro. Aaron Hook and Bro. Alva Smith who have heretofore stood as members of the first council of the church, will continue to occupy the place of counsellors to the presidency, and most likely will be chosen as members in the quorum of the twelve as we are commanded to hasten the work and fill up this quorum immediately. Bro. Aaron Hook is a vigorous man, and has a strong intellect, and athletic powers. He is also a young man, and is just such a man as the Lord wants as an apostle. He has filled his office in the church with dignity and in a becoming manner. Since our last paper was published we have received a letter from his mother stating he was preaching in Alkinson and the country around, in the State of Maine, and that he was strong in the faith.

Bro. Alva Smith will also make a good apostle. We shall do as the Lord shall direct in these matters. It is a wise saying "old men for counsel and young men for war."

We would say also that in consequence of giving to Bro. Wight's letter, we are obliged to leave out several letters which we have lately received, and which would be interesting to our readers. -- We intended to publish some of these letters, but we hope the brethren will bear with us in this respect. The same day that we received Bro. Wight's letter we also received one from Bishop Miller asking counsel of the Presidency, which counsel we will give soon. We have also one from Bro. H. Herinshaw, Nauvoo, which states that the health of Mother Smith is improved. We have received one from Bro. W. J. Salisbury, which contains matters of great interest to the saints. We have received one from Elser Omar Olney from which we learn that one McKenzie, a Brighamite begging imposter, has been slandering my character, and also Bro. Sheen's, in the Eastern States. This imposter has been begging money and Gentile school books, &c., under the pretence of assisting the poor in the valley of the Salt Lakes in educating their children. If the truth was generally known respecting the false pretences of these apostates to obtain money, they would not find it a very profitable enterprise.

We have news from Bro. N. T. James one of the apostles. He has preached in different places in the east, and expects to visit us here soon. A letter from Cream Ridge brings us favorable news concerning the saints in that region. From Bordentown, N. J., we have encouraging news, and also from Hartford, Connecticut.

The brethren should not forget our Conference on the 6th of October. I shall be present. Bro. I. Sheen, Counsellor, and 2 of the 12 apostles, namely, J. W. Crippen and H. Nisonger will also be there. Bro. Henry Nisonger was ordained by me on the 10th of September to be an apostle.

We would say to all that are called saints, that the Lord knoweth them that are his, and we shall know all them that attend to their duty, and that send us money to pay the printer's bills.

It is no time to sleep now, be up and doing O ye elders, and make long and loud proclamation, for the day of the Lord cometh as a thief in the night, in which the wicked shall be slain, and the avaricious shall perish, and their gold with them, and they who think more of their gold than of the word of God must perish with it. Send us then your money to help us in the work of God. Why do many stand back and still say they believe? If you have faith manifest it by your works. We have labored and toiled day and night for your good, and thus far sustained ourselves in the publication of 6 numbers of the Herald.

Strang published a falsehood in his paper by saying that "Isaac Sheen, Wm. Smith, and we believe 2 or 3 others have attempted to start publications which have entirely failed." But we say to such liars and hypocrites as Strang, O. Hyde and others, that truth will prevail, and that our motto is truth, Bible truth, gospel truth, and we look for all the Israel of God to come to Zion, which God will establish upon his glorious holy mountain, and bring your silver and your gold with you. A penurious and covetous Saint can never get into the celestial kingdom, and those who call themselves Saints, and will not help us, we shall regard as hypocrites. The first presidency in this place have dedicated all they have to our Redeemer's cause. May we not therefore boldly ask you to co-operate with us in this noble work, yea, the noblest and greatest of all the works of God on earth.

(To be continued.)

---

AN  EXTRACT  OF  CONFERENCE  MINUTES.

Held by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, William Smith in the Chair and Aaron Hook Clerk -- On motion of John Hook, J. J. Strang was cut off from the Church and delivered over to the buffetings of Satan, &c., for adultery and for usurpation, and for other unmentionable offences.

On motion of Aaron Hook, Brigham Young, Willard Richards, H. C. Kimball, P. P. Pratt, Orson Hyde, Orson Pratt, Wilford Woodruff, Geo. A. Smith, apostles, were cut off from the Church and delivered over to the buffetings of Satan for the destruction of the flesh and sealed up against all Gospel privileges, for adultery and for teaching and practicing the spiritual wife doctrine, and for usurpation, and for other crimes to base to name in print, and for advising the murder of Aaron Hodges.

On motion of Aaron Hook, young Joseph Smith was appointed to stand at the head of the Church of Jesus Christ of L. D. D. in his father's place when he will come forward and claim his rights.

On motion of Aaron Hook, Wm. Smith was appointed by a unanimous vote of the Conference to stand as the President of the Church in the place of little Joseph till he takes his place.

On motion of Aaron Hook, Lyman Wight was sustained as President of the quorum of 12 Apostles, or the privilege of occupying a place in the first Presidency if he should desire it.

On motion, Aaron Hook was sustained as Counsellor in the Presidency.

On motion of Jeremiah Cross, John Hook was appointed President of the Stake at Palestine, Lee co., Ill.

On motion of Aaron Hook, it was resolved that the Conference would sustain and uphold all the Smith family in their lawful position in the Church, and do all in its power to repel the insult and abuse heaped upon them by apostates, and to carry out Joseph's measures in planting stakes, preaching the gospel and building up Zion in these United States and upon the islands of the sea.

On motion of Joseph Younger, Conference was adjourned to meet again at our next annual meeting.

Palestine, Lee co., Ill., Oct. 6, 1848.
                          WILLIAM SMITH, Pres.
Aaron Hook, Clerk.

(under construction)

Notes: (forthcoming)

THE  MORMONS.
______

The Cincinnati Atlas says, in reference to those singular people:

"We want to call the reader's attention to the new and most extraordinary condition of the Mormons. Seven thousand of them have found a resting place in the most remarkable spot on the North American continent. Since the children of Israel wandered through the wilderness, or the Crusaders rushed on Palestine, there has been nothing so historically singular as the emigration and recent settlement of the Mormons. Thousands of them came from the Manchesters and Sheffields of England, to join other thousands congregated from Western N. York and New England -- boasted descendants of the Pilgrim Fathers -- together to follow after a New Jerusalem in the West. Having a temple amidst the churches and schools of Lake county, Ohio, and driven from it by popular opinion, they build the Nauvoo of Illinois. It becomes a great town. Twenty thousand people flock to it. They are again assaulted by popular persecution; their prophet murdered, their town depopulated; and finally their temple burnt!

"Does all this series of signal persecution to which they have been subjected, destroy them? Not at all. Seven thousand are now settled, in flourishing circumstances, on the Plateau Summit of the North American continent. Thousands more are about to join them from Iowa, and thousands more from Wales. The spectacle is one of the most singular episodes of the great drama of this age. The spot on which the Mormons are now settled, is geographically, one of the most interesting on the American continent. There is no other just like it, that we recollect of, on the globe. Look at the map a little east of the Great Suit Lake, and just south of the Southwest Pass, and you will see in the northeast corner of California, the summit level of the waters which flow on the North American continent. It must be six thousand feet, perhaps more, above the level of the Atlantic. In this sequestered corner, in a vale hidden among mountains and lakes, are the Mormons, and there rise the mighty rivers, than which no continent has greater.

"Within a stone's throw, almost, of one another, lie the head-springs of the Sweet Water and Green rivers. The former flows into the Platte river, that into the Missouri, and that into the Mississippi, and that into the Gulf of Mexico, becoming part of the Gulf Stream, and laves the shores of distant lands. The latter, the Green river, flows into the Colorado; the Colorado into the Gulf of California, and is mingled with the Pacific. -- The one flows more than 2,500 miles; the other more than 1,500. These flow into tropical regions. Just north of the same spot are the head-streams of Snake river, which flows into the Columbia, near latitude 46 degrees, after a course of 1,000 miles. -- Just south are the sources of the Rio Grande, which, after winding 1,700 miles, finds the Gulf of Mexico. It is a remarkable point in the earth's surface where the Mormons are, and locked in by mountains and lakes, they will probably remain, and constitute a new and peculiar colony."

---

According to the latest intelligence received from Wales, (in England,) the Mormons appear to be making great progress in that country. In that principality alone they are reported to have no less than [156] elders, 180 priests, 140 teachers, and 67 deacons; and the number of individuals baptised in 1848 was 1,939. The passion for emigrating to California has seized a large number of individuals, and thousands are now on their way to the great empire of the West. An article from a Welsh paper remarks as follows:

"On Tuesday last Swansea was quite enlivened, in con sequence of the arrival of several wagons loaded with luggage, attended by some scores of the 'bold peasantry' of Carmarthenshire, and almost an equal number of the inhabitants of Merthyr and the surrounding districts, together with their families. The formidable party were nearly all Latter day Saints, and came to this town for the purpose of proceeding to Liverpool in the Troubadour steamer, where a ship is in readiness to transport them next week to the glittering regions of California. This goodly company is under the command of a popular saint, known as Captain Dan Jones, a hardy traveller, and a brother of the well known John Jones, of Llangollen, the able disputant on the subject of 'Baptism.' He arrived in town on Tuesday evening, and seems to enjoy the respect and confidence of his faithful band. Amongst the group were many substantial farmers from the neighborhoods of Brechia and Llanybyder, Carmarthenshire; and, although they were well to do, they disposed of their possessions to get to California, their New Jerusalem, as they deem it, where their fanaticism teaches them to believe they will escape from the general destruction and conflagration that is shortly to envelope this earth. It is their intention, we are informed, not to visit the gold regions, but the agricultural districts, where they intend, they say, by helping one another, to reside in peace and harmony, and to exemplify the truth of 'brotherly love,' not in name, but in practice."

Amongst the number who came here, several were aged men, varying from 70 to 90 years of age, and "whose hoary locks" not only proclaim their "lengthened years," but render it very improbable they will live to see America; yet so deluded are the poor and simple saints, that they believe that every one amongst them, however infirm and old he may be, will surely land safely in California. Their faith is most extraordinary. On Wednesday morning, after being addressed by their leader, all repaired on board, in admirable order, and with extraordinary resignation. Their departure was witnessed by hundred of spectators, and whilst the steamer gaily passed down the river, the Saints sang a favorite hymn.

The Swansea Herald states that the Mormons have great confidence in Captain Jones, who it seems has visited California, and is now returning to the valley of Salt Lake. About 350 saints go with him. It adds, "300 large ships could scarcely carry the hosts of saints who are now anxiously desiring to emigrate from this island."

A brother of the Editor of the Niles Republican, who lately emigrated to the Mormon country, communicates the annexed information as to the extravagant views of the Mormons respecting the erection of a new Temple:

"The new Mormon Temple at the Salt Lake is to be a splendid building. They enclose a lot seventeen miles long and twelve miles wide, with a mud wall eight feet high and four feet thick. There are to be cities inside. They have discovered mountain rock that resembles cornelian stone, which is beautiful for temples and pillars. The size of the temple is not stated, but its highest point is to be six hundred feet, and can be seen eighty miles either way."


Notes: (forthcoming)

A letter from a Mormon at the Salt Lake, to his friend in Ohio says:

"There is an extensive gold mine here, from which a great many of my neighbors are engaged in digging gold. Those who work the mines make from $30 to $760 per day, each. If a man wants gold, all he has to do is, to go and dig it. In fact, Miles, money is as plenty here as pine slabs [used to be at Schroon,]> Vermont. We have gold dust, gold and silver coin and a paper currency for our own convenience -- paper being better to handle than gold dust.

Pure salt abounds here to any extent. I can shovel up a wagon load of salt here as soon as you can a load of [dirt]"


Note: Other contemporary reprints of this article place the "pine slabs" in "Sharon" Vermont, and add the following: "...as you can a load of sand on your Lake shore. There are hot springs here that are very useful. Within four miles of the city there is a hot spring, the water of which is about blood warm -- there we bathe for health; also, an oil spring, a soda spring and an alkali spring near the Lake, at which place it requires but a few minutes to load a wagon with as good salaeratus as ever we used -- in fact, we use no other. There is not much timber in this country. Game is very plenty, such as buflaloes, antelopes, deer, bear, &c. -- Fowls and fishes of all kinds of abundance. Cattle can live here the whole year without either hay or corn, and be fat enough for beef at any time. There has been one crop raised in the valley and there is a large crop of wheat on the ground. There is a canal being constructed here for the purpose of watering our fields, as there is very little or no rain in the summer season."

THE  UNITED  ORDER. --
CONCLUSION  OF  PRES. SMITH'S  LETTER.

We intend as soon as possible under existing circumstances to establish the UNITED ORDER of the Stake of Zion according to the sample which is given to the Saints in the book of Cov. page 300. Many counterfeit systems have been set up in the world under pretence of establishing a union of property. Among these may be classed the Order of Enoch, (so called,) which J. J. Strang has set up. The Lord made known his will to the Prophet Joseph that his church should not be called after the name of men.

The Book of Mormon 493 page says "If a church be called in Moses' name, then it be Moses' church; or if it be called in the name of a man, then it be the church of a man, but if it be called in my name, then it is my church, if it so be that they are built upon my gospel." As in regard to the church of Jesus Christ so in regard to the United Order: God has never authorized Mr. Strang nor any other man to call this Order the Order of Enoch nor by the name of any other man. It is a Celestial Order governed by a Celestial law, and the Lord has commanded us that when this Order is organized it shall be called the United Order of the Stake of Zion, and when it is organized in Zion it shall be called the United Order of the city of Zion. See B. of Cov. 350 p.

These commandments were given to Enoch in his day, and are now given again to the Saints as a sample for them to imitate. See B. of Cov. 76, 87, 94, 97, 99 Sec.

It is our intention that the establishment of the United Order of a Stake of Zion in the State of Ohio shall be for the benefit of the poor who are unable to get to Texas, and for the promotion of the work of the ministry in this region of the country. It is thought expedient by the first presidency of the church that the scattered Saints who are deprived of the privilege of assembling together to receive religious instruction, and who are unable to get to Texas, should, in the present emergency, move into this Stake of Zion.

The members of this church who do not choose to enter into this Order, can still retain their membership, but whoever enters into this Order are bound by the law of God to continue in it. I remain your brother in the new and everlasting covenant.   WILLIAM SMITH.
    Covington, Ky., Sept. 30, 1849.

---

A  PATRIARCHAL  BLESSING,

Given by William Smith, Patriarch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, upon the head of Isaac Sheen, son of William and Jane Sheen, born Dec. 22nd, 1810, in Lithorpe, in the Parish of Narborough, Leicestershire, England.

Brother Sheen: I lay my hands upon your head to seal upon you a father's blessing according to thy rights in thy father's family, as thou hast none else to bless thee. I bless thee with a father's blessing, that thy birthright may be preserved in thy father's family, in that place that is appointed unto to [sic] thee to stand; and that the priesthood which thou hast been ordained. might be brought out of that lineage unto which thy fathers were ordained; for thou art of the tribe of Levi, and a literal descendant of Aaron, whereunto pertained the administering of ordinances and of holding the keys of power; therefore, it shall be conferred upon thee, that birthright of administering for the saving of thy father's house, and of thy kindred, in ordinances and blessings that remaineth to be revealed. For thy understanding shall be opened, and thy knowledge shall be increased, and many great and precious promises that were given to thy fathers, shall be fulfilled upon thine head, in the work of that ministry whereunto thou art called; and the Heavens shall also be opened to thy view, and the Angels shall administer with the ephod and the holy vessels of the Court of the Lord; and thy raiments shall be that of the garments of Aaron, with the girdle and fair mitre placed upon thy head, according to thy rights of lineage, with the Priests of Levi, and the sons of Aaron, as a first born son of Aaron, and so shall thou stand and qualify thyself as Aaron was qualified, as a spokesman unto the Lord's prophet, and unto all of God's people; this is, therefore, the blessing of thy father upon thy head, that thy inheritance may be made secure unto thee, unto all generations, and thy rights of priesthood, according to the covenant, may be handed down unto thy children's children after thee forever, that thy name and priesthood, and also the name and priesthood of thy fathers, may be kept in everlasting remembrance; for thus saith the Spirit of the living God, Thy reward and crown is sure, therefore let thy faith fail not, for a kingdom is thine, power is thine, and the life that shall never end. Amen.   WILLIAM SMITH, Patriarch.
    Covington, Ky., June 13, 1849.

---

THE  CONSPIRACY  OF  THE SALT LAKE MORMONS  AGAINST
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

We have obtained numerous disclosures concerning the treasonable, blasphemous, licentious, and heaven daring wickedness of Brigham Young, Orson Hyde and Co., which they were guilty perpetrators of, in the temple of God at Nauvoo. If we had room we would give these disclosures in full at this time, but as we have not space we will give a extract of the disclosures of a man and his wife which has been testified to under oath by them, according to the laws of the land.

These individuals testify that in going through the endowment in the temple, the following were part of the proceedings:

"The man and woman are ordered to kneel at an altar, on which is the Bible. On it they lay their hands, when the following oath is administered:

THE  OATH.

You do solemnly swear, in the presence of Almighty God, his holy angels and these witnesses, that you will avenge the blood of Joseph Smith on this nation, and teach your children; and that you will from this time henceforth and forever begin and carry out hostilities against the nation, and to keep the same intent a profound secret, now and forever, so help you God."

Mr. and Mrs. Van Deusen have testified to the above facts under oath as the following affidavit will show:

United States of America,
Southern District of New York. J. McGee Van Deusen and Maria Van Deusen his wife, being duly sworn, do depose and say, that the matters set forth in the pamphlet entitled "Startling Disclosures," &c., by them published, are true, and that they themselves have passed through the initiatory ceremony by which thousands have been and are now being formed into a secret conspiracy against this nation.
J. McGEE VAN DEUSEN,
MARIA VAN DEUSEN,
Sworn this 13th day of December, 1847, before me, DAVID L. GARDINER,
           U. S. Commissioner. I do hereby certify that the above testimony of Mr. and Mrs. Van Deusen, concerning the Salt Lake Mormon oath, is correct.   ROBT. CULBERTSON.

The above is a very small sketch of the enormities of Salt Lake Mormonism.

We would advise or recommend, that if the government grants these Salt Lake Mormons a territorial government that they appoint men who are not members of this Salt Lake church or the government will find that they are most desperately bitten by these wolves in sheep's clothing. We are in favor of them having a government but we think that the government and laws should be administered by judicious and honest men and not traitors and conspirators against the rights and liberties of American citizens. But if government will not heed our advice, and will appoint a Salt Lake Mormon to be Governor of that territory, let them appoint A. W. Babbit, Esq., to that office, for we believe that he would be the most faithful servant of the government that can be found among the Salt Lake Mormons.

We have authentic information that more than 1500 Salt Lake Mormons took this oath in the temple at Nauvoo. We are entirely opposed to these people and will stand up in favor of the republican institutions of our country.
WILLIAM SMITH.
ISAAC SHEEN. Presidents of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

---

M A R T Y R S
OF THE
LATTER DAY SAINTS

The following are the names of a few of the MARTYRS, who, for the testimony of Jesus, have been inhumanly murdered in the States of Missouri and Illinois.

Mr. Barber, Martyred November 4, 1833, in Jackson county, Mo.

The following Saints were MARTYRED in Caldwell co, Mo., Oct 30, 1833.

Thos. McBride, Levi Hancock, Wm. Merrick, Elias Benner, Josiah Fuller, Benjamin Lewis, Alex. Campbell, Mr. York.

Warren Smith, Sardius Smith, George Richards, Mr. Napier, Mr. Harmar, Mr. Cox, Mr. Abbott,

About the same time and in the same county,
the following persons were MARTYRED, namely,

David W. Patten,
One of the Twelve Apostles.

Gideon Carter,    Mr. Obanion,
Mr. Carey.

Martyred in Carthage JAIL, in the county of Hancock,
State of Illinois, on the 27th day of June, 1844,

Joseph Smith, the Seer,
Hyrum Smith, the Patriarch,

Two of the noblest Martyrs whose blood has stained the earth for ages.
The murderers of the foregoing persons, though the most of them are well known, are yet running at large, boasting of their deeds.

Samuel H. Smith,

Brother of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, who died from the effects of poison administered to him. He died within one month after the martyrdom of his brother. Further particulars concerning this matter will appear hereafter. These are all martyrs, and have sealed their testimony with their blood, besides many more whose days have been shortened by the persecutions that they have endured.


Note 1: The advice given by William Smith and Isaac Sheen, that the U. S. Government appoint Sheen's brother-in-law, Almon W. Babbit, to be the first Governor of the proposed Utah Territory, put Elder Babbit into an untenable position, in respect to his top leader, Brigham Young and the LDS Church hierarchy at Salt Lake. As things turned out, Babbit was appointed in July, 1849 by the Mormons to serve as the representative in Washington for their proposed "State of Deseret." Babbit arrived in Iowa, from Salt Lake City, on Sept. 3, 1849 and then proceeded on to Washington, D. C. After Babbit arrived in the capital, he entrusted the constitution for the proposed state of Deseret, to Senator Stephen A. Douglas, who placed the matter before the Senate on Dec. 27, 1849. The Mormons' proposal was eventually rejected; in place of the State of Deseret, the Federal Government created, Utah Territory, on Sept. 9, 1850, with Brigham Young appointed to serve as its first Governor. Presumably, Elder Babbit passed through Ohio during November, 1849, and while in Cincinnati he may have conferred with his brother-in-law, Elder Sheen, regarding the future of William Smith's church. William Smith was probably away when Babbit passed through Cincinnati, but then again, William may have crossed paths with the Mormon delegate in St. Louis. According to a story reprinted in the Jefferson City, Missouri Enquirer, on Nov. 15, 1849, William had recently been in St. Louis, promoting Almon W. Babbit for the Utah governorship.

Note 2: After he had presented the proposed constitution for the State of Deseret to Stephen A. Douglas, the Illinois senator reportedly "interrogated... the Representative from Deseret," asking Babbit to explain various charges made against the Mormons in the Missouri newspapers, by William Smith, etc. Babbit evidently denied all charges and voiced his wholehearted support for Brigham Young. After the interrogation, he waited in vain, in Washington D. C. hoping that Douglas' Senate committee on territories would recommend creation of the State of Deseret. When this action was not forthcoming, Babbit returned west, apparently stopping along the way to visit with Isaac Sheen in Covington or in Cincinnati. From Elder Sheen (who had by then ended his fellowship with William Smith) Babbit obtained the Church's patriarchial blessing book, Lucy Smith's manuscript, and other papers and records William Smith had abandoned. By Aug. 4, 1850 Babbit had reached Council Bluffs and there explained to a church court: "I have got the records of Father Smith, etc. I have not stole them, but attached them legally for the archives of God."

Note 3: "Presidents" William Smith and Isaac Sheen's announcement, saying that "Samuel H. Smith... died from the effects of poison administered to him" at Nauvoo, and that "Further particulars concerning this matter will appear hereafter," could not have set very well with the LDS Church hierarchy at Great Salt Lake City. After all, Samuel's final decline in health during the summer of 1844 was monitored and dealt with by prominent Brighamite leaders in Nauvoo, all of whom later went west to Utah. There is reason to believe that Brigham Young instructed Sheen's brother-in-law, Almon W. Babbit, to intercede and break up the Covington "President's" publication plans. Only one more issue of the A&M Herald was ever published by Sheen at Covington -- he disassociated himself from Smith in May of 1850, under unfriendly circumstances, centering primarily around William's secret participation in "spiritual wifery." William Smith, in a letter to Brigham Young, written July 13, 1856, practically accuses Babbit of turning Sheen against him: "I notice also that you have that scroundrel of A. Babbit about you... he is the man who paid Isaac Sheen one thousand dollars [for] my trunk of Books and advised my wife to separate from me." For William's later, more specific allegations regarding the poisoning of his brother Samuel, see notes appended to William's 1857 letter to the New York Tribune.

THE  MORMONS.

[The correspondent of the Delta says of the Mormons]...

They are from every state in the Union -- healthy, though pale and poor about the face -- cheek bones apparent. They are industrious and temperate in the use of ardent spirits. Probably one reason is the high price of it, (as one-half of the selling price of liquor sold here goes to the city.) They claim no allegiance to the United States, but call themselves Mormons, and many think they are in a Mormon country. They are generally ignorant,and seldom think for themselves, except it is in driving a bargain, but appear enthusiastic as regards their faith. There is a great number of settlers from Alabama and Mississippi, who have come to this place with their negroes, and hold them here as they did formerly.

Brigham Young, the successor to Joe Smith, is about forty-five years old. He has the largest number of wives of any one in the settlement -- only 26. This is not a large number, considering that he had to take all the wives of Joe Smith that could not get other husbands. Some who have come under my observation, have had eleven, eight, six, and so on. These are facts beyond cavil; and the only tie that binds these people together is bigamy. The spectacle is revolting, and in a few years there will be a dozen children, all of the same age, having the same father, but different mothers. To what part of the world can they go and be respected? -- nowhere. To be a Mormon is to be all that is base and vile. All the ties that bind the opposite sexes together in mutual confidence and affection, are trampled under foot by designing men, to gratify their own lustful passions, and the ignorant think they cannot be doing right without following the example of their high priest Young, and their, twelve apostles.

The Mormons have to give one-tenth of the proceeds of their farms or other business to the church, and also the tenth working day [through] the year, making twenty per cent. -- a pretty heavy tax most people would think. The object is to get as much money into the treasury as possible, so as to be able to carry put their plan, which is to have a line of settlements to the Pacific from this place, having its terminus in the southern part of Upper California, hoping to be able to [disseminate] their religion in the newly [acquired] territory.


Note: A lengthier version of the above letter was evidently first published in the New Orleans Delta of early January, 1850. The same text was reprinted in the Painesville Telegraph of Feb. 6, 1850.

The Mormons at Salt Lake. -- The St. Louis Republican has received a pamphlet copy of the "Second General Epistle" issued by the Church of the Latter Day Saints, at the Salt Lake Valley, to "the Saints scattered throughout the earth." Ot is a detail of the condition of the Society at home and abroad, and in general embraces every thing that may be supposed to be of interest to the members of the Church. The crops are represented as having been very fine -- and it is stated that they have not only enough for themselves, but for their brethren on the way, until the next harvest...


Notes: (forthcoming)

               From the Cincinnati Commercial.

THE  SALT  LAKE  BANDITTI.

Mr. K. G. Curtiss -- Sir: I have received the following information in a letter from Pres. William Smith, the brother and successor of the prophet -- Joseph Smith. The conduct of the apostates of the 'Salt land,' (Jer., 17 chap. 6 v.) ought to be published in every newspaper in the United States, that this Salt Lake banditti may be broken up.
                                                    Yours respectfully,
                                                        ISAAC SHEEN.

---

I am in possession of evidence that bands of these Salt Lake Mormons, armed, dressed and painted -- having the appearance of Indians -- are stationed on the way to California and Oregon, for the purpose of robbing the emigrants. Many murders and robberies have already been committed by these demons in human shape, which have been published to the world and attributed to the Indians.

The people at the Salt Lake govern their church by a secret lodge of 50 men. It is in this lodge that Brigham Young is crowned as a king, and is there seated upon a throne prepared for him.
                                                      WILLIAM SMITH.

---

THE  ANNUAL  CONFERENCE

Of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints will be in Covington Kentucky on the 6th of April next. This announcement is made by authority from Pres. Wm. Smith. It is his intention to organize the quorum of the twelve at that time. It is expected that Pres. L. Wight will be present with other brethren from Texas. The saints far and near (as many as can) are earnestly requested to be present at the conference. It is expected that after the conference a company of saints will emigrate from this place to Texas.

---

MEMORIAL  TO  CONGRESS.

We have sent a long petition to Congress remonstrating against the admission of the State of Deseret into the Union. -- It is in the name of the presidency of the Church, and Bro. William's name and our own attached to it, and also a concurring petition signed by 12 members of the church in this place. You can see by the newspapers what effect it has produced; and that our principles have been promulgated in the Senate of the United States, and by telegraphic despatches in nearly all the daily papers in the Union. We have sent a similar petition to the President, requesting him that if a territorial government is established at Salt Lake, that he will appoint men to office there, who will protect us from the Bowie-knife priesthood of Brig-Ham Young, when we go there to reclaim some of the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Our cause is moving onward rapidly.


Note 1: This was the final issue of the Covington A&M Herald. It seems likely that editor Isaac Sheen had planned to publish a pre-conference issue in March, and then another, a month later, providing the minutes of the April conference in Kentucky. Three factors combined to contribute to the sudden demise of the Herald and the "Covington Stake of Zion." First of all, Lyman Wight did not show up for the conference, and his delegate, Elder Otis Hobart, died while on assignment to Covington, just prior to the publication of the February issue. Secondly, President William Smith was tardy in his arrival at Covington, which left Isaac Sheen to administer all of the pre-conference activities. Left alone, in this commanding capacity, without the meliorating presence of William Smith or Lyman Wight, Sheen was left to ponder the rumors he was hearing in regard to the alleged immorality of President Smith and the imprudence of organizing a company of saints to emigrate to Texas, given the President's disreputable intentions and practices. Elder Sheen laid something of a doctrinal trap for William Smith. On Apr. 18, 1850 Sheen succeded in getting Smith to admit openly that he "had a right to raise up posterity from other men's wives;" also, on April 29th, Sheen procured a letter in which Smith admitted to the secret practice of plural marriage among the top leadership of his church. Elder Sheen had this damaging letter published in the May 22, 1850 edition of the Cincinnati Commercial, and thus effectively destroyed Smith's proselytizing possibilities in the region. The Smithite church vanished from Covington overnight, and so did William Smith. In his rush to leave the vicinity, Smith abandoned his extensive collection of old books, periodicals, personal papers and church records -- a set of materials which he very much needed to keep in his possession in order to effectively administer his Mormon splinter group. With his ecclesiastical projects and resources in a shambles, President William Smith retreated to Palestine, Illinois, to lick his priestly wounds and hold together the remainder of his diminished flock.

Note 2: By the time the A&M Herald. made mention of William Smith "Memorial to Congress," extracts from the petition had already been published in various newspapers around the country -- see the Nov. 17, 1849 issue of the Missouri Jefferson City Enquirer, for one such text -- hand-delivered to the editor by Smith himself. In his May 19, 1857 letter to the New York Tribune, Smith states that his 1849 Memorial to the Senate saw publication in the "Congressional Journal of 1851." Perhaps the citation he meant to make was to the Journal of the House of Representatives for Dec. 31, 1849, where mention is made of "The memorial of William Smith and other citizens of Covington, in the State of Kentucky, remonstrating against the admission of the Territory of Deseret as a State into the Union." On Feb. 25, 1850 the same Journal noted that the House had "Ordered, That the memorial of citizens of Covington, Kentucky, remonstrating against the admission of Deseret into the Union, heretofore presented and referred to the Committee on the Territories, be printed." The actual document was published as "31st Congress, 1st Session: House Miscellaneous Document No. 43." Essentially the same text appeared in the Washington Congressional Globe vol. 92, pp. 92-3.

MORMONISM. -- A Mormon Conference was held at Covington, Ky., on the 6th inst. Bill Smith, the brother of the Prophet Joe, was in attendance. Since the Mormons have taken possession of the immense tract of country in California, they are becoming very popular among the free-soil, free-thinking, free-living and free gabbing people in various sections of the country.

The Baltimore Clipper relates the following incident which has just occurred in that city. The Clipper says --

"We understand that a man named Albert N. Hosmer, who has become a monomaniac on the subject of Mormonism, deserted his wife on last Friday and left the city for the North via Philadelphia. It seems that he went home on Friday, and told his wife he was going to take his children out riding. His wife fixed them up -- four in number, two girls and two boys, the eldest child, ten and the youngest three years old -- when he took them off in a carriage, since when they have not been seen. He has become perfectly demented, it is said, imagining that he will live a thousand years and raise an hundred children. His wife, who is a fine, intelligent lady, is almost crazed at the loss of her children, and the police have employed all means to recover them. She applied, she states, to one of the chief Mormons in the city, to learn her husband's whereabouts, and was informed that she would probably hear from him at either New York or Albany, where, if she chose, she could join him. These fanatics are said to be proselyting very largely in the city, several of their leading missionaries being located here. Hosmer is a well known member of the Odd Fellows, standing six feet six inches in height."


Notes: (forthcoming)

THE  GREATEST  ANNUAL  CONFERENCE,

Ever held since the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph.
A Prophet in the land again. --
Reorganization of the quorum
of the twelve apostles.

The Annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was held in Covington April 5th, 1850, commencing at 10 o’clock A. M. -- Conference was organized by the unanimous adoption of the following resolutions:

Resolved, That Pres. Wm. Smith, be appointed President of the conference.

Resolved, That Pres. Isaac Sheen be appointed clerk of the conference....

Resolved, That we will sustain and uphold Pres. Wm. Smith, and do acknowledge that it is his indisputable right to be the President, Prophet, Seer, Revelatior and Translator of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

Resolved, That this right is guarantied to him by the law of God and the revelations of Jesus Christ which declare that this priesthood belongs to the "lawful heirs according to the flesh," and inasmuch as the Prophet Joseph Smith was ordained by the angels of God, to preside over the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, in consequence of his lineal descent….

Resolved, That we will uphold and sustain Isaac Sheen and L. Wight, in their offices as counsellors to the Prophet William Smith.

Resolved, That in accordance with the foregoing resolutions, President William Smith, Isaac Sheen, and Lyman Wight constitute the quorum of the first Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints.

Resolved, That Bro. Aaron Hook be upheld and sustained as a counsellor to the first Presidency of this Church.

Resolved, That we do uphold and sustain the appointments which have been made by Presidents Wm. Smith, Isaac Sheen, and Lyman Wight in filling up the quorum of the twelve as follows: In Texas, William P. Eldridge, Andrew Balentine, Spencer Smith, Joseph D. Goodale, Stephen Curtis, Orange L. Wight, Irvin Carter; in the Northern States, George Baily, Nathaniel T. James, Henry Nisonger, Edwin Cadwell and Alva Smith....

Resolved, That this conference instruct the branch of the Church under the superintendence of Bro. Lyman Wight, to send money for the removal of the Smith family to that place, which money this conference will be responsible for.

Resolved, That a special conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, be held in Texas on the 23 day of Dec., 1850, being the birth day of the Prophet Joseph. A general attendance of the 12 apostles, elders and other official members of the Church is requested.

Resolved, That all the Churches abroad be instructed by this conference, according to the Revelation received by the Prophet Wm. Smith, to gather to the branch of the Church in Texas as a place of refuge for the Saints.

Resolved, That we cordially invite young Joseph, the son of the Prophet Joseph Smith, to come forward and be ordained by the Presidency of this Church, to the office of Prophet, Seer, Revelator, and translator of the Church, according to his right by lineage: but we do hereby declare that unless he is ordained under the hands of the Presidency of this Church, he has no claim to be successor of his father in the Presidency of the Church of J. C. of Latter Day Saints....

Resolved, That Bro. Edwin N. Kingsley, be ordained to the office of high priest.

Resolved,That Brothers. John Glegson and John Culbertson, be ordained to the office of an elder.

These Brethren were then ordained under the hands of Presidents William Smith [and] Isaac Sheen... Bro. Silas Caldwell was ordained a teacher.

Counsellor Aaron Hook addressed the conference. Having just returned from a mission to the Eastern States, he gave a very encouraging account of the prosperity of the cause in that part of the country, which was highly gratifying to the Saints. In consequence of some remarks made by brothers Aaron Hook and Isaac Sheen, the two following resolutions were adopted:

Resolved, That we return our sincere thanks to Counsellor Aaron Hook for expressing his approbation in the administration of Pres. Wm. Smith in regard to the appointment of brother Isaac Sheen to be a Counsellor in the Presidency of the Church....

Resolved, That Counsellor Aaron Hook and Bro. Edwin Cadwell, are instructed to gather together a company of saints, in Illinois to emigrate to Texas next fall....

On the evenings of the 9th and 10th, the conference was addressed on the all important principles of salvation, by the Prophet William, counsellor Aaron Hook, and other elders. On the last evening in accordance with the counsel of the Presidency it was

Resolved, That Bro. Otis Hobart be interred with his robes on him. On motion conference adjourned sine die.

         WM. SMITH, Pres.
    ISAAC SHEEN, }
    AARON HOOK, } Counsellors.
Covington, Ky., April 10, 1850.

---

T E X A S.

A company of saints intend to start from this place for Texas in a few days. By the revelation of March 20, 1850, the saints are now commanded to emigrate to that country that they may be gathered together and prepare for those things that are coming upon the earth, for the endowments and blessings which God has promised unto his saints and for the redemption of Zion. "Coming events cast their shadows before" hence we have witnessed signs in the heavens and on the earth -- signs of "blood fire and vapors of smoke" "distress of nation." Showers of flesh and blood, great lights in the heavens, earthquakes, pestilences, famines, whirlwinds, judgments on the waters, wars and rumors of wars, which are now manifested are only "the beginning of sorrows." The awful display of God’s indignation will soon be poured out upon the ungodly therefore he is now warning the inhabitants of the earth to prepare for the day of his vengeance which shall come like a whirlwind upon the wicked. He was sent a prophet who is fully qualified by the law of God and by ordination. The revelations which God hath given unto him are of equal validity to those which were given through Joseph. They agree with them in style and in doctrine to that extent that many would suppose that they emanated from the same person. The style is the same because they emanate from the same God, who is the same yesterday to-day and forever. The fulfillment of many revelations which have been given to the Prophet William have been realized in the most remarkable manner. We do therefore entreat you to comply with the revelation of March 20th, and gather to the place appointed that you may be prepared for the final rest that remaineth for the people of God in Jackson Co. Mo. -- the land of Zion.

Pres. Smith expects to emigrate to Texas with a company in the fall. In this region and also in the Eastern and Western States there are many that are preparing for the gathering at that time.


Note 1: The following excerpt is from Melvin C. Johnson's 2006 book, Polygamy on the Pedernales: "In the spring of 1850, [Lyman Wight's] Texas church sent delegates to a conference held by William Smith at Covington, Kentucky. They included Otis Hobart, Stephen Zeloutus Curtis, Joseph D. Goodale, and Silas Caldwell. Otis Hobart, according to the conference minutes, had been "gathered unto the Lord," dying almost immediately before the opening meeting.... William Smith presided over the conference, which began 5 April 1850 with Joseph D. Goodale of Zodiac giving the invocation. The conference ratified Joseph Smith Jr.’s approval of Wight’s Texas mission to establish a gathering place for the church. The Texas Mormons were called on to raise funds to move the Smith family to Zodiac that fall. The Kentucky congregation decided that it, too, would immigrate to Texas, where, according to an earlier revelation given to William Smith on 20 March 1850, the members would receive "endowments and blessings" in the Texas temple.... --- The conference called for reform in church leadership, asking Joseph Smith III to step forward and be ordained as his father’s successor. Smith III, however, would have to receive the ordination from his uncle, William Smith, who had been chosen as president of the church, with Isaac Sheen and Lyman Wight as his counselors.... A new stake would be located at Palestine, Illinois, probably to provide a location for those gathering to go to Texas."

Note 2: It is likely that Silas Caldwell was the child of a Cincinnati area convert, and did not make an arduous round-trip from Texas to Covington and back, in order to receive an ordination that could have been administered practically anywhere else. See the Covington Daily Union of June 5, 1850 for more on Caldwell and the 1850 disintegration of William Smith's Cincinnati-Covington congregation.

Note 3: After the closing of this conference, it appears that William Smith and Aaron Hook returned to their Palestine Stake in Lee County, Illinois. At least William was back at his old residence on the Hook farm when he wrote a letter from that place (Shelbourn) to Isaac Sheen, at Covington, on Apr. 29, 1850. Shortly thereafter William returned to the Cincinnati area, in an attempt to counteract Isaac Sheen's hostile actions and thus rescue the endangered congregation on the banks of the Ohio. See the columns of the Cincinnati Commercial of this period for more information.

Note 4: A March 20, 1850 William Smith "revelation" from this issue is reproduced at the William Smith's Writings web-page.

A  Prophetic  family  arrangement.

Mr. EDITOR: -- The fornication Church of Covington is now entirely extinct. Mrs. Caldwell, the last adherent of Wm. Smith, has fled to parts unknown. It is supposed, however, that she has either gone to Cincinnati, or to the neighborhood of Hamilton, Ohio, where Smith is staying with one Henry Nisonger one of his 12 apostles. Mrs. Caldwell had previously stated that she would leave her husband and go off with Smith to Texas. She has undoubtedly left her husband. She often declared that if Smith went to hell she would go with him. She said that he was made in the express image of the Saviour.   ISAAC SHEEN.


Note 1: Compare the above report with Elder Sheen's letter of May 20, 1850 to the Cincinnati Commercial, in which he says: "Wm. Smith has not cut me off from his church. I have cut myself off, and intend to remain cut off eternally from such a hypocritical libertine. He has professed the greatest hostility to the plurality wife doctrine, but on the 18th ult., he told me that he had a right to raise up posterity from other men's wives... He offered me his wife on the same terms that he claimed a partnership in other men's wives... I did not wait for him to cut me off, and he has no church in Covington to cut any one off. There is no person that acknowledges him in Covington except Mrs. _____, a married woman." The William Smith follower thus referred to must have been the same "Mrs. Caldwell" who wished to migrate to Texas with Smith and, presumably, there "raise up posterity" as one of his spiritual wives.

Note 2: On May 22, 1850 a party of William Smith followers arrived at Zodiac, Texas, to take up residence with the band of Mormons gathered there as adherents of Apostle Lyman Wight. The leader of the party was George S. Bailey, a recently ordained member of William Smith's Quorum of Twelve, in what had just become a defunct church organization. On page 324 of his 1996 The Wild Ram of the Mountain, Jermy B. Wight speculates that among Bailey's company of migrants were two brothers, "John and Silas Caldwell... the sons of G. G. Caldwell... it may be presumed they came later with... the group sent by William Smith." If so, then the oldest of those two brothers would have been the same 17-year-old "Silas Caldwell" who was ordained as a teacher at William Smith's April, 1850 Covington Conference. The "Mrs. Caldwell" mentioned by Elder Sheen, was most likely the wife of G. G. Caldwell, who sent her sons down to Texas in anticipation of joining them there when her paramour William Smith moved to Zodiac. However, William never made that change of address and the boys evidently ended up with their father, after he became reunited with them in Texas. The fate of Mrs. Caldwell remains unknown.

Note 3: If William Smith was indeed "staying with one Henry Nisonger one of his 12 apostles," in June of 1850, that would confirm William return to the Cincinnati-Covington area after having written to Isaac Sheen, on Apr. 29, 1850, from Shelbourn, Lee County, Illinois. See the columns of the Cincinnati Commercial of this period for information relating to William's return. While he may have worn out his welcome in Covington, William evidently still retained some support across the river in Hamilton County, Ohio -- among followers Henry Nisonger, Elijah Abel, and their relatives.

Mormonism.

The following communication written by Mr. Hardy, formerly an Elder in the Mormon Church, we find in the Boston Transcript. The editor of the Transcript says he he has had some conversation with Mr. Hardy, during which he impressed him most favorably by those external signs of physiognomy and manner, which denote truthfulness and sincerity. He firmly believes his story, confirmed as it is by much concurrent testimony from official and other sources.

Mormonism Exposed by an ex-Mormon.

To the Editor of the Transcript: The late high handed and treasonable proceedings of the Mormons in the territory of Utah, as shown by the official reports of the U. S. officers returned therefrom, however strange and startling they may appear to the uninitiated, form no new development to those who have had an opportunity of scrutinizing and observing them, and their doctrines and practices, and designs; but are in perfect keeping with the character of the sect, openly avowed by them to most of their members for some ten years or more.

The writer of this having been one of their number, and having been personally acquainted with Brigham Young and his associates, called by them the twelve Apostles, and having had frequent conversations with them in respect to their policy in relation to the government of this country, is perhaps better qualified than many to submit a few hints thereon.

First, then, a word in regard to their great leading doctrine; they believe and teach that the aborigines of this continent are descendants of a branch of the house of Israel, through the seed of Joseph, the patriarch and consequently, those remarkable blessings pronounced upon Joseph and his two sons, by Jacob, his father, also by Moses, will be fulfilled upon the heads of the Mormon church, and, on this continent. Hence all those terrible denunciations and destructions predicted of in the Prophets, against the oppressors of Ephraim and Manassah (the Indians) are to be fulfilled upon the devoted heads of the American people, the Mormons being the instruments!

The Book of Mormon -- misnamed the Mormon Bible -- which Joseph Smith claimed to have found miraculously in the shape of metallic plates, inscribed upon in an unknown or lost language, but translated by him through inspiration, is the sacred and political history of this branch of Israel, the predecessors of the American Indians. The organization of the Mormon church is the beginning of this work, of returning political powers to the Indians ostensibly, but in reality to the Mormon church. In regard to the government and laws of this country, they are ready at any and all times to set them at defiance, except when they may deem it politic to do otherwise. In addition to their religious idea of vengeance on this government, they have sworn vengeance against the States of [Missouri] and Illinois, from which they have been driven, and against the U. S. Government for not siding with them against those States.

The Salt Lake movement was got up for the avowed purpose of placing themselves without the pale of this Government, (they, with all their prophets, little dreaming it was soon to be a part of that Government,) that they could the better manage their treasonable designs, and at that time the Mormons petitioned Queen Victoria for aid for the Mormon emigrants from Great Britain, urging in that petition the importance of her Majesty's Government counteracting the rapid emigration from the United States to California! That petition can be seen by examining the files of the Mormon paper printed in England at that time, called the Millenial Star.

In regard to Polygamy, it has been preached among them for years; and, if it were necessary, I could give you cases of the separation of husbands and wives, the breaking up of families, the demoralization of young women by some of these twelve apostles, in this city and vicinity, that would almost chill the heart's blood.

They teach and avow openly that marriages performed out of that church are null and void, and can be broken at the pleasure of either or both parties! -- There is no particular order or system about it. The heads of the church manage to secure to themselves the most desirable of the females that join the church; and, when tired of them, give them over to the laymen of the church, and not before.

I know of one instance of a family from this city, where the mother and two daughters (mere children) were used as wives by one of these Apostles, Heber Kimball; he at the same time living with his lawful wife! I know of another case, in which P. P. Pratt, another of these twelve, took the young wife of Mr. [Hum] of this city, unbeknown to him, and they have lived as husband and wife since. But your space will not permit [me] to begin to enumerate instances of that kind that have come to my personal knowledge. Instead of polygamy, it should be termed licentiousness run mad. Any and all of these charges I stand ready to substantiate by their own documents, and by unimpeachable witnesses.

JOHN HARDY.          

Note: See also the Barre Gazette of Jan. 30, 1852.

The  Founder  of  Mormonism.

The Sandusky (O.) Mirror, in noticing the rejection of Thurlow Weed of the job of printing the Mormon Bible many years ago, says:

The veritable Joe Smith, the Mormon Prophet, about thirty years ago loafed about the taverns on the Susquehanna, near the Great Bend. He courted the daughter of a respectable farmer named Hall [sic], but the old man forbid him his house. He took advantage one Sunday of the absence of the old man at church, took a yoke of oxen and wagon, the girl's bedding, loaded them all up and put off, got married and then cheated his father-in-law. It was near Great Bend, on the New York side of the river, that Joe pretended to find his revelation on stone! We were then a printer's devil, and carried a one-horse mail from Montreal to Great Bend, well remember of hearing frequently of the pranks of "Lazy Joe."


Note: The Weekly Democratic Mirror (a.k.a. "Bay City Weekly Mirror" in 1854) was published in Sandusky, Erie Co., Ohio. The identity of the writer (who claims to have known Joseph Smith c. 1827) of this report (along with the name of the paper where he once worked as a "printer's devil") remains unknown. Thirty-five miles SW of Sandusky lies Gibsonburgh, Ohio, where D. P. Hurlbut settled in about 1854.

AN  ILLUSTRATION  OF  MORMONISM.

We became acquainted a few days since with a short history of certain transactions, partly in this city and partly out of it, which all adds a very fair illustration of the practical effect of their beautiful system of imposture which is shedding its lights and shadows upon the tops of the Western mountains. Possibly our readers may be interested in it -- especially if they should ever, in the mutations of the future, be thrown within the valley where this Upas sheds its poison and revels in the ghastly carcasses which strew the ground, they may perhaps be enabled to turn it to a practical use.

With this object in view, we will briefly state the circumstances to which we allude, suppressing names for the reason that some of thise affected, and most grievously affected by those circumstances are of our own citizens, and to whom we would render our profoundest sympathy. A few [days] since, a gentleman, his wife and three infant children, like thousands of others, left this city for the golden shores of the Pacific, the husband and wife dreaming doubtless that in the land of the shining ore they should soon [realize] a fortune for themselves and their children. The lady, we may promise, possessed more than an ordinary share of intellect, which had been cultivated in a highly respectable degree by the care of fond and doting parents, who little thought of the use to which that intellect would, in after years, be devoted, or how that devotion would be repaid. Alas! they can feel "how sharper than a serpent's teeth is it to have a thankless child," or one that brings them only [-----] instead of joy.

The family is settled in San Francisco. [Soon?] afterward the gentleman and his wife, in connection with a brother of the latter. chanced to step in on a Sunday to hear a Mormon missionary, from Utah who was holding forth in San Francisco. They were prevented by bad weather and walking from attending their usual place of worship, and as the house where the Mormon was speaking happened to be in their way, they concluded after leaving home, and from mere curiosity, to go in and hear him. Fatal curiosity! Inauspicious day! What the particular subject of the discourse was which they heard we are not advised. After coming out, the husband and brother expressed themselves very freely upon the merits of what they had heard, and pronounced some of it little, if any, short of blasphemy. To the utter astonishment of both, however, the wife and sister expressed herself highly pleased with it. As a probable solution of such a mystery, we may say, before proceeding further, that it subsequently turned out that she had heard a Mormon missionary while a young lady residing in one of the river towns in Mississippi. Polygamy was at that time carefully concealed from the outside Gentiles by the apostles of Jo Smith, and stoutly denied. Probably the young lady was fascinated by the romance which the Mormon may have skillfully woven into the discourse, and seeds of blasting ruin thus lodged in her mind spring up, fructify, and bear apples of Sodom to turn to ashes in the tasting many days after. Be this as it may, the lady soon became strongly attached to the Mormon faith, and went frequently if not constantly to hear its apostle. In a short time he had acquired sufficient influence over her to cause her to resolve to quit her husband -- if he would not accompany her -- and repair to the grand rendezvous of the Latter Day Saints, as they style themselves, at Salt Lake City.

The determination once taken, nothing could dissuade her from her purpose. But the children, what was to become of them? The mother was devotedly, passionately attached to them, and she was determined to take them with her. The father and brother of course became alarmed. To prevent her from going, they knew well would be impossible, but they resolved to save the children from the yawning gulf which was about opening to receive them; and in pursuance of this resolution they determined to send them to their gran parents in this city. They were therefore taken when the mother was absent, placed on board a steamer, and safely reached New Orleans, were soon under the loving care and hospitable roof of their grand parents.

Who, however, can baffle or circumvent a determined woman, fanatic though she be, when her feelings, her pride and her affection all combine to spur her on to the accomplishment of her object? The very next steamer that sailed brough that mother to this city, chafing like an enraged tigress, whose young have been taken from her! Her parents, who had been made aware of the circumstances, now determined that she should not take her children from them, and that if she was bent upon dooming herself to destruction, she should not drag her innocent babes down into the foul abyss with her.

We pass over the struggles, the watchings that ensued in this city a little more than one year ago on the part of the grand parents of these beautiful children of some ten or twelve summers, to keep the mother from taking them to Utah, and of her efforts to obtain possession of them for that purpose. Suffice it to say that for the time being she failed. How completely her whole soul had become wrapped up in the gross and disgusting deception which had seized upon her like a giant, the reader can judge when we tell him that rather than relinquish joining the vile horde which contaminate the air of Great Salt Lake by their abominations, she actually tore herself from the children of her heart and went without them.

She did not, however, abandon her purpose. Finding herself baffled for the time being, she determined to change her tactics, the more certain to secure at a future day what she could not then effect. She went to Salt Lake City via St. Louis, and her parents had the melancholy satisfaction to know that if she was lost to them, her children were at least safe. These, brother and sister, under the beautiful and fostering care which they received, budded like the opening rose beneath the sweet and genial influences of the Southern Spring.

They heard nothing more of her till one day last week, when they were struck almost dumb with amazement by her entrance into the family mansion. We pass over what followed, as the reader can much better imagine than we can describe it. She had been to Utah, had been a teacher there, had boarded at Gov. Brigham Young's -- only boarded -- had seen much suffering there from famine, and had seen also the error of her ways. Said she had been mad, had [-------] the Mormons, and had come to live with her parents and children, and to do what she could to make them happy. She asked them to restore to her once more their confidence.

Of course the delight of her parents was boundless. She did not profess, however, to have renounced Mormonism, but wished not to return to Utah, and still insisted that the Mormons were good people, and Brigham and his associates in office true prophets. If those drawbacks upon the value of her repentance created a regret or lingering suspicion in the minds of her parents, they did not express it, grateful and happy that she had done so much as she had, [----] made even a [---- confession] as to the impropriety of her past conduct, and hoping doubtless that time would accomplish what was lacking in her complete recovery from her horrible delusion.

On last Saturday morning she requested permission to take her children into town -- her parents live in the suburbs -- to go shopping, and promising to return by five, or at most by six o'clock in the evening. The permission was readily granted, and they have seen neither her nor children since. She has accomplished her purposes; and she is of course on her way back to Utah with her children, to be thrust into the open throat of the grim visaged and horrible monster who sits midway upon the Rocky Mountains, lapping his repulsive jaws and eager to devour new victims as they become entangled in his [foul], leprous coils. Her dissimulation was profound, was perfect. So much for Mormonism.


Mrs. McLean's brother arrived in New Orleans the next morning after her departure, wrote Mr. McLean informing him of her proceedings, and started in pursuit of her. Having obtained what he supposed to be good evidence of her having come to St. Louis, he came on here, bringing letters from respectable parties, certifying to the high respectability of McLean, and also of the family of Mrs. McLean, all of whom were equally interested with the unfortunate father in rescuing the children, from the destruction that awaited them.

But her plans of operation were deep laid and well matured in Mormon council, both in Salt Lake City and in St. Louis. And I speak advisedly when I say it, for I have the best evidence of that fact that the Mormon leaders, then and now, in this city, were busily engaged in aiding and abetting those parties in their nefarious work. And although the most diligent search was made in every direction, we were unable to ascertain with any degree of certainty the whereabouts of the woman and children until the 9th of March, when we received information of their being in Houston, Texas. Mr. McLean, the father of the children, had arrived in this city a few days previously. Pratt was then here, but on being informed of McLean's arrival he concealed himself. A warrant was obtained for him, and diligent search made, but, with the aid of his fellow apostles, he succeeded in making his escape.

McLean proceeded at once to Texas, but on his arrival there found that they had been gone some three weeks; but fortunately he obtained a list of the fictictious names which she bore, and found a letter from Pratt, of which I herewith furnish you a copy, directed to her as Mrs. Lucy R. Parker:

                                                St. Louis, Mo., March 3, 1857.

Dear Madam: I am well, except colds. I have just received yours of Feb. 15. Your correspondence with Mrs. Holmes, of New Orleans, has probably betrayed you before this, as the Post-Office will be watched, and your handwriting known. If you and yours are safe when this reaches you, cease correspondence with N. O. Fly instantly from your present vicinity, Northward. Cover up your track behind you; do not look back or write back, or know any person back, neither in Houston nor elsewhere. Take stage or private conveyance, or any way you can get to northward in safety and with speed. I shall direct no more letters to you at Houston. My next letter will be directed to you at Fort Gibson, on the Arkansas River, Cherokee Nation, Indian Territory. Marvel not if I am at the same place myself before you can get there. If not, you can stop there until I come or you hear from me. My name is Mr. P. Parker, or, if it cannot be otherwise, the next name can be added. You need not be a Mormon, or bound for Utah, nor need anybody know your business. You will only have to stay in Fort Gibson a week or two, and can hire your board or earn it, as the case may be. Only be reconciled.

If Brother Grinnel or Brother Moody, the Elders in Texas, wish to assist you, let it be in money or in ready and speedy conveyance, or in a boy or carriage, or some means or another to get you to Fort Gibson, Arkansas River.

My carriage will await you there, if the Lord will. As to you clothing from New Orleans, I have not the most distant idea your father will send you one rag. But id he should, it is a mere chance if Boardman ever hears from it; there may be fifty Boardmans in the city. It is a pity you did not give some certain address, such, for instance, as Brother E. Snow, Box No. 333. It will not do, however, for you to write (back) to your father, because the postmark will put him on the Texas track. You can, however, write to your father, and request him to forward them to E. Snow, basement of church, corner of Fourth street and Washington avenue, St. Louis. Date said letter to St. Louis, Mo., and indorse it to E. Snow, and he can mail it here to the old gentleman. You can indorse in a separate note to Brother Snow his [address[' and a request to forward to him, or in case your father has forwarded them to some house in St. Louis. You can ask him to send a letter to E. Snow, Box No. 333, St. Louis, Mo., containing order and directions to get them.

Brother Snow can then forward them to you this season. Do not make any effort to get your clothing unless you think there is some reason to hope they would be sent, because it will be giving them too much of a clue to your relationship, &c., &c.

I think I shall not start from here for Fort Gibson till I hear from you, say the 1st of April.

Mrs. Sayers is well. She has sent the $100. I paid it to Mr. E.

My [money] prospects, are as usual. Debt yet due in St. Louis, $---. Lick and Betsey are well and have ministered well.

Latest news from home, Dec. 4, Our folks all well. Agatha sends her love to you. All the family united and full of the spirit of the "reformation," Nothing else [thought?] of in Utah. All the trains in: much suffering among the H. Carts.

Prest. J. M. Grant died very suddenly on the last day of November last. It is a heavy blow to all. But he is gone to rest and is called to a wider and more useful field of labor.

Now cheer up, trust in God, seek his spirit, and may he bless and preserve you and yours, henceforth and for ever; and may you be delivered from the hand of the enemy and gathered home, is my earnest prayer and blessing in the name of Jesus Christ.   Amen.   Z.

Should Providence order it so that you came on the Mississippi, avoid landing in St. Louis; land in some neighboring town, and write to E. Snow or to me.


The foregoing letter, together with [---- --- ---- ----] received at Houston, afforded McLean [a clue to?] the whereabouts of the whole party. He started at once for Fort Gibson, when, on presenting his letters, he met with the warmest reception from the United States officers and soldiers, and from the entire community, and every possible assistance was rendered him until he met the Mormon party and recaptured his children. There being no law in that country by which the arch fiend could be brought to justice, McLean had only the alternative left him of being exposed to his tormentings the remainder of his life, or of administering justice to him in a summary way. He chose the latter course and shot down the distinguished polygamist, and departed with his children to place them in security, when he qill come out before the world to receive whatever the consequences of his act may be. Whether his action can be justified upon Christian principles or not I do not undertake to say, but if a case can be imagined in which the taking of human life is justifiable, this in my opinion is one. Imagine an artful polygamist steathily insinuating himself into the affections of the wife of an honorable and highminded gentleman, influencing her to dispise and abandon her own husband and friends, and smuggle off his goods to the Mormon Church, and when their nefarous plans for running off his innocent and beautiful children were discovered, and the heart-broken father compelled to part with them for their safety, the villain takes his wife and the mother of his babes to his own licentious embraces, thus breaking up and destroying the happiness of a family forever -- (as he had done in no less than four instances before) -- bringing sorrow upon the gray hairs of parental affection. And not even content to stop there, but must come over the mountains, and by stealth rob the injured husband and father of his last remaining jewels of affection -- to doom them to a life of infamy and prostitution! And tell me, where is the husband and father with the heart and spirit of a man, who would longer forbear and suffer such a fiend to live?

The public and the press of the country in which McLean put an end to the tormenter of his life, unanimously sustained him in the act. A correspondent writing from the scene of action, says: "No jail could have held him in Arkansas, had he been arrested."

I have other instances of Mormon outrages equally revolting, which have been perpetrated here in St. Louis, and in other places, which I will give you in another article.   C. G. WARD, City Missionary.


Notes: (forthcoming)

Interesting  from  Utah.

We had the gratification yesterday morning of a call from Judge W. W. Drummond, of Chicago, late Chief Justice of Utah Territory. He was in that condition of fine health and spirits in which we always rejoice to see good, sturdy, manly Democrats. He entertained us for a considerable time with an account of his personal and judicial experience among the saints, and of their manners, habits, history, notions and purposes. Although we were disgusted with this set of miserable fanatics from accounts which had already reached us, some relations given by Judge Drummond, in addition to those contained in his letter to Attorney-General Black, added many revolting shades to the picture.

The Judge's position, as administrator of civil and criminal law in the territory, has been such as to give him a better and probably more intimate knowledge of the workings of teh whole Mormon system than is possessed now by any one out of Utah or in it. His duties as the representative of federal judicial authority have shown him where the supreme rule of that superstition-fettered host rests, whose is the will that sawys the destinies of a considerable nation. what the motive that binds a hundred thousand inhabitants to the girdle of Brigham Young, and what the use made of their power by that astute, capable and bold hypocrite and his subordinates.

The leading characteristic of the followers of the modern Mahomet seems to be settled and abiding hatred of all "Gentiles," as they are pleased to style all who do not subscribe to their dogmas and conform to their unique and revolting creed. Although they come mainly from the northern portion of this republic, they look upon the United States with no other feeling than hatred. Patriotic love for the country which gave them birth, and which they disgrace, has no place in their bosoms. They have been taught to look upon the United States Government as an oppressive one, whose authority they have a right to resist. All those who are without the pale of the [Church of] Latter-Day Saints, whether in or out of the Territory which they have usurped, they regard as their enemies. They either set at open defiance the decrees of our courts, or dictate to grand or petit juries the indictments they shall report or the verdict they shall render. In notable cases, where the guilt of criminals has been as apparent as the noon-day sun, Young and his fellow prophets have forbidden Mormon juries to render a verdict of conviction. In one instance, where a poor helpless dumb boy was tortured in many ways for months, barbarously beaten, and then, while in the agony of his mortal wounds, was fettered and drowned in a brook; when his brutal murderer was sentenced to the Penitentiary, Brigham Young took him from the hands of the officer[s], led him into the tabernacle, proclaimed his absolute pardon, forbade any one to arrest him, and gave him a seat at his right hand!

If Indians commit depredations upon Mormons they are punished without delay or scruple, but if they rob or murder "Gentiles," the prophet extends his protection, and forbids juries to pronounce them guilty. No law except what emanates from the supreme hierarchy, receives the slightest regard.

The right of private property among the Mormons is almost unknown. Whatever the rulers need they always find means to obtain. "The Lord needs it," is a warrant sufficient to enable Young and his Council to sieze upon any property in Utah, and remonstrance [or resistance] is not only useless but dangerous. If a wealthy disciple arrives from the States, the Church (Young) immediately lays hold of just such a share of his goods as he pleases. The portion, of which the former owner is suffered to retain nominal possession, he is compelled to manage according to the dictation of some prophet or priest. If the prophet says to his neighbor "Plant that field with potatoes," the farmer would lose his lands and, perhaps his life, were he to refuse. The counsel he is thus obliged to obey, he is also compelled to ask. The result is, that the actual possession of the great mass of all the real and personal property in Utah is in the foul oligarchy of Young and his immediate subordinates.

But if the control over the property of Mormons is tyrannical, that exercised over their most sacred private and family affairs is still more so. If a father has a child, fair and innocent, whom he cherishes and loves, and if she captivates the fancy of some leading Mormon, she will be taken from her home by the decree of the elders, and given up by the ceremony of "sealing" to become the fortieth or fiftieth wife [of] an old villain, while her predecessors, who have grown old in the same guilty and abominable connection, become his household or cornfield servants. It often happens that a man is sealed to two women at the same ceremony, and cases are not rare when one of the wives so acquired is lost by a divorce before breakfast the next morning!

The account given by Judge Drummond of many of these connections, where [sometimes] a mother and two or three of her daughters were all sealed to the same man, presents a picture of beastly barbarity. Could a correct idea of these horrible transactions be made known throughout the country, a crusade would be preached against this foul horde that would soon put an end to their sway.

We were not a little gratified to learn that none or but very few of these Mormons are natives of Southern States. Such a fact speaks volumes in refutation of the mean slanders of abolitionists against Southern society. We would congratulate our our fellow-citizens of the Northern States upon being rid of so many of their fanatics by emigration to Utah, did we not know that for every one that has left there are hundreds more whose superstition and bigotry are equal in degree if different in form. Mormonism, communism, Maine Liquor Lawism, agrarianism and abolitionism are all obscenae volueres of the same plumage, one of which are made less odious by any mutual hatred that may exist among them.


Note: A much abriged version of this article appeared in several different newspapers during April of 1857 -- for example, in the Apr. 3, 1857 issue of the Missouri Liberty Tribune. The above text is thought to be the most complete version of the article

The Mormons Again.

Yesterday we published an article from the Philadelphia American, commenting upon the atrocities of the Mormon population in the Territory of Utah. It is undeniable that the conduct of these people is becoming unbearable, and such as should casuse the administration to take some steps to remedy the increasing evil. So long as they continued peacefully in their violation of the obligations of morality, as a people, and excluded their enormities from the public eye in the far region to which they have emigrated; so long as they were guiltless of any overt act of treason against the Government to which they profess to submit themselves, it was at least questionable whether the interposition of the administration was necessary or proper.

But now, under the lead of their spiritual chief, they have overstepped the legal bounds which divide impropriety from lawlessness, and, spurning the obligations of all citizens to obey and uphold the tribunals of justice, they have expressed their contempt for the law and its officers, and openly and avowedly destroyed the records of the court provided for them, and compelled the Judge, who was sent to see the proper execution of the laws of the United States to resign his position from the fear of personal consequences, and his utter inability to enforce his powers and uphold the jurisdiction of the Court over which he presided. We do not know what the force of United States troops in the Territory may be, but we suppose there must be in the whole of our army a sufficient number of soldiers to see to the safety of the lives and persons of the officers, and to compel submission to their legal behests. If there be, it would be well, we think, for individual security and our national honor, that a sufficient force should be sent among the lawless inhabitants of Utah to enforce a compliance with the laws of the Union. Greytown, expiated, in ashes, a much less grievance to our Government than that for which the Momrons go unpunished, and as yet unnoticed. If, in consequence of the contemptious conduct and degrading habits of this people, they fail to respect the judicial authority, there is only one influence which can operate upon them, and that is force. If, in disregard of our former lenity, they proceed to further and grosser instances of conetmpt and illegality, our only remedy is to thrash them into that respect and submission, which they deny to peaceful and persuasive measures.


Notes: (forthcoming)

The Utah Saints.

We assure our neighbor of the South. that we hold Mormonism in the utmost detestation and abhorrence. But the Mormons themselves declair it to be their own peculiar institution, no matter how offensive it may be to us. And we desire the South to remember that the Abolitionists put Mormonism and Southern slavery upon the same footing precisely, declaring both to be insufferable "nuisances," which should be crushed out with all possible dispatch. Such is the boldly proclaimed Abolition notion on these subjects. The difficulty occuring to us was, whether if we invoked the power of government to put down Mormonism because we considered it a nuisance, the Abolitionists would not have the same right to invoke the same power to put down slavery, because they considered the latter a nuisance. But we have no thought of pursuing the subject.

As to Brigham and his saints "setting the laws and authority of the Federal government at defiance," why of course we concede that the government "not only may, but should interpose, to maintain its authority and the supremacy of the laws." And we sincerely trust that the South will hurry up its President and Cabinet at Washington to perform their duty in this respect fearlessly, vigorously, and with the utmost despatch. It is only by hanging Brigham and all his saints as rebels and outlaws that we can hope to extinguish Mormonism. And for one, we are rejoiced that the hoary headed old sinner has set himself up in open defiance of the Federal authority; and we further trust that he may continue in the way he has begun, so as to leave the government no excuse for not putting an end to him and all his saints.


Notes: (forthcoming)

Brigham Young and the Mormons.

The Democratic press all over the country have taken a peculiar and malignant pleasure in pointing to the fact that Brigham Young was originally appointed Governor of Utah by Mr. Fillmore for an act which was ratified by a Democratic Senate, and which was concurred in by the Pierce administration throughout. Now, if Mr. Fillmore was wrong in what he did in this matter, why did a Democratic Senate sanction the wrong? And why did Pierce, a Democratic President, also sanction and perpetuate the wrong done by his predecessor? This charging of blame to Mr. Fillmore for the appointment of Young is both ungenerous and unjust. Young had, at the time of his appointment, committed no outrages, and had threatened none. He was known -- although holding a peculiar and absurd religious faith -- only as a just, peaceable, and well-disposed man. But let the following explanation of Mr. Fillmore's appointment of him suffice, which we take from the Buffalo Commercial:

"In 1850, the Mormons were known as a people who professed an odd and very absurd religion, but they were not known as a community of polygamists. They had been persecuted in Missouri and Illinois; they had been driven from their settlement at Nauvoo, after it had grown to be a city of twenty thousand inhabitants; though they had lavished large sums on their temple, to avoid further persecution and annoyance, they had sought out a distant home in the valley of the Rocky Mountains, and had placed more than a thousand miles of wilderness between themselves and the outskirts of civilization. They naturally felt a prejudice against what they were accustomed to call "Gentile" governments, for those governments had failed to afford them protection. They had gone to Deseret to escape Gentile intermeddling, and the passage of the territorial act for Utah was the first attempt, since their exodus, to bring them under regular and rightful government. Under those circumstances and while as yet no opportunity had been offered for resistance, President Fillmore wisely judged that conciliation was a wiser policy than coercion. While nothing worse could be said against this people than that they had a strange religion, there was no sufficient reason why they should be excluded from civil office. It was thought that by the appointment of some of their prominent men to important offices in the Territory, the minds of the people might be won back to a feeling of respect and attachment to the government under which they were hereafter to live. Mr. Fillmore selected the Governor and one of the three Judges from among the Mormons; the Secretary, financial officer, and the other two Judges were sent from the States, and were not Mormons. By this distribution of territorial offices, the courts of justice and the management of the funds sent into the territory were secured from Mormon control, and, through the Secretary, the President could rely on receiving impartial accounts of what transpired in the Territory. Probably no arrangement could have been made which would have better combined conciliation with security.

"Mr. Fillmore, with the prudence which characterized all the acts of his administration, did not appoint Brigham Young until he had taken pains to learn, from authentic and respectable sources, whether the character of the candidate was such as to justify the act.

"The appointment of Brigham Young as Governor of Utah, was confirmed without opposition, by the Senate of the United States. A body of intelligent statesmen whose duty it was to scrutinize the appointment, and to reject it had it seemed to them improper, declared by their votes that they thought it suitable -- an appointment fit to be made. Another circumstance, less important indeed, but still of significance enough to justify us in calling attention to it, is the general indifference with which the appointment, at the time it was announced, was received by the country. It was indeed mentioned by the newspapers, as important official acts of the President always are, but although a bitter and envenomed opposition was then raging against the administration, the press had no word of reproach or rebuke to utter in connection with that appointment. These facts are unaccountable, on the supposition that the Mormons were then known to be addicted to the practice which they have since boldly avowed."


Notes: (forthcoming)

Utah a Foreign Colony.

We have a rumor from Washington to the effect that Major Benjamin McCulloch has been offered the Governorship of Utah. It is also said that the national authorities have determined to pursue a peaceful course towards the Mormons, in the hope of thus convincing them of the policy of yielding with as good a grace as possible. Brigham Young, will, of course, be removed; and this will, to a certain extent, be a test question. The new Governor will, we infer, be accompanied by an adequate force, as a precautionary measure. Such a step would seem to be indispensable. In the first place, to protect the officers of the Federal Government in the discharge of their duties, and in the second, to protect such residents of the Territory as decline to embrace, or are disposed to abandon the offensive tenets and practices of Mormonism. In this connection, we may mention that a somewhat curious article appeared in a recent number of the "Washington States," in which the editor endeavors to show that Utah is, in fact, an English colony. The Mormons, he says, and truly, have a most extensive organization, which stretches almost over every country in Europe. In Great Britain and Scandinavia they are the most successful. Their conversions are numerous, and chiefly among the ignorant lower-class people. They form communities in various localities, and raise funds by subscription, by which means they are carried to America, then let loose in parties to make their way through the country to the Great Salt Lake. -- It is in this manner that foolish, weak, and prurient people are entangled into their meshes. Some months ago we remember that an Elder Williams arrived from England in the ship Columbia with some two hundred and twenty, whom he himself had converted to the Mormon faith. They were principally from Bristol. They were quartered for the winter in St. Louis, Cincinnati, and New York, and are by this time on their way to the "Promised Land." About a twelve-month ago some details of desolation created in an English family by Mormons directed attention to the ship Enoch Train, which arrived at Boston, from Liverpool, with nine hundred Mormons, of which number three hundred were contributed by Birmingham alone.

It is doubtless true that the population of Utah includes a very considerable portion of foreigners, perhaps one third, but hardly more. It is evident, however, that the masses are credulous, deluded, ignorant and fanatical, while the leaders are for the most part shrewd, designing, mercenary and profligate. Mr. Buchanan is doubtless fully aware of the almost universal desire of the American public to see this moral plague neutralized, if not destroyed, and hence he will direct all the energies of his Administration to the accomplishment of the object. -- If he shall succeed without civil war or bloodshed, he will deserve the thanks of the country.


Notes: (forthcoming)

TRAGICAL. -- It is with regret that we have to chronicle the homicide, committed in our vicinity on Wednesday last, by Mr. Hector M. McLean, late of San Francisco, California, upon the person of a Mormon Preacher. More than all we do deplore the melancholy affair that led to its commission. The deceased, whose name was Parley Parker Pratt, was a man of note among the Mormons, and judging from his diary and his letter to Mrs. McLean, he was a man of more than ordinary intelligence and ability. He had been a Preacher and Missionary of the Mormons at San Francisco, California, where he made the acquaintance of Mrs. McLean, whom he induced to embrace the Mormon faith.

She was at that time living with her husband, Hector H. McLean: they were happy and prosperous until she made the acquaintance of Pratt, and embraced the Mormon faith. She is the mother of three children by McLean, two boys and a girl, and seems to be an intelligent and interesting lady: converses fluently, and with more grace and ease than most ladies. About two years ago, and soon after she became a convert to Mormonism, she made an attempt to abduct two of her children to Utah, but was detected and prevented by her brother, who was then in California, and residing with his brother-in-law, Mr. McLean. She soon after, however, found means to elope with said Pratt to Salt Lake, where it is said that she became his ninth wife.

After the elopement of Mrs. McLean, her parents, who reside near New Orleans, wrote to Mr. McLean, in California, to send the children to them. He did so. Several months after this Mr. McLean received news that his wife had been to her father, in New Orleans, and eloped with the two youngest children. He immediately left San Francisco, for New Orleans, and, on arriving at the house of his father-in-law, he learned from that Mrs. McLean had been there, and, after an ineffectual effort to convert her father and mother to Mormonism, she pretended to abandon it herself, and so far obtained the confidence of her parents as to induce them to entrust her in the City of New Orleans with the children; but they soon found she had betrayed their confidence, and eloped with the children.

They then wrote to McLean, in San Francisco, who, upon the receipt of their letter, went to New Orleans, and learning from them the above facts in relation to the affair, immediately started in pursuit of his children. He went to New York and then to St. Louis. While in St. Louis he learned that the woman and children were in Houston, Texas. On his arrival in Houston he found that his wife had left some time before his arrival to join a large party of Mormons en route for Utah. He then returned to New Orleans, and from there to Fort Gibson, in the Cherokee nation with the expectation of intercepting his wife and children at that point.

On arriving at Fort Gibson, and while there, he found letters in the Post-Office to his wife from Pratt, some of which were mailed at St. Louis, and others at Flint Post Office, Cherokee nation. We are unable to give the contents of these letters with particularity, but they contained the fact that McLean was on the look-out for her and the children, and that they were betrayed by the apostates and gentiles, and advising her to be cautious in her movements, and not to let herself be known, only to a few of the saints and elders. McLean then, upon affidavit made by himself, obtained a writ from the United States Commissioner at this place for their arrest, and succeeded in getting them arrested by the United States Marshal. They were brought to this place for trial, and after an examination before the Commissioner, were discharged.

Pratt, as soon as released, mounted his horse and left the city. McLean soon after obtained a horse and started in pursuit, and overtook Pratt about eight miles from the city, and shot him. Pratt died in about two hours after receiving the wound. This is a plain narrative of the facts as we heard them from the most reliable resources, which we give to our readers without comment, as we feel that we are unable to do so with justice to all parties. But deeply do we sympathize with McLean in the unfortunate condition in which Mormon villainy and fanaticism has placed him.

In addition to the foregoing, we have been placed in the possession of some of the letters from Elder Pratt to his victim after she had returned from Salt Lake, in order to get the children from their custody in New Orleans. The latter is addressed "Mrs. Lucy R. Parker, by P. Parker Pratt, from near Fort Gibson, Cherokee nation," dated April 14, 1857.

"Dear Eleanor -- McLean is in St. Louis; he has offered a reward for your discovery, or your children or me. The apostates have betrayed me and you. I had to get away on foot, and leave all save myself. If you come to Fort Gibson, you can hire a messenger and send him to Riley Perryman's mill, and let him inquire for Washington N. Cook, Mormon missionary, and when he has found him, he will soon tell where Elder Pratt-Parker is. Do not let your children or any friend know that I am in this region, or anywhere else on the earth; except it is an elder from Texas who is in your confidence, and even him under the strictest charge of keep you it.

"If you send a messenger to Perryman's mill for Elder Cook, in order to find me, send a note addressed to Washington N. Cook. Everybody knows the place. He may live a few miles distant, but the folks at Riley Perryman's mill know where he is. And they can be made sensible that it requires immediate action, some of them can go and find him. Your messenger can leave the note at Riley Perryman's, or with Elder George Burgess there, and return, but you must state in the note where you can be found, and Elder Cook will probably call on you before he can have time to see me, as I may be some days' journey away, for I don't expect you at Fort Gibson, as I don't believe you received my last letter mailed at St. Louis, March 4th, and addressed as usual in the usual place. Elder Cook knows all, and you can trust him with all necessary information. When I know that you and the children are safe and your circumstances, I will know what to do.

Be sure not to let the Texas company know anything, for all the frontiers are watched, and some of them may betray you there. I must hide you or pass you some other way.

Pray much. Be still and wise. I have made use of some of the late alterations in the alphabet. I am well,     And your own ____ _____ ______."

Other letters we may, perhaps, publish to-morrow, together with some further particulars, as the lateness of the hour and the want of space compels us to withhold them at present.

(under construction)

Note: William A. Lynn, in his 1901 book on the Mormons, recorded the incident thusly: "Parley P. Pratt was sent to explore a southern route from Utah to California in 1849. He reached San Francisco from Los Angeles in the summer of 1851, remaining there until June, 1855. He was a fanatical defender of polygamy after its open proclamation, challenging debate on the subject in San Francisco, and issuing circulars calling on the people to repent as "the Kingdom of God has come nigh unto you." While in San Francisco, Pratt induced the wife of Hector H. McLean, a custom-house official, the mother of three children, to accept the Mormon faith and to elope with him to Utah as his ninth wife. The children were sent to her parents in Louisiana by their father, and there she sometime later obtained them, after pretending that she had abandoned the Mormon belief. When McLean learned of this he went East, and traced his wife and Pratt to Houston, Texas, and thence to Fort Gibson, near Van Buren, Arkansas. There he had Pratt arrested, but there seemed to be no law under which he could be held. As soon as Pratt was released, he left the place on horseback. McLean, who had found letters from Pratt to his wife at Fort Gibson which increased his feeling against the man, followed him on horseback for eight miles, and then, overtaking him, shot him so that he died in two hours. It was in accordance with Mormon policy to hold every Arkansan accountable for Pratt's death, just as every Missourian was hated because of the expulsion of the church from that state."

Mormon Outrages.

We publish elsewhere a letter from the New York Times correspondent, written from Salt Lake City under date of March 5th, which details the recent outrages at that city, where a band of armed Mormons entered the United States Court room while the Court was in session, and by threats of personal violence compelled Judge Stiles to adjourn the Court sine die. The judge, it is stated, previous to submitting, appealed to Brigham Young for protection, but he replied that "the boys" should have their own way, for the court had already given him too much trouble. Surely such high-handed outrages on the part of Brigham Young and his followers should prompt the Government to take immediate steps to reduce them to submission to the constituted authorities. It appears that Brigham has not fled the Territory, as reported, but is vigorously preparing for was with the Federal Government. "Iou" of the Baltimore Sun, of yesterday, has the following on the subject:

"Information which I have received from gentlemen now here from Ipwa and Utah is contradictory of the rumored abdication and flight of Governor Brigham Young from Utah. On the contrary, it is believed that he is diligently and zealously engaged in strengthening his position preparatory to an expected conflict with the United States authorities, in the event of his ejection from office. He has an army of twenty five hundred men who are well appointed and equipped, and are every day under drill.

"It is very true, however, that dissensions among the Mormons have arisen which threaten to overthrow his power, and perhaps, to break up the poletical and religious organization upon which it is founded. The danger is that he may be strengthened by exterior hostility to Mormon institutions.

"It is supposed that Major McCulloch will accept the appointment of Governor, in which case he will arrive here in a few days and receive his instructions. It will be necessary to give him the aid of a military force at least equal to that which Brigham Young may be able to bring into the field in case of a collision with the federal government. By very judicious management Gov. McCulloch may be enabled to give effect to the laws and protect the community from the abuses of Mormon rule without resorting to force."


Notes: (forthcoming)

DREADFUL PERSECUTION OF MRS. MCLEAN
HER DEFENCE -- MURDER OF P. P. PRATT

                                               Van Buren, Monday, May 18, 1857.
Mr. Editor -- Having read the editorial in your paper, headed "Tragical," and finding several important points in the account incorrect, I beg to be heard by this community, and the world, being yet a living witness for both the living and the dead...

In November, 1851, I embraced the "Mormon" faith, and in January, 1855, my children were, on account of my faith, sent from San Francisco to New Orleans, and this without my having the slightest information of it until they were far upon the sea...

In behalf of the dead, I have to testify, that whatever existed between us was of my own seeking. When he kept house with his wife, Elizabeth, in San Francisco, I often sought his society, and if any censure me, let them censure me for the strongest impulses of my nature, which have ever prompted me to seek light and truth...

I also confess that, when a company of Saints were preparing to leave California with P. P. Pratt, I greatly desired to be one of the number, and went so far as to ask my Father in heaven to provide a way...

I would appeal to every man and woman of refined sensibility to know whether a virtuous woman and faithful mother is so humble a thing that she should come again to the bosom of a man who had by violence thrust her from him, and exposed her to insult and injury in the streets of a wicked city. Whoever takes the affirmative differs from the writer of this.
                                               E. J. McComb, once E. J. McLean.

(under construction)

Notes: (forthcoming)

From the St. Louis Republican.

THE  MORMON  BIBLE.
_______

As the Mormons are just now attracting considerable attention, it may not be amiss to publish what is generally regarded as the history of the book, called the Mormon Bible. The time has not yet arrived when a formal disproof of its being an inspired work is necessary, and a plain story will not be denied on the ground of its excluding the supernatural.

The opinion is of many years standing that the aboriqines (?) of America, are descendants of the lost tribes of Israel. Adair, in his history of the North American Indian, adopts this theory, and takes great pains to prove it. He gives a minute account of some Indian dances, where certain words arc used, (yo-ho-wah,) which, by a little torturing, he supposes, derived from the word Je-ho-vah; therefore -- very cogent reasoning -- the Indians came from the lost tribes, Whether this account is more acceptable, or less so, than that of mynheer Diedrick Knickerbockor, in his veracious history of New York, the learned must judge. Diedrick speculates far and wide to account for there being people on this continent but found the problem attended with as much difficulty as other ethnographers have experienced in accounting for a race of bipeds on the Eastern continent. He finally cuts the knot by the sage conclusion that the people of this continent came here -- by accident.

Be this as it may, the opinion of their Israelitish descent has had many supporters, and, it so happening, an ingenious young gentleman of the bar, by the name of Spaulding, in the State of Connecticut, being out of health and probably out of practice determined to amuse and occupy his leisure hours by writing a romance upon this idea of the Jewish descent of the North American Indians. Upon this idea he wrote the book known as the Mormon Bible.

The writer of this article has been assured by a gentleman of intelligence and unquestionable veracity, that he came from the town (not now remembered) where Spaulding lived, and that he has seen persons of that town who declared that they saw whole chapters of the Book of Mormon, when in the course of composition, shown to them by the author.

Mr. Spaulding finally emigrated, either to improve his fortune or his health, or both, and went to the interior of the State of New York, where it seems he has been lost sight of. He no doubt died without being able to find a publisher for his romance, which ultimately turned up among some rubbish in the garret of a printing establishment in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, where it was found by by a cunning journeyman printer by the name of Rigdon. This Rigdon meeting with Joe Smith, (or Joe Smith meeting with him) the two rogues together determined to turn the work to account.

The Book is written in Scriptural phraseology: "and it came to pass," that Joe and Rigdon made a bungling addition by way of preface, stating that certain metallic plates had been mysteriously discovered under a certain hill -- thus and so -- all scribbled over with strange characters, and that, in short, Joe had been illuminated from heaven and empowered and instructed to 'read' whence, according to their account, lo and behold, the Book of Mormon came forth, of course from heaven; though some think the other place has a higher claim to paternity.

The Book, in itself, is not a bad romance. The author takes up the lost tribes and has them march to the (or a) coast, where vessels are constructed, upon which they embark, and, guided by a miraculous needle, supernaturally provided -- by which the reader may see that the mariner's compass, though without a name, is older than anything of the sort known to the Chinese, who know everything except a steam engine; guided I say, by a miraculous needle, they are conducted to (a) coast where they land. That coast is our own. After landing and occupying the country the author to provide himself with incidents for "chronicles," introduces the serpent discord and brings about a separation and a long series of wars and conflicts.

The author, knowing by an easy method of foresight (after the fact) all the controverted points of theology, has taken care to solve them by indisputable authority. The question of the trinity, the doctrines of free agency, baptism, etc., are all definitively settled beyond any farther dispute for all those who accept the Mormon book as the fruit of inspiration: a very easy method.

It is but just to say that the Book contains no immoral doctrine, nor anything to delicacy or refinement. That the customs of its followers do not precisely indicate its character, may readily be believed by those who are acquainted with the multitudinous forms in which, under the notion of following the Lamb, the world has been astonished by men of vast pretensions and little brains.

Mormonism, a few years ago, was almost too contemptible to be noticed. The 'Saints' first established themselves in New York; then moved to the western part of Missouri. Driven from this latter place, they settled at Nauvoo, in Illinois, where they soon made themselves offensive to their neighbors, and finally aroused an opposition which ended in the death of Smith and Rigdon [sic], and a new exile. At last they fixed upon Salt Lake, in the remote and then unknown West, where they hoped to live apart from the "Gentiles," as they call us. At Salt Lake they have accumulated in numbers to an extraordinary extent, most of their accessions being from abroad, including English, Welsh, Danes and others.

They are a hardy, industrious people, absolutely blind to everything but Mormonism, to which they are fanatically devoted, under their recognized prophet, Brigham Young, whose word is, to them, the word of God.

Brigham Young has now raised the standard of rebellion against the United States, and we are about to enter upon a war which is likely to attract the notice of the civilized world, and possibly may cost much life and treasure; and then, and not till then, will the end be known.

It is not generally known, and yet it is true, that Mormons are scattered throughout most of our Northern cities. They are counted by hundreds in this very city of St. Louis, though they keep very still, and are often employed for whole months without their employers knowing who they are.

In our country we can have nothing to do, governmentally, with the Mormon faith or religion. The question is purely one of civil policy, and it is hoped that the government will vindicate the cause of civilization, as it is bound to maintain its civil supremacy.


Notes: (forthcoming)

MORMONISM.

As this disgusting compound of sensuality, despotism and ferociousness is continually thrusting itself upon public attention, it may interest some of our readers to recall the circumstances in which it originated. The calamity has come upon us as one of the results of that excessive freedom in the exercise of which we throw open the gates of the empire to all manner of immigrants from the old world; for this anomalous population is chiefly recruited from Europe. Rev. Solomon Spaulding, a graduate of Dartmouth College, was distinguished for a lively imagination and a love of history. He lived in a part of Ohio abounding with mounds and ruins of old forts, and took much interest in the study of these antiquities. To beguile his hours of retirement he conceived the idea of giving a historical sketch of the race, about which there was so much mystery. It was of course a fanciful undertaking, giving wide scope for the exercise of imagination, and tempting him to indulge in an antique style while describing ancient things. The Old Testament containing the most ancient books in the world, he found it convenient to imitate in style. He therefore launched out at will into the region of free historical romance. This was 1812. His neighbors, hearing of the progress of his curious work, would come to his house and hear portions of it read. It claimed to have been written by one of the lost nation, to have been recovered from the earth, and was christened with the title of "Manuscript Found." This self-amusing gentleman pretended to be decyphering the mysteries of the disinterred manuscript, and regularly reported progress to his neighbors. From the classics and from ancient history he introduced many uncouth and unaccustomed names, which awakened curiosity. Mr. S. removed to Pittsburg, and found a friend in the person of an editor, to whom he showed his manuscript. The editor was pleased, borrowed it, kept it, and offered to print it, if Mr. S. would make out a suitable title page. He promised also to make it a source of profit. Mr. S. declined any such use of it. Sydney Rigdon, who has since figured so largely among the Mormons, was then employed in the editor's printing office; he inspected the manuscript, and had an opportunity to copy it. It was returned to the author who died in 1816. But the influence he had unwittingly originated, did not die with him. There is no doubt that Rigdon took a copy of the whole or parts of the manuscript. He appeared in Palmyra, N. Y., in 1828, working at his trade. About this time there began to be talk of certain mysterious "plates" being found in that region. They had been discovered, it was said, by Joseph Smith, Jr., in the bank of the Erie Canal, near Palmyra. Here Smith and Rigdon conspired to start the fraud. Smith was a man of low cunning, vulgar and sensual in his habits, a fitting accomplice for Rigdon, both being ready to execute any falsehood. Joe was to be set up as a leader, and to assume the title of Prophet. It was given out that Joe was engaged in translating the plates. This was in 1829. Some followers were obtained, chiefly the ignorant and vicious, and the dishonest, who had no character to lose. They called themselves the Church of the Latter Day Saints, and organized at Manchester under Joe Smith, who issued an edition of 1,200 [sic] copies of the "Book of Mormon," at Palmyra. Some three or four seemingly respectable men of that region joined them, which attracted more attention. Smith and his followers selected Kirtland, Ohio, as their "city of refuge," by inspiration, as the blasphemer said, -- the Lord intending and directing that the temple should be built there. Two hundred composed the first settlement.They called their book the "Golden Bible." Smith founded a bogus bank, which of course failed, and he found it necessary to move farther west. Thither has been the disastrous progress of those miserable impostors, whose subsequent history is known to the world. It would seem as if there was no form of folly or impiety which some human beings will not embrace. Polygamy, blasphemy, rebellion, murder, are the natural fruits of this wretched conspiracy, which is troubling the whole land. Smith was overtaken with the judgments of God, and died a miserable death. Young is probably destined to a similar end. -- Journal of Commerce.


Notes: (forthcoming)

==> Extract from a letter to the Editor, dated

CARROLLTON, Jan. 5, 1858.    

"We have had a beautiful Christmas and New Year, and I think will have a warm winter. We have rather melancholy news from the Plains. Some of our best citizens murdered -- at least supposed to be. Mr. Jno. T. Baker, son and daughter, and son–in–law; C. R. Mitchell, Joel Mitchell, sons of Gen. Wm. C. Mitchell; with several others known to be in the same train. We get this news from a California paper, which states that the company was headed by a man familiarly known as "Uncle Jack of Crooked Creek, Carroll Co., Ark." If this be true, we have lost some of our best citizens, as Mr. Baker was one of that class. He was a warm friend and a bitter enemy; was possessed of good property, land, negroes, &c. He started with a drove of cattle, intending to return and move to California, if he liked the country; he leaves a wife and several children in this county. What will the Government do with these Mormons and Indians? Will it not send out enough men to hang all the scoundrels and thieves at once, and give them the same play they give our women and children?

Send on your paper, as that is all the news I look for, though sometimes I get from 3 to 4 numbers at once. This is owing, I presume, to the Postmaster at Clarksville, and the quantity of mail matter there."


Note: Transcription courtesy of Erin Jennings. Some sources cite the date as Feb. 18th.

PUBLIC MEETING OF THE PEOPLE OF CARROLL COUNTY. -- At a public meeting of the citizens of Carroll county, held in Carrollton, on the 1st day of February, 1858, in pursuance of public notice, the following proceeding[s] were had:

On motion, John Crump, Esq. was called on and unanimously selected to act as president of the meeting, and John Haggin was appointed secretary.

On motion, it was determined that the president should appoint a committee of three to draft suitable resolutions for the occasion, and such as would be expressive of the feelings and sense of the meeting.

Thereupon the following named gentlemen were appointed such committee, to wit: Bryce Byrne, W. W. Watkins and John Haggin. The committee, after deliberating and considering of their duty, reported the following preamble and resolutions, which were unanimously concurred in and adopted:

WHEREAS, The painful intelligence has reached us that, in July last, an emigrant train with 130 persons from Arkansas was attacked by the Mormons and Santa Clara tribe of Indians near the rim of the Great Basin, and about fifty miles from Cedar City, in Utah Territory, and that all of the emigrants, with the exception of 15 children, were then and there massacred and murdered -- that the children thus saved from the dreadful fate of their parents and the rest of their company were delivered over to the custody of the Mormons of Cedar city; and that among those who were with the said train at the time of the massacre, were John T. Baker and sons, George and Able, Charles and Joel Mitchell, sons of Col. Wm. C. Mitchell, of Marion county, Allen Derhazo [sic - DeShazo?], George Baker's wife and four children, Charles Mitchell's wife and child, Milam Jones and his brother, and his mother-in-law and family, Pleasant Tacket and family, Alexander Fancher and family, Wm. Cameron and family, widow Huff (whose husband, Peter Huff, died after they had started on the route) and some others -- all of whom were our neighbors, friends and acquaintances, and their families, and the same persons who constituted the company that left Carroll county in April last, for California, and which was known as Baker's company. And whereas it appears from many other instances of atrocity and crime which could be recited, that the Mormons are instigating the Indians to hostilities against our citizens, and are and have been as a community, systematically engaged in the infamous work of robbing and murdering peaceful wayfarers and emigrants and resisting the authority and laws of the United States -- and in short of rebellion and treason against the general government; therefore be it

Resolved, That we, the people of Carroll county, feeling deeply aggrieved in consequence of the many and continued outrages committed upon the persons and property of our citizens, by the Mormons and Indians, acting under their instigation, and especially on account of the loss of such a number of our most estimable citizens, countrymen and friends, and their wives and children in the late massacre of an emigrant train near Cedar city, in Utah Territory, do hereby petition, and call upon the government of the United States to have thoroughly investigated the affair of said dreadful tragedy, and deal out retributive justice to the parties guilty of the monstrous deed.

Resolved, That as it appears from reliable information, there were spared and saved from destruction as many as fifteen infant children, in said massacre, that we hereby call on the general government for assistance and aid in rescuing said children from their captors, and restoring them to their relations and friends in Arkansas.

Resolved, That we request our representatives and senators in Congress to use their influence and best exertions to have passed an act making an appropriation for the purpose of defraying the expenses which it may be necessary to incur in order to reclaim and bring home to their relations the children which were as aforesaid, saved from the massacre.

Resolved, That we offer our condolence and sympathy to the distressed parents and immediate relations of the unfortunate adventurers who [met died] on plains, as aforesaid, such a lamentable fate.

Resolved, That in our opinion the government should immediately adopt decisive measures for subduing the spirit of insubordination and treason, that is now rife amongst the Mormons, and to that end should call on Arkansas for volunteers, and that we, the people of Carroll county, hold ourselves ready to respond to any such call for volunteers, by tendering the services of at least four companies.

Resolved, That the True Democrat and the Gazette and Democrat, are hereby requested to publish the proceedings of this meeting.

                  JOHN CRUMP, President.      

JOHN HAGGIN, Secretary.


Note 1: Transcription courtesy of Erin Jennings.

Note 2: Will Bagley cites an article from "18 February, 1858," in this same newspaper, entitled "How Not to Do It," in which the editor suggested "that troops could head west from Fort Smith 'a month earlier than they can from the Missouri frontier' and on a better road than the one from Missouri;" however the editor was talking about conducting the "Utah War," and not about vindicating the massacred Fancher-Baker emigrants.

MEETING IN NEWTON COUNTY. -- At a public meeting of the citizens of Newton county, held in Jasper, on the 15th day of March, 1858, in pursuance of public notice the following proceedings were had, viz:

Mr. John McCoy explained the object of the meeting.

On motion Henry Brewer, Esq., was called to the chair, and J. S. Bennett was appointed Secretary. On motion, it was determined that President appoint a committee of three, to draft suitable resolutions expressive of the feelings of this meeting.

Thereupon the following gentlemen were appointed such committee, to wit: R. W. Harrison, Esq., Joseph Bennett and A. W. Gage.

On motion of Mr. John Cecil the Secretary was added to the committee.

The committee, after deliberating, reported the following preamble and resolutions, which were unanimously adopted:

WHEREAS, The painful intelligence has reached us, that in July last, and emigrant train, with 130 persons from Arkansas, known as Baker's train, was attacked by the Mormons and Santa Clara Indians, near the rim of the Great Basin, and about forty miles from Cedar City, in Utah Territory, and that all the emigrants, except 15 children, were then and there inhumanly massacred -- that the children, thus saved from the dreadful fate of their parent[s] and company, were delivered over to the custody of the Mormons of Cedar City; and that among those who were with said train at the time of the massacre, were many of our most worthy, and much esteemed citizens from Carroll, Marion, Newton, and Johnson counties. And, whereas a public meeting was held by the citizens of Carroll county, on the first day of Feb. last; therefore.

Resolved, That we heartily concur in the resolutions passed by them.

Resolved, That as it apears from reliable information, there were as many as fifteen children saved from destruction in said massacre, that we hereby call on the general government for assistance in reclaiming said children from their captors, and restoring them to their friends in Arkansas.

Resolved, That we request our representatives and senators in Congress to use their utmost influence to have passed an appropriation for the purpose of defraying the expenses which it may be necessary to incur in bringing home and restoring to their friends, the aforesaid children, who were saved from the massacre.

Resolved, That we offer our heartfelt sympathy to the parents and relatives of those unfortunate emigrants, who, as above stated, met such a lamentable fate.

Resolved, That in our opinion the government should immediately adopt decisive measures for subduing the spirit of insubordination and treason now rife among the Mormons; and to that end should call on Arkansas for volunteers, and that we, the people of Newton county, hold outselves in readiness to respond to such call.

Resolved, That The True Democrat, and Gazette and Democrat be requested to publish the proceedings of this meeting.

                  HENRY BREWER, President.      

J. S. BENNETT, Secretary.


Note: Transcription courtesy of Erin Jennings.

ANOTHER MOUNTAIN MEADOWS CHILD SAVED. -- Superintendent Forney writes to the Indian Bureau, from Utah, June 16th, that he has recovered another of the children saved from the Mountain Meadows massacre, thus making seventeen children now at his charge. He was unable to say when the children will start for the East.


Note: Transcription courtesy of Erin Jennings.

ARRIVAL OF THE MOUNTAIN MEADOW CHILDREN. -- A dispatch has been received by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs from Mr. Wm. C. Mitchell, special agent in charge of these children, informing him that they arrived safely at Fort Leavenworth, in excellent health, and arrangements were immediately to be made for restoring them to their relatives and friends.

We may well imagine with what great joy their friends will receive these young offspring, the only survivors of the terrible fate which so unhappily overtook their parents and kinsmen, while crossing the Mountain Meadow valley, on their route to Califormia. These children are now left to them (and no doubt will be so regarded and so cared for) as precious legacies from the departed ones. There were seventeen in all rescued, but only fifteen were brought to Fort Leavenworth -- two having been detained at Salt Lake City for the purpose of giving testimony. Mr. Mitchell, the special agent, can fully sympathize in the great loss these children have sustained, as he also had relatives and friends in the party, who shared the same fate as the others.


Notes: (forthcoming)

From the Leavenworth (Kansas) Herald of August 27.

The "Mountain Meadows" Children
_________

Yesterday morning at 10 o'clock a train of fourteen wagons arrived at Fort Leavenworth from Utah. It left Salt Lake City on the 26th of June. Major Eastman and Lieut. Elwood, of the fifth infantry; Major Whiting, of the seventh infantry; Lieut. Carroll, of the tenth infantry; and Lieut. [Tyler], of the second dragoons, came in with the train. Accompanying the train are also fifteen of the children who escaped the terrible massacre at Mountain Meadows, in Utah, some two years since. The particulars of the unparalleled outrage, perpetrated by Mormons under the guise of Indians, startled our whole country when the intelligence reached the States. We have not the details before us, but if we remember aright a company numbering one hundred and forty-five persons started from the State of Arkansas in the spring of 1857 for California.

They were supplied with an excellent outfit -- wagons, mules, and an ample stock of provisions, &c. They got along well enough until they reached what is known as the "Mountain Meadows," in the southwestern part of the Territory of Utah. Here whilst encamped they were surrounded by a party, the larger portion of whom were Mormons, disguised as Indians -- the balance Indians -- and the whole party brutally butchered except seventeen children, who were taken possession of by the Indians. The object of the assailants was evidently plunder. Early last spring, through the vigilance of Dr. Forney, the Indian agent for Utah, the children were all obtained and properly cared for. Although most of them are very young, they were enabled to detail with considerable intelligence nearly all the particulars of the terrible massacre they had witnessed.

The Government has furnished the children with transportation to Fort Leavenworth, and male and female attendants. We saw the children at the fort yesterday morning when they arrived. Ten are girls and five boys. The oldest girl did not appear to be over ten years of age, and the majority are much younger. All were comfortably clothed, in good health, and fine spirits. We saw a little rosy-cheek girl, not over, we should think, four years of age, whose right arm was entirely helpless. At the time of the massacre the child was in its mother's arms, and the bullet that sent its protector to an untimely grave passed through the little one's right arm just below the elbow. We saw the scars made by the bullet, but received only a smile from the little girl when we inquired if she could use her hand.

An agent from Arkansas -- said to be a relative if some of the children, most of whom are supposed to belong to Johnson county, in that State -- is expected here to take charge of the children and conduct them to their friends. Two of the little girls [sic - boys?] -- the oldest of the seventeen -- are retained in Utah to give testimony in the courts in relation to the massacre. They will be kindly cared for and sent to Arkansas as soon as the bloody murderers -- several of whom have been detected and apprehended -- are disposed of.

There also came with the train under the especial care of Sergeant Blac, the three Foster children, of whom much has been said in the papers. The father and mother loved in Connecticut. The father espoused the Mormon faith several years ago, and left for Salt Lake City, carrying with him his three little girls. The mother remained behind, and all efforts to retain [sic - regain?] her children were abortive. About a year ago the father died, and now, through the efforts of the Secretary of War, her children have been reclaimed, and will soon be where they can receive a mother's love and devotion.

The children will remain either at the fort or in the city for a few days, and those who desire to see them can doubtless have their wishes gratified.


Note: Several contemporary sources document the arrival of the Mountain Meadows Massacre children at Fort Leavenworth on August 26, 1859 -- two months after all but two of the children departed Great Salt Lake. It appears likely that the children, under the supervision of Wm. C. Mitchell, passed through Westport, Jackson County, Missouri at the end of August or the beginning of September. Years later a Westport businessman, Albert Gallatin Boone, described the passage of the children through that town on their way south to Carrolton, Arkansas. While his account, as published by the New York Herald, in 1877, isn't reliable in all its particulars, it does serve to show that the children were moved south from Fort Leavenworth, a timely manner, passing through western Missouri on their way home to Arkansas. See the Little Rock State Gazette of Sept. 24, 1859 for further details.

==> Extract from a letter to this office, dated

"MT. PLEASANT, CARROLL, CO., ARK.    
September 14, 1859.        

"Col. Mitchell has arrived home with the surviving children of the Mountain Meadow massacre, except two of the oldest who were detained at Salt Lake City as witnesses. He will deliver them to their nearest relatives on to-morrow, at Carrolton -- the most of them belonging in this and Marion county, and I believe the remainder in Johnson. I was intimately acquainted with the most of the persons killed in that train, and it almost chills the blood in my veins to think of the horrible affair, and how those little fellows have suffered. It does seem to me that our Government at least ought to make ample provision for the education and raising of those children.

The season continues fine, health good."


Note: Transcription courtesy of Erin Jennings.

The Mountain Meadows Children. -- The Commissioner of Indian Affairs is in receipt of intelligence that the children saved from the Mountain Meadows massacre, have arrived safe at Leavenworth. They will be at once taken on to Arkansas, whence the parents of the little unfortunates first set out for the Pacific.


Notes: (forthcoming)

Return of the Survivors of the
Mountain Meadow Massacre;
Meeting of Citizens of Carroll
County: Resolutions, &c. &c.

On the 15th day of September A. D. 1859 a large concourse of the people of Carroll County assembled together at the Court House in Carrollton for the purpose of receiving the Mountain Meadow children who have just arrived under the charge of W. C. Mitchel, special agent.

On motion of Mr. Haggin, Col. James Fancher was called to the chair and William Byrne was appointed secretary.

On motion of Mr. Watkins the children, 15 in number were placed before the people on the President's stand; and Col. Mitchel pointed them out severally by name and parentage and gave the brief but eventful and touching history of each child. He stated that the emigrant company [in] which they belonged, was organized in Carroll County, and was composed of about one hundred and forty persons from this and other counties in North-Western Arkansas. That while on their route to California in the month of September A.D. 1857, the Mormons and Indians wantonly assailed them in Mountain Meadow Valley and spared the lives of only seventeen infants; that these little children were carried off after the Massacre of their parents, kinsmen and friends and kept secreted by the Mormons, until a ransom of six thousand dollars was offered by Dr. Torney [sic - Forney?], government agent. He stated that two of the children rescued have been retained in Salt Lake city for the purpose of giving testimony.

When Col. Mitchel concluded his remarks, the committee composed of John Haggin, W. W. Watkins, Bryce Byrne, J. F. Seaman, W. C. Beller, H. B. Fancher and A. H. Neely appointed to draft resolutions through their chairman John Haggin reported the following preamble and resolutions which were unanimously adopted:

WHEREAS, We have occasion to rejoice in consequence of the success which has crowned the efforts of those who undertook to have reclaimed and restored to their native country and to their relativess the little children that survived the Mountain Meadows massacre in Sept. 1857 and whereas the humane and philanthropic actions of those who have done service [in] arresting the attention of government [in] directing it to the cruel captivity of the helpless orphans among the Mormons and Indians have saved these children from extreme wretchedness and ruin, and brought consolation to dear relations in Arkansas who were bound in anguish and [m----] on account of the sad fall of loved ones who fell in said Massacre.

Therefore "Be it Resolved" -- That Col. W. C. Mitchel who made [first] movement, and who has perserved with unremitting interest for nearly two years to recover and have restored the captive children, that are the only survivors of that terrible fate which so unhappily overtook their parents and kinsmen while crossing the Mountain Meadow Valley, on their route for California has displayed [-----] and ability in the management of this important affair, and the goodness of a [heart?] that is delicately sensitive to the cries of distress and the appeal of suffering and that he deserves the lasting gratitude of his fellow citizens and especially of those who are connected by blood with said children.

Resolved, That the Hon. A. B. Greenwood our immediate representative in Congress, is entitled to the highest merit of praise for his active and effecient service in the truly good work of relieving the helpless Mountain Meadow children from the custody of Mormons and having them restored to their country and friends.

Resolved, That we the people of Carroll County have every reason for awarding credit to our eminent worthy Senators in Congress, Messrs. Johnson and Sebastian for the zeal and interest they have manifested in behalf of our little friends, as well as for the persistent efforts in having ferreted out the authors of said horrible massacre in which about one hundred and twenty arkansans were slain on the 15th day of Sept. 1857 by Mormons and Indians.

Resolved, That Senator Gwin of California has brought the people of Arkansas under lasting obligations for efficient services rendered in discovering the place where said children were held in captivity and contributing to their relief and redemption.

Resolved, That while we condole with those of our fellow citizens who mourn the loss of children and relation who fell in the Mountain Meadow Massacre we at the same time congratulate some of those who thus mourn that these little children who survived said massacre are here now restored to them and may be regarded as precious legacies from the departed ones.

Resolved, That Dr. Forney, Mr. Jarvis [], and Major Fontleroy [Thomas Fauntleroy?] of the U.S.A., the government agents for recapturing and delivering said children, for faithfully discharging their respective duties and their care and kindness to helpless orphans merit and hereby have our heartfelt thanks.

Col. Mitchel expressed himself in a few remarks very grateful towards the people of Carroll, Marion and Newton Counties [for] their cooperation arousing the [attention] of government to the forlorn condition of said children while in captivity, and [the] terrible deed by which they were [made] orphans and 120 Arkansans were inhumanly slain.

Dr. L. F. Seaman was called upon to lead in prayer and the offering of thanks and praises to God for the safe delivery of said children, and their restoration to their relatives and friends.

Resolved, That the secretary furnish the editors of The True Democrat and The Arkansian each with a copy of the preceedings of this meeting and request them to publish the same.

On motion the meeting adjourned.

JAMES FANCHER, President.    

Willaim Byrne, Secretary.


Note 1: Transcription courtesy of Erin Jennings. For additional information, visit the Mountain Meadows Massacre Descendants' Homepage

Note 2: On the roles of Gwin, Greenwood and Sebastian, in the Mountain Meadows Massacre investigation, etc., see Bancroft's History of Utah, Chapter 20, where he says: <"News of the massacre was first received in Washington in Feb. 1858. See letter of C. E. Mix, acting commissioner of Indian affairs, to Senator W. K. Sebastian, and of the secretary of war to Representative A. B. Greenwood, in Sen. Doc., 35th Cong. 1st Sess., ii. no. 42, pp. 4, 42. On the 18th of this month Senator Gwin of California moved that the secretary of war be called upon to report what steps had been taken to bring the offenders to justice. Gwin's Memoirs, MS., 138 a, 138 e..."

Note 3: The 1889 History of Benton County, [Arkansas]..., pp. 346-350 gives a brief summary of the Mountain Meadows tragedy, and offers this conclusion:"The Property, by direction of Brigham Young, was disposed of by Lee. A portion was given to the Indians; the money was kept by Lee and Klingensmith; the bedding and clothing were deposited in the tithing house at Cedar City, and was commonly referred to as 'property taken at the siege of Sevastopol.' The wagons, stock, etc., were disposed of at the tithing house, and the proceeds turned over to the Mormon treasury. --- The Survivors. - The circumstances of the massacre were known at Los Angeles, Cal., the following month, and on the last day of the year 1857 William C. Mitchell, ex-clerk of Carroll County, and then a member of the State senate, apprised a friend of the death of his son and brother-in-law, with their families, numbering twenty-four persons; the Legislature of Arkansas took immediate action, as did also the National Congress. Dr. Jacob Forney, superintendent of Utah, learned the whereabouts of the surviving children June 22, 1858; they had been distributed among Mormon families of the vicinity. June 29, 1859, fifteen of them were placed in charge of Maj. Whiting, United States Army, who reached Fort Leavenworth August 25, 1859. Here they were taken in charge by William C. Mitchell, special agent of the Government, and reached Carrollton September 16, 1859. Two other children, John C. Miller and M. Tackett, were detained in Utah as witnesses. In January, 1860, they were taken to Washington by Dr. Forney, and from there to Carrollton by Maj. John Henry, of Van Buren. The following is a list of the names, ages and residences of the children referred to: Rebecca Dunlap, 9, Louisa Dunlap, 7, Sarah Dunlap, 4, Females; daughters of Jesse Dunlap, deceased, of Carroll County, Ark. -- Prudence Angeline Dunlap, 7, Georgiana Dunlap, 4, Females; daughters of L. D. Dunlap, deceased, of Marion County, Ark. -- Elizabeth Baker, 8, Sarah A. Baker, 6, William B. Baker, 4, Heirs of G. W. Baker, deceased, of Carroll County, Ark. -- C. C. Fancher, 9, Tryphena Fancher, 5, Heirs of Alexander Fancher, deceased, of Carroll County. -- John C. Miller, 9, Mary Miller, 7, Joseph Miller, 4, Heirs of Joseph M. Miller, deceased, of Crawford County, Ark. -- M. Tackett, William Tackett, Heirs of Pleasant Tackett, deceased, of Carroll County, Ark. -- F. M. Jones, 4, Sophronia Jones, 7, Heirs of J. M. Jones, deceased, of Marion County, Ark. -- But one of this number, Tryphena Fancher, the wife of J. C. Wilson, of Rule, is at present a resident of Carroll County..."

The Mountain Meadow Massacre.

A friend has sent us a copy of the Valley Tan, published at Salt Lake City, on the 29th ult. It contains a statement by W. H. Rogers concerning the massacre, which, though long, we will transfer to our columns as soon as we can. It fixes the guilt of the Mormons beyond a doubt. -- The narrative is plain, unpretending and clear. We defy any man to read it without feeling his blood thrill in his veins.

One hundred and twenty American citizens, men, women and children, were murdered in cold blood. The bones of these murdered emigrants, after having the flesh gnawed from them by wolves, were left to bleach for nearly two years on the ground, when they were collected by Major Carlton and buried in one grave. A stone monument, conical in form, fifty feet high, has been erected over the grave. A cross of red cedar, twelve feet in height surmounts this. On the transum of the cross are these words:

                          "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord."

On a granite slap, at the base is the following inscription:

  "Here 120 men, women and children were massacred in cold blood, early in September, 1857. They were from Arkansas."

The children survivors are now in this State. Will not some of our contemporaries in the north-west get their full names and account of their present situation? -- Congress will be urged to take action in their behalf. Our legislature will probably do something. The State can well afford to give them land enough to provide for their future well doing. They should be educated and the suggestion made by one of the Arkansas papers to that effect, only needs presentation to our people to secure them a handsome sum.


Notes: (forthcoming)

The Mountain Meadow Massacre --
Horrible Confession.

The Salt Lake Valley Tan, of February 29th, contains a statement from Wm. H. Rogers, in regard to the massacre at Mountain Meadows in September, 1857, when 120 men, women and children, emigrants from Arkansas, were murdered by Mormons. In company with Dr. Forney, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for Utah Territory, Mr. Rogers, about a year since, traversed the district of country where the massacre occurred. The scene of the tragedy is thus described:

"When we arrived here in April, 1859, more than a year and a half after the massacre occurred, the ground for a distance more than a hundred yards around a central point, was covered with the skeletons and bones of human beings, interspersed in places with rolls or bunches of tangled or matted hair, which, from its length, evidently belonged to females. In places the bones of small children were lying side by side with those of grown persons, as if parent and child had met death at the same instant and with the same stroke. Small bonnets and dresses, and scraps of female apparel were also to be seen in places on the ground there, like the bones of those who wore them, bleached from long exposure, but their shape was, in many instances, entire. In a gulch or hole in the ravine by the side of the road, a large number of leg and arm bones, and also of skulls, could be seen sticking above the surface, as if they had been buried there, but the action of the water and digging of the wolves had again exposed them to sight. The entire scene was one too horrible and sickening for language adequately to describe."

On the authority of information communicated in his presence to Judge Cradlebaugh, by a participant in the massacre, Mr. Rogers describes the attack on the emigrants, the protracted siege which they endured, and finally the treacherous artifice by which they were induce to surrender -- when all were brutally murdered. He says:

As soon as it became known that Judge C. intended holding a court, and investigating the circumstances of the massacre, and that he would have troops to ensure protection, and enforce his writs if necessary, several persons visited him at his rooms at late hours of the night, and informed him of different facts connected with the massacre. All these that called thus, stated that it would be at the risk of their lives if it became known that they had communicated anything to him; and they requested Judge Cradlebaugh, if he met them in public in the day time, not to recognize them as persons that he had before seen.

One of the men who called thus on Judge Cradlebaugh, confessed that he participated in the measure, and gave the following account of it -- Previous to the massacre there was a council held at Cedar City, which President Haight, and Bishops Higby and Leed attended. At this council they designed or appointed a large number of men residing in Cedar City, and in other settlements around, to perform the work of dispatching these emigrants. The men appointed for this purpose were instructed to resort, well armed, at a given time, to a spring or small stream, lying a short distance to the left of the road leading into the Meadows, and not very far from Hamblin's ranch, but concealed from it by intervening hills. This was the place of rendezvous; and here the men, when they arrived, painted and otherwise disguised themselves so as to resemble Indians. From thence they proceeded, early on Monday morning, by a path or trail which leads from his spring directly into the Meadows, and enters the road some distance beyond Hamblin's ranch. By taking this route they could not be seen by any one at the ranch.

On arriving at the corral of the emigrants, a number of the men were standing on the outside by the camp fires, which, from appearances, they had just been building. These were first fired upon, and at the first discharge several of them fell dead or wounded; the remainder immediately ran to the inside of the corral, and began fortifying themselves, and preparing for defence as well as they could, by shoving their wagons closer together, and digging holes into which to lower them, so as to keep the shots from going under and striking them. The attack continued in a desultory and irregular manner for four or five days. The corral was closely watched, and if any of the emigrants showed themselves they were instantly fired at from without. If they attempted to go to the spring, which was only a few yards distance, they were sure to fall by the rifles of their assailants. In consequence of the almost certain death that resulted from any attempt to procure water, the emigrants, before the siege discontinued, suffered intensely from thirst. The assailants, believing at length that the emigrants could not be subdued, by the means adopted, resorted to treachery and strategem to accomplish what they had been unable to do by force. They returned to the spring where they had painted and disguised themselves pervious to commencing the attack, and there removed those disguises, and again assumed their ordinary dress.

After this, Bishop Lee, with a party of men, returned to the camp of the emigrants, bearing a white flag as a signal of truce. From the position of the corral, the emigrants were able to see them some time before they reached it. As soon as they discerned it, they dressed a little girl in white, and placed her at the entrance of the corral, to indicate their friendly feelings to the persons bearing the flag. Lee and his party, on arriving, were invited into the corral, where they staid about an hour, talking with them about the attack that had been made upon them. Lee told the emigrants that the Indians had gone off over the hills, and that if they would lay down their arms and give up their property, he and his party would conduct them back to Cedar City; but if they went out with their arms, the Indians would look upon it as an unfriendly act, and would again attack them. The emigrants, trusting to Lee's honor and to the sincerity of his statements, consented to the terms which he proposed, and left their property and all their arms at the corral, and, under the escort of Lee and his party, started towards the North in the direction of Cedar City. After they had proceeded about a mile on their way, on a signal given by Bishop Higby, who was one of the party that went to the corral with Lee, the slaughter began.

The men were mostly killed or shot down at the first fire, and the women and children, who immediately fled in different directions, were quickly pursued and dispatched.

Such was the substance, if not the exact words, of a statement made by a man to Judge Cradlebaugh, in my presence, who at the same time confessed that he participated in the horrible events which he related. He also gave Judge C. the names of 25 or 30 other men living in the region, who assisted in the massacre. He offered also to make the same statement in court and under oath, if protection was guaranteed to him. He gave as a reason for divulging these facts, that they had tormented his mind and conscience since they occurred, and he expressed a willingness to stand a trial for his crime.


Note: The above reprint is only part of the Valley Tan article -- see the original for the full text.

The Mountain Meadow Massacre.

The Salt Lake Valley Tan, of February 29th, contains a statement in regard to the massacre at Mountain meadows, in September, 1857; when 120 men, women, and children, emigrants from Arkansas, were murdered by Mormons. When Judge Cradlebaugh commenced the session of his court in Utah, supported by the military, among other witnesses who privately, under fear of assassination, informed him of outrages in the territory was one who participated in the Mountain Meadow massacre. He gave the following account of the murder.

Previous to the massacre there was a council held at Cedar City, which president Haight and Biship Higby and Leed attended. At this council they designated or appointed a large number of men residing in Cedar City, and in other settlements around, to perform the work of dispatching these emigrants. The men appointed for this purpose were instructed to resort, well armed, at a given time, to a spring or small stream, lying a short distance to the left of the road leading into the meadows, and not far from Hamblin's ranche, but concealed from it by intervening hills. This was the lace of rendezvous, and here the men when they arrived, painted and otherwise disguised themselves, so as to resemble Indians. From thence they proceeded, early on Monday morning, by a path or trail which leads from this spring directly into the Meadows, and enters the road some distance beyond Hamblin's ranche. By taking this route they could not be seen by any one at the ranche.

On arriving at the corral of the emigrants a number of the men were standing on the outside by the camp fires, which from appearances, they had just been building. -- These were fired upon, and at the first discharge several of them fell dead or wounded. The remainder immediately ran to the inside of the corral, and began fortifying themselves, and preparing for defence as well as they could, by shoving their wagons closer together, and digging holes into which to lower them, so as to keep the shots from getting under and string them. The attack continued, in a desultory and irregular manner, for four or five days. The corral was closely watched, and if any of the immigrants showed themselves they were instantly fired on from without. If they attempted to go to the spring, which was only a few yards distant, they were sure to fall by the rifles of their assailants. In consequence of the almost certain death that resulted from any attempt to procure water, the emigrants before the siege discontinued, suffered intensely from thirst. The assailants, at length, believing that the emigrants could not be subdued by the means adopted, resorted to treachery and stratagem to accomplish what they had been unable to do by force. They returned to the spring, where they had painted and disguised themselves previous to commencing the attack, and there removed their disguises, and again assumed their ordinary dress.

After this Bishop, with a party of men, returned to the camp of the emigrants, bearing a white flag as a signal of truce. From the position of the corral, the emigrants were able to see them some time before they reached it. As soon as they discerned it, they dressed a little girl in white, and placed her at the entrance of the corral, to indicate their friendly feelings to the persons bearing the flag. Lee and his party, on arriving, were invited into the corral, where they stayed about an hour, talking with them about the attack that had been made upon them. Lee told the emigrants that the Indians had gone off over the hills, and that if they would lay down their arms and give up their property, he and his party would conduct them back to Cedar City; but if they went out with their arms, the Indians would look upon it as an unfriendly act, and would again attack them. The emigrants, trusting to Lee's honor and sincerity of his statement, consented to the terms; which he proposed, and left their property and all their arms at the corral, and , under the escort of Lee and his party, started towards the North in the direction of Cedar City. After they had proceeded about a mile on their way, on a signal given by Bishop Higby, who was one of the party who went to the corral with Lee, the slaughter began. The men were mostly killed or shot down at the first fire, and the women and children, who immediately fled in different directions were quickly pursued and dispatched.

Such was the substance, if not the exact words of a statement made by a man to Judge Cradlebaugh, in my presence, who atthe same time, confessed that he participated in the horrible events which he related. He also gave Judge C. the names of 24 or 30other men living in the region, who assisted in the massacre. He offered also to make the same statement in court and under oath, ifprotection was guaranteed to him. He gave as a reason for divulging these facts, that they had tormented his mind and consciencesince they occurred, and he expressed a willingness to stand a trial for his crime.


Notes: (forthcoming)

The Mountain Meadow Massacre. -- The bleached remains of the emigrant party massacred at the Mountain Meadow, in Utah, have been collected into a single grave, and a stone monument, conical in form, fifty feet in height, now marks the spot where they rest. This is surmounted by a cross of red cedar, twelve feet in height, on which is carved the following inscription: "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord." On the base of the monument stands a granite slab, into which are cut the words, "Here 120 men, women and children were massacred in cold blood, early in September, 1857. They were from Arkansas."


Notes: (forthcoming)

Tyrannical Treatment of Mormon Women.

A correspondent in Utah, writing to the New York Times, has the following in relation to the treatment of women by the Mormons.

Nothing can afford a stronger condemnation of Mormonism than their treatment of their women, their complaints, and fearsfor their personal safety in the event of the army being withdrawn. In all polygamic countries women are treated as though theywere animals not to be trusted, and are watched with most jealous care. Utah is rather an aggravation than an exception to thisgeneral rule. No Mormon will trust one of his women alone with a brother Mormon, be he ever so devout. They carry this to suchan extent that no woman is permitted to go to or from a social party, or any where else, attended by any other than her husband, orrather keeper, or father. The rule is a strict church regulation, and rigidly enforced.

Caliph Omar never kept a stricter watch over his youngest wife than Brigham and his lecherous satellites do over their concubines. In the Mormon dictionary female virtue is put down as a Utopian speculation not to be indulged in by rational men, and the women who believe in Mormonism (!) accept for their sex this degrading hypothesis, and it can not astonish you therefore, that among real Mormons modesty is at a discount. But to their credit be it spoken, there are but few real Mormon women, though many, if simply asked by a stranger whether they approve the practice of polygamy, will answer that they know nothing in it to condemn; but I have never yet found one who would not, if closely questioned, acknowledge they abhorred it; but every one must understand that it is based upon an ultimate law of nature.

They acquiesce in it simply from necessity. They are made slaves, and in nothing are they treated with more consideration than are the squaws of the mountain tribes of Indians, who have long been considered the most degraded beings upon the globe. Some will ask, "Why do they remain here?" I will answer the question as a Yankee would, "how can they get away?" They have been deceived and entrapped, and brought from almost every quarter of the globe, across hundreds of miles of plains so dreary and desolate that they are almost deserts, and to recross them would require an outfit purchased at vast expense; and if they had transportation furnished them, their tyrants would not let them go, for the great law of the church, the "cutting them off while in the Lord," would then be enforced as the blood of the Parrishes and many others will testify.


Notes: (forthcoming)

A Mormon Killed: -- A letter from Salt Lake to the St. Louis Republican has the following:

Reports reached the city yesterday of the murder of the son of the "Apostles," Geo. A. Smith, Jr., by the Novajo [sic] Indians, near the boundary line of the Territory and New Mexico. He was a young man of nineteen years of age, and one of a p arty of ten men from Washington and Iron counties, who had been on an exploring expedition. The Indians were "mad" with the pale faces for their losses further south, and this small party unsuspectingly coming upon them aroused the demon vengeance. Smith was half a mile from camp in search of a horse, when the Indians surrounded him, took his revolver, shot him four times with his own pistol, and fired into his body three arrows. Some of the explorers came up, and hurried off their wounded comrade, and had hardly time to mount with him before the Indians gave chase. Favored by good steeds the party kept ahead till the shades of evening, after a twenty mile run, gave them the advantage of concealment. Some things fell from a pack-horse which attracted the attention of the Indians, and stopping to gather them up, the pursued made good use of the advantage, and to that and the setting sun were they indebted for their preservation. From the great loss of blood and exhaustion in the chase, Smith only lived three hours, and at length had to be thrown into a bush, the only burial his comrades dare to give him. George A. Smith, Sr., the "Apostle," is one of the respected Mormons abroad, as well as at home.


Notes: (forthcoming)

The Mormon Saints have established a theatre at Salt Lake City, Brigham Young and President Kimball officiating at the opening. Songs, dances, the comedy of "The Honeymoon," and the farce of "Paddy Miles' Boy," made up the initiatory bill.


Notes: (forthcoming)

The Mormons.

A correspondent of the St. Louis Republican who has been journeying to Salt Lake, writes to that journal an interesting account of his experiences and observations by the way. He says:

A few miles out from Salt Lake City, our attention was directed to a long, low house near the road, divided into three compartments, with an outside door entering each, making them, in fact, sepaarte establishments. This building was the house of a Mormon farmer, who had three wives, the wives being three sisters. It may be, if this practice of polygamy must prevail, that domestic harmony can best be secured by wedding sisters, between whom there is a natural bond of affection and interest. Perhaps to some such union may seem ibcredulous. But that is owing to prejudices, which time and association with the Mormons might overcome.

I was informed that the Mormon farmers have very felicitous and convenient arrangements by which they enjoy domestic and connubial gratifications, whether they are at their farms or up in the city. They have a wife at the farm, or such a number of wives as they can support. They also have one or more up in town so that, if overtaken by night, or a storm, they can still be at home in their city establishment, with family comforts around them. Viewed from a Mormon stand point, this is a very agreeable arrangement, and one good argument for it would be that being away from their rural home, and saluatary influences there, they can shun the temptations of city life by spending their evenings and night with their city spouses.

In conversation with a Mormon of considerable intelligence, an Englishman, I was assured that under Mormon rules, no man could take a second wife without the voluntary consent of the first, and the sanction also, of President Young. I think he also mentioned a third consent that must be obtained, but I have forgotten what it was. But from other sources, equally respectable, I learned that all this was a mistake. Freedom to multiply wives is restricted by no such conditions.I could mention the name of quite a respectable and influential Mormon, whose first wife was plunged into the deepest distress by her husband marrying a second. The two wives have never met under the same roof, nor is there any sort of intercourse between them. They live in separate houses or rooms, the husband dividing his attentions between them, but the first wife living a life of daily protest against the trampling upon the vows whispered in her ears when she became a bride. I am inclined to believe that there is no sort of restraint upon this business. A man's abilities to support a given number of wives is the sole condition considered. This being established, he may wed a hundred, if so inclined, and he can procure that number.

I was informed by persons of respectable authority that divorces are easily obtained, when for any reason, more or less grave, it is desirable that parties should separate. The entire system seems to be most agreeably free and easy, so far as this matter is concerned.

I was assured by both Mormons and Gentiles, that nothing of mercenary sensualism prevails in Salt Lake; that public prostitution is very rare, if not unknown, virtue and chastity being the rule.


Notes: (forthcoming)

Joseph Smith, jr., son of the Mormon Joe Smith, of Nauvoo comes out in an article in the Council Bluffs' Nonpareil denouncing Brigham Young and all his works. Smith is at the head of a new organization of latter day saints. He proposes to discuss the grave issues between himself and Brigham Young with any disputatious gentleman who will meet him at Council Bluffs.


Notes: (forthcoming)

THE MORMON BIBLE. -- The Mormon theory of the origin of their Bible is that when the building of the Tower of Babel was brought to the abrupt conclusion spoken of in Genesis, a part of the people scattered at that time came to America and lived there and flourished and dwindled and died out leaving their history buried somewhere in the earth. This history which forms part of the "Mormon Bible," was exhumed by a second Jewish colony which came to that country in the year B. C. 600. The second colony ultimately split into two nations, the Nephites and the Lamanites. From the Lamanites came the American Indians, and from the Nephites came the prophet Mormon, who lived to see his tribe extinguished by the Lamanites, and to write its history, including the appearance to them of Jesus after his resurrection. This history his son Moroni buried in the earth, and there it remained until September 22, 1827, when Joseph Smith discovered it, and with [it] an enormous pair of spectacles with whose aid he translated its contents into the vernacular. It had been buried more than one thousand four hundred years. Mr. Tucker, a resident of Palmyra, the scene of Smith's early operations, and who was well acquainted with him from his boyhood, has just published a work in which he gives what there can be little doubt is the true account of the origin of that "Book of Mormon. According to him it was written by the Rev. Solomon Spaulding an enthusiastic archaeologist. He accepted the theory that America had been peopled by a colony of ancient Israelites. Obliged to give up the active duties of his profession, he employed his leisure in constructing a fabulous historical account of a long lost race. The manuscript was completed in 1812 or 1813, and submitted to a printer in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. It was finally returned to the author, who died in 1816. Soon after his death the manuscript was stolen. The thief was almost certainly Sidney Rigdon, who had been in the office where the manuscript remained for three or four years and who afterwards used the money-digging proclivities of Smith for a point of attachment round which to cluster the new revelation and become the first Mormon prophet.


Notes: (forthcoming)

THE  FAR  WEST.
________

Mormon Conference -- New Secret Order --
Rich Mines -- The Weather.
________

Salt Lake, April 15. -- The Mormon conference renewed its session to-day at the tabernacle with a comparatively small attendance.

The miners of Star, Lincoln, and other districts in the southern part of Utah territory, are forming secret organizations to oppose the secret influences of the Mormon endowment house, and among other objects, to bring to justice the instigators and perpetrators of the Mountain Meadow massacre.

Already over two hundred persons have commenced mining in the extensive deposit of chrystalized sulphur, discovered in the Beaver mountains, three hundred miles from this city....


Note: If the "Lincoln" mentioned in the above article refers to the mining area west of Iron Co., Utah, it was by then (1872) a part of Nevada and not in Utah. It was in Pioche, in Lincoln Co., Nevada, that Philip Klingensmith made out his April 10, 1871 affidavit, confessing to participation, along with fellow Mormons, in the 1857 Mountain Meadows Massacre. The affidavit was kept out of public view until the 15th anniversary of the massacre (Sept. 11, 1872) when it was published in the New York Tribune. The Mormon leadership appears to have been ready to deal with such problems -- see the editorial published in the Salt Lake City Deseret News of Oct. 2, 1872.

MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS
________

John D. Lee, the Mormon leader under whose irders the fearful massacre of more than a hundred Arkansas emigrants occurred in 1858 [sic], is now on trial in Utah for the horrid offense. The Chicago Tribune of the 6th instant publishes the minute details of the whole burchery. From it we take these extracts...

GATHERING  THE  CHILDREN.

[In 1859] Squads of men were sent thirty miles to get the little ones from the Mormon families in which they were placed. Seventeen were found -- fifteen girls and two boys. Their ages varied from four to thirteen years. Most of them had received names from the Mormons and knew no others. The very smallest was a pretty little creature called Lizzie. A chance bullet had cut off squarely both bones of the forearm, and when the wound healed, the wrist and hand dangled loosely, held only by the sinews and flesh. Susan, Lizzie's sister, had been taken off twenty miles from her little releative, and the two had never been permitted to see each other -- and yet there was a mutual recognition when they met.

FORCIBLE  RESISTENCE

was offered by one family when the soldiers came for a little girl. Sergeant Murray was leading a squad of dragoons and drawing a revolver, he compelled them to place the girl on the horse in front of him and triumphantly rode into camp. Some of the little folks were comfortably situated, well clad, and quite happy; others were barefooted, almost naked, and half dead from abuse and ill-treatment. My authority is a white-haired man who was with the expedition.

They heard of two girls and one boy who could not be obtained. Mormons generally were very reluctant about giving information. Three of the wagons belonging to the emigrants were found in the possession of farmers near the Meadows.

TESTIMONY  OF  THE  CHILDREN.

It was a great mistake to suppose children would not remember. Impress such a scene of horror upon a child's mind and time would have little power to erase the memory of the deed. One girl was nearly thirteen years old. Her testimony was clear and unwavering, and firmly established facts that had before been doubted. Two boys, named John Calvin and Myron Tuckett, aged respectively nine and seven, were brought to Salt Lake City, and placed under charge of a most estimable lady until arrangements could be made for sending them to Arkansas. John would often tell how he

PICKED  ARROWS  FROM  HIS  MOTHER'S  BODY.

as fast as the Indians would shoot them into her flesh. He saw his grandfather, grandmother, aunt, father, and mother murdered. Clenching his little fist, he would burst into a little passionate speech like this: "When I get to be a man I'll go to the president of the United States and ask for a regiment of soldiers to go and find John D. Lee, but I don't want to have anyone kill Lee! I want to shoot him myself, for he killed my father. He shot my father in the back, but I would shoot him in the face."

Many of the children saw Mormon women wearing their mother's dresses. Haight's wives and Lee's wives were often seen in Cedar City, wearing silks and satins that came from the Mountain Meadows women. Jewelry and ornamental articles found their way through almost all the soujern settlements. John says that Lee drive his father's gray horses for a few days, and then a bishop obtained possession of them. Mrs. Worley went to the states with these children, and most of them were placed in the care of friends or relatives. Seventeen years have elapsed, but some of these children would be valuable witnesses when the murderers are brought to trial.


Notes: (forthcoming)

Mountain  Meadow  Massacre!
________

Something That Will Be of Importance in The Case.
________

A Lady in Dardanelle Who Was One of The Emigrant Parties
________

A Witness Whose Evidence Will Convict the Mormons
________

The Wife of an Estimable Gentleman in Yell County
Who Recollects the Whole Affair.
________

Below we publish a letter from a correspondent, written in relation to the Mountain Meadow Massacre, the particulars of which we published a few weeks since. If this horrid massacre is still under the investigation of the courts, the evidence of the witness below named might be of great value in compiling the missing links which would convict the Mormon devils, who held carnival over the dying, reeking, bloody forms of 138 of Arkansas' noble citizens.

EDITOR INDEPENDENT: -- Mrs. Sophronia Cates, wife of Dallas Cates who lives near Dardanelle, was one of the children whom the Mormon's spared in the Mountain Meadow Massacre. She was 6 years old at the time, but was so well grown that she came very near the length of the stick by which the children were measured. Those whose height was equal to the stick were all killed. Who says she distinctly remembers seeing them shoot her mother in the head and piling the dead in heaps, and being put with all the children who were spared, into an old house that night. Perhaps her testimony might assist in the conviction of the old devil Lee, by whose order the 128 emigrants lost their lives, and have him assigned to his post in Pandemonium. D.B.B.


Note: See the Independent of Aug. 27th for Mrs. Cates' statement.

(From the Louisville Courier-Journal.)

MOUNTAIN  MEADOW  BUTCHERY.
________

A Tale of Horror.
________

One Hundred Emigrants Murdered and their Property
Stored in the Mormon Tything House.

Beaver, Utah, July 23. -- At 2 o'clock the first witness was called.

TESTIMONY  OF  ROBERT  KEYES.

Robert Keyes came to Utah, October 2, 1857. Through Mountain Meadows he saw two piles of bodies, women and children, piled promiscuously, about 60 to 70, the children from two months old to twelve years. The smaller were torn by wolves and crows, and some bodies were shot, some throats cut, some stabbed, and all torn by wolves except one woman a little way off, who appeared as if asleep, with a bullet hole in her left side. It appeared that the bodies had been dead 15 days. Seven of us saw it.

There was a pole of men's bodies further on. He didn't go to see them. There was no clothing on the bodies, except one sock on a man. None were scalped.

TESTIMONY  OF  ASAHEL  BENNETT.

Asahel Bennett was called. He was at the Meadows in December, 1857, and saw the bones there, a horrible sight, skeletons of women, children, curls, tongs, dresses, hair, dried blood, children ten to twelve years old. Some skulls had the flesh dried on them. The bodies had been covered up, wolves having evidently dug them up.

TESTIMONY  OF  BISHOP  SMITH.

Philip Klingen Smith, a defendant of San Bernardino, Cal., was called. The prosecution entered nolle prosequi as to himself.

He lived at Cedar City in 1857, and from 1852. The Meadows are forty-five miles south of Cedar on the California road. He was at the massacre in 1857. He had heard of the emigrants coming. People were forbidden to trade with them. He felt bad about it. He saw a few of them at Cedar; this was Friday. Some swore, and Higbee fired at them. They went on. He heard rumors of trouble Sunday. It was the custom to have a meeting of the president and council, the bishop and council, and the high council. I was a bishop. The matter came up, and there was a discussion as to their destruction. Haight, Higbee, Morrell, Allen, Willis, myself and others were there. Some brethren opposed their destruction. Haight jumped up and broke up the meeting. I asked what would be the consequence of such an act? Then Haight got mad. The Indians were to destroy them. Monday Higbee, White and I met, and the same subject came up. I opposed their destruction. Haight relented, and told White and me to go ahead and tell the people that the emigrants should go through safe. We did so.

On the road we met John D. Lee, and told him where we were going. He replied: "I have something to say about that matter." We passed the emigrabts at Iron Springs. Next morning we passed them again as we came back. They had twenty or thirty wagons, and there were over one hundred people; old men, middle-aged, old women, middle-aged, youths and children. Near home I met Ira Allen. He said the emigrants' doom was sealed, and that the die cast for destruction; that Lee's orders were to take men and go out and intercept them. Allen was to go on and counteract what he did. I went home.

Three days after, Haight sent for me and said orders had come from camp. They didn't get along and wanted reinforcements; and that he had been to Parowan and got further orders from Col. W. H. Dame to finish the massacre, to decoy out and spare only small children who could not tell the tale. I went off and met Allen, our first runner, and Higbee came out and said, :You are ordered out, armed and equipped." So I went.

Hopkins, Higbee, Willis and Sam Purdee went along. We had two baggage wagons. We got to Hamblin's ranch in the night, three miles from the emigrants. There we met Lee and others from the general camp, where the largest number of men were then. We found that the emigrants were not all killed. Lee called me out for some consultation on one side. He told me the situation. The emigrants were strongly fortified, and we had no chance to get them out; that Higbee was ordered to decoy them out the best he could.

That was agreed to, and the command given to J. D. Lee to carry out the whole plan. They went to Camp Lee, called all the soldiers into a hollow square and addressed them. They were all white men, about fifty in all. The Indians were in another camp. I saw there Slade and his son Jim. Pearce, probably his son too. Slade and I were outraged, but we said, "What can we do? We can't help ourselves." Just then the order to march was given. We had to put in a double file. Higbee had command of a part of the men. It was the Nauvoo Legion, organized from tens up to hundreds. We marched in sight of the emigrants. Either Bateman or Lee went out with a white flag. A man from the emigrants met them. Lee and the man sat on the grass and had a talk. I don't know what they talked. Lee went with the men into the entrenchments.

After some hours they came out, and the emigrants came up with the wounded in the wagons ahead. The wounded were those hurt in the three days' previous fight. He said the Mormons and Indians couldn't oust the emigrants. Next were the women and next the men. As the emigrants came up the men halted, and the women, on foot, children and wounded, went on ahead with John D. Lee. The soldiers had to be all ready to shoot at the word. When the word halt came the soldiers fired.

I fired once. I don't know whether I killed the man. They were not all killed at the first shot. I saw women afterward dead with their throats cut. I saw as I came up to them a man kill a young girl. The men were marched in double file at first, and then thrown in single file, with soldiers alongside. I heard the emigrants' congratulations on their safety from the Indians.

At last Higbee came past and ordered my squad to fire. Lee, like the rest, had firearms. No emigrants escaped. I saw soldiers on horses to take on the wing those who ran. I saw a man run. I saw Bill Stweart on a horse go after him and kill him. I saw one wounded man beg for life. Higbee cut his throat. The man said, "I would not do this to you, Higbee." He knew him.

After I fired, I was told to gather up the little children. As I went, I saw a large woman running toward the men, crying "My husband, my husband." A soldier shot her in the back and she fell dead. As I went on I found the wagons with the wounded all out on the ground and their throats cut. I went on and found the children and put them in a wagon and took them to Hamblin's house. I saw no more soldiers. They dispersed at Hamblin's, I think.

I had to leave it there. There were many soldiers from the counties south whom I didn't know. Next day, I and McCurdy [and Willis] took the children to Cedar City, leaving one at Pinto Creek. On the road I met a greight train of wagons, men living here in Beaver now.

I went to old Mrs. Hopkins and told her I had the children. She rushed round and got places for them. I took one girl baby home. My wife suckled it. Afterwards I gave it to Birk Beck, he having no children. They were well treated, I believe I got good places for them, where there were few children.

THE  PROPERTY  OF  THE  EMIGRANTS.

The question of allowing the satements of co-conspirators as to the disposal of the emigrants' property after the massacre, was here argued for an hour.

The court held it admissible, on the ground of the people vs. Trima (a California case.)

During the argument, Sutherland, for the defense, bitterly said it was an attempt to fix the crime on some one else, Lee being only a figurehead.

Baskin, for the prosecution, replied that they wanted but the truth, whoever it implicated, and that Sutherland feared that his real client would be reached.

This produced a decided sensation, it being known that Brigham Young was near.

BISHOP  SMITH'S  TESTIMONY.

The witness resumed -- After several days Haight sent me to Iron Springs, where the wagons, cattle and goods of the emigrants were. I got them and put them in the tithing-house. I was to brand the cattle too. I found there John Wrie and Hunter and Allen. I put the goods in the church tithing-house and branded the cattle with the church brand -- a cross.

Lee was in the cellar with me, and I saw the goods. Haight and Higbee told me a council had been held and Lee deputed to go to President Brigham Young and report all the facts of the massacre. Lee went. I followed, to attend a conference, October 6, at Salt Lake City. I met Lee at Salt Lake, and asked if he had reported to Brigham Young. He said yes, every particular.

The same day, I, Lee and Charley Hopkins called on Brigham Young. He there, in the presence of them, said: "You have charge of that property in the tithing office. Turn it over to John D. Lee. What you know of this say nothing of it. Don't talk it over among yourselves."

When I came back I had to go to Vegan lead mines to get ore. While I was gone, Lee took the property, had an auction and sold off. So Haight and Higbee told me. Haight sold part of the cattle to Hooper. Utah's Congressional delegate afterward, for boots and shoes.

There were Indians at the massacre. The hills were pretty full of them. They were deputed to kill the women. I saw one Indian, Myack, cut a little boy's throat. I heard no effort to restrain the Indians. Some Indians were wounded, and three died of their wounds. Some Indians came back to Cedar, where they lived. One was called Bill and one Tom; both chiefs. I saw some emigrant property with the Indians.

I saw Lee get dresses and jeans from the tithing office out of emigrants' plunder. I learned from Allen that Lee was the one to gather up Indians to attack the emigrants; talked with Lee about it afterwards. Lee was Indian agent at Harmony. As agent he traveled with the tribes and issued the goods and rations of the Government to the Indians.

The court here adjourned until 9 A. M. After to-day night sessions are to be held. The court warned citizens not to speak to the jurors from the street up to the time they were sworn, and declared that it would arrest and punish such offense.

During the time that Klingen Smith was testifying, giving horrible details of the bloodshed, the suspense was terribly painful.

Lee's square, hard, low-browed face and neck became fairly purple-black, and his wives scarcely breathed, straining forward to catch each. syllable. The excitement in the town is intense. I am prepared to state that Klingen Smith's story, in all ots material details, is the same as Lee's suppressed confession as to the massacre. Klingen Smith's reputation is that of a man of truth. He could not be impeached save by facts.


Notes: (forthcoming)

The sole survivors of the Mountain Meadows massacre, according to the Salt Lake Tribune, are two young men named John Calvin and Myron Tackett, who are now supposed to be living in Arkansas the former home of their murdered parents. They were about eight years old at the time the massacre occurred. They were then brought to Salt Lake City and put in [the] charge of a benevolent lady who kept them until an opportunity offered for sending them home.

We believe the Tribune is mistaken in limiting the number to two. We have heard of other children being returned to the state.


Notes: (forthcoming)

THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOW  MASSACRE.
_______

Maj. Carleton and Wm. C. Mitchell's Reports
and Gov. Conway's Message, in 1860.

At the November session, 1860, of the Arkansas legislature, Elias N. Conway, then governor, brought officially to the notice of the legislature the horrid massacre at Mountain Meadows, (which has recently occupied so much of the public attention, growing out of the prosecution of the Mormon Bishop, John D. Lee, one of the chief perpetrators), in the following paragraph in his biennial message.

The executive and the people of Arkansas are ibdebted to the courtesy of Brevet Major James Henry Carleton, of the United States army, for a copy of that part of an able report made by him, relative to the horrible massacre at the Mountain Meadows, in Utah Territory, in September, 1857, of one hundred and twenty men, women and children, who were from the State of Arkansas, and had traveled that far on their way to California. There were seventeen small children, only, left alive out of this large emigrating party of about one hundred and forty souls. The party was considered the wealthiest in horses, mules, cattle, wagons, carriages, money and other property, of any party that attempted to cross the plains in the year 1857. The massacre was the most awful ever committed in the history of our country. The seventeen children were recovered from the Mormons and brought back by authority of the United States, and, by the report of Hon. Wm. C. Mitchell, who, as agent of the government of the United States brought the children from Fort Leavenworth, you will learn their names, ages, and sex, and also the places of their residence in this state. The United States ought, at least, to provide some indemnity for the property and money which the Mormon and Indian murderers appropriated after they had massacred the owners. Printed copies of the reports of Brevet Major Carleton and Hon. Wm. C. Mitchell will be laid before you, and your attention is respectfully invited to them.

Accompanying Gov. Conway's message was the special report of Brev. Major James Henry Carleton, U.S.A., to the governor, which gave the information he had gleaned on the subject of the massacre, and which has been more than verified during the progress of Lee, from which we make some extracts.

The Arkansas train consisted of, say, forty wagons. There were a few tents besides, which the emigrants used in addition to these wagons when they encamped. There seemed to be about forty heads of families, many women -- some unmarried -- and many children. A doctor accompanied them. The train seemed to consist of respectable people, well to do in the world. They were well dressed, were quiet, orderly, genteel, had fine stock; had three carriages along and other evidences which went to show that this was one of the finest trains that had been seen to cross the plains.

The Mormons say the Indians were the murderers, they speak with no sympathy of the sufferers but rather in extenuation of the crime by saying the emigrants were not fit to live. That besides poisoning the soring, they were impudent to the people on the road, robbed their hen-roosts and gardens, and were insulting to the church, called their oxen "Brigham Young, Heber Kimball," etc., and altogether were a rough ugly set that ought to have been killed any way.

But there is another side to this story. It is said that some two years since Bishop Parley P. Pratt was shot in the Cherokee Nation, near Arkansas, by the husband of a woman who had run off with that saintly prelate. The Mormons swore vengeance on the people of Arkansas, one of whom was this injured husband. The wife came on to Salt Lake City after the bishop was killed and still loves there. About this time, also, the Mormon troubles with the Unoted States commenced, and the most bitter hostility against the gentiles became rife throughout Utah among all the latter day saints. It will be recollected that while these emigrants were pursuing their journey overland to California, Colonel Alexander was following upon their trail with two or more regiments of troops, ordered to Utah to assist, if necessary, in seeing the laws of the land properly enforced in that territory.

This train was undoubtedly a very rich one. It is said the emigrants had nearly 900 head of fine cattle, many horses and mules, and one stallion valued at $2,000. That they had a great deal of ready money besides. All this the Mormons at Salt Lake saw as the train came on. The Mormons knew the troops were marching to their country, and a spirit of intense hatred of the Americans and towards our government was kindled in the hearts of this whole people, by Brigham Young, Orson Hyde, and other leaders, even from the pulpits. Here opportunely, was a rich train of emigrants -- American gentiles; and not only that but these gentiles were from Arkansas, where the saintly Pratt had gained his crown of martyrdom. Is not here some thread which may be seized as a clue to this massacre? This train of rich Arkansas gentiles was doomed from the day it crossed through the South Pass, and had gotten fairly down into the meshes of the Mormon spider-net, from which it was never to become disentangled.

---

FROM WM. C. MITCHELL'S REPORT.

Little Rock, 11th October, 1860.    

His Excellency, Elias N. Conway, Governor of Arkansas:

As special agent of the United States government, I proceeded to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, on the 25th of August, 1859, took charge of those children -- fifteen in number -- five males and ten females; and whose names and present residence are stated below. They were brought to Fort Leavenworth from Salt Lake, Utah, in charge of Major Whiting, U.S. army, and arrived there on that day. I reached Carrolton, Carroll county, Arkansas with them, on the 16th of September, 1859. They were in fine health during my trip with them across the plains, and continued so while they were in my care and charge. When Dr. Jacob Forney, superintendent of Indian affairs in Utah, obtained these children in Utah, their names had been changed, while they were in the possession of the Mormons, to prevent identification, or inquiry.

There were two other children -- John C. Miller and M. Tackett -- who were detained as witnesses, and in January, 1860, they were conveyed to Washington City, by the said Forney, and under his charge; and from there to Carrollton, Carroll county, Arkansas, under the charge of Major John Henry, of Van Buren, Arkansas, in January, 1860. All the children are still living, as far as I am informed, grateful for their restoration to their realtives and friends.

Rebecca Dunlap, 9. Louisa Dunlap, 7. Sarah Dunlap, 4; females; live in Carroll county, Arkansas, and are daughters of Jesse Dunlap, deceased.

Prudence Angeline Dunlap, 7; Georgiana Dunlap, 4; females, love in Marion county, Arkansas, and are daughters of L. D. Dunlap, deceased.

Elizabeth Baker, 8; Sarah A. Baker, 6; females; William D. Baker, 4; male, heirs of G. W. Baker, deceased, live in Carroll county, Arkansas.

C. C. Fancher, 9; male; Trifina Fancher, 5; female; heirs of Alexander Fancher; live in Carroll county, Arkansas.

John C. Miller, 9; male; Mary Miller, 7; female; Joseph Miller, 4; male; heirs of Joseph M. Miller, deceased; reside in Crawford county, Arkansas.

M. Tackett, male; Wm. Tackett, male; children of Pleasant Tackett, deceased; reside in Carroll county, Arkansas.

F. M. Jones, 4; male; Sophronia, 7; female; children of J. M. Jones, deceased, of Marion county, Arkansas; reside in Meigs county, Tenn., went from Benton county, Arkansas.

M. Tackett and John C. Miller, were the two boys detained at Salt Lake City, as witnesses, and brought to Arkansas by Maj. Henry, as stated in the foregoing letter.   Wm. C. Mitchell.

Note: Special Agent William C. Mitchell wrote to A. B. Greenwood, Commissioner of Indian Affairs, from Crooked Creek, Arkansas, on April 27, 1860, saying:   "The little children whom we left this John D. Lee distributing at Hamblin’s house after that sad night, have at length been gathered together and are now at Indian Farm, 12 miles south of Fillmore City, or at Salt Lake City in the custody for Dr. Forney, United States Indian agent. They are 17 in number. Sixteen of these were seen by Judge Cradlebaugh, Lieutenant Kearney, and others, and gave the following information in relation to their personal identity, etc. The children were varying from 3 to 9 years of age, 10 girls, 6 boys, and were questioned separately. -- The first is a boy named Calvin, between 7 and 8; does not remember his surname; says he was by his mother when she was killed, and pulled the arrows from her back until she was dead; says he had two brothers older than himself, named James and Henry, and three sisters, Nancy, Mary and Martha. -- The second is a girl who does not remember her name. The others say it is Demurr [sic - Dunlap?]. -- The third is a boy named Ambrose Mariam Tagit [sic - Tackitt]; says he had two brothers older than himself and one younger. His father, mother, and two elder brothers were killed, his younger brother was brought to Cedar City; says he lived in Johnson County, but does not know what State; says it took one week to go from where he lived with his grandfather and grandmother who are still living in the States. -- The fourth is a girl obtained of John Morris, a Mormon, at Cedar City. She does not recollect anything about herself. -- Fifth. A boy obtained of E. H. Grove, says that the girl obtained of Morris is named Mary and is his sister. -- The sixth is a girl who says her name is Prudence Angelina. Had two brothers, Jessie and John, who were killed. Her father’s name was William, and she had an Uncle Jessie. -- The seventh is a girl. She says her name is Francis Harris, or Horne, remembers nothing of her family. -- The eighth is a young boy, too young to remember anything about himself. -- The ninth is a boy whose name is William W. Huff. -- The tenth is a boy whose name is Charles Fancher. -- The eleventh is a girl who says her name is Sophronia Huff. -- The twelfth is a girl who says her name is Betsy. -- The thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth are three sisters named Rebecca, Louisa and Sara Dunlap. These three sisters were the children obtained of Jacob Hamblin. -- I have no note of the sixteenth [Triphenia D. Fancher?]. -- The seventeenth is a boy who was but six weeks old at the time of the massacre. Hamblin’s wife brought him to my camp on the 19th instant. The next day they took him on to Salt Lake City to give him up to Dr. Forney. He is a pretty little boy and hardly dreamed he had again slept upon the ground where his parents had been murdered. -- All of the above is in the care of their relatives and friends in Arkansas except Saphrona Huff who was taken by her grandfather Brown who lives in Miggs Co. Tennessee to Tennessee. There was two of those children wounded in the battle. Sarah Frances Baker shot through the left ear and Sarah Ann Dunlap shot through the right arm and her shoulder dislocated having no use of it and much less than the other. Those children vary in age from ten years to four years old. Also included you will find a list of the killed and missing as far as we can obtain them. All of the children that was large enough to recollect state that they were never in the possession of the Indians but kept by the whites."

THE  MOUNTAIN  MEADOW  MASSACRE.
________

STATEMENT OF MRS. G. D. CATES,
ONE OF THE CHILDREN SPARED AT THE TIME.
________

The Mormons the Murderers
________

Knowing that Mrs. Cates of this County, was one of 17 children spared at the time of the terrible massacre at Mountain Meadow, in 1857, we sent her a request to come to town with her husband, the we might get her statement of this fiendish butchery from her own lips. She accordingly complied, and we endeavor to give it in her own language as near as possible.

"My name is Nancy Saphrona. I am the daughter of Peter Huff, my mother's maiden name was Salidia Brown, daughter of Alexander Brown of Tenn. I was born in Benton Co., Ark. in 1853. My father started to move from that County in the spring of 1857, with the ill fated train bound for California. I was then a little past four years old. I can recollect my father and mother very well, as many little incidents that occurred about that time, our travels on the road. etc.

I recollect passing through Salt Lake City and passing through other places, and I recollect we were in a small prairie. One morning before day I woke up by firing of guns, and learned that our camp had been attacked we supposed by Indians, some of the men folk were wounded. The men dug a ditch around our camp and fortified the best they could the women and children got in the ditches and were comparatively out of danger. The fighting went on at intervals for six days, when failing to drive our men from their fortifications the attacking party went off, soon afterward a party that we thought to be friends came up with a white flag, and said they would protect fish they said they were our friends and if we would come out and leave what we had, they would take us to Cedar City where we would be safe, and they would protect us and see that none of us were hurt. Our people agreed to this, and all started out, men, women and children and left everything we had behind.

When we had got out a short distance from the wagons where we had been fortified, we came to a place where tall sage brush was growing on both sides of the road, and as we were passing through this place we found we were trapped, as men had hid in it and begun to shoot among us and then rushed upon our people from both sides and killing everybody they come to. Capt. Baker had me in his arms, when he was shot down, and fell dead. I saw my mother shot in the forehead and fall dead. The women and children screamed and clung together, some of the young women begged the assassins after they had run out on us, not to kill them, but they had no mercy on them, clubbing their guns and beating out their brains. Some of the murderers were white men and some, I supposed were Indians from their dress. At the close of the massacre there was 18 children still alive, one girl, some ten or twelve years old they said was too big and could tell so they killed her, leaving 17. A man, I afterwards learned to be named John Willis took me in his charge (the children were divided) and carried me. to his house next day in a wagon, he lived at Cedar City, and was a Mormon, he kept me there that winter, next spring he moved to a place called Topersville [sic - Toquerville?]. I stayed there about a year, until Dr. Forney had us children gathered up and carried us to St. Clara, from there we went to Salt Lake City and remained 2 months from there we came back to the States. I know that the most of the party that did the killing were white men. The Mormons got all the plunder. I saw many of things afterward. John Willis had in his family bed clothes and clothing and many other things that I recognized as having belonged to my mother, when I claimed the things they told me I told a lie and tried to make me believe it was the Indians that killed and plundered our people, but I knew better because I recollected seeing them killing our folks and knew many things that they carried off that I saw in their possession afterwards. I saw Willis during the massacre, he carried me off from the spot, I could not be mistaken, living with him made me know him beyond a doubt. I saw them shoot the girl after we were gathered up. I had a sister that was nearly grown and four brothers that they killed I was youngest child of our family the only one that was spared. They kept the children all separated whilst we remained with them. The scenes and incidents of the massacre was so terrible that they were indelibly stamped on my mind notwithstanding I was so young at the time."

Thus we have an account from an eye witness of one of the most foul and inhuman massacres on the worlds record, for years this blot has remained with but little if any effort to visit justice upon the heartless villains. Our people murdered by the wholesale, and the murderers have gone Scott free. The bold assassins have made free to use the family plunder and relicts in presence of the orphan children, that knew their mothers clothing and if they desire to say a word were called liars and threatened with death, all this done in the face and on the sail of a powerful nation, and still goes unavenged. The blood of these slaughtered victims calls for justice. Beside handing the murders these children should receive something from the National Treasury. The train was the richest in property and cash that ever attempted to pass over the overland route, the Mormons got all, the children that survived are now poor and hard pressed and should be remembered, money cannot compensate them for the loss of father, mother, brothers and sister, but, it can indemnify them partially for their loss of property and show to them that they have the sympathy of the Nation. It is a grand farce to try these Mormon "Latter Day Saints," the imps of dark damnation rather, by a Mormon jury, We should nor persecute them for their religious faith, but prosecute them for murder and robbery, until the whole hot bed of corruption is landed in the place from which it emanated.


Note 1: 1875 Nancy Sophrina Huff Cates news clippings courtesy of Erin Jennings. Mrs. Cates' statement was also reprinted in the Daily Arkansas Gazette, of Sept. 1, 1875. For more information on this subject see Will Bagley's Feb. 2005 article, "Rescue of the Mountain Meadows Orphans," in Wild West magazine.

Note 2: On the subject of possessions stolen from the Fancher wagon train being taken and used by Mormons, see the May 17, 1859 letter of U. S. Attorney General, J. S. Black, as reprinted in the Salt Lake City Deseret News of June 29, 1859.

Note 3: Although the Mormons' measuring the surviving children by the length of a certain stick, and executing those taller is a credible assertion, the episode is not mentioned by Philip Klingensmith (who had charge of the spared children) in his 1872 statement, nor by John D. Lee in his various statements.

DEATH  OF  A  FOUNDER  OF
MORMONISM.
_______

(Troy Times.)

The death of Sidney Rigdon, one of the founders of Mormonism, in Allegany county, New York, calls to mind the prominent part he once took in that stupendous deception whereby the church of the "Latter Day Saints" was foisted upon the world. He was not the apparently moving spirit of the imposture, but came in about the second hour, to give it a voice and an oratorical respectability that it did not have at its appearance. He was born in Pennsylvania in 1793. At first a Baptist preacher in Pittsburgh, he afterwards drifted to the side of Alexander Campbell, the founder of the organization now know as the Christian church. In the meantime the extraordinary career of Joseph Smith, Jr., had begun near Palmyra, in the western part of this State. Smith came from a low family that immigrated from Vermont, noted more for illiteracy, whiskey-drinking and shiftlessness than for any of the cardinal virtues. Of such a race was to spring the prophet and principal founder of Mormonism. Joseph Smith did not belie his origin in his early life. He was indolent, with a vagabond turn, but developed a taste for scriptural studies and disputes on religious subjects. In 1819 a curious stone was found by a neighbor while digging a well on his farm. It fell into the hands of Smith, and from that event his career of vulgar jugglery and deception dates. He soon gave out that the stone possessed wonderful properties, with which he was enabled to reveal things existent and things to come. By its aid he pretended to discover the whereabouts of deposits of gold and silver in earthen pots and iron chests, buried in the earth. It was not long before he had a company of fools digging at midnight hours for the hidden treasures. Nothing was ever found, but the ingenious impostor contrived to satisfy his dupes that some sinister "condition" baffled their efforts, and thus maintained his own necromantic reputation intact. Soon after followed his spiritual visions: "the angel of the Lord appeared to him," denounced all the religious denominations as believers in false doctrines and promised to reveal to him at some future time the "fullness of the gospel." Several visitations from this divine messenger succeeded and soon after Smith announced that, obeying the instructions of the "angel," he had taken out of the hill a metallic book of great antiquity, which was a record, in mystic letters, or characters, of the long lost tribes of Israel, who, he said, formerly inhabited this country. Smith related marvelous stories of a celestial pyrotechnic display he witnessed on that occasion. The good angel stood upon one side encouraging him, while upon the other myriads of demons from the pit strove in vain to deter him from unearthing the book. The utmost pains were taken to keep the precious prize from "gentile" eyes, and after much tribulation, chiefly for lack of funds, a copy of the new revelation was printed.

The manuscript was found to be a wretched imitation of Scripture composition, containing extensive plagiarisms from the Bible, especially from Isaiah, Jeremiah and Matthew. Christ's sermon on the mount was incorporated almost without an alteration. The grammar of this inspired work was in utter defiance of rules. A more contemptible insult to common sense was never before offered under the guise of inspirational writings; yet it found credulous believers among the most ignorant and superstitious class of the community. The Mormon Bible, or "Book of Mormon" as it was called, was printed at Palmyra in 1830. The origin of this manuscript has been traced to its source. It was the work of one Rev. Solomon Spaulding of Ashtabula county, Ohio, who wrote the work to elucidate the theory that the American continent had been settled by a colony of the ancient Israelites. This fiction of the brain he submitted to a printer in Pittsburgh, Pa. The latter engaged to print it, but the contract was never carried out. Soon after the clergyman died. The manuscript fell into the hands of Sidney Rigdon, who gave it to Smith, and then followed the concoction of the scheme to found a new religious sect. Soon after the appearance of the romance as the Mormon bible, Rigdon went to Palmyra and entered upon the mission of propagating the new doctrines. He was shrewd, possessed of a considerable degree of eloquence, together with a peculiarly magnetic personality, which crowned his efforts with much success among the classes whence Mormonism has ever drawn its support. He pretended never to have seen the mysterious plates Smith dug out of the hill, but there is little question that the imposture was the joint production of Smith and Rigdon, even while the latter was a "preacher of righteousness," but, it must be said a very eccentric one, even then. The leaders of Mormonism next moved to Kirtland, Ohio, ran a brief career there, and then the "church" went further west. At Nauvoo, Ill., as is well known, Smith first proclaimed the doctrine of spiritual wife-hood and polygamy, which has become the principal characteristic of Mormonism. As a candidate for the seat of the murdered Smith, who was shot by a mob, Rigdon was defeated by Brigham Young and expelled from the church. He returned to this State and spent his last days in the place where he died. He ceased to be an active champion of Mormonism, and was generally respected by his neighbors and acquaintances.


Note: This article was first published in the New York Troy Times of July 27, 1876. See also the Rochester Daily Union of July 28, 1876.

The Mountain Meadows massacre, for which John D. Lee was executed on Friday... will be remembered with interest by many of the citizens of Northwest Arkansas, as the emigrants murdered were from that section. The few survivors, very young children, were brought back to the State in 1858, we believe, by Col. William C. Mitchell, of Carroll County, who was appointed by the Government for that purpose. Most of them were so young that they had but a very imperfect recollection of the horrible affair.


Notes: (forthcoming)

MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS.

under construction


Notes: (forthcoming)

TENDER-HEARTED  BRIGHAM.
_______

A Defense of the Mormon Prophet from the Implications of
John D. Lee’s Confession -- The Whole Blame of the
Mountain Meadows Massacre Cast upon the Dead

[From Salt Lake Herald (Mormon organ).]

We give up much of the Herald's space this morning to the purported confession or statement of John D. Lee. We publish the document for what it is worth, which we conceive to be very little, in view of such positive truths as are known. The only value of the paper is that it more firmly establishes the absolute unreliable character of that arch-fiend, Lee. He has made so many and such conflicting statements in regard to the Mountain Meadows massacre -- there are no two of them but vary in important particulars -- that no confidence can be placed in any of them, except as they are corroborated by the testimony of better and more worthy persons. The statement which we publish, while it undoubtably contains some truths as to the massacre, is evidently a paper adroitly framed, not for the purpose of exposing the actual facts as they transpired, and the causes which led to them, but rather to shift the responsibility upon others than the guilty parties. The impression sought to be conveyed, and even directly charged, is that the Mormon Church and its leaders authorized the massacre. Lee would throw the entire blame upon others, screening himself under the shallow covering that he entrapped and treacherously betrayed the emigrants and ruthlessly cut the throats of women and children for the sake of his religion. For Lee's crime at the Mountain Meadows we do not care to arraign his ghost, but it would be unfair to let his lying assertions live after him uncontradicted, to the injury of others against whom his mind became embittered for the sole reason that they would not step in and try to assist in cheating the law and justice of their due, in his blood.

The statement is not an official document, does not bear even the slight evidence of truth that the sworn signature of Lee might give to it, nor is it attested except by the hand of the criminal's attorney, who claims that he has gathered it from his client's written words. There is no evidence that Lee had anything to do with making the charges, as presented. But presuming that he had, the paper should not be credited, and will not be by those acquainted with the person against whom the paper is aimed. The one sought most to be injured is President Brigham Young. Those who know that gentleman best know that it would be impossible for him to conceive or contemplate the execution of the diabolical deed of '57. Such a crime is contrary to his very nature, as exhibited in every act of his private and public life. In that same year, when affairs in this Territory were in desperate straits, and the community was in arms, numerous and positive orders by President Young, as chief executive and spiritual leader here, were issued to the people to shed no blood, which orders were consistent with the dispatch sent by him to spare the unfortunate Arkansas Company: "The emigrants must not be meddled with if it takes all Iron County to prevent it." Those orders are yet in existence, and are a complete refutation of the bloody-minded motives imputed to President Young. Lee himself has frequently asserted, and since his incarceration, that the leaders of the Mormon Church were entirely blameless in the massacre; that the deed was concocted and executed by himself and others in the neighborhood. Again, we place in evidence, as contradicting his statement -- if it be his -- the testimony of witnesses on the last trial at Beaver:

Laban Morril, of Johnston's Fort was called. He testified that he lived there in 1857; was a member of the council of Cedar City; a few days after the emigrants passed through Cedar a council was held, at which he was present, when the subject of the destruction of the emigrants was discussed, and urged by a few, particularly by Klingensmith and Haight; that Klingensmith was the most obstinate of any in the council, and was determined on the emigrants being massacred. Witness strongly opposed, and urged that a message be sent to President Young, and that the Indians supposed to be attacking them be held off until an answer dispatch could be received; knew James Haslem, who was sent with a message to President Young, and returned forty-eight hours after the massacre was finished.

James Hanshlem, of Wellsville, Cache Valley, was sworn: He lived in Ceder City in 1857; was ordered by Haight to take a message to President Young, with all speed; knew the contents of the message; left Cedar City on Monday, September 7, 1857, between 5 and 6 p.m., and arrived at Salt Lake on Thursday at 11 a.m.; started back at 3 p.m., and reached Cedar City at 11 a.m., Sunday morning, September 18. Delivered the answer from President Young to Haight, who said it was too late. Witness testified that when leaving Salt Lake to return, President Young said to him: "Go with all speed, spare no horseflesh. The emigrants must not be meddled with, if it takes all of Iron County to prevent it. They must go free and unmolested." Witness knew the contents of the answer.

Jacob Hamlin, when giving his evidence, was questioned by the prisoner's counsel as to whether he had ever related his conversation with Leem, and other circumstances to any one. He said he had. Soon after the massacre, when the subject was fresh in his mind, he told all he knew of the affair to President Young and George A. Smith; that President Young told him that when the right time came, and we could get a court of justice, to go and tell it. Witness had never, until the present occasion, thought it would be proper to relate the story in court.

Nephi Johnson testified that he was present at the massacre, and saw Lee shoot a woman and cut the throat of a man. Some days after the slaughter witness was sent to protect the next company of emigrants to Santa Clara; on their way witness stopped at Harmony, where he saw John D. Lee, who proposed to him to get the emigrants into an ambush to destroy them by the Indians, and so get their property. Johnson replied: "There has been too much blood shed by you already. I have been instructed to see them through, and I will do so or die with them." Lee then shamed him, calling him hard names.

Mr. District Attorney Howard made the prosecution of Lee a pet case. He ferreted out the facts, got all the evidence that it was possible to obtain, and used such as he needed to bring the guilt home to the real offender, with a terrible exactness. Probably Mr. Howard knows as much of the Mountain Meadows massacre, of the participants, and the aiders, abettors, and counselors to the tragedy, as any one not engaged in the affair. Read what he said to the jury trying the case, and then judge whether Lee wilfully, maliciously, venomously falsified when he charged the massacre upon Brigham Young and the Mormon leaders.

Howard commenced the closing speech in the case at ten minutes to 12, and in replying to Bishop's remarks, said he had been engaged constantly during the past three months in sifting facts and everything relating to the massacre. As in his opening address, he repeated again that he had come here for the purpose of trying John D. Lee, because circumstances pointed to him as the main instigator and leader, and he had given the jury unanswerable documentary evidence proving that the authorities of the "Mormon" church knew nothing of the butchery till after it was committed, and that Lee, in his letter to President Young a few weeks after, had knowingly misrepresented the actual facts relative to the massacre, seeking to keep him still in the dark and in ignorance; that he denounced the aspersions hurled by Bishop against the testimony of Hamblin, McMurdy and Johnson, and defied him and the world to disprove or impeach their testimony. He had all the assistance any United States official could ask on earth in any case. Nothing had been kept back, and he was determined to clear the calendar of every indictment against any and every actual participator in the massacre, but he did not intend to prosecute any one who had been lured to the Meadows at the time, many of whom were only young boys, and knew nothing of the vile plan which Lee originated and carried out for the destruction of the emigrants.

Notes: (forthcoming)

The Book of Mormon.
________

A Wonderful Hoax and
How It Orginated.
________

"The Book of Mormon," or Mormon Bible, which Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, claimed to have received direct from an angel of the Lord, was, as he said, a record written upon golden plates nearly eight inches long by seven wide, a litle thinner than ordinary tin, and bound together by three rings running through the whole. As this record was engraved in a language known as the Reformed Egyptian, it was not translatable to the illiterate Joseph, and so two transparent stones, anciently called the Urim and Thummim, set in silver bows after the manner of spectacles, were handed down at the same time. These made the golden plates intelligible, and sitting behind a blanket hung across his room to keep the sacred records from profane eyes, Joseph Smith read off the "Book of Mormon," or Golden Bible, while a disciple, Oliver Cowdery, wrote it down. It was printed in 1830, in a volume of several hundred pages, and the signatures of Cowdery and two others appended as testimony of its genuineness. Later Smith and the three witnesses quarreled; the latter renounced Mormonism and avowed the falsity of their testimony. Another intimate of Smith's testified that the Mormon founder had acknowledged to him that the records and book were all a hoax. The Smiths were known among their neighbors in Palmyra and Wayne counties, N. Y., where Joseph grew to manhood, as persons who avoided honest pursuits, and engaged chiefly in digging hidden treasures, stealing sheep, and robbing their neighbors' hen-roosts, and were accounted false, immoral and frandulent characters, of which Joseph was said to be the worst. Nevertheless, Mormonism grew and flourished, though it was proven that the real author of the book was Solomon Spalding, a quondam preacher and erratic literary genius, who lived in Conneaut, Ohio, in 1809, and who wrote a romantic account of the peopling of America, tracing the American Indians to the lost tribes of Israel. He entitled his work, "Manuscript Found," and further increased its interest by a fictious account of its discovery in a cave in Ohio. He placed the manuscript in a printing office at Pittsburg with which Sidney Rigdon, an accomplice of Smith's, was connected. Rigdon copied it, often mentioning the fact himself; and when the "Book of Mormon" made its appearance, a comparison of the two revealed their almost exact likeness, with the exception of the pious expressions added to the latter.

The Mormon Bible traces the origin of the American Indiaans to Lehi, a Jew, who lived in Jerusalem about 600 B. C. In obedience to Diviue instruction he found in America a New Jerusalem, and, dying soon after his arrival, the dissensions among his sons resulted in the supremacy of the younger, Nephi; and the others for their rebelliousness were condemned to have darkk skins and "become an idle people, full of mischief and subtlety, seeking in the wilderness for beasts of prey." Nephi became the father of a race of primitive kings, who kept their records upon golden plates; and, finally, one of their descendants, Mormon by name, gave his name to the religion which Joseph Smith left his sheep-stealing and treasure-digging to preach to the world.


Notes: (forthcoming)

A Strange Experience.
________

A Survivor of the Mountain
Meadow Massacre.
_________

(Steelville (Mo.) Mirror.)

There resides near Oak Hill in this county a man by the name of Wm. Garrett, who has a remarkable history, as one of the few survivors of the terrible Mountain Meadow massacre, in September, 1857, where nearly two hundred men, women and children were slain by the Indians and Mormons, under the leadership of John D. Lee, who recently expiated his crime with his life. At that time Garrett was a boy, ten years of age, and with his sister Malinda, then six years old, was captured by the Indians after they had butchered his parents, and for twenty long years he remained a captive. During the Indian campaign in which Gen. Custer was killed, he was captured by United States soldiers, and being found to be a white man, an investigation finally resulted in establishing his identity. He was taken to the home of his childhood, and at once recognized the place. He has an uncle living at his old home in Henry county, in this State. The girl long since had become the wife of Red Cloud, the well known Sioux chief, and has by him three children. She prefers remaining with her Indian friends. When rescued Garrett had forgotten his mother tongue, and was as wild as an untamed savage. He remembered only his own and his sister's name, and the horrible scene of the massacre, which nothing could blot from his memory. He visited the Mirror office on Tuesday last, and gave us some interesting incidents in connection with his twenty years' life among the savages. In appearance he is a little above medium height, erect and muscular, with dark hair and beard, florid complexion and bright, keen blue eyes. He says the Mountain Meadow massacre was undoubtedly planned by Brigham Young. He remembers visiting Salt Lake with the Indians and seeing the Mormon leader pay the savages for the scalps of men, women and children, thus offering them an incentive to murder those not of the Mormon faith.

Garrett was adopted by the "medicine man" of the tride, and inducted into the mysteries of the treatment of disease by the Indian method, and became a great Indian doctor, a fact which he has turned to account since his restoration to civilized life. He has the reputation of possessing great skill in the treatment of the sick in the neighborhood where he has married a wife, purchased a farm and now resides. He has sufficiently mastered the English language to make himself understood, and is a man of more than ordinary intelligence. He is devoting a portion of his time to study, with the design of publishing a narrative of his life in the wilderness, and a work on Indian medical knowledge.


Note: William Garrett was probably not a survivor of the Mountain Meadows Massacre. See also the Janesville Gazette of March 15, 1879 and the Kingston Daily Freeman of April 1, 1879.

MORMONISM.

In another column we print an article from the pen of Alfred Creigh, L.L.D., of Washington, Pa., giving an account of the origin of Mormonism and the history of the Mormon Bible. The village of Amity, ten miles from Washington county, Penn., has the honor (if such it may be called) of having in the year 1815, the author of that work, living within its limits. It was written as a romance, but by the principle of hocus pocus, recognized as a new revelation from God, which has been believed by Mormons to be genuine. Its principle, its doctrine and its teachings are dramatically opposite to God's revealed will and to every honest American it is a matter of astonishment that the Congress of the United States should tolerate a system, which destroys the divinely ordained marriage covenant. Dr. Creigh has important facts in regard to Mormonism, which we shall also publish, from his history of Washington county.

---

MORMONISM.

By Alfred Creigh, L.L.D.
______

The recent decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, sustaining the constitutionality of the law of Congress, enacted in 1862, punishing bigamy in the Territories with fine and imprisonment, has attracted public attention anew to the most stupendous delusion of the nineteenth century. Thank God for the decision! It is a step in the right direction to crush out a system destructive of good morals, patriotism, the marriage relation and the principles of liberty.

The facts in regard to the origin of the Book of Mormon have been frequently published. They were detailed by the present writer in his "History of Washington County," published in 1870. Briefly they are as follows:

Rev. Solomon Spaulding, a graduate of Dartmouth College, became a resident of New Salem (sometimes called Conneaut), in Ashtabula County, O., in the early part of the present century. Here he was compelled by the state of his health to desist from active labors. To occupy his hours of leisure, he amused himself by writing a historical romance, containing a record of the wanderings and the varied fortunes of the race that reared the mounds so numerous throughout the West, and many of which were to be seen in the vicinity of his residence. This romance, purporting to be written by one of the lost race and to have been recovered from the earth, was entitled the "Manuscript Found."

Mr. Spaulding, as his work progressed, frequently read it to his neighbors, many of whom became interested in it and familiar with the events and names recorded. From New Salem Mr. Spaulding removed to Pittsburgh and deposited his manuscript in the printing office of Mr. Patterson for examination, with a view to publication. It is supposed that Sidney Rigdon, one of the originators of the Mormon delusion, had access this manuscript whilst in the office, became acquainted with its contents, and possibly made or obtained a copy of it. After some time the manuscript was returned to Mr. Spaulding, who soon after removed to Amity, Washington county, Pa., where he died in 1816; about 1830 the Book of Mormon appeared; a Mormon preacher visited New Salem and in a public meeting read copious extracts from the book, which were immediately recognized by the older inhabitants present, as the identical work of Mr. Spaulding; and his brother, being present, arose on the spot and with tears expressed his sorrow that the work of his sainted brother should be used for so shocking a purpose. The inhabitants of New Salem held a meeting and deputed one of their number, Dr. Hurlbut, to repair to Monson, Mass., where Mr. Spaulding's widow (who had married a Mr. Davidson) resided, to obtain the original manuscript for comparison with the Mormon Bible. This was in 1834. Mrs. Davidson afterwards wrote a full statement of the facts, of which the above is but an outline. This statement (given in full in the "Hist. of Wash. Co." pp. 91-93, was published in 1839, and elicited from Mr. Rigdon the same a published denial of all knowledge on his part of Mr. Spaulding's manuscript.

In connection with Mrs. Davidson's statement, a letter from Joseph Miller, Sr., dated March 26, 1869, is given in the "History" above referred to. Mr. Miller (still living at Amity, being 88 years of age) was well acquainted with Mr. Spaulding, waited on him in his last illness and assisted at his burial. Mr. Miller had heard Mr. Spaulding read portions of his novel entitled the "Manuscript Found," and afterwards on hearing the Book of Mormon read, recollected several passages as the same he had heard Mr. Spaulding read. One passage he remembers distinctly, where the Amalekites had marked themselves with red on the foreheads to distinguish them from the Nephites. The singularity had fixed it in his memory.

To the testimony of which the above is a brief sketch, the following facts may be added as not devoid of interest in connection with the history of this colossal fraud:

Mr. McKinstry of Monson, Mass., and the grandson of Rev. S. Spaulding, says that his grandmother came East from Ohio to live with her daughter at Monson many years ago, bringing the manuscript of his grandfather's romance with her. Before her death a plausible young man from Boston came to see and get the Spaulding writing. It was a time of considerable excitement concerning the Mormons, and he claimed to represent some Christian people who wanted to expose Mormonism. He therefore begged the loan of the manuscript for publication. Much against the wishes of Mrs. Dr. McKinstry, the daughter of Mrs. Spaulding (now Davidson) she consented to let her husband's unpublished romance be taken away. Nothing was ever heard of it again, and the family have always considered that the bland young gentleman was an agent of Brigham Young to destroy this convincing evidence that Joe Smith's Mormon Bible was of very earthly origin.

The widow of Mr. Spaulding and her daughter, Mrs. Dr. McKinstry, had compared the Mormon Bible with the romance of the "Manuscript Found," and stated that they were essentially the same -- that the similarity was so overwhelming as to leave no doubt on their minds but that Joe Smith or Sidney Rigdon had copied it in full and made out of it bodily, the divine revelation from God on plates of gold engraven by his own hand -- and that after being translated they were taken back to heaven.

The Springfield (Mass.) Republican gives its testimony in these words: The story of how the Rev. Mr. Spaulding came to prepare his romance, which Mr McKinstry remembers as a child to have seen, is very interesting. Mr. Spaulding was out of the active ministry in Ohio, and employed his leisure moments in weaving a romance. It was at the time when the Mound Builders were creating wild excitement and interest -- the implements of cookery and war being unearthed showing the existence of a forgotten race. This furnished the inspiration for the chronicles of the story writen. He entitled the production the "Manuscript Found," the idea being that the romance written by Mr. Spaulding was dug up out of one of the mounds in the region. It was a history of Ancient America, not all written at once, but as leisure and fancy occurred to him, Mr. Spaulding would add to it. His writing was no secret in the neighborhood. In that then frontier region, with few opportunities for literary enjoyment. Rev. Mr. Spaulding was prevailed upon to read to his neighbors. It was written in Bible phraseology and made as quaintly old as possible, so as to carry out the idea of its alleged mound origin.

I might add in this connection that Joe Smith was born on Vermont in 1805, and his friends claim that when he was fifteen years of age he was informed by an angel in a vision of the apostasy of the Primitive church. On September 22, 1827 he received from the hands of a messenger from the Lord the golden plates containing the ancient history of this continent, written by various prophets and concealed by Morni [sic] in the year 420. He was informed that he was the chosen instrument to restore God's church to its former purity and holiness. Accordingly he proceeded to translate the golden plates and the church was organized in 1830.

Three witnesses, viz: Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Martin Harris, testify that an angel of God came down from heaven and he brought and laid before our eyes that we beheld and saw the plates and the engraving thereon;" and I may add, to complete the imposture, that Joe Smith exhibited these plates to Christian Whitmer, Jacob Whitmer, Peter Whitmer, Jr., John Whitmer, Hiram Page, Joseph Smith, Sr., Hiram Smith and Samuel H. Smith, and that they "had the appearance of gold and the engraving was of curious workmanship and was handled by their own hands."

We can readily account for the reason [why] the Whitmers and the Smiths are the principal witnesses -- because the book itself says that "Morni, a son of Mormon, was authorized to show the plates unto those who shall assist to bring forth this work and unto three shall they be shown (viz: Cowdery, Whitmer and Harris) by the power of God wherefore they shall know of a surety that these things are true."

Such is the stupendous fraud and imposture which has been imposed not only on the American people, but upon foreign countries to which emissaries have gone, bringing back ignorant people by the ship load to become American citizens.


Note: Alfred Creigh's original article, in the Presbyterian Banner of Feb. 12, 1879, was quickly reprinted in the Feb. 14th issue of his home-town paper, the Washington Reporter.

Mormonism  in  Mississippi....
_________

THE  MORMONS.

Two or three Mormon missionaries, some say they are from Florida last, have been at work in Southern Mississippi more than a year, principally in Jackson county, preaching Mormonism and making proselytes. They have planted a Mormon church at "Three Rivers" and one at Bluff Creek, and one somewhere near Dog River. At Bluff Creek they baptized and received into the church thirteen in one day. Their converts are, as a matter of course, among the most illiterate and benighted in these pineland regions in the rear of the coast. The Rev. Smith claims to be a relative of the celebrated Jo Smith, the distinguished Mormon leader and prophet. The missionaries who are laboring in Mississippi do not call themselves Mormons, but "Latter Day Saints." They stir up a deep interest among their new converts in regard to the terrible events shortly to come to pass. We learn that they are mum on the question of polygamy, and that none of them bring with them a pair or more of wives. Our information comes from strictly reliable sources.


Note: The following item was published in the RLDS Saints' Herald for June 15, 1878: "On June 24 the Three Rivers Branch was organized in Jackson County, Mississippi, by Elders Heman C. Smith and L. F. West. Three weeks prior to this organization the voice of the elders of the church had never been heard in this place. Mr. J. W. Grierson, who had united with the church at Keokuk, Iowa, in 1842, resided there and was the cause of the elders making the effort, though they were the first of the Reorganization that he had ever met. At the time of the organization the branch was composed of nineteen members, J. W. Grierson, presiding elder; J. B. Porter, teacher; and L. H. Ikerd, clerk."

RELIGIOUS  MOUNTEBANKS.
_________

Mr. J. A. Froude, the famous English author, recently contributed an article to the Nineteenth century, which should be instructive to that numerous class of credulous persons who are ever eager to grasp at things apparently wonderful and nupernatural: a class not wholly, though mainly, composed of the ignorant and illiterate....

This compilation, if space would allow, might be extended to a number of facts regarding similar impostors with which history abounds, including our American Jo Smith, who is supposed by Mr. Froude to have taken his early lessons from a knowledge of the proceedings of Alexander [of Abonoteichus], and who has been the most successful of his class in this country. Another famous impostor of the last century, Alexander Cagliostro, is supposed to have formed himself after the model... In 1770 he visited the grand master of the knights of Malta, and passed himself off as the count of Cagliostro...

The history of Jo Smith and the rise of the Mormons is familiar to most old people and readers of the Century. [Jo] was unlike St. Patrick in his parentage, insomuch as he did not come of decent people, nut of a family in bad repute, and he was the worst of the lot, being proven dishonest, indecent and a drunkard. He pretended that the existence of plates on which was inscribed the Book of Mormon had been revealed to him, which he pretended to find in 1827, writen in an unknown tongue; which he interpreted to Cowdery, who wrote it in English.It was published with a certificate signed by these parties and two others, declaring that "an angel of God came down from heaven, and he brought and held before our eyes that we beheld and saw the plates and engravings thereon." Smith's neighbors generally looked upon the affair as a hoax. Peter Ingersoll, his intimate friend, declared on oath that Smith had told him that it was a hoax, that he had no such book, and none was in existence, but, said he: "I have got the damned fools fixed; I shall carry out the fun." The book embraces three hundred passages from the bible, and the other parts are a jumble, with the exception, that it pretends that 600 years before the christian era a Jew, the son of Lehi, and his family, sailed for America in search of the promised land, and became the progenitors of the American Indians. From investigations made soon after the book was published it was concluded that it was the work of Solomon Spalding, who was born in 1761, and was graduated at Dartmouth college, and died in 1816, who was the writer of a number of novels and works of fiction, for which he could never procure a publisher. It was shown from his widow, who was alive when Smith and his colleagues made the publication, that this work was among those written by Spalding. The book was copied by a printer named Rigdon, and the original returned to the widow, who sent it to Conneaut, where it was compared with the pretended book of Mormon and the identity established; yet nothing could stop the delusion, and the mormons are still a moral ulcer on the land....


Notes: (forthcoming)

Prof. Whitsitt's Lecture.
______

Prof. Whitsitt is engaged in delivering a course of lectures before the Baptist Pastors' Conference, under the title of "Studies in the Life of Alexander Campbell." The first lecture, on his Birth and Education, occurred about a month since. The second, entitled "the Haldanean Period, November 3, 1809, - November 29, 1811," will be held on to-morrow morning, at 11 o'clock, in the lecture-room of the Fourth and Walnut street Baptist church. The next will embrace the Sandemanian ("Ancient Order") Period, November 29, 1811, - November 18, 1827, and the fourth will embrace the Walter Scott ("Ancient Gospel") Period, November 18, 1827, - March 4, 1855. Perhaps an additional lecture will be devoted to the origin and tenets of the Mormons, they being the first and largest sect that sprang from Mr. Campbell's church. Persons interested in the history of this distinguished man will be welcome at these lectures.

The above announcement appeared in the Courier-Journal of Sunday, Feb. 12th, and the second lecture was delivered at the time and place therein specified. The outline of the entire course of these lectures is given in this announcement, and we have reason to hope that they will contribute a great deal to enable those who care to study the subject to gain an insight into the process by which Mr. Campbell's system of theology was brought into shape. The statement in regard to the origin of the Mormons is a discovery of Prof. Whitsitt's, and we promise ourselves much pleasure and instruction in going over with him the record of those events and observing to what extent the tenets of the Mormons were borrowed from the Campbellite movement.

We heard the second lecture, as elsewhere stated, before the Pastors' Cinference on Monday morning. Quite a number of visitors were in attendance, and it was well received. It would be an excellent idea if Prof. Whitsitt would consent to deliver these lectures at various points in Kentucky and other States. His tobe is respectful and entirely free from denunciation. Many of Mr. Campbell's admirers would be glad to know the conclusions of a dispasionate Baptist scholar, after a critical and patient study of his life and labors. They will learn much in regard to him which might be of interest and value, and nothing is said to give offense. Mr. Campbell having passed away from the conflicts and animosities of life, it is time for the critic to undertake the labor of forming an estimate of his achievements and his character, and we are glad that Prof. Whitsitt, who strives to be a calm and thorough and impartial inquirer, is devoting attention to the subject. These lectures, we learn, are based upon a course of lectures which he has just completed before one of his classes in the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

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HOW  THE  MORMONS  MANAGE  IT.

A few months ago a lady just from Utah was talking with a Paedobaptist minister in Shelbyville, Ky., and told him that the Mormon women generally gave their consent for their husbands to take other wives. The astonished preacher exclaimed, "How in the world do they ever get their wives to consent to it? I don't believe we could ever get the women here to consent to their husband's taking other wives." The lady promptly replied, "Their preachers do it by teaching them it is a religious duty and they will be lost if they don't consent. The fact is they do it just as you preachers here get the wives to have their children baptized by teaching them that the children will be lost if they do not. The forcible illustration seemed to be satisfactory, as the minister made a solemn pause and asked no further questions.


Notes: (forthcoming)

Prof. Whitsitt's Lecture on Mormonism.
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Prof. Whitsitt gave his opening lecture in the course of Studies in Mormon Theology before the Baptist Pastors' Conference on Monday morning, October 23d. He discussed in this lecture the proposition that Mormon Theology was founded and for the most part developed by apostate Campbellites. In substantiating this proposition he treated, in the first instance, the Book of Mormon, as the earliest work which had appeared in Mormon Theology. Here he confined himself to the internal argument and pointed out, in the first place, that the Book of Mormon was written primarily to support the Campbellite Confession of Faith that "Jesus is the Christ," in the form of its statement that was affected by Mr. Walter Scott, and that such a work intended to demonstrate more clearly than the Jewish Scriptures the truth of that confession, was suggested and almost rendered inevitable by the dictum of Mr. Campbell that "Evidence alone produces faith, or testimony is all that is necessary to faith." Rigdon desired to increase faith by "affording additional evidence," while Mr. Scott and Mr. Campbell were engaging their energies in "brightening the evidence already produced." This purpose of "convincing Jews and Gentiles that Jesus is the Christ," which is announced on the title page, Prof. Whitsitt declares to be the key to the Book of Mormon, and he thinks that this manifest and expressed aim of the book shows that it had a Campbellite origin.

In the next place Prof. Whitsitt showed that the Book of Mormon teaches both the old gospel which Campbellites proclaimed prior to Nov. 18, 1827, and the new. or so-called "Ancient Gospel, "which Walter Scott introduced at New Lisbon, Ohio on that date. He argues that the reason why it contains the old gospel was that the manuscript of the Book of Mormon was placed in the hands of Joseph Smith on the 23d of September, 1827, two months lacking four days prior to the earliest publication of the "Ancient Gospel." The Campbellite "Ancient Gospel," however; was added to the Book of Mormon by way of appended chapters to Second and Third Nephi, and also in a few other passages, before the work was given to the printer in 1829. Hayden, in his History of the Disciples [says] that Rigdon became "transported with this discovery," on a visit to Scott at Warren in March, 1828, and it was perhaps after that date that he made the "Ancient Gospel" additions to the Book of Mormon.

The fact that immersion is prescribed as the exclusive mode of baptism betrays a Campbellite origin of the Book of Mormon; also the fact that infant baptism is forbidden. Smith, who was a Methodist in sympathy, could not, have introduced these features. They must have been derived from Rigdon.

The Book of Mormon, while it teaches baptismal remission, degrades the [Lord's] Supper to the level of a mere memorial ordinance. Besides the Campbellites and the immersed Sandemanians (from whom they borrowed it) there is no other party in Christendom during the present, or in any former age, which displays this crude anomaly. All others who attribute a sacramental efficacy to baptism also attribute it to the Supper; or, on the other hand, those who deny a sacramental efficacy to the Supper, also deny it to baptism. The existence of this crudity in the Book of Mormon is proof that it came from the Campbellites. It could have come from no other source, because it is found in no other place.

But the Book of Mormon was not written merely to sustain Campbellite views, but also with the purpose of effecting a modification of Campbellism, by means of a more rigid application of the Campbellite principle, "Where the Scriptures speak we speak, and where they are silent we are silent." This principle was the one first announced by Thomas Campbell, and has always been the basis of the Campbellite plea for the "Ancient Order of Things." Sidney Rigdon regarded the Campbellites as unfaithful to this principal, as is manifest from the changes introduced into the church at Pittsburgh, over which himself and Scott were installed as joint elders. This church introduced the custom of mutual exhortation and feet-washing and the sacred kiss, on the ground of their being a portion of the "Ancient Order of Things." Mr. Campbell resisted these features of the "Ancient Order of Things," and this opposition seems to have been the reason why Rigdon withdrew from Pittsburg. Retiring to Ohio, Mr. Rigdon, according to Hayden and Richardson, taught among the Campbellites there that community of goods was an item of the "Ancient Order" that should be restored, and Hayden says there was a communistic family of seventeen persons, under Isaac Morley, in Rigdon's church at Kirtland. Richardson informs us that he also insisted that along with the "Ancient Gospel" which Walter Scott had just restored, there should also be a restoration of supernatural gifts and miracles." All this in obedience to the Campbellite principle, "Where the Scriptures speak we speak." The community of goods is found in the Book of Mormon and is elsewhere developed in Mormonism in a form that seems to have borrowed from the Campbellite and Sandemanian "fellowship." The various gifts, as revelations, inspiration, miracles of all sorts, the gift of tongues, interpretation of tongues and others are likewise inculcated in the Book of Mormon as "the article of a standing and falling church." All this would be appropriate for Sidney Rigdon, a Campbellite; it would not be appropriate for Joseph Smith, the Methodist. On these grounds Prof. Whitsitt attributes the theological portion of the Book of Mormon to Mr. Rigdon.

The above indications of Rigdon's authorship are confirmed by certain references to Mr. Rigdon found in the body of the Book of Mormon. In one of these he is foretold in prophecy as the "spokesman" of Smith; in another place as one of the "two sons" who should comfort the church; in another place Smith's work "in the East" is mentioned by way of antithesis to Rigdon's work "in the West."

Likewise in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, Smith speaks of Rigdon as his John the Baptist, and in his "Autobiography" he tells us that Cowdery and himself were inducted into the Aaronic priesthood on the 15th of May, 1829, by John the Baptist. Also in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, as early as July, 1830. months before there had been any ostensible [------ ----- ---- --- ---ed] the Mormon Conference for Oct. 6, 1830, "in the West" (Kirtland). Moreover, in August, 1830, Parley P Pratt, a Campbellite preacher, who Hayden says was "under Rigdon's influence," went to New York and was converted to Mormonism in a sudden and suspicious manner. Finally, Darwin Atwater, one of the patriarchs of the Campbellite church at Mantua, Ohio, affirms that years before its appearance Rigdon advised him that such a book was to be published. All these points show an intimate relation between Rigdon and Smith long prior to November, 1830, when Rigdon was ostensibly converted and baptized by the Mormons, and they help to establish the position that Rigdon wrote the Book of Mormon, or at least the theological portions of it.

Prof. Whitsitt mentioned also some objections to his conclusion that he had encountered in the Book of Mormon. Just like the Campbellites, it designates the Mormon church as the "church of Christ," but unlike them it does not speak of other churches as "mere sects." Prof. Whitsitt inclines to think that this expression stood in the original copy that was supplied to Smith, but that he altered it to "churches" and "other churches," as we find in this book. At that period it is thought that Smith was not yet sufficiently educated in arrogance to follow copy in what to his mind must have appeared an intolerable degree of coarseness. In the Doctrine and Covenants S. also alludes to other denominations as "churches," although in subsequent years he contrived to acquire a fine education in Campbellite cant, and was able to employ such phrases as "sects," "popular sects," "cast-iron creeds," and "chain cable opinions," as correctly and effectively as most Campbellites. But in 1830 this achievement was beyond his power.

The other objection is found in the circumstances that neither feet-washing nor the sacred kiss are found in the Book of Mormon. Why Rigdon, who is believed to have insisted on these in Pittsburg, should have omitted to enjoin them in the Book of Mormon, is something hard to understand. Perhaps he felt that he was engaged now in a so much more sweeping effort to restore the "ancient order of things," that he could afford to leave these for another occasion. Feet-washing was restored by the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, but the kiss seems to have been neglected entirely.

Prof. Whitsitt claims that he has added to the sum of information on these subjects the argument from internal considerations, which indicates tolerably clearly that Rigdon is the author of the theological portion of the Book of Mormon, and what is of more consequence, that the contents of this portion are such as none but a Campbellite could have written, since they are designed to sustain the Campbellite system as it stands, and to effect certain modifications of it in obedience to the fundamental Campbellite principle, "Where the Scriptures speak we speak." Mr. Campbell did not have the courage of his convictions. Mr. Rigdon did have the courage of his convictions, and he would not stop where Campbell stopped, but pressed that principle to what he conceived to be its logical and inevitable results. One exception must be mentioned here: even Rigdon could not at this period abide polygamy. He accordingly inserted in the Book of Mormon a provision against that point in the Scriptures of the Old Testament. But the dictum, "Where the Scriptures speak we speak," was too strong, and polygamy was finally introduced. When animal sacrifices, which are promised with the new temple at Salt Lake, and circumcision, and a few other deficiencies are remedied, the Mormons will be able to boast that they are the only people in existence who exemplify the fundamental principle which Thomas Campbell announced in the year 1809.

We trust our Campbellite friends will not receive these results with denunciation and abuse. They will hardly be able to deal with them in that way, for these results represent an amount of sober, scientific investigation, and are therefore worthy of respectful treatment. Let the Campbellites in their turn study the Book of Mormon and see whether the conclusions of their fellow-students in Louisville can be altered or shown to be prosecuted in any polemical interest, but solely with the design of making a contribution to historical science. If they appear to bear hard upon the Campbellites, we are confident that no such purpose is intended. Scientific research has its rights, and these should be respected as long as it does not infringe upon the just rights of other people. Mormonism is also an extensive and interesting phenomenon of American society and history, and science owes to our people the duty of explaining, if it can, the genesis of this phenomenon, and of showing just how and why it became what it is. If it sprang from Campbellism, we want to know the fact; also what there is in Campbellite principles that has produced a development of that sort. The Campbellites themselves ought to know this, and all American Christians ought to know it, in order that we may take warning against the evil tendencies which eventuated in such a consummation. Prof. Whitsitt believes that Mormonism is the consequence of an abuse of the Christian Scriptures; that it is the apotheosis of literalism; the wildest freak of literalism in modern times. If this literalism has flowed from the dictum of Thomas Campbell, it is not an injury but a service to all parties that this fact should be made known, and we think that, in the course of time, the practical value as well as the thoroughness and honesty of these Studies in Mormon Theology will be recognized by Campbellites as well as by other people.


Notes: (forthcoming)

Elder Yancey's Letter.
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Those readers who chance to have before them our report of Prof. Whitsitt's Lecture on Mormon Theology in our issue for October 26th will be at no loss to comprehend our meaning under letter f, in the notes on Elder Yancey's communication as found on page 2 of the present issue. For the benefit of those who did not see that report, we will say that the poor Sandemanian crudity mentioned under letter f, on page 2, is the custom of the Campbellites to make a broad distinction between the efficacy of the two ordinances, baptism and the Lord's Supper; making baptism "a remitting institution" and the Supper a merely memorial ordinance. The Campbellites also borrowed from the Sandemanians the practice of celebrating this memorial ordinance every Sunday, a practice which the Mormons in turn borrowed from the Campbellites, and which will be set down in its appropriate place as one of the numerous proofs that Mormon Theology was founded and developed by Campbellites.

Prof. Whitsitt's Lecture on Mormonism.
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To the Editor of the Recorder:

I notice in the RECORDER of October 26th your report of Prof. Whitsitt's lecture on the origin of Mormonism. You say, "he discussed in this lecture the proposition that Mormon theology was founded, and for the most part developed by apostate Campbellites." (The syntax should be changed to express your meaning, thus: "Was founded and developed for the most part, by apostate Campbellites.") Further on you say: "We trust our Campbellite friends will not receive these results with denunciation and abuse." On which I remark:

1. To accommodate you and some of your readers, we will endure the name Campbellite, though, of course, you know we disown the name as dishonoring, like all other human names, to our Lord and Master. (a)

2. The term "Campbellite," in the two quotations above made from your report, designates two classes -- the genuine Campbellite and the apostate Campbellite, or genuine Mormon. Now, if Mormonism were founded and developed for the most part by apostate Campbellites, then why should the Professor and you, Mr. Editor, hold us responsible for Mormonism? Some Baptists regard us as apostate Baptists. Are you, therefore, responsible for our teaching? Is Christianity responsible for the doctrine of Julian, one of the first apostates? Indeed the very word "apostate" (one who revolts, stands aside from another), shows that there is no doctrinal unity and sympathy between the apostate and those from whom he revolts. And this antagonism gas ever existed between Mormonism and us as a people. Suppose, then, that the Professor succeeds in establishing his proposition, that Sidney Rigdon, an apostate Campbellite, wrote the Book of Mormon, are you, Bro. Caperton, going to hold us responsible for the existence of Mormonism? (b)

If I understand the Professor, from your report, he seeks to hold us responsible for Mormonism by showing that Mormon theology is the same as "Campbellite" theology; or, in other words, by attempting to show that our teaching, carried out to its logical consequences, has produced Mormonism. Am I right? Let us see how he does this.

1. "Evidence alone produces faith or testimony in all that is necessary to faith." This, it is said, is Mormon and Campbellite theology. We believe with all our hearts that "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God," (Rom. 10:17.) Faith is the result of testimony; and faith that is necessary to save the soul, is produced by the "word of God," or by the testimony which it furnishes. And there are hundreds of Baptists who believe this. Do you? On the other hand, and please mark this fact, Mormonism was founded and developed by rejecting this fundamental truth. The Word of God was not sufficient; hence another revelation was necessary -- hence the Book of Mormon -- hence the subsequent revelations made since the "Book of Mormon" was written. You, Mr. Editor, in common with many Baptists, hold that faith is produced by something else than the word of God. This doctrine gave birth to Mormonism. Therefore Baptist theology and Mormon theology are one! They want "additional evidence." (c)

2. But the Book of Mormon was written to "support the Campbellite Confession of Faith, that 'Jesus is the Christ.'" The proof of this indictment is found in the fact that the Book of Mormon was written, as the title page declares, for the purpose of "convincing Jews and Gentiles that Jesus is the Christ." Please notice:

(1) Why call this the "Campbellite Confession of Faith?" Is it not yours, Bro. Caperton? If not, why not? If your Confession of Faith embraces more, how much more?

(2) But why should Mormonism be traced to Campbellism, because the Book of Mormon was written to prove that Jesus is the Christ? Why not at once trace it to Christianity? for this is why John wrote: "But these are written that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, and that believing, ye might have life through his name." John 20:31. (d)

(3) At this point I would have you and the Professor to notice again how Mormonism and "Campbellism" differ the breadth of the heavens. We claim that "these things," or what John has written, or, as Paul puts it, "the word of God," is entirely sufficient to convince Jews and Gentiles that Jesus is the Christ. The Mormons deny this, and demand, like many of our Baptist friends, "additional evidence!" Now please put the shoe on the right foot. We plead guilty; we glory in our "Confession of Faith" -- that "Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God." What the sun is to the solar system, this truth is to the Christian system.

3. "The fact that immersion is prescribed as the exclusive mode of baptism betrays a Campbellite origin of the Book of Mormon." Why not a Baptist or even apostolic origin, since the Baptists and the apostles practiced exclusive immersion? (e)

4. The Book of Mormon and the "Campbellites" "degrade the supper to the level of a mere memorial ordinance" Jesus says, "Do this in memory of me." This is what we try to do lovingly every week, just as Mr. Spurgeon does, and our experience is what he says his is -- instead of degrading the supper to a "mere memorial ordinance," it becomes a source of joy and spiritual strength. We have progressed far enough in grace to call no ordinance of the loving Savior a mere ordinance. (f)

5. "But the Book of Mormon was not written merely to sustain Campbellite views, but also with the purpose of effecting a modification of Campbellism, by means of a more rigid application of the Campbellite principle, 'Where the Scriptures speak we speak, and where they are silent, we are silent'" That is, Mormonism is this "principle" gone to seed, according to the Professor.

(1) If this principle had been observed, Mormonism could never have existed. The Book of Mormon, and the additional revelations of Mormonism, are additions to the Word of God. Hence they speak where the Scriptures are silent? Don't you see? But reject this principle, as Prof. Whitsitt does, and there is an opening for Mormonism and new revelations. Of this I have not a single doubt. (g)

(2) Prof. Whitsitt, as reported by you, virtually asserts that polygamy is the outgrowth of the principle, "Where the Scriptures speak we speak." You report: "But the dictum, 'Where the Scriptures speak we speak,' was too strong and polygamy was introduced." Permit me to say that this is a miserable perversion of the principle. The principle does not call for the reproduction of every thing found in Scripture; nor for everything practiced by the people of God in every age; nor even for everything that God commands in the Scriptures; but for what God requires of us either by precept, or by the example of the apostles, or by necessary inference. Can you object to this? Does Prof. Whitsitt believe that God, in any age of the world, or in any way, authorized polygamy? If so, he is much nearer Mormonism than I supposed. If not, why does he adduce polygamy as a result of their principle, since polygamy is not the voice of Scripture?

But I have gone beyond my limits. For Prof. Whitsitt I have a high personal regard. He claims to be a scientific investigator, I sincerely believe he has signally failed in trying to fasten on us, as a people, the horrible system of Mormonism. And now I invite him to a friendly discussion of this point, oral or written. I would prefer the oral; a few speeches would suffice. If written, I propose the columns of the RECORDER and those of the Old Path Guide as the medium. Why not have it both oral and written? (h)

In the love of the truth,
      G. WORTH YANCEY,
           Editor, Old Path Guide.

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(a) The Mormon stickle for the appellation "Christian." Book of Alma, ch. 46, 13-16. The Campbellites likewise stickle for it. In speaking of two denominations, both of which lay claim to the appellation, we could not employ it without hazard of confusion. We therefore preferred, for the sake of perspicuousness, to employ the terms Campbellite and Mormon. The clinging of the Campbellites to the appellation "Christian" is a freak of the same literalism which developed into Mormonism

(b) Sidney Rigdon was a Campbellite, in full standing, at the time he produced the Book of Mormon, and the Book of Mormon is in nearly all respects a Campbellite book.

(c) Mr. Campbell, in April, 1824, wrote: "Faith is capable of being greatly increased, in many instances; but only in one way, and that is, either by affording additional evidence, or by brightening the evidences already produced." Mr. Rigdon, observing that the discourses of himself, Mr. Scott, Mr. Campbell, and others, failed to create faith or to increase faith in a multitude of their hearers, would very naturally embrace this hint of Mr. Campbell about "affording additional evidence," in order to reach those whom Mr. Campbell and others could not reach by "brightening the evidences already produced." Perhaps we may add, that this was an inevitable result of Mr. Campbell's teaching, especially in view of the circumstances that his "testimony" so often failed to "convince Jews and Gentiles that Jesus is the Christ," Baptists never asked for "additional evidence," but for the influence of the Spirit in connection with the "evidence already produced."

(d) We have searched in a large number of our Confessions of Faith, and nowhere do we find this article stated in that form. We have never known a Baptist who stated it in that form. That form of statement is the exclusive property of the Sandemanians and Campbellites and Mormons. Baptist Confessions of Faith are also invariably more extended and definite and adequate than that.

(e) The fact which may be easily demonstrated, that the Mormons borrowed every other point and item of Campbellite faith and practice, would seem to render it probable that they obtained immersion from them, especially as that immersion is invariably administered by Mormons "for the remission of sins."

(f) Our excellent friend has hardly succeeded in rendering this poor Sandemanian crudity anything else than the crudity it is. But the point at issue is that this crudity was borrowed by the Mormons from the Campbellites, and that point he has not touched.

(g) The additional revelations of Mormonism are precisely in harmony with the Campbellite principle, "Where the Scriptures speak we speak, and where they are silent we are silent." Were there not inspired men in the "ancient order of things?" The Mormons declared that in "restoring this ancient order of things," they must necessarily restore inspiration. Were not sacred writings produced in the apostolic times? "These times will not be restored," say the Mormons, "unless we also produce sacred writings, exhibit the gift of tongues, of interpretation, of healing, and miracles of every sort. They who tell us that inspiration and other gifts have ceased are infidels. Wherever these are wanting there is no true church, for these certainly existed in the early ages." This is a Mormon commonplace. We cite Book of Mormon ch. 9, 7-9 (edition 1881): "And again I speak unto you who deny the revelations of God, and say that they are done away; that there are no revelations nor prophecies, nor gifts, nor healing, nor speaking with tongues and the interpretation of tongues. Behold I say unto you, he that denieth these things knoweth not the gospel of Christ; yea, he has not read the Scriptures; if so, he does not understand them." In other words, "Where the Scriptures speak we speak." With the Mormons, who all strictly observe this Campbellite principle, it is "the article of a standing or falling church" always to possess inspired men and workers of miracles, the gift of tongues and other gifts, since these were a part of the "Ancient Order of Things."

(h) The above letter of our esteemed correspondent exhibits no traces of any acquaintance with the history and literature of this subject. We therefore respectfully suggest that he can not reasonably expect that further attention should be devoted to his objections and representations.


Notes: (forthcoming)

Campbellism and Mormonism.
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Elder J. W. McGarvey, of Lexington, appears in the Old Path Guide with a review of Prof. Whitsitt's lecture on Mormonism; but with inferior skill and ability, we think, to that displayed by Elder Yancey in his recent letter to the RECORDER. Moreover, he is in a testy temper, which is usually, though not invariably, the mark of a sense of weakness. Elder McGarvey, it is possible, may not feel, in this instance, that his cause is feeble, in which case his testy temper is liable to do him injustice by leading his readers to suspect that he has no confidence in the strength of it. We regret to observe that he even forgets himself so far as to denounce the "meanness of our motive;" but we believe that, on second thoughts, he will recollect that it is happily not customary among gentlemen of his distinguished respectability to impugn the motives of other people without sufficient cause and information.

Less wary than Elder Yancey, our Lexington critic plumply admits that Sidney Rigdon carried with him to the Mormons the "good confession," and "the doctrine of baptism for remission of sins." Walter Scott had preceded him in this plump admission, and it is even intimated by Elder McGarvey that the same admission may be found in the Millennial Harbinger and in the "Memoirs of A. Campbell." As it lies "on the very surface of current literature," we respectfully request that Elder McGarvey will point out the passage in the "Harbinger and in the Memoirs of A. Campbell" where this fact is admitted. We are glad of the unstinted and ready admission by him of this incontestable fact. It signifies much, because the Mormons regard the five points of the "Ancient Gospel" in the light of "Fundamentals," as we believe the Campbellites also regard them. By the plump confession of Elder McGarvey, therefore the two denominations are builded on the same foundation. This is making progress. We thank Elder McGarvey for his valuable assistance in establishing the positions we have assumed.

We think it more likely that Mr. Rigdon obtained the rite of immersion and his opposition to infant baptism from the Campbellites rather than from the Baptists, for the reason that he borrowed, in addition to these, nearly every other tenet and practice of Campbellism, and because the rite of immersion is invariably administered by Mormons "for the remission of sins," which is a Campbellite, and not a Baptist trait. There is no valid ground for the hypothesis that Mormonism went beyond the limits of Campbellism to obtain any important feature of doctrine and practice.

Our esteemed critic objects that those who founded and developed Mormon Theology have been called apostate Campbellites, and hence argues that the Campbellite body are not responsible for their system. We have pointed out that Mr. Rigdon was in full standing as a Campbellite when he produced the Book of Mormon, and have affirmed that this is, in nearly all respects, a Campbellite book. We also cite the fact that Mormonism has appropriated nearly every point and item of Campbellite faith and practice. We think it can be demonstrated, further, that Mr. Rigdon broke with Mr. Campbell because he conceived that Mr. Campbell had apostatized from the principle, "Where the Scriptures speak we speak, and where they are silent we are silent." Rigdon regarded Mr. Campbell's movement as an instance of arrested development, and he was not in favor of arrested development, He wanted complete development; the entire, and not the partial, "Restoration of the Ancient Order of Things." In brief, Mr. Rigdon was determined to be logical and consistent, according to his best judgment, in his adherence to the doctrines of Thomas Campbell, and those so-called apostate Campbellites still profess to be more consistent and logical than the smaller and less well-known portion of the body which remained with Alexander Campbell in a state of arrested development. For this reason, we must hold that these apostate Campbellites are not apostates in the ordinary sense. They seceded because of their devotion to a leading Campbellite principle, because of their determined purpose to restore the "Ancient Order of Things," and of their refusal to stop, like Mr. Campbell, mid-way of the "Ancient Order of Things;" and ever since, they have steadily exemplified the dictum of Thomas Campbell, according to their best light and leading. For these reasons, we must continue to hold that Mormonism is not only by historical succession the product of Campbellism, but that it is logically and legitimately a development of Campbellite principles -- the completest development of those principles that is now in existence.

Elder McGarvey has supplied us a very desirable illustration about the errors of Romanism, for which we return our thanks. These errors are founded upon certain evil tendencies of Christian people, and they ought to be potent in teaching us to avoid those evil tendencies. Likewise the errors of Mormonism are founded upon certain evil literalistic tendencies of the Campbellites, and they ought in turn to be potent in teaching us to avoid these evil tendencies. We shall lose much if we fail to observe and be instructed by both of these sad examples. Both of them are full of warning for all thoughtful men, and we believe there are many excellent and pious and thoughtful Campbellites who will accept the lesson which Mormonism teaches, and will endeavor, as occasion may serve, to put a check upon the literalism which is doing them so much injury. We have sometimes heard of prosperous and useful churches among them that were rent into factions by the demon of literalism.

Our excellent critic thinks the Mormons perverted the dictum of Thomas Campbell when they introduced polygamy. This is the Mormon's affair, not ours. The freaks of literalism are often wild and unaccountable, as for instance, when the Campbellites insist upon the appellation "Christian," and upon the weekly observances of the Supper, and yet neglect the sacred kiss, the anointing of the sick with oil, and the sending forth of missionaries to the ends of the earth without purse or scrip (as the Mormons do). to work their way or to beg their bread. We do not defend any freak of literalism, whether among the Mormons or the Campbellites. We have merely traced out and recorded the polygamic freak.

We entertain a high degree of respect for Elder McGarvey, and for the people with whom he is identified. We are satisfied that they misunderstand Prof. Whitsitt when they jump to the conclusion that he is engaged in a crusade against them. He simply desires to trace out and to record the facts of history in regard to the origin and progress of Mormon theology. Elder McGarvey, with great facility at assigning motives, charges him with a "partisan purpose." If Elder McGarvey reaches all his conclusions with as little study and information as he has reached that one, he is a very unreliable investigator. Prof. Whitsitt claims that his purpose is primarily and chiefly to make an historical investigation. Mormonism is a lawful branch of study. There is no good reason why Elder McGarvey, or any other person, should impugn his motives and denounce him if he is minded to pursue this study, and to express the conclusions to which he may be brought. The same field is open to Campbellite scholars, and they are free to enter it, and to oppose the conclusions of Prof. Whitsitt upon historical grounds. We have no question that many of them will adopt this more rational course, and that there are very few fair minds among them who will feel a higher degree of respect for our excellent critic on account of his testy temper and his unadvised denunciation of the motives of his opponents.

But all things considered -- and particularly the absence of that high degree of competency, of candor, and of courtesy, which Elder McGarvey has happily taught the public it may fairly expect of him -- we conclude that this article in the Old Path Guide may be most reasonably regarded in the light of a momentary, passionate ebullation on the part of a gentleman of undoubted weight and worth of character. As such it will commend itself to the compassion and the charity of those who may read it. Unlucky accidents of this sort will now and then befall the noblest minds. We think his admirers -- among whom we are very willing to be reckoned -- may safely promise themselves that such a painful misadventure will not overtake him a second time.


Note: The Disciples' Old Path Guide was not their only publication in which a response to Dr. Whitsitt's 1882 lectures may be found. See also the Cincinnati Christian Standard of Dec. 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30 for a series of articles and editorials rebutting Whitsitt's remarks.

Prof. Whitsitt's Second Lecture on Mormon Theology.
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The Pastors' Conference heard the second lecture of Prof. Whitsitt on Monday morning, Dec. 11. but our columns were too much occupied last week to permit us to insert a report of it. This lecture, as the former, was devoted to the establishment of the proposition that Mormon theology was founded by a Campbellite preacher, on Campbellite principles, and that it was developed under the constant influence of Campbellism. In the former lecture the Professor examined the Book of Mormon in its bearing upon this conclusion, and he now sets himself to examine the other sacred books of Mormonism. The Book of "Doctrine and Covenants" was the first that was taken up. Prof. Whitsitt mentioned the need of a bibliography of this work and made a small contribution to it. The edition mainly cited by him was that "divided into chapters and verses, with references, by Orson Pratt, Salt Lake City, 1880." In a few cases he cited the Fourth European Edition, Liverpool, 1854.

The Book of "Doctrine and Covenants" is composed of two parts. The first portion comprises a series of "Lectures on Faith," seven in number, and the second portion a series of pretended revelations purporting to have been delivered by Joseph Smith, and bearing the title of "Covenants and Commandments."

This portion -- the "Covenants and Commandments" -- was first discussed. The pretended revelations found in it were delivered at various dates between July, 1828, and July, 1843, the date at which the revelation regarding polygamy was granted to the prophet, and his portion of the work was concluded.

Prof. Whitsitt admitted that Smith, the reputed author of these revelations, was a Methodist in sympathy, but claimed, notwithstanding, that these revelations display the influence and supervision of his Campbellite associates, with increasing clearness and persuasiveness, so that after December 1830, Methodism yields its place before Campbellism gradually and surely, until at length scarcely a trace of it was left to tell the story of Mr. Smith's early associations and predilections. The reason why this change occurred in the month of December, 1830, is found in the circumstance that Mr. Smith at that time began to enjoy the benefits of daily association with Rigdon, and that in February 1831, Mr. Smith left New York and settled in the midst of the Campbellite church at Kirtland, Ohio, over which Rigdon presided. There his education in Campbellism theology seems to have been diligently pressed and provided. After December 1830, therefore, the instances are not numerous where the prophet lapses into Methodism. Before that period, however, such lapses are comparatively frequent. This exception proves the rule, and confirms the view of Prof. Whitsitt that Campbellism was the predominant influence, by the fact of its overcoming the Methodist inclinations of Smith. To give an illustration of what is here intended, Prof. Whitsitt mentioned the point that prior to the advent of Rigdon on the scene, the revelations of Smith in nearly all cases contained the Methodist gospel, with only two or three allusions to the "Ancient Gospel," while subsequent to that event the "Ancient Gospel" comes to the van and Mr. Smith makes so much progress in the knowledge of it that he is before long able to state the points of it with almost as much clearness and precision as Mr. Campbell or Mr. Scott.

But why was it, since the "Ancient Gospel" was already found in the Book of Mormon which had been published by him in the spring of 1830, that Mr. Smith should not have been familiar with it earlier than December, 1830? His ignorance, or perhaps indifference, to the beauties of the "Ancient Gospel," was occasioned by the fact that the project of inserting it in the Book of Mormon was the undertaking and the labor of Rigdon. He may have explained to Mr. Smith the merits of the new invention, and perhaps he sought to impress them upon the mind of his pupil, but Smith appears at the outset to have had little liking for the "Ancient Gospel." and hence his revelations, with only two or three exceptions, ignore the "Ancient Gospel" until the period when he fell into daily associations with the Campbellites. The circumstance that Smith displayed a leaning toward Methodist soteriology in his earlier revelations supports, in a striking way, the correctness of the conclusion formed by Prof. Whitsitt that Mormon theology was founded and developed under the influence of Campbellism. There is no other reasonable method to explain how Smith got cured of his Methodist tendencies and became established, strengthened, and settled in the five points of the "Ancient Gospel."

In addition to the above interesting facts in regard to the "Ancient Gospel," Prof. Whitsitt brought forward a number of other points in the revelations of Mr. Smith which can hardly be explained except upon the hypothesis of pervading and controlling Campbellite influence. In Campbellite literature and parlance, for example, the phrase "Church of Christ," has always been current as a designation, -- though not an official designation -- of an individual society of Campbellites, or of the entire denomination. In the month of October, 1882, a motion was made in the General Christian Missionary Convention to raise this phrase at length to the honor of an official name for the Campbellite body. The Mormons, however, had appropriated from the Campbellites that phrase more than fifty years before as their official name, adding to it, however, in 1834, the phrase of "Latter-day Saints," so that their complete title is now "the Church of Christ of Latter-day Saints."

Prof. Whitsitt mentioned another proof of Campbellite influence and supervision, that Smith in these revelations should have insisted upon persons assuming the name of Christ, or Christians. The "Covenants and Commandments" seem to go the length of exalting this point to the dignity of a condition of salvation. Prof. Whitsitt thought it was not customary for Campbellism to be quite so strenuous as that, but instances had been known where they took that position, and Mr. Rigdon was possibly a person of that sort, since his literalistic tendency was clear and pronounced.

Mention was also made of the fact that as soon as Rigdon joined him in December, 1830, Smith obtained a revelation which commanded them to make a new translation of the Bible, a work which was accomplished by them only after two or three years of hard labor. Rigdon was a very ape for imitating Mr. Campbell, and since Mr. Campbell was engaged at that time in the work of translating, he borrowed the idea that it would be well also to have a Bible in the interests of Mormonism. It has never been published in full.

The above suggestion with regard to the origin of the notion to translate the Bible in the interests of Mormonism, is confirmed by those remnants of the work of Rigdon and Smith which have come before the public. These imitate the translation of Mr. Campbell in some notable eccentricities. For example, they substitute "you" and "your" as Mr. Campbell does, in the place of "thee" and "thou," even in the most solemn forms of address. That peculiarity has been expunged by Orson Pratt from his edition of the "Doctrine and Covenants," but it may be found in the edition of 1854. Likewise, in direct imitation of the usage of Mr. Campbell in his translation of the New Testament, these revelations of Mr. Smith commonly employ the expression "John's Testimony," or the "Testimony of John," in the place of John's Gospel.

The provision made in these revelations for communion every Lord's day is another undeniable proof of Campbellite supervision.

The extravagant millenarianism of these revelations may likewise be attributed to Campbellite influence. Hayden informs us that the Campbellites of that period, and especially Rigdon and Scott, were wild and weak on this point.

Prof. Whitsitt is inclined to attribute the desertion of moderately orthodox views regarding eschatology in favor of the tenet of restorationism in these revelations to the fact that Mr. Campbell had encouraged and promoted the reception of Aylette Raines into the Campbellite body without requiring of him any recantation of his restorationist tenets. That act, he believes, was interpreted by Rigdon to mean that Mr. Campbell was an advocate of restorationism. On the point in question, Rigdon was in error; but he seems to have been influenced to take this course by the conduct of Campbell. He must have believed that Mr. Campbell had become favorable to restorationism. It was clearly his habit to imitate Mr. Campbell in every point he could. Scarcely ever was found an ape, we repeat, more watchful, and more strict to follow, copy, even where he did not fully understand the copy.

But the indications of Campbellite influences in the development of Mormon theology, as the same is exhibited in "Covenants and Commandments," are too numerous for all of them to be mentioned in this place. Many of them are indeed minute, but their minuteness and their number both combine to increase their weight and impressiveness.

A few words may now be devoted to the "Lectures on Faith," which, as we have seen, constitute the first portion of the Book of "Doctrine and Covenants." Authorities attribute those Lectures to Mr. Rigdon. No writer has been met with who assigned them to any other source. Internal criticism is also compelled to attribute them to a Campbellite source. The "Lectures on Faith" exhibit, for example, the same unripe opinion regarding the low value of natural religion as was set forth by Mr. Campbell in his disputes with the skeptics: they discard the operations of the Holy Spirit in connection with faith, and attribute that grace to "human testimony, and human testimony only;" and they also teach a duality in the Trinity, thus denying the personality of the Holy Spirit -- a circumstance which can not easily be understood without reference to Mr. Campbell's Dialogue Between Austin and Timothy.

In the next place, Prof. Whitsitt brought forward the Pearl of Great Price as the third of the Mormon sacred books, but we have not space for more than a single citation from the "Articles of Faith" contained in it, to which is appended the signature of Joseph Smith. This reads as follows: "We believe that through the atonement of Christ all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and evidences of the gospel. We believe that these ordinances are: First, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; Second, Repentance; Third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; Fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost," That is certainly a neat statement of the Ancient Gospel and Prof. Whitsitt seems to be fully justified in the conclusion that such a statement, under the hand of the Methodist Joseph Smith, is incomprehensible, unless we take into account the constant and pervasive influence of Campbellism in developing Mormon theology, an influence which touched both the fundamentals of doctrine, and often likewise the minutest customs in worship and in speech.

Besides the works treated above, the Mormons profess and display great reverence for the Scriptures of the Old and New Testament. They are said to surpass most other religious bodies in the amount of attention devoted to them, and in the power to cite the language of them accurately, and to refer to them by chapter and verse. But these are not Mormon Scriptures in any peculiar sense. The Mormons only adhere to them in the same way as other denominations.

The second rank in Mormon sacred literature is occupied by the writings of Parley P. Pratt, who was a Campbellite preacher of Lorraine county, Ohio, and, as Hayden says, was "under Rigdon's influence." His conversion was enacted with suspicious suddenness in August, 1830. The two works of Mr. Pratt's which have attained the dignity of classics are:

1. The Voice of Warning and Instruction to all People, 1837, and,

2. Key to the Science of Theology, 1855.

These both display the strong literalistic tendency of Campbellism. In the "Voice of Warning" there is a chapter on the "Kingdom of God," which, to a large extent, is borrowed out of Mr. Campbell's treatise on the "Kingdom of Heaven," and in perusing it so many points of similarity may be found, that the reader sometimes fancies that he is engaged with the latter author rather than with Mr. Pratt. Moreover, in these volumes of Mr. Pratt, one meets with nearly every point and practice of Campbellism, even down to the opposition against the "mourners' bench;" and with many of the phrases of the "Language of Canaan," such as "sects and parties." "opinions and creeds," "modern inventions and moneyed plans," "human institutions," the "old beaten track," and others.

Next to Parley P. Pratt stands his brother, Orson Pratt. But this gentleman, though he has written more voluminously than any other Mormon, has not yet achieved the honor of inspiration. His people still hold him in doubt, and say that he is "much too learned to keep for any length of time out of perdition."

No other works than those reviewed above are fairly entitled to a position among the sacred writings of Mormonism, or have done anything considerable towards modifying or developing the tenets which prevail in Utah. Reviewing the entire field just traversed, Prof. Whitsitt said he could come to no other conclusion than that Mormon theology was the result of the strong literalistic tendency of Campbellism, which, when Mr. Campbell undertook to curb it, broke over every bound and got quite beyond his control.

He concluded by saying that he believed it would be conceded that Mormon theology was established by a Campbellite preacher in full standing, since Sidney Rigdon only departed from the Campbellite body in November, 1830, while the Book of Mormon had been placed in the hands of Smith on the 22d September, 1827, a period of three years and two months before Rigdon's ostensible conversion, and that the Book of Mormon was published, and the Mormon "Church of Christ" organized, more than six months prior to the defection of Rigdon. He also believed it would be conceded, upon investigation, that Rigdon, and the Campbellites of the party, had maintained a constant influence and a close and watchful supervision over the progress of doctrine in the Book of "Doctrine and Covenants," and in the "Pearl of Great Price;" that the writings of the Campbellite portion of the Mormons have done more than those of all others to sustain and defend Mormon theology, and that Campbellite principles and practices are met with at every turn in Mormon theology; as, for instance, the "good confession," the five points of the "Ancient Gospel," the weekly communion, the plea for a Bible name for the church, the crude distinction between the amount of efficacy of the two ordinances, the translation of the Scriptures, opposition to the "mourners' bench" and others. And in those cases where the Mormons passed beyond the Campbellites, this was caused by a more rigid application of the literalistic principle they had borrowed from the Campbellites.

All this Prof. Whitsitt believed would be found to be in harmony with the circumstance that two or three Campbellite churches had supplied the elements which have always been of guiding influence in the Mormon state. Kirtland supplied such men as Rigdon, Orson Hyde, Edward Partridge, Isaac Morely and others, while Hiram supplied the Johnsons and the Snows, whose names and position have always been well known. -- From Lorraine county came the Pratts, without whose agency and zeal the cause would have been far less prosperous. It was natural and reasonable that those who established Mormon theology should obtain for themselves and their descendants the controlling positions and the best rewards in the gift of the Mormon community. Notwithstanding this fact, the Methodist element, at each new election for a President, have contrived to carry off the prize from the Campbellite element, Brigham Young defeating Sidney Rigdon at Nauvoo, and John Taylor defeating Orson Hyde at Salt Lake City.

These and other points of correspondence between Mormonism and Campbellism are too numerous and important, the explanation of them is too clear and consistent, their agreement the one with the other is too close and too striking, the account given of the reason why Mormonism did not stop where Campbellism stopped, is too definite and convincing to allow us to suppose that the influence of Campbellism upon Mormonism was merely accidental and temporary. No, the literalistic principle of Campbellism supplied the foundation and the impulse of the Mormon movement, and it has presided over it and directed every stage of its development. Prof. Whitsitt would not be understood as affirming that the Campbellites are responsible for all the weird and bizarre applications which the fundamental principle of Campbellism has received at the hands of the Mormons. The ingenuity of the Mormons in applying this literalistic principle has been truly remarkable, and the Campbellites may not fairly be held responsible for these fantastic extravagances; but it was for them an unspeakable calamity to have placed this principle in the hands of Mr. Rigdon. No greater misfortune could have befallen a worthy religious community. It is heavy enough to weigh down all the good which they have accomplished among men, and they deserve, in view of such a misfortune, a great deal of sympathy. Nevertheless, they can not be held accountable for anything beyond the ugly freaks of the literalistic principle which are exhibited within their own bounds. No one would willingly add the weight of a feather to the heavy burdens which the many noble and useful men among them are compelled to bear. Heaven bestow upon them strength and courage to learn a lesson from the horrible calamity which has befallen their church, and to banish the demon of literalism which goes about in it as a roaring lion.


Notes: (forthcoming)

The Campbellites, although they confess they have no name for their church, sometimes request that people shall address them as "Christians" or "Disciples of Christ." But how do they reciprocate a favor of this kind? The reciprocate it by calling all other religious people "sects" or "mere sects." This, moreover, is not accidental; it is a prominent feature of the "plea for Christian union." What would be thought of a person who, upon entering a drawing-room, should request the members of the company to address him as the "prince of courtesy," and charge them with "vulgarity" if they failed to do so, but who should in turn speak of them, all and singular, as blackguards?

---

A Correspondent of the Christian Standard points out to Elder Myers the fact mentioned by us in a recent issue that the name "Church of Christ" is the official title of the Mormon church, and seems to think with us that it would be unfair to rob the Mormons of their name. We suppose that Elder Myers will now decline to press his suggestion, and will adopt, as he proposed, the alternative to "abandon the plea for a Bible name for the church," especially since this plea is urged as one of the many proofs that the Mormons descended from the Campbellites.


Note: The Christian Standard again responded to the Whitsitt material in the Western Recorder, with articles in its Jan. 13th issue ("Whitsitt's Second Lecture") and its Jan. 27th issue ("Whitsittistic and Mormonistic). The Standard's number for Feb. 10th featured one last journalistic shot at the Baptist professor: "The Whitsitt Discovery."

THE OLD TEMPLE.
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THE MORMON RELIC OF KIRTLAND, OHIO.
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How the Western Reserve Fostered Early Mormonism, and
Still Rejoices in Possession of the Original Temple
of Joe Smith, Wild Cat Money and Holy Zeal.
_______

Cleveland, January 17. -- The little country town of Kirtland, in Lake county, a score or more miles from this city, is famous for its connection with Mormonism in America. It is an old town, one of the oldest on the Ohio western reserve. It was somewhere about the year 1830 that Joseph Smith, Cowdery and other Mormon apostles dropped down on the villagers one day and commenced preaching the Mormon religion. They claimed to have discovered the plates of the new Bible -- the "Book of Mormon" -- and by strong will power, energetic force and an abundance of hard work, succeeded in winning many new converts to the faith. A disciple preacher of Mantua, a neighboring town, whose name was Rigdon, and one [Orson] Hyde were among the first converts. Hyde entered into the work with much enthusiasm and became in after years a leading and distinguished saint. A prominent farmer named Billings, and other leading citizens named Bellow, Morley, Burt, Dwight and Riggs rallied around Joseph Smith, and it was not long before the now famous Mormon temple was constructed. It was the fist house of worship of the Church of Zion. This historical landmark has stood empty and deserted all these years. During this time it has been visited by thousands of travelers and curiosity seekers. It is a wonderfully queer old structure, with mammouth windows and great box-pews. It stands upon a hill near the center of the village, and can be seen for miles around. Strange to say, there is no one who claims to be the owner of the old temple. An aged matron of the Mormon faith has for years held the key of the building, and has conducted the thousands of visitors through its halls. It was in 1838 that Joe Smith and his followers, who numbered hundreds of new converts, left Kirtland for the far west. The prophet sought a far-off wilderness where they would not be denied freedom of thought and opportunity for religious growth. It was a strange parting of friends in Kirtland on the day of the departure, a cold day in the dead of winter. The party suffered all manner of hardships before they finally settled on the shores of the Great Salt Lake. The band of wanderers were nearly swallowed up by the wilderness, and it was many years afterward that the friends in Kirtland heard from their lost relatives. The party went down the Ohio river to St. Louis, and from there to St. Charles, Mo., where numbers of the party died from the cholera, which was raging in that vicinity. The little band wandered about in two states and settled in various places. They did not reach Salt Lake until July 24, 1847. In the meantime, the anti-polygamists had settled in Plano, Illinois.

During his residence in Kirtland, Joe Smith ran a banking house, and many of the "wild-cat" bills of his bank are yet in circulation. A ten [sic - three?] dollar bill, dated March 4, 1837, came to light the other day and is well worth preserving as a relic. On it is the inscription: "The Kirtland Safety Society Bank will pay on demand to O. Hyde or bearer three dollars, Kirtland, Ohio, March 4, 1837. J. Smith, Jr., Cashier; S. Rigdon, President." Some time during November a stranger appeared in Kirtland. He dropped down on the village one evening and calling at the little hotel across the road from the old temple, inscribed his name on the twelve-page register as follows: "Rev. J. Kelly, Plano, Ill." The fact of his presence and that on the first day of his arrival he visited each of the four Mormon families that remain in the town aroused considerable talk and comment in the usually quiet village. The following week brooms and brushes were busy in the temple, and on the next Sunday morning the announcement was made that there would be services that day in the old temple. The primitive Mormons and a few villagers, who attended out of mere curiosity, occupied the big wooden pews. Services were held by Rev. J. Kelly on the next Sabbath also, and a huge strip of canvas, bearing the following words, "The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints," was placed across the front of the old structure. Soon after came the announcement from Plano, Illinois, that the sum of $3,000 had been raised in Plano, and had been appropriated for putting the old temple in repair again. In its best days the temple in its interior was divided into what were termed "curtain rooms" by means of immense strips of canvas depending from huge rollers fastened at the ceiling. A new set of rollers and new strips of canvas have already been placed into position. Sixty-five thousand shingles have also been ordered and paid for, and repairs on the roof of the building will be commenced as soon as the cold weather moderates. The "new" temple has been fully half repaired, but the work has ceased for a time, owing to the reason just stated.

The announcement came last week from Plano that the annual conference and reunion of their branch of the church will be held in the old temple on the 6th day of April next - 1883. It is further stated, by the best of authority, that on that occasion over a thousand Mormons from Salt Lake City will be present to meet the struggling few who remained behind when their brethren left for the west in 1832 [sic]. The event will be one of great importance in the Mormon church, and it is announced that one of the results will be the establishment of a permanent Mormon church at Kirtland. The meetings under the leadership of the Rev. Kelly will be resumed in February, and a determined effort will be made to get new converts and again build up the church in Ohio.


Notes: (forthcoming)

A FRIEND in Washington City has sent us a pamphlet prepared by Mr. Robert Patterson, of Pittsburg, Penn., which proves quite conclusively that the "Book of Mormon," being the pretended MSS on which the Mormon doctrine is founded, is merely a copy of a fiction written about 1810 by Solomon Spaulding, who was once a Congregationalist in Connecticut and moved to Ohio. It purported to be an account of the lost tribes and detailed their wanderings and their final settlement in America; their wars; their life; the construction of the mounds found in the various parts of this continent, etc. The author demonstrates very satisfactorily that this unpublished manuscript of Spaulding's fell into the hands of another minister who was a crank, and who arranged for [Joe] Smith to work it up [as] gospel truth. Out of that innocent work of Spaulding's imagination [----------] the singular spectacle we see in Utah, a government founded on religion [--------- ---] supposed Jewish customs and [---------] the moral sense of the present age.


Notes: (forthcoming)

THE  STORY  OF  JOE  SMITH.
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The Early Days of the Father of Mormonism --
How He Developed into a Prophet.

A letter from Susquehanna, Pennsylvania, to the Cincinnati Enquirer says: Long before the Erie road was built, however, there was a little settlement on the north bank of the river here called Harmony, and just west of it Joe Smith, the afterward founder of Mormonism, lived from 1821 to 1829, and here he married his first wife, Emma Hale. From all accounts he was a lazy, idle, shrewd, plausible schemer and pretender, who made a precarious living by his wits, was a general favorite with the women, and had considerable influence over certain of the men. When he first came to the county he engaged in timbering, but it was too laborious work for a man of his disposition to follow with good will, and he began to look around for an easier means of livelihood. About this time a resident of Susquehanna county named Jack Belcher, while employed at the salt works near Celina [sic -Salina?], became possessed of a "seeing stone" that, it was alleged, had the miraculous power of enabling those who looked into it to see the whereabouts of lost articles and hidden treasure. It was a green stone, with brown, irregular-shaped spots on it, and was in size about as large as a goose-egg. When he brought it home and covered it with a hat, Belcher's little boy was the first to look at it in the hat, and as he did so he said he saw a candle. The next time he looked into it he exclaimed: "I've found my hatchet" (which had been lost two years), and he immediately ran to the place shown him in the stone, and, sure enough, there was the hatchet, though heavily rusted by exposure to the weather. The boy was soon beset by neighbors far and near, who desired him to reveal to them hidden things, and tradition says he succeeded wonderfully. The fame of the seeing-stone soon reached Joe Smith's ears, and he quickly saw how its possession would enable him to make money rapidly and with ease. He bought the stone of Belcher, and at once set up for a "seer" on his own hook. A straggling Indian told him there was treasure buried in Turkey hill, and Smith got him to indicate as nearly as possible the exact locality. He then gave out that he had seen in the stone an immense amount of buried treasure, and great was the excitement in the little community at the information. Joe induced a moderately well-to-do farmer named Harper, who lived near by in New York state, to go in with him and furnish the capital needed to dig for the buried wealth. They hired a number of men, and began digging on what is now the farm of Jacob I. Skinner. After digging the depth indicated by Smith no trace of the treasure was discovered, whereupon Mr. Harper became discouraged. Smith, who was as tricky as a snake, then pretended that there was an enchantment about the place that was removing the treasure further and further away, and said that Harper must get a perfectly white dog and sprinkle its blood over the ground, and that would dispel the obnoxious charm. Work was suspended and a search for a perfectly white dog was begun. None perfectly white could be found in the neighborhood. Smith said perhaps a perfectly white sheep would answer. One was procured, killed, and its blood sprinkled over the ground and the work of excavation was resumed. No trace of the treasure was found, though six holes, one of them fifty feet in diameter and twenty feet deep, were dug. After expending over $2,000 in this fruitless labor, Mr. Harper refused to put in any more money and the digging ceased. Smith said that God Almighty was angry at them for attempting to palm off a white sheep on Him for that of a white dog, and so had allowed the enchantment to remove the treasure which was there when they began operations. Notwithstanding this failure, Smith audaciously assumed to be possessed of supernatural powers, and was in the habit of ''blessing" his neighbors' crops for a monetary consideration. On one occasion a farmer who had a piece of corn that was planted late and on a moist piece of ground felt a little dubious about its ripening, and paid Smith to bless it. It happened that it was the only piece of corn in the neighborhood that was killed by the frost. When Smith was twitted about this fact he got out of it by saying that he had made a mistake, and had put a curse instead of a blessing on the grain. He didn't return the farmer the money he had paid for a blessing, however.

After Smith had started the Mormon church, and while he was at Kirtland, Ohio, a gentleman named Hurlbut, who lived near there, wrote to Joe's father-in-law to find out what he knew about him and his character. Here is an extract from the statement that Mr. Hale swore to before Squire Dimon, March 20, 1834. The good character and standing of Mr. Hale were attested the next day by Judge William Thompson and D. Demock. Said Mr. Hale:

"I first became acquainted with Joseph Smith, Jr., in November, 1825. He was at that time the employ of a set of men who were termed 'money-diggers,' and his occupation was that of seeing or pretending to see, by means of a stone placed in his hat closed over his face. In this way he pretended to discover minerals and hidden treasure. His appearance at this time was that of a careless young man, not very well educated, and very saucy and insolent to his father. Smith and his father, with several other money-diggers, boarded at my house while they were employed in digging for a mine they had supposed had been opened and worked by the Spanish many years before. Young Smith gave the money-digigers great encouragement at first, but when they had arrived in digging to near the place had stated an immense treasure would be found he said the enchantment was so powerful he could not see. They then became discouraged, and soon after dispersed. This took place about the 17th of November, 1825.

"After these occurrences young Smith made several visits to my house, and at length asked my consent to his marrying my daughter Emma. This I refused, and gave him my reasons for so doing, some of which were that he was a stranger, and following a business that I could not approve. He then left the place. Not long after he returned, and, while I was absent from home carried off my daughter into the state New York, where they were married (February, 1826) without my approbation or consent. After they had arrived Palmyra. N. Y., Emma wrote to inquiring whether she could have her property, consisting of clothing, furniture, cows, etc. I replied that her property was safe, and at her disposal. ln a short time they returned, and subsequently came to the conclusion that they would move out and reside on a place near my residence. Smith stated that he had given up what he called 'glaas-looking,' and that he expected and was willing to work hard for a living. He made arrangements with my son, Alva Hale, to go to Palmyra and move his (Smith's) furniture to this place. He then returned to Palmyra, and soon after Alva, agreeble to the arrangement, went up and returned with Smith and his family.

"Soon after this I was informed they had brought a wonderful book of plates with them. I was shown a box in which it was said they were contained, which had to all appearances been used as a glass box of the common sized window-glass. I was allowed to feel the weight of the box, and they gave me to understand that the book of plates was then in the box, into which, however I was not allowed to look. I inquired if Joseph Smith, jr., [who] was to be the first who would be allowed to see the book of plates. He said it was a young child. After this I became dissatisfied and informed him that if there was anything in my house of that description which I could not be allowed to see be must take it away; if he did not I was determined to see it. After that the plates were said to be hid in the woods.

"About this time Martin Harris made his appearance upon the stage, and Smith began to interpret the characters and hieroglyphics which he said were engraved on the plates, while Harris wrote down the interpretation. * * * I told them then that I considered the whole of it a delusion, and advised them to abandon it. The manner in which he pretended to read and interpret was the same as when he looked for the money diggers -- with the stone in his hat and his hat over his face, while the book of plates was at the same time hid in the woods.

"After this Martin Harris went away and Oliver Cowdry came and wrote for Smith, while he interpreted as above described. This is the same Oliver Cowdry whose name may be found in the Book of Mormon. Cowdry continued to scribe for Smith until the Book of Mormon was completed, as I supposed and understood.

"Joseph Smith, jr. resided near me for some time after this, and I had a good opportunity of becoming acquainted with him and somewhat acquainted with his associates, and I conscientiously believe, from the facts I have detailed and from many other circumstances which I do not deem it necessary to relate, that the whole Book of Mormon (so-called) is a silly fabrication of falsehood and wickedness, got up for speculation and with the design to dupe the credulous and unwary, and in order that its fabricators may live upon the spoils of those who swallowed the deception.   "ISAAC HALE."

That Joe Smith was never a victim of mania or superstition is abundantly shown by the fact that he often told his immediate relatives that his "sight-seeing was all d___d nonsense." Then again, he would claim that he was "the anointed of God and His special prophet." Certain it is that he was a royal liar.

Last Sunday, in company with the Hon. George A. Post, member of congress-elect from the fifteenth Pennsylvania district, I paid a visit to the [old] home of Joe Smith, and saw the room in which the Book of Mormon was written, at Smith's dictation, by Harris and Cowdry. The house stands on the north bank of the Susquehanna, two miles west of the Twin river, and is distant about sixty feet from the New York, Lake Erie and Western railroad. The old home is one story high, and, with its kitchen, is about twenty-four by fourteen feet. At present it is occupied by ex-Sheriff McCune, who was born in the room in which the book of Mormon was transcribed, "though I ain't much of a Mormon," said he, "for one wife is enough for me." Mr. McCune's father bought the house and farm from Joe Smith, and to the former he built a two-story addition. The buildings are very rickety at present, and look is though they would tumble down from rot and age in a few years. They are often visited by tourists from abroad, who generally ask Mr. McCune for a small bit of wood or shingle as a momento of their visit. The "money holes" Smith had made in his search for the buried treasure are about a half mile from the house. Though their sides have caved in, they are still visible, and one of them is filled with water, an endless spring having been tapped during its excavation.

Not many rods from the house is a country grave yard, in which are interred the remains of one of Joe Smith's children. No slab or headstone marks the spot, and its precise location is known to only a few of the older people. Many of Smith's wife's kinfolks still reside in and about this country.


Note: The above article was reprinted from a late Oct. 1883 issue of the Cincinnati Enquirer. See also the New York City Evening Telegram of Nov. 23, 1883 and the Syracuse Sunday Herald for June 6, 1909.

THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON.
_________

A True History of Joe Smith's Remarkable
Piece of Jugglery.

(St. Louis Spectator.)

How many people know anything about the origin of the Mormon religion, or rather, of the Book of Mormon, which is its authority? I knew precious little about it until this week, when I accidently fell in with Mr. Clark Braden, who has recently given the subject a most searching investigation. His story shows of what stuff a religion may be made. The Mormons number probably 800,000. They are divided into many sects, but the principal are the polygamous Brighamites in Utah and the non-polygamous Josephites scattered in various places. The story may be given in a few words. The Book of Mormon was written by an old broken down Presbyterian clergyman named Solomon Spaulding. Spaulding was born in Connecticut in 1761. He graduated at Dartmouth college, and settled as minister for a Congregational church. He made a sad failure at preaching, and went into business with his brother in New York state, did not succeed, and started up an iron foundry in a town in northern Ohio. He soon failed in that venture and became very much discouraged. His wife supported the family by taking boarders, and he spent his time writing, though what did not then appear. He afterwards rewrote the entire book, adding a third part. This is the origin of the manuscript.

Now, what became of it? Spaulding made arrangements to have it printed in Pittsburg. After a part of it had been set up, the whole manuscript was stolen by a tanner named Sidney Rigdon, who was in the habit of loafing around the printing office. Rigdon kept it concealed for some years, until he fell in with Joseph Smith, who evolved the plan of producing it. Smith belonged to a not over reputable family living near Palmyra, N. Y. They lived in a house and supported themselves by hunting and fishing and other means suspected to be more questionable. Joseph, one day, found a remarkably clear crystal, shaped much like a child's foot, and he declared it was a "peep-stone," in which he could read the future and discover stolen goods, strayed cattle, etc., and on several occasions was so successful in predicting the locality of goods and cattle that he soon came to have considerable reputation. He then extended his field of operations by divining where treasure was buried and under his directions a great many diggings were made, unsuccessfully however. These diggings extended over a large area, some fifty miles or more, around Palmyra, and some of them may be seen now. He fell in with Sidney Rigdon, who told him of the manuscript. Smith soon devised a scheme for producing it under proper surroundings. The alleged book of copper [sic] plates was found under divine guidance, on which characters of reformed Efyptian were graven. The book was accompanied by a pair of spectacles of wonderous power, which enabled Smith to translate the remarkable characters. This he did from behind a screen, while an amanuensis took down his words. The Book of Mormon was printed in 1830, at Palmyra, N. Y., a farmer, Martin Harris, putting up the cash to pay the printer. Thus Solomon Spaulding's manuscript found its way into print with such additions and alterations as Smith chose to make for his own benefit.

A book will soon be published by the Christian Publishing company giving all the investigations of Mr. Braden and the complete chain of evidence establishing the authenticity of his story. A manuscript of the Book of Mormon is still in existence in the possession of Mr. Whitmer, of Richmond, Mo., and the compositor who set up most of the book at Palmyra, fifty years ago, is still living, Mr. J. H. Gilbert. Mr. Braden is now trying to arrange that Mr. Gilbert shall see this manuscript to say whether it is the copy from which the book was originally set up.


Notes: (forthcoming)

MORMONS  IN  PENNSYLVANIA.
_________

Reminiscences of the Times When the Sect Was in Its Infancy.

Leechburg (Pa.) Letter to the Pittsburgh Dispatch.

It would surprise many of the present generation to be told that at one time the lower corner of Armstrong, as well as the upper end of Westmoreland county, was literally infested with Mormons; yet such is the fact. In the fall of 1842 a number of Mormons floated down the Allegheny river on a rude raft. The party was composed of old and young, men, women and children, and at what is now White Rock station, on the Valley road, a stop was made. Winter began about this time, and the party concluded to make that point temporary headquarters and spend the winter there. Joseph Smith and his brother Hiram visited the party while they were located there, and under their instructions the work of proselyting was vigorously begun. A man named Nicholson headed the White Rock branch of the order, and his influence was soon apparent. Converts were made rapidly, and in a short time scores of persons from every walk in life had accepted the faith of the Mormons.

When the springtime came almost every person in the immediate neighborhood had been convinced that their future salvation depended on their adherence to the doctrine of Joseph Smith, and a large party agreed to accompany his followers into the Western wilds. Others remained, with the intention of joining the main body when they had entered into their promised land. A correspondence was carried on between those who had gone before and those who were left behind, and your correspondent was to-day allowed the privilege of examining some of the time-stained missives which were sent back to strengthen the faith of the followers who were left behind. The person to whom these letters were addressed has long since been gathered to his fathers, but his wife and children are still natives of this county.

One letter is dated Nauvoo, Ill., August 10, 1844, and is as follows:

"Your health of soul and body is my joy, and, if you live in Christ, then is my joy full. We are glad to hear that you are in good health. This we learn from Brother John Greer, who came to this place in good health and fine spirits, just in time to attend our conference, which was held on Tuesday, to set the wheels of the church in motion; for, since the death of Joseph Smith, we have been almost like sheep having no shepherd, running to and fro, picking a little pasture wherever we could get, and waiting for the Twelve to return. Brother Rigdon and nine of the twelve having returned, a conference of the whole church was held on Thursday. There was a vast concourse of people -- I should think nearly 10,000. The twelve were called to stand in their proper places, and Joseph's counselors, S. Rigdon and A. Lyman, were called to the stand on their right and on their left, that they might aid and cooperate with the twelve in carrying the gospel to all nations. * * *

"You must not let your faith fail you because Joseph Smith has been killed by wicked men. No; he told the brethren, and others not members of the church, that he was going as a lamb to the slaughter; yet he was as calm as a summer's morning. He said that his time was come; but the brethren did not seem to realize the truth till after the fatal deed was committed, and then they remembered what he had told them. Had the brethren had the least idea that he would have fallen as he did, they would never have allowed him to go to Carthage. It seemed an hour of darkness to us all. When Joseph fell he cried out: 'O! my God!' Then his spirit took its flight. Brother Sidney says he saw our beloved prophet in a vision which he had opened to him in connection with one he and Joseph had on the 16th of February, 1832, which you will find recorded in the Book of Covenants."

The letter is signed "Thomas Hickenlooper," and is written in a bold, clear hand. The writer was a local magistrate here prior to his departure for the West, and he was a highly respected citizen. In other letters he speaks of the intentions of the Mormons to seek refuge still further West, and says that there was a probability of them going to California. He also inquires particularly after the welfare of other converts to the faith who remained behind, and exhorts them to be firm and fear not. In the neighborhood of Bagdad there are still a number of persons who embraced the faith in the early days, and who still believe in the doctrines then taught them, as well as the institution of polygamy, which, of course was established subsequent to their location here. Within a radius of ten miles others can be found, and among them are persons who tried the Mormon life in the wilderness with unsatisfactory results. And, again, there are those who were once residents of this section, who have withstood all the hardships of the early days and are now with their descendants spending their last days in Mormonland, if not contented with their lot, at least uncomplaining.


Note: The "Thomas Hickenlooper" whose letter appears reproduced above, was mentioned in the Nauvoo Times and Seasons of Aug. 15, 1843, as being chosen to the office of presiding elder in the Leechburg LDS branch, at a conference held there on May 10th, 1843, supervised by William Smith, the brother of Joseph Smith, Jr. Leechburg, is located in southern Armstrong County, approximately 28 miles northeast of Pittsburgh. See also the July 9, 1885 issue of the Colorado Fairplay Flume.

Professor Samuel S. Partello, writing to one of the Chicago newspapers, declares that he has discovered the veritable Spalding romance from which, it is said, Joseph Smith wrote his "Book of Mormon." Professor Portello says: "By the favor of the correspondent, now in Honolulu, it is my privilege to say that the long-lost and noted document has lately been discovered in the hands of L. L. Rice, a Honolulu resident, who removed from Oberlin, Ohio, about five years ago. Not long ago it occurred to the venerable gentleman to make an examination of a box of old papers which had accumulated during a period of twenty-five or thirty years of his life as a newspaper editor and publisher in Cleveland and other places in northeastern Ohio. Among those musty and dust-laden papers there was a small package wrapped in strong buff paper, tied with a piece of stout twine and plainly marked on the outside in pencil, in Mr. Rice's own hand; "Manuscript Story -- Conneaut." * * * Mr. Rice was wholly unable to account for how or when this manuscript came into his possession. He says that he has no knowledge of the persons whose names are mentioned. Some forty of fifty years ago Mr. Rice was editor of The Painesville Telegraph, about thirty miles from Conneaut, the residence of the Rev. Solomon Spaulding, then deceased. He conjectures that it must have been placed in his hands at that period for perusal, and subsequently for publication. He personally knew Samuel [sic] Rigdon, one of Smith's right-hand men and later a Mormon apostle, their first location being at Kirtland, in the same county in which he lived. Some quotations are taken from the manuscript to illustrate the style of the author.


Note: See also the New York Tribune for Jan. 29, 1886

VISIT  TO  MINER'S  HILL.
_________

ONE OF THE PLACES CELEBRATED
IN THE HISTORY OF MORMONISM.
_________

Joe Smith and His Bible -- Dictating to an Amanuensis --
One of the Dupes -- Cave on Miner's Hill -- Out the Book.

On returning to the village of Palmyra, we visited anothor hill which is celebrated in the annals of Mormon history. In order that the reader may understand the significance of this hill we must go back to Joe Smith and his bible. The book, which, by the way, no one ever saw, was said to consist of metal plates, pierced on one edge, and fastened together by rings which passed through the holes. With the book was also found, orso pretended, a huge pair of spectacles, too large for any mortal eyes, which had the remarkable quality of turning the hieroglyphics on the metal plates into plain English.

Smith's scheme required the publication of his bIble. How was he to accomplish this? No one was allowed to see the metal plates, and yet Smith could not write a legible hand. An accomplice was necessary. But Smith was equal to the occasion. He engaged one Oliver Cowdery, a school teacher, to be his scribe, promising him part of the proceeds of the book. The Smiths were then living in a little, one-story log house. There were only two rooms on the ground floor, with a pointed garret in the roof. Across one corner of this garret Smith had a blanket screen stretched. Behind this screen he ensconced himself with his magic spectacles and his golden book (or, as Hussey affirms, his tile brick). Cowdery sat on the other side of the blanket and wrote from Smith's dictation.

ONE OF THE DUPES,

Martin Harris, a wealthy farmer, was induced to "bear the expense of printing the manuscript. But Harris' wife was a woman of too much good sense to be Smith's dupe. So in the absence of her husband she put the manuscript in the stove and burnt it up. Here was a check in the proceeding, and one, too, that filled Smith with dismay. He and Harris were morally certain that Mrs. HarriS had taken the mannscript, but they did not know it was burned. Smith was unable to reproduce the book exactly, and he feared that the first manuscript would be produced to confound him. However, it wasn't a time to give up. He and his friends repaired to Miner's hill by night, and there dug a sort of cave on the east side of the hill. The dimensions of this cave were forty feet deep, sixteen feet wide, and seven feet high. The entrance was secured by a substantial door of two inch oak plank. In this dark cave Smith set about producing a new manuscript, Cowdery still acting as an amanuensis. This copy was more securely guarded; it is that from which the Mormon bible was printed in 1829.

Miner's hill is about two and a half miles south of Palmyra. In appearance it is similar to Mormon hill, and like it runs off to the sonth in a ridge. In the days of Smith it was heavily wooded. When we visited the hill the timber had been cut down, and the whole was a slashing filled with stumps, briers and burrs. We had little difficulty in finding what used to be the cave. It is situated just below the brow of the hill. Fifty six years, however, have left their ravages. Instead of a cave we found quite a depression where the earth had given way and fallen in. The door had long since disappeared. The door-frame, however, still stands there, buried more than half the way up in the earth. The frame is roughly made, the sides not belng mortised into the top, but simply secured by three large spikes driven through each end of the top piece. We took our knife and cut off a piece of the wood. It was as sound as when the frame was first made. Hundreds of people, we were told, annually visitt Mormon hill, but few ever wend their way through the burrs and briers of Miner's hill.

PRINTED AT LAST.

After a good deal of demurring Mr. Egbert B. Grandin, the publiSher of The Wayne Sentinel, contracted to do the printing. An edition of 5,000 copies was ordered. The price agreed upon was $3,000. Harris pledging himself to pay the money. It happened that at that time the leading compositor in Mr. Grandin's office was Mr. John H. Gilbert. Mr. Gilbert, or, as he is now called, Maj. Gilbert, is to-day a hale man of 85 years. It was our good fortune to meet him and have a long talk about the early days of Mormonism. He had the chief operative trustof the typesettmg and presswork. He got out the first form. There were in all 588 pages of the bible, and of these Gilbert set up with his own hands over 500. The orginal instructions were that no alterations whatever from the copy were to be made. But under Gilbert's earnest protestations these instructions were rescinded. Cowdery, though a tolerable penman, was poor in syntax, orthography, punctation etc. The copy furnished him, Mr. Gilbert assured us, was a solid mass. There was no punctuation, very few capitals, no paragraphs.

Joe Smith kept in the background. Gilbert only saw him twice -- once in the office for a few minutes and once on the street. Hyrum Smith, his brother, brought the copy to the office every morning, in installments of twenty-four pages, buttoned up in his vest, and came for them at night. But after much friendly expostulation Smith in about ten days relaxed hiS vigilance, and permitted Gilbert to take the manuscript home to correct and punctuate. This was on Gilbert's word that he would be responsible for the copy. Grandin read most of the proof. Gilbert read the rest. The contract price of the printing was faithfully paid by Harris. David Whitmer, who now lives in Richmond, Mo., has the original manuscript. A man living in Williamson, Wayne county, N. Y, has the press on which the book was printed. The book was seven months in printing -- from August, 1829, to March, 1830.

Mr. Gilbert has one copy or the original edition of the Mormon Bible. It has never been bound, but is in loose leaves. He has been offered $100 for it, but wants $500. He thinks it ought to be procured for the library at Washington. In the Mormon Bibles now published Joe Smith is styled the "Translator." But the first edition bore on the title page, "By Joseph Smith, Jr., author and proprietor." -- F. W. Morton in Chicago Times.


Note: This was the second half of a two-part Chicago Times article. See also the Oct. 7, 1886 issue of the Auburn Weekly News.

THE  PROPHET'S  MIRACLE.
_________

"THUS SAITH THE LORD," CHANTED
JOSEPH SMITH.
_________

And Disappeared When the Mob Thought
They Had Him Trapped -- Deserted
Mormon Town of Nauvoo.
_________

Written for The Sunday news by Helen Gilchrist Ferris.

As the afternoon sun strikes the Mississippi in one of its most sweeping curves it forms deep shadows of the ravines on the Iowa shore. On the Illinois side it shines squarely on the old town of Nauvoo, the former stronghold of the Mormon faith.

It was a strange city, with a special charter from the state, with a large trained band of militia and all the important city offices vested in one man.

In the main square rose the temple, imposing and beautiful, although built at a time when the country was but scantily settled and the people poor. This temple was built by an edict beginning "Thus saith the Lord to His prophet (alas! for romance) Joseph Smith." In its depths reposed the box containing the sacred white stone through which the remarkable eyes of the prophet could see to read his marvelous revelations, and in its recesses was hid their peculiar Bible, Book of Mormon. There one night was initiated the murderous band of Danites, instituted to make away with deserters of the faith. From behind its curtains came the revelations to the waiting, credulous people from the very convenient god of Joseph Smith.

The population of the city was more than 15,000. The streets were crowded as in a busy, flourishing city. The darling dream of the impostor was almost realized. Life, active, bustling life, was everywhere.

Now it lies desertedly peaceful and still. From the site of the temple, destroyed when the exodus to Salt Lake was made, you can see the thrifty vineyards and broad fields of the German farmers. On the spot where the Danites took their oath some stolid children are playing in the mud. Scarce a stone remains of the temple, but passing down the unpaved street toward the river you see the sun striking squarely in the windows of the old house of the prophet. "Thus saith the Lord," ran the old revelation, "Come ye with silver and gold and build a house and let my servant, Joseph Smith, and his house have place therein forever and ever." The people gave one-tenth of their produce gladly, and strove each to place a stone in the house that was to shelter the Lord's anointed. The house is black and weatherbeaten now and the windows have a looseness that suggests drear rattlings on stormy nights. Matted vines cover the north side. The front door is of oak, and was evidently built to resist assault. The parlor floor inclines toward the fireplace and creeps dismally under a step. A spinning wheel shows that household gods held joint residence with the God of Mormon. An old clock whose ticking is stilled forever stands in a corner and the position of its hands gives a mournful expression to its round face, as if always in sad memory of the departed faith. A little round table, once the bearer of the prophet's private copy of the Book of Mormon, leans confidentially toward the spinning wheel. It was in this room that Mormon and his son Maroni were said to sit in holy converse with the prophet in his silent night watches.

There is hearty contempt for the originator of the stupendous deception of Mormonism; but seat yourself in that room and sympathetically imagine the happenings of one of those last nights in his life.

A sad, anxious look is on his face as he gazes in the fire; the shoulders droop us if an unseen world of care rested thereon. The events of the last few days had left no time for thought. There was no one for him to consult: he was the high tribunal. For weeks his spies had brought threatening reports; the sheriff had boldly arrested one of his chosen band of seventy for horse stealing; the county papers were thundering denunciations of the wicked practices of the Danites, and a paper in his very city was calling down vengeance on him. It was hinted that a band was being organized at Carthage, the county seat, for his destruction. He glances nervously about, then sets himself resolutely to work to think a way out of his difficulties.

"Too late, too late!" the clock ticks. He rises and stops the pendulum. The hands point to 2:15 a. m. They should have said 2:45 when he finally raises his head from his hands, straightens out his shoulders, the problem solved.

He reaches for pen and paper. "Thus saith the Lord," he begins that message was never completed.

"'The Gentiles! The Gentiles coming!" and one of his band, who had sworn to protect the prophet's life with their own, came in the room. "Fifty men who say they will kill both you and the Danites are coming down the road. The house is closely guarded. You can not escape." Not a suspicion of fear crossed over the prophet's face.

"Retire," he said, with majesty, "and have no fear. I will work a miracle, for thus said the Lord to Mormon and his son Moroni: 'I will preserve my people.'"

A few minutes later the mob burst in; Joseph Smith was not to be seen. There sat his chair; there was his writing, with the ink not yet dry. He could not have escaped, but they ransacked the house to no purpose. The clock, jarred into motion, ticked derisively "Not here, not here," and the face assumed a smile. Their search was vain and so it happened that the mob retired baffled and awed.

The tragic events of the next few days came in quick succession. The prophet reappeared and was seized. No miracle was done to save him from that strangely quiet company of masked men on that midnight ride to Carthage. The jail could not shelter him, and a week later, driven by a mob, he jumped from the window. Shot and mangled his body lay in expiation of a life of deception. Mormonism in Illinois was at an end.

That was years ago. The persecution of the Mormons begun then did not end till their exodus to Salt Lake. Every gleam of the halo of romance faded and left only the naked skeleton of a hideous deception. The old jail is now the home of a happy young married pair. A conservatory opens from one of the rooms where the prophet was confined, but through the door are two bullet holes and on the floor a dark bloodstain that will not wash out.

Last summer the miracle was brought to light by a carpenter. In repairing the fireplace he accidentally touched a spring. A panel flew back, and following a narrow passage way he came to a small porcelain-lined apartment between the walls.

It was the secret chamber of the prophet.


Notes: (forthcoming)

QUETZALCOATL.
_________

The White King of the Lower Mississippi Valley.
_________

A Figure of the Aztec Christ in a
Temple in Central America.
_________

Thoughts and Fancies on the
Translation of the Bible,
_________

And the Races of This Country
Before the Spaniards.
_________

Near Nachez, Miss., May 16. -- Through centuries priests and scholars of the Catholic church have sought to discover the identity of this great teacher of the people of the lower valley of the Mississippi, whose philosophy in morals and government wrought extraordinary results in Peru, in central America and in countries further north. The forms, ceremonials and dress of the Aztec and Toltec priesthood, as it was found by Spaniards when they first appeared in Central and South America, differed little from those of the early Christian church of Europe. The same religious practices distinguished alike Roman and Aztec temples. To the extent that they differed, priests that followed Cortez, as cruel and tyrannical as their brutal master, caused traditions and creeds and books and records of the Aztecs to be destroyed. The Aztecs, 800 years before, had driven out the Toltecs, educated and trained by the "White King. There was no disciple or apostle missing in Europe, surely none so closely assimilated in personal appearance to him whom we are accustomed to revere as the very God, or as the Godlike man, Jesus Christ. or, as denominated in the language of Montezuma, "Quetzalcoatl," an Aztec and Toltec corruption, it may be assumed, of the name "Jesus Christ," given our Savior in the land of his nativity.

Not long ago I was invited by a distinguished woman and widow of San Salvador, in Central America, to attend services at the oldest of the churches of that city, founded by the white or Spanish race about A. D. 1580, or 360 years ago. But this building itself was part of an Aztec [sic - Cuzcatlec?] temple that had occupied the spot from time immemorial.... I was given a seat with the British consul general, Moffit, beside a most extraordinary statue, representing, as everybody knew at a glance, Jesus Christ -- "Quetzalcoatl" of the Aztecs, of the Nahuas and of the Toltecs... the simple Aztecs said that this was their deity's choicest image, and that it came, not from Italy, as the Spaniards insisted, 370 years ago, but that it was the product of Nahuan or Aztec art, or that it was brought by Quetzalcoatl himself from the distant Orient. The Aztecs claim that the statue is infinitely older than Spanish domination in Central America and the Spaniards have no history of the beautifully finished and faultless work of art.

Of course, I accepted, cum grano salis, the statement of the Spaniards and must believe that no such artist's work was done by builders of these wonderful old temples and ruins at Palenque and in other portions of Central America and Mexico....

In the presence of all these strange facts is it at all strange that I should have the inquiry forced upon me whether there be not rational foundation for the suggestion I made in another place, that the Quetzalcoatl of the Natchez Indians and of the Toltecs of New Mexico and of the ancient Central Americans was none other than the very son of Mary, who was taken to Egypt and educated in all the learning, arts and moral philosophy and medical and mechanical science of the ancient orient? Is it strange that he should have taught his followers how to travel with marvelous rapidity, through the air, as did Philip after his baptism of the eunuch? Is it singular that the marvelous physician who healed lepers and lifted up the dead, should have saved himself, even if we contemplate him only as a man, and, and suspending animation, three days and nights, lifted himself from the tomb? And was he conveyed, as the Bible tells, by aeronauts from the mount of Olives, and did he leave Judea to appear in Mexico and Central America?

Is that the conclusion to which recent and progressive discoveries in this and in the so-called old world tend to lead? Let him who will deny. The Aztecs and Natchez Indians asserted that Quetzalcoatl came to them through the air, and in like manner, went away. The Mexicans said, curiously enough, that he went away in a ship made of "snake skins." It shone like snake skins and was only silken in its softness and beauty. He promised to return, as before, when he left Judea, but never came back. Preachers and priests have sought in vain to identify the "White Man," the priest, the preacher of Christ's gospel, who surely was here about 2000 years ago.

Was he not the very Christ himself? Did he make the statue in the Aztec temple in Salvador? Was he the "Fair God" of old Mexico? And were St. Thomas and Christ founders of the pyramids and temples and great cities and of the religious faith of Central America?...

LOUIS DU PRE.          

Note: Although contemporary records indicate that there was a "Louis Du Pre" who lived in the USA in 1873-1951, the above article's signature is probably a pen name. Given the subject matter, the writer may have been either a Mormon or a Lord Kingsbury enthusiast. See also Ephraim G. Squier's 1856 Notes on Central America particularly... Honduras and San Salvador and Lucile Taylor Hansen's 1963 He Walked the Americas.

WHERE  THE  PROPHETS  AROSE.
_________

Boston Globe.

The proposition of the people of Utah to place a statue of Brigham Young in the statuary hall at Washington as a representative citizen of that state, brings to mind the fact that the president of the Mormon republic is numbered among the most famous sons of Vermont. Brigham Young was born in Whitingham, among the highest hills of Windham county, on June 1, 1801. The village of his nativity is now an apt illustratlon of Goldsmith's "Deserted Village." The old church has gone into decay and is rapidly falling in ruins. Its dwellings are those of the long past, many without paint for half a century, presenting a sorrowful picture of what was once a prosperous community. The farms of the township are desolate -- in fact, many of them abandoned. Some religious zealots attribute the town's desolation to the fact that it was the birthplace of the "Infamous Mormon prophet."

Brigham Young's father was a farmer whose lands are now among the abandoned farms. Brigham himself learned the trade of a painter and glazier and early left home. He originally united with the Baptist church, but joined the Mormons in 1832. The same year he was ordained "elder," and in 1835 was made an "apostle" and in 1844 succeeded Joseph Smith as president, a position he held until his death in Salt Lake City, Aug. 29, 1877.

About 1825 there arose at Middletown, Vt., a body of religious enthusiasts who were led by one Jacob Wood, who claimed to be guided In their movements by a "divining rod," and the people were much excited over their ceremonies, and many efforts were made to find gold, silver and other metals, accompanied with the performance of certain religious rites. Residing in the town at that time were Rev. Solomon B. Spaulding, Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and, in the adjoining town of Poultney, Oliver Cowdery.

Joseph Smith was a native at Sharon, Vt., born in 1805; Spaulding was a native of the town. An aged man now living, who was a country merchant there at that period, and distinctly remembers all these persons and narrates many of their peculiarities, gives personal descriptions of several of them. Smith, it is asserted, was "poor, ignorant and dissoulte;" Young was the brightest and brainiest of the company. The people of the community called the divining rod affairs, in after years, "the rod scrape." Smith, Cowdery and Young finally drifted away to western New York, and the Wood family emigrated to Ohio and settled near Cleveland. A descendant of this family became on eminent lawyer, who was for seventeen years chief justice of the supreme court of Ohio and four years governor of the state. Spaulding, Young, Smith and Cowdery apparently were very much interested in the "Wood rod affair," but did not take part or become converts to the religious sect that were so firm believing in the power of the "divining rod," but afterwards made it available in the establishment and promulgation of the Mormon doctrines.

The book of the Mormons, it is asserted, was written by Rev. S. B. Spaulding, who had some learning. It is said he wrote the "Book of Mormon" as an historical romance and buried the manuscript in the township of Manchester, N. Y., and the divining rod was brought into use in discovering its place of concealment. The history of the Latter Day Saints is too familiar to need repetition. Smith came near wrecking the church. At this juncture Brigham Young, who was an individual of indomitable will, by his eloquence, executive ability, shrewdness and zeal, soon made his influence felt, disregarding many of the doctrines taught in the alleged Mormon bible. He resurrected the church, perfecting another and new organization, with the assistance of Oliver Cowdery and Orson Hyde, both of whom were also former residents of Rutland county. The suggestion of placing Brigham Young's statue as a history figure in the national statuary hall at the capital has brought to the front these scraps of unwritten history in his career not generally known, although they have been incidentally alluded to by writers upon the history of and in some of the works on Mormonism, and more at length in Frisbie's history of Middletown, which met with rapid sale, and the edition was quickly exhausted.


Note 1: The journalist in his article has most certainly made some critical errors, in citing the memory of the "aged man now living." The Wood cult's heyday in Middletown was at the turn of the century, and did not last as late as "about 1825." By that date Solomon Spalding was almost ten years deceased and Joseph Smith had moved to New York. Although the Spalding family did help found the town, there is no record of a Rev. Solomon B. Spaulding residing there, either at the turn of the century or as late as 1825.

Note 2: The article's mention of a "divining rod" being employed in the purported finding of golden plates in New York does not match the accounts given in the standard LDS histories, but it may reflect early stories in circulation regarding that discovery. It is, however, absurd to accuse Solomon Spalding (who died in Pennsylvania in 1816), of burying his manuscripts in a hill near Palmyra, New York. See also the St. Albans Daily Messenger of Mar. 31, 1897.

A  LOG  CABIN  PRODUCT.
_______

Remarkable Genius of the
Late J. H. Beadle.
_______

HOW  HE  BEARDED  THE  MORMONS.
_______

Interesting Career of the First Gentile
Journalist In Utah -- His Travels and His
Literary Work His Marvelous Memory
and His Varied Accomplishments.

To many thousands of persons in various parts of the country the signature J. H. Beadle is a familiar one. To these the news that the man whose pen has furnished so much that has been entertaining and instructive has passed away will bring almost a sense of personal loss, although comparatively few of tho readers who were acquainted with his writings had any knowledge of the man. Those who admired the author will be interested to learn that tho man was one who was as worthy of their respect as his work was of their commendation.

For nearly 30 years his vigorous and ready pen described scenes, incidents and conditions in many states and recorded some phases in the growth of the Union which have been unnoticed by other writers. Business, circumstances and ill health, though mainly the latter, made him a wanderer, but wherever he went his comprehensive mind recognized things as they were, and his literary skill enabled him to reproduce the picture for his readers. A phenomenal memory aided him to array facts which interested, a philosophic mind added logic which convinced, and a vein of droll humor made it possible for him to illuminate and enliven even the dullest subject.

While Mr. Beadle's earlier literary work was done for individual newspapers and magazines or appeared in book form, for tho last 15 years of his life he wrote almost constantly for a great newspaper syndicate, of which this paper is a member. While as a rule he wrote over his own name, he contributed much over the signature J. B. Parke. His death, which occurred recently at Rockville, Ind., came only after a long illness which for many years had threatened to terminate his career and which he had more than once warded off only after a severe struggle.

John Hanson Beadle was a log cabin product. He was born March 14, 1840, on a farm about two miles from Waterman, Wabash county, Ind. His father was a Kentuckian who had some German blood in his veins and his mother a Marylander, of English descent.

Although a settler's son, he lacked the rugged frame and the strong constitution which should have been his. But he had instead a fine intellect, which he lost no opportunity to develop. In fact, as boy he was reckoned as a good deal of scholarly prodigy. He learned to read at a remarkably early age, and by the time he was 7 years old, when most farmers' boys have but barely mastered their letters, he was among the advanced scholars in the district school. Even then his memory was considered marvelous, and at the ago of 10 he committed the entire New Testament, besides the book of Job and most of the Psalms. At the age of he entered the Rockville high school, and when he was 12 he had fitted himself for college and was ready to enter the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Ill health prevented, however, and it was only after five years of farm labor that he went, apparently a strong and healthy young man, to Ann Arbor.

In the second year of his college term he broke down again and was compelled to give up all thoughts of being graduated. At the end of a long illness he made a tour through Illinois, Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota, paying his way by farm labor, teaming and selling books. This heroic remedy so fully restored his health that he returned to college.

Soon after the breaking out of the war he enlisted as a private in Company A, Thirty-first Indiana volunteers. He carried a musket until the terrible hardship and exposure to which the Federal troops wero exposed while under the grim walls of Fort Donelson unfitted him for further service, aud he came out of the hospital to wear the blue no more.

During the next four years Mr. Beadle traveled, taught school and studied law and in 1800 was admitted to the bar. For two years he practiced his profession in Evansville, but again started out in search of fleeting health. It was then that he began his career as a journalist. He had started for California the winter of 1868, but stopped in Salt Lake City and found so much that interested him among tho Mormons that he staid there and sent letters to the Cincinnati Commercial. He also became the editor of the Salt Lake Reporter, crisp little daily which had a short but eventful existence.

Mr. Beadle's initial experiences as an editor were of such an exciting character that it would not have been strange had he given up the profession then and there. At that time the Mormon church was at the height of its power in Utah, and Brigham Yanng ruled the territory with an iron hand. The murderous Danites were as yet unchecked, and the gentile who was not silent and submissive while in Utah was in danger every moment.

In this hotbed of fanaticism and prejudice Mr. Beadle, with an intrepid hardihood that those who knew his usually unaggressive manner can hardly comprehend, established an anti-Mormon daily and proceeded to pour the hot shot of criticism and denunciation into polygamy and its attendant evils. In an article which he wrote several years after for Harper's Monthly he described the situation in his own terse style, follows:

"We published our little daily paper in the upper story of a stone building, with a hatchway ready to be thrown open at any moment to repel a mob, and when the editor went out at night he took the middle of the road and kept his hand on his revolver."

One night the mob did come, too, and the hatchway failed to stop the infuriated Mormons. The "saints" hated the man who had dared to come among them and denounce their villainous practices, and they were bent on nothing less than murder. That is what it almost amounted to, for Editor Beadle was very roughly handled. In the melee he received a wound which caused the loss of his left eye, besides being otherwise injured. The office was wrecked, and the Salt Lake Reporter suspended publication indefinitely.

But Mr. Beadle recovered and soon after published his "Life In Utah." This is the most complete and valuable history of Mormonism which has over been written. In spite of the great provocation which the author had to say bitter things about the "saints," he did not, but presented his facts so calmly and clearly that the book at once sprung into public favor and had an immense sale, more than 80,000 copies having been sold.

Tho next incident in Mr. Beadle's life was of a for pleasauter nature. It was his marriage, on Christmas day, 1872, to Miss Jeunio Cole of Evansville, a lady who was for years his sympathetic helpmeet and loved companion and who survives him, as do his three daughters and one son, at present residents of Washington.

In 1875 Mr. Beadle went to Now York city, where he served as financial reporter for Tho Daily Graphic and wrote for the magazines, but three years later he returned to Indiana determined no longer to be a wandering scribe, but to settle down among his old friends. He bought the Rockville Tribune and busied himself, besides doing the work of a country editor, with work on several books which he had under way. He had already published "The Undeveloped West" and "Western Wilds and the Men Who Redeemed Them." To these he added a "History of Parke County, Indiana," and in 1883 he issued an enlarged and revised edition of his "Life In Utah."

But he was not content to remain in obscurity. Although a modest and retiring man, he liked to feel that he was in the midst of affairs, to witness great public events, and so, when in the prime of life and at the period of his greatest success in tho world of letters, he went again to New York city to join the staff of editors and correspondents of the American Press Association. In that capacity he made an extended tour through Canada and Nova Scotia, writing letters full of breezy description and interesting information. In 1890 he made a European tour, and his correspondence, printed under the title "A Hoosier Abroad," was widely read and greatly appreciated. In later years Mr. Beadle was stationed at Washington and wrote entertainingly about men and affairs from the national capital.


Notes: (forthcoming)

MORMONISM  AND  ITS  ORIGIN.
_______

Rev. W. A. Luis, a Lutheran minister and well known to many of the Landmark's readers, writes in the Winston Journal of the origin of Mormonism. He says:

This (the Mormons) is a religious sect founded in 1830 at Manchester, N. Y., by Joseph Smith. He claimed to have found, guided by an angel, some golden plates buried in a stone box in the ground. He claimed that on these plates was written the "Book of Mormon" in Reformed Egyptian tongue (whatever that is) and this was read by him, sitting behind a curtain, to Oliver Cowdery, who wrote it down in English. It was proven beyond doubt that this was a reproduction of a historical romance written in 1812 by Solomon Spalding, who had never succeeded in getting it published. The manuscript had become lost in a printing office in Pittsburg, Pa., under the hands of an apprentice, Sidney Rigdon, who in 1829, became an associate of Joseph Smith.

Joseph Smith was a bankrupt farmer, who was unable to write and who was proven to have been a man of gross sensuality, utterly unable to control his passions. His life in Kirtland, O., was shaded by gross dishonesty. He made himself president of a bank, which failed in 1838, and he had to flee to avoid being arrested for fraud. He fled to Nauvoo, Ill., and secured from the State a charter. The dissipation of Joseph Smith provoked his intimate friends and the pretended revelation concerning polygamy, with which he covered up his sins, excited general indignation. A newspaper, published by one of his former intimate friends, exposed his outrageous crimes. Smith razed the publishing office to the ground. A warrant for his arrest was served upon him, but he (Smith) refused to obey it. This resulted in confusion and threatened trouble when Smith surrendered. He was carried to Carthage jail and there shot by a mob. Brigham Young at once became his successor.

This is written for the purpose of exposing this corrupt system which is being foisted upon this community to the detriment of the true Christian religion.


Note: (forthcoming)

WEBB  ENCAMPMENT.
_____

Another Interesting Contribution From Judge J. Soule Smith,
Giving the History of William Morgan.
_____

The true history of William Morgan, his abduction and death will never be known to the world. From earliest childhood it has been a fascinating mystery to me. I have talked with old Masons about it, and have read every scrap of print or manuscript bearing on the subject which has come under my observation; yet it is as much a mystery to me now as it was when I was a boy. Such a man did live, and did disappear in the month of September 1826. Behind him he left a wife and two children who were the popular "Ginx's Babies" for two or three years, and then seem to have sunk into the bottomless void of oblivion. This last fact is to me the strangest part of this eventful episode in history. We often hear of the "oldest Mason," the "old black mammie" who knew George Washington, the old fellow who walked ten miles and split a hundred rails on his 100th birthday, and a lot of other miserable old frauds and effete freaks, but who ever heard of a descendant of William Morgan? Should any such people exist it seems as if the desire for cheap notoriety, so prevalent now, would lead them to declare themselves, and it is equally strange that, if no such descendants existed, some blatant fraud does not pretend to be of kin to him. But I have never known any claim of the sort to be made.

There was an old man of that name who died in an obscure village of the far South about forty years ago. I heard it whispered, after his death, that he was the original Morgan who had been spirited away by the Masons. My father was a Mason, and, with much horror, I have listened as a child to the discussion of this subject by my elders, in my presence, when they considered me too young to understand. This William Morgan is yet, to me, a subject for shuddering reminiscence. He was a scholarly recluse, quiet, and somewhat repellant, without visible means of support, and yet enjoying such luxuries as the times and his environments allowed. He had no intimate or known relatives -- lived as a dream, and vanished as a ghost.

In appearance this man was much like the pictures of William Morgan, though considerably older. And the pictures of William Morgan are as much a mystery as his fate. All of them are evidently from one original, and that original was made evidently before photography was dreamed of, and when works of art -- even rude sketches -- were quite expensive. That a man harassed by small debts, and imprisoned for stealing a shirt, could have afforded the luxury of a painted portrait seems incredible.

The oldest one of these pictures known to me is an elegant steel engraving printed in 1829 -- three years after Morgan's disappearance. It is marked "R. F. Spencer, pinx't -- V. Balch, sculp't," "from an original picture of A. Cooley's," "Entered according to act of Congress, the 17th day of April, 1829 -- by A. Cooley, of the State of New York." It is a significant fact that the names of both Spencer and Cooley appear among those of the anti-Masonic agitators, and neither of them seems to have been a friend of Morgan or associated with him in business. I know nothing of Spencer as an artist, and can find no reason why he should have painted a portrait of Morgan, or why Cooley should have been the owner of it. Nor am I aware of the law which would allow Cooley to copyright such a picture any more than it would allow me to copyright some photographs I have of Rev. Peter Vinegar. Possibly this picture was the trademark, or device of the anti-Masonic party; or it may have been "developed" under proper "conditions" by a medium. The Fox Sisters began their "spirit rappings" at Rochester, N. Y., the very asparagus bed of anti-Masonry.

The picture represents a man in the prime of life, elegantly dressed after the fashion of that time, with a ruffled shirt on -- such as Morgan was accused of stealing -- and a general air of refinement and ease. The brow is broad and very high, with spectacles pushed far back on it, the eyes bright and intelligent, the features mobile, [genteel], classic and poetically sensuous. The form bends slightly over a table, on which are writing materials, in a meditative attitude, one finger pressing against the temple, the other hand apparently turning over the pages of a manuscript. The hands are very small and white, the fingers tapering, shapely, well kept., utterly unlike those of a poor stonemason out of a job. It is altogether the picture of a well-to-do man of letters, who sometimes might amuse himself by assisting his son in editing a literary newspaper or magazine. It is an excellent likeness of the Morgan whom I knew, but not at all suggestive of the William Morgan whom the Masons are charged with murdering. I have described the picture as well as I could -- let us see how the man himself was described by his contemporaries.

WHO WAS MORGAN?

The book called "Light on Masonry," published by the anti-Masons in 1829, and in which appears, as frontispiece, the engraving above referred to, gives this account of him (p. 370):

"William Morgan was a native of the State of Virginia, born in Culpepper county in the year 1775 or 6, and a mason by trade. (This would make him at least 50 years of age at the time of his abduction in 1826, while the portrait is that of a man not over 35.) Having by his industry accumulated a fund sufficient for the purpose, he commenced business as a trader, or merchant, in Richmond, in that State. During his residence there, in October 1819, he married Lucinda Pendleton, the oldest daughter of the Reverend Joseph Pendleton, of the Methodist connection, and a respectable planter residing in Washington county. He removed from the State of Virginia in the fall of 1821, and commenced the business of a brewer, near York, in Upper Canada. The destruction of his establishment by fire, reduced him from a comfortable situation to poverty, and rendered it necessary for him to resume his trade of a mason: with that intention he moved to Rochester in this State (New York), where he labored at that business for some time. From Rochester he removed to Batavia, in Genesee county, where he worked at his trade until a short time before he was carried away from his home and his family."

From this it will be seen that he had been only a short while in New York, and a very little time in Batavia. He left Virginia in "the fall of 1821," only five years before his abduction, built a brewery in Canada, was burned out and removed to Rochester, where he worked as a stone mason for some time, and removed again to Batavia. All the time he was in New York he was poor, and could hardly afford to have his picture painted by Spencer and added to the valuable collection of Mr. A. Cooley. Nor was he prominent enough to have any one crave the honor of placing his picture in a portrait gallery. I believe the picture is a fake, pure and simple, but "a good enough Morgan" to answer the purpose. It is calculated to arouse sympathy, from its tender and refined features, and may have been the picture of a William Morgan -- it certainly is not the picture of William Morgan who was abducted.

Thurlow Weed has, in his Autobiography published in 1883, a picture of William Morgan, showing the same face and clothing, but omitting the hands entirely. It is the work of a Boston artist, and evidently a copy from the portrait first mentioned.

Weed's sketch of Morgan has, also, some additions to the one quoted above -- Improvements to the picture, as it were. Mr. Weed says: "William Morgan was a native of Culpepper county, Virginia, and was born in 1776. He was a man of much natural ability and of fair education. He had followed the trade of stone mason, but of his early life or character little was known. After his abduction, he was represented by his Masonic brethren as intemperate and unprincipled; while, on the other hand, his friends asserted that he was a man of good character, who had served in the army with the rank of captain in the war with England in 1812. Among other injurious charges against him, there was one of piracy, he having been, as it was alleged, one of the Lafitte gang, which infested the delta of the Mississippi. It was further represented that in 1819, with the assistance of some reckless associates, he violently abducted Lucinda Pendleton, a girl of 16, whom he subsequently married. It is proper to say, however, that these reports were traced to the persons who were engaged in the effort, first to suppress Morgan's book, and then in spiriting him away. Mrs. Morgan herself seemed warmly attached to her husband, and always protested that these various accusations were unfounded.

"In 1821 he became a resident of York, in the province of Upper Canada; from whence, after the loss of his property by fire, he came to Rochester, where he worked for a year or two as a journeyman mason. In 1822 or 1823, he removed to LeRoy, in Genesee county. This village was eminently distinguished in Masonic annals, boasting even at that early day, of Lodges, Chapters, and an encampment of Knights Templars, of which my old friend, Major James Ganson, who served with me in the Legislature of 1825, was the master spirit. It was here that Morgan became an active and 'a bright Mason.' He devoted much of his time to the attainment of perfection in the different degrees, and he contracted then, if he had not done so previously, idle and partially intemperate habits. Misunderstandings grew up between Morgan and his Masonic friends at LeRoy, which induced his removal to Batavia, where the rupture between him and his brethren soon became an open one. The idea of revealing the secrets of the craft to the world was then conceived, and partly entered upon. Finding himself suspected, he went to Rochester, where he lay concealed, working at his book for two months. Having failed to get a publisher there, he returned to Batavia; and now David C. Miller, an 'entered apprentice Mason,' concluded to take the hazard of printing the work. (So it seemed that spite was the motive, after all the high-sounding professions of "moral obligation and duty.") Other Masons soon obtained knowledge of the fact that these sheets were going through Miller's press, although the work was done at nights and on Sundays. Their first counter move was an attempt to purchase Morgan's silence, and it was alleged on their part that he consented to surrender his manuscripts and to abandon the enterprise. This, however, was denied by Miller, and Morgan's intimate friends."

These extracts from anti-Masonic sources seem to show what the real character and purpose of Morgan was. And they seem to show, too, that there was some influence behind Morgan and Miller more potent than they were, which was making of them the martyrs of an unholy cause. This poor stone mason could not afford to leave his work and his family for two months, while he was concealed in Rochester, unless somebody was paying him for his time. He could not afford to work on nights and Sundays upon the bare hope of a future reward from the sale of his book; somebody kept him supplied with money during this time. And no one could afford to pay him for a book which had, in substance, been published twice in the United States prior to 1826, and had fallen flat. It looks as if Morgan was brought forward to give name to a sentiment, and furnish the slogan for a new party -- as it were, to become the incarnation of a new and baleful issue.

J. SOULE SMITH.        

Note: (forthcoming)

ARP  ON  THE  MORMONS
_____

Bill Says That the Movements of the Saints
_____

ARE  MYSTERIOUS  TO  HIM
_____

Are the Elders Sincere or Are They
a Gang of Religious Tramps?
_____

These Mormons are a mystery to me -- 3,000 miles from home they are raising a commotion among our people and I don't understand what they are after. Are they really missionaries sent out from Utah to propagate their religion, or are they religious tramps who find this an easy way to live. They compass sea and land to make a single proselyte and remind us of the far-reaching zeal of the Jesuits of the sixteenth century. The Jesuits went to the heathen of all countries who had not heard of Jesus, but these Mormons go to the Protestants in enlightened Christendom and seek covertly to undermine their faith. They work upon the weak minded and fanatical and only make converts by destroying the peace of the family. No wonder that the good people of the communities drive them out and maltreat them. I have no respect for proselyters in a Christian land who would seek to draw their converts from one Christian church to another and sow discord in a family.

I was ruminating about this Mormonism, which is another child born of New England fanaticism, where all the devilish things originate. It is close akin the doctrine of free love, that originated there half a century ago, and is now pretty generally accepted. If a man doesn't find his affinity when he marries, he finds her afterwards, and they keep on swapping around.

Joe Smith came from there and one day pretended to find a Bible under a big stone. It was placed there by an angel and had golden leaves, and he was told to read it for it was the last will of God and he must preach it to the people. He copied the writing and was going to sell the gold, but the angel rebuked him and took the golden leaves away. Well that man found fools enough to start a new departure in religion and because the good people at home made fun of him, he and his followers moved to Pennsylvania, where he had more visions and the angel gave him a pair of magic spectacles and a Urim and Thummim, and talked to him behind a curtain, and John the Baptist visited him and gave him the Holy Ghost and the gift of prophecy and supernatural powers. From there he and his followers went to Palmyra, N. Y. and had the "Book of Mormon" printed, and organized a church with thirty members, and Smith cast a devil out of a man named Knight.

But Palmyra got too hot for them and they moved to Kirtland, Ohio, because the angel said so. But Kirtland got too warm for them and they moved to Missouri and founded the city of Zion. Not long after he went back to Kirtland on a visit and they tarred and feathered him, but his persecution gave him strength and followers and they built a church there and called themselves the Latter Day Saints and started a bank and flooded the country with wildcat money in the name of the Lord. The leaders were arrested and indicted for murder, treason, burglary, arson and larceny, but were allowed to escape from jail and leave Kirtland [sic - Far West?] with their families. From there they went to Illinois, guided by an angel, and founded the city of Nauvoo. There they built another church and sent missionaries to England to make converts, and they made them. Nauvoo grew up rapidly and the Saints soon numbered 1,500 men and elected Smith mayor and lieutenant general. In 1842 he was at the very height of his prosperity and took a hand in politics. In 1843 he had another revelation from the angel and was advised to take some spiritual wives. Accordingly he took two married women, the wives of Dr. Foster and William Law, two of his chief supporters. Of course, this raised a rumpus and Foster and Law started a newspaper against him and published the affidavits of sixteen women, who charged Smith and his head man, Rigdon, with impurity and immorality. Smith then destroyed the press and Foster and Law had to fly for their lives. They appealed to the courts and had warrants issued for him and Rigdon and seventeen others. They were arrested and put in jail. The governor visited them and promised protection them, if they and their families would leave the country, but the people were so exasperated with them they went that night to the jail and broke down the doors and shot Smith and his brother to death.

What kind of a story is that to found the Mormon religion upon? And yet these Mormon elders have the cheek to travel through this southern land to propagate their spurious faith among our people.

But Smith's wife and his son Joe never did accept the revelation as to spiritual wives, and the son reorganized Mormonism at Plano, Ill., where he publishes The True Saints' Herald, and is in all that region the acknowledged head of the Saints of the true Mormon church. The polygamists were all expelled, after suffering by whipping and house burning and other penalties by mob violence. They moved in scattered bands to Utah and chose Brigham Young as their leader. He was a zealous advocate of polygamy and showed his faith by his works, for when he died in 1877 he left seventeen wives, sixteen sons and twenty-eight daughters that he acknowledged -- besides a number of others who acknowledged him.

But these Mormons who are sojourning in our land declare that polygamy is now abolished and that they are not proselyting to that faith, though it was the faith of Abraham and Jacob and David and Solomon. Well, our people don't want such men fooling around their families and demoralizing weak men and weaker women in every community. A moderate chastisement would have a sanitary influence on all such tramps.

Fanatics and tramps have their nursery in New England. We see that the bones of the seven lieutenants of old John Brown have recently been removed to North Elba and are to be reburied with honors, and that McKinley was invited. That shows the animus of that people. They still make a demigod of that old fool John Brown, whom Giddings and Beecher and Garrison made a cat's-paw of to incite the slaves of Virginia to insurrection and to provoke them to murder and arson and rape. They furnished him with $500 in gold and all the rifles and ammunition he wanted, and so he took up his residence near Harper's Ferry and for two years lived there and planned his bloody and treasonable scheme. Fred Douglas visited him there and advised him to wait for the fruit was not ripe. But the old fanatic believed the Lord was with him and wouldn't wait any longer; and so one dark night he and his little band of twenty-two deluded followers surprised and overpowered the guards and took the arsenal and then calmly awaited the uprising of the negroes. But the negroes would not rise. Most of them were attached to their masters and their families and would not join the traitors. They soon came to grief. John Brown was wounded, his son was killed and most of his followers. For forty long years the graves of seven of them have been unmolested, but John Brown's soul, they say, keeps marching on and so it does seem to, with the second and third generations of those who have hated us so long and so bitterly. They sent Brown to Kansas during the dark and bloody days and there he and his followers, among other outrages, called live leading southerners from their beds one dark night and assassinated them. Brown said it was God's will. For twelve years he never lost sight of his chief aim, which was to start an insurrection in Virginia and let it spread all over the south, until every slaveholder was murdered. And this is what the north made a martyr and a demigod of him for.

Our own Robert E. Lee, a United States army officer, officiated at his capture and trial. Jefferson Davis and John M. Mason, of the United States senate, were appointed a committee to make report upon the invasion and declared it of no significance except as showing the animus of the north toward the south.

A friend writes me who wishes to know where he can get a true history of John Brown and his Virginia raid and execution. Nowhere! No southern man has written his history. Three have been written from a northern standpoint by enemies of the south. The fairest account will be found in "Appleton's Biographical Encyclopedia," but even this one, which was written by Higginson, is tainted with the same old animus that justifies everything an abolitionist ever did against the south. It does look like that forty years of time and the freedom of the negroes ought to have mollified our enemies and retired old John Brown and his followers into oblivion, but it has not, and now they are transferring their bones to a more congenial soil and will have grand ceremonies over the burial.

McKinley has been invited, and as two of the seven were negroes, I reckon he will go. Maybe the devil has got them keeping postoffice somewhere in Hell.

BILL ARP.          

Note: (forthcoming)

Historical Sketch of
Mormonism.

Rev. D. J. McMillan, D.D.

Joseph Smith's birth occurred at the time when the Wingate movement was at its height. Ten years later his parents moved to Palmyra, New York. Here Joseph grew up in a home without refinement. His parents were ignorant, indolent and intemperate. He had health and strength, an active mind and a vivid imagination. Being without school advantages he followed his own crude ideas. He was fascinated with the wild romances of Captain Kidd, and with a company of youthful followers he would hunt at night for buried money in the fields about his father's home. He is said to have been of a religious turn of mind and during a revival he was excited very deeply on the subject. His imagination, his superstitions, and his religious excitement combined to create wonderful visions in his untutored mind. He was about fifteen years of age when he began to see visions and dream dreams. These experiences continued through seven years. During four years of this period Joseph was absent from his father's house seeking employment, in various capacities, in Pennsylvania and elsewhere. His movements for two years cannot be definitely traced. But during his absence he was in the employ of Wm. H. Sabine, at whose house the widow of Rev. Solomon Spaulding was making her home. In the garret of the house was stowed away in an old trunk Mr. Spaulding's "Manuscript Found" referred to above, which she had received from the Pittsburg publisher after Mr. Spaulding's death. Soon after Joseph return to his father's home, he was visited by Rigdon from Mentor, Ohio. Whether they had met during Joseph's absence, we do not know. The two doubtless became known to each other through a mutual friend, Mr. Parley P. Pratt, who was a traveling tinker and a preacher of some ability. Mr. Pratt plied his twofold vocation between Palmyra, New York, and Mentor, Ohio. He knew and admired Mr. Rigdon, indeed he was frequently a member of his congregation. After this visit of Mr. Rigdon's, which was early the summer of 1827, Joseph said that he was told in dreams and visions, that he was chosen of the Lord to be a great prophet to restore the Gospel, which had been taken from the world many centuries ago. He went as far as to declare that an angel came into his room at midnight, awoke him and read to him five chapters of the Bible, and afterward took him to a hill which he called Cumorah. The hill is four miles from Palmyra, and is at present the property of Admiral Sampson. There Joseph Smith claimed to have discovered the wonderful plates, and unearthed them by the help the angel. He describes the plates as bound by rings, in the form of a book, concealed in a stone crypt or vault where they had been hidden from the wicked world 1,400 years. The plates, he says, were four inches wide and eight inches long, about the thickness of an ordinary sheet of tin, forming a book six inches thick.


Note: (forthcoming)

Religion

Two men now in Kalamazoo, Mich., assert that Joseph Smith was not the author of the "Book of Mormon," as he is generally supposed to be. They say that the book was written by Rev. Solomon Spaulding, of western New York, who undertook it merely for the purpose of whiling away time. Rev. S. F. Porter, one of the parties to whom reference is made in the foregoing paragraph, is preparing to take an extensive missionary trip through the northwest for the purpose of exposing what he says is an outrageous fraud. He says that the first edition of the "Book of Mormon" was written by Mr. Spaulding as an historical romance. It was a romantic account of the cave dwellers of North America and of wandering tribes formerly in South America. He used the Greek word Mormon to denote the class who went out with horned heads to frighten their enemies. When at Conneaut, O., Mr. Spaulding is said to have opened a mound and found skeletons, and this, according to Mr. Porter, inspired him to write a book. Spaulding sent the manuscript to the firm of Patterson & Lambdin of Pittsburg, but having no money to meet expenses, it was not published. Sidney Rigdom [sic] was a printer employed in the office, and thought so well of the story that after Spaulding's death he got possession of the manuscript and printed it, and it sold well. Then he called in the aid of Joseph Smith, Jr., who was known as a fortune teller and a conjurer.

Smith agreed to become a partner of Rigdom in publishing the book, and pretended to have read it off from metallic plates by means of a magic stone he possessed. Smith improved upon Rigdom's idea, and he said he was inspired to find the plates and how to read them. These were what Smith named later the Golden Bible.

This story is corroborated by Henry Bishop, of Kalamazoo, who relates that William Dicksen told practically the same story. Dicksen also declared that Brigham Young, who became the head of the Mormon church, at one time worked for him.


Notes: (forthcoming)

BOOK  OF MORMON
PROVED  A  FRAUD.
_______

Joseph Smith's Work Traced
to a Manuscript Stolen
from an Ohio Man.
_______

Proof that Joseph Smith's Book of Mormon, the foundation of the Mormon Church, is a fraud is claimed by the Rev. J. E. Mahaffey, of Grantesville, to be in his possession. Dr. Mahaffey is a prominent figure in the South Carolina Methodist Church and has spent ten years in his investigation.

He says he has ascertained that Mormonism is undoubtedly the greatest religious deception that has ever been perpetrated. So adriotly was the fraud carried out that he believes many Mormons of to-day are ignorant of their error.

Mr. Mahaffey says that 2,000 Mormon missionaries are now in the field and that the sect is fast becoming the most formidable element in modern civilization. They hold the balance of power in seven of the United States, are adriotly colonizing in half a dozen others and have a present membership of more than 500,000. In the last year alone they gained 63,000 members in the east.

The age of strange things has not passed away. When Mormonism was first organized and the Book of Mormon circulated in Conneaut, Ohio, many of the friends and acquaintances of Reverend Solomon Spalding affirmed that it was the writings of that gentleman, who had been dead about fourteen years. Attempts were made to secure his writings at that time and compare them with the Book of Mormon, but either through lack of interest by proper persons, or through some trickery of the Mormons, the attempt failed its purpose and rather resulted in a victory for the Mormons.

All of Spalding's writings mysteriously disappeared, and over seventy years have passed away and nothing further of any consequence has been done in this direction. The Mormons have gone on deceiving and being deceived with Joseph Smith's tale of angels and golden plates until to-day they have a membership of nearly 500,000. During the past ten years they have gained 96,982 members. During the last year alone they gained 65,000 members in the East. They now have 2,000 missionaries in the field, and are fast becoming the most formidable element in modern civilization. They hold the balance of power in seven of the United States and are adroitly colonizing in half a dozen others.

But truth is coming to the front at last. The original Spalding manuscript has been found. It was resurrected in Honolulu, Hawaii, our new possession, and is now deposited in the library of Oberlin College, in Ohio, and through the kindness of that institution I have had the loan of it for the purpose of examination and comparison with the Book of Mormon. A careful examination of the two documents shows more than twenty features of perfect identity. Lack of space forbids their appearance here in full, but the following examples briefly stated will give an idea of how they stand. For example:

Both stories pretend to be translations or abridgments of other and more elaborate records found buried in the earth.

Both stories trace the ancestry of the American Indians from the old world, and give tragic accounts of their providential passage across the ocean to the American continent; their settlements; the rise and fall of nations; their political divisions; terrible wars, &c.

Both stories cater to the use of the same transparent stone, through which sights could be seen, hidden treasures translated, &c.

Both stories contain the same account of an army contending in battle, and painting their foreheads red in order to distinguish themselves from their enemies in times of confusing excitement.

Both stories are characterized by the same tale of a "sacred roll," which was believed to have been of divine origin, and which formed the basis of religious beliefs and teaching.

Both stories contain accounts of the discovery of other nations who had preceded them to the American continent, and that some of these other nations were in a savage state, but were soon educated and restored to civilization.

One more important feature is this: "The hieroglyphics of the "plates" described by Joseph Smith are identical with the literary style of a people described in the Spalding Romance. The identity here is perfect in every respect.

These are only a few examples of the many features of identity, some of which are three-fold in detail, and will bear even the closest analytical subdivision -- all proving conclusively that either the Book of Mormon is a plagiarism of the Spalding manuscript, or the manuscript a plagiarism of the Book of Mormon. It is either the one or the other. But as a result of eight years of careful and painstaking work, I have collected abundant reliable proof that Spalding wrote and rewrote his romance on this subject several times between the years 1810 and 1816. Smith says he got in possession of his wonderful document in 1827, and had known where it was for four years previous to that time. The evidence at hand indicates that Smith appropriated a final revision of Spalding's Romance from an old hair-covered, moth-eaten trunk which was left at the residence of Mr. Sabine during Smith's employment at that place as teamster, about the year 1820, and had doubtless known where it was ever since that time.

The evidence also shows that Sidney Rigdon got possession of another copy which had been left in Patterson's printing office in Pittsburg in 1815, and a perfectly plain connection is established between those two gentlemen through the mediation of Parley Parker Pratt, showing how they finally got together and inaugurated their wonderful scheme of deception, which is undoubtedly the greatest religious fraud that has ever been perpetrated.

I wish to say, in conclusion, that I do not believe the Mormons of to-day are aware of their error. I believe they are ignorantly sincere in their beliefs and labors, and nothing I have said or done is to be construed as a refutation on the honesty or sincerity of those who are living up to the light they have. But it is our solemn duty to give them the true story of their delusion and fortify others against being led astray.


Note: See Rev. Mahaffey's 1902 booklet, Proof Positive... for more on his views concerning the origin of the Book of Mormon. The Globe-Democrat's article was partly reprinted and briefly responded to in the pages of the Oct. 15, 1902 issue of RLDS Saints' Herald. There the reviewer remarks, "We fear Mr. Mahaffey is somewhat behind the times... has made several errors in his figures... Our best way is to... pay no attention to such misrepresentations until we are compelled to."

The  National  Anti-Mormon  Association.
________

The Omaha Convention of the Christian Churches saw the birth of a new missionary enterprise that promises to be of great importance to the disciples in the next few years. Ever since the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, in 1830, there has been a constant conflict between the church and the various Mormon organizations. This very naturally grew out of the fact that Sidney Rigdon, and many other Mormon preachers who began their work under his influence, were originally Christians. Their first efforts were directed against a people whom malace and ill will denominated Campbellites, and thus a bent was given to their work in the past 75 years.

Two meetings were held in the North Side Christian Church during the convention. At the first meeting, after an interesting discussion, a committee was appointed to report a plan of organization.On the following day the committee made a report that, with slight modifications, was adopted.

At a meeting of the board, which immediately followed, John T. Bridwell was appointed General Secretary, and it was decided to push the work as fast as the funds would allow.

It is the intention to meet the delusion "by the distribution of Christian literature, by lectures and addresses, by discussions, and by the work of itinerant and other missionaries."


Notes: (forthcoming)

SOME  TIMELY  RELIGIOUS
DISCUSSIONS.
_______

Editor Constitution: The Constitution of Sunday, January 8, contains an article on Mormonism in connection with the Smoot revelations now being conducted at Washington.

Speaking of the authorship of the Book of Mormon, the author says: "It was written by a cracked brain preacher named Solomon Spalding." The facts are that Solomon Spalding had been a clergyman, and failed in business at a place called Cherry Val[ley], in the state of New York. He was a graduate of Dartmouth College. He was distinguished for a lively imagination and a great fondness for history. From Cherry Valley, New York, Mr. Spalding and his wife removed to New Salem, Ashtabula county, Ohio, and here his health so far failed him, that he was laid aside from active labors. In the town of New Salem there were numerous mounds and forts supposed by many to be the dilapidated dwellings and fortifications of a race now extinct.

The North American Indians suggested the idea to Mr. Spalding that they were descendants of the lost ten tribes of Israel, and which afforded a ground work for a religious tale, history or novel. For three years he labored upon this work, which he entitled, "The Manuscript Found." Mormon and his son Moroni who act so large a part in Joseph Smith's Book of Mormon, were two of the principal characters in it.

In 1812 the MS was presented to a printer or book seller, named Patterson, residing at Pittsburg, Pa., with a view to its publication. Before any satisfactory arrangement could be made, the author died and the manuscript remained in the possession of Mr. Patterson apparently unnoticed and uncared for. The printer also died in 1826, having previously lent the manuscript to one Sidney Rigdon, a compositor in his employ. This Rigdon afterwards became next to John [sic - Joseph?] Smith himself, the principal leader of the Mormons. The extreme antiquity of Mr. Spalding's subject led him to write in the most ancient style and as the Old Testament is the most ancient [book] of the world he imitated its style as nearly as possible. His sole object in writing this imaginary history was to amuse himself and his neighbors. The above statement is vouched for by the widow of Solomon Spalding, who afterwards married a Mr. Davison, who also refers to a brother of Solomon, John Spalding, and other members of his family in proof of the origin of the Book of Mormon. The statement, therefore, that the Book of Mormon was "written by a cracked brain preacher" is incorrect, and as a matter of justice and for the sake of history the real facts from authoritative sources should be known. The city of Nauvoo, Ills., was afterwards founded by the Mormons. Dr. Foster and a man named Law commenced the publication, in the city of Nauvoo of a newspaper called The Expositor. In its first number were the affidavits of 16 women, to the effect that Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon [sic] and others, had endeavored to convert them to the "spiritual wife" doctrine, and to seduce them under the plea of having had especial permission from heaven. Joseph Smith, as mayor of Nauvoo, instigated an attack on the office of The Expositor and it was speedily razed to the ground. Foster and Law fled for their lives and took refuge in the town of Carthage.

Joseph Smith and his brother, Hyrum Smith, were arrested and confined in Carthage jail. On the 27th of June, 1844, the Carthage jail was stormed by a mob and both Joseph and Hyrum Smith were shot to death. There is no doubt that the revelation on polygamy or "spiritual [wifery]" led to the excitement and conflicts which culminated in the death of both Joseph Smith and his brother in 1844. It is the same question involved before the United States Senate committee, in the Smoot case, in the year 1905.   C. J. SWIFT.
Columbus, Ga., January 9, 1905.


Notes: (forthcoming)

TRIAL  OF  SMOOT.
_________

Entire Mormon Question Reviewed and the
Mountain Meadows Massacre Described.
_________

FATE  OF  THE  ARKANSAS  COLONISTS
_________

Men, Women and Children Were Butchered by Indians and
Mormons -- The Execution of Lee After Many
Years -- Senator Berry's Remarks.

Staff Correspondence.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 28. -- "I remember them, sixteen of them; little tots, the eldest about 6, as I remember, sitting on a bench in the court room while the man who had brought them from Fort Leavenworth was endeavoring to find their identity by the inspection of the people who were related to or knew their parents, he contributed as much as possible by telling what the Government Agent, who had recovered them from the Mormons, had told him about them. It was the most pathetic sight I have ever witnessed, and though I was a boy it made an impression on me that I will never forget and doubtless the same impression was made on every person who was there that day. Sixteen of them, boys and girls, the oldest not above 7 at least, sitting there mute, fatherless, motherless, looking around on the people and waiting for some one to come forward and take them home."

Thus said Senator Berry of Arkansas.

SOME  MORMON  HISTORY.
_________

Smoot Case Causes People to Refer to the Mountain Meadow Massacre in 1857.
_________

The Smoot case had been mentioned. That brought up the Mormon question. That provoked comments on the life of this religious organization and as life is made up of incidents, that most startling incident of Mormon history, the Mountain Meadow massacre was reached, and there the attention was fixed, as it always is when this bloody page is opened. It is an old, old story. Time has failed to make pale the blood shed there. It is red yet, red and flowing as it did on that day away back in 1857, nearly a half century ago, with all men when they revert to it. A thousand people have told and written about it. The courts, the army officers, the newspapers have all gone over it in its every detail, confusing the actual facts, perhaps, but never the main fact that from the dawn of the world to the present has there been a more pitiably cruel and merciless murder than was committed in the virgin pastures of that mountain meadow on that day.

It might be properly asked why should the scene be reverted to and its horrors brought up again? It were better that it should be forgotten. That is granted. For by remembering we are shocked at man's inhumanity when enraged. By remembering we repeat that curse responsible for what their ancestors did. But with no criticism of the moral precept to forgive, it seems impossible to keep down a story, the mere relation of which chills the forgiving spirit as if it were stricken with death.

Mormon Question Is Up.

Just now the Mormon question is before the people. It is brought there by an effort to prevent a Mormon from retaining his seat in the United States Senate. The main ground in resisting his participation in Senatorial legislation is that he puts his church and its hierarchy above the Constitution, above the Government itself, above and over all things mundane, Naturally, then, the curiosity is aroused as to the character of this religious organization which commands the servitude of men as the Government can not do. Naturally its history becomes interesting. It is run back over as men's minds are made and [won]. Some read it for its novel and sensational features, for it abounds in both. Some read it thoughtfully and moralize over the portrayal of man's tenacity to creed under the most trying ordeals, Some from it cull only evidences of the gullibility of man -- from Sharon, Vermont, where the first prophet, Smith, was born, out through Nauvoo to the Great Salt Lake basin readers go in one way or the other, interested. They go with this band of fanatics, fleeing barbarians and wolves, out where they hoped natural insurmountable obstacles would forever protect them from their own kind: out, out, out that they might follow their own religious bent and worship as they would.

First Prophet an Imposter.

No one is going to dispute the assertion that the first prophet was an Imposter. No one is goIng to deny that those who followed him in authority were and are the same. No one will hush the laugh at the pretention of revelation. But whatever the leaders were and are, the facts will not be disputed that their followers were filled with that religious fervor and zeal that make men freely die for what they think.

The desert had no terrors for them. The savages besetting them on every hand were powerless against those in the hands of The Lord. As he had brought the tribes of Israel from the land of persecution and bondage so in this hour he would be a shield to his people. Men will not endure travail such as these endured unless they are sustained by belief as firm as the granite hills. Faltering in conviction the Mormons would have turned from the bleak wastes before them and been content with the pleasant groves they stood in on the banks of the Missouri that day when they cut themselves from their kind. They were driven forth, as they believed; and when men are driven forth for conscience sake, are united for conscience sake and endure for conscience sake, woe, woe to them who are thought to be responsible for the persecution, if in time the persecuted feel strong enough or safe enough to strike back.

Blow in Revenge.

That this massacre on the Meadows was a blow in revenge there can be no question. That it was indorsed or recommended by the head of the Mormon Church is a matter of dispute which will never be settled. And whether it was committed by a few of the members or the church, in revenge for individual persecution, or at the command of the Mormon hierarchy, in church retaliation, is an important matter now, since, if the latter were the case, it would sustain to some degree at least, the contention of those who oppose Smoot's presence in the Senate, that the hierarchy commands the members of its church to the extent that obedience to that church stands above the obedience to the Government, and that the obligation taken in the Endowment House is above the oath taken in the Senate.

If the priesthood of a church can command and be obeyed in matters political. If it can force men to slaughter the innocent babe, it can force men to sacrifice the Government itself. And it is into this question the Senate is inquiring, and it pauses as all the world has done at Mountain Meadow.

Mormonism Is on Trial.

Strange it is that the bare-footed boy who was in the court room in Carroll County, Ark. nearly fifty years ago, looking sympathetically at those sixteen motherless and fatherless infants on the wooden bench, should now be in the Senate of the United States when to some extent Mormonism is on trial, when the question is to be decided as to whether Mormonism, following fully its bent, unrestrained by law, should participate in the Government of this country. Probably it is not strange that he is unable to rub away from memory's plate the little faces, nor shut out the sight of the tears of the people over those innocent relics of all that remained of their neighbors and of their kith and kind who had left them for a new land so short a time ago.

I knew many of the people who were in the expedition. It formed in the county I lived in, Carroll County, Ark. They were a good, substantial people and well-to-do farmers. There were about 100 in all, men, women and children. The party was made up of relatives, neighbors and acquaintances, and it possessed good ox teams, horses, mules and many cattle. A man by the name of Baker was selected as the captain I remember him and the Mitchells and Dunlaps I now call to mind. Baker stopped with us one night and I especially remember him. Of course the departure of such a number of citizens from the county created great interest and the people assembled to bid them good-bye and see them off. They left in the spring. Along in the fall the report came that the caravan had been murdered by the Indians. Later on Col. Mitchell, father of the Mitchell boys, went to Leavenworth and returned with the sixteen little children.

Children Made Orphans.

Then it was that the story became current that the train had been attacked and the people slain by the Mormons. One of the little boys was Fancher's boy. The children were scattered around among relatives. About fifteen years ago I was at a fair in Arkansas where a prize was offered for the prettiest child. It was won by a baby of one of the little girls who sat on the bench that day when Capt. Mitchell explained about the recovery of the children from the Mormons by the Government, and he and the community endeavored to identify them that they might be given to the relatives of those who had been murdered at Mountain Meadow. Some of the children, now respectable citizens, live in Arkansas and in the same county from whence their parents went to their doom.

It was in 1830 that the book of Mormon was published. Soon after that time, as Hiram Smith, the brother of Joseph Smith, the founder of the church, was driving the milch cows of his father's home in the evening, he was accosted by a boy of about 23, and whom the Mormons say was a marvel of masculine beauty. He inquired of Hiram for Joseph Smith, the translator of the book of Mormon, and being told that he was away, he said that he had secured the book and from the moment he had taken it up he could neither part from it nor take his mind from it. He said that he knew the book was true and that the spirit of the Lord had directed him thither. He was taken to the house. He was found to be a young enthusiast and deeply religious. The Bible had been his constant study, and he preached religion as he understood it, but could not adhere to creed. In fact, he was an enthusiast in whose mind religion ran riot. He went forward, but he followed no path. He needed a method, a creed. The incoherent mystical book of Mormon appealed to, captivated a mind and spirit like his. He left the Smith home for a day or two and returned to be baptized. Then he began to preach as a Mormon. He was effective, for he was a new convert he was enthusiastic and he was eloquent.

Converted Whole Families.

He converted whole families to Mormonism and even his brother, Orson, who also became a preacher. He was a leader at once and a leader beloved. This was Parley P. Pratt. Till he died there was none among all the hosts more zealous, more indomitable, more persistent than he. He preached in foreign countries, and he underwent scoffing and persecution that his church might grow in numbers and power. Time did not abate her enthusiasm. He believed at the last and believed as fervently as he did the evening he met Hiram Smith driving his cows home.

In the search for converts he visited California. There he met a family by the name of McLean. It consisted of a man and his wife and two children. McLean was a native of New Orleans, but seems to have been a Government official in California when Pratt appeared on the scene. Anyhow, the woman became infatuated with the Mormon St. Just. There was a quarrel in the family. Pratt is said to have been thrown out of the house by the husband and from this time on confusion as to the facts exists. Enough is known, however, to show that Mrs. McLean was with Pratt in an emigrant train of Mormons at Van Buren, Ark., when McLean who was in pursuit of the wife, who had the two children came. Pratt was arrested for abducting the children. The courts discharged him and he was advised to flee.

Pratt Is Killed.

This he did, but McLean overtook him, cut him down with a Bowie knife and then rode away to appear no more in the annals of the stories written of the Mountain Meadow massacre. Pratt was the most attractive of all the Mormon leaders who had so far appeared. He had made more converts than all the rest. He had endured without wincing that martyrdom to which the apostles of the new movement had been subjected. Hence, when he fell a shriek of sorrow and rage went up from the Mormon hosts.

Joseph Smith had been killed. His followers had been despoiled of their property and driven forth from civilization, but perhaps none of these things affected the Mormon people as did this murder of their favorite priest.

There can possibly be no denial of the fact that the Arkansas people did not give Pratt protection. There can be no denial of the fact that McLean was permitted to go free. The sympathy was with him whose home had been despoiled and whose children had been abducted by a religious cheat. Besides, the hand of man was against the church. In Illinois and Missouri it had stricken it and here in Arkansas it was raised against it.

As has been said, McLean was a native of New Orleans and lived in California. But he had laid low the best beloved of the Mormon leaders in Arkansas, and the Arkansas people had sympathized with him. From that moment Arkansans and all of Arkansas were hated. The name was mentioned in imprecation at the Mormon fireside. It was cursed in the Mormon temples.

Colony from Arkansas.

No finer type of thrifty, sturdy American manhood could be imagined than that which composed the emigrant train which started overland to California from Carroll County, Arkansas in the early spring of 1857. The best people of the country made a part of it, with their portable property and their herds. The stock was fat. The wagons were new. Even buggies were in the caravan, in which the women and children rode, and bidding farewell to those with whom they had always lived, the long progression wound its way West. A community was traveling. Neighbors were neighbors still, and doubtless life was about as life was at home in Carroll. It was only when the caravan reached the Mormon settlements that any seriousness beset the travel. The emigrants noticed that they were scowled upon. If they offered to buy they were refused or sold grudgingly. They found It difficult to even secure the grinding of meal for their bread. It became evident that they were among an inhospitable people, if not among actual enemies. They had, according to the records, "one hundred and fifty men who could be depended on" if matters came to the worst. This statement made by them indicates that they thought that maybe "the worst" would come. They were prepared to fight the savages along their route, but they had not expected enemies in their own race.

When they arrived at Salt Lake City, their reception was of the kind that made them stay short. They were advised to take the northern route across the mountains by a Mormon elder, but being a Southern people, they preferred a southern route. This advice is alluded to by the Mormons, probably to show that if the church contemplated the assassination of the train its elders would have suggested the southern route, where the deed could be done, as it was done, without the perpetrators being run to earth for many years.

Through Mormon Towns.

The route adopted carried the emigrants through the towns of Provo, Springfield, Payson, Fillmore, all Mormon towns, and through Mormon ranches and by Mormon farms, because until now none but Mormons had penetrated this wilderness. Mountain Meadow is 300 miles south of Salt Lake City. The train's movements were known well before it had arrived there. They were known to the western confines of the Mormon world soon after it reached the eastern confines of that world. For just about this time the Federal Government, for many reasons which space will not permit a recital of, had determined to take in hand the presumptuous attempt of the establishment of an independent Government within the Government's border.

There had been bickerings between the Utah Government and the Government at Washington. Brigham Young had even gone to the extent of threatening. He is credited with declaring that he "would turn the Indians loose on the emigrants." Following this emigrant train was Col. Alexander with two regiments of troops who were proceeding to Utah to see that the laws of the United States were obeyed. The Mormon communities were excited by their coming, for their coming was a threat. About the same time a revival sprang up among the hosts, doubtless caused by the leaders to fire the jealousy of the people.

Religious Fanaticism Formed.

So, with the religious fanaticism fanned into flame by the revival, anger excited by the advent of the soldiers and hate blown to a consuming heat by the presence of people whom the Mormons connected with the murder of their best beloved leader, it can be easily understood that not much was required to bring on the shedding of blood. It is safe to say that the Mormons were sleepless under the circumstances. That sleeplessness would advise them of every movement of their enemies. More than this, that sleeplessness would draw their nenes and imaginations to a point where they would be susceptible to influence that might have been ineffective under normal conditions,

The Mormons had at the outset of their career in the far West made terms of amity with the red men. Indeed, the tenor of the Book of Mormon is that after the confusion of tongues at the Tower of Babel one colony of people was led by the Lord across the sea to America and that the remnant of this colony is the Indians and that the Mormons preach and practice the religion of the Towerr Babel Indians, so to speak. Whether through religious teaching or through other influence, the Mormons were enabled to live in peace with the red men and moreover to control them to a degree never before exercised by the whites. This is a necessary explanation to what follows.

The train went southwest from Salt Lake City in the early fall. It proceeded slowly because the emigrants were careful of their stock. They wanted a place for recuperation and rest for their beasts before they entered the last and possibly worst stage of their journey. They were advised that at Mountain Meadows they could find plenty of grass for their stock and there a great spring bursts from the ground and empties into a large stream, thus insuring plenty of water.

Party Strikes Camp.

At this point on Sept. 5, 1857, midway between two hills about fifty feet high and four hundred yards apart, the travel-worn people cast their camp. There was grass as promised. With the exception of a small ranch house four miles up the valley and owned by a Mormon named Hamblin, no other human was nigh. It was a virgin land. The ranches had not enough cattle to despoil it. The wild animals stood about in docility. The water was pure and filled with fish. Surely it was a restful place, a place without stain.

As stated, the Mormons were influential with the Indians. Indeed, they controlled them. They had assumed the task of teaching them to labor and one John Doyle Lee, a shifty man and a leader, was selected as the chief instructor under the title of the "Indian Tamer." What progress he made is immaterial here. Enough is said when the statement is made that he had what might be termed a dominating influence over them. He spoke their language. He was a man of strong will and he had courage, as he proved in the last hours of his life. No man in the church, if we are to conclude from the facts developed as to his life, was more devoted than he to its tenets -- none more zealous or bigoted in regard to it. They call him now the chief "destroying angel" of the church, and if he was that, I conclude that he was so, not because of any particular bloodthirstiness or natural cruel disposition, but to the fact that he was fanatical in his devotion to his church, considered its welfare above all things and considered the extinguishment of its enemies as duty to God.

Nothing so complimentary to him as this have never found in tradition or in history, because his very name is abhorred. But it must be admitted that in the deed with which his name is locked in [infamy], nowhere can it be shown that he was benefited individually more than others engaged with him in the affair, and the booty left from the massacre was not in itself great enough to warrant the commission of so great a crime even among those who murder for spoils.

When the emigrants unyoked their oxen and turned them loose in the valley their presence was known throughout the Mormon settlements, as has been stated. The scowls which had greeted in their route through Utah were threats when their backs were turned. As they progressed the hate to them grew.

Ridiculed the Church.

Doubtless the news went before them that they were the very people who had slain the leader, Pratt. Confident in their strength they did nothing to allay the feeling against them, but the Mormons say they conducted themselves badly in Mormon communities. They ridiculed the Mormon Church by naming their oxen Brigham Young, Parley Pratt and the like. Some of them resisted arrest in one of the towns through which they passed, they having been guilty of disorderly conduct. In some cases when the Mormons refused to sell to them, they took.

When they camped as stated, no body of emigrants that had ever passed through Utah had such a bad name as they. Among the reports that was circulated against them was one that they poisoned springs as they passed along. The Indians were told this and believed it. Particular cases were quoted where Indians had died from water poisoned by the emigrants. In one case the Indians declared that some of their people had died from eating a beef the travelers had killed, poisoned and left behind. Naturally the stories grew in number and in murderous detail.

The anti-Mormons have persisted in the contention that these stories, wholly unfounded, were originated and spread by the Mormons among the Indians over whom they had so great an influence.

The facts as they have come to light sIowly from that tIme warrant the conclusion that this contention was well founded. That there was a conspiracy to kill the emigrants when they reached Mountain Meadow is no longer seriously denied by even the Mormon Church itself. It contents itself with the declaration that this was a conspiracy of individuals who were Mormons, but not a conspiracy of the church, as reported by the hierarchy. If there was a conspiracy of either individuals or the church, it was wholly natural that the spring poisoning stories and matters of that kind should have been circulated to justify to some degree the crime that was to come. So, by the influence of the stories, by the time the emigrants reached the spot from which they were to depart no more, every white and red man in Utah was an enemy and crying to vengeance on them.

A description of the camp formed by the emigrants is given in an relation of the affairs, but it is enough to say that it was near a river and a spring, but not near enough to be able to procure water if interference occurred. The doomed people had confidence in their strength to repel any enemy and were careless. Had they been experienced in life on the plains or in war, the massacre would never have occurred. But they were merely farmers, courageous enough and on that courage depending. They camped on Saturday evening and turned their oxen out to graze with the herds they had brought along. How they spent the Sunday might be of interest, but there was none left to tell. But sure it was that on other Sabbath days they met in their church tent and listened to and participated in religious ceremonies. For these were the plain, honest and reverential common folk of that day.

Party Is Fired Into.

In the dawn-dusk of Monday morning, as the men were standing around the fire in groups, they were fired into. The records say that about fifteen of them fell, many to rise no more. It was the expression at last of what was hidden under that scowl which had lowered on them in the Mormon land. Each member of the band knew and at once rushed to defense. The wagons were hurriedly dragged into a corral barricade, with the women and children inside. Picks and shovels were resorted to, to throw up breastworks and dig a trench, into which those who could not bear arms could come.

The assailants, with a deliberation and plan which more than all else fixes the crime on the whites, withdrew to the hills. from which they could annoy the besieged and prevent them from obtaining water. They, too, threw up breastworks close enough to guard the water, and with this done proceeded to let the thirst of the entrapped victims do the rest.

For four days the siege lasted. Now and then one of the emigrants would dash with a bucket to the water, more often to be killed than to return with it.

On the fourth day a wagon with a company of the Nauvoo legion, composed of Mormons, was observed coming along the trail the emigrants had come. When it got close enough one of the legion hoisted a white flag, and in response a little girl, dressed in white, was sent out to greet the newcomers. A parley ensued and Lee, who had been camped with Mormons and Indians several miles away during the four days' siege of the emigrants, spoke for the Mormons. He declared the attack was made by the Indians, whom he believed he could induce to desist if the emigrants would give up their guns and leave the country.

Stock Is Stampeded

In the attack on Monday morning all the stock had been stampeded. This made the wagons useless.

Without being able to obtain water, with no hope of succor from any point, the terms looked as the best that could be secured by some of the poor people. But there were a few who suspected the ruse of the Mormons and who insisted that to give up their guns was to give up life. But they were overruled, and the terms were arranged. The whole membership of the train who could walk were to proceed to the ranch of Hamblin. The wounded were to be carried in the wagons. The women were to go ahead by themselves, while the men were to march in the rear, in single file, with a Nauvoo militiaman at his side.

In compliance with this program the march began. About a mile from the camp was some scrub oaks. When the women reached this the Indians arose from it and began their slaughter with guns, bows and tomahawks. The men in the rear, about 250 yards, were given but one glance at the massacre of their wives and children. That glance was followed by a fusillade from those who pretended to protect them. The Nauvoo murderers and the Lee contingent turned on them and. they all fell in a brief period at time.

Only Three Escape.

Three alone escaped and the testimony shows that each was followed and done to death. The death of the men was merciful to that of the women and children. The latter, as has been said, were left to the mercies of the Indians. The latter had no or few guns. They killed with tomahawks, with knives, with stones. The agony of dying was protracted for them. One little girl about 14. with the speed of a frightened fawn, fled back to where her father was. Her brains were dashed out as she reached him dying on the ground.

Two other girls fled up a hill and were captured by an Indian who could not kill them. The next day he brought them to Lee, with the inquiry what should be done to them. The answer was, "Kill them. They are too old to live." "But they are pretty," said the savage. "Kill them, I say!" was the answer of the white and greater savage. One of the girls begged for her life. She said she would be his slave and she would be good and work. He seized her by the hair and, baring her white throat, cut it till the head was nearly severed. The Indians killed the other.

Babies were taken from their dead mothers and their heads crushed with stones, and the gasps of the dying were hushed by finishing blows where it was found that the murderous work had not been well done. It required hours to complete the massacre of the weak, where only minutes were required to finish that of the strong,

Scene at Night.

It was night when the deed, the equal of which in atrocity the world had rarely known, was done. The stars, the strict lamps of the city of God, as Carlisle calls them, shone down on the awfulest scene that the earth had been borne. Even the savage, now satiated with blood, withdrew. The wolves carne forth from their hiding places and, according to the chronicles, tore the tender and the aged limbs.

That night a wagon drove up to the houses of Ranchman Hamblin. He was away. His wife had heard the firing of guns at the camp. She had seen the Indians pass and repass and they had assured her of safety, though they told her of the battle, of their determination to exterminate the emigrants. She was cold and indifferent to it all, because she was a Mormon and had the hate in her.

Lee drove the wagon. In it were the sixteen children whom Senator Berry saw on the hard bench in the Carroll County court house. Lee said he was distributing them among the people to raise. Among them were three little ones -- one six, one four, one one year old. The last had been shot at its mother's breast and its little arm dangled at its side. The six year old child and the other two were his brother and sister, and he wanted to stay with them.

The mother's heart, Mormon fanatic as it was, softened. She had heard the sounds of death at the camp. She knew what it meant, but she was hard. But now she softened. "Leave the three with me, because it would be so cruel to part them." And Lee went on with the rest of his responsibilities, the saddest and most pathetic caravan that ever traveled. The infants were distributed among the Mormons and were afterward recovered from them by the Government and returned to Arkansas, there to be placed in the care of such relatives as they possessed in that state.

Mormons Are AIarmed.

Considering the remoteness of the scene of blood, it is surprising that the news of it traveled as fast as it did. But the very earth seemed to shudder under it and the world thereby incomprehensibly informed. The Mormons were the first to take the alarm, and they began to huddle in the defense that the Indians had committed the crime. They hoped much from this defense, for they had slaughtered all who could tell. The three men who escaped were hunted far into the desert. Two were caught and silenced forever. The third was overtaken 150 miles from Mountain Meadows. He had fled, with death at his heels. Without food and without the means of obtaining it, he staggered on till his mind gave way. His pursuers overtook him; two "avenging angels," and they relieved him of his existence. These are the facts which came out in the investigation of the affair years after and in the trial of Lee. The Indians testified. Mormons who hoped for immunity testified, and thus the sickening details of a great conspiracy by Mormons, if not by the Mormon Church, to do to the death of men, women and children were laid bare.

The country demanded punishment for the criminals. Lee was the arch one. According to his confession, afterward made, he had acted under the instructions of the church, and that to be sure he was thus acting he sent a messenger to Brigham Young, in Salt Lake City, 300 miles away, asking him if the deed should be done and was answered In the affirmative. The Mormons resisted for years the effort to bring the criminals to justice. The Federal Courts had been established, but the charges of the occupants of the bench to the Grand Juries to look into the massacre were ignored.

But the bloodshed in 1857 cried out for vengeance through the years and years till 1873 it was heard. That year an indictment was presented against John D. Lee, Wm. H. Dame, lsaac Haight, John M. Higbee, Philip Klingensmith and others. The trial took place at Beaver City in July.

Lee Makes Confession.

Lee made a confession, giving all the details of the conspiracy to commit the crime, and declaring that it had been determined on the manner at its execution agreed on long before the emigrants reached the place where they were exterminated. But while he connected individuals with the crime, he refused to connect the church with it: it was refused as the price of his acquittal.

When the trial on this occasion came on the jury failed to agree, there being eight Mormons on it. A new trial was had in the succeeding year. Brigham Young and the heads or the church had repudiated the prisoner. His fate was sealed then, for the protecting hand of the church was withdrawn from him. He was convicted and sentenced to death.

In 1859 a special report was called for from Major J. H. Carleton of the United States Army on the massacre, he being in the Territory with the Government troops. From that report much of the above is gleaned. He went to the scene of the horror. The breastworks thrown up by the emigrants were still there, and hanging on the scrub oak where the women and children were killed were tatters of women and children's apparel, as it had been torn from them on that day.

Bones Gnawed by Wolves.

He says, "Women's hair, in detached locks and in masses, hung to the sage bushes and was strewn over the ground in many places." He testifies that he collected the bones, long since denuded of all flesh by the wolves, and now glistening white from the sun and rain. He calculated from the bones that there were killed on the spot 120 men, women and children. But this calculation was wholly from the bones that he buried.

Though he visited the scene nearly two years after the massacre there was enough evidences of it to chill his blood. This is evidenced by the bitterness that pervades the report. He gathered the bones, many broken and gnawed by the teeth of wolves, and placed them in a grave. Around and over it he erected a monument of loose stones, fifty feet in circumference at the base and twelve feet high. On the top of this he erected a cross of red cedar wood and in this cross he deeply carved: "Vengeance is mine; I will repay it, saith the Lord."

That was in 1859. In March, 1876 ambulances came along the same road traveled by the emigrants nearly twenty years ago. Armed men alighted from them and from one of them stepped a man dressed in citizen's clothes. It was John D. Lee and his escort had brought him to kill him by the law as he had killed outside the law long ago. The grass was withered. Desolation was about the spot. A withering hand seemed to have been laid on the fair land. He asked that his body might not be mutilated by the shots, since he had ejected to die by the gun. The boulder monument stood in front of him and above stood the cross. The rain and sun, the heat and the cold had beaten on it for twenty years. The red cedar was roughened by the hard hand of time, but legible to the man as he stood on the brink of the grave was the truth deep sunk in the wood and withstanding all, as truth alone withstands: "Vengeance is mine; I will repay it, saith the Lord." W. G. S.


Notes: (forthcoming)

DADDY  OF  THE  MORMONS.
________

Allen, Kansas, Jan. 31, '05.        

Dear Blade.

As you need a little wood to fire up, this cold weather, I herewith send my $1.00.

Also I want to correct Mr. Moore in regard to the author of the Mormon Bible. Solomon Spaulding, a Presbyterian minister living in the Western part of Pennsylvania, wrote the manuscript describing the two (I think ten, editor) lost tribes of Israel, took them to the printing press at Pittsburg, where Sidney Rigdon was editor.

Spalding died before the Campbellite preacher appropriated them to his own use.

He and Smith started the Mormon church at Palmyra, New York.

Your paper is doing good work... I will be 78 years old in next month.

I was raised in eastern Ohio, by Campbellite parents and I know something about the Mormons. -- William R. Hatcher.

---

I am obliged to you, my dear old brother, and have no doubt you are right. Ever since about 1860, I had thought that Sidney Rigdon, a Campbellite preacher wrote the Mormon Bible, one winter when he was sick.

It is much more probable that some educated Presbyterian preacher would write the Mormon Bible, and that some Campbellite preacher, like Wilkinson, would steal it.


Notes: (forthcoming)

MOUNTAIN  MEADOWS.
________

Story of the Massacre Retold by Capt. Walter Bradshaw in
Memphis Commercial Appeal.
________

How Capt. James Lynch Rescued the Survivors
and Became a Hero of War and Romance.
________

All the old generation of American people now living may remember the terrible massacre of immigrants by the Mormons in the year 1857, known in history as the Mountain Meadows Massacre. How the ground around the camps of Western immigrants was strewn thick with the slain, men, women, children, whose ghastly remains continued to bleach the ground for weeks after that terrible catastrophe. You may remember the accounts of search parties sent out by the frontier commanders to recover possession of the 17 small children who were suffered to survive the terrible slaughter that they might be retained for ransom, but few are given to know the real story of their final rescue or who it was that accomplished such a daring strategy; and that the hero is yet living in the beautiful sunny Southland, the land of flowers, Sunshine and heroes. Let us give a brief account of the rescuer.

Capt. James Lynch was born in the early part of the nineteenth century in Brooklyn, N. Y., from whence he drifted, when a small boy, having been thrown on his own resources by the death of his parents, to New Orleans, where he afterwards took service in the United States Army. He did frontier service as a soldier scout until the breaking out of the Mexican war, when he was made part of Gen. Taylor's invading army. He fought Gallantly in all the battles of the famous Taylor campaign until it was ended and then he was sent with a small reinforcement under Robert E. Lee, who was then a young Captain of engineering, to help Gen. Scott in his advance upon the Mexican capital, In this campaign James Lynch was 3 times mentioned for bravery and gallant service. From Mexico he was brought back to New Orleans and discharged. From there he went to Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where he joined an expedition against some lawless Mormons in the West. With this expedition the adventurer was placed in a responsible position in the commissary department, which position he held till the continual failure of the soldiers to rescue the orphaned children held in a Mormon settlement in the mountains so thoroughly disgusted him that he resigned his post and obtained permission from the post commander to organize a relief expedition on his own account and attempt the rescue of the suffering children.

The bold captain enlisted fifty-one volunteers whom he infected with his own spirit to succeed or die in the attempt.

The repeated attempts of the soldiers to recover possession of the children had caused the Mormon commander to confine them within the walls of a fort, Lynch selected thirteen of those whom he knew he could thoroughly rely upon. These men, with himself, he disguised as immigrants going toward the far West country. He took his small party to the mountain fort and admittance for himself alone. When inside the bold strategist represented to the inmates that his party of immigrants were in dire distress on account of a serious break in a wagon of theirs. The commander gave his permission to bring the broken vehicle inside their shop to have it mended. This required the combined strength of the entire party to drag the old wagon into the enclosure. They were visited immediately by the ruling bishop. They were no sooner in his presence than Capt. Lynch gave a sign to his men, who drew their guns and in an unmistakable voice demanded of the bishop the immediate surrender of the bondaged children or his life would then and there be forfeit. The bishop had no alternative but to comply which he did reluctantly enough. The daring adventurers secured fifteen of the children in the fort, picked up the other two ar a near-by ranch and hastened away to their comrades, who had waited impatiently. The gentlemen found the children dirty, nearly naked and almost starved. The soldiers parted with their own garments to make clothes for the little sufferers, washed them and fed them on the bank of a near-by creek. Soon as possible the rescuing party began their return trip with their little charges. The youngest of the rescued children was little Sarah Dunlap, who was onlv 2 years old, the others ranging from 3 to 10. Several of them had been seriously wounded by the attacking party during the massacre of their parents. The fatal bullet that searched out the life of her mother shattered the arm of little Sarah Dunlap and her eyesight was also destroyed. The party of rescued and rescuers arrived in Salt Lake City, where Captain Lynch turned over his charges to the government authorities. The parting of the children from their brave leader was touching indeed. They clung to him with heart rending cries and weepings. Had he not been father, mother, all to them?

The little orphans were restored to their relatives in Northern Arkansas, where their parents had lived before their ill- fated Western journey. The murdered were of the best families of North Arkansas and started with their property for the gold fields of the West. Many of them had considerable property with them, all of which fell into the hands of the attacking party. It is known to historians that the Mormon elders tried to shift the responsibility of this heinous slaughter to the Pau [sic – Piute?] Indians, but unsuccessfully as it terminated.

Soon after the rescue of the children, war between the states began and the affair was never given proper attention. Capt. Lynch refused to raise his arm against his fellow countrymen, and the next time the public heard of him he was in South America doing mining and assay work as an expert. Here he organized a large company of which he was president and prospered. He returned to the United States on a visit thirty-two years after his daring rescue of the orphans. He visited Carroll county, and was greeted as a returned father by his charges who had grown to womanhood and most of them married and doing nicely. Little Sarah Dunlap had been educated at the school for the blind at Little Rock, and was a cultured lady of 34 years. In a short time after the reunion, she and her hero were married and their union was a very happy one, although no children were born to them.

The citizens of Boone county offered Capt. Lynch a splendid home among them, but the old hero indignantly refused it, telling the would-be donors to give it to some of his charges instead. Capt. Lynch and his blind but most excellent wife, soon moved to Southern Arkansas and made their home at Woodberry, a small school town, but soon they moved to Hampton, Calhoun county, where the old hero still makes his home and where his much loved wife died in 1902. In the cemetery at Hampton the captain erected a nice monument to the memory of her whom he loved so well, saving a place for his own remains to be laid beside her.

The Lynch monument bears:

Sarah E. Lynch

Wife of
James Lynch
She was a survivor of the
Mountain Meadows Massacre.

Capt. Lynch refused to leave his wife's grave and the good people of Hampton to live at the soldier's home provided for him. He lives yet at Hampton well respected, gallant and yet fearless. Although 84 years of age he is hearty and rarely ever complains of indisposition. His mind is clear and he remembers well all his former officers and their names. To hear him tell of his travels and adventures is more interesting than to read the accounts of startling adventures. He delights to recount his experience to young people. His eye yet kindles at deeds of daring, and his hand takes a firmer hold on the staff. He is an ardent sympathizer of the Japanese having a personal grudge against the Russians incurred during his European travels. The old hero is one of the most interesting characters of the South,, and strangers never visit his locality without a conversation with him.

The other Dunlap orphan married a Mr. Evans and lives in Bradley county, Arkansas. The other fifteen are living happily in North Arkansas, seemingly none the worse for the mishap of years agone, but they never forget their heroic foster parent, the brave, daring and noble Capt. James Lynch. All those who will take the trouble to look up the Mountain Meadow affair in history and in the government records at Washington, will learn many interesting things of Capt. James Lynch.


Note: News clipping courtesy of Erin Jennings.

A  PULSE  FEELER.
_______

This sheet is sent out to feel the public pulse especially on the question of a real live 50-cent monthly paper, devoted to Mountain Missions and Mormon Elders.

It will be follower in the near future with another containing a cut of "The Kinderhook Plates" and my debate over them. Also an article on Joseph Smith, jr., as a Banker, and a cut of one of his Kirtland Bank Notes.

This sheet will be the very thing to scatter in Mormon camps. They will be sent out at the rate of $2 per 100. Single sheet 5c. Roll in your orders promptly. Address"
                  R. B. NEAL, Grayson, Ky.

---

Prospectus.

Every Association, no matter for what purpose banded, needs an official organ to defend its plea and to press the claims of its mission.

When The Helper was merged into The Christian Weekly, we had no other thought than that The Weekly would be permanent, and rejoiced over the idea of an increased power for good.

When "The Weekly" was merged into The Christian Standard, over which move we had no control, the strong right arm of our Anti-Mormon work was broken.

But there is no time to sit down in ashes, covered with sack-cloth, and mourn over the past or "what might have been." The demand is on us to revive

THE  HELPER.

This we propose to do on certain conditions. It will be a monthly -- eight pages. Each number will contain a tract article, meeting livest issues. That the publisher may RUN the paper and not be run by it, he must have 500 ADVANCE SUBSCRIBERS 500.

The subscription price will be 50 cents per year, and the aim will be to make each issue worth a year's cost...

The  Mormon-Christian  War.
By R. B. Neal, Grayson, Ky.
_________

The importance of this issue is presented, and the value of the facts given in this article, ought to, and surely will win for it a place in every paper whose editor favors suppressing error and spreading truth.

More, it ought to gain a gift from every reader who loves truth to aid in putting it in tract form for free distribution in every Mormon home.

APOSTLE  OLIVER  COWDERY.

We permit this distinguished Mormon to introduce himself to our readers. Hear what he says:

I wrote with my own pen the entire Book of Mormon (save a few pages) as it fell from the lips of the Prophet Joseph Smith as he translated it by the gift and power of God, by the means of the Urim and Thummim, or, as it is called by that book, 'Holy Interpreters.' I beheld with my eyes, and handled with my hands, the gold plates from which it was translated. I also saw with my eyes and handled with my hands the 'Holy Interpreters.' That book is true.

The holy Priesthood is here. I was present with Joseph when an holy angel from God came down from Heaven and conferred on us, or restored, the lesser or Aaronic Priesthood, and said to us, at the same time, that it should remain upon the earth while the earth stands. I was also present with Joseph when the higher or Melchizedek Priesthood was conferred by the holy angel from on high. This Priesthood we then conferred on each other by the will and commandment of God. This priesthood, as was then declared, is also to remain upon the earth until the last remnant of time.

Oliver Cowdery was the first person baptized into the Mormon Church. Joseph Smith, the Prophet, baptized him and he then baptized Joseph. He is one of the Three Witnesses whose names go out with every Book of Mormon to prove its divinity. He was nearer to Joseph Smith in this work of planting Mormonism than John the beloved, was to the Savior when the Lord's supper was instituted. He was the Second Elder, Joseph was the First Elder and both were equal in power in the Priesthoods

These young Elders of Mormonism who to-day are traveling two and two all over the earth, trace their authority to preach, baptize and "lay on hands" back to Oliver Cowdery, equally with Joseph Smith. How important it is that they should be posted on the facts presented in this article. The right conclusion would force itself upon their minds.

THE  ISSUE  PRESENTED.

Query. Did Oliver Cowdery renounce Mormonism and join the Methodist Protestant Church at Tiffin, Ohio?

I affirm that he did. To prove that he joined that church, or any other, is to prove that he renounced the "Ism" that he, as the "right hand man" of Joseph Smith helped to found.

Every Mormon Editor and Elder denies it. They have to deny it, and maintain the denial, or lose their cause.

I sent this affirmation into all their camps in my Tract No. 9. It caused consternation and quite a commotion. The Reorganized Church" sent out its best henchmen to persons and places I had mentioned in hope of gathering information that would confute my statements...

(under construction)

Note 1: When the Rev. Robert B. Neal was finally able to revive the defunct Helper periodical, he gave the reconstituted paper a new name: The Sword of Laban. The first issue appeared in August 1908, nearly a full year after he first printed his "Prospectus" in the Grayson Tribune. The name was not a new one; Neal had been using it for several months as the title for his series of anti-Mormon leaflets. He intended his various articles to be used like Laban's sword was used in the Book of Mormon -- to cut off the head of its original owner. In a like manner, Neal attempted to quote the Mormons and ex-Mormons of the past, in order to destroy the LDS Church of his own day. Although Neal may have enjoyed an occasional success, here and there, he was ineffective in halting the growth of the Latter Day Saint congregations in Kentucky and in the world.

Note 2: Besides writing anti-Mormon copy for the Grayson Tribune, R. B. Neal also prepared similar articles and advertisements for the Carter County Bugle, which later became the Bugle-Herald of Grayson, Kentucky. Neal evidently made use of the presses of both of these journalistic establishments in publishing some of his tracts and papers.