... Some two hundred Mormons left our city yesterday on the steamer Statesman for Council Bluffs, where they will, we learn, proceed immediately to Salt Lake. ...

Notes: (forthcoming)

For the Republican

Destruction of the Temple at Nauvoo, on the 27th of May, 1850, by a Storm.

The Temple of Nauvoo, erected by the Mormons, finished in 1845, partially burnt in October, 1848, having but its four walls left -- all its timber works having been consumed by the flames -- was destroyed by a hurricane on the 27th ult.

On arriving at Nauvoo, in March, 1849, the Icarian Community bought this Temple with a view to refit it for schools, its studying and meeting halls, for a refectory capable of containing about one thousand persons, &c.

Many preparations were already made. An agent had been sent to the pine forests of the North to buy timbers of dimensions necessary for re-establishing the roof and floors. Some other pieces of wod were ready; a steam mill was purchased to fit up a saw mill; the saw mill was nearly finished; a vast shed was raising near the Temple, to shelter the carpenters; the masons were laying in the interior the bases of the pillars when, on the 27th of May, a frightful hurricane, the most terrible experienced in the country in many years, burst suddenly on the hill of Nauvoo, where lightnings, thunder, wind, hail and rain, seemed united to assail the building.

The stirm burst forth so quickly, and with such violence, that the masons, overtaken unawares in the Temple, had not time enough to flee before the northern wall, sixty feet high, bent down over their heads, threatening to crush them and bury them up.

"Friends," cried out the foreman, "we are all lost!" and indeed their loss appeared to be certain, for the southern and eastern walls, which had always been looked upon as the weakest, now shaken by the fall of the former, seemed on the point of tumbling on them. But the running rubbish of the northern wall stopped at their feet. Now rushing out of the ruins, in the midst of a cloud of dust, hail and rain, wrapped up in lightnings, thunder, and a furious blast of wind, expecting every moment to hear the two walls give way upon them, they succeeded in getting out, astonished at seeing those walls still standing, and frightened at the danger from which they had just emerged.

The same blast that overthrew the wall of the Temple, and sensibly dislocated and inclined the two others, took up and carried off the roof of the old school, when the walls, falling on the floor beneath, broke down the beams, and threatened injury to six Icarian women who were working below.

The creek, on the bank of which the wash-house of the Community is situated, was so quickly transformed into an impetuous torrent, that the house was almost instantaneously filled with water, and fifteen Icarian women, then washing there, were compelled to get through the windows, in order to save themselves. They took refuge at the farm, whence they were soon after brought back in one of the wagons of the Community.

All the neighboring fields were ravaged, the fences overturned, and the windows broken. One of the members of the Gereney got on horseback, and repaired to every place at which men were working out of doors, and soon brought back tidings that no personal accidents had happened.

The same evening the masons, reunited and consulted by the Gereney, acknowledged and declared that the southern and eastern walls would fall soon, and that, to avoid any serious accident, it was better to destroy them.

The next morning the General Assembly, having been convoked by the Gereney, met on the Temple Square, and unanimously resolved: first, that the demolition was urgent, for the safety both of the members of the Colony themselves, and of the inhabitants and foreigners whom curiosity might bring to the spot. Second, that by unfixing the walls, stone by stone, they might preserve some god ones. But as this operation wuld take up much time, occasion much work, and expose them to many fatigues and dangers, and considering the lives of men as much more valuable than money, they decided to use some other means.

The means having been discussed and agreed upon, they set at work immediately, and the walls were pulled down.

The destruction of the Temple is a misfortune and a great inconvenience to the Icarian Community, as they are thus obliged to modify their former projects and plans; but, perservering and courageous, strong in their union, and with the aid of their additional brethren, they will begin again, on the place of the Temple, provisional and urgent constructions, that will serve until they build another large and fine ediface.

         Nauvoo, May 29, 1850.               P. BOURG, Secretary of the Icarian Community.


Notes: (forthcoming)

[News from the Great Salt Lake]

We have a letter from a correspondent at Great Salt Lake City, dated the 20th April. The mail from the United States had not then reached there, having been out sixty one days, if it left on the first of March.

About the 10th of April, a company of fifty Mormons, composed of the principal men, Governor Young among them, started for Iron county, or Little Salt Lake. They were on an exploring expedition to the different valleys at the south. It was generally believed that there was much gold near the Little Salt Lake, some specimens having been found, and this is probably one of the objects of the expedition.

The Indians were giving the Mormons and the emigrants much trouble, by stealing and running off their stock. A large party started about the 10th of April in search of the Indians and to regain the stolen animals. On the Tooelee Valley, one of the company, an emigrant, was shot by an Indian and killed. His name was Lorenzo Dow Custer, from Ohio, and a wife and two children are left behind him. They had stolen four of his horses. On the 19th, one of the company returned to Great Salt Lake City, with information that five of the Indians were captured; and for stealing their horses and refusing to tell where the remainder were encamped, they were shot. The party were determined to follow the Indians to their encampments.

Money is represented as beinf scarce, in the hands of a few, and not in circulation. Wheat has gone up to $4 per bushel. A much larger amount of merchandize is expected at that place than there is money to buy, unless gold is found in Iron county, by the company which has gone to seek it.

The health of the citizens of Salt Lake City was good. An enumeration of the inhabitants was in progress, and it was supposed that the nineteen wards of the city would average two hubdred persons each, or say 4,000 in all. About 1,000 emigrants have left that place for California and a great many Mormons had gone South to settle the different valleys.

The expenses attending the troubles and difficulties with the Indians are very heavy -- the writer estimates them at not less than $50,000 since he has been there. To call out fifty or one hundred men, at a time of the year when every man should be at work on his farm, is no small loss to the community.

In a second, or supplemental epistle to the church, it is stated that Messrs. Miles Beach, of St. Louis and Blair, of Texas, have opened an establishment for the manufacture of sugar from the beet root...


Notes: (forthcoming)

... Upwards of 1,000 "Saints" had arrived at St. Louis since spring, not more than 600 of whom have been able to leave....

Notes: (forthcoming)

IMPORTANT  ARREST.

On last Tuesday the sheriff of Lee Co., Illinois arrived in this city in pursuit of William Smith, a fugitive from justice. Smith, it appears was committed to jail in Hancock Co., Illinois some time since, on a charge of highway robbery, and subsequently broke jail and went to Lee County where, after staying sometime, he became acquainted with two young ladies, sisters, and accomplished their ruin, after which he fled to this city. The sheriff, in the company of Officers Grant and Guion, after a search, arrested Smith yesterday at a house on Market St. between seventh and eighth, and he was taken back into custody of the sheriff. Smith is a large and powerfully built man, with god manners, and about 45 years of age.


Note 1: This "powerfully built man" was William B. Smith, one of the few scrappers who ever bested his older brother (Joseph Smith, jr.) in hand-to-hand combat. William's brief career as a highwayman seems to have been overlooked by the Reorganized LDS, when they later fellowshipped him as a member in god standing.

Note 2: For more on William's civil and financial difficulties at this time, see Stanley B. Kimball's "New Light on Old Egyptiana: Mormon Mummies, 1848-71," in Dialogue 16:4 (Winter 1983), pp. 72-90. Dr. Kimball speculates that during 1854, "possibly while a fugitive on the Illinois River," that William Smith "sold or leased the Egyptian antiquities" which had long been on public display among the Mormons. According to Kimball, during this period, "William was seldom gainfully employed, was often in financial straits, and owned very little. For example, when he was fined $25 in an 1848 assault case, the Lee County sheriff reported to the court his inability to find 'any goods or chattels of the said William Smith whereof I may by distress and sale levy the sum of twenty-five dollars fine.'"

Note 3: William moved to Lee County (roughly half way between Nauvoo and Chicago) in late 1848 or early 1849 and remained in the area until 1854. In 1850 he became involved in a divorce case with his wife, Roxie Ann Grant Smith (the great aunt of LDS President Heber J. Grant), in Lee County. Shortly thereafter William was formally charged with "adultery, fornication... bastardy, and rape," in the course of his personal involvement with a certain Mrs. Rosa A. Hook. William's troubles in this matter were reported by the local Dixon Telegraph, as early as Apr. 9 1853, with additional reports published in its issues of Apr. 30, 1853, Mar. 9, 1854, and May 4, 1854. The divorce became final in 1853; the next year most of the charges against Smith were dropped, but he was required to post a $1,000 bond on the rape charge. Smith fled Lee County and made his way to Saint Louis. There (as is stated in the Apr. 26th article above) he was arrested, brought back to Dixon in Lee County, and there incarcerated. See also contemporary issues of the St. Louis Daily Evening News, the St. Louis Intelligencer and the Belleville Tribune for the arrest notice. Whether or not William actually committed "highway robbery" in Hancock County (where Nauvoo is located) remains unknown, but he very likely passed through that place, as a fugitive on his way to St. Louis. William's temporary disposal of the "Mormon mummies" in 1854, along with their formal sale in 1856, was very likely related to his dire legal and financial situation at that time.

FROM  GREAT  SALT  LAKE  CITY.
________

THE MORMON FAITH -- CLIMATE AND AGRICULTURE OF
THE MORMON SETTLEMENT -- LETTER FROM GOV. BRIGHAM YOUNG.

A number of gentlemen from Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, were passengers in the Sam Cloon, on Tuesday night, from the Missouri River. They arrived at Fort Leavenworth on the 26th ult. by mail stage. Among them were the following gentlemen: W. C. Dunbar, Milo Andrews, C. H. Wheelock, J. M. Barlow, W. Frost, R. W. Wolcott, Seth M. Blair, Esq., U. S. District Attorney for Utah Territory, and Gen. James Ferguson. These gentlemen are all members of the Mormon Church, and have been sent on missions to portions of the United States, Europe and Ireland.

The left Salt Lake City on the 1st of May, and were only 23 traveling days to Fort Leavenworth. The winter had been very severe, and a great deal of snow had fallen. The wall around Great Salt Lake City was one-half completed, and the wall around the Temple was in the same state of forwardness. Money was plenty in the Valley, but there was a great want of ... [remainder of clipping cut off]


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.


Notes: (forthcoming)

The Mormon Tragedy in Arkansas.

INTERESTING DETAILS OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES
OF ELDER PRATT'S DEATH.

Being in possession of all the particulars in the case of the Mormon Apostle, Elder Parley Parker Pratt, I submit the following facts in addition to what you have already published. The following article from the New-Orleans, is, Bulletin of December 19, 1856, with the exception of a few unimportant items, a correct statement of the case as far as it goes:

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 god 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 god 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)

The Remarks of Hon. Stephen Arnold Douglas
Delivered in the State House at Springfield, Illinois, on the 12th June, 1857.

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: -- I appear before you to-night, at the request of the grand jury in attendance upon the United States Court, for the purpose of submitting my views upon certain topics upon which they have expressed a desire to hear my opinion. It was not my purpose when I arrived among you, to have engaged in any public or political discussion; but when called upon by a body of gentlemen so intelligent and respectable, coming from all parts of the State, and connected with the administration of public justice, I do not feel at liberty to withhold a full and frank expression of my opinion upon the subjects to which they have referred, and which now engrosses so large a share of the public attention.

The points which I am required to discuss are:

1st. The present condition and prospects of Kansas,

2d. The principles affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States in the Dred Scott case.

3d. The condition of things in Utah, and the appropriate remedies for existing evils....


[Douglas' extensive remarks regarding the situation in Kansas and the Dred Scott case follow, comprising about three quarters of his total text.]

... Mr. President, I will now respond to the call which has been made upon me for my opinions of the condition of things in Utah, and the appropriate remedies for existing evils.

The Territory of Utah was organized under one of the acts known as the compromise measure of 1850, on the supposition that the inhabitants were American citizens, owing and acknowledging allegiance to the United States, and consequently entitled to the benefits of self government while a Territory, and to admission into the Union on an equal footing with the original States, so soon as they should number the requisite population. It was conceded on all hands, and by all parties, that the peculiarities of their religious faith and ceremonies interposed no valid and constitutional objection to their reception into the Union, in conformity with the federal constitution, so long as they were in all other respects entitled to admission. Hence the great political parties of the country indorsed and approved the compromise measure of 1850, including the act for the organization of the Territory of Utah, with the hope and in the confidence that the inhabitants would conform to the constitution and laws, and prove themselves worthy, respectable and law-abiding citizens. If we are permitted to place credence in the rumors and reports from that country (and it must be admitted that they have increased and strengthened and assumed consistency and plausibility by each successive mail,) seven years experience has disclosed a state of facts entirely different from that which was supposed to exist when Utah was organized. These rumors and reports would seem to justify the belief that the following facts are susceptible to proof.

1. That nine-tenths of the inhabitants are aliens by birth, who have refused to become naturalized, or to take the oath of allegiance, or do any other act recognizing the Government of the United States as the paramount authority of that Territory.

2. That the inhabitants, whether native or alien born, known as Mormons, (and they constitute the whole people of the Territory,) are bound by horrid oaths, and terrible penalties, to recognize and maintain the authority of Brigham Young, and the government of which he is head, as paramount to that of the United States, in civil as well as in religious affairs; and they will, in due time, and under the direction of their leaders, use all the means in their power to subvert the government of the United States, and resist its authority.

3. That the Mormon government, with Brigham Young at its head, is now forming alliances with Indian tribes in Utah and adjoining territories -- stimulating the Indians to acts of hostility -- and organizing bands of his own followers under the name of "Danites or Destroying Angels," to prosecute a system of robbery and murders upon American citizens, who support the authority of the United States, and denounce the infamous and disgusting practices and institutions of the Mormon Government.

If, upon a full investigation, these representations shall prove true, they will establish the fact that the Mormon inhabitants of Utah, as a community, are outlaws and alien enemies, unfit to exercise the right of self-government under the organic act, and unworthy to be admitted into the Union as a State, when their only object in seeking admission is to interpose the sovereignty of the State, as an invincible shield to protect them in their treason and crime, debauchery and infamy. (Applause.)

Under this view of the subject, I think it is the duty of the President, as I have no doubt it is his fixed purpose to remove Brigham Young and all his followers from office, and to fill their places with bold, able and true men, and to cause a thorough and searching investigation into all the crimes and enormities which are alleged to be perpetrated daily in that Territory, under the direction of Brigham Young and his confederates; and to use all the military force necessary to protect the officers in discharge of their duties, and to enforce the laws of the land. (Applause.)

When the authentic evidence shall arrive, if it shall establish the facts which are believed to exist, it will become the duty of Congress to apply the knife and cut out this loathsome, disgusting ulcer. (Applause.) No temporizing policy -- no half way measures will then answer. It has been supposed by those who have not thought deeply upon this subject, that an act of Congress prohibiting murder, robbery, polygamy and other crimes, with appropriate penalties for those offenses, would afford adequate remedies for all the enormities complained of. Suppose such a law to be on the statute books, and I believe they have a criminal code, providing the usual punishment for the entire catalogue of crimes, according to the usages of all civilized and Christian countries, with the exception of polygamy, which is practised under the sanction of the Mormon Church, but is neither prohibited nor authorized by the laws of the Territory.

Suppose, I repeat, that Congress should pass a law prescribing a criminal code, and punishing polygamy among other offences, what other effect would it have -- what god would it do? Would you call on twenty-three grand jurymen, with twenty-three wives each, to find a bill of indictment against a poor miserable wretch for having two wives? (Cheers and laughter.) Would you call upon twelve petit jurors, with twelve wives each, to convict the same loathsome wretch for having two wives? (Continued applause.) Would you expect a grand jury composed of twenty-three "Danites" to find a bill of indictment against a brother "Danite" for having murdered a Gentile, as they call all American citizens, under their direction? Much less would you expect a jury of twelve "destroying angels" to find another "destroying angel" guilty of the same murder, and cause him to be hanged for no other offence than taking the life of a Gentile? No? If there is any truth in the reports we receive from Utah, Congress may pass whatever laws it chooses; but you can never rely upon the local tribunals and juries to punish crimes committed by Mormons in that Territory. Some other and more effectual remedy must be devised and applied. In my opinion, the first step should be the absolute and unconditional repeal of the organic act -- blotting the territorial government out of existence -- upon the ground that they are outlaws, denying their allegiance and defying the authorities of the United States. (immense applause.)

The Territorial Government once abolished, the country would revert to its primitive condition prior to the act of 1850, "under the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the United States," and should be placed under the operation of the act of Congress of the 30th of April, 1790, and the various acts supplemental thereto and amendatory thereof, "providing for the punishment of crimes against the United States within any fort, arsenal, dock yard, magazine, or any other place or district of country, under the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the United States." All offences against the provisions of these acts are required by law to be tried and punished by the United States Courts in the States or Territories where the offenders shall be "first apprehended or brought for trial." There it will be seen that under the plan proposed, Brigham Young and his confederates could be "apprehended and brought for trial" to Iowa, Missouri, California, California or Oregon, or to any other adjacent State or Territory, where a fair trial could be had, and justice administered impartially -- where the witnesses could be protected and the judgment of the court could be carried into execution, without violence or intimidation. I do not propose to introduce any new principles into our jurisprudence, nor to change the modes of prosecuting or the rules of practice in our Courts. I only propose to place the district of country embraced within the Territory of Utah under the operation of the same laws and rules proceeding, that Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota and our other Territories were placed before they became organized Territories. The whole country embraced within these Territories under the operation of that same system of laws, and all the offences committed within the same were punished in the manner now proposed, so long as the country remained "under the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the United States;" but the moment the country was organized into Territorial Governmens, with legislative, executive and judicial departments, it ceased to be under the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the United States, within the meaning of the act of Congress, for the reason that it had passed under another and a different jurisdiction. Hence, if we abolish the Territorial Government of Utah, pursuing and existing all rights and place the country under the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the United States, offenders can be apprehended and brought into the adjacent States or Territories for punishment, in the same manner and under the same rules and regulations which obtained and have been uniformly practiced, under like circumstances since 1790....

While the power of Congress to repeal the organic act and abolish the Territorial Government cannot be denied, the question may arise whether we possess the moral right of exercising the power, after the charter has been once granted and the local government organized under its provisions. This is a grave question -- one which should not be decided hastily, nor under the influence of passion or prejudice, I am free to say that in my opinion there is no moral right to repeal the organic act of a Territory, and abolish the government organized under it, unless the inhabitants of that Territory, as a community, have done such acts as amount to a forfieture of all rights under it -- such as becomming alien enemies, out-laws, disavowing their allegiance, or resisting the authority of the United States. These, and kindred acts, which we have every reason to believe are daily prepetrated in that Territory, would not only give us the moral right, but make it our umperative duty to abolish the Territorial Government, and place the inhabitants under the sole and exclusive jurisdiction of the United States, to the end that justice may be done and the dignity and authority of the government vindicated.

I have thus presented plainly and frankly my views of the Utah question -- the evils and the remedy -- upon the facts as they have reached us, and are supposed to be substantially correct. If official reports and authentic information shall change or modify these facts, I shall be ready to conform my notion to the real facts as they shall be found to exist. I have no such pride of opinion as will induce me to persevere in an error one moment after my judgment is convinced. If, therefore, a better plan can be devised -- one more consistent with justice and sound policy, or more effective as a remedy for acknowledged evils, I shall take great pleasure in adopting it, in lieu of the one I have presented to you to-night.

In conclusion, permit me to express my grateful acknowledgments for your patient attention and the kind and respectful manner in which you have received my remarks.


Note 1: Douglas' speech of June 12, 1857 was evidently first published in the Springfield Illinois State Register, but with telegraphic transfer of the news, his words were quickly reproduced in the Illinois State Journal, The Missouri Republican, the New York Times, etc. See also the contemporary political tract: Speech of Hon. S. A. Douglas on Kansas, Utah, and the Dred Scott Decision, Springfield, Ill., June 12, 1857 and Abraham Lincoln's rebuttal speech (also delivered in Springfield) of June 26, 1857, conveniently published in various contemporary papers, including the Aug. 29, 1857 issue of the Oregon Argus.

Note 2: As Chairman of the important Senate Committee on Territories, Senator Douglas had a keen political interest in maintaining the proper governance of the western territories (several of which he had been instrumental in establishing). His remarks in the third "point" of the above text support his standing opinion and argument against granting Utah statehod without further delay. Why Douglas chose to elevate that argument to the same political level as his other two "points" is debatable, but the fact that his Republican rivals were then coupling the issues of slavery and polygamy in their national campaign rhetoric may provide part of the explanation. In Utah, of course, Douglas' calling for "a full investigation" of the unfavorable "representations" outlined in his speech (and perhaps even a disorganization of the territorial government) elicited an inevitably severe response. Excerpts from the speech were published in the Deseret News of Sept. 2, 1857, accompanied by a scathing critique from Editor Albert Carrington, representing the views of the top Utah leadership. The Mormons had hitherto managed to overlook their old friend Douglas' 1846 fall from grace -- when he advocated their expulsion from Illinois -- and had worked with the "little giant" on getting Utah's organic act through Congress, and other matters in the nation's capital. When he advised the Utah leaders to go slow in seeking statehood, the celebrated Illinois Senator was placed on warning by none other than the ghost of Joseph Smith (see the "prophetic" insertion into Smith's serialized history, as published by the Deseret News of Sept. 24, 1856). For reasons not fully clear from today's perspective, Douglas allowed a political separation to open between himself and his old Mormon allies. The breech between Douglas and the LDS leaders widened, however, and in his speech of June 12, 1857, Douglas severed his old political ties with the Saints for good.

Note 3: In later years the Mormons would claim that Stephen A. Douglas' failure to gain the presidency in 1860 was a result of a curse placed upon him by Joseph Smith, jr. on May 18, 1843. Smith's purported "prophecy," in regard to the eventual fate of Mr. Douglas, was first published in the Deseret News of Sept. 24, 1856 -- evidently in response to Senator Douglas' lack of support in the statehod controvery. The "prophecy" is not known from any pre-1856 source, including the journals of William Clayton, from which its wording was supposedly taken for publicstion in the Deseret News.

REVELATION  REVISERS.

Interest has been revived in questions relating to the origin of the Church of the Latter Day Saints and the authenticity of the manuscript from which the Book of Mormon was printed, and which is now being compared with the various editions of that book by a commission now sitting at Richmond, Mo. Dispatches to the REPUBLICAN a week or two since gave an account of the proceedings of the commission, but other dispatches, stating that the commission was composed of a delegation from Utah, and representing that the work of comparison is being done from parchment and from the original plates, with other glaring mistakes, is almost too absurd for refutation. It has been known for many years that the original manuscript, as dictated by Joseph Smith, and from which the first, or Palmyra (N.Y.) edition of 1830 was printed, has been in possession of David Whitmer of Richmond, who was one of the original, and only surviving witness of the revelator's work. It is known to many that the church authorities of Salt Lake have made overtures to Mr. Whitmer to get possession of the manuscript, but without avail, he holding the document as a sacred deposit.

A  VISIT  TO  RICHMOND.

To carry out a purpose contemplated for some time, a REPUBLICAN representative took the train at St. Louis, and arriving in Richmond next morning, he was driven through a portion of that beautiful town, now fully recovered from the devastation caused by the cyclone of 1878, and set down at the Wasson House. Nearly the first man struck happened to be Mr. David J. Whitmer, the son of David Whitmer, to whom the purpose of the visit was made known. Mr. Whitmer stated that owing to the advanced age and feeble condition of his father's health, the family had objected to visitors out of a feeling of curiosity calling on the old gentleman and interrogating him on these matters. He objected to these visits, and though his memory was unimpaired relating to bygone events, it was rather unpleasant and did no good. The commissioners were in session at his house, and it was for them to say whether they desired to be interviewed, but as for seeing the old man it would be better to get Mr. Farris, Gen. Doniphan or Col. Childs, old friends of his, to be introduced. The Hon. John T. Farris, the well-known and able representative from Ray county in the legislature, was readily found at his law office, and with him a call was made at the residence of Mr. Whitener. He occupies a tasty looking frame dwelling, which was nearly destroyed by the great cyclone and has since been rebuilt. The old gentleman was at work in his garden when the cyclone swept over the town, and was wounded on the head by a flying missile. He is well fixed, with pleasant surroundings, having been engaged in the livery business, from which he has retired with a competency. The walls of the lower parlor are ornamented with a few pictures, among which is a portrait taken of Mr. David Whitmer when he was thirty-five years of age, betokening a more robust health, florid face, and determined energy. The portrait of his wife hangs by the side, a pleasant beauty, who is still alive and going down the hill-side of life the cheerful companion of her husband.

Word was brought down that Mr. Whitmer was engaged with the commission, and the invitation was extended to call on him there, as he felt too feeble to walk down stairs. Mr. Whitmer was found in the chamber above, lying on his bed in a room adjoining the commission, and communicating with it by an open door.

THE  WITNESS  OF  THE  REVELATION.

The old gentleman rose from the bed and received his callers very cordially. In person he is above medium height, very lean and feeble, and, with stooping shoulders, bears the marks of advancing age, being now in his eightieth year. The lips are drawn in, from the absence of the teeth, and he converses in a tremulous voice. So great is the change that he would hardly be identified from his picture taken in early manhood, during the glowing vigor of health. He said he was ready to respond to inquiries of his past history, but intimated that it had all been published, and, as for that portion connected with his sojourn in Missouri, there was so much of it that he did not wish to go over it again. He preferred that such information as was desired should be obtained from the gentlemen composing the commission, and thereupon the callers, accompanied by Mr. Whitmer, entered their room.

THE  REVISERS.

At one end was a table around which the ministerial conclave was seated, each holding a book, except one of the members, who was reading from a manuscript. It was a convocation of men whose labors would doubtless he handed down in the church as a memorable event, that of verifying the various editions of the Book of Mormon from the original manuscript, in the presence of the only surviving witness of this great revelation to man. As Mr. Farris and the REPUBLICAN representative entered the room these holy men suspended their work, and rising to their feet, the former were introduced to President Smiths and by him were introduced to the other members of the board. The reception was extremely cordial, and while Father Whitmer, in his feeble state, extended himself on a bed near the table, the commissioners participated in a running conversation for half an hour. The following are the members of the commission: Rev. Joseph Smith of Lamoni, Decatur county, Iowa, president of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ, commonly called Latter Day Saints, and editor-in-chief of the Saints' Herald. He is the eldest son ofJoseph Smith the prophet and inspired translator of the Book of Mormon from the golden plates.

William H. Kelley of Kirtland, Ohio, missionary in charge of Michigan, Northern Ohio, Western New York and Western Ohio mission.

Alexander H. Smith of Independence, Mo., missionary in charge of Pacific Slope mission, comprised of California, Oregon and Nevada. He is the second son of the prophet, Joseph Smith.

Thomas W. Smith of Independence, Mo., missionary in charge of Australian mission, including Australia and Society islands and other Polynesian isles.

The three last named are a committee appointed by the general conference of the reorganized church, held at Stewartsville, Missouri, April 6 to 15, 1884, to compare the Palmyra and the current editions of the Book of Mormon with the original manuscript now in the hands of David Whitmer of Richmond, Ray county, Mo. The object of the examination is to discover whether there are differences as alleged by some between the printed edition and the manuscript. They have been engaged in the work for five days up to Monday night, and expect to spend some three days more, closing Wednesday night.

HOW  THEY  DO  IT.

The Manuscript of the Book of Mormon. -- The manuscript held by "Father Whitmer," as he is designated by the commission, is handed out in sections, the leaves being firmly held together. It is the original from which the Palmyra or first edition was printed in 1830, and bears very plainly the printer's marks. The manuscript, which was examined by the reporter, is common, rather coarse foolscap in use fifty years ago, and the penmanship is in a medium hand, plain and perfectly legible. It appears that some five different persons were engaged in writing the document as Joseph Smith dictated the subject matter. Father Whitmer, who was present very frequently during the writing of this manuscript, affirms that Joseph Smith had no book or manuscript before him from which he could have read as is asserted by some that he did, he (Whitmer) having every opportunity to know whether Smith had Solomon Spaulding's or any other person's romance to read from. The commission have before them various editions of the Book of Mormon, first and most important the original Palmyra edition of 1830. Then there are the Kirtland edition of 1835 [sic], the Nauvoo edition of 1843 [sic], the Plano (Ill.) edition, and various editions published by the polygamists of Salt Lake City. There are also five European editions published in England, Denmark and Sweden, Germany and France. One of the commission said it must be stated in behalf of the Salt Lake edition that they have made no changes from the original manuscript, except what may be said of other editions, and these consist merely of changes in verbs and tenses. Whenever an alteration is detected which consists, for instance, of the substitution of the relatives, who, which and that, and the tenses of the verbs, the person holding the edition in which such change is detected erases the word and substitutes the original word as it exists in the manuscript, interlining the correct word in the printed book with a pencil. The intention is probably to print an edition, thus corrected from the manuscript, which will be recognized as genuine at least by the reorganized branch of the saints.

HE  WILL  NOT  GIVE  IT  UP.

It is well known that some years ago Anson [sic] Pratt and Joseph F. Smith, the son of Hyrum Smith of the Salt Lake branch, came to Richmond, and calling on Father Whitmer offered him any sum he would name (the amount being stated at $100,000) if he would surrender to them the original manuscript. They said they wanted the manuscript solely for the purpose of placing it in the archives of the church at Utah for preservation. Mr. Whitmer informed them that he would not part with it for any amount of money. He was its custodian, and it should be preserved as a sacred deposit by himself and heirs.

The latest edition of the Book of Mormon has been verified [sic] the same as was done with the Bible, for convenience to the reader. The manuscript was written from the dictation of Joseph Smith by the following amanuenses: Oliver Cowdery, Emma Smith, wife of Joseph Smith; Christian Whitmer and Martin Harris, and it is supposed that Alva Hale was also employed as one of the scribes, but Hale only wrote a small portion.

HOW  WHITMER  GOT  IT.

Oliver Cowdery, the principal witness and scribe of Joseph Smith, became the possessor of the manuscript[s], which he retained and brought with him to Missouri. Oliver Cowdery was the brother-in-law of Jacob Whitmer, and he died at Richmond in 1850, in the house adjoining Whitmer's, and the latter naturally came in possession of the document. Oliver Cowdery is buried in the old cemetery, near Richmond, and his wife and daughter are still living in this state.

For the brief time that the commissioners were disengaged there was a good time for interviewing, but there were too many of them at once, and, like the fowler distracted by the flocks of pigeons on the trees, in the wheat stubble, with others flying overhead, shots were rather scattering.

PRESIDENT  JOSEPH  SMITH.

President Joseph Smith is a gentleman of rather imposing appearance, well built, piercing eyes and dark beard mingled with gray, flowing down below the chin in patriarchal length. In physical appearance he is quite as striking as the late President Garfield, whom it is said he resembles, and possesses much of the same magnetism. He is good looking, and Gen. Doniphan informed the reporter that he takes after his mother, a fine looking lady, whom he knew well. He is withal a stout looking man, weighing 210 pounds and his height is five feet eight. He stated that he was born in Kirtland, O., and is about fifty-one years of age. He remembers his father who was kind and indulgent to his family. He studied law in Canton, Ill., with Judge Kellog, but becoming averse to the practice of law he studied for the ministry, and is now the head of a church numbering some 20,000 members, and known as the Reorganized Church of the Latter Day Saints. That branch has no affiliation with the Salt Lake Mormons or Brighamites.

"They are the only class," said Mr. Smith, "of ministers who won't meet us in discussion. You can't get one of their churches in Salt Lake to let one of our men in, but they will let in a Methodist and the preachers of other denominations. In 1869 Brigham Young refused my brother here, Alex. H. Smith, the use of the Tabernacle because, as they said, we were trying to undo the work they had done -- that is, tear it down. They don't deny Joseph Smith, my father, but they claim he originated polygamy, in the church. We challenge the proofs."

The attention of Mr. Smith being called to the widespread belief that his father pirated the Book of Mormon, which was none other than a romance written by Rev. Solomon Spaulding, he scouted the idea as utterly ridiculous and absurd. Addressing himself to Mr. Ferris, as a lawyer, gave him a very detailed history of the case, showing by dates and other undeniable facts of history the utter absurdity of the charge. He was willing to submit these facts to any judge or jury in the country and they would come to the same conclusion. He showed Sidney Rigdon, who is alleged to have got possession of Spaulding's manuscript in a printing office at Pittsburg, Pa., was but ten years of age at the time, and is not likely that a boy would understand the nature of such an acquisition.

[WHITMER'S]  TESTIMONY.

While president Smith was wrestling with the charges of fraud and delusion urged against his father, the REPUBLICAN representative turned to Mr. Whitmer, who was lying on the bed and listening with much apparent interest to the colloquy, occasionally interposing a word in confirmation of Mr. Smith's statements and made some interrogatories.

"Yes," said Mr. Whitmer, "I have no objection to giving the particulars of my early life. I was born near Harrisburg, Penn., at a small trading post, in 1805. My father moved to York state when I was four years old. We settled in Fayette township, Seneca county, between Seneca and Cayuga lakes, four miles from Seneca Falls, two miles from Waterloo, seven miles from Seneca. I lived there till I was 26 years old. The first time I saw Joseph Smith was in Harmony, Penn. I joined him before the Book of Mormon was printed at Palmyra, N.Y. I was there during the time the book was printed. The translation was done in my father's house; at least two months of the time, [thus] taken up with it there. Oliver Cowdery was the principal amanuensis. Cowdery diedin 1880 [sic -1850?], near my house, in Richmond. I saw the stone which formed the box or receptacle in which the metallic plates were found, on the hillside, Commarah. Joseph Smith claimed that an angel informed him of the place where the plates were hidden. I saw the plates; they were bound together with leaves, and held together by rings, two at each corner of the bundle and one in the centre.

"Joseph Smith dictated every word in the book. The understanding we have about it was that when the book was discovered an angel was present and pointed the place out. In translating from the plates, Joseph Smith looked through the Urim and Thuminirn, consisting of two transparent pebbles set in the rim of a bow, fastened to a breastplate. He dictated by looking through them to his scribes." At this stage of the explanation, Mr. Whitmer showed those present a specimen of the characters copied from the plates. It is on a piece of strong paper about four by eight inches, and covered with one hundred or more hieroglyphics and figures.

THE  HIEROGLYPHICS.

It is the identical specimen which was sent to Prof. Anthon, of New York, and shown by him to Prof. Mitchell, of which the New York papers made mention at the time. The specimen was sent to Prof. Anthon by Martin Harris and returned to him. Profs. Anthon and [Mitchell] both admitted they were ancient characters, resembling the reformed Egyptian and Hebrew characters. Mr. Whitmer holds these characters, as well as the manuscript of the Book of Mormon and the records of the church, in great reverence, and would not part with them for any money or allow them to go out of his house. He says he is utterly opposed to polygamy and remarked that when he was connected with the church in York state, 'we wouldn't,' he said, 'have fellowship even with any person who was divorced, and Joseph Smith was opposed to it.' Mr. Whitmer here desired his grandson, Mr. George Schweich, to copy for the REPUBLICAN the following extract from the Book of Mormon as an expression of his views and that of the founders of the church:

EXTRACT  FROM  THE  BOOK  OF  MORMON.

Book of Jacob, chapter II. -- "Behold David and Solomon truly had many wives and concubines, which thing was abominable before me, saith the Lord; wherefore, thus saith the Lord, I have led this people forth out of the land of Jerusalem, by the power of mine arm, that I might raise up unto me a righteous branch from the fruit of the loins of Joseph. Wherefore, I the Lord God will not suffer that this people shall do like unto them of old. Wherefore, my brethren, hear me, and hearken to the word of the Lord: For there shall not any man among you have save it be one wife; and concubines he shall have none; for I, the Lord God, delight in the chastity of women."

Mr. Whitmer on being asked if he saw the angel, as stated in some accounts, opened the book and pointing to a section said, "There is my testimony. Read it; that tells all that is necessary for me to say about it. That contains the solemn testimony of myself and the other persons named." Mr. Whitmer's response was regarded as closing out any further interrogatory under that head, and an estoppel was put on such inquiries... [illegible lines follow]

It may be stated here that Mr. Whitmer has in his possession the history written by the appointed historian of the church, John Whitmer (the brother of David). The history is still in manuscript and has never been published. John died, leaving the history in David's hands, and for aught known, it has been seen but by a very few persons... [illegible lines follow]

BELIEVERS.

This subject may be closed with the observation that, whatever the gentiles may believe in regard to the Mormons, the sons of Joseph Smith and David Whitmer and his sons believe in it with a firm conviction and undoubted faith. The honesty and excellent character of the Whitmer family are substantiated by the people of Richmond without exception. That David Whitmer, who holds many of the revelations of the early founders of that church with no higher esteem than outsiders, and the fact that he had a falling-out with Joe Smith and in a measure separated himself from the saints who went to Nauvoo, and still holds to the genuineness of the Book of Mormon with an unalterable faith in its truth is certainly a remarkable fact. Whitmer holds the Book of Mormon in the same estimation that he holds the Bible, believing that the one is a supplement of the other, and that whoever disbelieves in either does it at the hazard of his eternal salvation. That the supposition The supposition that the Rev. Solomon Spaulding wrote the Book of Mormon is absurd and "a weak invention of the enemy." A man who would put forth a book, however meritorious in other respects, as a novel eithout a plot, character or any of the essentials of a work of fiction, is censurable for his stupidity.


Note: Matthew B. Brown, in his 2003 book, Plates of Gold, quotes on page 152 this excerpt from the 1884 Republican article: "David Whitmer remarked, 'The way that Smith got into the belief of his supernatural power was first by putting on the glasses; he saw his entire past history revealed to him.'" This passage does not occur in Dan Vogel's transcription, published in EMD 5 pp. 125-132; see instead, Lyndon W. Cook's 1991 David Whitmer Interviews, pp. 145-151.

THE  MORMON  BIBLE.

Col. W. H. Leffingwell's Revision of the
Spalding Manuscript.

He Details His Visit to the Temple of
the Saints at Kirtland, O.

The venerable Col. Wm. H. Leffingwell, accompanied by an old Mormon friend from Utah, was met by a Republican reporter yesterday afternoon on Olive street. The colonel's friend remarked to the reporter: "Did you know that Leffingwell corrected the manuscript of the Mormon Bible alleged to have been written by Rev. Solomon Spalding?"

This was something like a new revelation, and on Col. Leffingwell stating that it was a fact, and as all parties knowing the circumstances are now dead, except Mr. Leffingwell, he was asked to add to the truth of history by telling what he knew about the origin of the Mormon bible. The colonel readily consented but his Mormon friend, observing his readiness to do so, walked on and beckoned to the colonel to come along, evidently objecting to having the story told for publication. Col. Leffingwell commenced by saying: "Long ago in the past, I have forgotten the year, Mr. Spalding wrote a drama called 'the Book of Mormon,' in a hotel at Conneaut, Ashtabula county, O., where I had been teaching school. I was known through the country as a god grammarian and possessing an accurate knowledge of the English language. My father had been principal of the Meadville school, at Meadville, Pa., for eight years, a position which I subsequently filled on my father retiring to a farm. Mr. Spalding was a lawyer by profession and had taught school. He had never been a reverend, as some accounts give that prefix to his name. He was about [35] years of age when I first fell in with him, was very poor, and sick with consumption, and towards the last nearly lost his voice, so that he could not plead at the bar. He said he wanted to make some money, and wrote the drama, which he handed me for correction. It was full of Bible expressions, and as I had read the Bible from lid to lid I knew the proper phraseology to use. I corrected the grammar, and had to reconstruct and transpose entries to make god English out of it. I was engaged three months, and my notes and pencil marks may be found on every page.

NEVER PAID FOR IT.

"He wanted it to conform to Bible language. He never paid me a cent for my labor. It was entitled the Book of Mormon, and he told me he was going to Pittsburg to sell the manuscript. I afterwards learned that he got hold of Sidney Rigdon, and I knew within six months that Spalding sold it, and that Rigdon got it. Rigdon was a preacher in the Cumberland Presbyterian church. He was ascholar and a smart fellow. I had seen him baptizing converts in Mahoning county, Ohio. Some years afterward I was on a lecture tour in Ohio, lecturing on grammar and the construction of English language. I went to Kirtland in a buggy accompanied by a young lawyer, to see Joe Smith and the Mormon leaders. We drove up in front of a large tent and Sidney Rigdon came out. I told him that I corrected the Mormon Bible when it was Spalding's manuscript. I assured him I gave it the proper construction and what grammar it had. He smiled and said that was all right, but requested me to say nothing about it. I told Rigdon that we came over there to see him and Joe Smith. He said, 'It is just our dinner time; you can't see Joe Smith because he is marking goods at the store.' they having received forty wagon-loads from the lake shore the day before. Afterwards we were introduced to the prophet. Joe Smith had a round face, and his hair was cut short down on his forehead. The color of his hair was between a deep brown and dark red. He sent a young man with us into the temple, which was but newly finished. The front had a projecting roof, supported by pillars. We entered the portico, when the young man, our guide, said: "Take off your hats!" I replied; "Our hats are already off, sir. We've a long ways to drive, and want you to hurry up, sir!"

THE TEMPLE DIVIDED.

"We were then conducted into the interior of the temple. A broad aisle ran through the middle of the temple with a cross aisle in the centre, above which a curtain hung, dividing the temple into two parts, Sidney Rigdon occupying, we were told, the eastern portion and Joe Smith the western portion, which included the grand altar. The arrangement seemed to be thus made in consequence of the incomplete conditions of the temple. By mounting on one another's shoulders, we were enabled to pull ourselves up through a hole in the attic where we were shown several mummies including that of Joseph and other patriarchs mentioned in the Bible. After visiting the temple we were invited into the tent where we were provided with a good dinner, and taking leave of the saints we drove out of Kirtland well satisfied with our visit."

The above chat with Leffingwell left the impression that his statement of the part taken by him in the correction of Spalding's manuscript is undeniable, but the other fact that said manuscript was the original of the Mormon Bible is rather a matter of inference than supported by direct and incontrovertible testimony. Col. Leffingwell, however, asserts that so far as he has compared his recollections of the Spalding manuscript with the Mormon Bible they are identical. That is his belief.


Note 1: This article was reprinted in the RLDS Saints' Herald of June 13, 1885. The William H. Leffingwell mentioned in the above article was perhaps a relative of Hiram W. Leffingwell, a mid-19th century St. Louis real estate agent and developer. Leffingwell Avenue in that city was named in memory of Hiram. The William in the article was perhaps also related to "Captain" William Leffingwell (b. Oct. 31, 1805, New London, CT) one of the LDS pioneer emigrant company leaders who took the Mormons to Utah in 1847.

Note 2: William H. Leffingwell was aparently born in Connecticut in about 1790. He was quite likely the son of the Andrew Leffingwell whom the 1830 Census reported living in Mead Twp., Crawford Co., Pennsylvania. By 1811 or 1812 William H. Leffingwell was living in Conneaut Twp., Ashtabula Co., Ohio, where he married Polly Morse on June 15, 1816. Perhaps Leffingwell left the area soon after marrying, for he is not listed as a teacher in the first public school opened in Conneaut Twp. later that same year. Lewis L. Rice, a long time resident of the Ohio Western Reserve recalled Leffingwell as being "a well-known teacher in Northern Ohio" in his March 4, 1886 letter to a Honolulu newspaper. If Leffingwell truly assisted Solomon Spalding, while teaching at "a hotel at Conneaut," it could only have been at Henry Lake's "Mansion House," located in New Salem, the same village in Conneaut Twp. where Spalding lived between 1809 and late 1812. It is not known when Henry Lake began taking in guests at his "hotel," but a likely date would have been in the second half of 1812, after he and Solomon Spalding abandoned operation of their iron forge, just east of New Salem.

Note 3: Given what appear to be errors in Leffingwell's memory concerning the layout of the Kirtland Temple and the physical appearance of Joseph Smith, Jr. in late 1835 or early 1836, it is likely that the rest of his account contains similar errors. For example, it is difficult to imagine that Sidney Rigdon would have listened to a stranger relate the Spalding authorship claims for the Book of Mormon without registering a loud and hostile rebuttal. It is also difficult to imagine the young Leffingwell, in about 1812 or 1813 could have known Sidney Rigdon as being a "preacher in the Cumberland Presbyterian church" -- a man whom Solomon Spalding was then involved with in one way or another. Rigdon was never known to associate with the Presbyterians and is not known to have engaged in any preaching until 1818 at the very earliest. Possibly the "Cumberland Presbyterian church" Leffingwell mentions here was the one in Amwell Twp., Washington Co., Pennsylvania -- but Rigdon is not known to have been connected with that congregation at any time. It is possible that Sidney Rigdon occasionally held meetings in the Brookfield Presbyterian Church, a few miles North of Youngstown, in Trumbull Co., Ohio, while he lived in that area in 1820-21. If so, perhaps Leffingwell incorrectly recalled Rigdon, the Calvinist preacher, as being a Presbyterian rather than a Baptist. Brookfield is only a few miles north of what is today the Mahoning-Trumbull Co. Line; so perhaps it was somewhere in the greater Youngstown region that Leffingwell recalled seeing Rev. Rigdon "baptizing converts" in his pre-Mormon says. Leffingwell's memory of seeing the Mormon mummies in a yet unfinished Kirtland Temple may not square well with the fact that the mummies were first purchased and displayed after the Temple construction was largely finished.

Note 4: Leffingwell's identification of Spalding as having been "a lawyer by profession" and having previously "taught school," is not inconsistent with what people knew of Spalding while he was living on the Western Reserve. Spalding had some legal training, which he applied to his land sales work, no doubt. He had also once been a school teacher and the headmaster of the Cherry Valley Academy when he lived in Otsego Co., New York. Spalding's early occupation as a Congregational evangelist and occasional Presbyterian preacher may have not been well known to his neighbors in Ohio. His own nephew, Daniel, in 1888 recalled Solomon Spalding as "not" having been "a minister" and added: "neither did he belong to any church." Leffingwell's recollection of Spalding having been "about 35 years of age" when the two first met, is obviously a faulty one. Solomon Spalding was already at least 48 years old by the time he settled in Ohio, and could have been no younger than 50 when Leffingwell first met him. Still, it is possible that Spalding looked somewhat younger than his true age in those days and Leffingwell's error in this matter may not be too large a one. It is also possible that the type-setter for the article mistook a handwritten "55" for "35." Leffingwell's description of Spalding as being "sick with consumption" is likely a true one, though it seems that the would-be writer also suffered a severe rupture at about this time in his life and was probably partly incapacitated by that malady as well. The report that Spalding had "nearly lost his voice" is an interesting one. Since loud voices were practically mandatory for pulpit preachers of that day, a partial loss of his oratory powers may have helped bring an early end to his ministerial career. Presumably he retained enough of his voice to still effectively read stories to a small audience gathered about him in Ohio or Pennsylvania, however.

Note 5: Leffingwell's assertion that Spalding was writing a story "full of Bible expressions" is consistent with the testimony of several other eyewitnesses. What may be less believable is his saying that already, in Ashtabula Co., Ohio in about 1812, that Spalding had entitled a manuscript with the name "Book of Mormon." If Leffingwell's memory is correct on this point, it stands as important testimony in support of the Spalding authorship claims. But, given the other seeming errors in Leffingwell's account, the careful student will place little credence upon this particular allegation. Leffingwell's memory of the penniless Spalding never paying him for his proof-reading work is perhaps more likely to be an accurate recollection of the affair.