Part 2: 8 July–29 October 1838
Part 2 covers the period from July to October 1838. During July 1838, JS and his attempted to improve the church’s financial
standing and further develop Mormon settlements in , particularly in , in , and in Carroll
County. In August the outbreak of violence between and other Missourians resulted in legal
difficulties and opposition that led to further conflict in
September and October. The expansion of the Mormon presence in
northwestern Missouri and the resulting conflicts are the subject of
many of the documents in part 2.
JS had spent much of June 1838 in laying out and
building , which was organized as a by the end of the month.
About the same time, the church purchased land in to serve as another place for the Saints to
settle. Latter-day Saint
moved from to De Witt to help lead the Saints who would
settle there.
Sometime in early or mid-July, JS moved into Hinkle’s Far West home,
which was located in the southwest quadrant of the town. Several documents produced during the period
of July to October 1838 were probably created in this home.
This period also saw the formation of the , a
private military group established in response to fears that church
dissenters who were expelled from in mid-June would encourage residents of
surrounding counties to oppose or even engage in mob violence
against the Saints. In late June or the first few days of July,
Latter-day Saint men who had been active in the discussions leading
to the expulsion of
dissenters formally organized the military group, which by the end
of July was known as the Danite society. The
preamble to the society’s
constitution declared the intention of the Danites to
defend the Saints’ rights and religion.
, who attended some of the Danites’ early
meetings but soon after left the church, recounted that the attended one of the first meetings,
during which JS introduced the officers and
indicated that “they wanted to be prepared for future events.”
According to Corrill’s account, JS also explained that “he wished to
do nothing unlawful & if the people would let him alone they
[the Latter-day Saints] would preach the gospel & live in
peace.” Corrill
and others who later testified against JS reported that at about the
same time, JS delivered a public sermon in which he took a more
aggressive stance. Abner Scovil recounted that
JS told the audience, “If the people would let him alone he would
conquer them by the sword of the Spirit, but if they would not he
would beat the plow shears into swords & their pruning hooks
into spears & conquer them.” Other
accounts of this sermon similarly note that JS declared the Saints
would no longer subject themselves to mob violence. JS and the Danites were
determined to defend the Saints, even threatening retribution
against any mob that sought to oppress church members.
This stance was announced more broadly in an
oration
delivered at the church-sponsored
Independence Day celebration held at ’s public square on 4 July 1838. A crowd of
thousands—including both Latter-day Saints and other
Missourians—gathered for this event, which JS presided over and which included
the participation of various church, militia, and Danite officers.
The celebration began with a parade, with contingents representing
the militia and
the Danite society, and also featured the laying of cornerstones for
a , which indicated that the Saints intended to
remain in the area. Then Rigdon
gave his oration, affirming the loyalty of the Latter-day Saints to
the and to the
principles of civil and religious liberty. After reviewing the
history of violence against the Saints, Rigdon stated that the
Saints intended to defend their rights against any future
persecution. He concluded by declaring that although the Saints
would never be the aggressors, if faced with further mob violence
they not only would defend themselves but would also wage “a war of
extermination” against their enemies.
, the clerk of the
in Far West, recounted
decades later that when Rigdon
concluded, JS “led off with the shout of , Hosanna, Hosanna.” Robinson printed the oration in pamphlet
form, and JS included a recommendation in the August issue of the
Elders’ Journal that the Latter-day Saints
purchase the pamphlet.
On 6 and 7 July, the church held its second quarterly conference of the
year, and on 8 July, JS dictated five
revelations related to the organization of church
leadership and resources in . The
first revelation named new —, , , and —to replace those
who had been removed in the previous months for dissent and
apostasy. The revelation also directed all members of the to prepare for a mission “over the great waters”
the following spring. The
second revelation addressed the subject of former church
leaders who had been removed, excommunicated, and then rebaptized.
This revelation directed that former church
and
be
and that they travel, preach, and
proselytize. The
third and
fourth revelations dealt with church
finances, outlining a plan for raising church revenue and directing
that donations be managed by a council consisting of the First
Presidency and other leaders.
The
fifth revelation, concerning both finances and
leadership, instructed and to settle
church finances in , Ohio, and relocate to Missouri before winter in
order to help lead the church there. Later that day, JS and his
counselors in the First Presidency wrote a
letter to Marks and Whitney, conveying the text of the
revelation and encouraging Marks, Whitney, and all faithful
Latter-day Saints in Kirtland to move to Missouri.
At least the first three revelations were read to the congregation of Saints
who attended the worship service held that day.
When JS and his counselors visited about two days later, they probably
shared the new revelations with the Saints living there. In response to the revelations,
the Saints began donating personal property to the church, with the
Danites helping gather the donations. On 26 July, JS convened a of church leaders, as instructed in the fourth of
the 8 July revelations, to determine how to manage the
donations.
During the remainder of July, the members of the First Presidency were
“chiefly engaged in counciling and settling the emigrants to this
land,” according to . By then, several
thousand Saints had moved to , particularly to . A history the church published two years
later in , Illinois,
stated that by summer 1838, “there were from one hundred to one
hundred and fifty dwelling houses erected in that place, six dry
good stores in operation, one grocery and several mechanic shops.
There were in the county, nearly or quite three hundred farms opened
and several thousand acres under cultivation also, four saw and five
grist mills doing good business.” The Mormon presence in Far West and in
neighboring counties in northwestern was becoming a force to be reckoned with.
Violence between Mormons and non-Mormons in northwestern broke out in , Daviess County, during the election held on 6
August 1838, with federal, state, and local offices on the ballot.
, a Whig
candidate for the Missouri House of Representatives, wanted to limit
the voting power of the Mormon population in the . As Latter-day Saints
approached the polls in Gallatin, Peniston persuaded a crowd of men
that the Saints should not be permitted to vote. When one of the men
attempted to strike a Latter-day Saint, a fight ensued. The Danites
who were present rallied to defend themselves and other Saints
against the mob. Although several on both sides were injured, no one
was killed. Few, if any, church members voted.
Reports of the riot reached the following day, with exaggerated claims that
two or three church members had been killed. Consistent with ’s Independence Day declaration that the Saints
would retaliate against mobs, the First Presidency, Danite
commanders, and other church members in marched to
on 7 August.
Upon arriving in , the church’s main settlement in Daviess
County, they learned that although several Saints were injured
during the affray, no one had been killed. They also heard
rumors that Daviess County justice of the peace was organizing anti-Mormon vigilantes with the
intention of driving the Saints out of the county. The following
day, more than one hundred armed Latter-day Saints rode to Black’s
residence to investigate the truth of the rumors. After an intense
exchange, Black agreed to write and sign a statement pledging to
leave the Saints alone and uphold the law.
The Latter-day Saints left ’s home believing
that the tense situation had been resolved, but Black immediately
took legal action. He prepared an affidavit claiming that JS and —who was the most well-known church member
living in —had led more
than one hundred men to Black’s residence, threatened his life, and
forced him to sign an agreement against his will. Black went to
neighboring to rally
support against the Saints, while and other
allies went to , Ray County, Missouri, where they prepared a
complaint repeating Black’s claims and then presented it before
Judge of ’s fifth judicial circuit. Based on the
complaint, King issued a warrant for the arrest of JS and Wight.
Daviess County sheriff William Morgan went to to serve the warrant on Wight, but Wight
reportedly rebuffed the sheriff. Morgan then went to , where JS told the sheriff he was willing to
submit to arrest but that he preferred to be tried in rather than
in Daviess County. Morgan then traveled to Richmond to consult with
King; when the sheriff returned to Far West, he reportedly
acknowledged that he was outside of his jurisdiction and could not
take JS. Rumors quickly circulated that the Latter-day Saint leaders
were resisting arrest.
At the beginning of September 1838, JS received word
that a multicounty anti-Mormon vigilante force was forming to arrest
him and . In an attempt to defuse the rising
tension, JS contacted and
obtained legal counsel from , who was an attorney and also a major general in the
militia. King arranged to preside over a
preliminary hearing to be held just north of the border between and counties. On 5
September, in preparation for the hearing, JS prepared an
affidavit describing the 8 August confrontation at ’s home. At the hearing,
held 7 September, King found probable cause to believe that JS and
Wight had committed a misdemeanor during the confrontation. The
judge therefore held that the two men should appear at the next
session of the Daviess County Circuit Court. Following the
hearing, JS and met with and Edgar Flory, who
had been sent by citizens to
investigate the situation. In response, the church leaders prepared
an
affidavit addressing rumors that the Latter-day Saints
had been conspiring with Native Americans to attack other
Missourians.
vigilantes were not placated by the results of
the 7 September hearing. Instead of dispersing, the vigilantes began
taking Mormon captives and arranged to acquire militia rifles from
to use in an attack on
the Saints in . On 9
September, upon learning of these developments, a company of ten
Latter-day Saints under the command of William Allred intercepted the guns
and arrested the men transporting the arms shipment. Around this
time, JS and wrote to , seeking
counsel. The judge replied on 10 September, assuring the church
leaders that the detained Latter-day Saints would be released
unharmed and insisting that JS and Rigdon release the arrested
gunrunners. King also stated that he had advised to call
out two hundred militiamen to maintain order. On 12 September 1838, Brigadier General , acting
under Atchison’s orders, arrived in and assumed custody of the gunrunners and the
rifles.
proceeded to , where he
sought to resolve the impasse between the Mormons and the
anti-Mormon vigilantes by meeting with representatives from both
sides and arranging for a preliminary hearing on 18 September. On
that date, Daviess County justices of the peace John Wright and Elijah Foley evaluated
the evidence against thirteen church
members who were allegedly at ’s home on 8 August.
Rather than defend themselves in the court’s hostile environment,
the Latter-day Saints agreed to appear before the next session of
the Daviess County Circuit Court. Seeing that the militia intended
to uphold the law, the vigilantes dispersed.
However, the calm proved to be short lived. In October 1838, the conflict
between the Saints and other Missourians reignited and then
violently exploded. During this period
of conflict, JS produced few documents.
Nevertheless, his representatives dealt with various financial
matters on his behalf, which resulted in the production of several
documents.
continued to manage
financial affairs for JS and the church in , while church agent worked to resolve
church debts in . By late October, Granger had successfully
settled the First Presidency’s debts to four merchants in , Ohio, and was working with
attorneys to assess remaining obligations. The corresponding
financial documents, as well as revelations, correspondence, and
legal papers, are featured in part 2.