THE JACKSON COUNTY PERSECUTIONS—APPEAL TO GOVERNOR DUNKLIN—HIS TIMID REPLY—HEARTLESS DRIVINGS—A BRUTAL MURDER—BOGGS ALLOWS THE MOB TO ORGANIZE AS A MILITIA—PITCHER PLACED IN COMMAND—CERTAIN MEN TAKEN IN CUSTODY BY THE MOB—SETTLEMENT IN CLAY COUNTY—COURT OF INQUIRY.
"Be still and know that I am God."
These are the words with which the Almighty answered Joseph when he importuned Heaven concerning the woes of the Saints in Missouri. And so he was wont to solace himself and his brethren with the remembrance of the revealed word that "After much tribulation cometh the blessing." How many years of the people or days of the Lord must elapse before the Saints would be planted in power in Zion, the Prophet could not learn; but this he did know that after her term of affliction and purification had passed she would be redeemed and beautified, and this is the promise that he uttered to his brethren in Kirtland and wrote to the Saints in Missouri.
While Joseph had been traveling in the missionary field, momentous events took place in the far west. The truce which the mob had made, the mob had broken. Assaults upon the houses of the Saints were of constant occurrence. Satan was not satisfied that the people of the Lord should peacefully migrate with their few possessions into some other region, and the more turbulent spirits in the rabble began to threaten the lives of leading men at Independence and to declare that all of the people—men, women and children,—should be whipped out of the county. An attempt was made to establish a colony in Van Buren County, in the south. Some of the Saints settled there and began to labor diligently in the fields, but the spirit of mobocracy had spread, and a mob rose in arms, threatening to drive the Saints farther into exile.
On the 28th day of September, 1883, a petition was addressed to His Excellency Daniel Dunklin, Governor of the State of Missouri, by the persecuted people in Jackson County; and it was carried to the executive office in Jefferson City by Elders Orson Hyde and William W. Phelps. In this eloquent document a recital was made of the woes to which the people had been subjected, of the patience with which they had borne these outrages, of the utter subversion of the principles of law and humanity, and of the participation in these outrages by leading men in the state, civil and military officers, politicians and preachers. The final appeal in this petition was as follows:
Knowing, as we do, that the threats of this mob, in most cases, have been put into execution, and knowing also that every officer, civil and military, with a very few exceptions, has pledged his life and honor to force us from the county, dead or alive; and believing that civil process cannot be served without the aid of the Executive; and not wishing to have the blood of our defenseless women and children to stain the land which has once been stained by the blood of our fathers to purchase our liberty; we appeal to the Governor for aid, asking him, by express proclamation or otherwise, to raise a sufficient number of troops, who, with us, may be empowered to defend our rights, that we may sue for damages in the loss of property—for abuse—for defamation, as to ourselves; and if advisable, try for treason against the government, that the law of the land may not be defied, nor nullified, but peace be restored to our country:—And we will ever pray.
Not one word in this petition had been set down in malice; it was temperate and respectful; and though its utterances were strong, they were borne out by incorruptible testimony, as well as, mainly, by the admissions of the mob themselves.
After such an appeal, the Saints were entitled to prompt action and help. The Governor merely replied that the attorney-general of the state was absent, and upon his return a response would be prepared and sent by mail to Independence. The messengers from Zion journeyed back with empty hands, and awaited, amidst the tide of persecution, which was rising higher and higher around them, the signal of succor, from the executive office.
About the 26th of October, 1833, a reply was received from Governor Dunklin, in which he says:
No citizen, nor number of citizens, have a right to take the redress of their grievances, whether real or imaginary, into their own hands. Such conduct strikes at the very existence of society and subverts the foundation on which it is based. Not being willing to persuade myself that any portion of the citizens of the state of Missouri are so lost to a sense of these truths as to require the exercise of force, in order to ensure respect for them, after advising with the attorney-general, and exercising my best judgment, I would advise you to make a trial of the efficacy of the laws; the judge of your circuit is a conservator of the peace. If an affidavit is made before him by any of you, that your lives are threatened and you believe them in danger, it would be his duty to have the offenders apprehended, and bind them to keep the peace.
Such was the redress offered by the man whose sworn duty it was to see that the laws were faithfully executed. The lamb was sent back by the lion to ask protection from the wolf! It has often happened since in the history of the Saints, as it was then, that the men who should have been their vigilant protectors against plunderers and murderers, have been among the thieves and assassins.
But Governor Dunklin's letter contained a promise that, in the event of a failure to get proper execution of the law in Jackson County, he would, upon official notification, take further steps to enforce its faithful observance. Upon this slight hope, the Saints began to restore their houses to comfort and to labor in the fields for their maintenance.
The Saints had engaged four lawyers to aid them in obtaining a redress of their grievances, and as soon as this fact became known, the event occurred which Governor Dunklin should have foreseen. With tenfold intensity the fire of hatred raged against the people. On the night of October 31st an armed mob attacked a settlement of the Saints west of Big Blue, tore the roofs from many of the dwelling houses, whipped the men and drove the women and children screaming into the wilderness. The profanity of the mob was appalling. None of the Saints were armed, and the resistance which they might have offered with sticks was forbidden by their captors under penalty of death. Satiated with brutality, the mob at length retired, leaving orders that the Saints—men, women and children—should leave the cou............