JOURNEY TO FAR WEST VIA KIRTLAND—STATE OF AFFAIRS AT KIRTLAND—DEFIANCE TO A MOB—EXPERIENCE AT DE WITT—MISSOURI PERSECUTIONS—ORDAINED AN APOSTLE.

On arriving in Kirtland Elder Taylor found that the Presidency of the Church and many of the Saints had removed to Far West, Missouri. This alone was calculated to make a great alteration in the place, and surround it with a spirit of loneliness. But other causes had also been operating to bring about marked changes since his former visits to this shrine.

Only a year or two before, everything in and about Kirtland had been prosperous. The Saints abounded in everything their hearts could desire. The men wore expensive raiment, ornamented with velvets and silks of the richest and rarest quality. It may be taken for granted that the sisters were not a whit behind them. They were arrayed in their silks, satins, lace, veils and jewelry; and amid all their piety, manifested a full share of vanity and pride.

Speculation was rife all over the United States at that time, and the Saints did not escape the contagion. They started a banking institution, engaged in mercantile pursuits and land speculation. For a time they were prosperous and wealth rapidly accumulated among them. Sidney Rigdon declared, in a burst of enthusiasm, that the glory of the latter-days was now being ushered in, and that Zion would soon become the glory of the whole earth; when the Lord for silver would bring gold; for iron, brass; and for stones, iron. But a wave of financial disaster swept over the entire country. Banking institutions went down before it; thousands of merchants were hopelessly ruined; and in the general disaster Kirtland did not escape. Like the inhabitants of other towns her people were overwhelmed with financial embarrassment. "Distress, ruin and poverty," says Elder Taylor, "seemed to prevail. Apostates and corrupt men were prowling about as so many wolves seeking whom they might devour. They were oppressive, cruel, heartless; devising every pretext that the most satanic malignity could invent to harass the Saints. Fraud, false accusation and false swearing, vexatious law suits, personal violence, and bare-faced robbery abounded. They were truly afflicted, persecuted and tormented."

As snow failed them at Kirtland Elder Taylor and company had to abandon their sleigh and take to their wagons. The roads were so very bad, however, that they had only gone some twenty or thirty miles when they concluded it would be wise to stop until they should become dryer. In the village where they stopped Elder Taylor took a job of varnishing some furniture for a cabinet maker. While here he formed the acquaintance of a number of infidels with whom he frequently conversed, and they desired to hear him preach. He consented. They could not obtain the use of the Methodist Church, though they had assisted to build it; but nothing daunted, they cleared out and seated a cabinet maker's shop, and here the Elder held forth.

He proved the Bible true, and then taught them its principles. He proved the Book of Mormon true, and then preached from that. They were highly delighted with his lectures; and when the time came that he had to leave them, they deeply regretted his departure. One of the number took him by the hand and said: "Mr. Taylor, God bless you wherever you go."

Among them was a gentleman to whom the Prophet Joseph had gone to school. He spoke very highly of him as an exemplary, moral young man. He had never investigated the evidences concerning the Book of Mormon; but he knew the Prophet's character was misrepresented by pious frauds, jealous of his influence and the spread of Mormonism.

Near Columbus, the capital of Ohio, they stayed at a town where a number of brethren resided, and all were anxious to hear Elder Taylor preach. As they had no hall, it was arranged that he should speak in the open air.

A little before meeting time a number of the brethren came running to the house where he was stopping with the information that the whole town was gathering and that a number of men had proposed tar and feathers, and boasted they would dress him with them if he undertook to preach. The brethren advised him not to attempt it as they were not strong enough to protect him. After a moment's reflection, however, he decided to go and preach. The brethren remonstrated; they knew the tar and feathers were prepared and that he could not escape. He replied that he had made up his mind to go; they could go with him if they chose, if not, he would go alone.

A very large concourse of people had assembled to listen to him. He began his remarks by informing them that he had lately come from Canada—a land under monarchical rule; that standing as he then did on free soil, among free men, he experienced peculiar sensations.

"Gentlemen, I now stand among men whose fathers fought for and obtained one of the greatest blessings ever conferred upon the human family—the right to think, to speak, to write; the right to say who shall govern them, and the right to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences—all of them sacred, human rights, and now guaranteed by the American Constitution. I see around me the sons of those noble sires, who, rather than bow to the behests of a tyrant, pledged their lives, fortunes and sacred honors to burst those fetters, enjoy freedom themselves, bequeath it to their posterity, or die in the attempt.

"They nobly fought and nobly conquered; and now the cap of liberty is elevated on the tops of your liberty poles throughout the land, and the flag of freedom waves from Wisconsin to Louisiana—from Maine to Missouri. Not only so, but your vessels—foremost in the world—sail over oceans, seas and bays; visiting every nation, and wherever those vessels go your flag flutters in the breeze, a hope is inspired among the down-trodden millions, that they, perchance, if they cannot find liberty in their own land, may find it with you. * * * Gentlemen, with you liberty is more than a name; it is incorporated in your system; it is proclaimed by your senators; thundered by your cannon; lisped by your infants; taught to your school-boys; it echoes from mountain to mountain; reverberates through your valleys, and is whispered by every breeze. Is it any wonder, gentlemen, under these circumstances—having lately emerged from a monarchical government, that I should experience peculiar sensations in rising to address you?

"But, by the by, I have been informed that you purpose to tar and feather me, for my religious opinions Is this the boon you have inherited from your fathers? Is this the blessing they purchased with their dearest hearts' blood—this your liberty? If so, you now have a victim, and we will have an offering to the goddess of liberty." Here he tore open his vest and said: "Gentlemen come on with your tar and feathers, your victim is ready; and ye shades of the venerable patriots, gaze upon the deeds of your degenerate sons! Come on, gentlemen! Come on, I say, I am ready!"

No one moved, no one spoke. He stood there drawn to his full height, calm but defiant—the master of the situation.

After a pause of some moments he continued his remarks and preached with great boldness and power for some three hours.

At the conclusion of his discourse, he was waited upon by some of the leading citizens of the place who expressed their pleasure at what they had heard, and disclaimed, in behalf of the people, any intention of tarring and feathering him; but the brethren still insisted that such was the intention of the crowd, and that the tar and feathers had been provided; but they had been awed into silence by the boldness of Elder Taylor.

Near Indianapolis, Indiana, Brother Mills and the other brethren who had joined their company, obtained employment, and Elder Taylor and his family stayed at the house of a Brother Miller. While there his second son, Joseph James, was born.

During the two months that he remained in that place, he worked at his craft and also made a carriage for himself. He preached the gospel in Indianapolis and raised up a small branch of the Church. His wife having recovered from child bed, he continued his journey to the west, parting company with Brother Mills who was not ready to go.

Approaching De Witt, Caroll County, Missouri, about fifty miles from Far West, as he was holding back his horse, while descending a hill, his foot slipped and he fell from his carriage. The wheels passed over his arm, inflicting a serious injury, and he was again detained.

In DeWitt there was a number of Saints who had purchased land and settled there, and Elder Taylor stayed at the house of a Brother Humphreys. It was while at DeWitt that he had his first experience with mobs. It was late in the summer of 1938 when he arrived there, and the persecutions which were to terminate in the expulsion of the Saints from Missouri were just beginning.

The mob that first came upon the Saints at DeWitt, was led by two alleged ministers of the gospel, Sashiel Woods and Abbot Hancock. "This was the first mob I had ever seen," remarks Elder Taylor, "and the whole affair was new to me, especially when I considered the kind of officers they had. I had heretofore looked upon gospel ministers as messengers of peace; here they came not only in a war-like capacity, but as the leaders of an armed mob—a gang of marauders and free-booters, with the avowed object of driving peaceful citizens—men, women and children—from their homes."

It would appear that while Elder Taylor did not believe in fighting for slight infringements of his rights, he did believe to the fullest extent in self-defense; and the ease with which he adapted himself to the new circumstances in which he was placed, exhibited the character of the man. "I had no arms," he continues in his account of this affair at DeWitt, "and heretofore considered that I needed none in a Christian civilized land; but I found I had been laboring under a mistake. The civilization here was of a very low order, and the Christianity of a very questionable character. I therefore threw off the sling and bandages from my lame arm, suppressed my repugnance to fighting, borrowed a gun, bought a brace of pistols, and prepared myself at least for defensive measures."

There were twenty four of the brethren, and about one hundred and fifty of the mob. The little band, nothing daunted at the superior forces of the enemy, organized under a captain and prepared for the onset. "These reverend gentlemen," says Elder Taylor's narrative, "concluded that it was best to have a parley, and by a little strategy throw us off our guard. Having captured a stray Saint, they sent by him a message informing us that they would like three or four of our leaders to come and treat with them. To this we returned answer that they had come in the capacity of banditti, to interfere with our rights when in the peaceful prosecution of our daily avocations; that we could have no confidence in men occupying so questionable a position; that their ruse to divide us would not work; and though inferior to them in numbers, if they attempted to molest us, we should protect ourselves as best we could."

After some further parleying, the mob gave the Saints ten days in which to leave, threatening that if they were not gone in that time, they would return with increased forces, kill every man, woman and child, and throw their goods into the Missouri.

This affair having ended for the time being, Elder Taylor continued his journey, and finally reached Far West, where he met the Prophet Joseph, several of the Twelve and other leading brethren. The mob did not return in ten days upon the people of De Witt, but they did return early in October and the Saints at last had to abandon their homes there, although they had purchased their lands from the general government.

The history of the prominent men in the Church is so closely interwoven with that of the Church, that it is difficult to write the one without also writing the other; and in order to understand the scenes which the subject of this writing was now in the midst of, it will be necessary to relate as briefly as may be, the events which befell the Saints in the state of Missouri up to the time that Elder Taylor joined them, in the autumn of 1838.

From the Book of Mormon,^[1] the Saints learned that upon the continent of America the people of God, in the last days, are to build a holy city, the "New Jerusalem," or "Zion." In July, 1831, the Lord revealed the place where the city should be located and a temple built. That place was Independence, near the western boundary of Missouri; and there the Saints were commanded to gather, purchase the land and dedicate it unto the Lord. This commandment they began to fulfill, whereupon the jealous rage of the old settlers was aroused against them. It was the meeting of two elements that had little or no affinity with each other.

The old settlers were from the slaves states of the south, the Saints were from the free states of the north, and many of them from New England. The former were idle, indifferent to their surroundings, and the development of their lands; the latter were industrious, frugal, eager to make good homes, develop, build up and beautify the country—in short, make it the Zion of God in very deed. The Missourians were habitual Sabbath breakers; horse racing, cock-fighting and gambling being the "pleasures" they indulged in on that day, attended with the drunkenness and blasphemy which usually go hand in hand with such sports. Of course the Saints could not engage with them in this kind of life, their early training, no less than their religion, forebade it. The result was a coolness between the Saints and the old settlers, followed by suspicion on the part of the latter that they would be supplanted by the new comers. From that conviction to a resolution to prevent it was a short step, and they made haste to take it.

Although some of the Saints were, doubtless, unwise in much of their talk, they were guilty of no overt act against the peace and good order of the community in which they settled; nor did they in any way interfere with the old settlers, further, perhaps, than to remonstrate with them on their manner of life, and surely that was no act that called for violence.

But if there was no real cause for violence, it was easy to create an imaginary one, and this was done. All manner of false accusations were brought against the Saints. They were accused of tampering with the negro slaves, with a view to creating a servile insurrection; and of having a design to possess themselves of the land by force.

But it was their religion that was made the chief rock of offense. It was denounced as blasphemy—"derogatory of God and religion, and subversive of human reason;" and this because the Saints claimed and enjoyed, to some extent at least, the power and blessings which attended the gospel of Christ in ancient days. For these reasons(?) the old settlers determined to rid themselves of the Saints, "peaceably if they could, forcibly if they must;" and to the performance of this unlawful action, they pledged their "bodily power, their lives, fortunes and sacred honors." They organized mobs; and, finally, with acts of cruelty and violence that would bring the blush of shame to the cheek of a savage, they drove the Saints from Jackson County; stole or destroyed their goods, burned their houses and appropriated to their own use the lands the Saints had purchased. There were some twelve hundred Saints, men, women and children thus expelled by violence from Jackson County.

This first driving took place in December, 1833.

The exiles found a temporary resting place in Clay County, and while there petitioned the governor of the state to reinstate them in their lands, and give them protection when so reinstated. The governor replied that he could call out the militia and escort them back to their homes; but he considered that he had no authority to detail any force for their protection after he had thus reinstated them. As to go back under those circumstances would be exposing themselves to more violence from their enemies, they could not avail themselves of the governor's proffered assistance to return.

The Saints remained scattered through Clay and the surrounding counties until 1836, when, at the request of the citizens of Clay County, who had kindly received them in their affliction, they moved northward and petitioned for the forming of a new county. The new county was called Caldwell, and the county seat, Far West.

The rapidity with which the new county increased in population and prosperity, aroused the jealousy of the people in surrounding counties; and as the inhabitants of Jackson had despoiled the Saints with impunity, it encouraged others that were like-minded to attempt the same thing. Especially was this the case when they saw those who had taken a prominent part in expelling the Saints from Jackson County, holding high positions in the state.

The fact that the religion of the Saints was different from that professed by their neighbors was of itself sufficient to arouse the hatred and jealousy of the sectarian ministers, who throughout all the Missouri troubles took not only an active but a leading part. A leading part in what? In murdering, plundering, driving, imprisoning, whipping and turning out of their homes their fellow men! A fine occupation for ministers of the gospel truly! And for what? Because the Saints bore witness that God had restored to the earth the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullness; that the Priesthood to administer in its ordinances was again conferred on men; and they announced it as their intention to beautify the earth and prepare a portion of it for the coming of the Son of God. For this they were hated by the Missourians, and considered the legitimate prey of the despoiler.

Another circumstance that increased the hatred and jealousy of the Missourians against the Saints was the growing political power of the latter; and it was at a political election in Gallatin, Daviess County—a county joining Caldwell on the north—that the troubles in the autumn of 1838 began.

A number of the Saints had settled in Daviess County, and being citizens of the United States, and of the state and county where they lived, and possessing all the qualifications of voters, they essayed to cast their ballots at the aforesaid election, but some of the old settlers sought forcibly to prevent them; a thing which the brethren would not quietly submit to, and a disturbance was the result. Upon that difficulty the mob founded their pretext for the commencement of open hostilities. The clouds which had been gathering hatred and jealousy for so long, burst almost without warning upon the unprotected heads of the Saints.

Scenes of mob violence were of almost daily occurrence; property was destroyed, men were tied up and beaten until blood streamed down their backs; the chastity of women was forcibly outraged; cattle and hogs were wantonly shot down; houses were ruthlessly burned in the presence of their owners; fields of grain destroyed—but this was not the worst—helpless women and children were brutally murdered together with defenseless old men, some of whom had fought in the continental army during the American Revolution. Elder Taylor, in relating these scenes some thirty years after they had occurred, refers to one who had been of the class last named:

"My mind wanders back upwardly of thirty years ago," he says, "when in the state of Missouri, Mr. McBride, a gray-haired, venerable veteran of the Revolution, with feeble frame and tottering steps, cried to a Missouri patriot: 'Spare my life, I am a revolutionary soldier, I fought for liberty, would you murder me? What is my offense, I believe in God and revelation?' This frenzied disciple of a misplaced faith said, 'Take that you God d—d Mormon,' and with the butt of his gun he dashed his brains out, and he lay quivering there, his white locks clotted with his own brains and gore, on the soil that he had heretofore shed his blood to redeem—a sacrifice at the shrine of liberty!"

Taking advantage of the disturbance at the election in Gallatin, some of the old settlers at Millport, in the same county, set fire to their log huts and then fled southward, spreading the report that the Mormons had burned their houses and driven them from their lands. At this rumor, false though it was, a wave of popular indignation passed through the state, which Governor Boggs took advantage of to issue an exterminating order, and called out the militia of the state to execute it.

Governor Boggs was the more ready to issue this infamous order, because he himself had imbibed a hatred of the Saints, and had been an active participant against them in the Jackson County troubles.

By this edict the Governor virtually converted the mobs that had been plundering the Saints into the state militia, and gave them full license to continue the war on the Saints, which they did in the most brutal manner.

The result of these outrages was that some four hundred of the Saints were either murdered outright or died from exposure and hardship inflicted upon them in this unhallowed persecution; from twelve to fifteen thousand citizens of the United States were expelled from the state of Missouri—from the lands they had purchased of the general government; while their homes were destroyed, and their stock and much other property were confiscated. Many of the leaders in the Church, among them the Prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum, were cast into prison.

Elder Taylor was a witness of these high-handed and unlawful proceedings, and a sufferer in some of them. One circumstance he relates which I do not remember to have seen elsewhere, and hence give it here:

"On one occasion, when some thirty-five hundred of the mob forces were approaching Far West, our officer, Colonel Hinkle, sought to betray us, and as a preliminary step, ordered us to retreat. 'Retreat!' exclaimed Joseph Smith. 'Why, where in the name of God shall we go?' Then turning to our men he said: 'Boys, follow me.' About two hundred men went out on the open prairie to meet the thirty-five hundred. While these forces faced each other, a flag of truce came in from the mob bearing the message that it was their intention to destroy Far West; but there was a man and his family—of the name of Lightner—not Mormons, who had friends among the attacking party, and they desired this family to leave the city before it was destroyed. This message was sent to the family. They replied that they had always been treated with consideration by the Mormons, and they would stay with them. This reply the Prophet Joseph took in person to the flag of truce man; and just then a troop of cavalry, two hundred strong, was seen approaching, and Joseph added this to the answer sent by the non-Mormon family: 'Go tell your general for me that if he does not immediately withdraw his men, I will send them to hell!'"

Notwithstanding their superiority in numbers the mob beat a hasty and inglorious retreat.

Such were the scenes enacted in Missouri during the stay of Elder Taylor in that state; and it was in the midst of such scenes as these, on the 19th of December, 1838, that he was ordained an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, by Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball.

Footnotes

1. Ether XIII, and III. Nephi XX and XXI.