COMMERCE—LAND PURCHASES.

IN the fall of 1838 a brother by the name of Israel Barlow left the State of Missouri under the exterminating order of Governor Boggs. By missing his way, or, what is more likely, directed by the hand of a kind Providence, he did not leave the State by the same route as the great body of his people, but taking a northeasterly course, struck the Des Moines River a short distance above its mouth, in the Territory of Iowa. He was without food and destitute of clothing. Making his wants known to the people living in that locality, they kindly supplied him with food and raiment. To them he related the story of the persecution of the Latter-day Saints in Missouri, and how his people, poor and destitute as himself, were fleeing from the State en masse. His relation of the sufferings of the Saints, and the cruelties heaped upon them by their heartless persecutors, enlisted the sympathies of his hearers, and they gave him letters of introduction to several gentlemen, among which was one to Dr. Isaac Galland, a gentleman of some influence living at Commerce, a small settlement on the banks of the Mississippi, in Illinois, and which afterward became the site of Nauvoo.

Dr. Galland owned considerable land in Commerce, and he wrote the Saints located in Quincy that several farms could doubtless be rented in his locality, and that perhaps some fifty families could be accommodated at Commerce. In addition to this offer of lands made to The Church, another and a previous one had been made of twenty thousand acres, between the Des Moines and the Mississippi rivers. This tract could have been purchased at two dollars per acre, to be paid in twenty annual payments without interest. A conference was convened at Quincy in February, and the advisability of making the purchase and settling the Saints in a body came up for consideration. It was decided by the conference that it was not advisable to locate lands at that time.

Subsequently, however, on the ninth day of March, the Saints having received further offers of land in Illinois and Iowa, called another public meeting and appointed a committee to go and examine the lands offered. In Iowa, the people and officers of the Territory expressed a kindly feeling toward the exiled Saints. The governor of Iowa—Robert Lucas—had known the Saints in Ohio, and testified to Dr. Galland that the Mormon people, when they were in Ohio, were good citizens, and he respected them as such now, and would treat them accordingly, should they, or any part of them, decide to settle in his Territory. The statement is made in answer to a letter of inquiry on the subject of the Mormons settling in Iowa. He wrote to Dr. Isaac Galland as follows:

EXECUTIVE OFFICE, IOWA, BURLINGTON
March, 1839.

DEAR SIR—On my return to this city, after a few weeks' absence in the interior of the Territory, I received your letter of the 25th ultimo, in which you give a short account of the sufferings of the people called Mormons, and ask "whether they could be permitted to purchase lands, and settle upon them, in the Territory of Iowa, and there worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences, secure from oppression," etc.

In answer to your inquiry, I would say, that I know of no authority that can constitutionally deprive them of this right. They are citizens of the United States, and are entitled to all the rights and privileges of other citizens. The 2nd section of the 4th Article of the Constitution of the United States (which all are solemnly bound to support), declares that the "citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and immunities of citizens of the several States." This privilege extends in full force to the Territories of the United States. The first Amendment to the Constitution of the United States declares that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

The Ordinance of Congress of the 13th July, 1787, for the government of the Territory northwest of the river Ohio, secures to the citizens of said Territory, and the citizens of the States thereafter to be formed therein, certain privileges which were, by the late Act of Congress organizing the Territory of Iowa, extended to the citizens of this Territory.

The first fundamental Article in that Ordinance, which is declared to be forever unalterable, except by common consent, reads as follows, to-wit: "No person demeaning himself in a peaceable and orderly manner, shall ever be molested on account of his mode of worship, or religious sentiments in said Territory."

These principles, I trust, will ever be adhered to in the Territory of Iowa. They make no distinction between religious sects. They extend equal privileges and protection to all; each must rest upon its own merits, and will prosper in proportion to the purity of its principles, and the fruit of holiness and piety produced thereby.

With regard to the peculiar people mentioned in your letter, I know but little. They had a community in the northern part of Ohio for several years; and I have no recollection of ever having heard in that State of any complaints against them from violating the laws of the country. Their religious opinions, I consider, has nothing to do with our political transactions. They are citizens of the United States, and are entitled to the same political rights and legal protection that other citizens are entitled to.

The foregoing are briefly my views on the subject of your inquiries.

With sincere respect,
I am your obedient servant,
ROBERT LUCAS.

To ISAAC GALLAND, Esq., Commerce, Illinois.

This communication Dr. Galland sent to the Quincy Argus, accompanied by the following note:

COMMERCE, ILLINOIS,
April 12, 1839.

MESSRS. EDITORS:—Enclosed I send you a communication from Governor Lucas of Iowa Territory. If you think the publication thereof will in any way promote the cause of justice, by vindicating the slandered reputation of the people called Mormons, from the ridiculous falsehoods which the malice, cupidity and envy of their murderers in Missouri have endeavored to heap upon them, you are respectfully solicited to publish it in the Argus. The testimony of Governor Lucas as to the good moral character of these people, I think will have its deserved influence upon the people of Illinois, in encouraging our citizens in their humane and benevolent exertions to relieve this distressed people, who are now wandering in our neighborhoods without comfortable food, raiment, or a shelter from the pelting storm.

I am, gentlemen, very respectfully,
Your obedient servant,
ISAAC GALLAND.

In conversation with Dr. Galland, Isaac Van Allen, Esq., attorney-general for the same Territory (Iowa), gave him to understand that he would, so far as within his power, protect the Mormon people from insult and injury. It was these assurances of sympathy and protection which led to a reconsideration of the conclusion of the former conference, and the appointment of a committee to examine the lands offered. But little or nothing was ever done by this committee.

On the twenty-second of April, 1839, the Prophet Joseph joined the exiled Saints at Quincy. After a cruel imprisonment of over five months, he had escaped from his persecutors while en route from Liberty prison, Clay County, to Columbia, Boone County, to which he and his companions in prison had taken a change of venue for trial. The guards got drunk and were evidently willing for their prisoners to escape. At any rate, the Prophet, in stating the circumstance in his history, says: "We thought it a favorable opportunity to make our escape; knowing that the only object of our enemies was our destruction; and likewise knowing that a number of our brethren had been massacred by them on Shoal Creek, amongst whom were two children; and they had sought every opportunity to abuse others who were left in the State; and that they were never brought to an account for their barbarous proceedings, but were winked at and encouraged by those in authority. We thought that it was necessary for us, inasmuch as we loved our lives, and did not wish to die by the hand of murderers and assassins; and inasmuch as we loved our families and friends, to deliver ourselves from our enemies." And so the Prophet and his companions escaped and arrived in Quincy as already stated.

I need not stop to undertake a description of the scenes of this exiled people welcoming their youthful Prophet into their midst, after such trials as they had passed through, in which the strength of each man's soul and love for his brethren had been tested. The Saints had seen their Prophet and his fellow prisoners betrayed into the hands of a merciless enemy, and knew that a court-martial of the Missouri State militia had condemned him and his companions to be shot in the public square at Far West. They had seen him and his fellow-prisoners torn away from their parents and families, and their people, under circumstances the most distressing. They had been told by the haughty commander-in-chief of the mob militia forces which invested Far West—General Clark—that the doom of their leaders was sealed, and they need not expect, nor even let it enter into their hearts that they would be permitted to see them again. Many of them had seen him chained like a felon, standing before unjust judges, whose hearts were filled to overflowing with hatred towards him. Contrary to every principle of justice, he had been sent to languish in prison in the midst of his enemies; while they themselves, with bursting hearts and blinding tears, were compelled to sign away their lands and homes at the muzzle of the musket and flee from the Christian State of Missouri, under the exterminating order issued by Governor Boggs. Yet in all these trials, from the dangers of the murderous militia camps, from the malice of corrupt courts, and the injustice of drunken juries, and at last from the prison's gloom, a kind Providence had delivered him, and he was again in their midst, again with them to still their fears and direct their movements.

His presence was the signal for action. He arrived in Quincy on the 22nd of April. The day following he spent in greeting his friends, and receiving visits from the brethren; but on the twenty-fourth he called and presided over a conference, at which, in connection with Bishop Knight and Alanson Ripley, he was appointed to go to Iowa to select a place for the gathering of the exiled Saints. The conference also advised the brethren, who could do so, to go to Commerce and locate in Dr. Galland's neighborhood.

On the first of May the committee purchased a farm of one hundred and thirty-five acres, for which they agreed to pay five thousand dollars; also another and a larger farm of Dr. Galland for nine thousand dollars. The committee desired that these farms should be deeded to Alanson Ripley, but Sidney Rigdon, manifesting a rather sour disposition, said that no committee should control any property that he had anything to do with. So the purchase made of Dr. Galland was deeded to Sidney Rigdon's son-in-law, G. W. Robinson, with the understanding that he should deed it to The Church as soon as it was paid for according to the contract. This was the first purchase of lands made in Commerce. The place is thus described by Joseph: "When I made the purchase of White and Galland, there was one stone house, three frame houses, and two blockhouses, which constituted the whole city of Commerce."

This small collection of houses was immediately on the banks of the river, and scattered between them and what afterwards became the south part of the city of Nauvoo, were one stone and three log houses. It was one of these humble dwellings that Joseph moved into on the tenth of May, 1839. Back some distance from the river, however, were other dwellings scattered over the country, one of which was the home of Daniel H. Wells, a justice of the peace for the district of Commerce, and who afterwards became a prominent Church leader, one of the counselors, in fact, in the First Presidency of The Church.

Later, when referring to the purchase of lands about Commerce, the Prophet Joseph said:

The place was literally a wilderness. The land was mostly covered with trees and bushes, and much of it was so wet that it was with the utmost difficulty that a footman could get through, and totally impossible for teams. Commerce was unhealthy, very few could live there; but believing that it might become a healthy place by the blessing of heaven to the Saints, and no more eligible place presenting itself, I considered it wisdom to make an attempt to build up a city.

Having spoken of the first purchase of lands at Commerce, it may not be amiss here to say that subsequently more extensive purchases were made of Dr. Galland and Messrs. Hubbard, Wells, Hotchkiss and others. Considerable difficulty and embarrassment to Joseph personally and to The Church in general arose over misunderstandings about the Hotchkiss land purchase. Hotchkiss sold to Joseph for The Church upwards of five hundred acres of land in Commerce, for which he was to receive fifty-three thousand five hundred dollars, half to be paid in ten years, and the remainder in twenty years. This amount was secured to Hotchkiss & Company by two notes, one payable in ten years and the other in twenty, signed by Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith and Sidney Rigdon. The difficulty connected with this extensive land purchase arose from some exchanges that were made of property in the east, by some of the Saints, for its equivalent in value in land out of the Hotchkiss purchase in Commerce; the matter, however, was finally amicably settled.

The terms on which Dr. Galland let The Church have lands were extremely advantageous to the Saints. He sold at a reasonable rate, and on long credit, that the people might not be distressed in paying for the inheritance they purchased. In addition to the first purchase, he exchanged lands with the Saints in the vicinity of Commerce for lands in Missouri, to the value of eighty thousand dollars. And he gave them a good title to the same. He is described as a man of literary attainments and extensive information and influence. All of which he used for the good of the exiled Saints in giving them a standing among his friends. Finally he joined The Church, thus casting his lot with the exiled people he had assisted, and from that time until his death, partook of their joys and their sorrows; shared their fortunes and reverses.

In addition to these land purchases, The Church made others; some of them even more extensive than those already mentioned. The village of Nashville, in Lee County, Iowa, and twenty thousand acres of land adjoining, was bought, though upon what terms the purchase was made cannot be learned. Another purchase also in Iowa was made by Bishop Knight, and a settlement was started there called Zarahemla, which was opposite Nauvoo. This place was organized into a stake^[1] of Zion, but in January, 1842, the stake organization was discontinued; though Zarahemla continued as an organized branch of The Church.

Stakes of Zion in the following year were organized at Lima, in Illinois; also at Quincy, in Adams County, for the benefit of the Saints who continued there. Another stake was organized at Columbus, in Adams County, Illinois, known as Mount Hope stake; besides these stakes, branches of the Church were organized in various parts of Lee County, Iowa, and Adams and Hancock counties, Illinois. But as Nauvoo rose from the swamps and underbrush of Commerce, and, under the industry and enterprise of the Saints, and the blessings of a kindly disposed Providence, developed into a healthy, beautiful and prosperous commercial and manufacturing city, these stake organizations in the surrounding country were discontinued, and Nauvoo became the one great gathering place of the Saints.

Footnotes

1. A stake of Zion is a territorial division of The Church that embraces several wards or branches. The stake is presided over by a president, who must be a High Priest, assisted by two counselors, also High Priests. There must also be in each stake of Zion a high council, consisting of twelve High Priests, over which council the presidency of the stake preside. This high council constitutes the judicial power (ecclesiastical) of the stake, to which appeals lie from the bishops' courts.