peniston arouses a mob—his exciting speech causes a cruel attack upon twelve unarmed brethren—one hundred and fifty mobocrats drive them from the polls—adam black's promise—false charges against the saints—the sheriff of daviess county arrests joseph—boggs orders the raising of the militia—the prophet perceives the real object of this order.
in august, 1838, the appalling mob crusade began which resulted finally in the exile of the saints from the state of missouri.
previous to this time lands had been purchased by some of the brethren in daviess county, adjoining caldwell on the north. the saints who settled there were industrious and law-abiding citizens. but the murderous element in that region would not permit them to toil in peace and enjoy the rights of freemen. some of the old mobbers were there, and they joined with the people who had sold farms to the saints and who saw in this wicked conjunction of forces an opportunity to recover their possessions, without any other cost than the banishment or murder of the "mormon" settlers. colonel william p. peniston, who had led the mob in clay county against the saints, was desirous of being returned to the state legislature as a representative from daviess county. the election was to be held on the 6th day of august, 1838. previous to that time peniston and his friends had organized with a determination to prevent the saints from voting, as it was believed that they would not aid their old enemy—persecutor and law-breaker that he was—to a seat in the law-making body of the state. a friendly judge named morin told some of the elders of the plot against them and advised them to go to the polls armed and ready to resist the unlawful aggression. but, though they were strong in their intention to exercise their rights as set forth in the constitution and the laws, bitter experience had taught them that such an act on their part as carrying arms, merely for self-protection, would be called an unlawful demonstration and would be followed by a general assault upon them under cover of authority. so they went to the polling places with no other weapons than clean consciences, clean ballots and clean, strong hands. at gallatin, the principal town of the county, twelve of them were preparing to cast their votes. but peniston mounted a barrel and made an exciting, desperate speech. he was surrounded by an assemblage of ruffians numbering one hundred and fifty. to this inflammable material he applied the torch.
he said:
the mormon leaders profess to heal the sick, and you know that is a damned lie.
he declared his opposition to the settlement of the saints in that region and told his hearers that if they suffered the "mormons" to vote, they would deserve to lose their own suffrages.
addressing the saints he declared:
i headed a mob to drive you out of clay county and would not prevent your being mobbed now.
incited to horrible rage by his incendiary tirade some of the drunken men in the mob attacked the brethren, and when effective resistance was made by the courageous twelve, the entire rabble of one hundred and fifty set upon them. the brethren fought with desperate courage. they were defending the most sacred right of american citizenship. before the well-directed blows from their stout arms and bare hands, scores of the mobocrats fell in the dust; but at last, overpowered by numbers, and warned by the authorities of the county that this attack had been premeditated and they would do better to withdraw, the brethren retreated.
just outside of town they held a council to decide whether to return to the polling places or seek their homes. while they were debating this point, they saw crowds of mob recruits rush into the town armed with guns, pistols, knives and clubs; and knowing that these men intended to do murder upon them the brethren hastened to their farms, collected their families and hid them in a thicket of hazel brush for the night. a heavy rain came on. the women and little children, drenched to the skin, were compelled to lie upon the chilling ground through all the stormy hours of darkness, while their husbands and fathers stood sentry at the edge of the copse, expecting every hour that the dread attack would come.
the next morning word was brought to far west by friendly settlers that some of the brethren had been killed at gallatin, while attempting to cast their votes, and that the mob power was again supreme and was determined to drive the saints from the county of daviess. it was reported that the murderers would not even allow the saints to obtain the bodies of their dead nor direct their burial.
without a thought for his personal safety and with that lion-like courage which ever distinguished him, joseph and his no less heroic brother hyrum, with fifteen or twenty others, started to aid the saints in daviess. on the way joseph was joined by a few brethren from different places, some of whom were fleeing from the mob, and that night, having reached colonel wight's house in daviess county, he was rejoiced to learn that although some of the brethren had been badly bruised, none had been killed.
among the men who had sold lands to the saints was one adam black, a justice of the peace and just then judge elect for the county. this man, a sworn officer of the law and an aspirant for further judicial honors, had joined himself with the mob, probably in the hope to recover his farm without cost. joseph determined to see this treasonable man and remonstrate with him against the cruelty and dishonesty of his course. upon visiting him the prophet received a verbal confession of his alliance with the rabble. being further pressed to declare what his future course would be concerning the saints and solicited to sign an agreement of peace, he prepared and gave to the prophet a document, of which the following is an exact copy:
i adam black a justice of the peace of daviess county do hereby sertify to the people coled mormin, that he is bound to suport the constitution of this state, and of the united state, and he is not attached to any mob, nor will not attach himself to any such people, and so long as they will not molest me, i will not molest them. this the 8th day of august, 1838.
adam black j. p.
no force nor unkindness was used with black. no threat was uttered against him. the prophet merely visited him as he visited other men of prominence or notoriety in that region, in a manly endeavor to subdue the kindling flame. whatever contempt joseph felt for the wretch who, with a judge's dignity upon him, could connive with a lawless, murderous mob, he was able to suppress; his demeanor was that of dignity and repose. but, as subsequent events proved, black could not forgive the prophet for the humiliation which he had made him feel.
that night some of the leading citizens of the county called upon the prophet, and together they agreed to hold a conference at adam-ondi-ahman the next day at 12 o'clock. pursuant to this appointment, both parties met in friendly council, and entered into a covenant of peace, to preserve each other's rights and to stand in their defense. for the saints such men as lyman wight, john smith, vinson knight, reynolds cahoon, and others resident there, gave this pledge. and for the other settlers, joseph morin, senator-elect; john williams, representative-elect; james p. turner, clerk of the circuit court; and other men of influence and character, made their solemn promise. having accomplished so much, the assembly dispersed on terms of amity, and the prophet and his companions returned to far west.
the covenant of protection extended by the prominent men of daviess county, who knew and by their acts admitted that the saints had been unjustly dealt with and unlawfully threatened, was without avail. on the 10th day of august, 1838, william p. peniston and several of his creatures made affidavit before judge austin a. king that a large body of armed men, whose movements and conduct he declared to be of a highly insurrectionary character, had been collecting in the county of daviess under the leadership of joseph smith and lyman wight, to intimidate and take vengeance upon the other settlers, to drive from the county all the old citizens and possess their lands. he further averred that they had already committed great violence upon adam black by forcing him to sign a paper of a disgraceful character. this affidavit was made in ray county; and on the 11th day of august a committee of citizens came from that place to far west to make inquiry of the saints concerning the charges therein made. it stands as a monument of disproof against the assertions of peniston, that the citizens of ray county did not hesitate to place themselves in the power of the "mormons" and their prophet—knowing full well, as they did from past experience, that the saints were full of kind disposition toward all men who would treat them as fellow-citizens possessed of equal rights.
in answer to the inquiry of the committee from ray the saints appointed a delegation of seven men, to make a full explanation of the facts and to demonstrate to all fair-minded men their own innocence as well as the wrongs inflicted upon them.
on the 11th of august, 1838, the prophet went to visit some brethren from canada who had settled on the banks of the grand river, and remained with them through the succeeding day, which was the sabbath, offering such counsel as their situation required. on the 13th, while returning to far west, he was pursued by some of the mobbers but managed to elude them. when within eight miles of far west he was met by several of the brethren who had gone out to inform him that a writ had been issued by judge king for his arrest and that of lyman wight, on a complaint made by peniston. calmly as one returning to his evening rest from the harvest field the prophet went to his home, despite the fears and warnings of his friends. he remained there awaiting the coming of the officers for three days, and all the time being engaged in labor for the prosperity and protection of the community.
on the 16th of august, 1838, the sheriff of daviess county, accompanied by judge morin, appeared and said that he had a writ to take joseph into daviess for trial, for the offense of visiting that county on the 7th of august. the sheriff was no doubt surprised to find the prophet and to serve his writ without molestation, because a report had been spread by the mob that joseph would not be apprehended by legal process. joseph informed the sheriff that he always hoped to submit to the law of his country. the sheriff was impressed as well as astonished by the calm action and dignified deportment of the prophet; and when joseph expressed a wish to be tried in caldwell instead of daviess county, since he thought that the statute of the state gave him that privilege and justice for him in daviess was out of the question, the sheriff declined to serve the writ and said he would go to richmond to consult judge king. joseph promised to remain at home until the sheriff returned. the pledge was fulfilled; and when the officer got back he told joseph that caldwell was out of his jurisdiction and he would not act.
for the greater general prosperity, the saints in the various parts of caldwell county now organized under the prophet's direction into agricultural companies, to enclose their lands into large fields. joseph showed them how this plan would be economical and add facility to the tilling of the soil. so readily could this inspired man turn from the tragic tribulations of life to render to his brethren calm assistance in their daily labors!
on the 28th day of august, 1838, adam black made oath before a justice of the peace of daviess county that he had been threatened with instant death by an armed force of more than one hundred and fifty men on the 8th day of august. he named several of the brethren whom he charged with aiding and abetting in the perpetration of the offense, and this was black's revenge upon the prophet who had detected him in an attempt to steal back the land which he had sold to the saints.
the agitation in daviess county and the perjuries of the foiled mobbers aroused lilburn w. boggs, of memory already infamous, who was now governor of the state; and he sent letters to general david r. atchison and six other generals, ordering them to raise immediately within the limits of their divisions four hundred mounted men armed and equipped as infantry or riflemen. this act, which was ostensibly for the protection of good order, accomplished its wicked purpose. it aroused intense excitement and inflamed the desire of the mob to find an excuse for an attack upon the saints, since they knew that the militia would be composed of men who hated the "mormons" and would be willing to plunder them on the first opportunity.
joseph saw the tendency of events and wrote at this time in his journal as follows:
there is great excitement at present among the missourians, seeking if possible an occasion against us. they are continually chaffing us, and provoking us to anger if possible; one sign of threatening following another. but we do not fear them; for the lord god, the eternal father is our god, and jesus, the mediator is our savior, and in the great i am is our strength and confidence. we have been driven from time to time, and that without cause, and been smitten again and again, and that without provocation, until we have proved the world with kindness, and the world proved us that we have no design against any man or set of men; that we injure no man; that we are peaceable with all men; minding our own business, and our own business only. we have suffered our rights and our liberties to be taken from us; we have not avenged ourselves for those wrongs. we have appealed to magistrates, to sheriffs, judges, to governors and to the president of the united states, all in vain. yet we have yielded peaceably to all these things. we have not complained at the great god. we murmured not; but peaceably left all, and retired into the back country, in the broad wild prairie, in the barren and desolate plains, and there commenced anew. we made the desolate places to bud and blossom as the rose; and now the fiend-like race are disposed to give us no rest.