Missouri Mormon War Timeline of Events
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28-32 a Scherer Nauvoo from Coc Perspective.Qxd 6/21/02 7:37 AM Page 28
28-32_a_scherer_nauvoo from coc perspective.qxd 6/21/02 7:37 AM Page 28 SUNSTONE What does Nauvoo mean today to members of the Community of Christ (formerly RLDS Church)? How have their views changed through the generations? Does the way our two traditions differ in their views of Nauvoo reflect different spiritual understandings as well? ANSWERING QUESTIONS NO LONGER ASKED NAUVOO, ITS MEANING AND INTERPRETATION IN THE RLDS CHURCH/COMMUNITY OF CHRIST By Mark A. Scherer COLLEAGUE OF MINE RECENTLY OBSERVED, Today’s Community of Christ does not take “official posi- “Only one church name is more difficult to say than tions” in matters of church history. Although this has not al- A ‘The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,’ and ways been the case, members (and their historians) are free that is ‘The Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day from the strictures that confuse matters of faith with sound Saints.’”1 The similarity of the two names accurately suggests a historical methodology. Simply stated: “Our history is not our common historical origin, a similar priesthood, scriptural, and theology.” Thus, a member of the Community of Christ can administrative structure. And the Nauvoo, Illinois, experience is ask tough historical questions without fear of being considered pivotal to both movements. For the church headquartered in “weak in the faith.” Today, we believe our history informs us Salt Lake City, Utah, Nauvoo represents the crowning achieve- about our institutional and individual identity—where we ment of Latter Day Saintism; for the church headquartered in have been in the past, where we are at present, and where we Independence, Missouri, Nauvoo represents the movement’s are going in the future. -
“We Took Our Change of Venue to the State of Illinois”: the Gallatin Hearing and the Escape of Joseph Smith and the Mormon Prisoners from Missouri, April 1839
Alexander L. Baugh: Escape of Joseph Smith from Missouri 59 “We Took Our Change of Venue to the State of Illinois”: The Gallatin Hearing and the Escape of Joseph Smith and the Mormon Prisoners from Missouri, April 1839 Alexander L. Baugh On 6 April 1839, Joseph Smith, his brother Hyrum, Caleb Baldwin, Alexander McRae, and Lyman Wight were taken from the jail in Liberty, Missouri, and placed in the custody of a strong guard assigned to transport them to Gallatin in Daviess County for what was expected to be a formal hearing on the charge of treason against the state. The Smiths and Wight had been in state custody for more than five months, Baldwin and McRae slightly less. For over four months, the five men had languished in the loath- some Liberty dungeon. However, unbeknown to them at the time, in less than three weeks, they would be free men and would be reunited with their families and friends in Illinois. The Gallatin hearing, the release of Joseph Smith and his companions, and their flight across northern Missouri com- prise one of the concluding chapters of the Mormon experience in Missouri. The Arrest and Incarceration of the Mormon Prisoners Following nearly three months of civil conflict between the Mormons and their Missouri neighbors, Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, George W. Robinson, Lyman Wight, and Parley P. Pratt were arrested at Far West, Caldwell County, Missouri, on 31 October 1838. The following day, Hyrum Smith and Amasa Lyman were taken into custody. The arresting officers were actually part of the state militia called out by Missouri Governor Lilburn W. -
The Search for Truth and Meaning in Mormon Histor Y
THE SEARCH FOR TRUTH AND MEANING IN MORMON HISTOR Y Leonard /. Arrington Leonard J. Arrington is Professor of Economics at Utah State University and an Advisory Editor to DIALOGUE. He was the first president of the Mormon History Association and is the author of GREAT BASIN KINGDOM, as well as numerous other books and articles.. Professor Arrington presented this paper at the third annual DIALOGUE Board of Editors dinner in Salt Lake City on April 5th. The philosopher Plato, to whom dialogue was the highest expression of intellectuality, denned thought as "the dialogue of the soul with itself." It is thus altogether fitting that the editors of Dialogue should encourage Mormon scholars to conduct periodic soul-searchings in regard to the relevance of their studies to the Gospel. I am grateful for this opportunity of reappraising Mor- mon history and of relating historical studies to the Church and its historic mission of building the Kingdom of God on earth. I From its very inception The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sought to leave an accurate and complete record of its history. On April 6, 1830, the date of the organization of the Church, a revelation was given to ARRINGTON: Truth and Meaning in Mormon History 157 Joseph Smith which began "Behold, there shall be a record kept among you . "x To accomplish this purpose the Second Elder of the Church, Oliver Cowdery, was selected to serve as Church Recorder. When Elder Cowdery was transferred to other work a year later, John Whitmer was appointed, by revela- tion, to "write and keep a regular history."2 Whitmer served in this capacity until 1835, and wrote a brief manuscript narrative, which is now in the posses- sion of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.3 Thus, from the earliest years the Church designated an official to record its story and preserve its records. -
Letter from David Whitmer to Nathan West Concerning Caldwell County, Missouri, Property Once Owned by King Follett
Scott H. Faulring: David Whitmer Letter 127 Letter from David Whitmer to Nathan West Concerning Caldwell County, Missouri, Property Once Owned by King Follett Scott H. Faulring Filed away in the David Whitmer Collection at the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS) Archives is an inconspicuous, handwritten copy of a November 1849 letter from David Whitmer to Nathan A. West.1 In this carefully worded letter, Whitmer responded to West’s inquiry about a legal title to land once owned by the late Mormon elder King Follett.2 One senses from reading the letter that although David was trying to be helpful to his friend, he wanted to distance himself legally from liability in a decade-old property question. This letter is historically significant and interesting for a variety of rea- sons. First, there are few surviving letters from David Whitmer written dur- ing the first ten to fifteen years after he separated himself from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.3 Second, this retained copy, and most probably the dispatched original, was handwritten by Oliver Cowdery—just a little more than three months before he died. As such, it is the last-known handwriting of Mormonism’s Second Elder.4 Third, the letter’s cautious, legalistic wording is not from the mind of David Whitmer but was composed by Oliver Cowdery, the lawyer. As such, it is the only example of his legal writing from his fourteen-month stay in Richmond.5 Fourth, the items dis- cussed in the letter evidence the confused state of affairs existing in Far West, Missouri, at the time the Latter-day Saints were forced to flee the state in 1839.6 SCOTT H. -
NAUVOO's TEMPLE It Was Announced August 31, 1840, That A
NAUVOO’S TEMPLE Dean E. Garner—Institute Director, Denton, Texas t was announced August 31, 1840, that a temple would be built, and Iarchitectural plans began to come in. Joseph Smith “advertised for plans for the temple,” William Weeks said, “and several architects presented their plans. But none seemed to suit Smith. When [William] presented his plans, Joseph Smith grabbed him, hugged him and said, ‘You are the man I want.’”1 Thus William was made superintendent of temple construction. All his work was cleared by the temple building committee. Those on the committee were Reynolds Cahoon, Elias Higbee, and Alpheus Cutler.2 Joseph Smith had the final say pertaining to the details of the temple, for he had seen the temple in vision, which enabled him to make decisions on the temple’s appearance.3 During the October Conference of 1840, the building of the Nauvoo During the temple was voted on and accepted by the saints. The temple was to be October Conference constructed of stone. Many weeks preceding the conference, a survey of Nauvoo’s main street verified that the entire route was underlain with a of 1840, the building massive layer of limestone many feet thick, particularly so in the northern of the Nauvoo part of the community. That site was selected for the quarry, where quality white-gray Illinois limestone could be extracted for the construction of temple was voted the temple. The principal quarry from which the temple stone would on and accepted by come was opened within ten days of the conference. Work in the quarry began October 12, 1840, with Elisha Everett striking the first blow.4 the saints. -
Through the Lens of A
How well does the depiction of God and humanity inJoseph SmithS King Follett Discourse and Lorenzo SnowSfamous "coupletnfit with traditional Christian views of Christ and the Atonement- or even with thosefound in the Book of Mormon? Must Latter-day Saints choose between them? THEOLOGY AND CHRISTOLOGY THROUGHTHE LENS OF A By L. Rex Sears HEN BYU RELIGION PROFESSOR STEPHEN E. and may be responding by moving the Church away from its Robinson collaborated with an evangelical King Follett heritage. Christian to write How Wide the Divide?, he de- voted his contributions to minimizing Mormon departures "THE FIRST PRINCIPLE OF TRUTH from more orthodox forms of ~hristianit~.'Judging from AND OF THE GOSPEL" Robinson's position and influence, we have come a long way from our nineteenth-century heritage of glorylng in alienation N THE KING Follett Discourse he delivered shortly before from mainstream Christianity For my part, I suspect that we his death, Joseph Smith taught the Saints, as "the first have never fully appreciated how wide the divide really is-or I principle of truth and of the Gospel," that God "once was might be, if we took our founding prophet at his word. If ac- a man like one of us and that God Himself, the Father of us all, cepted, Joseph Smith's later teachings have implications, unap- once dwelled on an earth the same as Jesus Christ himself did preciated perhaps by the Prophet himself, which could place in the flesh and like "God Himself who sits enthroned in us even further from the biblical Christian tradition than the yonder heavens is a Man like unto one of yourselves-that is Mormon firebrands of the nineteenth century recognized. -
Missouri's 1838 Extermination Order and the Mormons' Forced Removal
William G. Hartley: Missouri’s 1838 Extermination Order 5 Missouri’s 1838 Extermination Order and the Mormons’ Forced Removal to Illinois William G. Hartley “If I am called here again, in case of a noncompliance of a treaty made,” Major General John B. Clark of the Missouri State militia warned Latter-day Saints captives, “you need not expect any mercy, but extermination, for I am determined the governor’s orders shall be executed.” General Clark was implementing orders he had received from Missouri’s Governor Lilburn W. Boggs, dated 27 October 1838, which stated: “Your orders are, therefore, to hasten your operations with all possible speed. The Mormons must be treat- ed as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the state if neces- sary for the public peace.”1 Extermination, a powerful word, means to eradicate but also implies killing.2 Governor Boggs’s extermination order called for a nineteenth-cen- tury version of what in recent discussions of Serbian treatment of Kosovars is termed “ethnic cleansing.” This article focuses on how the Latter-day Saint people complied with that extermination order and managed, with war-reduced resources and mostly during wintertime, to leave the state and seek safety in Quincy, Illinois, and other places of refuge.3 The “Mormon War” in Missouri The Mormon troubles in upper Missouri are well documented and explained in several published histories.4 In a nutshell, what in Missouri annals is termed “the Mormon War” broke out in the summer and fall of 1838, resulting in shooting, house burning, pillaging of crops and livestock, WILLIAM G. -
The History of the Name of the Savior's Church
When the Church was organized in 1830, it was officially known as the Church of Christ, as is noted in the opening words of section 20 of the Doc- trine and Covenants: “The rise of the Church of Christ in these last days.” As seen in the image above, the name was still in use in 1833, when the Book of Commandments was printed. Courtesy Church History Library. © by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. The History of the Name of the Savior’s Church A Collaborative and Revelatory Process K. Shane Goodwin ew periods in our Church history were more fraught with trial and Ftension than late 1837 and early 1838. There was a warrant for Joseph Smith’s arrest in Kirtland, Ohio, due to practices related to the Kirtland Safety Society. Key leaders were dissenting and questioning Joseph’s fitness to remain their prophet and president, leading to the painful release and later excommunication of top leadership in Missouri.1 An ever-tightening grip of poverty and indebtedness plagued the Saints, many of whom were beginning to migrate into Caldwell and Daviess Counties.2 During these challenging times, Joseph moved his family to Far West, Caldwell County, Missouri, and assessed the Saints’ bleak prospects for building Zion in that social, political, and economic environment. In the revelation now canonized as Doctrine and Covenants 115 (dated April 26, 1838), the Lord addressed Joseph’s concerns about these uncertainties, giving poignant and optimistic declarations that stakes in Zion would offer refuge, a temple in Far West would provide a place of worship, and, 1. -
Nauvoo Legion Officers, 1841–1843
Nauvoo Legion Officers Th e charter for the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, approved 16 December 1840, allowed for the formation of the Nauvoo Legion, a unit of the Illinois state militia. Th e city council passed an ordinance offi cially organizing the Nauvoo Legion on 3 February 1841. Th e fi rst meeting of the legion was held on 4 February 1841, when John C. Bennett, Don Carlos Smith, and other commissioned offi cers of the Illinois state militia elected the general offi - cers of the legion. Other positions were fi lled during the following months. Th e Nauvoo Legion comprised two brigades, or “cohorts,” each headed by a brigadier general. Th e fi rst cohort consisted of cavalry and the second of infantry and artillery troops. Offi cers retained their rank unless terminated by resignation, death, or cashiering out of the Nauvoo Legion. At its largest, the legion numbered between two thousand and three thousand men. Th e following chart identifi es the staff s of the lieutenant general, major general, and brigadier generals of the Nauvoo Legion, and the men who held the various offi ces between February 1841 and April 1843. Names are followed by the date of rank; dates of formal com- mission by the governor, when known, are provided in parentheses. Ending dates are not given except in cases of termination. Positions, dates of rank, and commission dates are taken from returns to the adjutant general of the state and records of the Illinois state militia. OFFICE 1841 1842 1843 Lieutenant General’s Staff Lieutenant General Joseph Smith Jr. -
12 Hartley.Indd
william g. hartley 1839 e Saints’ Forced Exodus om Missouri ucked between popular Church history chapters about Liberty Jail and Nauvoo is a little-known but vitally important chapter dealing with the Latter-day Saints’ seven-month struggle to survive the winter of 1838–39 in Missouri and to leave there by spring 1839. TTriggered by Missouri governor Lilburn Boggs’s October 1838 extermination order against them, some ten thou- sand Saints engaged in a mass exodus, many going to Quincy, Illinois. It was difficult, dramatic, sometimes harrowing, and only partly organized. Their tough experiences produced definite impacts—both short- and long-term—on Missouri and Illinois, on the course of the Church, and on individual members.¹ William G. Hartley is an associate professor of history at Brigham Young University. 347 joseph smith, the prophet and seer The Saints’ exodus from Missouri took place mostly during winter and involved four main arenas: Far West, Missouri; Quincy, Illinois; a road network between the two cities; and the west shore mudflats across the Mississippi River from Quincy. Because Joseph Smith was in prison during the exodus, attention focuses here on Joseph Smith’s parents, his wife Emma, Elders Brigham Young and Heber C. Kimball, and four selected families: the John and Caroline Butler family, the Newel and Lydia Knight family, the Daniel and Martha Thomas family, and the Levi and Clarissa Hancock family. Ordered to Leave On October 27, 1838, three days after Missouri and Mormon militias engaged in the Battle of Crooked River, Governor Boggs issued his infamous extermination order. To his military leaders, it decreed, “The Mormons must be treated as enemies and must be exterminated or driven from the state, if necessary for the public good.”² Four days later, that order reached Church leaders and members in northwest Missouri. -
GOD and the PEOPLE RECONSIDERED Further Reflections on Theodemocracy in Early Mormonism
Chapter 4 GOD AND THE PEOPLE RECONSIDERED Further Reflections on Theodemocracy in Early Mormonism Patrick Q. Mason Joseph Smith’s quixotic 1844 presidential campaign, which ended prema- turely and tragically with his murder in June of that year, introduced into the Mormon and American lexicon the concept of “theodemocracy.” In a ghostwritten article in the Latter-day Saint newspaper Times and Seasons outlining his political principles, Smith declared, “As the ‘world is gov- erned too much’ and as there is not a nation of dynasty, now occupying the earth, which acknowledges Almighty God as their law giver, and as ‘crowns won by blood, by blood must be maintained,’ I go emphatically, virtuously, and humanely, for a Theodemocracy, where God and the people hold the power to conduct the affairs of men in righteousness.” Smith went on to say that such a “theodemocratic” arrangement would guarantee liberty, free trade, the protection of life and property, and indeed “unadulterated freedom” for all.1 I can’t recall when I first encountered Smith’s notion of theodemoc- racy, but I became particularly interested in the subject when, as a master’s student in international peace studies at the University of Notre Dame, I took a course on democratic theory. A search of electronic databases con- taining early American imprints, newspapers, and other primary sources suggested that the word “theodemocracy” was not in wide circulation at the council of fifty the time, and perhaps that the concept was original to Smith (or his ghost- writer William W. Phelps). I wondered if theodemocracy might even con- stitute a uniquely Mormon contribution to political theory. -
Sources of Mormon History in Illinois, 1839-48: an Annotated Catalog of the Microfilm Collection at Southern Illinois University
BIBLIOGRAPHIC CONTRIBUTIONS NO. Sources of Mormon History in Illinois, 1839-48: An Annotated Catalog of the Microfilm Collection at Southern Illinois University Compiled by STANLEY B. KIMBALL 2nd edition, revised and enlarged, 1966 The Library SOUTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY Carbondale—Edwardsville Bibliographic Contributions No. 1 SOURCES OF MORMON HISTORY IN ILLINOIS, 1839-48 An Annotated Catalog of the Microfilm Collection at Southern Illinois University 2nd edition, revised and enlarged, 1966 Compiled by Stanley B. Kimball Central Publications Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Illinois ©2014 Southern Illinois University Edwardsville 2nd edition, revised and enlarged, May, 1966 FOREWORD In the course of developing a book and manuscript collection and in providing reference service to students and faculty, a univeristy library frequently prepares special bibliographies, some of which may prove to be of more than local interest. The Bibliographic Contributions series, of which this is the first number, has been created as a means of sharing the results of such biblio graphic efforts with our colleagues in other universities. The contribu tions to this series will appear at irregular intervals, will vary widely in subject matter and in comprehensiveness, and will not necessarily follow a uniform bibliographic format. Because many of the contributions will be by-products of more extensive research or will be of a tentative nature, the series is presented in this format. Comments, additions, and corrections will be welcomed by the compilers. The author of the initial contribution in the series is Associate Professor of History of Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville, Illinois. He has been engaged in research on the Nauvoo period of the Mormon Church since he came to the university in 1959 and has published numerous articles on this subject.