The John Taylor Papers, by Samuel W. & Raymond W. Taylor
Volume I, The Apostle
Volume II, The President
***
The
JOHN TAYLOR PAPERS
Records of the Last Utah Pioneer
By Samuel W. and Raymond W. Taylor
Volume I, 1836-1877
THE APOSTLE
Table of Contents
TAYLOR TRUST
publisher
1954 Stockbridge Ave.
Redwood City, California 94061
Copyright
1984
CONTENTS
Page
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3
Chapter
1
A Stranger at Hamilton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8
2
3
4
5
Darkness at Kirtland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
The Rich Land of Missouri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Without Purse or Scrip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Nauvoo, the Beautiful and the Doomed . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
6
7
8
9
10
Camp of Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
The Joint Stock Scandal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
First Emigration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
The Valley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Three Ministers of Boulogne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
11
12
13
14
15
The Sour Sugar Beet Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
"There's a Good Time Coming, Saints" . . . . . . . . . . . . 176
"The Bullets in Me Yet Hurt" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 200
"The World Rages" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 222
The Mormon Question . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
16
"The United States vs. the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
The "Black Book" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
"A Solemn Day for Israel" . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
17
18
BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Although not cited in footnotes, some sources of material should be
acknowledged with gratitude and thanks. Of great value was Paul Anthon
Nielson's Annotated Bibliography of the Work of President John Taylor, listing
308 published writings and discourses.
Of help also was the carefully edited compilation by G. Homer Durham, The
Gospel Kingdom. Selections from the Writings and Discourses of John Taylor,
Third President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake,
1943.
The magazine Truth (Salt Lake, 1935-56) provided material not available
elsewhere.
The authors wish to take the opportunity to thank the many people who
generously contributed material. To list them all by name would be impossible
(a reason being that Raymond W. Taylor, who did the research, died before this
volume was completely compiled.) But we will acknowledge the warm and generous
cooperation of four major contributors: Church Historian, Leonard J.
Arrington, Church Historian's Office; Director Everett L. Cooley, Special
Collections, Marriott Library, University of Utah; Director Chad Flake,
Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University; and
Director Charles S. Peterson, Utah State Historical Society--together, of
course, with their most helpful staffs.
ABBREVIATIONS
CHC Roberts, B. H., A Comprehensive History of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. Century One. Six volumes. Salt Lake, 1930.
DHC History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by Joseph
Smith; edited by B. H. Roberts. Known as Documentary History of the
Church. Seven volumes.
JD
Journal of Discourses; 26 volumes. Liverpool, 1854-1886.
JH
Journal History, maintained at Church Historical Department.
MS
The Latter-day Saints Millennial Star. Manchester and Liverpool,
1840-1887.
PD
Three Nights' Public Discussion . . . at Boulogne-sur-mer, France.
Liverpool, 1850.
T&S
Times and Seasons, Nauvoo, Illinois, 1839-1846.
*****
[3]
INTRODUCTION
Here, primarily in his own words, is the life story of President John
Taylor, the last Mormon pioneer. He was the final man in authority who held
fast to the original concepts of the Society of the Saints.
Taylor was prominent in Mormon affairs for a period of 51 years. During
his final decade he served as leader and as President of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was known as "Champion of Rights," and
"Defender of Liberty," because of his inherent respect of individual freedom.
His own motto was, "The Kingdom of God or Nothing." He made absolutely no
compromise in striving for that goal.
John Taylor, an Englishman, was a lay Methodist minister at Toronto in
May, 1836, when he was converted through the efforts of a Mormon missionary,
Parley Pratt. At this time the Church was just six years old. He joined the
"gathering of Zion" at Kirtland, Ohio, the following year, at the time of the
first great apostacy within the Church, which threatened its very existence.
Even Parley Pratt was floundering in darkness. John Taylor's defense of Joseph
Smith during a bitter wrangle in the Kirtland Temple brought him recognition
and was the beginning of a deep personal friendship with the Prophet.
In his letters, journals, published work and sermons, John Taylor left a
most vivid account of participation in a half century of dramatic events. He
wrote the first account of the persecutions in Missouri. He ghosted the
adventures of the illiterate Porter Rockwell's imprisonment and escape from a
Missouri dungeon. His account of the martyrdom at Carthage Jail, when Joseph
Smith and his brother Hyrum were murdered, and Taylor himself was shot five
times, has become a classic. As the fighting [4] editor of the Nauvoo Neighbor
and the Times and Seasons, and again while publishing The Mormon in New York's
newspaper row, he traded blow for blow with the Gentile press. He never was on
the defensive. Instead of justifying the accusations against Mormonism, John
Taylor called upon the outside world to repent. Brigham Young called him "the
strongest editor who ever wrote."
In his defense of individual liberties, Taylor was far ahead of his time.
As early as 1856 he sponsored the rights of women in The Mormon, in a day when
a wife was virtually a slave to her husband, with no share of his property and
no claim, even, to her own children.
Taylor pointed out that while the U.S. Constitution was an inspired
document, its framers "were not legislating for the world, nor forming
compacts for any other people than their own. They did not even prohibit
slavery. Their compact was simply with the Caucasian race . . . not the Negro,
not the Indians, not the Asiatic or Chinese, but for the white."
During the Utah War of 1857, he was called "a modern Joshua," ordering
the sun to stand still while he demolished the enemy. During an impassioned
discourse to the Saints, Brigham pulled his coattail to counsel moderation.
"Let go of me!" Taylor cried. "The bullets in me still hurt!"
Time and again he took up his pen in defense of the Saints. The most
notable event was the Taylor-Colfax "Debate", during which he and the
Vice-President of the United States traded thunderbolts in the nation's press.
The LDS historian, B. H. Roberts, said that, "Taking it all in all, this is
doubtless the most important discussion in the history of the Church."
While John Taylor was as stubborn a man who ever lived, one who declared
that he wouldn't be a slave to anyone, not even God, his pugnacious
temperament was [5] warmed by a pixie sense of humor. At dinners with Joseph
Smith's friends in the Mansion House at Nauvoo, John Taylor acted as
toastmaster and master of ceremonies, cracking up the audience with pithy
one-liners. He loved tall tales, and joined Joseph in practical jokes. As
editor of the Nauvoo Neighbor and Times and Seasons, he soberly published news
items about mice who sang popular songs--one in New York, others in Boston and
London. You can be sure he was drawing the long bow, as when telling about a
wood-carver who lost a leg, but whittled a replacement so realistic that when
it got wet during a storm, he caught cold. There also was the rooster who
crowed prematurely, causing the sun to rise an hour early. When a farmer's
wife died, he reported, sympathetic neighbors called around with their
daughters. But when his cow died, nobody brought around a calf. Everyone, he
pointed out, could poke a fire better than you could.
Upon assuming leadership of the Church following Brigham Young's death,
Taylor immediately abolished the numbered ballot and other curtailments of
individual liberties. He initiated a renaissance under a liberal
administration that saw the greatest cultural flowering in the history of the
Church. This culminated in the great Jubilee Conference of 1880.
As President, John Taylor issued the first American edition of the Pearl
of Great Price, and wrote his Mediation and Atonement of Our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. This book quietly demolished the Adam-God doctrine and, in
effect, restored Christianity to the Church.
Being a writer himself, and having been eye-witness to events during
virtually the entire pioneer period, he realized the inadequacy of official
Church history at that time. So he went outside to enlist the very finest
talent. He invited H. H. Bancroft, the prestigious historian, to write the
History of Utah as a volume of his monumental works. He supplied Bancroft with
needed material, for the first and last time opening the church archives to an
[6] outsider. This collection, now at the Bancroft Library at Berkeley, is
still being mined by scholars. He gave Bancroft a free hand--over the
objections of the church historian, Orson Pratt--and the History of Utah
became a landmark work which has provided the framework for all subsequent
history. We could not have had the Documentary History nor the Comprehensive
History, as they now exist, except that Bancroft had blazed the trail.
Taylor sponsored such works as Tyler's History of the Mormon Battalion
and Tullidge's History of Salt Lake City. He helped edit and compile Parley
Pratt's Autobiography, which, still in print after a century, is the finest
missionary book in our literature.
It is ironical that the cultural renaissance under John Taylor's
leadership coincided with the overwhelming witch hunt concerning plural
marriage. Oppression reached the point where Utah Territory was ruled by
carpetbaggers from Washington, while hostile Federal judges cooperated with
the Gentile "ring" in badgering the most prominent and respected Mormons of
the Territory. Many men "took a mission" to safer climes. Others disappeared
into the well-organized underground. Pregnant plural wives went underground,
to bear their babies outside Utah. (None of my mother's eight children had a
birth certificate.) The Utah prison became known as the most exclusive social
club of Deseret. President John Taylor himself administered Church affairs
from various underground stations during the final two and a half years of his
life. Roberts called him a "double martyr," once for Carthage Jail, and again
for his incarceration during his self-imposed exile. This was the death of a
thousand cuts.
He died with a price on his head.
After his death came compromise, concession, capitulation. The pioneer
era was finished. Modern Mormonism began.
***
[7]
As for source materials, I must thank my late brother Raymond for a
heroic job of research. At the Church Archives, Raymond secured access to 26
boxes of John Taylor materials. Raymond was, in effect, seated at John
Taylor's desk, reading the mail. Though a two-fingered typist, working on
machines older than he was (some with the original ribbons), Raymond copied a
thousand letters. These are on file at University of Utah Libraries, Special
collections.
The major problem in compiling the John Taylor Papers has been the task
of selection from an enormous amount of material. John Taylor himself was a
prolific writer and editor. He delivered a great many recorded talks, wrote
thousands of letters, kept a detailed journal.
My objective has been to choose John Taylor's own words concerning
important events. This is, then, to the best of our ability, his autobiography
of a half-century of Church service.
Samuel W. Taylor
Redwood City, California
[8]
Chapter 1
A STRANGER AT HAMILTON
The most important incident affecting John Taylor's life resulted
from a chance meeting of a Mormon missionary with a stranger at the city
of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, in April 1836. The missionary, Parley
Pratt, was enroute to Toronto. At Hamilton, he faced a dilemma: for two
dollars he could go by boat across Lake Ontario, while "If I went by land
I would have a circuitous route, muddy and tedious to go on foot."
Problem was that "I was an entire stranger in Hamilton . . . and money I
had none." However, after praying for a way to be opened, he began
chatting with people on the street.
I had not tarried many minutes before I was accosted by a stranger, who
inquired my name and where I was going. He also asked me if I did not want
some money. I said yes. He then gave me ten dollars and a letter of
introduction to John Taylor, of Toronto, where I arrived the same evening. (1)
Parley sought out the house, at the corner of Newgate and Bay
Streets, where Taylor lived with his wife and two small children.
Taylor was a wood-turner, his shop adjoining the house at the rear.
Mrs. Taylor received me kindly, and went for her husband, who was busy in
his mechanic shop. To them I made known my errand to the city, but received
little direct encouragement. I took tea with them, and then sought lodging at
a public house.
[9]
However, at Toronto Parley "was absolutely refused hospitality" in
seeking a place to preach. Discouraged, he dropped by the Taylor house
next day to say goodbye.
I had placed my hand on my baggage to depart . . . when a lady by the
name of Walton entered the house, and, being an acquaintance of
Mrs. Taylor's, was soon engaged in conversation with her in an adjoining room.
I overheard the following:
"Mrs. Walton, I am glad to see you; there is a gentleman here from the
United States who says the Lord sent him to this city to preach the gospel. He
has applied in vain to the clergy and to the various authorities for
opportunity to fulfill his mission, and is now about to leave the place. He
may be a man of God; I am sorry to have him depart."
"Indeed!" said the lady; "well, I now understand the feelings and spirit
which brought me to your house at this time. I have been busy over the wash
tub and too weary to take a walk; but I felt impressed to walk out. I then
thought I would make a call on my sister, the other side of town; but I said
to myself, I will go when I return; but the Spirit said: go in now. I
accordingly came in, and I am thankful that I did so. Tell the stranger he is
welcome to my house. I am a widow; but I have a spare room and bed, and food
in plenty. He shall have a home at my house, and two large rooms to preach in
just when he pleases."
That evening, John and Leonora Taylor were "in the midst of a number
of listeners, who were seated around a large work table in her parlor."
Taylor, an Englishman of 27, was a Methodist exhorter, or lay preacher.
He had invited to the meeting members of a group to which he belonged.
For two years, he said:
[10]
A number of us met together for the purpose of searching the scriptures,
and we found that certain doctrines were taught by Jesus and the apostles,
which. .. . of the religious sects taught. We concluded that if the
Bible was true, the doctrines of modern Christendom were not true; or if they
were true, the Bible was false . . . .
We rejected every man's word or writing, and took the word of God alone .
. . . We made it a rule to receive no doctrine until we could bring no
scriptural testimony against it . . . .
We gathered from the scriptures many important truths. We believed in the
gathering of Israel, and in the restoration of the ten tribes. We believed
that Jesus would come to reign personally on the earth. We gathered from the
scriptures that just judgment would overtake the churches of the world,
because of their iniquity. We believed that the gospel which was preached by
the apostles was true, and that any departure from that was a departure from
the order of God, and that churches having thus departed were consequently
corrupt and fallen. We believed that there ought to be apostles, prophets,
evangelists, pastors, and teachers as in former days, and that the gifts of
healing and the power of God ought to be associated with the church. We, of
course, believed that where these things did not exist there could not be a
true church. But we believed that we had no authority ourselves to teach these
principles. (2)
This search for truth had brought opposition from Methodist
officials, who held a hearing regarding the activities of the group. As a
result, its members were deprived of church office, though not
disfellowshipped.
I used to be told when investigating religious principles that it was
dangerous to do so, and I had better let them alone; but I did not think so. I
believe it is good [11] to investigate and prove all principles that come
before me. Prove all things, hold fast that which is good, and reject that
which is evil, no matter what guise it may come in. . . . In short, I believe
in every true principle that is embodied in any person or sect, and reject the
false. If there is any truth in heaven, earth, or hell, I want to embrace it,
I care not what shape it comes in to me, who brings it, or who believes in it,
whether it is popular or unpopular. . . .
In every principle presented to us, our first inquiry should be, "Is it
true? Does it emanate from God?" If He is its author, it can be sustained just
as much as any other truth in natural philosophy; if false, it should be
opposed and exposed just as much as any other error. Hence, upon all such
matters we wish to go back to first principles. (3)
"There are two things I have always said I would do," Taylor
declared. "One is to vote for whom I please and the other to worship God
as I please." (4) With this attitude, he and others of the group
continued the search for the true faith.
In addition to our researches and investigations, we prayed and fasted
before God, and the substance of our prayers was that if He had a people upon
the earth anywhere, and ministers who were authorized to preach the gospel,
that He would send us one. . . . We prayed earnestly, and in answer to our
prayer, the Lord sent us Elder Parley P. Pratt. . . .
Brother Pratt, in relating the circumstances, says that Brother Heber C.
Kimball came to his house one night, and then began to prophesy to him. He
told him there was a people in Canada who were seeking for a knowledge of the
gospel, and they were praying to God to send them a minister who should reveal
to them the truth. Brother Kimball then commissioned him to repair to Canada,
telling him that the Lord would bless him and open up his way . . . . (5)
[12]
At the first meeting in the Walton home, Taylor frankly told Parley
that he "wanted no fables."
I wished him to confine himself to the scriptures. We talked for three
hours or upwards, and he bound me as close to the scriptures as I desired,
proving everything he said therefrom. . . .
The first thing that I heard from a priest, after hearing this gospel
preached by Parley P. Pratt . . . was the cry, "Delusion!" I was immediately
informed that "Joe Smith was a money-digger," that he tried to deceive people
by walking on planks laid under the water, and that he was a wicked and
corrupt man, a deceiver, and one of the biggest tools in creation, and so
forth . . . .
From the reports which I had heard of Mormonism, I thought it was
anything but a religious system. I was told about the French prophets,
Mattias, Johanna Southcote, and of all the follies that had existed for
centuries; and then they put Mormonism at the end of them all. (6)
Some members of the investigating group remained skeptical about
Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon, and they rejected Parley's claims to
authority. Taylor spoke up in defense of the search for truth.
"We are here, ostensibly, in search of truth. Hitherto we have fully
investigated other creeds and doctrines and proved them false. Why should we
fear to investigate Mormonism? This gentleman, Mr. Pratt, has brought us many
doctrines that correspond with our own views. We have endured a great deal and
made many sacrifices for our religious convictions. We have prayed to God to
send a messenger, if He has a true church on earth. Mr. Pratt has come to us
under circumstances that are peculiar; and there is one thing that commends
him to our consideration: he has come amongst us without purse or scrip, as
the [13] ancient apostles traveled; and none of us are able to refute his
doctrine by scripture or logic. I desire to investigate his doctrines and
claims to authority, and shall be very glad if some of my friends will unite
with me in this investigation. But if no one will unite with me, be assured I
shall make the investigation alone. If I find his religion true, I shall
accept it, no matter what the consequences may be; and if false, then shall I
expose it." (7)
Subsequently, Taylor wrote down eight sermons preached by Parley,
"that I might compare them with the work of God." The discussions between
Taylor and Parley were lively affairs that continued over a period of
three weeks. Both men had great knowledge of the scriptures. "No person
could tell me a passage in the Bible but what I could turn to it," Taylor
recalled, "I could not remember every passage, but I knew their
connections and could tell others where they could find them." (8)
In comparing Mormonism with scripture, Taylor was troubled at being
"compelled to admit there was something reasonable about it."
I almost hoped it was not true. "If it is true," said I, "as an honest
man I shall be obliged to obey it." . . . When I had investigated the subject,
and became convinced that it was true, I said, "I am in for it; I must embrace
it; I cannot reject the principles of eternal truth." (9)
Parley P. Pratt baptized John and Leonora Taylor in Black Creek, on
the outskirts of Toronto, the afternoon of 9 May 1836.
Taylor was fully aware of the consequences of this radical change of
direction in his life.
[14]
I expected when I came into this church that I should be persecuted and
proscribed. I expected that the people would be persecuted. But I believed
that God had spoken, that the eternal principles of truth had been revealed,
and that God had a work to accomplish which was in opposition to the ideas,
views, and notions of men, and I did not know but it would cost me my life
before I got through. (10)
(1) Parley P. Pratt, Autobiography, Salt Lake City, 1874. Parley was
killed before completing the book, and John Taylor "undertook the task of
assisting to collate and revise the work preparatory to publication."
Incidentally, the name of the stranger at Hamilton was Moses Nickerson.
(2) Journal of Discourses (hereafter JD), 12 June 1853; 5 March
1882; also, Three Nights Public Discussion . . . at Boulogne-Sur-Mer,
France (hereafter PD), Liverpool, 1850.
(3) JD 14 March 1869; 12 June 1853.
(4) JD 3 March 1872.
(5) JD and PD.
(6) PD; also JD 13 Dec. 1857.
(7) B. H. Roberts, The Life of John Taylor, Salt Lake City, 1892.
(8) JD 5 Feb. 1865.
(9) JD 10 Feb. 1884.
(10) Ibid.
[15]
Chapter 2
DARKNESS AT KIRTLAND
In March the following spring, 1837, John Taylor visited the Mormon
settlement at Kirtland, Ohio, where he was a guest at Joseph Smith's
home. On first meeting the, prophet, Taylor felt a charge like an
electrical shock on grasping Joseph's hand. The two men had much in
common as mystics, seekers, self-taught intellectuals. They, immediately
became friends, and Taylor soon was admitted to the small circle of
Joseph's intimates.
Joseph Smith came forward telling us that an angel had administered to
him and had revealed unto him the principles of the gospel as they existed in
former days, and that God was going to set his hand to work in these last days
to accomplish His purposes and build up His kingdom, to introduce correct
principles, to overturn error, evil, and corruption, and to establish His
church and kingdom upon the earth. I have heard him talk about these things
myself. I have heard him tell over and over again, to myself and others, the
circumstances pertaining to these visions and the various ministrations of
angels, and the development of the purposes of God towards the human family .
. . . He taught precisely the same principles and doctrine and ordinances that
were taught by Jesus and His disciples in their day . . . .
God restored His ancient gospel to Joseph Smith, giving him revelation,
opening the heavens to him, and making him acquainted with the plan of
salvation and exaltation of the children of men. I was well acquainted with
him, and have carefully examined the revelations given through him, and
notwithstanding all the aspersions [16] that have been cast upon him, I
believe that with the exception of Jesus Christ there never was a greater
prophet upon this wide earth than he . . . .
He presented himself before the world and informed the people that God
had spoken, and that He had spoken to him. He told them that the heavens had
been opened and that angels clothed in light and glory had appeared to him and
revealed unto him certain things . . . .
I can tell you what he told me about it. He said that he was very
ignorant of the ways, designs, and purposes of God, and knew nothing about
them; he was a youth unacquainted with religious matters or the systems and
theories of the day. He went to the Lord, having read James' statement, "If
any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God . . . and it shall be given him."
He believed that statement and went to the Lord, and asked Him, and the
Lord revealed himself to him, together with His Son, Jesus, and pointing to
the latter, said, "This is my Beloved Son, hear Him!" He then asked in regard
to the various religions with which he was surrounded. He inquired which of
them was right, for he wanted to know the right way and to walk in it. He was
told that none of them was right, that they had all departed from the right
way, that they had forsaken God, the fountain of living waters, and hewed them
out cisterns, broken cisterns, that could not hold water.
Afterwards, the Angel Moroni came to him and revealed to him the Book of
Mormon . . . .
We have Oliver Cowdery, who tells us something about these things, and
gives his testimony as a living witness. Again, there were eleven witnesses in
relation to the Book of Mormon, who testify that the Book of Mormon was a
divine revelation from God. And some of these witnesses tell us that an angel
of God came and laid before them the plates from which the Book of Mormon was
translated, and they knew that their testimony was true [17] and faithful.
Others saw and handled the plates from which the record was taken. I have
conversed with several of those men who say they have seen the plates that
Joseph Smith took out of the Hill Cumorah; I have also conversed with Joseph
Smith, who has told me of these things and many more. (1)
Joseph Smith organized the church on 6 April 1830. From its
beginning, the original membership of six grew miraculously, while the
prophet was the storm center of violent controversy, known for good and
evil throughout the world.
Who was Joseph Smith? The Book of Mormon tells us he was the seed of
Joseph that was sold into Egypt, and hence he was selected, as Abraham was, to
fulfil a work upon the earth. God chose this young man. He was ignorant of
letters as the world has it, but the most profoundly learned and intelligent
man that I ever met in my life. . . And where did he get his intelligence
from? Not from books, not from the logic or science of philosophy of the day,
but he obtained it through the revelation of God made known to him . . . .
As the spirit of revelation rested down upon God's servant Joseph, . . .
the heavens unfolded to his view .... He learned by communication from the
heavens . . . of the great events that should transpire in the latter days. He
understood things that were past, and comprehended the various dispensations;
. . . and hence he introduced what was spoken of by all the prophets since the
world was: the dispensation in which we live, which differs from all other
dispensations in that it is the dispensation of the fulness of times,
embracing all others . . . that ever existed upon the face of the earth.
At that time he was a feeble youth, inexperienced, without a knowledge of
the learning of the day. But God put him in possession of that kind of
intelligence, and what may be termed a scientific knowledge of all things [18]
pertaining to this earth--and the heavens, if you please--which was altogether
ahead of all the intelligence that existed in the world . . . .
From then until the end of his life, John Taylor defended the
prophet's character; he refuted aspersions and bore personal testimony:
Suppose Joseph Smith was all you represent him to be--your systems are
still unscriptural. And the next thing you will have to do will be to prove
the scriptures false, if you would sustain . The eternal truths of God
are still the same, and whether Joseph Smith was a good or a bad man, the
truths we preach are scriptural, and you cannot gainsay that; and if they are,
what avails your attack upon character? . . .
I testify that I was acquainted with Joseph Smith for years. I have
traveled with him; I have been with him in private and in public; I have
associated with him in councils of all kinds; I have listened hundreds of
times to his public teachings, and his advice to his friends and associates of
a more private nature. I have been at his house and seen his deportment in his
family. I have seen him arraigned before the tribunals of his country, and
have seen him honorably acquitted, and delivered from the pernicious breath of
slander, and the machinations of wicked and corrupt men . . . .
My spirit glows with sacred fire while I reflect upon these scenes, and I
say, O Lord, hasten the day! Let Zion be established! Let the mountain of the
Lord's house be established on the tops of the mountains! Let deliverance be
proclaimed unto Zion! Let redemption echo from mountain to mountain, from hill
to hill, from nation to nation! Let the world hear! Let the law go forth from
Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem! Let the dead bear a voice and
live! Let the captives be set free! Let the Saints possess the kingdom, and
the kingdoms of the world become the kingdoms of our God and his Christ! . . .
[19]
I have seen him, then, under these various circumstances, and I testify
before God, angels and men, that he was a good, honorable, virtuous man--that
his doctrines were good, scriptural, and wholesome--that his precepts were
such as become a man of God--that his private and public character was
unimpeachable . . . .
If I did not believe that Joseph Smith was a prophet, I should not have
been here. If he was a true prophet, and spake the word of the Lord, that is
just as binding on the human family as any other word spoken by any other
prophet. The scriptures tell us that "Man shall not live by bread alone, but
by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God." . . . Gentlemen, I
again say that Joseph Smith was a virtuous, high-minded, honorable man, a
gentleman and a Christian . . . .
But he introduced principles which strike at the root of the corrupt
systems of men. This necessarily comes in contact with their prepossessions,
prejudices, and interests; and as they cannot overturn his principles, they
attack his character. And that is one reason why we have so many books written
against his character, without touching his principles, and also why we meet
with so much opposition. But truth, eternal truth, is invulnerable. It cannot
be destroyed, but like the throne of Jehovah, it will outride all the storms
of men, and live forever. (2)
Taylor found the community at Kirtland rent with apostacy. Not only
the outside world attacked Joseph's character, but a great many within
the society of Saints claimed that he was a fallen prophet. Although just
a year previously, heavenly beings had attended the dedication of the
temple there, manifestations accompanied by great spiritual ecstacy, now
"the church seemed on the point of disintegration," B. H. Roberts
recorded. Previously, Roberts said:
[20]
Everything in and about Kirtland had been prosperous. The Saints abounded
in everything their hearts could desire. The men wore expensive rainment,
ornamented with velvets and silks . . . 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 . . . . 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 . . . .
"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 . . . ."
Among others, Parley P. Pratt was floundering in darkness, and coming to
Elder Taylor told him of some things wherein he considered the Prophet Joseph
in error. . . . (3)
Parley had summed up his hurt in a bitter letter to Joseph Smith, 23
May 1837:
. . . Having long pondered the path in which we, as a people, have been
led in regard to our temporal management, I have at length become fully
convinced that the whole scheme of speculation in which we have been engaged
is of the devil. I allude to the covetous, extra-[21]ordinary speculating
spirit which has reigned in this place for the last season: which has given
rise to lying, deceiving and taking advantage of one's neighbor, and, in
short, every evil work . . . .
And now, dear brother, if you are still determined to pursue this wicked
course, until yourself and the church shall sink down to hell, I beseech you
at least to have mercy on me and my family, and others who are bound with me
for those three lots (of land) which you sold to me at the extraordinary price
of 2000 dollars, which never cost you 100 dollars.
Parley had paid $75 down for the lots, with a note secured by a
mortgage on his home. Sidney Ridgon of the church presidency had told him
that unless the remainder was paid, the mortgage would be foreclosed.
Parley wanted his money back and the whole deal cancelled. But Joseph
himself had been saddled with debts of the entire community following the
financial collapse, while his bank was facing failure.
In reply to Parley's accusations against the prophet, Taylor said:
"I am surprised to hear you speak so, Brother Parley. Before you left
Canada you bore a strong testimony to Joseph Smith being a prophet of God, and
to the truth of the work he has inaugurated; and you said you knew these
things by revelation, and the gift of the Holy Ghost.
"You gave me a strict charge to the effect that though you or an angel of
heaven was to declare anything else, I was not to believe it. Now, Brother
Parley, it is not man that I am following, but the Lord. The principles you
taught me led me to Him, and I now have the same testimony that you rejoiced
in. If the work was true six months ago, it is true today; if Joseph Smith was
then a prophet, he is now a prophet."
[22]
To the honor of Parley, be it said, he sought no further to lead Elder
Taylor astray; nor did he use much argument in the first place. "He, with many
others," says Elder Taylor, "were passing under a dark cloud; he soon made it
all right with the Prophet Joseph, and was restored to full fellowship." (4)
Parley was only one of many in darkness. Heber C. Kimball declared
that during the apostacy at Kirtland, "there were not twenty persons on
earth that would declare that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God." (5)
At this time Taylor became a marked man in the church because of his
defense of the prophet in the temple. A group of apostates led by Warren
Parrish, who had been cashier of the Kirtland Bank, made a violent attack
on the character of the prophet. In rebuttal, Taylor said:
From whence do we get our intelligence, and knowledge of the laws,
ordinances and doctrines of the Kingdom of God? Who understood even the first
principles of the doctrines of Christ? Who in the Christian world taught them?
If we, with our learning and intelligence, could not find out the first
principles, which was the case with myself and millions of others, how can we
find out the mysteries of the Kingdom? It was Joseph Smith, under the
Almighty, who developed the first principles, and to him we must look for
further instructions. . . . The children of Israel, formerly, after seeing the
power of God manifested in their midst, fell into rebellion and idolatry, and
there is certainly very great danger of us doing the same thing." (6)
Joseph saved the shattered church by calling the apostles to a
mission in England, where they made thousands of converts. Taylor had a
role in initiating this:
[23]
I was the first person that wrote a letter to England on the subject of
the gospel. I did it at the request of Brother Fielding, who got me
to write for him to a brother and brother-in-law of his who were ministers in
England. These were the men that helped to introduce the gospel into England
in that early day. (7)
(1) JD 1 March 1863; 17 March 1872; 1 Feb. 1874; 7 Dec. 1879.
(2) Millennial Star (hereafter MS), 1 November 1846; PD; JD 7
December 1870, 1 February 1874, and 8 April 1879.
(3) Life of John Taylor.
(4) Actually, Parley's period of darkness lasted more than a year.
(5) JD 28 Sept. 1856.
(6) Roberts, Life.
(7) JD 5 March 1882. Those called on this first foreign mission of
the church were Apostles Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde, with Elders
Willard Richards, Joseph Fielding, John Goodson, Isaac Russell and John
Snider. They left Kirtland in June, 1837, and returned the following May.
[24]
Chapter 3
THE RICH LAND OF MISSOURI
During the great falling away, John Taylor returned to Canada to
supervise the branches there. Joseph Smith fled Kirtland ahead of mob
violence, and settled with the Saints in Missouri. Taylor reported:
There were four of the Twelve who did apostatize Wm. E. McLellin, Luke
Johnson, John F. Boynton and Lyman Johnson. When they apostatized, the
following revelation was given:
"Revelation, given through Joseph, the Seer, at Far West, Missouri, July
8th, 1838, in answer to the question, `Show us thy will, O Lord,
concerning the Twelve.'
"Verily, thus saith the Lord, let a Conference be held immediately, let
the Twelve be organized, and let men be appointed to supply the place of those
who are fallen. . . .
"And next Spring, let them depart to go over the great waters, and there
promulgate my Gospel, the fulness thereof, and bear record of my name. (1)
"Let them take leave of my Saints in the city of Far West, on the 26th
day of April next, on the building spot of my house, saith the Lord.
"Let my servant John Taylor, and also my servant John E. Page, and also
my servant Wilford Woodruff, and also my servant Willard Richards, be
appointed to fill the places of those who have fallen, and be officially
notified of their appointment."
[25]
I will state that I was living in Canada at the time, some three hundred
miles distant from Kirtland. I was presiding over a number of churches in
Upper Canada. I knew about this calling and appointment before it came, it
having been revealed to me. But not knowing but that the devil had a finger in
the matter, I did not say anything about it to anybody . . . .
A messenger came to me with a letter from the First Presidency, informing
me of my appointment, and requesting me to repair forthwith to Kirtland, and
from there to go to Far West. I went according to the command. (2)
Taylor organized a wagon company of Canadian Saints, who went with
him to the gathering in Missouri. They arrived at a time of mob violence,
which culminated in the order of Governor Lilburn Boggs to expel the
Mormons or exterminate them.
We lived in a rich land, back in Missouri . . . . I have seen fields of
corn that a regiment of soldiers could ride into and they would be out of
sight; and I have seen beans grow where corn has been planted, where the
cornstalks have served as bean poles; and I have seen pumpkins and squash grow
among them, three crops growing the same year and at the same time . . . .
Why could we not stop there? Because the land was too good, and we were
easy of access to men desirous to possess our property; and they told us to
move on, and we had to go. We had to leave Missouri, and I suppose God
intended to try the Saints, to let them pass through certain kinds of
experience and play them in a position that they would have to lean on Him.
(3)
At the request of the St. Louis Gazette, John Taylor wrote a Short
Account of Murders, Robberies, Burnings, Thefts, and Other Outrages
Committed by the Mob and [26] Militia. The editor, however, declined to
publish the unpopular Mormon viewpoint.
As many reports have been put in circulation relative to the
circumstances that have taken place in Missouri, concerning the persecutions
of the Mormons (so called), and as the public are unable to arrive at any just
conclusions relative to the events that have taken place, I thought it best to
lay this short account before the world, as I was an eye and an ear witness to
most of the things mentioned in this account. And what I did not witness, I
have documentary evidence or testimony that could not be impeached, from those
that did see and hear.
It is almost unnecessary for me to state that every possible means have
been made to, in order to misrepresent us as a people, calumniate our
characters, rob us of our rights as citizens, take away our liberty of
conscience, and deprive us of all those privileges for which our fathers bled
....
The difficulties under which our people have labored ever since their
settlement in Jackson County, in Missouri, have been nothing more nor less
than religious persecution . . . as constables and lawyers, priest and
magistrates, civilians and officers have been arrayed against us . . .
declaring their determination, as expressed in one of their resolutions in
Jackson County, to "expel them peacefully if we can, forcibly if we must." (4)
By the time Taylor's wagon company arrived in Missouri, the society
had been driven from Jackson County. The Saints sought refuge in Clay
County. Then, after three years, they had been "invited" to go elsewhere,
because they didn't amalgamate with the Missouri citizenry. Taylor
arrived at DeWitt, and described conditions there:
A number of our brethren who had located themselves and bought property
on the banks of the Missouri [27] River, in Carroll County, were threatened
with extermination by the mob if they would not, evacuate that place and leave
the county . . . .
At the appointed time the mob came, amounting to upwards of a hundred,
with the Rev. Sashiel Woods and Abbott Hancock, two Presbyterian Priests, at
their head in company with the sheriff . . . .
The activities of rival ministers as leaders of mob action was
convincing evidence that the basic issue was religious persecution.
This was the first mob I had ever seen, 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 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.
Taylor carried no weapons, and was incapacitated by an accident: he
had fallen under the wheels of his wagon and was severely bruised.
I had no arms, and heretofore considered that I needed none in a
Christian, civilized land; but I found I had been laboring under a mistake . .
. . 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. (5)
When met by determined resistance, the mob at DeWitt dispersed,
after warning the Saints to leave the place within ten days or face
extermination. Taylor went on to Far [28] West, where he joined the
prophet and other brethren, including Parley Pratt.
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. The person
bearing it said that some of their friends were among our people, for whose
safety they felt anxious. I rather think it was a case in which the wife was
in the Church but not the husband, and the mob wished these parties to come
out. . . . as they were going to destroy every man, woman and child in the
place.
But these folks had a little "sand" in them . . . . They sent word back
that if that was the case, they would die with their friends.
Joseph Smith, our leader, then sent word back by this messenger. Said he,
"Tell your general to withdraw his troops or I will send them to hell." I
thought that was a pretty bold stand to take, as we only numbered about two
hundred to their thirty-five hundred. . . . But they took the hint and left.
(6)
The betrayal of two Apostles, Thomas B. Marsh, president of the
Twelve, and Orson Hyde, did enormous damage to the Mormon cause at this
critical time. "It was a horrible affair," Taylor said, "as I look at
it."
"AFFIDAVIT OF THOMAS B. MARSH
"They have among them a company, considered true Mormons, called the
Danites, who have taken an oath to [29] support the heads of the Church in all
things that they say or do, whether right or wrong. Many, however, of this
band are much dissatisfied with this oath, as being against moral and
religious principles. On Saturday last, I am informed by the Mormons, that
they had a meeting at Far West, at which they appointed a company of twelve,
by the name of the Destruction Company, for the purpose of burning and
destroying, and that if the people of Buncombe came to do mischief upon the
people of Caldwell, and committed depredations upon the Mormons, they were to
burn Buncombe; and if the people of Clay and Ray made any movement
against them, this destroying company were to burn Liberty and Richmond.
"The plan of said Smith, the Prophet, is to take this state; and he
professes to his people to intend taking the United States, and ultimately the
whole world. This is the belief of the Church, and in my own opinion of the
Prophet's plans and intentions. The Prophet inculcates the notion, and it is
believed by every true Mormon, that Smith's prophecies are superior to the
laws of the land. I have heard the Prophet say that he would yet tread down
his enemies, and walk over their dead bodies; that if he was not let alone, he
would be a second Mohammed to this generation, and that he would make it one
gore of blood from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean; that like
Mohammed, whose motto in treating for peace was `The Alcoran or the Sword,' so
should it be eventually with us, `Joseph Smith or the Sword.' . . .
"Thomas B. Marsh. . . .
"AFFIDAVIT OF ORSON HYDE
"The most of the statements in the foregoing disclosure I know to be
true; the remainder I believe to be true.
"Orson Hyde
Richmond, Missouri
October 24, 1838." (7)
[30]
I will here state that I was in Far West at the time these affidavits
were made, and was mixed up with all prominent church affairs. I was there
when Thomas B. Marsh and Orson Hyde left there . . . and I know that these
things referred to in the affidavits are not true. . . .Thomas B. Marsh was
unquestionably "instigated by the devil" when he made this statement. . . .
I remember a circumstance that occurred. A number of us had been out to a
place called Di-Ahman--its proper name was Adam-Ondi-Ahman. In coming into Far
West, I heard about him and Orson Hyde having left. It would be here proper to
state, however, that Orson Hyde had been sick with a violent fever for some
time, and had not yet fully recovered therefrom, which, with the circumstances
with which we were surrounded and the influence of Thomas B. Marsh, may be
offered as a slight palliation for his default.
Brother Heber C. Kimball and I were together, and I said to him, "I have
a notion to take a team and follow after these brethren, and see if I cannot
persuade them to come back."
Speaking particularly of Brother Marsh, "Well," said he, "if you knew him
as well as I do, you would know that if he had made up his mind to go, you
could not turn him."
Betrayal, to John Taylor, was "truly infamous," a "shocking course
for a man to pursue." Regarding this, he received counsel from Joseph
Smith that became his guideline to the day of his death:
I am here reminded of the words of Joseph in exhorting the Twelve. He
said:
"O ye Twelve, and all Saints, profit by this important key, that in all
your trials, troubles, and temptations, afflictions, bonds, imprisonment and
death, see to it that [31] you do not betray heaven, that you do not betray
Jesus Christ, that you do not betray your brethren . . . . Yes, in all your
kicking and floundering, see to it that . . . whatever you do, do not betray
your friends."
After Governor Boggs issued his order for the militia to expel or
exterminate the Mormons in Missouri, a number of prominent brethren were
delivered as hostages to General Lucas of the militia. The prisoners
included Joseph Smith, his brother, Hyrum, Sidney Rigdon, Parley Pratt,
and others.
We were next called to give up our arms. This we as readily complied
with. We then expected to be protected by that authority, but in vain; for
while we were thus deprived of our arms . . . the mob, which had been in our
neighborhood previous to the arrival of the militia, joined their ranks and
became part and parcel of their number . . . .
Several of the houses of our brethren were robbed by them of their
blankets, wearing apparel, money, etc.; a great number of horses and some
wagons were stolen; one man had upwards of three hundred dollars in specie
taken . . . . Our corn-fields in the vicinity of Far West were laid waste,
cattle were killed in great numbers, the best parts of them taken and the
remainder left to rot on the ground. Hogs and sheep in many instances were
shot for amusement, and left lying for dogs, hogs, or birds of prey to feed
upon. . . .
A number of these wicked men combined together and perpetrated personal
violence too disgraceful to insert in this paper, upon two defenseless women.
Many other outrages were committed by these troops under command of Gen.
Lucas, while we were prisoners under a strong guard . . . with little else in
general than boiled corn to live upon . . . .
[32]
In the meanwhile, we were called together and presented with a deed of
trust, by signing of which we were forced to make over all our properties to
pay the expenses, etc., of the war. This we were obliged to do at the point of
the bayonet. . . .
General Clark having arrived, a committee of our people convened for the
purpose of soliciting an interview with him. We sent a note to him to that
effect. (8)
"Far West, Nov. 4, 1838
To Major General Clark
Commander of the Military
Forces of Mo. -Sir: The peculiar situation that we as a people are placed in consequence of
the circumstances that have recently transpired, render it very desirable that
something should be done for the amelioration of our condition and the redress
of certain grievances that have been practiced and do exist. --A few of the
citizens of Far West have conferred on the propriety of appointing a committee
and have appointed one for the purpose of conferring with you and putting you
in possession of information which owing to your recent arrival in this place,
you are probably unacquainted with.
Should you, sir, deem it expedient to comply with our requisition, we
will wait upon you at any time or place mentioned by you. You will oblige us
by returning an answer by the bearer.
Written in behalf of the Committee by your most obedient and humble
servant-John Taylor" (9)
We obtained for answer that he would be in Far West in the morning; but
we did not obtain an interview . . . .
[33]
At length we were called together at his command; upwards of fifty
prisoners taken from amongst us, and then had the following speech delivered
to us by the General:
"Gentlemen--You whose names are not attached to this list of names, will
now have the privilege of going to your fields, and of providing corn, wood,
etc., for your families. Those that are now taken will go from this to
prison, be tried, and receive the due demerit of their crimes . . . .
"It now devolves upon you to fulfill the treaty that you have entered
into, the leading items of which I shall now lay before you:
"The first requires that your leading men be given up to be tried
according to law; this you have already complied with.
"The second is that you deliver up your arms; this has been attended to.
"The third stipulation is that you sign over your properties to defray
the expenses of the war; this you have already done.
"Another article yet remains for you to comply with, and that is that you
leave the state forthwith; and whatever may be your feelings concerning this,
or whatever your innocence, it is nothing to me. General Lucas, who is equal
in authority with me, has made this treaty with you--I approve of it--I should
have done the same had I been here--I am therefore determined to see it
fulfilled. The character of this state has suffered almost beyond redemption
from the character, conduct and influence that you have exerted, and we deem
it an act of justice to restore her character to its former standing among the
states, by every proper means.
[34]
"The orders of the governor to me were, that you should be exterminated,
and not allowed to remain in the state, and had your leaders not been given
up, and the terms of the treaty complied with, before this you and your
families would have been destroyed and your houses in ashes . . . .
"You must not think of staying here another season, or of putting in
crops, for the moment you do this the citizens will be upon you. If I am
called here again, in case of non-compliance of a treaty made, do not think
that I shall act any more as I have done--you need not expect any mercy, but
extermination . . . .
"As for your leaders, do not once think--do not imagine for a moment--do
not let it enter your mind--that they will be delivered, or that you will see
their faces again, for their fate is fixed--their die is cast--their doom
is sealed.
"I am sorry, gentlemen, to see so great a number of apparently
intelligent men found in the situation that you are; and, oh! that I could
invoke that Great Spirit, the unknown God, to rest upon you, and make you
sufficiently intelligent to break that chain of superstition, and liberate you
from those fetters of fanaticism with which you are bound--that you no longer
worship a man.
"I would advise you to scatter abroad, and never again organize
yourselves with Bishops, Presidents, etc., lest you excite the jealousies of
the people, and subject yourselves to the same calamities that have now come
upon you.
"You have always been the aggressors--you have brought upon yourselves
these difficulties by being disaffected and not being subject to rule--and my
advice is, that you become as other citizens, lest by a recurrence of these
events you bring upon yourselves irretrievable ruin."
[35]
Taylor concluded his Short Account with sardonic thanks to the
general for his tender mercies.
Brigham Young led the Saints across the State of Missouri to refuge
in Illinois during mid-winter. John Taylor was coordinator between the
Mormon people and the Missouri militia. Of this period, Taylor said:
My heart recoils when I reflect upon the scenes we then passed through.
Our beloved brother P. P. Pratt was in prison at that time, as also were our
dear brethren, Joseph Smith, Jr., Hyrum Smith, and many others. I have
witnessed thousands of our brethren and sisters, together with their helpless
offspring, driven from their homes during the inclement season of an American
winter, robbed of their all, and wandering as fugitives, wending their way to
a strange land, houseless, homeless, and friendless, except what friendship
they experienced from the hands of the people of the state of Illinois,
pitching their tents by the way, or laying under the canopy of heaven, until
with fatigue and cold, and privations, many of them sickened and died. (10)
With the Saints driven from Missouri, what should be done about the
revelation that the Twelve should "take leave of my Saints from the city
of Far West, on the 26th of April next," and go to England?
Under these circumstances, with our families most of them more or less
afflicted, our brethren expelled from the state, our prophet and many of the
brethren in prison at a distance of 200 miles from where we were directed to
start by revelation--and that starting place, and the way to it, also, in the
midst of our enemies, where most of the people through whom we had to travel,
if they had known us, would as soon have shot us as they would a dog, our
enemies boasting that this prophecy would never [36] receive its
accomplishment--yet in the midst of these things, we knew that the word of the
Lord could not be broken . . . .
We started, while many of our brethren trembled for our safety, and
arrived at Far West unknown to our enemies. It was early morning when we rode
into the square, but beautifully clear and moonlit. All seemed still as death,
except for the noise that was made by the trampling of our horses and the
rumbling of our wagons, for we had met with some of our other brethren who had
just got out of prison, who accompanied us to the place.... There were about
thirty of us rode into Far West . . . . But it seemed as though a deep sleep
had fallen upon , for although we rode into the place right among
the houses, with a number of horses and two four-wheeled carriages, we were
not observed.
We held a conference on the foundation of the house of the Lord, which
was surrounded by houses at not above 100 yards distance all round; we rolled
a stone up to the foundation, and laid it; this was upwards of a ton weight .
...
The following of the Twelve were present--Brigham Young, Heber C.
Kimball, Orson Pratt, John E. Page, and John Taylor, who proceeded to ordain
Wilford Woodruff and George A. Smith . . . to the office of the Twelve, to
fill the places of those who had fallen. Darwin Chase and Norman Shearer (who
had just been liberated from Richmond prison, where they had been confined for
the cause of Jesus Christ) were ordained to the office of the Seventies . . .
.
We wandered among our deserted houses, and saw the streets in many places
grown over with grass, and many of our houses in ruins. We then took our leave
of the Saints according to I the word of the Lord . . . . That day we rode
thirty miles. (11)
[37]
The Apostles returned to Illinois from Far West, to make final
preparations for embarking on the mission call. On arriving at Quincy,
Illinois, Taylor was thrilled to greet Joseph Smith and his companions
who had escaped the jail at Liberty, Missouri.
Though the refugee Saints had been welcomed into Illinois only a
short while previously, already friction was arising between them and
their new neighbors. At the prophet's suggestion, Taylor wrote the Quincy
Argus, 1 May 1839: "Sir: In consequence of so great an influx of
strangers arriving in this place daily, owing to their late expulsion
from the State of Missouri, there must of necessity be . . . many
individuals . . . who never did belong to our Church, and others who once
did but who for various reasons have been expelled from our fellowship .
...
"We wish further to state that we feel ourselves laid under peculiar
obligations to the citizens of this place for . . . the hand of liberality and
fellowship which had been extended to us in our late difficulties; and should
feel sorry to see that philanthropy and benevolence abused by wicked and
designing people--who under pretense of poverty and distress should try to
work upon the feelings of the charitable and humane, get into their debt
without any prospect or intention of paying--and finally, perhaps, we as a
people be charged with dishonesty. We say that we altogether disapprove of
such practices, and we warn the citizens of Quincy against such individuals,
who may pretend to belong to our community."
In Illinois, the Saints gathered at a bend of the Mississippi, on
the site of the hamlet of Commerce, which they named Nauvoo. Some settled
across the river at the abandoned army barracks of Montrose, Iowa.
[38]
We found many of the Saints severely afflicted with fevers, ague, and
other diseases, in consequence of the many privations, fatigue, cold and
hardships that they had endured. Our families shared more or less in this
affliction, and we ourselves were taken sick . . . . In Nauvoo many were in a
wretched condition, living in poor tents;. and many, almost shelterless,
drooped; sickened and died.
Joseph Smith, who had obtained a comfortable house in Commerce, or
Nauvoo, left it with his family, and moved into tents, leaving his house for
the sick to occupy. I, as a great boon, with some others had the privilege of
occupying a room in a miserable, old log barrack . Here I parted
from my family to continue on my mission to England. Most of the Twelve were
sick, and a more dilapidated set of men could scarcely be found.
I left Montrose, Lee County, Iowa, August 8th, 1839, having previously
dedicated my wife and family to the care of the Lord and blessed them in His
name. The thoughts of the hardships they had just endured, the uncertainty of
their continuing even in the house they were in, the prevalence of
disease--more than one half of the Saints being afflicted with bilious fever,
there not being a sufficient number well to wait upon the sick--the poverty of
the brethren, their insecurity from mobs, together with the uncertainty of
what might happen during my absence, produced feelings of no ordinary kind; .
. . but the thought of going forth at the command of the God of Israel to
revisit my native land, unfold the principles of eternal truth, and make known
the things that God had developed for the salvation of the world, overcame
every other consideration. (12)
[39]
[40]
(1) This call was for the second mission to England.
(2) Succession in the Priesthood. 7 October 1881.
(3) JD, 9 Nov. 1881.
(4) Short Account.
(5) Short Account.
(6) JD, 5 March 1882.
(7) Succession in the Priesthood.
Orson Hyde repented of his betrayal and was taken back into the
Quorum. Years later, Thomas B. Marsh came to Utah, broken in health,
declaring himself a living example of the fruits of apostacy.
(8) Short Account.
(9) Authors' collection, "John Taylor Letters, 1838-1887."
(10) MS, 10 May 1841.
(11) Ibid; also Report of Far West Conference, John Taylor, clerk.
(12) MS, 10 May 1841; Juvenile Instructor, 30 Oct. 1875.
Chapter 4
WITHOUT PURSE OR SCRIP
John Taylor left for England in company with Wilford Woodruff, "who,
when he started, was severely afflicted with fever."
Elder Wilford Woodruff and myself were the first members of the Quorum of
the Twelve Apostles who left on this mission. We started in company without
purse or scrip on this journey. On leaving Nauvoo we saw Heber C. Kimball and
P. P. Pratt putting up a log house. Heber threw a purse to us, saying, "You
shall not go without a purse any longer;" and P. P. Pratt threw a half dollar
to put into it.
We afterwards met a brother, Zebedee Coltrin, who proposed taking us in
his wagon to the east, whose offer we gladly accepted. Some distance from
Nauvoo we met with Brother Miller, whom I had baptized some time
previously, who offered me a horse if I would accept it . . . . Another
brother by the name of Vance gave me a saddle and bridle. I then rode
my horse to Springfield, Illinois, where I got a brother to sell it, and with
the proceeds I published a short detail of our Missouri persecutions, in
pamphlet form.
This Short Account was the first published work of John Taylor's
prolific literary career. He appended a sardonic comment to the pamphlet:
"P.S. I wrote this article at the request of the Editor of the St. Louis
Gazette, but as he has refused to publish it, for reasons best known to
himself, I have taken this means to lay it before the public."
[41]
Enroute to New York, Taylor had "enjoyed a tolerable degree of
health," in contrast to the afflictions of the other members of the
Twelve. However, after leaving Terre Haute, he was suddenly overtaken by
sickness.
I was attacked by violent fever, which took such hold upon my frame that
when I got out of the carriage . . . I dropped down senseless in the highway,
and it was some time before I recovered. Being determined, if possible to
proceed, I got into the vehicle and traveled on, but the next and following
day I dropped down in the road as before, and the last time it was with
difficulty I was restored to animation.
Finding it impossible to proceed, I tarried at a place called Germantown,
in the state of Indiana, where I was brought down to the gates of death
several times. I advised Brother Woodruff to leave me and pursue his journey.
"It was evident that Brother Taylor had a settled fever upon him,
and would not be able to travel," Wilford Woodruff recorded.
Father Coltrin was resolved to continue his journey, and, in conversing
with Brother Taylor, the latter thought it better for one sick man to be left
than for two, as I was so ill with chills and fever that I was not able to
render him any assistance, nor, indeed, to take care of myself. Under these
circumstances, Brother Taylor advised me to continue my journey with Brother
Coltrin, and make the best of my way to New York.
After committing Elder Taylor into the hands of the Lord, I gave him the
parting hand--though painful to me--and started.
[42]
"Here I was among strangers, a distance of several hundred miles
from my home, with a most severe fit of sickness which reduced me almost
to a skeleton," Taylor said.
But I had confidence in God, and knew that he would deliver me.
I was very kindly nursed and cared for by the gentleman and
lady of the hotel where I stopped . . . . As I began to recover, I began to
preach in a courthouse near by, and, although I was capable of talking, I had
to sit part of the time during my discourses, as I was unable to stand. Great
crowds, however, flocked to hear. As I grew a little stronger, I preached in a
seminary close by, to large and attentive congregations . . . .
A gentleman called upon me one day, and begging to be excused for the
liberty which he was about to take, said, "Mr. Taylor, you do not act as most
preachers do; you have said nothing about your circumstances or money. Yet you
have been here some time sick and . . . your doctor's, hotel and other bills
must be heavy. I and some of my friends have been speaking about this matter,
and would like to assist you, but have been afraid of giving offense . . . ."
I thanked the gentleman kindly for his offer and told him that I preached
without purse or scrip, leaving the Lord to arrange these matters; and . . . I
should receive with gratitude what they felt disposed to give, and thank the
Lord and also them. This was really very opportune, for I needed it very much
to meet my expenses . . . .
After staying here about five weeks, I was so far recovered as to be able
to proceed. I took the coach, and traveled about 12 miles, and delivered a
lecture the same evening to a crowded congregation. Next day I travelled 40
miles to Dayton, Ohio, where I met with some brethren [43] that knew me. I
preached for them the day following, but the fatigue was too much for me, and
I was again taken sick, and lay there for three weeks . . . .
While there, Elders George A. Smith, Theodore Turley and one or two
others came along, with whom I went to Kirtland, Ohio, at which place I had
another relapse, and lay about three weeks longer. There I met elders Brigham
Young, Heber C. Kimball, Reuben Hedlock and others, who had overtaken me and
were going to start to New York.
I had been laboring under a very severe fever, but I felt determined,
sick or well, to proceed; so I started, and although I traveled a distance of
about 600 miles, night and day, with the exception of one night's rest, my
fever left me, and I did not experience any return of it . . . .
At New York, Taylor found Parley Pratt presiding over a large branch
and preparing his "Voice of Warning" and "Millennial Poems" for
publication.
He welcomed me to his house, and he and his good lady treated me with
every mark or kindness and respect. There I found Brother Woodruff, who had
been there some time and was prepared to leave for England . . . .
After paying my cab fare to Brother Pratt's house, I had just one cent
left. Several of the brethren inquired as to my circumstances. Not wishing to
plead poverty, I told them I had plenty of money.
Hearing this, Parley suggested that two or three hundred dollars
would be helpful to his publishing venture. Taylor gave him all he had,
"whereupon we had a hearty laugh."
At a council meeting that same evening Brother Pratt proposed that the
brethren assist me with means to [44] go to England as Brother Woodruff was
prepared and desirous to go. I thanked Brother Pratt for his kindness, but
told the brethren if they had anything to give, to let Brother Pratt have it,
as he had his family to provide for and needed means for publishing. . . . and
I would go when I got ready. After meeting, Brother Woodruff told me that he
regretted that I had taken such a course and refused the offer, as he had been
waiting for me and had engaged his passage.
I replied, "Well, Brother Woodruff, if you think it best for me to go, I
will accompany you."
"But," said he, "where will you get the means?"
I knew by the impression that I had that I could get it, and replied,
"Oh, there will be no difficulty about that. Go and take me passage on your
vessel, and I will furnish the means."
Brother Theodore Turley who was present, hearing this, and thinking, I
presume, that I had some resources unknown to them . . . said, "I wish I could
go with you. I would do your cooking or anything you wanted."
"Then, Brother Woodruff," said I, "take another passage for Elder Turley
and I will furnish you the means for him and me . . . ."
A brother who was waiting to take me home said, "Brother Taylor, I am
very sorry you did not accept the offer made you by Brother Pratt . . . . The
brethren would have assisted you and him also, and I myself would have given
you something . . . ."
"Well," said I, "I will accept what you proposed giving me, and as my way
opens I will go," upon which he handed me five dollars.
Next day I went to dine with another brother, and after I left he
followed me into the street and said, "Elder [45] Taylor, I feel as if I ought
to help you a little on your journey. I am only a poor man, but if five
dollars is of any service to you, I shall be pleased to give it." I thanked
him and accepted the money. The same evening I was invited to supper with a
few friends at Sister Simmon's, where for the first time I mentioned publicly
that I was going with Elder Woodruff. They replied, "we must assist you some
if you are going with him, as he starts in a few days," and they gave me ten
or twelve dollars.
In a day or two there was a meeting held in a large hall at which I
preached, bidding the people goodbye . . . . There was a very good feeling in
the meeting and the brethren flocked to me after it was over and shook hands
with me. In doing so, some put one dollar, some two dollars, some a half and
some a quarter of a dollar into my hand; and when I was through I found that I
had just enough to pay for the passage of Brother Turley and myself to
England, which I handed to Brother Woodruff to pay our fares. The brethren and
sisters of New York had supplied us with bedding, food and a very generous
outfit, and that left me to arrive in England as I started, without purse or
scrip. (1)
We arrived in Liverpool, after a pleasant voyage, on the 11th Jan. 1840,
from which place we proceeded to Preston, where we met with many Saints, who
rejoiced to see us . . . . We held a council, at which I was appointed to go
to Liverpool, and Elder Woodruff and Turley to go into the Potteries, and from
thence as their way might open. Elder Fielding accompanied me to
Liverpool, and we commenced our labours in this place . . . .
The first Sabbath we visited several places of worship. I asked liberty
to make a few remarks in one and had an opportunity of speaking in their
vestry to 18 or 20 preachers and leaders. While I was delivering my testimony,
some wept and others shouted Glory to God; others of them were hardened, and
raged against us . . . .
[46]
We then took a room that would hold 400 or 500 people, and in the
meanwhile visited all that we could get access to. Our being in town soon got
rumored about, and I suppose about 300 attended our first meeting. In
preaching, the power of God rested upon the people, and on my asking them if
it was not good news they responded "yes"--while many wept under the influence
of the spirit. After preaching, ten persons came forward to be baptized, some
of which felt convinced as soon as they saw us that we were men of God, and
others had dreamed about us . . . . Prejudice is fast giving way, and upwards
of 2000 Saints are now rejoicing in the truth. (2)
As secretary, John Taylor took the minutes of a meeting of the
Twelve at Preston, 14 April 1840, attended by Apostles Brigham Young,
Heber C. Kimball, P. P. Pratt, Orson Pratt, Wilford Woodruff and George
A. Smith. Willard Richards was ordained to the office of an apostle, and
at this meeting Brigham Young was formally chosen as president of the
Twelve. After general conference, another council meeting was held the
following day.
Moved by Elder Young, sec'd by Elder Taylor, that Elder P. P. Pratt be
chosen as the Editor of the monthly periodical for the Church. Moved by Elder
Kimball, sec'd by P. P. Pratt that a committee of three be appointed to make a
selection of hymns. Moved by Elder Orson Pratt and sec'd by Elder Wilford
Woodruff, that Elders Brigham Young, P. P. Pratt, and John Taylor form the
committee for that purpose. Moved by Elder Willard Richards, sec'd by Elder G.
A. Smith, that the name of the paper, or periodical, be the "Latter Day Saints
Millennial Star". . . .
Moved by Elder J. Taylor, sec'd by Elder P. P. Pratt, that the copyright
of the book of Doctrine and Covenants, and the Book of Mormon, be secured as
quickly as possible. (3)
[47]
As work on the hymn book and Book of Mormon progressed, Taylor wrote
Brigham Young at Manchester:
Liverpool, July 23, 1840
Dear Brother,
. . . The Book of Mormon is progressing. There are three forms out. I
have enclosed a pressed sheet that you may judge its appearance. I am going to
Ireland soon--shall start I think on Monday--and wish you would let me know
about the proofs while I am absent . . . .
I have received a letter from Er Hedlock. He says the work is progressing
in Scotland. They have got the Spaulding story there, and also in Ireland. (4)
If you have any of Parley's tracts published, I wish you would send a few....
"I visited Ireland on the 27th of July, 1840," Taylor wrote, where-I planted the standard of truth in that nation . . . . I preached in the
Sessions House in Newry, being the first time that ever this Gospel was
declared in that land. I stayed there something over a week, and baptized two
before I left. (5)
It was not until thirty years after Taylor brought the gospel to
Ireland that he disclosed why his stay there was so short. An Irish elder
who accompanied him from Liverpool, Brother McGuffie, was a convivial
soul who when among friends on the old sod repeatedly became intoxicated,
embarrassing both Taylor and the gospel. (6)
Soon afterwards . . . I visited the Isle of Man, accompanied by Elder
Hyrum Clark, and preached in the town of Douglas, where I hired the Wellington
room, a large hall capable of containing one thousand persons, and commenced
delivering a course of lectures to attentive and respectable congregations.
[48]
I had not proceeded above two or three nights before I was interrupted in
a very indecorous, anti-Christian, and ungentlemanly manner by a party of
Primitive Methodist preachers, and a Wesleyan Methodist local preacher and had
it not been for some gentlemen present who interfered, who possessed more
prudence and discretion than religious bigotry, it would have been difficult
to prevent an indignant public from putting them out of doors. (7)
The Manx Liberal reported the controversy, Oct. 4, 1840:
"On Friday evening last, while Mr. Taylor, who professes to be a
missionary for the Latter-Day Saints, was lecturing in the Wellington Market
Hall, in this town, he was interrupted in a very indecorous manner by a party
of Primitive Methodist preachers, and a young man of the name of Gill, who is
both an itinerant bookseller and a Wesleyan Methodist local preacher, who ever
and anon kept annoying him, until at the last they so far confused the meeting
as to stop the lecturer. There and then, in the fury of their zeal, they
appeared ready for combat, but certain individuals possessing more discretion
than religious intolerance quelled the rage of the `disorderlies,' and showed
the impropriety of such a proceeding by stating that the room was Mr.
Taylor's--that they had met for the purpose of religious worship, and ought
not to be disturbed--but if they conceived that the speaker had advanced
anything contrary to the word of God, they had no doubt but that Mr. Taylor
would meet them if they appointed a time and place for public discussion . . .
.
"Next day Mr. Taylor received a letter from Mr. Hamilton, charging him
with having `misquoted the word of God; with having mutilated it, added to it,
and taken from it; with having uttered blasphemy; and with endeavoring to
decoy souls to perdition;' all of which Mr. H. declared himself ready to prove
if Mr. T. would meet him at 7 o'clock on Monday evening, in the Wellington
Market Hall."
[49]
Regarding this challenge, Taylor reported:
It was so surcharged with calumny and vile abuse that if I had not been a
stranger there, and known that the public knew nothing about me, or my
principles, but what they obtained through a false medium, I should have
treated with contempt; as it was I submitted to it, not with a view of
having my principles investigated, for I knew they were out of the reach of
his critical acumen--not to have him detect error, for I was aware that he was
utterly incapable of discerning the difference between truth and error; nor
had I the least idea of teaching him, for I felt convinced with Solomon, that
"a fool is wiser in his own eyes than seven men that can render a reason;" but
merely to remove public prejudice, and to let it be known that I courted
publicity and light, and was not afraid of bringing my principles to the
touchstone of truth.
The Manx Liberal reported that on Monday evening the large hall was
completely filled "by persons anxious to witness the coming conflict
betwixt the two champions." Each man was allowed an hour, with a half
hour for rebuttal..
All preliminaries being over and chairman chosen, Mr. H. was called to
defend his charges. He instantly arose and commenced his harrangue by shewing
what a clever fellow he had been, what he had done, and by inference, what he
was still able to do. He said that he once took part in a similar discussion,
and so effectual were the weapons of his oratory that his antagonist died
within three days, and that on a subsequent occasion he was equally
successful. This, as might be expected, raised some excitement in the meeting,
and created some alarm for the safety of his opponent, who seemed doomed to
fall beneath the fatal influence of his death-dealing logic. But as he
proceeded it soon became apparent that he was a mere [50] braggadocia,
possessing no qualifications save ignorance and presumption. His countenance
void of every trace of intelligence--his common-place expressions abounding
with tautology--the stiffness of his attitude--the inaccuracy of his language
and the monotony of his tone--all indicated his utter inability to effect his
purpose . . . . However, he managed to occupy his hour . . . but made not even
the most distant allusion in reference to the gross and unfounded charges he
had pledged himself to prove.
Mr. T. being called, rose, and expressed his surprise that no proof of
the charges laid against him had been attempted; but as he was allowed an
hour, he would have to irritate the example of his friend, and preach, too.
His opponent had said much about the gospel; he, too, believed it to be
the "power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth;" but it was the
gospel of Jesus Christ, and not a part but the whole of the gospel. Mention
had been made of the different sections of the church; he did not believe that
the church of Christ was divided into sections. The Holy Spirit did not
inspire one party with one opinion and another party with another opinion; God
was not the author of confusion; there was one God, one faith, and one baptism
....
Mr. Hamilton again rose, but utterly failed in his attempt to grapple
with the arguments of his opponent.... He said that baptism was performed in
different ways under different circumstances, that in countries where there
was little water, they dipped their fingers in a little cup; and that in
countries where there was no water, they baptized with oil!!!
"About which opinion," Taylor said in his account of the debate:
I had the hardihood to be a little skeptical despite his great
proficiency in historical lore; for I was foolish enough to wonder (as any old
woman would do who did not [51] possess the same knowledge of history as
himself) what they made use of as a beverage in that country!! as oil would
not be very palatable to drink at all times, and also what they cooked their
victuals with . . . .
On being asked his authority to preach, answered, "I sent myself." I
was led to tell him that I was of that opinion before, but that he had
confirmed my impression; that I thought from the beginning that God had
nothing to do with sending him out.
The Manx Liberal reported that Taylor's rebuttal was "not to defend
his principles for they had not been attached," but rather was "to
inflict deserved chastisement on the arrogant simpleton."
And this he did right well, for while poor Mr. Hamilton writhed beneath
his heavy flagellation, it was truly heart-rending to witness his (Mr. H.'s)
agony. There he sat biting his lips, and shaking his head, and every muscle of
his distorted countenance seemed to implore the mercy of the meeting.
Mr. T. concluded his speech by affectionately exhorting Mr. H. to repent
and be baptized for the remission of sins, and then to enter by the door into
the sheepfold.
Preachers of other sects united against Taylor, because while he was
filling the large Wellington Market Hall until there was standing room
only, the churches of Douglas stood virtually empty. The ministers tried
to have Mormonism prohibited as illegal. Failing this, they attacked
Taylor with pamphlets and challenges to debate. Taylor reported:
The public began then to see that the doctrine of the Latter-Day Saints
was not so awful and blasphemous as it [52] had been represented to be by some
of these pious men, which excited the jealousy of a Mr. Heys, a Wesleyan
Methodist superintendent preacher, whose craft was in danger . . . . He
commenced propagating falsehoods by publishing a statement purporting to be
made by Mr. Hale, Joseph Smith's father-in-law, professing to give an account
of the character of Smith and of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon . . .
. So for the benefit of the public, I published a counter statement . . . . He
then published another and vainly attempted to hide his shame, which was
replied to by me in a tract called, "Calumny Refuted and the Truth Defended."
He then published another, and I answered in one entitled, "Truth Defended,
and Methodism Weighed in the Balance and Found Wanting," (all of which may be
had at the "Star" office).
About the same time arose another defender of the faith, a Doctor Curran,
who attacked me in the public press, and I answered him through the same
medium, which may be seen in full in the Manx Sun and Liberal . . . .
I have often, sir, been surprised at the weakness of the arguments that
are made use of against us even by men of literary attainments, and of great
talent when employed in any other cause . . . . So out of their own mouths I
would condemn them.
The next person that arose was the Rev. Mr. Haining, an Independent
minister; who though perhaps more learned and talented than some of his
coadjutors, yet his religious creed was not so popular; . . . the natural
consequence was that long before my arrival he had preached all his
congregation away . . . . In this predicament, without congregation or
influence, some Methodist local preachers . . . promised to assist in
pecuniary measures, and made use of the Rev. Mr. Haining as their tool to do
what they could not get Mr. Heys to do: either to meet me in public debate or
to deliver public lectures against my principles . . . .
[53]
As I had a large congregation to attend to, and . . . so weak,
irrelevant, so far-fetched and so foreign to the point were most of his
arguments, that I considered it only like beating the air to answer them, and
that it was a burlesque upon religion . . . .
I would just remark that the truth came off victorious in the Isle of
Man, and although I may say with Paul that "I have fought with beasts at
Ephesus," yet I feel thankful to my Heavenly Father that I have escaped
unhurt. The standard of eternal truth is planted there, many are rejoicing in
the liberty of the gospel of Jesus Christ . . .. and many more are believing
and on the eve of coming forth . . . . There have been about seventy baptized
in all, (8) thus in spite of all the combined powers of earth and hell, the
"truth will prevail." (9)
On 20 April 1841 Taylor and fellow Apostles Brigham Young, Heber C.
Kimball, Orson Pratt, Wilford Woodruff, George A. Smith and Willard
Richards sailed on the Rochester for America. Regarding the mission,
Brigham Young reported:
It truly seemed a miracle to look upon the contrast between our landing
and departing from Liverpool. We landed in the spring of 1840, as strangers in
a strange land and penniless, but through the mercy of God we have gained many
friends, established churches in almost every noted town and city of the
kingdom of Great Britain, baptized between seven and eight thousand, printed
5,000 Books of Mormon, 3,000 hymn books, 2,500 volumes of the Millennial Star,
and 60,000 tracts; and emigrated to Zion 1,000 souls, established a permanent
shipping agency, which will be a great blessing to the Saints, and have left
sown in the hearts of many thousands the seeds of eternal truth. (10)
[54]
[55]
(1) MS, 10 May 1841; Juvenile Instructor, 30 Oct. 1875; Journal of
Wilford Woodruff, 2 Sept. 1839.
(2) MS, 10 May 1841; Times and Seasons (hereafter T&S) 1 May 1841.
(3) T&S, June 1840.
(4) It was claimed that the Book of Mormon was copied from a lost
manuscript written by Solomon Spaulding.
(5) MS, 10 May 1841.
(6) Juvenile Instructor, 15 Oct. 1870.
(7) MS, March 1941.
(8) At Douglas, Taylor stayed at the Jewish home of Solomon and Ann
Pitchforth. Though Solomon didn't convert, Taylor baptized Ann and her
children. She subsequently came to Nauvoo and became his plural wife.
(9) MS, March 1841.
(10) MS 26:7.
Chapter 5
NAUVOO, THE BEAUTIFUL AND THE DOOMED
On 13 February 1841 Taylor wrote to Leonora from Liverpool that "we
purpose starting next April for home." He previously had sent ahead a
package in care of a returning missionary--shoes for Leonora, and for the
children a coat for George, a dress for Mary Ann, a trinket for the baby.
He also sent eight pounds in English money, which the elder never
delivered to Leonora. (1)
I wish I had put it into another person's hands, but I thought that he
would bring it to you safe. I don't care so much for the money as I do for
your needs. I have forwarded five pounds by Er Clark; I hope that he will deal
more honorably by you . . . .
We purpose going to New York, thence to Philadelphia, thence to
Pittsburgh, then enquiring the way to Nauvoo; and then enquiring if there is
any woman that wants a husband, and if we meet with any, we shall probably get
married for awhile; and you know the law of the Israelites was that when a
young man marries he was not to leave home or go to war for twelve months; and
surely the law of Israel should be as binding as the laws of the Medes and
Persians.
While the quip about getting "married for awhile" quite obviously
was in jest, it was anything but funny to Leonora. When Taylor arrived
home, I July 1841, he found that plural marriage had become an open [56]
secret both within and outside the Society of Saints. Gentile newspapers
were charging that Nauvoo was a den of iniquity and abominations.
This marriage system of ours, at first sight appears to as it
did to us at first sight--the most revolting, perhaps, of anything that could
be conceived. Whatever others may have thought of it, I know what was thought
about it by those who first embarked upon it. . . .
When this system was first introduced among this people, it was one of
the greatest crosses that ever was taken up by any set of men since the world
stood . . . . When this commandment was given, it was . . . so far binding
upon the elders of this church that it was told them if they were not prepared
to enter into it, and to stem the torrents of opposition that would come in
consequence of it, the keys of the kingdom would be taken from them . . . .
Now, we professed to be the Apostles of the Lord, and did not feel like
putting ourselves in a position to retard the progress of the kingdom of God.
The revelation . . . says that "all those who have this law revealed unto them
must obey the same." Now, that is not my word. I did not make it. It was the
Prophet of God who revealed that to us in Nauvoo, and I bear witness of this
solemn fact before God, that he did reveal this sacred principle to me and
others of the Twelve . . . .
And the revelation further says, "For behold! I reveal unto you a new and
everlasting covenant; and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned."
Think of that, will you. For it is further said, "no one can reject this
covenant, and be permitted to enter into my glory" . . . .
But the world . . . do not know anything about marriage nor
the object of it. What do they know about eternal union? Nothing.
[57]
Is there any man living, outside of this church, who will have a claim
upon his wife on the other side of the veil? No. Why? Because in all their
marriages, no matter by what church or denomination they are celebrated, the
ceremony distinctly states, "until death do you part" . . . .
God has revealed, through his servant Joseph Smith, something more. He
has told us about our wives and our children being sealed to us, that we might
have a claim on them in eternity. He has revealed unto us the law of celestial
marriage, associated with which is the principle of plural marriage . . . .
I will tell you what Joseph Smith said upon the subject. He presented
this principle to the Twelve, and called upon them to obey it, and said if
they did not, the kingdom of God could not go one step further.
Joseph said if we could not receive the gospel which is an everlasting
Gospel, if we could not receive the dictum of a priesthood that administers in
time and eternity, if we could not receive a principle that would save us in
the eternal world, and our wives and children with us, we were not fit to hold
this kingdom, and could not hold it, for it would be taken from us and given
to others . . . .
But through this principle we could be sealed to one another through time
and eternity; we could prepare ourselves for an exaltation in the celestial
kingdom of God . . . .
I had always entertained strict ideas of virtue, and I felt as a married
man that this was to me . . . an appalling thing to do. The idea of my going
and asking a young lady to be married to me, when I had already a wife! It was
a thing calculated to stir up feelings from the innermost depth of the human
soul. I had always entertained the strictest regard for chastity . . . .
[58]
Hence, with the feelings I had entertained, nothing but the knowledge of
God, and the revelations of God, and the truth of them, could have induced me
to embrace such a principle as this.
But even though accepting the principle as a commandment, "We seemed
to put off, as far as we could," Taylor admitted, "what might be termed
the evil day."
Awhile later, Taylor rode out of Nauvoo on horseback, and near the
graveyard met Joseph astride Charley, his black stallion.
He said, "Stop," and he looked at me very intently. "Look here," said he,
"those things that have been spoken of must be fulfilled, and if they are not
entered into right away, the keys will be turned . . . ."
I replied, "Brother Joseph, I will try and carry these things out," and I
afterwards did . . . . (2)
John Taylor's first plural wife was Leonora's cousin, Elizabeth
Kaighin. He subsequently married, at Nauvoo, Jane Ballantyne, Mary Ann
Okley, Mary Amanda Utley, Mercy Rachel Thompson, Mary Ramsbottom, Sarah
Thornton, Lydia Dibble Smith, and Ann Hughlings Pitchforth. (3)
The Principle was practiced by the priesthood, denied most
vehemently by the church. Taylor was compelled as a matter of policy to
adopt doubletalk in an effort to keep the practice secret.
The saints of the last days have witnessed the out-goings and incomings
of so many apostates that nothing but truth has any effect upon them. In the
present instance, after sham quotations . . . from the Bible, Book of [59]
Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants, to skulk off, under the "dreadful
splendor" of "spiritual wifery," which is brought into the account as
graciously as if the law of the land allowed a man a plurality of wives, is
fiendish . . . . Wo to the man or men who will thus wilfully lie to injure an
innocent people!
The law of the land and the rules of the church do not allow one man to
have more than one wife alive at once, but if any man's wife die, he has a
right to marry another, and to be sealed to both for eternity; to the living
and the dead! . . . This is all the spiritual wife system that ever was
tolerated in the church, and they know it. (4)
Taylor found that although Nauvoo now had almost 8,000 people, with
the marshland drained and a much more healthful climate, and although its
charter made it a powerful city-state, there were serious problems. In
addition to the outraged reaction to polygamy, neighboring newspapers
charged the Mormons with planning to dominate a vast empire, with Joseph
Smith at its head. (There actually was a core of truth to this. In the
anticipated kingdom of God on earth, Joseph would be king of the world,
other Mormons hold all positions of importance in the United States--John
Taylor would be Vice-President)
Gentiles of Hancock County had formed the Anti-Mormon Party just
three days before Taylor returned to Nauvoo. Three weeks later the
Anti-Mormon Party met to nominate two men to county office. The Warsaw
Signal reported:
Fellow citizens: On Monday next you will be called to decide the question
which has for some months past been agitated in your midst. On that occasion
we sincerely [60] hope that those of you who wish that this county should be
ruled by free, independent, and thinking citizens, and not by a
politico-military church, will give your votes to our worthy citizens, Richard
Wilton and Robert Miller. If you suffer yourselves to be defeated in this
contest, be assured that you will surrender the county to be governed by one
who has, under the garb of religion, defied the laws of man, and desecrated
those of heaven--a man whom fortune and impudence alone has elevated from the
dregs of the earth, yea! from the status of money digger, to the leader of a
fanatical band, which now numbers thousands--a man whose history proves him to
be a greater knave, a more consumate imposter, and a more impious blasphemer
than any whose acts disgrace the annals of villainy or hypocracy. (5)
The Signal and other Gentile papers charged that Nauvoo harbored a
nest of thieves who preyed on the countryside; that the city was a depot
for stolen goods, and a center of counterfeiting ring; and that it was
impossible to bring a Mormon to justice because the Nauvoo court would
automatically free him. (6)
However, it was true that the riverbottoms of this frontier area
were infested with gangs of banditti, and some of these outlaws had
infiltrated the Mormon ranks by pretending conversion, in order to gain
the protection of the well-organized Society. At the nearby town of
Ramus, the situation became so bad that a number of Saints were cut off,
and the entire stake dissolved.
Regarding the action at Ramus, the Twelve issued an epistle: (7)
We are very glad that the perpetrators . . . of crime have been caught in
their iniquitous practices; and we are [61] only sorry that anybody should be
found who would bail them out of prison; for such individuals . . . ought to
be made an example of, and not be suffered to run at large . . . .
Persons whose conduct has exposed them to the just censure of an
indignant public can have no fellowship amongst us, as we cannot, and will
not, countenance rouges, thieves, and scoundrels . . . . We consider such
characters as a curse to society, whose pestilential breath withers the morals
and blasts the fame and reputation of any people among whom they may sojourn.
There is no poison that is and ought to be despised more than the thief, by
any respectable community; yet more especially ought such persons to be
abhorred who have taken upon them the name of Christ, and thus with the
pretext of religion and the garb of sanctity cloak their nefarious practices.
(8)
The prophet also denounced thievery in the strongest terms, as did
Hyrum Smith and the mayor of Nauvoo, John C. Bennett. However, the
Gentiles discounted these statements--as, in truth, did some of the
Saints.
This credibility gap stemmed primarily from doubletalk concerning
polygamy, and from disavowal of Danite activities. On both subjects both
Saints and Gentiles knew that what was preached in public was not
strictly true.
Thus there was a tendency, among Saints and Gentiles alike, to
believe the whisper, and discount public statements as being designed to
deceive.
Then came a double blow that sealed the fate of Nauvoo: someone shot
former [62] Governor Lilburn W. Boggs of Missouri, seriously wounding
him. It was charged that Porter Rockwell did the deed at the prophet's
orders.
Soon afterwards John C. Bennett, assistant president of the church
and mayor of Nauvoo, apostatized. He wrote a sensational expose of
Mormonism for the newspapers and amplified the material in a book. (9)
Bennett toured the country lecturing on the abominations of Mormonism,
and he joined Boggs in the attempt to get Joseph by hook or crook across
the river to Missouri, to hang him on the old charges pending at the time
of his escape from Liberty Jail. (10)
Taylor expressed withering scorn for Bennett, along with two other
authors who published biased books at this time: J. B. Turner (Mormonism
in All Ages), and Henry Caswall (The City of the Mormons).
Preying upon the cupidity of the uninformed, they made a very lucrative
business of their disgusting traffic, and sold it to the world garnished with
the names of Doctor Bennett, the Rev. Mr. Turner, and the Rev. Mr. Caswall,
and numbers of other reverends, associates of blacklegs and murderers. Hence,
we have awful disclosures! Terrible iniquity! Horrid blasphemy! Ornamented and
dressed off by the aforesaid reverends, and rewritten, republished, and
circulated by their brethren . . . .
I say now, as I said before, that reports have nothing to do with truth;
and I will say, moreover, that public opinion has very little to do with it .
...
Respecting John C. Bennett, I was well acquainted with him. At one time
he was a good man, but fell into adultery, and was cut off the church for his
iniquity; and [63] so bad was his conduct that he was also expelled the
Municipal court, of which he was a member. He then went lecturing through the
country, and commenced writing pamphlets for the sake of making money,
charging so much for admittance to his lectures, and selling his slanders. His
remarks, however, were so bad, and his statements so obscene and disgraceful,
that respectable people were disgusted. These infamous lies and obscene
stories, however, have been found very palatable to a certain class of
society, and in times of our persecution, multitudes were pleased with them.
(11)
Taylor became editor of the church newspapers, the Nauvoo Wasp
(which became the Neighbor) and the Times and Seasons. He also was a
close friend of the prophet, and influential in city affairs; in fact,
Bennett called him, along with Joseph Smith and William Law, the "Holy
Trio" who ran Nauvoo.
Booming Nauvoo, including its environs, became the largest city of
Illinois--perhaps four times the population of Chicago. The Mormons,
voting as a unit, controlled county offices and even state elections. As
in Missouri, Mormon political power caused Gentiles in Illinois to form
mobs determined to drive the Saints out. Taylor, "Champion of Rights",
deplored mob rule and the erosion of American liberties.
We, as Republicans, look back to the time when this nation was under the
iron rule of Great Britain, and groaned under the power, tyranny and
oppression of that powerful nation. We trace with delight the name of a
Washington, a Jefferson, a LaFayette, and an Adams, in whose bosoms burned the
spark of liberty . . . .
But where are now those principles of freedom? Where are the laws that
protect all men in their religious opinions? Where are the laws that say, "A
man shall [64] worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience."
What say ye, ye saints, ye who are exiles in the land of liberty. How came you
here?" Can you in this land of equal rights return in safety to your
possessions in Missouri? No. You are exiles from thence, and there is no
power, no voice, no arm to redress your grievance. Is this the precious boon
for which your fathers fought and struggled and died? . . . "How has the gold
become dim, and the fine gold, how has it changed? . . ."
Let us compare this with the Church of Christ. Fourteen years ago a few
men assembled in a log cabin. They saw the visions of heaven, and gazed upon
the eternal world. They looked through the rent vista of futurity, and beheld
the glories of eternity. They were planting those principles which were
concocted in the bosom of Jehovah. They were laying a foundation for the
salvation of the world; and those principles which they then planted have not
yet begun to dwindle, but the fire still burns in their bones. The principles
are planted in different nations and are wafted on every breeze.
When I gaze upon this company of men, I see those who . . . will stand up
in defense of the oppressed, of whatever country, nation, color or clime. It
is planted by the Spirit of God . . . and reaches to all the world. No matter
whether it was an Indian, a Negro, or any other man or set of men that are
oppressed, you would stand forth in their defense.
I say unto you, continue to cherish those principles. Let them expand.
And if the tree of liberty has been blasted in this nation--if it has been
gnawed by worms, and already blight has overspread it, we will stand up in
defense of our liberties, and proclaim ourselves free in time and in eternity.
(12)
John Taylor wrote the classic account of events leading to the
martyrdom at Carthage, and the expulsion of the Saints from Illinois:
(13)
[65]
In the year 1844, a very great excitement prevailed in some parts of
Hancock, Brown and other neighboring counties in relation to the Mormons; and
a spirit of vindictive hatred and persecution was exhibited among the people,
which was manifested in the most bitter and acrimonious language, as well as
by acts of hostility and violence, frequently threatening the destruction of
the citizens of Nauvoo and vicinity, and utter annihilation of the Mormons . .
. . Persons were kidnapped, whipped, persecuted, and falsely accused of
various crimes; their cattle and houses injured, destroyed, or stolen;
vexatious prosecutions were instituted to harass and annoy. In some
neighborhoods they were expelled from their homes without redress . . . .
There were a number of wicked and corrupt men living in Nauvoo and
vicinity, who had belonged to the church but whose conduct was incompatible
with the gospel; they were accordingly dealt with by the church and severed
from its communion. Among these were John C. Bennett, former mayor ; William Law, counselor
to Joseph Smith ; Wilson Law, his natural brother, and general of the
Nauvoo Legion; Dr. R. D. Foster, a man of some property but with a very bad
reputation; Francis and Chauncey Higbee, the latter a young lawyer, and both
sons of a respectable and honored man in the church, known as Judge Elias
Higbee, who died about twelve months before. Besides these, there were a great
many apostates, both in the city and county, of less notoriety, who for their
delinquencies had been expelled from the church . . . .
There were three other parties. The first of these may be called
religionists, the second politicians, and the third counterfeiters, blacklegs,
horse thieves, and cutthroats.
The religious party were chagrined and maddened because
Mormonism came in contact with their religion; . . and instead of owning the
truth and rejoicing [66] in it, they were ready . . . to persecute the
believers in principles which they could not disprove . . . .
There were two parties, the Whigs and the Democrats, and we
could not vote for one without offending the other . . . . As an instance of
the above, when Joseph Duncan was candidate for the office of governor
of Illinois, he pledged himself to his party that, if he could be elected, he
would exterminate or drive the Mormons from the state. The consequence was
that Governor Ford was elected. The Whigs . . . became
seriously alarmed, and sought to repair their disaster by raising a crusade
against the people. The Whig newspapers teemed with accounts of the wonders
and enormities of Nauvoo, and of the awful wickedness of a party which could
consent to receive the support from such miscreants . . . .
The third party, composed of counterfeiters, blacklegs, horse thieves,
and cutthroats, were a pack of scoundrels that infested the whole of the
western country at that time. In some districts their influence was so great
as to control important state and county offices . . . . There were
counterfeiters engaged in merchandizing, trading, and storekeeping in most of
the cities and villages, and in some districts . . . the judges, sheriffs,
constables and jailors, as well as professional men, were more or less
associated with them. These had in their employ the most reckless, abandoned
wretches, who stood ready to carry into effect the most desperate enterprises,
and were careless alike of human life and property. Their object in
persecuting the Mormons was in part to cover their rascality, and in part to
prevent from exposing and prosecuting them. But the principal
reason was plunder, believing that if could be removed or
driven, they would be made fat on Mormon spoils, besides having in the
deserted city a good asylum for the prosecution of their diabolical pursuits.
This conglomeration of apostate Mormons, religious bigots, political
fanatics and blacklegs all united their [67] forces against the Mormons, and
organized themselves into a party, denominated "anti-Mormons". Some of them,
we have reason to believe, joined the church in order to cover their nefarious
practices, and when they were expelled for their unrighteousness only raged
with greater violence. They circulated every kind of falsehood that they could
collect or manufacture against the Mormons. They also had a paper to assist
them in their infamous designs, called the Warsaw Signal, edited by a Mr.
Thomas Sharp, a violent and unprincipled man, who shrunk not from any enormity
....
The anti-Mormons had public meetings, which were very numerously
attended, where they passed resolutions of the most violent and inflamatory
kind, threatening to drive, expel and exterminate the Mormons from the state,
at the same time accusing them of every evil in the vocabulary of crime . . .
.
Their meetings . . . soon resulted in the organization of armed mobs, . .
. the reports of which were published in the anti-Mormon papers, and
circulated through the adjoining counties.
We also published in the Times and Seasons and the Nauvoo Neighbor (two
papers published and edited by me at that time) an account not only of their
proceedings, but our own. But such was the hostile feeling, so well arranged
their plans, and so desperate and lawless their measures, that it was with the
greatest difficulty that we could get our papers circulated; they were
destroyed by postmasters and others, and scarcely ever arrived at the place of
their destination, so that a great many people, who would have been otherwise
peaceable, were excited by their misrepresentations, and instigated to join
their hostile or predatory bands.
Emboldened by the acts of those outside, the apostate Mormons, associated
with others, commenced the publication of a libelous paper in Nauvoo, called
the Nauvoo Expositor.
[68]
The Expositor was published as the organ of a dissident group of
about 200 members within the city who had formed a rival church. The
group was headed by men of influence who had become convinced that the
original Mormon doctrine was true, but that Joseph had become a fallen
prophet and that his more recent revelations--particularly concerning
multiple gods, eternal marriage involving plural wives, and baptism for
the dead--were abominations.
The shattering impact of the Expositor's charges came not because
they were new or different; they weren't--practically everything had
already been printed in the antiMormon press. But this came from the
inside, from men recently high in church councils, who still believed in
original doctrines but deplored recent practices and revelations.
Perhaps the Saints could have withstood all external agitation. The
appearance of the Expositor indicated that the solidarity of the Society
was crumbling from within.
At this time, Joseph was running for the Presidency of the United
States, with Taylor his campaign manager. As he laid the groundwork for
the campaign, Taylor never for an instant doubted that the prophet would
be the next president. "We do not believe," the Expositor said, "that God
ever raised up a prophet to christianize a world by political schemes and
intrigue."
In a series of resolutions, the rebel sect summarized its
complaints:
Inasmuch as we have for years borne with the individual follies and
iniquities of Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, [69] and many other official
characters in the Church; and inasmuch as they have introduced false and
damnable doctrines into the Church, such as a plurality of Gods; the plurality
of wives, for time and eternity; . . . we therefore are constrained to
denounce them as apostates from the pure and holy doctrines of Jesus Christ .
...
We disapprobate and discountenance every attempt to unite church and
state; and that we further believe the effort now being made by Joseph Smith
for political power and influence be not commendable in the sight of God....
We consider the religious influence exercised in financial concerns by
Joseph Smith as unjust as it is unwarranted . . . . We consider the gathering,
in haste and by sacrifice, to be contrary to the will of God, and that it has
been taught by Joseph Smith and others for the purpose of enabling them to
sell property at most exhorbitant prices . . . and thus the wealth which is
brought into the place is swallowed up by the one great throat, from whence
there is no return . . . .
The Expositor also denounced "reveling and dancing, dram shops and
theaters."
Taylor furiously refuted charges of "a knot of base men":
To further their wicked and malicious designs toward the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints and to bolster up the intents of blacklegs and
bogus-makers, and advocate the characters of murderers. . . . issued a
paper entitled the Nauvoo Expositor, . . . filled with libels and slanderous
articles upon the citizens and City Council from one end to the other.
"A burnt child dreads the fire." The Church as a body and individually
has suffered till "forebearance has ceased to be a virtue." The cries and
pleadings of men, women and children, with the authorities were, "Will you
[70] suffer that servile, murderous paper to go on and vilify and slander the
innocent inhabitants of this city, and raise another mob to drive and plunder
us again as they did in Missouri?" . . .
Joseph Smith, therefore, who was mayor, convened the city council; . . .
the paper was introduced and read, and the subject examined . . . .
Being a member of the city council, I well remember the feeling of
responsibility that seemed to rest upon all present; nor shall I soon forget
the bold, manly, independent expressions of Joseph Smith on that occasion in
relation to this matter. He exhibited in glowing colors the meanness,
corruption and ultimate designs of the anti-Mormons; their despicable
characters and ungodly influences, especially those who were in our midst. He
told of the responsibility that rested upon us, as guardians of the public
interest, to stand up in defense of the injured and oppressed, to stem the
current of corruption, and as men and saints, to put a stop to this flagrant
outrage upon this people's rights.
He stated that no man was a stronger advocate for the liberty of speech
and of the press than himself; yet, when this noble gift is utterly
prostituted and abused, as in the present instance, it loses all claim to our
respect, and becomes as great an agent for evil as it can possibly be for
good; and notwithstanding the apparent advantage we should give our enemies by
this act, yet it behooved us, as men, to act independent of all secondary
influences, to perform the part of men of enlarged minds, and boldly and
fearlessly to discharge the duties devolving upon us by declaring as a
nuisance, and removing, this filthy, libelous, and seditious sheet from our
midst . . . .
The city council of Nauvoo on Monday, the 10th instant, declared the
establishment and Expositor a nuisance; and the city marshal, at the head of
the police, in the evening took the press, materials and paper into the street
and burned them . . . .
[71]
And in the name of freemen, and in the name of God, we beseech all men
who have the spirit of honor in them to cease from persecuting us,
collectively or individually. Let us enjoy our religion, rights and peace like
the rest of mankind. Why start presses to destroy rights and privileges, and
bring upon us mobs to plunder and murder? We ask no more than what belongs to
us--the rights of citizens. (14)
No member of the city council could anticipate the violence of the
public reaction. Abatement of the Expositor triggered a chain of events
that led to the martyrdom at Carthage Jail and expulsion of the Saints
from Illinois.
"UNPARALLELED OUTRAGE AT NAUVOO", the Warsaw Signal screamed:
. . . We have only to state, that this is sufficient! War and
extermination is inevitable! Citizens ARISE, ONE and ALL!!! --Can you stand by
and suffer such INFERNAL DEVILS to rob men of their property and rights,
without avenging them? We have no time for comment, every man will make his
own. Let it be made with POWDER and BALL!!! (15)
"Our town for the last week has been in a constant state of
excitement," Thomas Sharp reported in the next issue of the Signal:
Business has been almost entirely suspended; and every able-bodied man is
under arms and almost constantly at drill . . . .
In Carthage and Green Plains, the citizens are all in arms, and . . .
throughout the county, every man is ready for the conflict.
[72]
We have assurances that our neighbors in Missouri and Iowa will aid us.
In Clark County, Mo., we understand that many are holding themselves in
readiness . . . . From Rushville we have just learned by express that 300 men
have enlisted for the struggle. McDonough County is all alive and ready for
the word of command. From Keosauqua, Iowa. . . . the citizens are in arms in
our behalf, and only wait our call. From Keokuk and the river towns we learn
that all are arming.
Joe is evidently much alarmed, but he has gone too far to back out . . .
. Compromise is out of the question . . . .
6 o'clock p.m.--D. W. Mathews, who was sent last Sunday to St. Louis, has
. . . succeeded in procuring cannon; and has brought up a good supply of
amunition . . . .
To our friends at a distance we say come! . . . Come! You will be doing
your God and your country service, in aiding us to rid the earth of a most
Heaven-daring wretch . . . .
We publish today but half a sheet. --Our hands are all out on drill, and
it is with difficulty that we can even get out our regular paper. (16)
John Taylor was chairman of a meeting at Nauvoo, where it was-resolved, that inasmuch as many false reports are being circulated through
this county by designing characters for the purpose of bringing persecution
upon the peaceable citizens of this city, we will use our endeavors to
disabuse the public mind, and present a true statement of facts before them as
speedily as possible.
Resolved, that for the more speedy accomplishment of this object, this
meeting appoint delegates to go to the different precincts throughout the
county to lay a true statement of facts before the public. (17)
[73]
Taylor also published an explanation in an extra of the Nauvoo
Neighbor, pointing out that there had been no public outcry when the
Mormon press was destroyed at Jackson County, Missouri, and stating that
the question of whether the city council had acted unlawfully in abating
the Expositor was a matter for a court to decide. (18)
The anti-Mormon paper, the Warsaw Signal . . . represented as a
horde of lawless ruffians and brigands, anti-American and anti-Republican,
steeped in crime and iniquity, opposed to freedom of speech and of the press
and all the rights and immunities of a free and enlightened people; that
neither person nor property was secure, that we had designs upon the citizens
of Illinois and of the United States; and the people were called to rise en
masse, and put us down, drive us away, or exterminate us as a pest to society,
and alike dangerous to our neighbors, the state, and the commonwealth.
These statements were extensively copied and circulated throughout the
United States. A true statement of the facts in question was published by us
in the Nauvoo Neighbor, but it was found impossible to circulate them in the
immediate counties, as they were destroyed at the post offices or otherwise by
the agents of the anti-Mormons . . . .
On complaint of the Expositor group, a justice of the peace at
Carthage, Thomas Morrison, charged Joseph and members of the Nauvoo City
Council with riot, and dispatched Constable David Bettisworth to bring
the accused for a hearing. Taylor explained:
The council did not refuse to attend to the legal proceedings in the
case, but as the law of Illinois made it the privilege of the persons accused
to "appear before the issuers of the writ, or any other justice of the peace,"
they requested to be taken before another magistrate. . . .
[74]
This the constable, who was a mobocrat, refused to do; and as this was
our legal privilege, we refused to be dragged, contrary to law, a distance of
eighteen miles, when at the same time we had reason to believe that an
organized band of mobocrats were assembled for the purpose of extermination or
murder . . . . A writ of habeas corpus was called for, issued by the municipal
court of Nauvoo, taking us out of the hands of Bettisworth and placing us in
the charge of the city marshal. We went before the municipal court and were
dismissed.
Our refusal to obey this illegal proceeding was by them construed into .
. . open rebellion against the laws and the authorities of the state. Hence
mobs began to assemble, among which all through the country inflamatory
speeches were made, exciting them to mobocracy and violence. Soon they
commenced their depredations in our outside settlements, kidnapping some, and
whipping and otherwise abusing others.
Joseph placed Nauvoo under marital law; the Legion was "mustered to
the number of about five thousand." As tension increased, Governor Ford
went to Carthage, the county seat, to investigate the situation. He
requested Joseph to send a committee to "represent to him the state of
affairs" existing in the county.
Dr. J. M. Bernhisel and myself were appointed as a committee by General
Smith to wait upon the governor.... We were furnished with affidavits and
documents in relation both to our proceedings and those of the mob. . . .
We started from Nauvoo at about 7 o'clock on the evening of the 21st of
June, and arrived at Carthage about 11 p.m. We put up at the same hotel with
the governor, kept by a Mr. Hamilton. On our arrival we found the governor in
bed, but not so with the other inhabitants. The town was filled with a perfect
set of rabble [75] and rowdies, who, under the influence of bacchus, seemed to
be holding a grand saturnalia, whooping, helling and vociferating as if bedlam
had broken loose.
There was an attempt to separate Taylor and Bernhisel at the hotel.
They refused, "Believing this to be a ruse to get me out alone, and that
some violence was intended." Their bed was separated only by a fragile
partition from that of Joseph H. Jackson,
a desperate character, and a reputed notorious cutthroat and murderer. . . .
(19)
That night I lay awake with my pistols under my pillow, waiting for any
emergency . . . . In the morning we arose early, and after breakfast sought an
interview with the governor . . . . After awaiting the governor's pleasure for
some time, we had an audience--but such an audience!
He was surrounded by some of the vilest and most unprincipled men in
creation . . . in all, some fifteen or twenty persons, most of whom were
recreant to virtue, honor, integrity, and everything that is considered
honorable among men . . . . During our conversation and explanations with the
governor we were frequently rudely and impudently contradicted by the fellows
he had around him . . . .
He opened and read a number of documents himself, and as he proceeded he
was frequently interrupted by "That's a lie!" "That's a God damned lie!"
"That's an infernal falsehood!" "That's a blasted lie!", etc.
During the conversation, the governor expressed a desire that Joseph
Smith, and all parties concerned in passing or executing the city law in
relation to the press, had better come to Carthage; that, however repugnant it
might be to our feelings, he thought it would have a [76] tendency to allay
public excitement, and prove to the people what we professed, that we wished
to be governed by the law . . . .
He strenuously advised us not to bring our arms, and pledged his faith as
governor, and the faith of the state, that we should be protected, and that he
would guarantee our perfect safety.
Taylor and Bernhisel waited six hours while the governor prepared an
official letter:
HEADQUARTERS CARTHAGE, June 22, 1844
To the Mayor and City Council of the City of Nauvoo:
Gentlemen: After examining carefully all the allegations on the part of
the citizens of Hancock County, and the defensive matter submitted to me by
the committee of your citizens concerning the existing disturbances, I find
that there appears to be but little contradiction as to the important facts;
so that it may safely be assumed that the immediate cause of the existing
excitement is the destruction of the press and Nauvoo Expositor, and the
subsequent refusal of the individuals accused to be accountable therefore
according to the general laws of this state, and the insisting on your parts
to be accountable only before your own municipal court, and according to the
ordinances of your city . . . .
I now express to you my opinion that your conduct in the destruction of
the press was a very gross outrage upon the laws and liberties of the people.
It may have been full of libels, but this did not authorize you to destroy
it.... Just such an act in 1830 hurled the king of France from his throne, and
caused the imprisonment of four of his principal ministers for life. No
civilized country can tolerate such conduct, much less can it be tolerated in
this free country of the United States . . . .
[77]
In the particular case now under consideration, I require any and all of
you who are or shall be accused to submit yourselves to be arrested by the
same constable, by virtue of the same warrant, and be tried before the same
magistrate whose authority has heretofore been resisted. Nothing short of this
can vindicate the dignity of violated law and allay the just excitement of the
people . . . .
"We returned on horseback," Taylor recounted,
and arrived at Nauvoo, I think, about eight or nine o'clock at night,
accompanied by Captain Yates in command of a company of mounted men, who came
for the purpose of escorting Joseph Smith and the accused . . . to Carthage.
We went directly to Brother Joseph's, when Captain Yates delivered to him the
governor's communication.
A council was called, consisting of Joseph's brother, Hyrum, Dr.
Richards, Dr. Bernhisel, myself and one or two others. We then gave a detail
of our interview with the governor. Brother Joseph was very much dissatisfied
with the governor's letter and with his general deportment, and so were the
council; and it became a serious question as to the course we should pursue.
Various projects were discussed, but nothing definitely decided upon for some
time.
In the interim two gentlemen arrived, . . . very anxious for an interview
with Brother Joseph. They detained him for some time; . . . and as it was now
between 2 and 3 o'clock in the morning, and I had had no rest the previous
night, I was fatigued, and thinking that Brother Joseph might not return, I
left for home . . . .
I slept soundly, and was somewhat surprised in the morning by Mrs.
Thompson entering my room about 7 o'clock and exclaiming in surprise, "What,
you here? The brethren have crossed the river some time since."
[78]
"What brethren?" I asked.
"Brother Joseph, and Hyrum, and Brother Richards," she answered.
I immediately arose upon learning that they had crossed the river, and
did not intend to go to Carthage. I called together a number of persons in
whom I had confidence, and had the type, stereotype plates, and most of the
valuable things removed from the printing office, believing that should the
governor and his force come to Nauvoo, the first thing they would do would be
to burn the printing office, for I knew that they would be exasperated if
Brother Joseph went away. We had talked over these matters the night before,
but nothing was decided upon. It was Brother Joseph's opinion that, should we
leave for a time, public excitement, which was then so intense, would be
allayed; that it would throw on the governor the responsibility of keeping the
peace.
Joseph planned to go to Washington, to lay his case before President
Tyler. Taylor would go to upper Canada, in company with Cyrus H.
Wheelock.
I told him that he had better see his family, who lived over the river,
and prepare a couple of horses and the necessary equippage for the journey,
and that, if we did not find Brother Joseph before, we would start at
nightfall . . . .
After making all the preparations I could, previous to leaving Nauvoo,
and having bid adieu to my family, I went to a house adjoining the river owned
by Brother Eddy. There I disguised myself so as not to be known, and so
effective was the transformation that those who had come after me with a boat
did not know me. I went down to the boat and sat in
it. Brother Bell, thinking it was a stranger, watched my moves for some time
very impatiently, and then said to Brother [79] Wheelock, "I wish that old
gentleman would go away; he has been pottering around the boat for some time,
and I am afraid Elder Taylor will be coming." When he discovered his mistake,
he was not a little amused ....
I crossed the river; . . . and Brother Elias Smith, cousin to Brother
Joseph, went to obtain money for the journey, and also to find out the
location of the brethren . . . .
I was conducted by Brother Bell to a house that was surrounded by timber
. . . . There I spent several hours in a chamber with Joseph Cain, , adjusting my accounts; and I
made
arrangements for the stereotype plates of the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and
Covenants to be forwarded east, thinking to supply company with
subsistence money through the sale of these books in the east.
My horses were reported ready by Brother Wheelock, and funds on hand by
Brother Elias Smith. In about half an hour I should have started, when Brother
Elias Smith came to me with word that he had found the brethren; that they had
concluded to go to Carthage, and wished me to return to Nauvoo and accompany
them. I must confess that I felt a good deal disappointed at this news . . . .
I and my party went to the neighborhood of Montrose, where we met Brother
Joseph, Hyrum, Brother Richards, and others. . . .
I learned that it was not Brother Joseph's desire to return, but that he
came back by request of some of the brethren, and that it coincided more with
Brother Hyrum's feelings than those of Brother Joseph . . . . (20) On our
return, the calculation was to throw ourselves under the immediate protection
of the governor, and trust to his word and faith for our preservation.
Next day Taylor went with Joseph and the council to Carthage,
arriving at night [80] among wild excitement of the state militia that
the prophet was in custody. In the morning the governor walked the Mormon
party before the assembled troops, introducing Generals Joseph and Hyrum
Smith.
All were orderly and courteous except one company of mobocrats--the
Carthage Greys--who seemed to find fault on account of too much honor being
paid the Mormons. There was afterwards a row between the companies, and they
came pretty near having a fight, the more orderly not feeling disposed to
endorse or submit to the rowdyism of the mobocrats. The result was that
General Deming, who was very much a gentleman, ordered the Carthage
Greys, a company under the command of Captain Smith, a magistrate
in Carthage, and a most violent mobocrat, under arrest. This matter, however,
was shortly afterward adjusted . . . .
While waiting for the hearing, Taylor wrote to Leonora from the
hotel:
Carthage, June 25, 1844
My Dear Nora,
Having an opportunity I embrace it for the purpose of communicating with
you . . . . We are all well except a slight indisposition of Hyrum Smith,
occasioned by overfatigue in traveling.
Relative to our affairs here we can say little; there is, however, a
strong disposition on the part of the governor to sustain law and put down
mobocracy . . . . We shall have a fair hearing, we presume; if not, it is only
before a justice of the peace. We know that we are innocent of any crime and
that "truth will prevail."
There are plenty of persons passing to and from Nauvoo, and will be
daily, so that you will hear the news regularly.
[81]
I want 1,000 copies of the book of Doctrine and Covenants printed as
quick as possible and the book binding also to go on.
Give my kindest love to all enquiring friends and accept my unshaken
regard and tenderest love--and a kiss for all the children.
I remain your affectionate husband, John Taylor.
P.S. 2 o'clock p.m. I have just received information that the Gov. is going to
send a company of men to cooperate with the police in keeping the
peace of the city and to prevent invasion from any hostile force, and if
necessary to call the Nauvoo Legion to his aid. J.T.
3 o'clock p.m. The Governor has just agreed that his Army shall march to
Nauvoo, that Joseph shall accompany him, and that all cases that are bailable
may be bailed.
John Taylor
The accused men appeared before Captain-Justice Robert F. Smith, and
were released on $500 bond to appear at the next session of the county
court. However, two of the Expositor clique, Augustine Spencer and Henry
Norton, "whose words would not be taken for five cents," made affidavit
that Joseph and Hyrum were guilty of treason, "and a writ was accordingly
issued for their arrest."
Taylor protested that the brothers had been jailed without a
hearing, but the governor said that "he could not interfere with the
judiciary." Taylor accompanied a number of brethren who stayed in jail
with Joseph and Hyrum during the night.
Next morning Governor Ford came to the jail and engaged in 45
minutes of [82] fruitless discussion with Joseph. That afternoon the
prisoners appeared before Captain Robert F. Smith, J.P., for a hearing.
Many remarks were made at the court that I paid but little attention to,
as I considered the whole thing illegal and a complete burlesque. The court .
. . until tomorrow at twelve m. to get witnesses.
We then returned to jail . . . to occupy a large open room . . . . There was free access to the
jailor's house, and no bars or
locks except . . . on the outside door of the jail. The jailor, Mr. George W.
Steghall, and his wife, manifested a disposition to make us as comfortable as
they could; we ate at their table, which was well provided, and, of course,
paid for it.
I do not remember the names of all who were with us that night and the
next morning, for several went and came; among those that we considered
stationary were Stephen Markham, John S. Fullmer, Captain Dan Jones, Dr.
Willard Richards, and myself . . . .
When conversing about deliverance, I said, "Brother Joseph, if you will
permit it, and say the word, I will have you out of this prison in five hours,
if the jail has to come down to do it." My idea was to go to Nauvoo and
collect a force sufficient, as I considered the whole affair a legal farce,
and a flagrant outrage upon our liberty and rights.
Brother Joseph refused.
Elder Cyrus H. Wheelock came in to see us, and when he was about leaving,
drew a small pistol, a six-shooter , from his pocket, remarking .
. . "Would any of you like to have this?"
Brother Joseph immediately replied, "Yes, give it to me," . . . and put
it in his pantaloons pocket.
[83]
Although the governor had promised to take Joseph and Hyrum with him
to Nauvoo, he left without them. This, Taylor said,
caused very unpleasant feelings, as we were apprised that we were left to the
tender mercies of the Carthage Greys, a company strictly mobocratic, and whom
we knew to be our most deadly enemies; and their captain, Esquire
Smith, was a most unprincipled villain. (21)
Besides this, all the . . . comprising the governor's
troops were dismissed, with the exception of one or two companies which the
governor took with him to Nauvoo. The greater part of the mob was liberated;
the remainder was our guard. (22)
One by one, as visitors left the jail, they were prevented from
returning. Only four remained, Joseph, Hyrum, Richards and Taylor.
Realizing that the mob was conspiring with the guards to storm the jail,
Joseph sent an order to Nauvoo by Stephen Markham "for the purpose of
raising a company of men for our protection." Johnathan Dunham, the
Legion officer to whom the order was directed, simply pocketed it, for
reasons that have never been explained.
Sometime after dinner we sent for some wine. It has been reported by some
that this was taken as a sacrament. It was no such thing: our spirits were
generally dull and heavy, and it was sent for to revive us . . . . I believe
we all drank of the wine, and gave some to one or two of the prison guards.
(23)
We all felt unusually dull and languid, with a remarkable depression of
spirits. In consonance with those feelings, I sang a song that had lately been
introduced into Nauvoo, entitled "A Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief.". . .
[84]
Soon afterwards I was sitting at one of the front windows of the jail,
when I saw a number of men with painted faces coming around the corner of the
jail, and aiming towards the stairs.
The jail guard fired one round into the air, then stepped aside to
allow the mob to enter. In attempting to hold the door closed against the
assault, Hyrum was killed by a shot through the door. The mob moved back
as Joseph emptied his pistol at them; then they charged again, pushing
the door partly open and firing through. Taylor resisted the pressure at
the door, and beat the gun barrels down with a heavy stick.
Joseph said, "That's right, Brother Taylor, parry them off as well as you
can." These were the last words I ever heard him speak on earth.
Every moment the crowd at the door became more dense . . . . As I
expected them . . . to rush into the room, I made a spring for the window
which was right in front of the jail door, where the mob was
standing, and also exposed to the fire of the Carthage Greys, who were
stationed some ten or twelve rods off . . . As I reached the window, and was
on the point of leaping out, I was struck by a ball from the door about midway
of my thigh . . . . I fell upon the window sill, and cried out, "I am shot!"
Not possessing any power to move, I felt myself falling outside the
window, but immediately fell inside from some, at that time, unknown cause.
Ironically, Taylor was to learn that his life was saved by a bullet
from the Carthage Greys. The ball struck the big watch in his vest
pocket, propelling him back inside the room. He began crawling toward the
bed in the corner of the room.
[85]
While on my way . . . I was wounded in three other places. . . . I well
remember my reflections at the time. I had a very painful idea of becoming
lame and decrepid, and being an object of pity; and I felt as though I would
rather die . . . .
It would seem that immediately after my attempt to leap out the window,
Joseph also did the same . . . . A cessation of firing followed; the mob
rushed downstairs, and Dr. Richards . . . dragged me along to a small cell
prepared for criminals, saying, "I am sorry I cannot do better for you," and,
taking an old, filthy mattress, he covered me with it, and said, "That may
hide you, and you may yet live to tell the tale, but I expect they will kill
me in a few moments." While lying in this position I suffered the most
excruciating pain.
Soon afterwards, Dr. Richards came to me, informing me that the mob had
fled, and at the same time confirming my worst fears, that Joseph was
assuredly dead.
Taylor spent five apprehensive days in the Hamilton House, lying
helpless while hearing of plots to assassinate him. Evidently he was
considered more valuable as a hostage, to prevent Mormon retaliation, for
a visiting Gentile slipped him two loaded pistols, which he kept under
his pillow. (24)
On 2 July a contingent of brethren arrived, who fixed a bed on a
sleigh. As Leonora applied ice water to Taylor's wounds, the sleigh slid
smoothly over the prairie grass, the brethren taking down fences enroute,
and carrying the sleigh over pools of standing water.
Taylor was thrilled to be greeted by the Saints as he neared Nauvoo:
[86]
The people of the Living God; Friends of Truth and Righteousness, thousands of
whom stood there with warm, true hearts, to offer their friendship and
services, and to welcome my return.
The ball which had struck his watch and flung him back inside the
window, was, he said, Turned by an overruling Providence into a messenger
of mercy, and saved my life . . . . I felt the Lord had preserved me by a
special act of mercy, that my time had not yet come, and that I still had
a work to perform upon the earth.
(1) More than a century later, a descendant of the elder who
appropriated the eight pounds moved into Samuel W. Taylor's ward. Though
he was an agreeable person, the descendant of John Taylor could never see
him without thinking. "Your great grandfather was a miserable specimen,
keeping that money from a lonely woman, sick and in need." How true it is
that a record is being kept, in indelible ink. Omar Khayyam said, "The
Moving Finger writes; and having writ/ Moves on; nor all your Piety nor
Wit/ Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,/ Nor all your Tears wash
out a Word of it."
(2) JD, 1883; 7 April 1866; 18 January 1865.
(3) Although all ten of these wives were sealed in the Nauvoo
Temple, only the first four were subsequently acknowledged in Utah. The
authors have verified six additional marriages, after the Saints located
in Utah, for a grand total of sixteen. However, only seven of these wives
were "officially" recognized. (See "Little Known Wives of John Taylor,"
BYU Special Collections.)
Why were some wives acknowledged, while others remained secret? John
C. Bennett claimed there were three classes of wives at Nauvoo. It is
evident from the marriages of John Taylor, Brigham Young, and others,
that there were at least two classes. It is perhaps possible that plural
marriage was practiced as a restoration of the ancient practice of taking
wives and concubines. A concubine, incidentally, is not a mistress, but a
wife of inferior status.
[87]
(4) T&S 5:715. The law of the land forbade polygamy, but the law of
God commanded it; the church would not tolerate it, but the priesthood
within the church practiced it.
(5) 23 July 1841.
(6) Cecil A. Snider points out: "The Warsaw Signal with two other
newspapers, the Sangamo Journal at Springfield and the Alton Telegraph at
Alton, formed a press triangle that `went to seed' on Mormon propaganda .
. . . It is therefore a significant fact in relation to the non-Mormon
press, that some three or four anti-Mormon papers shaped public opinion
against the Mormons in Illinois . . . . The public was virtually fed on
biased radicalism which was largely accepted as authentic regardless of
its factual content." Development of Attitudes in Sectarian Conflict: A
Study of Mormonism in Illinois in Contemporary Newspaper Sources. MA
thesis. Iowa State University, 1933.
(7) Its literary style indicates that John Taylor had a hand in its
composition.
(8) T&S, 1 December 1841.
(9) The History of the Saints; or an Expose of Joe Smith and
Mormonism. Boston, 1842. Snider says in his thesis: "Perhaps no other
single event brought about more criticism of the Mormons than did the
shooting of Boggs in Missouri. It came at a very critical time, too,
since the saints had for several months preceding been eyed with
suspicion in relation to numerous stealings and acts of depredation . . .
. There had naturally been some suspicion about the . . . but
it was not taken seriously until Bennett had written his letters of
accusation to the Sangamo Journal of Springfield, charging the prophet
Smith with being an accomplice, and O. P. Rockwell with commission of the
act. To make the situation even more indicting, the prophet had
previously prophesied the death of Ex-Governor Boggs by some violent
means."
(10) Charges that Joseph instigated the Boggs affair were denied by
Rockwell, a man who either told the truth or said nothing. Rockwell was
arrested for the deed, but discharged after nine months for lack of
evidence.
(11) PD.
(12) Conference Report, April 1844; T&S 5:577.
[88]
(13) See The Martyrdom of Joseph Smith, by Apostle John Taylor, in
Richard F. Burton's "City of the Saints"; London, 1861. Also, "Memoirs of
the Late President John Taylor . . . ."; DHC 7:55-126.
(14) Nauvoo Neighbor, 12 June 1844; also Memoirs.
(15) 11 June 1844.
(16) 19 June 1844.
(17) DHC, 17 June 1844.
(18) 19 June 1844.
(19) Jackson had been warmly endorsed by the Expositor. He was
author of the book A Narrative of the Adventures and Experiences of
Joseph H. Jackson in Nauvoo, Disclosing the Depths of Mormon Villainy;
Warsaw, 1844.
(20) The prophet's first wife, Emma, had sent a letter urging him to
return and give himself up. Reynolds Cahoon, Lorenzo D. Wasson and Hiram
Kimball accused Joseph of cowardice for deserting his people. Joseph
replied, "If my life is of no value to my friends, it is of none to
myself." (DHC 6:549)
(21) Governor Ford has been most severely criticized for breaking
his promise to take Joseph and Hyrum with him to Nauvoo. However, after
he made this promise, Joseph's lawyers secured a postponement of the
hearing of the case to allow the accused to obtain witnesses. Thus the
governor could not have taken the prisoners from jail without violating
due process of law. As he previously had told Taylor, he "could not
interfere with the judiciary."
(22) This was not simply callous disregard on the governor's part
for the safety of the prisoners. It was now the 27th of June, and
torrential rains all spring had made it impossible to put in crops.
Streams were at flood tide; hundreds of grist mills run by water power
had been destroyed, causing an acute shortage of meals. Now, with food
weather, Governor Ford dismissed all possible units of the militia to
allow the men to return to their farms, because the country faced
possible crop failure and famine. As for the Carthage Greys, they were
part of the state militia, and Ford fully expected them to obey orders.
The governor's mistake was in not recognizing the inflamed passions
existing between the Saints and their neighbors.
[89]
(23) They also sent out for pipes and tobacco. A reason for the
tobacco was to settle Willard Richards' upset stomach. (MS 24:471, and
DHC 6:616). It might also be noted, as indicative of the difference
between modern and pioneer attitudes, that none of the four men wore
garments.
(24) The doctor who attended him, Thomas L. Barnes, when an old man
wrote his account of events, complaining that he never was paid for his
medical services. (Reason was that John Taylor knew that Barnes was a
member of the mob which had wounded him.) John Taylor's grandson, Raymond
W. Taylor, negotiated with Barnes' descendants and settled the account
for $1, 120 years after it was due. (Church News, 22 February 1964)
[90]
Chapter 6
CAMP OF ISRAEL
Under leadership of Brigham Young and the Twelve, Nauvoo's greatest
growth and prosperity came after Carthage. Permanent structures of brick
and stone were undertaken with the faith that Nauvoo was "the center
stake of Zion forever." The temple was conceived as the actual dwelling
place of Christ during the millennial reign, "where the Almighty has
promised to meet with us." The Twelve issued an Epistle regarding "the
building up of Nauvoo; the gathering of the saints; the building of the
temple; the establishment of manufacturing, and various branches of
industry . . . a stronghold of industry and wealth, which will stand firm
and unshaken amid the wreck of empires and the crash of thrones." John
Taylor declared, "So long as we are sustained and upheld by the arm of
Jehovah, we shall stand: mobs may rage . . . but God has said, touch not
mine anointed and do my people no harm.... We assembled together to
fulfill the revelations of the Great Jehovah . . . . We will not be
diverted from our course, though earth and hell oppose." (1)
However, the seeds of destruction had been sown; the city was
doomed. Taylor wrote farewell in the Times and Seasons. (2)
All things are in preparation for a commencement of the great move of the
Saints out of the United States.....
[91]
It is reduced to a solemn reality that the rights and property, as well as the
lives and common religious belief of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, cannot be protected in the realms of the United States, and, of
course, from one to two hundred thousand souls must quit their freedom among
freemen, and go where the land, the elements, and the worship of God are free
....
May God continue the spirit of fleeing from false freedom, and false
dignity, till every Saint is removed to where he "can sit under his own vine
and fig tree" without having any to molest or make afraid. Let us go--let us
go.
Enroute, the bitter cold of winter gave way in the spring to
seemingly endless rains.
A hurricane came on, blew down, the tents and trees all around us.
Through the mercy of the Lord no one was hurt. Joseph ran
away from the tent in the midst of the storm for fear of the trees. I went out
to seek him. Br. Jones got hold of the tent pole and said the wind would find
it had to beat a savage if it beat him. Very soon after the roof pole came
down and the tent was soon prostrate. We then fled to the wagons. I got the
children in when they cried out, "There is a tree coming down!" The men ran
and by their united efforts gave it a different direction or it must have
crushed the carriage and large wagon both. The storm continued with great
violence. Br. Rich cut down a tree that was split and ready to fall on his
tent. All had to heave it in the rain. Several very large trees fell near Br.
Young's tent; one fell on a cow, one on a mule, one on a donkey, yet none of
them were killed . . . . Some of the men have worked without food for two
days. (3)
On returning from Nauvoo, Taylor wrote to Joseph Cain:
[92]
Camp of Israel, Mount Pisgah, Middle Fork of Grant River, May 30, 1846.
Dear Brother Cain,
I embrace this opportunity of sending you an account of our situation and
circumstances, thinking you would be pleased to hear from us. We started from
Sugar Creek March 2nd, and continued traveling slowly, in consequence of bad
roads and inclement weather, until April 25th, when we arrived at the West
Fork of the Grand River, 160 miles from Nauvoo, and about fifteen miles from
the state of Missouri. At this place we made an encampment, and commenced
ploughing and making rails and some log houses for the accommodation of the
brethren who should come after us . . . .
We left men to take care of the farm while we went on to this place to
establish another farm on the same principle as we had the last. This place is
situated about forty miles north of the last farm, and is beautifully
situated, abundance of wood and water being convenient. We calculate to start
from here in a few days to Council Bluffs, and from there to the mountains. .
..
I have been to Nauvoo on business, since you left; the place has altered
very much, civilization is making rapid strides, and the people are very much
improved since we left: they have built a ten-pin alley opposite the temple in
Mulholland Street; groggeries are plentiful; at night you can hear drunkards
yelling and whooping through the streets, a thing formerly unknown.
The brethren are trying to sell as fast as they can with some success,
though at very low prices. (4) The Saints are moving very rapidly away. On my
journey back from Nauvoo I passed, I should think, eight hundred teams . . .
together with cattle and sheep in abundance. In the midst of their
difficulties the Saints are rejoicing, and endeavoring to do all they can for
the forwarding of the work.
[93]
Taylor paid a last visit to the temple before leaving it forever.
The basement story of the temple is finished together with the ground
floor, and looks elegant. (5) My feelings were very peculiar while standing in
the font, which is of stone, (6) and passing through the rooms, when I thought
how the Saints had labored and strove to complete this building, and then be
forced to leave it, together with their comfortable homes, in the hands of
their enemies. (7)
Enroute, Taylor wrote a song of the exodus, "The Upper California."
The upper California
Oh, that's the land for me!
It lies between the mountains
And great Pacific sea.
The Saints can be supported there,
And taste the sweets of Liberty.
In Upper California
Oh, that's the land for me!
We'll reign, we'll rule and triumph
And God shall be our King;
The plains, the hills and valleys
Shall with hosannahs ring!
Our tow'rs and temples there shall rise
Along the great Pacific sea,
In Upper California,
Oh, that's the land for me!
At Winter Quarters, Leonora described the pleasures of rest and
recreation after the rigors of the trip. A painfully twisted knee was now
well; Dutchman and the snakebitten horse had recovered. Storms had
ceased. Taylor took her and the children [94] upriver for wild
strawberries, and they gathered bushels. She was delighted to visit the
Indian Village, "to see the Indians, Squaws and Papooses all dressed up
so smart, painted, feathers, beads, blankets and everything fantastical
they could put on."
June 20th. Mr. T. drove Mary Ann and the girls
and I to the concert at the Trader's Village. Numbers of the Brethren went;
the band went with them; about 70 persons. Had quite a dance. A number of
half-breed squaws, dressed very well indeed. We went to the store and got some
things we needed, had some songs from Br. Kay, and a deal of music; upon the
whole spent a very pleasant day. We all rode back with the band playing. It
did me good to look upon houses and a good wide river once more, after living
in a tent and wagon going on five months, through rain, frost and snow.
The following month, July 29th, Leonora noted tersely, "Heard of
Father's mission to England." Among those called were two other members
of the twelve, Orson Hyde and Parley Pratt. (8)
Upon arriving in England, Taylor and Hyde reported:
Liverpool, October 22, 1846.
Prest. Young,
We sailed from New York on the 8th day of Sept. on board the packet ship
"Patrick Henry" for this port . . . . We had a tremendous rough passage . . .
. A hurricane raged in all its fury for about 12 hours, our bulkheads on the
main and quarter decks even dented in, every rag of canvas carried away,
topgallant mast . . . ship nearly unmanageable in the troughs of the
sea--buried frequently in a world of water. My thoughts of family, home, and
of God . . . . But thanks be to heaven, the [95] winds abated and the storm
hushed in silence, and we arrived on the morning of the 3rd inst.
Writing in the Millennial Star, Taylor gave a new explanation of the
move west that must have been surprising to the English Saints, who for
seven years had been exhorted to gather for the building of the Kingdom
at Nauvoo.
Brethren--You have no doubt been informed of our removal from the city of
Nauvoo, and of the causes for that removal. . . . The ostensible cause was
that of persecution: the martyrdom of our prophets, the burning of our houses,
the kidnapping of our brethren, and the daily fear that many of the Saints
experienced from the hand of the assassin . . . were among the leading causes
of our speedy removal. I say speedy removal, because the project was not new
to us . . . .
Long ago, years before the Temple was completed, and long before the
martyrdom of our prophet and patriarch, many living witnesses can testify that
we proposed moving to California, leaving the land of our oppression,
preaching the gospel to the Lamanites, building up other temples to the living
God, and establishing ourselves in the far distant west . . . .
Many a time have I listened to the voice of our beloved prophet, while in
council, dwell on this subject with delight; his eyes sparkling with
animation, and his soul fired with the inspiration of the spirit of the living
God. It was a theme which caused the bosoms of all who were privileged to
listen, to thrill with delight . . . .
The cruel and perfidious persecution that we endured tended to hasten our
departure, but did not dictate it .... I have no doubt but that our
persecution will prove a blessing to many, although bitter and cruel, for
Nauvoo was a lovely place . . . . It is no small sacrifice to leave all and
[96] go into the distant wilds, to depart from our homes, with all our
pleasing associations, to dwell in tents, and mingle with the savages of the
West. Many might be tempted with the leeks and onions of Egypt, and prefer
staying in their quiet homes to suffering affliction with the people of God.
Thus were our foes the ignorant instruments of rolling forth the purposes of
God . . . .
Again, in all gatherings the chaff and tares are collected with the
wheat, and it becomes necessary that the fan should be used to separate the
chaff, and the sieve to remove the tares from the wheat. In Ohio, in Missouri,
and in Illinois . . . such siftings have generally removed the chaff and tares
. . . while the Kingdom of God rolls steadily on, and triumphs amidst
opposition in the wisdom, strength, and power of God.
Telling of preparations for the exodus, he said that "Nauvoo was
converted into one great wagon shop." Even the basement of the temple
became a wagon factory.
The Twelve, the high council, and about four hundred families left the
city of Nauvoo in the month of February last, and launched forth in an
American winter, braving the frost, the snow, and the chilling winds, and
commenced their journey to the far distant West . . . . were very much
exposed, living in tents and wagons; but as there is an abundance of timber in
that country, we made large fires in the woods, and thus were enabled to
preserve ourselves from the cold. As there was no grass, we were necessitated
to purchase corn and hay to feed our horses and cattle; . . . this, however,
was mostly obtained for labour . . . .
We pursued our course slowly onward . . . Our cattle and horses suffered
very severely from exposure, and we ourselves; . . . but we sustained no
injury therefrom; our health and our lives were preserved--we outlived the
trying scene--we felt contented and happy--the songs of [97] Zion resounded
from wagon to wagon, from tent to tent; the sounds reverberated through the
woods, and its echo was returned from the distant hills; peace, harmony and
contentment reigned in the habitations of the Saints.
In the opening of spring . . . the Saints felt fit to rejoice that they
had outlived the chilling storms of an inhospitable winter . . . .
The Saints from Nauvoo continued daily to swell our ranks . . . until
the time leaving to come to England . . . there
were in the camp and on the way from Nauvoo (as near as we could estimate)
about fifteen thousand Saints, three thousand wagons, and thirty thousand head
of cattle . . . .
The land is rich and fertile. There are large prairies skirted here and
there with timber on the banks of the streams . . . . are
covered everywhere with a rich, luxuriant grass, which cattle and horses are
very fond of . . . . It is generally about eighteen inches high in the
highlands, and on the lowlands, or "flats", near rivers, from six to ten feet
. . . . When we left, our cattle and horses were fat and in good condition.
The camp of Israel is regularly organized into companies, consisting of
fifty or sixty wagons each; over the companies there are captains of fifties
and captains of tens . . . . We have our pioneers go before the camp, to make
bridges or roads where required; we also have small boats with us, and when we
have to ferry large streams, we build large boats, so that everything moves on
harmoniously and with order and regularity.
When we left, the camp . . . had taken up winter quarters . . . . It was
necessary to cut hay and prepare for the winter, also build temporary houses .
...
We have with us . . . provisions to last from one to three years, plenty
of cows, which furnish us . . . [98] milk and butter. It is true that in our
sojourning we do not possess all the luxuries and delicacies . . . but we have
an abundance of the staple commodities such as flour, meal, beef, mutton,
pork, milk, butter, and in some instances cheese, sugar, coffee, tea, etc,
etc. We feel contented and happy in the wilderness. The God of Israel is with
us--union and peace prevail; and as we journey as did Abraham of old, with our
flocks and herds to a distant land, we feel that, like him, we are doing the
will of our Heavenly Father, and relying upon His word and promise; and having
His blessings . . . .
A long letter from Leonora told of pleasures and problems at Winter
Quarters. She went with "the girls" and Sister Woodworth on a two-day
outing to gather wild grapes, returning with a barrel of them and a bag
of hops. She stopped enroute at the Indian Village, and got onions,
potatoes and apples. There was mail from England, including a box of
raisins. Happily Leonora bought cakes and beer for the girls.
But the party didn't include two of the wives, Jane and Ann
Ballantyne. Leonora was reserved with them, and definitely cool to Ann,
Taylor's latest wife. There was no love lost on either side.
Taylor continued his report:
When we arrive in California, according to the provisions of the Mexican
government, each family will be entitled to a large tract of land, amounting
to several hundred acres; but as the Mexican and American nations are now at
war, should California fall into the hands of the American nation, there has
been a bill before Congress in relation to Oregon, which will undoubtedly
pass, appropriating six hundred and forty acres of land to every male settler;
should California fall into the hands of the [99] American nation, this
privilege will unquestionably extend to that land, for the encouragement of
emigration; so that whether it is in the hands of the Americans or Mexicans,
still we shall obtain a vast territory of country for nothing . . . . Thus it
will easily be seen that we are in a better condition than when we were at
Nauvoo. Labour, with us, is capital, and an industrious, enterprising
population is the bone and sinew of wealth. It was labour, the enterprise, and
the settlement of the Saints that made Nauvoo valuable; the same results must
necessarily follow their settlement in California . . . .
While the Christians in their mad zeal have banished us from their midst
. . . the wild Indians--the barbarians, the savages (so-called) of the
forest--opened their arms to receive us . . . . Yes, they have treated us as
friends and brethren; they have opened their hands and hearts; they have bid
us welcome to their lands and possessions; they have told us to kill their
deer, to drink their water, to till their lands, to burn and use their timber,
and to find a home with them without money or price.
The mustering of the Mormon Battalion came at Winter Quarters. The
pay and allowances advanced to the troops was a boon to the Saints facing
a winter in the wilderness.
Although we have been inhumanly and barbarously dealt with, . . . yet the
President of the United States is favourably disposed to us. He has sent out
orders to have five hundred of our brethren employed in an expedition that was
fitting out against California, and to have their arms and implements of war
given to them at the expiration of the term; and as there is no prospect of
any opposition, it amounts to the same as paying them for going to the place
where they were destined to go without. They also have the privilege of
choosing their own leaders. (9)
[100]
Enroute from Nauvoo the Camp of Israel had fenced and planted grain
fields, each about two miles square, at Mt. Pisgah and Garden Grove. The
grain was harvested by those who came later. Also, Taylor said, pioneer
companies were going ahead from Council Bluffs to prepare the way for
those who would cross the plains next spring.
A company, consisting of persons having two or three hundred wagons, had
started . . . Grand Island, in the River Platte, about two hundred and
fifty miles from Council Bluffs, for the purpose of wintering there; they
would also put in seed grain, and make improvements in that part. A small
company of fifty wagons started for the purpose of crossing the Rocky
Mountains, if practicable, with grain and other seed to sow . . . . If they
are . . . , they will winter in the Black Hills, on this side
of the mountains.
The way is now prepared, the roads, bridges, and ferry boats made; there
are stopping places also on the way, where they can rest, obtain vegetables
and corn; and when they arrive at the far end, instead of finding a wild waste
they will meet with friends, provisions, and a home. (10)
Taylor analyzed the success of the Mormon economy at Nauvoo,
contrasting it to the failure of various social movements. Robert Dale
Owen had-thought he could ameliorate the condition of mankind by a sort of communism,
having a fellowship of goods among them--a sort of common stock principle.
Everything pertaining to this speculation, however, has flatted out. . . .
It is so also with Flourierism, . . . established by one
Flourier, a Frenchman, and advocated by Greeley of the New York
Tribune. They had a good [101] deal of property, and I am informed they
established something of the nature of what is called the free love principle;
but . . . . everything they had was sold under the hammer.
An Icarian colony, followers of the French social reformer, Ettiene
Cabet, settled Nauvoo, after the Mormons left. In discussion with Taylor,
the editor of an Icarian newspaper named Krolokoski asked:
"Mr. Taylor, do you propose no other plan to ameliorate the condition of
mankind than that of baptism for the remission of sins?"
I replied, "That is all I propose about the matter."
"Well," he said, "I wish you every success; but I am afraid you will not
succeed."
Said I, "Mr. Krolokoski, you sent Mr. Cabet to Nauvoo. He was considered
your leader--the most talented man you had. He went to Nauvoo when it was
deserted--when houses and lands were at a mere nominal value . . . . Rich
farms were deserted, and thousands of us had left our houses, and furniture in
them, and there was everything calculated to promote the happiness of human
beings there . . . . Mr. Cabet . . . had also the selection in France of whom
he pleased. He and his company went to Nauvoo, and what was the result?" . . .
What has become of that society? There are very few of them left. They
have had dissensions, bickerings, trouble, and desertions, until they are
nearly dwindled to nothing . .. .
we were banished from civilized society into the valleys
of the Rocky Mountains to seek for that protection among savages which
Christian civilization denied us. There our people have built houses, [102]
enclosed lands, cultivated gardens, built school houses, opened farms, and
have organized a government and are prospering in all the blessings and
immunities of civilized life . . . .
If Owen, Fourier, Cabet, and other philosophers have failed--if all the
varied schemes of communism have failed--if human philosophy is found to be at
fault, and all its plans incompetent; and we have not failed, it shows
there is something associated with this people and with Mormonism that there
is not with them.
Now, the question is, what is this principle? Why is there a difference?
The answer was, Taylor said, that the others didn't have "the gospel
in its purity."
You have seen its effects upon us. It shall bring things past to your
remembrance; it shall show you things to come; it shall make prophets of you;
your sons and daughters shall see visions; the heavens shall be opened unto
you; you shall know your origin, comprehend who you are, what you are, where
you are going, the relationship which exists between you and your God; and
there shall be a channel opened between the eternal worlds and you; and the
purposes of God shall be made known unto you.
And what has this gospel done? It has caused you to leave your families,
your connections, your homes, and your associations in life. Many of you have
left thousands and thousands of dollars worth of property; you have been
mobbed and scourged from city to city, and from state to state, and you have
endured all this. Why? Because of that hope which is within your bosoms, which
blooms with immortality and eternal lives.
To the editor, Krolokoski, Taylor concluded:
[103]
"The society that I represent comes with the fear of God--the worship of
the great Elohim. They offer the simple plan ordained of God--viz, repentance,
baptism for the remission of sins, and the laying on of hands for the gift of
the Holy Ghost. Our people have not been seeking the influence of the world,
nor the power of government, but they have obtained both; whilst you, with
your philosophy independent of God, have been seeking to build up a system of
communism and a government which is, according to your own accounts, the way
to introduce the millennial reign. Now, which is best--our religion, or your
philosophy?"
"Well," said he, "I cannot say anything." (11)
While in England, Taylor received distressing news from Leonora.
There was bickering among the wives. The Indians were becoming hostile,
and were stealing horses and cattle. The man with whom Taylor had
arranged at Philadelphia, before leaving, to take a stove and groceries
to Leonora at Winter Quarters "brought me nothing," she reported.
He was heartened that she had finished her house before the worst
winter months; she'd traded his old gray overcoat, she reported, for
$7.00 worth of clapboards.
Then came agonizing news. Man were dying at Winter Quarters from
canker and scurvy. One victim was his wife Ann Pitchforth. This lady of
breeding and quality had given up a life of ease to gather with the
Saints at Nauvoo, and the rigors of the exodus were too much for her
frail strength.
[104]
(1) T&S, 15 Nov. 1942; 1 Oct. 1843; 1 Oct. and 15 Oct. 1844. See
also Nauvoo, Neighbor.
(2) 1 Feb. 1846. This was the next to last issue.
(3) Journal of Leonora Taylor, from Nauvoo, to Salt Lake.
(4) John D. Lee reported that he traded a brick house and lot for
teams worth $300. Another house, which would have been worth $50,000 in
Utah, was sold for $12.50.
(5) A force of workmen had been left to complete other parts.
(6) The original font, with its support of oxen, had been made of
wood. It recently had been taken out, and replaced by the stone font,
another indication of expected permanence.
(7) MS, 1 Aug. 1846.
(8) Perhaps it should be noted that Taylor, Hyde, and the Pratt
brothers, Parley and Orson, had recently blocked the desire of Brigham
Young to be church president. Taylor believed that the Twelve should lead
the church, under direction of the president of the quorum. (See
Stenhouse, who says that Brigham never forgave Taylor's opposition at
this time.) Taylor himself didn't mention the incident, nor did he ever
refer to the fact that while he and Brigham worked together, they weren't
friends.
(9) President Polk's primary aim in enlisting the Mormon Battalion
was "to conciliate" the Saints, "and prevent them from assuming a hostile
attitude toward the U.S. after their arrival in California." See Diary of
James K. Polk, June 1846.
(10) MS, Nov. 1 and 15, 1846. Taylor subsequently learned that the
two advance companies had been recalled, due to a power struggle (the
authority of the Twelve being questioned by some members). As a result,
no advance preparation had been made for crossing the plains the
following spring.
(11) The dialogue between Mormon and Gentile, with the latter
invariably vanquished, was a favorite literary device of Taylor and other
brethren of the day.
[105]
Chapter 7
THE JOINT STOCK SCANDAL
The primary purpose of the apostolic mission to England had been to
straighten out the financial scandal of the British and American
Commercial Joint Stock Company, an enterprise fostered by the presidency
of the British Mission. John Taylor reported:
Before we left , it was revealed to the authorities that
the presidency in England was in transgression, and that it was necessary some
of the Twelve should proceed immediately to England. Elders O. Hyde, P. P.
Pratt, and myself were appointed on this mission.
As we journeyed, we felt the Spirit moving us forward, so much so that
when Elder Hyde and myself were in New York, and Elder Pratt in Boston, we
thought it expedient, rather than wait two or three days for him, to proceed
immediately to Liverpool. We found, on our arrival, that we had not come away
too soon. The teachers of the people were under transgression, they were
corrupt; they were acting dishonorably and dishonestly, under false pretences;
stripping the poor of their last pittance, and yet those wanton profligates
professed that they were doing the will of God, while they, under the cloak of
religion, were reveling in debauchery, drunkenness, and fraud . . . .
This being the situation of these men, it could not but be expected that
the streams should be more or less contaminated with their influences . . . .
In fact, the whole head was sick and the whole heart faint; and had it [106]
not been that the Saints were in possession of the truth and verity of the
work, they might all have made a shipwreck of faith . . . . (1)
Original concept for the Joint Stock Company had come from Brigham
Young, who wrote Reuben Hedlock, president of the church in England,
advising him to unfurl your flag on your shipping office . . . . Ship
everybody to America you can get the money for--Saint and sinner--a
general shipping office . . . .
We will by-the-by have offices from the rivers to the ends of the earth,
and we will begin at Liverpool from this time and increase and increase and
increase the business of the office as fast as it can be done in safety, and
circumstances will permit. (2)
Apostle Wilford Woodruff was president of the mission when he and
his counselors, Hedlock and Thomas Ward, launched the Joint Stock Company
during general conference at Manchester in April, 1845. (3)
The project was typical of cooperative enterprises undertaken by the
Saints since the foundation of the church. That it got out of hand was no
reflection on its original concept.
The Joint Stock Company planned to finance through stock sales an
organization which would engage in trade, manufacturing, shipping, and
the passage of emigrants to America. It would establish factories in the
United States, the machinery being made by British Saints, transported in
company ships, installed and operated by skilled LDS emigrants. On the
return trip to England, ships would carry produce and meat at low prices.
[107]
The company was capitalized at œ30,000 with 60,000 shares at 10s,
sold one shilling down and eighteen months of easy payments.
After Woodruff left for Nauvoo the following January, the project
soon degenerated under Hedlock and Ward. When Brigham Young received a
letter from Ward complaining of Hedlock's business methods and his
involvement with "the rascally brokers of Liverpool," the Twelve took
immediate action.
Camp of Israel, Council Bluffs, July 16, 1846.
The Twelve in council, this day, voted that Reuben Hedlock, and Thomas
Ward, be disfellowshipped until they shall appear before the Council and make
satisfaction for their repeated disregard of Council. (4)
The three Apostles left Winter Quarters 31 July. When the Patrick
Henry docked at Liverpool 3 October, Taylor and Hyde went directly from
the ship to the palatial offices of the British and American Commercial
Joint Stock Company in the Stanley Building, where they interviewed Ward
and discovered that Hedlock had fled. That very day the Apostles issued a
circular scheduling a conference at Manchester, and meanwhile warning the
Saints:
Beloved Brethren: . . . We would advise the Saints... to patronize the
"Joint Stock Company" no more for the present. That is an Institution wholly
independent of the Church, and we do not wish to see a religions influence
enforced upon the Saints, to draw money from them, with the ostensible design
of conveying them to another country; when indeed, that money is applied to
purposes . . . .
[108] There are two ways of transacting business--one is with prudence and
economy, and another is with a wasteful prodigality. At our conference, proper
instructions will be given the Saints upon all these matters . . . .
Orson Hyde took over the editorship of the Millennial Star, advising
that "The Spirit of God never sent forth men to preach `Joint Stock-ism;'
neither did it ever inspire the hearts of our elders to proclaim it." (5)
Following the conference, Taylor and Hyde wrote to Brigham Young.
Prest. Young, . . . We found that money was daily coming in to the Joint
Stock Co., and that it was received by a set of men who ate and drank it up
and squandered it away as fast as it came in. The poor Saints were laying up
their pennies, their sixpences, their shillings, etc. . . . thinking that they
were paying their passage to America . . . .
Having ascertained that of the œ1,500 paid in to the Company nearly every
pound had been squandered and lost to irresponsible favorites--and that the
expenses of the Company were running on at the rate of œ300 annual salaries to
its officers--œ100 annual rent, besides stationery, clerks, etc., and at the
same time not any business done at all, . . the officers had given
no bonds or security, but could dispose of the funds as they thought proper,
and no one responsible. (6)
Out of nearly œ700 worth of books, etc., in the office when Br. Woodruff
left, we found little more than œ100 worth on hand of the most unsalable kind.
The office was in debt to the printer of the Star œ50, and to the book bindery
œ30--and nearly all the money collected except some bad
debts that can never be collected. Every department was run into debt just as
far as it could be. We met with Ward and his [109] associates on the same
afternoon and heard their stories . . . . They tried to pull the wool over our
eyes and represent the Joint Stock Company as the only power to redeem Israel
....
Hedlock had got œ400 Joint Stock money by loan--had run into debt . . .
about œ900--had used all his presidential power and influence to borrow money
of the Saints to a large amount, many hundred pounds--and had run away. Ward
says he obeyed Hedlock as the president of the Church here and let him have
money when he wanted it.
We issued our Circular . . . on the same day we landed, and before we
slept, they were over the greater part of England. This dried up the stream of
money that had been flowing in very speedily; . . . and on the sixth day,
Sunday, before the whole Church in Liverpool, we drew our long swords upon
them . . . .
The letter was frankly critical of Woodruff's misplaced trust in
Hedlock and Ward.
Why Bro. Woodruff appointed Hedlock to preside over the Church in England
after knowing his works were in the dark--and that the Spirit was not with
him--after knowing him to be a selfish wicked man and unwilling to open his
heart or his books to him; or why he should suffer Ward to be the president of
that Company when he knew him to be next door neighbor to a confirmed sot or
drunkard and unworthy of any trust whatever, I cannot say, but it . . . has
involved us, assuredly, if not the whole Church, in the worst possible
difficulty . . . .
We have dissolved the Joint Stock Company by the law of the Realm. Our
Conference went off with a heavenly influence. (7)
After hunting up Hedlock in London, where he was living incognito
and consorting [110] with a woman outside the marriage relation, Taylor
reported to the editor of the Star:
Sir--I think it due to the public to state my feelings frankly in
relation to certain things that have transpired. . . . The Saints in this
country have had almost unlimited confidence in Elder Hedlock, thinking that
he was the representative of the Twelve here . . . .
I am very sorry to find that Elder Hedlock has descended so far from his
high and holy calling as to betray the confidence placed in him, and to sell
his birthright for a mess of pottage . . . . Elder Hedlock might have occupied
an high and exalted situation in the church, both in time and in eternity; but
he has . . . bartered the hope of eternal life with crowns, principalities,
powers, thrones, and dominions, for the gratification of his own sensual
appetites . . . .
Having heard that he was in the city of London, I visited him . . . for
the purpose of seeing what his views, feelings, and designs were. He professed
to be very honest, but unfortunate; he said that he was willing to render an
account of everything. I asked him for an order for twenty pounds that was due
to him in Liverpool (as he was very much indebted to the church.) He said he
would give it to me, or anything else that I wished. I obtained an order and a
stamp receipt for the same, and forwarded it to Liverpool; but by the same
mail, an order was sent to the same firm, ordering them not to
pay it. From this proceeding it was evident that he wished to act
dishonorably, and I thought it a duty devolving upon me, to give this
information to the brethren, lest they might hereafter be deceived by him. (8)
Hedlock was cut off the church. Ward died shortly thereafter. Taylor
and Hyde reported to Brigham Young:
[111] The cloud is passing off, and the attention of the elders will be
designated to the preaching of the gospel and not Joint Stockism. Many are
beginning to be baptized, and good feelings to be restored . . . . We hope to
sail in Jan. for home if we can raise money enough to do it. (9)
There was one more task to perform before leaving England.
Destination of the Saints at Winter Quarters was still under discussion.
Taylor, Hyde and Pratt published a memorial to the Queen of England,
asking government sponsorship of Mormon migration to British territory at
Vancouver's Island and Oregon.
A copy of this petition which we intend to present to her Majesty is
inserted in this number of the Star. We shall send blank sheets to the
presiding Elders of each conference, requesting them to get thereon all the
signatures they can, and forward same to us . . . .
Brethren and sisters, do you wish to emigrate? If you do, get your names
placed upon the paper . . . . (10)
It took little urging to obtain signatures from poverty-stricken
members of the working class, to which most of the Saints belonged, for a
petition asking free land and free transportation. When presented, the
memorial was 168 feet long, containing more than 1,200 names.
May it please your Majesty:
. . . Your memorialists are moved to address your Majesty by the
unexampled amount of abject, helpless, and unmerited misery which at present
prevails among the labouring classes of this country . . . . The sufferings
and destitution of these portions of your Majesty's subjects have . . .
reached a point at which it has become the duty [112] of all ranks to use
every constitutional means for their relief and remedy . . . .
feel convinced that Emigration to some portion of your Majesty's
vacant territories is the only permanent means of relief left to a rapidly
increasing population. . . .
If a part of the poor and destitute . . . were sent to the Island of
Vancouver, or to the great territory of Oregon, through your Majesty's
gracious interference and Royal aid, they might there find a field of labour
and industry, in which, after a short period, they could not only benefit
themselves, but open an effectual door for the interchange of commodities with
the home country, having brought into cultivation the soil that now lies
untenanted, and thus indirectly raise a revenue that would more than balance
the expenditure of the present migration.
It is now fully settled and determined that Vancouver's Island, with a
large portion of the Oregon territory on the Great Pacific Coast, belongs to
your Majesty's Empire. Their fine and extensive fisheries--their safe and
commodious natural harbours for ships--the salubrity of their climate, and
their remarkable similarity to the climate of the south of England--all . . .
offer strong inducements to the surplus population of England to make that
delightful section their future home . . . .
Your memorialists are no less aware than your Majesty, that the
government of the United States is doing much to favour the settlement of its
territories on the Western Coast, . . . and enlarge their possessions in the
West . . . . Will not your Majesty look well to British interests in those
regions, and adopt timely and precautionary measures to maintain a balance of
power in that country . . . .
John Taylor obtained an audience with the Earl of Dartmouth, to gain
his support, during which the memorial-[113]
. . . was supplemented by the suggestion that the government survey its
American Pacific Coast possession, to which prospective emigrants might go,
into townships to be subdivided into sections, on the even numbers of which
the emigrants might settle, the government retaining the odd numbers until
such time as the improvements of the settlers would give such advanced values
to the retained government sections as would repay the government for present
expenditure in giving free passage by government aid to emigrants desirous of
going to those lands. (11)
Full of enthusiasm for the plan, Taylor composed a song, to the tune
of Auld Lang Syne.
Lines written while proceeding by the train from Edinburgh to Glasgow,
December 17th, 1846, and sung by him at the Glasgow Soiree, December 18th:
Eureka! now we've found the tree;
The balm--the heavenly boon;
That will the Saints and nations bless,
And perfect them in one.
Chorus:
Then since our God has made us one,
And planted freedom's tree,
We'll taste its bud, but eat the fruit,
In California . . . .
And if we to Vancouver go,
And dwell on Britain's isle-We'll visit those we used to know,
On Zion's heavenly hill.
For there upon the mountain's top,
The house of God shall stand:
And to it all the nations flow,
From every sea and land.
[114]
The shamrock, thistle, leek and rose,
That bloom so fresh and fair,
Shall planted be, around the tree,
And of its fragrance share.
Then hail Columbia's happy shore,
And hail the British laws;
God save the Queen, and every King,
Who favours Zion's cause. (12)
However, the memorial to Queen Victoria received scant attention in
an English parliament beset with depression, unrest, and serious
political problems.
Taylor and Parley Pratt set sail for home on the America in late
January, 1847. Among the fourteen LDS passengers were five lovely girls,
Martha Monks, Ann Agatha Walker, and three Whitaker sisters, Harriet,
Sophia, and Elizabeth. Martha and Ann were to become plural wives of
Parley, while Taylor was to marry Sophia and Harriet. (13)
After setting sail, the ship encountered a violent storm. After nine
days it was forced back to Liverpool Harbor to await better weather.
During the lull, Taylor addressed the Saints:
. . . I have frequently had it on my mind . . . to write an article for
the Star on the subject of Priesthood, but could not do it for want of time;
but now, . . having a few moments of leisure, I improve it for that purpose.
What is Priesthood? It is the government of God, whether on the earth or
in the heavens, for it is by that power, agency, or principle that all things
are governed on the earth and in the heavens . . . . It is the power of God
[115] delegated to intelligences in the heavens and to men on the earth; and
when we arrive in the celestial kingdom of God, we shall find the most perfect
order and harmony existing; . . and when . . . God's kingdom comes on the
earth, and His will is done here as in heaven, then, and not until then, will
universal love, peace, harmony and union prevail . . . .
To bring about this desirable end--to restore creation to its pristine
excellency and to fulfil the object of creation--to redeem, save, exalt, and
glorify man--to save and redeem the dead and the living . . . is the design
and object of the establishment of the priesthood on the earth in these last
days . . . .
There are different callings, and offices, and stations, and authorities
in the holy priesthood, but it is all the same priesthood; . . it is the same
government; and all the priesthood are agents in that government; and they are
dependent one upon another, and the eye cannot say to the ear I have no need
of thee, nor the head to the foot, I have no need of thee. It is for everyone
to abide in the calling whereunder he is called, and magnify his office and
priesthood . . . .
I have noticed some in my travels, those who, like the disciples of Jesus
of old, evince a great desire for power, and manifest a very anxious
disposition to know who among them shall be the greatest. This is folly, for
honor proceeds not from office, but by a person magnifying his honor and
calling. If we have any honor proceeding from or through the priesthood, it
comes from God, and we certainly should be vain to boast of a gift when we
have no hand in the gift, only in receiving it . . . .
It is not the being an eye or ear that make these members honourable, but
the seeing and hearing; and a well foot is certainly much more valuable to the
body than a blind eye, a deaf ear, or a dumb mouth; and a priest, a deacon, or
a teacher who magnifies his office, is much [116] more honourable than an
elder, high priest, or an Apostle who does not . . . .
Taylor pointed out that despite the truths in the Bible, the Book of
Mormon, and the Doctrine and Covenants, the scriptures must be
supplemented by continual revelation.
These books are good for example, precedent, and investigation, and for
developing certain laws and principles. But they do not, they cannot, touch
every case required to be adjudicated and set in order. We require a living
tree--a living fountain, living intelligence--proceeding from the living
priesthood in heaven through the living priesthood on earth . . . . And from
the time that Adam first received communication from God, to the time that
John, on the island of Patmos, received his communication, or Joseph Smith had
the heavens opened to him, it always required new revelations, adapted to the
peculiar circumstances in which the churches or individuals were placed . . .
.
I speak of as I would of children's schoolbooks, which a
child studies to learn to read; but when it has learned . . . can dispense
with. But I would here remark that we are most of us children as yet, and,
therefore, require to study our books. If there are any, however, who think
themselves men, let them show it, not by vain glory or empty boast, but by
virtue, meekness, purity, faith, wisdom, intelligence and knowledge, both of
earthly and heavenly things. (14)
The thirty-six day voyage of the America from Liverpool to New
Orleans became a honeymoon cruise for two couples. John Taylor married
Sophia Whitaker, and her sister Elizabeth became the bride of Joseph
Cain, Parley Pratt performing the ceremonies.
[117]
As the America lay at anchor in heavy fog at the Mississippi delta,
waiting for clear weather to cross the bar, Taylor wrote another letter
of counsel to the British Saints:
Ship America, mouth of the Mississippi River
March 13th, 1847.
. . . As I had no time before I left England, I now wish to say a few
words to the Saints . . . by way of caution. Because you have been deceived by
your former leaders, do not mistrust those you have now, but let them have
your confidence and your prayers . . . . You, some of you, may have suffered
in a pecuniary point of view, but you have learned a lesson worth a great deal
more than your money; and salvation and intelligence pertaining to the kingdom
of God is not to be compared with pounds, shillings, and pence . . . . It is
necessary that we should be tried, that, like Jesus, we may be made perfect
through sufferings.
You will find us ever watchful over your interests as we have been; if
there is wrong, we shall know it and come to the rescue; and our prayers will
continually ascend to the God of Israel, that you may be kept by grace,
through faith, to the day of eternal redemption. I say again, have confidence
in your presidency; never condemn one man for what another has done--neither
be afraid of him. Give all good men your confidence; if they betray it, judge
them according to what they have done--not for what they may or may not do . .
..
Again, brethren, let me counsel you to circulate the Star as extensively
as possible, and other good books which are approved by the presidency, as in
so doing you spread intelligence, and frequently do more good than you can by
preaching; but let not any person publish books, hymns, or tracts, without
direction of the presidency, and let not the Saints countenance them without,
for if order is not observed in this, all kinds of foolish ridiculous things
will be published in the name of the Latter-day Saints.
[118] Now, brethren, as I had not time before I left, I must take the liberty
from this side of the ocean of saying farewell--Farewell! and God bless you
forever and ever, worlds without end, amen. It is a long distance to salute
you from . . . for I came more than 6,000 miles to see you. We have yet 2,000
miles to go to see our families, and part of that through mobbers, blacklegs,
and murderers who would gladly take our lives; but we trust in the God of
Israel that he will take us safety through, and that we shall arrive in the
Camp of Israel in peace and rejoice in once more meeting our families and
friends. (15)
On his way upriver, Taylor put his feelings regarding the injustice
suffered by the Saints at Winter Quarters into verse.
Song, composed by Elder John Taylor, while reflecting on American freedom and
liberty, on his way from England to the camp:
O! this is the land of the free!
And this is the home of the brave,
Where rulers and mobbers agree,
'Tis the home of the tyrant and slave.
Here liberty's poles pierce the sky
With her cap gaily hung on the vane;
The gods may its glories espy,
But, poor mortals, it's out of your ken.
The eagle soars proudly aloft,
And covers the land with her wings;
But oppression and bloodshed abound,
She can't deign to look down on such things.
Here the stars and stripes proudly float,
And glitter in every breeze;
But the patriot who reared it's forgot,
And is robbed of his freedom and peace.
[119]
No monarch or autocrat reigns,
No kingly dominion is here,
But the modest Vox Populi deigns
To take what he wants without fear.
All men are born equal and free,
And their rights all the nation maintains;
But with millions it would not agree:
They were cradled and brought up in chains.
You may worship your God without fear,
For none can your conscience control;
But if you're not of the orthodox here,
It will be bad both for body and soul.
You may see the meek teacher of grace
Against heretics take a bold stand,
And as prayers the delinquents won't save,
Join to drive them from house, home and land . . . .
Here monarchs her glories may see,
And this model republic admire;
For beneath this Upasion tree,
Did liberty's goddess expire.
And now we'll erect her a tomb,
And write on't "Here lieth the great!"
And all tribes and nations to come
May take warning and learn of her fate.
For this is the land of the free!
And this is the home of the brave,
Where rulers and mobbers agree;
'Tis the home of the tyrant and slave. (16)
Taylor completed his mission by delivering surveying instruments
needed by Brigham Young's pioneer party on its trip to the Rockies. He
also brought 469 gold sovereigns in a money belt, much-needed tithing
from the British Mission.
[120]
(1) MS, 1 June 1847.
(2) May 3, 1844; DHC 6:351.
(3) Prior to the conference the presidency published a notice in the
Millennial Star saying that "The first matter which we consider of great
importance for your consideration" at the conference would be "the
proposal of a Joint Stock Company, that by the means thereof the
interests and welfare of the kingdom of God may be promoted." After being
established, the project was actively sponsored as a church enterprise.
(See MS 5:157, 174; and 7:1)
(4) MS, 1 Nov. 1846.
(5) MS, 15 Oct. 1846.
(6) By-laws of the company specified that administrative expense was
limited to "five per cent, and no more, on all business done."
(7) 22 Oct. 1846.
(8) MS, 1 Nov. 1846.
(9) Letter 22 Oct. 1846.
(10) MS, 20 Nov. 1846.
(11) CHC 3:129.
(12) MS, 15 Jan. 1847.
(13) Sophia Whitaker became the grandmother of the authors.
(14) MS, 1 Nov. 1847.
(15) MS 9:161, 1 June 1847.
(16) MS, 15 Nov. 1857.
[121]
Chapter 8
FIRST EMIGRATION
Tuesday, April 13 <1847>. Elder John Taylor arrived at Winter Quarters,
when Pres. Young and the other brethren of the Twelve met in council . . . .
Elders Pratt and Taylor reported the condition of the British churches, and
the relief experienced by the Saints when the Gospel of Jesus Christ was
preached instead of "Joint Stockism" with which the mission had been afflicted
since the days of Reuben Hedlock's presidency. The Apostles had much joy and
satisfaction in hearing of the prosperity of Elders Pratt and Taylor on their
mission. They offered up thanksgiving and dismissed. (1)
Taylor found that during his absence pestilence, want and hardship
had decimated the Society. Blackleg (scurvy) had been epidemic at "Misery
Bottom," as the Saints were ravaged by the worst season of their history.
J. H. Beadle said:
The people had suffered greatly with cholera, fever and inflamatory
diseases, and the "Old Mormon Graveyard" at Florence contains seven hundred
graves of that winter, of which two hundred are children. Vast numbers had
"fallen into apostasy," or turned away and joined themselves to recusant
sects; and all their fair-weather friends had forsaken them. But the little
remnant were at least consolidated in sentiment, strengthened and confirmed
together by mutual suffering, firm and self-reliant. . . . (2)
The Pottawatamies called the region the "Fever Patch." Like the
Mormons, this tribe had been forced to leave its homes in Illinois. The
previous summer the Indians had lost one-ninth of their people in two
months.
[122]
Colonel Thomas L. Kane reported conditions existing during Taylor's
absence:
The Mormons were scourged severely. The exceeding mortality among some of
them was no doubt in the main attributable to the low state to which their
systems had been brought by long conditioned endurance of want and hardship .
...
In the season of drought . . . dry down till they run impure as
open sewers . . . between the choking crowd of reeds and sedgy grasses and
wet-stalked weeds, and growths of marsh meadow flowers, the garden homes at
this tainted season of venom-crazy snakes, and the fresher ooze by the water's
edge, which stank in the sun like a naked muscle shoal.
Then the plague raged . . . In situations on the left bank of the river
, where the prevalent southwest winds wafted to them the
miasmata of its shores, disease was most rife. . . .
The fever prevailed to such an extent that hardly any escaped it. They
let their cows go unmilked. They wanted for voices to raise the Psalm on
Sundays. The few who were able to keep their feet, went about among the tents
and wagons with food and water, like nurses through the wards of an infirmary.
Here at one time the digging got behind hand; burials were slow; and you might
see women sitting in open tents keeping the flies off their dead children,
sometimes after decomposition had set in....
It was plain now, that every energy must be taxed to prevent the entire
expedition from perishing.
Taylor had left an encampment of tents and wagons. He returned seven
months later to a city of some 700 houses, a large log tabernacle, and
150 dugouts carved into the bluffs.
[123]
His families were comfortably situated in cabins; however, with the
husband away the wives had been bickering. Leonora was at sword's point
with Elizabeth Kaighin and the Ballantyne sisters, Jane and Ann.
"Elizabeth began her old ways," Leonora had recorded, when the sister
wife moved in while her own house was under construction.
I took her in to keep her tongue still, for my own and family's sake,
that if possible we might not be abused through the whole camp.
The strain of the relationship is evidenced by the big squabble over
two table cloths and a muff.
I cannot live with her after what she has said before my family, all the
abuse and recriminations her evil nature could devise.
When the Ballantyne family arrived at the river, Leonora expected
flour for which "Mr. T" had arranged, but she received none. With a total
of fifteen in her household, she wrote dispairingly:
What I shall do for bread for the family this winter my Father only
knows. I should have had 8 barrels of flour purchased with that money.
The disagreement festered until at a party all of "the girls" were
invited (including Jane, Ann, and Elizabeth), but not Leonora. She
retaliated by giving a party soon afterwards, attended by "in all 42, a
goodly company, very cheerful and pleasant." The guests included "the
girls," but not Jane and Ann.
[124]
With Taylor's arrival, the bickering ceased. Partly it was the
warmth and strength of his presence; but also, the wives came together at
the sight of the two Whitaker girls on their husband's arms. Regardless
of dedication to the Principle, there was always apprehension at the
prospect of other wives.
True enough, within a week after their arrival, John Taylor and
Sophia Whitaker went through another ceremony, to make the marriage a
matter of official church record. The following week Parley Pratt married
Martha Monks and Ann Agatha Walker on the same day.
Concerning Indian relations, Kane wrote:
They were pleased with the Mormons. They would have been pleased with any
whites who would not cheat them, nor sell them whiskey, nor whip them for
their poor gypsy habits, nor bear themselves indecently toward their women . .
. . But all Indians have something like a sentiment of reverence for . . .
those who sacrifice, without apparent motive, their worldly welfare to the
triumph of an idea. They understand the meaning of what they call a great vow,
and think it the duty of the right-minded to lighten the votary's penance
under it. To this feeling they united the sympathy of fellow sufferers for
those who could talk to them of their own Illinois, and tell the story how
from it they also had been ruthlessly expelled.
But shortly after Taylor left for England, the welcome had worn
thin. On 18 October, Leonora wrote;
[125] Went to meeting. All about how we could guard against the Indians, who
are stealing everything they can and killing our cattle. It is proposed to
build a wall around the houses.
Fortunately, Winter Quarters was only a temporary stopping place.
Following the departure of Brigham Young's pioneer company to the
Rockies, Taylor and Parley Pratt assembled the Camp of Israel to follow.
This was a company of families--men, women and children--who would settle
at the location selected by the pioneers. Brigham would bring the
pioneers back to Winter Quarters, while the Camp of Israel under Taylor
and Pratt would be the first emigrants actually to settle the new land.
B. H. Roberts puts the story of this company of some 560 wagons in
perspective:
On the 21st and 22nd of June this large company began its journey. It was
late in the season for starting such an expedition. It was too late for them
to put in crops that season, even if they stopped far short of the eastern
base of the Rocky Mountains. They barely had provisions to last them a year
and a half, and if their first crop failed, starvation must follow, for they
would be from ten to fifteen hundred miles from the nearest point where food
could be obtained, and no swifter means of transportation than horse or ox
teams.
It was a bold undertaking, this moving over fifteen hundred souls--more
than half of whom were women and children--into an unknown country, through
hostile tribes of savages. Had it not been for the assurance of the support
and protection of Jehovah, it would have been not only a bold but a reckless
movement--the action of madmen. But as it was, the undertaking was a sublime
evidence of their faith in God and their leaders.
[126] This company differed from the pioneers. The latter was made up of
able-bodied men, excepting three women--none were helpless. They had the best
teams, and if they failed in finding a place of settlement, they could return
to the place of starting. Meanwhile their families were not endangered. They
were secure at Winter Quarters.
Not so with the Pratt and Taylor Company. They had their all upon the
altar, including their wives and children, who must share their hardships and
their fate. They knew not their destination; they entrusted all on a single
venture, from which there was no chance to retreat . . . . They must succeed,
or perish in the wilderness to which they had started. With a faith that has
never been surpassed, they placed themselves under the guidance and protection
of their God. (4)
Enroute, Taylor reported to Brigham Young and the Council of the
Twelve:
A La Prele Creek, 35 miles east of the Ferry. August 18, 1847.
Beloved Brethren, We started from Winter Quarters on the 12th of June,
organized at the Horn , and made our final departure from there
on the 20th of June.
We organized into four hundreds, and nine fifties, under the direction of
Captains Spencer, Hunter, Grant and Smoot. Each Captain has two captains of
Fifty, and General Rich has a separate company of Fifty. Brother
John Young with Captains Spencer and Hunter preside over the temporal affairs
of the Camp, and Uncle John Smith over spiritual affairs. General Rich has
charge of the military concerns, all under the direction of the Twelve.
Never one to dwell on misfortune, Taylor gave no details of a
stampede that wrecked several wagons when the cattle [127] spooked in the
night. The entire camp spent a week rounding up the livestock.
We have met with no serious difficulty further than the loss of about 12
horses and 40 head of cattle, the cattle from Capt. Grant's company, and the
horses from Captain Smoot's; the cattle, however, were principally made up by
voluntary contribution, so that all the companies have equally shared in the
loss.
"Cattle" meant oxen. Taylor didn't mention that now milk cows were
under the yoke.
For the Millennial Star, he reported details of the Camp of Israel:
The company that left Winter Quarters with us consisted of upwards of two
thousand souls . . . . There were about 560 wagons, drawn generally by oxen
from four to eight to a wagon. We travelled generally at the rate of from ten
to fifteen miles per day, and our cattle fed solely upon the grass that we met
with on our route, which generally was very abundant; and although the journey
was tedious, our wagons were mostly fitted up in a commodious manner for
traveling, which rendered our circumstances much more comfortable than could
be anticipated . . . . We travelled in companies of one hundred wagons, when
circumstances made it practicable, and when on account of scarcity of grass or
bad roads we found it inconvenient for such large companies . . . we divided
in fifties and sometimes into tens. Four hundred miles from , we received by express from the
pioneers the pleasing intelligence of
their arrival in the place which they had selected as the home for the Saints.
(5)
Enroute, Leonora noted details of the journey:
[128] July 8th. Killed 11 Buffalo. Mr. Taylor and Bro. Pratt caught a horse
apiece which were running loose on the prairie. Could find no trace of where
they came from. Mr. T. laid his toe open while cutting brush to make a bridge.
Bro. Pratt caught his hand between two wagons and hurt it very much. We had a
good day to travel. At night it rained and blew very hard . . . .
Wed. Went out hunting Buffalo again and came on thousands. Mr. T. rode. I
took Grandmother in the carriage. Our Company killed 9; every person busy
drying buffalo. I like it much better than beef, more tender and pleasant.
Truly the Lord has spread a table for us in the wilderness . . . .
July 23d . . . . Soon after we started at noon there was a cry that a
child was run over; and the next cry that it was George Taylor. He stood
on the tongue to whip his oxen; his feet slipped and he fell on his face while
both wheels of a heavy loaded wagon ran over his back. I don't know how I got
to him. His poor breast and back was bruised black. He lay on his back; the
first word he spoke was, "I am not hurt, Mother." I went with him in Bro.
Hoagland's wagon to our camping place, had him bled, put on a poultice of
wormwood and vinegar, had hands laid on and trust in the Lord he will soon be
well. Found a board left by the pioneers from Winter Quarters, 490 miles.
In the valley, Brigham Young was concerned about the progress of the
Pratt-Taylor Company. When his first letter went unanswered, he sent
another by courier. Taylor wrote that "We were just on the eve" of
replying when the messengers arrived.
We . . . rejoiced to see both our beloved Brother Phineas Young and Ezra
T. Benson, together with their escort; their messages to us from our friends
was indeed good news from a far country . . . .
[129] We find that you expected us to be nearer our place of destination than
we are; but can assure you that every exertion has been made both to make as
early a start as we anticipated, and also to expedite our journey after we
started. Our numbers far exceed what we anticipated, for instead of numbering
100 wagons, we have near 600; the cattle were generally weak in coming off the
rushes; we had to recruit our cattle and send to Missouri for bread stuffs.
You know, Brethren, it takes a little labor and time to start a large wheel .
...
The health of the camp is very good . . . .We have been generally free
from sickness and accidents; some few children have been run over, but none
killed. Peace prevails in our midst, and we have realized great blessings from
the hands of the God of Israel.
Your families were all well when we left Winter Quarters. You may expect
also on your return to find an abundance of corn and vegetables, of different
kinds growing; we plowed and enclosed a large tract of land before we left . .
. . (6)
The final paragraph of this letter touched on what might have been a
major cause for Brigham Young's concern. Evidently Pratt and Taylor had
made an unauthorized change of plans, after having counseled with the
Twelve at Winter Quarters before the brethren left with the pioneer
party.
It was our intention when you left not to come this season, but to spend
the winter with you ; but we afterwards judged to alter
our minds and are thus far on our way with the Saints.
From the valley, Taylor reported to the British membership:
[130] On our arrival at the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains . . . met
the pioneers on their return to Winter Quarters, in company with a number of
the Battalion who had been engaged in the service of the United
States. We felt as though it was a time to rejoice, our hearts were gladdened,
and we prepared a feast for them, and spread a table in the wilderness, on the
tops of the mountains, of which 130 of them sat down to partake. We mutually
felt edified and rejoiced; we praised the Lord, and blessed one another; and
in the morning we separated--they to pursue their weary course to Winter
Quarters, and us to come to our present location. (7)
Actually, at this meeting Brigham Young severely chastized Pratt and
Taylor for disobedience to counsel. Roberts reports:
Some disarrangement of plans had occurred with reference to the
organization and order of marching of these companies--plans worked out by
President Young and his associates before they left Winter Quarters . . . .
There had been manifested en route some disorder in the companies, some
bickering and jealousies . . . . For the two apostles, Elders
Pratt and Taylor, were taken sharply to task before the council. Elder Pratt
was the ranking apostle of the two, and had taken the lead in these matters,
and upon his head fell the burden of proof. "Brother Young chastized him for
his course," writes Wilford Woodruff, "and taught us principle."
He said that when we set apart one or more of the Twelve to go and do a
certain piece of work, they would be blessed; . . . but when one or more of
the Quorum interferred with the work of the majority of the Quorum, they burn
their fingers and do wrong . . . .
The Council sustained President Young's reproof; and although Elder Pratt
was not at first disposed to accept it, he finally yielded and acknowledged
his error and was forgiven. (8)
[131]
The root cause of the rebuke, however, no doubt came from the fact
that by disobeying counsel Pratt and Taylor had placed the Camp of Israel
in a very serious situation.
When the pioneer party left on 16 April, estimated time of travel
was 35 days, which would have put the pioneers in the Salt Lake Valley on
20 May. However, the pioneers did not arrive until two months later, 24
July, which was too late to mature crops. "There were obtained for seed,"
Parley reported, "a few small potatoes, from the size of a pea to that of
half an inch in diameter." This was the entire harvest of 84 acres
planted.
The Pratt-Taylor Company, starting in anticipation of harvesting a
crop at the destination, faced a winter of living on the cereal grains in
the wagons. There was no turning back, with weak teams and heavy loads.
At South Pass they were 799 miles from Winter Quarters, but only
231--downhill--from the Salt Lake Valley.
In writing the British Saints from the Valley, Taylor wasted no time
on complaints:
I might talk of trials, afflictions, and so forth, but what avails it?
They are the common lot of man--they are momentary and pass away, and are not
to be compared to the glory that is and shall be revealed; and I have not time
to think, speak, or write about such things . . . .
God bless the British elders, priests, teachers, deacons and members,
even all that are honest in heart, in time and all eternity, worlds without
end, amen, is the prayer of your friend in Jesus.--John Taylor (9)
[132]
(1) JH.
(2) Life In Utah, Philadelphia, 1870.
(3) The Mormons, Philadelphia, 1850.
(4) Life, p. 188.
(5) MS, 1 Nov. 1848.
(6) 18 Aug. 1847.
(7) MS, 1 Nov. 1848.
(8) CHC 3:295. See also Reva Stanley, who says, "Parley had married
two women without first asking Brigham's consent, and this was the act
which infuriated Brigham most." (The Archer of Paradise, Caldwell, 1937)
(9) MS, 1 Nov. 1848.
[133]
Chapter 9
THE VALLEY
On 7 December 1847, John Taylor reported conditions at Great Salt
Lake City, Great Basin, North America:
Beloved Brethren, . . . The valley in which we reside lies between the
Great Salt and the Utah lakes, in latitude 41 degree and longitude 112 degree.
It is from 60 to 70 miles long and from 20 to 30 wide; there is a range of
mountains running on each side of the valley north and south, the tops of
which are perpetually covered with snow; at the south end is Utah Lake, and at
the north end about twenty miles from here is the Great Salt Lake. Besides
this there are many small limpid streams flowing out of the mountains, and
emptying into the Jordan, which will prove very valuable for the watering of
stock, for water power, and the irrigation of land if necessary.
There are also an abundance of springs; among those we have close to the
city a warm spring, which is impregnated with sulphur and other minerals
possessing great medicinal properties, and flowing in sufficient quantities to
turn a mill. A saw mill is now being erected near its mouth, leaving the
spring for bathing purposes; besides this there is a hot spring about three
miles north, which throws out a great volume of boiling water.
The land is generally rich and fertile, perhaps as much so as any in the
world, and our best agriculturists believe that it will yield an abundant
increase of every kind of grain, not excepting rice; there are various
opinions as to its adaption to the culture of cotton and some other southern
products, the validity of which can only be tested by time.
[134] We have ploughed and sown, since our arrival here, about 2,000 acres of
wheat, and great numbers of ploughs are incessantly going, and are only
prevented by the inclemency of the weather, which occasionally is too severe .
. . . The climate, so far as we have become acquainted with it, is beautiful.
Timber in the immediate vicinity is not very abundant, but we have found
sufficient for building and fuel for some time to come; we also anticipate
finding coal . . . . Salt can be procured in great abundance at the Salt Lake;
and there is a kind of clay equal to the best.... We expect to put in, in the
spring, about 3,000 acres of corn and other grain, and we have with us almost
every variety of seeds of vegetables, as well as of shrubs, fruits, and
flowers. There is sufficient feed for our cattle, sheep and horses, without
cutting any hay, during the winter; our cattle are fattening all the time,
living alone on the grass they get, which is highly nutritious, and equal if
not superior to most of our tame grasses. The fresh grass is now beginning to
grow, and is in some places from 4 to 6 inches high; we anticipate a very
early spring.
We have built our houses for the present in the shape of a large fort;
but expect as soon as practicable to build our houses on our lots in the city;
the houses now erected and in progress amount to about 700, and are built some
of logs, some of sawed timber, and some of a des bois, or sun-dried brick.
The city plot is about two miles square; it is laid out in blocks of ten
acres, and the streets are eight rods wide, and cross each other at right
angles. The lots for each individual are an acre and a quarter, and those that
are worthy receive them freely as their inheritance together with what land
they can till. We have no land to sell, neither can any, other person
speculate on their inheritance, for it is the Lord's, and while the Lord gives
us free possession like the gifts of air, light, water, and life, it is free.
[135] There is a lot set apart for the erection of the temple, containing ten
acres, laid out on the bank of a beautiful creek that runs through the centre
of the city. When the pioneers arrived here, they went forward and were
baptized near the temple lot, and thus renewed their covenant before the Lord;
since then we have followed their example . . . .
And now, beloved brethren, although I have been writing in a great
measure on temporal things, yet my mind dwells not so much on hills, vales,
brooks, lakes, houses and land, as it does on the things pertaining to the
kingdom of God--the building up of Zion--the gathering together of God's
elect--the fulfilment of the prophecies--the blessing, glory, and exaltation
of His Saints . . . . And as when I was with you, so now when absent, I pray
God the eternal Father so to influence the hearts of men in authority, that
your way may be opened to gather with the Saints of the Most High, that you
may partake of the ordinances of the Lord's house, and finally be counted
worthy to possess thrones, principalities, powers, and dominions in the
Eternal World. (1)
A code of laws was needed for the new community. Patriarch John
Smith wrote of the problem:
. . . We found it somewhat difficult to establish order, peace and
harmony among the Saints after so much mobbing, robbing and traveling through
such a dreary country. The minds of many became restless; not having much
faith, the fear of starving, etc., came upon them. And in addition to this,
there was a company of soldiers arrived here destitute of sustenance; they,
together with those who were here before in like circumstances, created
uneasiness. (2)
On 27 December 1847 the High Council of Great Salt Lake City enacted
the first laws of the region, "for the peace, welfare, and good order of
the community."
[136] Ordinance 1st, Concerning Vagrants.
Whereas it is of the utmost importance that every man in our community
use the utmost exertion to cultivate the earth in order to sustain himself or
family in a new location. . . . therefore should any person or persons be
convicted . . . of idling away his or their time, . . two or more trustees
. . . take charge of all the property of . . . thus convicted
....
Ordinance 2nd, Concerning disorderly or dangerous persons and disturbers
of the peace.
Any person convicted of violence on person or property, threatening or
riot, shall be sentenced to receive a certain number of lashes on the bare
back, not exceeding 39, or be fined in any sum not less than five dollars, nor
exceeding five hundred dollars . . . .
Ordinance 3rd, Concerning Adultery and Fornication.
Any person or persons convicted of the crime of Adultery or Fornication
shall be sentenced to receive a certain number of lashes on the bare back, not
exceeding 39, and be fined in a sum not exceeding one thousand dollars . . . .
Ordinance 4th, Concerning Stealing, Robbing, Housebreaking, or
maliciously causing the destruction by fire of any property.
Any person or persons convicted of any of said crimes shall be sentenced
to receive a number of lashes on the bare back, not exceeding 39, and to
restore fourfold . . . .
Ordinance 5th, Concerning Drunkenness, and etc.
Any person or persons convicted of Drunkenness, Cursing, Swearing, foul
or indecent language, unnecessary firing of guns, or in any other way
disturbing the quiet or peace of the community, shall be fined any sum not
less than 25 dollars. (3)
[137]
The settlers supplemented the cereals they had brought in their
wagons with thistle roots, sego bulbs, wild horseradish and other things.
In experimenting with wild roots, some took sick; one man died. By
December, the Missouri Republican reported,
Seed potatoes were selling at ten dollars per bushel, peas at fifty cents
per pound, and other things at about the same rates . . . . (4)
A charge was preferred against David Lewis by Charles Shumway for taking
his seed corn and beans and eating some without his leave . . . . David Lewis
sentenced to five lashes on the bare back at the bell post. (5)
On New Year's Day, 1848, Parley Pratt reported:
Here life was as sweet and the holidays as merry as in the Christian
palaces and mansions of those who had driven us to the mountains. (6)
However, before the month was over an event transpired that was to
shatter the isolation of the Saints and radically alter the course of
history in the Great Basin.
Monday, Jan. 24. On this date gold was discovered on the South Fork of
the American River, California, by Mr. James W. Marshall and six Mormon boys,
formerly members of the Mormon Battalion, but now employees of Capt. John A.
Sutter and James Marshall, who were building a saw mill on the south fork of
the American River. (7)
In anticipation of an early spring, the settlers put in crops. Then,
on April 1st, Isaac C. Haight reported:
During the week snow fell to the depth of a foot, and some of our houses,
which were flat-roofed, leaked [138] very badly and made it very unpleasant
for the occupants. The wheat which was sown last fall looks very discouraging
for a crop, but we trust that the Lord who has brought us here will sustain us
and not permit us to perish.
It turned bitterly cold two days later; then the following week more
snow fell. It melted, and on May 1st the grass was green, settlers
planting again. On May 6th came a killing frost. John Taylor reported to
Brigham Young and the Twelve on May 22:
Beloved Brethren: After a long absence and separation, I take my pen to
address you, and I say peace be unto you, to the Camp of Israel and to the
whole of the household of God . . . .
We have been busy since our arrival in building, plowing, planting and
sowing, and we expect e'er you arrive to be engaged in the most pleasant work
of reaping. I never saw the Saints more diligent than they have been in this
valley. Enterprise and industry seems to be written on every man's forehead.
We do not expect to reap an abundant harvest but if we get from ten to fifteen
bushel of wheat to the acre on an average, we will not complain. If we do
anywhere in the neighborhood of this, we shall have sufficient to supply our
own wants and lend a helping hand to our brethren who are coming out . . . .
Crickets and other insects in some isolated districts have been very
destructive to the rising vegetation, but their ranges are limited and their
operations not such as to create any general alarm.
We have had a great quantity of rain this spring.... Indeed, some people
began to pray for rain before they ascertained that their houses were not
waterproof, and almost wished that they had deferred their supplications a
little longer . . . .
[139] I need not tell you that the Saints are anxiously looking for your
arrival, and none will be more pleased to see, to shake hands, and to
associate with his brethren than your humble servant. We have been separated
for some time and I long once more to meet in your councils. God bless you,
brethren, forever and ever, in time and all eternity, worlds without end,
amen.
Brigham Young replied from Chimney Rock, where the Camp of Israel
was enroute to the valley. Dated 17 July 1848, the letter was addressed
to "Parley P. Pratt, John Taylor, Presidency of the Stake of Zion, and
the High Council of the Great Salt Lake City, Great Basin, North
America."
Dearly beloved Brethren: . . . On 11th December, sixteen of the Battalion
from California arrived , bringing us news from your city
....
On the 24th of December conference convened . . . and continued four days
in the building which was called the Log Tabernacle . . . . At this conference
a First Presidency was agitated and agreed upon, when Brigham Young was
unanimously voted and received as the First President of the Church; when he
nominated Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards as his counselors, which
nominations were seconded and carried by unanimous vote . . . .
On the 16th of January commenced a Jubilee at the Log Tabernacle, which
continued five days and was spent in preaching, exhorting and comforting the
Saints in the forepart of the day accompanied with music. In the after part of
the day dancing and other recreations. The brethren enjoyed themselves first
rate, a good spirit prevailing . . . .
Several bands of the Pawnee Indians visited Winter Quarters during the
winter, being starved out of their [140] villages; they returned home with
their animals loaded with corn . . . .
You must not be disappointed in not seeing the printing presses, type,
paper, mill iron, mill stones, carding machine, etc. . . . We have the poor
with us; their cry was urgent to go to the mountains, and I could neither
close my ears nor harden my heart against their earnest appeals . . . . I
cannot forsake the poor in the hour of need, and when they stand most in need
of comfort. I am disappointed in not bringing the presses, etc., but I cannot
avoid it . . . .
Great peace, love and union prevails in our midst. We have been blessed
on this journey; not a soul, nor an animal in my corral having died nor been
lost since leaving the Elkhorn, and I can truly say all is well with us.
I earnestly desire to say to the Saints in the Valley, they who want to
serve the Lord, that they are in a good place; and it is my advice that they
get cured of their California fever as quick as they possibly can. . . . for I
am well assured that if you do, the Lord will bless you and prosper you; and
may His choicest blessings rest upon you; may you be blessed by night and by
day, in your outgoings and incomings, in your basket and in your store, and
may the still whisperings of the Spirit be your constant companions . . . .
Parley Pratt and John Taylor, having supervised the settlement in
the valley during the first year of settlement, relinquished authority to
the First Presidency when Brigham Young's company of the Camp of Israel
arrived 20 September 1848.
The following summer, John Taylor clipped a dispatch from the New
York Tribune, written by a traveler who arrived in the valley enroute to
the gold fields:
[141] Judge our feelings when, after some one thousand two hundred miles of
travel through an uncultivated desert, and the last hundred miles of the
distance among lofty mountains and narrow and difficult ravines, we found
ourselves suddenly and almost unexpectedly in a comparative paradise . . . .
Houses of wood and sun-dried bricks were thickly clustered in the vale
before us, some thousands in number, and occupying a spot as large as the city
of New York. They were mostly small, one story high, and perhaps not more than
one occupying an acre of land. The whole space for miles, excepting the
streets and houses, was in a high state of cultivation. Fields of yellow wheat
stood waiting for the harvest and Indian corn, potatoes, oats, flax and all
kinds of garden vegetables were growing in profusion . . . . At first sight of
all these signs of cultivation in the wilderness, we were transported with
wonder and pleasure. Some wept, some gave three cheers, some laughed, and some
ran and fairly danced with joy, while all felt inexpressibly happy to find
themselves once more amid scenes which mark the progress of advancing
civilization.
However, members of the gold-seeking company were puzzled to find no
business district in the mountain metropolis.
No hotel, sign-post, cake and beer shop, barber's pole, market-house,
grocery, provision, dry goods, or hardware store distinguished one part of the
town from another; not even a bakery or a mechanic's sign was anywhere
discernable. . . . However, on inquiry I found that a combination of seemingly
unavoidable circumstances had produced this singular state of affairs. There
were no hotels because there had been no travel; no barber's shop because
everyone chose to shave himself; . . . no centre of business because all were
too busy to make a centre. There was an abundance of mechanic's shops, of
dressmakers, milliners, tailors, etc., but they needed no sign, nor had they
time to paint or erect one, for they were [142] crowded with business. Besides
their several trades, all must cultivate the land or die, for the country was
new, and no cultivation but their own within a thousand miles. Everyone had
his lot and built upon it, everyone cultivated it, and perhaps a small farm in
the distance. . . .
The country settlements extended nearly a hundred miles up and down the
valley. This territory, state, or as some term it, "Mormon Empire," may justly
be considered as one of the greatest prodigies of the age; and, in comparison
with its age, the most gigantic of all republics in existence, being only its
second year since the first seed of cultivation was planted, or the first
civilized habitation commenced.
"If these people were such thieves and robbers as their enemies
represented them in the States," the correspondent said, "I must think
they have greatly reformed in point of industry since coming to the
mountains." On Sunday, "Mr. Brigham Young, president of the society,"
exhorted his people to "stay home and pursue a persevering industry,
although a mountain of gold were near them." He "boldly predicted" the
overthrow of the nation which had killed the prophets and persecuted the
Saints.
He said, God had a reckoning with that people, and gold would be the
instrument of their overthrow. The Constitution and laws were good, in fact
the best in the world, but the administrators were corrupt, and the laws and
Constitution were not carried out, therefore they must fall . . . .
Such, in part, was the discourse that we listened to in the stronghold of
the mountains. The Mormons are not dead nor is their spirit broken. And if I
mistake not there is a noble, daring, stern, and democratic spirit dwelling in
their bosoms, which will people these mountains with a [143] race of
independent men, and influence the destiny of our country and the world for a
hundred generations.
The Saints had settled the valley when it was Mexican territory; but
by the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, it became part of the United States.
On 5 September 1849 John Taylor applied for American citizenship.
A week later, he received a missionary call.
To all persons to whom this letter shall come, Greetings:
Know ye that the bearer, John Taylor, true and faithful brother and Elder
in Israel, and member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for the last days,
has been appointed and delegated, by the Authorities of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, in General Conference . . . on a mission to
France. To open the door of life and salvation to the people of that Kingdom.
To preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and administer in all the ordinances
thereof pertaining to his mission, and in connection with the brethren of his
Quorum to preside over all the affairs of the Church in all the world, to open
the door of life to the inhabitants thereof. And he is authorized to collect
tithing, and to receive donations for the perpetual fund for the gathering of
the poor Saints. And we call upon all Saints and upon the inhabitants of the
earth, to receive our beloved Bro. Taylor, as a messenger of the living God,
offering life and salvation to men; and inasmuch as you shall . . . assist him
on his journey and mission, you shall in no wise lose your reward . . . .
(1) MS, 1 Nov. 1848.
(2) JH, Letter to George A. Smith, 5 March 1848.
(3) JH.
[144] (4) JH, 10 May 1848.
(5) JH, 14 May 1848.
(6) Autobiography
(7) Unless otherwise noted, this and other quotations of this
chapter are from the JH.
[145]
Chapter 10
THREE MINISTERS OF BOULOGNE
John Taylor left the valley 19 October 1849, with a party of 35,
which included missionaries called to England, France, Denmark and
Sweden.
We left on six days notice, wound up our business affairs, bid farewell
to our wives and families, and started without purse or scrip in an inclement
season of the year to cross a howling wilderness, having to cope with the
mountain storms, the wintry blasts and the savage Indian . . . .
However, he minimized the rigors of the trip, saying, "Our journey
on the whole, considering the season, has been a pleasant one," and that
"Nothing very remarkable occurred on our journey out, except what is
common in Indian country."
Not so, his missionary companion, Curtis E. Bolton, whose journal is
a veritable catalogue of hardship and misfortune:
On the 1st day of October, I found I had worked all the spring, summer,
and fall, and had not earned a dollar. I had devoted my time to my land,
living six weeks on greens, and here at the commencement of winter I found
myself without a house, or materials to build one, without provisions, and not
much clothing. No fodder for the winter, very much disheartened, I moved my
family on my new lot . . . .
[146] Oct. 7th, Sabbath. Rebecca and I went to meeting this morning . . . .
Prest. John Young . . . told me I was appointed to go on
a mission to France. This intelligence gave me such exceeding joy that I
almost danced. I next inquired who was to go with me. They replied, Elder John
Taylor . . . . "Well," I said, "I'm ready."
On the way home, I opened the matter to Rebecca. At first flush, she
thought it hard that I should have to leave her in so destitute a situation as
she then was. But a few moments later burst into tears and said, "Go, in the
name of Israel's God, and prosper; and I will take care of myself."
Bolton undertook the journey without an outfit, a horse, or even an
overcoat; his clothing was threadbare. He shared Russell Homer's wagon.
On the tenth day the company reached Bridger, "Snowing on both sides of
us til noon." As they went on to Black's Fork:
Cloudy, very high wind. I lectured in the evening on the principle of
faith. Promised if all would unite their faith we should have no snow till we
arrived at the Missouri River.
This prediction proved accurate. However, there was rain, wind, and
bitter cold. At the South Fork of the Platte, rain followed by frost had
put a hard crust on the snow, "almost to bear a man's weight." With the
crust breaking at every step and turn of the wagon wheels, it was "horrid
traveling."
Bro. Homer being belated about starting, had to unload his wagon on the
bluff out of Ash Hollow and carry up by hand and then double team
up his empty wagon. Graham left the horse he bought at Bridger [147] about 1/2
way between the two Plattes. Crossed the South Fork. A very bad ford. Very
worst of quicksands. The most of us had to wade about in the river and help
out the teams and wagons one after another. No fire on the bank. Quite
cooling!!!! I, soaking wet, ran on five miles to where there appeared to be
wood, but had to wade a creek to get it. Found here a wounded horse. Preach
this eve by Bro. Taylor.
Next day the company began to abandon exhausted horses and mules on
the trail; others died. They passed broken wagons and dead teams beside
the route. At places where grass was burned off, they cut cottonwoods for
brouse. On 4 December, "Bro. John Taylor has been very sick today." The
next day, "Bro. E. D. Woolley was taken very ill."
Dec. 7. Every appearance of a storm. Intensely cold. Passed two most
abominable bad creeks--having to take off the teams and let the wagons down
and haul them up by hand. . . . Camped some time after dark, on a little
stream where we could find neither wood nor grass . . . . I went to bed
supperless, having no more provisions.
Taylor not only endured hardship, but welcomed it:
I rejoice in afflictions, for they are necessary to humble and prove us,
that we may comprehend ourselves, become acquainted with our weaknesses and
infirmities; and I rejoice when I triumph over them, because God answers my
prayers, therefore I feel to rejoice all the day long . . . .
Some people have said to me, sometimes: "Are you not afraid to cross over
the seas, and deserts, where there are wolves and bears, and other ferocious
animals, as well as the savage Indians? Are you not afraid that you will drop
by the way, and leave your body on the desert track, [148] or beneath the
ocean's wave?" No. Who cares anything about it? What of it, if we should
happen to drop by the way. We expect the Lord and His angels can . . . "gather
together His elect from the four corners of the earth," and as old Daniel
says, we shall all come up and stand in our "lot in the end of the days."
These things don't trouble me, but I have felt to rejoice all the day
long, that God has revealed the principle of eternal life, that I am put in
possession of that truth, and that I am counted worthy to engage in the work
of the Lord, and be a messenger to the nations of the earth. (1)
Taylor continued his account of the journey:
Between the upper crossing of the Platte and Independence Rock, we met a
company of four men who were carrying the mail from Fort Laramie to Fort Hall.
They had been robbed the day before by a war party of Crow Indians . . . .
After the first shearing they encountered another band, who sans ceremonie,
subjected them to another fleecing . . . . They were of course pleased under
these circumstances to meet with us, and were full of fiery indignation
against their red brethren for subjecting them to such an unceremonious
tithing . . . .
made us more vigilant in guarding our horses, as we rather
preferred to be tithed by our own bishops, whom we had with us, than be
subject to the ordeal of those who officiate without authority.
Two days' journey on the other side of Laramie, while we were baiting our
horses at noon on the banks of the Platte, we espied a large body of Indians,
who came sweeping down a gentle sloping hill east of us . . . .
Capt. Roundy ordered the horses to be gathered, and securely tied to the
wagons. Gen. Grant acted with great promptness, . . . immediately forming us
into line, leaving [149] two of our number to tie the horses up. The men
showed great intrepidity, every man standing at his post undaunted. The
efforts of the Indians were either to break our line or turn our flank; but
being repulsed on all points they were brought to a dead halt about a rod and
a half in front of us. During all this, . . . they were shaking out the
priming from their firearms, and priming them anew. Many placed arrows to
their bowstrings--their lances at rest--and were wetting the ends of their
arrows with their mouths, that they might not slip from finger and thumb.
When the Mormons refused to be bluffed, a chief presented a paper
from the commander at Ft. Laramie, Major Sanderson, certifying that this
tribe of Cheyennes "was friendly to the whites." The simulated charge was
simply an example of Indian humor.
We presented them some crackers, dried meat, tobacco, etc., of which they
partook, sat down and had a smoke, and thus everything concluded amicably. We
then harnessed our horses, and pursued our journey. They very courteously
filed to the right and left, and escorted us on our road till we came opposite
their village . . . .
Many of them were dressed in American style, with clothes of the best
broadcloth, beaver hats, caps, etc. And those who were dressed in Indian
costume displayed the greatest elegance of taste in their attire. They were
adorned with head dresses of feathers of the richest hues; and their various
insignia of office displayed a taste which is at once wild, romantic and
beautiful. They were mounted on excellent horses--richly caparisoned in many
instances, and painted off in the most fantastic style. The whole affair was
truly grand, and notwithstanding the peculiar situation in which we were
placed, we could not but admire the magnificent display which the lords of the
prairie presented . . . . The scene was rich, and exceeded any theatrical
representation we have ever witnessed.
[150] Messrs. Edward Hunter, Lorenzo Snow and myself, at the request of the
chief, visited their encampment, which was about three miles off the road; we
found there a large number of lodges, and were informed by a Frenchman that
they numbered six hundred warriors. They appeared to be wealthy, and I should
think they had about three thousand horses.
Arriving at Winter Quarters--now named Kanesville--the party greeted
old friends, while their arrival was hailed "with songs of rejoicing,
firing of guns, and other tokens of joy." Blacksmiths brought out their
anvils and hammers, which "made the hills and dales" ring with the
welcome.
We here meet a kindred spirit, and find that the presiding genius of this
place drinks from the same fountain, breathes the same air, and revels in the
same intelligence as do the master spirits of the Great Salt Lake Valley.
Relative to the situation of affairs in the Valley, we have of course
many inconveniences to cope with, owing to the position we occupy so far
remote from supplies . . . . the cry of the people is goods! GOODS!! GOODS!!!
...
We were accompanied here by Messrs. Roundy, Grant, Smoot and others, who
have associated for the purpose of forming a carrying company to convey goods
from this place to the Valley. They also intend establishing a Swiftsure
Passenger Line, to convey persons from this place to Sutter's Fort. The
company were selected and organized by the Government of the State of Deseret,
. . . and as they are men of energy, enterprise and respectability, they are
more competent to carry out an enterprise of this kind, and to establish a
cheap, speedy, and safe conveyance to and from the diggings, than any company
that could be organized on this side of the plains . . . .
[151] In relation to the various missions in which we are engaged, . . . these
as great and important as any that have been entered upon since the
commencement of this work. A few years ago a few of the Twelve, accompanied by
three or four elders, visited England for the first time. The Church of
Latter-day Saints was then unknown in that kingdom; now they number . . .
about 30,000. In the then infantile state of the Church, a mission of that
kind seemed Herculean; but the power of truth prevailed; . . . and where
darkness once reigned, many thousands now rejoice in the fulness of the gospel
of peace.
That mission, however, was to a people whose language we were acquainted
with, whose habits and customs were congenial with our own, whose commercial
relations rendered them familiar, and whose blood still flowed in our veins.
But now we have left our homes in the Valley to carry the gospel to nations
that know us not, with whose language we are unacquainted, and who are at
present wrapped about with a cloak of mystery and superstition; this is a task
which nothing but the "thus saith the Lord," could cause man to
encounter.
The nations to which we are now destined have recently been convulsed
with revolutions, the throes of which still sicken the whole system, and
render life, person and property insecure . . . . Yet to these nations we are
sent to unfurl the banner of truth, and publish the glad tidings of salvation;
and . . . to whisper to the honest in heart, "What doest thou here, Elijah?"
We go therefore in the strength of Israel's God, our trust is in Him, we
lean upon His arm and all is well. The nations must hear the joyful sound. The
power of truth must prevail; the Kingdom of God must be established and all
nations flock to her standard, . . . till salvation is sounded on every
continent, proclaimed on every isle, echoed on every sea and whispered in
every breeze; and the "kingdom of this world become the kingdom of our God and
of his Christ," even so, Amen. (2)
[152]
Six weeks later Taylor wrote his families from St. Louis, saying his
travel had been leisurely because he was studying French enroute. He made
no mention of hardship on the "leisurely" journey, which Bolton detailed:
Bid farewell to the people of Kanesville, and started for Saint Louis in
a wagon in company with Bro. Taylor, Pack, and Thomas Bateman . . . .
We stopped one day at St. Joseph and one day at Weston . . . . The journey
from thence to Saint Louis was rough and tedious. The last one hundred and
fifty miles we walked almost the whole way as there was a thaw and the mud was
hub deep in the lanes.
Jan. 26. Arrived this evening in Saint Louis after a tedious toilsome
journey. We proceeded at once to Elder Felt's office, No. 16 Third Street. It
was just after dark and we were at once ushered in, all covered with mud and
very much fatigued, before a large meeting of the brethren. We each had to
preach a little, and then retired to the homes alloted to us . . . . On
Sabbath morning . . . Brother Taylor furnished me with a pair of pants and a
vest, which I needed extremely.
In a letter home, Taylor said that both at St. Louis and
Kanesville-The Saints flocked around me like bees and the greatest trouble I have had is
that of not being able to fulfill the many engagements that have pressed
themselves upon me.
"But," say you, "do you not think of us and home?"... Let me tell my
feelings if I can. Home! Home!! HOME!!! What shall I say? . . . You are with
me in my imaginations, thoughts, dreams, feelings; true, our bodies are
separated, but there you live--you dwell in my bosom, in my heart and
affections, and will remain there forever. Our covenants, our hopes, our joys
are all eternal and will live when our bodies moulder in the dust . . . .
[153] I am engaged in my Master's business; I am a minister of Jehovah to
proclaim His will to the nations. I go to unlock the door of life to a mighty
nation, to publish to millions the principles of life, light and truth,
intelligence and salvation, to burst their fetters, liberate the oppressed,
reclaim the wandering, correct their views, improve their morals, and lead
them to light, life, truth and celestial glory. Do not your spirits cooperate
with mine? I know they do. Do you not say, "Go, my husband; go, my father,
fulfill your mission, and let God and angels protect you and restore you safe
to our bosoms." I know they do.
Our separations here tend to make us more appreciative of each other's
society. A few more separations and trials, a few more tears, a few more
afflictions, and the victory will be ours. We'll gain the Kingdom, possess the
crown, inherit eternal glory, associate with the Gods, soar amidst the
intelligences of heaven; and with the noble, the great, the intellectual, the
virtuous, the amiable, the holy, possess the reward held in reserve for the
righteous, and live and love forever.
Taylor dispatched a wagonload of sugar, coffee and tea to his
families, for sale in the valley, saying, "I wish you all to have
everything to make you comfortable." He sailed on the Jacob A.
Westervelt, arriving at Liverpool 27 May 1850, and the following month
went to France.
I arrived at the town of Boulogne-sur-mer, in company with Curtis E.
Bolton, John Pack, and W Howell, for the purpose of preaching the
principles of the Everlasting gospel. Soon after our arrival I published two
communications in the Boulogne Interpreter, giving an account of the visit of
the Angel to Joseph Smith, the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, and the
first principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. These were published in both
French and English.
[154] I also took a hall in the central part of town , for the purpose of delivering a course of
lectures, and gave a public notice in handbills and in the newspaper . . . .
Several Protestant priests from England commenced to annoy us, and wanted
to create a disturbance in the meeting; but I would not allow it . . . . These
insolent men . . . followed me in the streets . . . . They stated that "Joe"
Smith was an impostor, and they could prove it. I told them, . . . I cared
nothing for their opinions--that I was personally acquainted with Joseph
Smith--that he was a gentleman, and would not treat a stranger as they had
treated me--that I wished no further conversation with them . . . .
On the 4th of July we received the following note:
Sirs, The extraordinary nature of your pretensions and announcements made
us desirous of having their validity and truth inquired into . . . . We
address to you this respectful public challenge, to meet us in open and public
debate.
The three ministers, C. W. Cleeve, James Robertson, and Philip
Cater, challenged the sincerity of Joseph Smith ("Was he a truthful and
honest man, or a blasphemous and daring imposter?"), the validity of the
Book of Mormon ("Is it not a stupid and ignorant farago of nonsense?"),
and "Yourselves! The pretended facts of your direct appointment by God,
to preach what you call the Gospel."
I must say that I considered the note too ungentlemanly, abusive, and
insulting to be deserving of notice. I should have considered it and its
authors worthy only of contempt, had I been in a place where I was known. As
it was, . . . I thought it best to . . . meet them on their own ground.
[155] I would here remark, however, that I do not consider an elder is
responsible for anything but the doctrine that he preaches . . . . The eternal
truths of heaven are independent of the conduct of any man. Two and two are
four, whether I am a good man or not; three and five will never make seven,
however, good and virtuous the man who utters it. The Gospel that was taught
by Jesus is true, whoever teaches it. The systems of men, which are contrary
to the scriptures, are not true, nor are they the Gospel, however, pious and
sanctimonious the man who teaches them.
The parties agreed to a debate of three nights. The Rev. C. W.
Cleeve opened the first discussion.
He cited Mr. Taylor and his friends, not as teachers of any form of
Christianity, but as emissaries and advocates of the vilest imposture since
the days of Mahomet;... and it became the duty of everyone to expose its
audacious and fatal errors.
The first question of discussion is: Was Joseph Smith an imposter? For if
he was, there was an end of Mormonism . . . .
Elder Taylor--Gentlemen and Christian friends, I have listened to some
strange remarks and infamous statements, . . . the which, if the thousandth
part were true, I should not have been here; and I think that before I get
through I shall be able to shew that we are not such daring imposters, nor
blasphemers--that we are not so corrupt, nor are we the immoral, degraded and
polluted wretches--that the gentleman would represent us to be; but that our
doctrine is as scriptural, that our conduct is as moral, and our lives as
virtuous as his or his friends .... And let me remark that such foul
aspersions and bitter language would better become other lips and another
profession than that of my Reverend friend . . . . Neither do I consider that
the foundation of eternal truth rests upon [156] the character of any man,
much less upon false reports, newspaper stories, and the unauthenticated
statements of wicked and corrupt men . . . . (3)
I have heard a great deal said about Joseph Smith and his character. I
was intimately acquainted with the late Joseph Smith and know that the
statements made by Mr. Cleave are untrue. I have been with Mr. Smith for
years; I have travelled with him; I have been with him in public and in
private, at home and abroad; I was with him living, and when he died--when he
was murdered in Carthage Jail--and I can testify that he was a virtuous,
moral, high-minded man . . . .
Regarding the authors of the three unfriendly books, "I happen to be
acquainted with them," Taylor said, and knew of the circumstances in
which they formed their opinions.
But what has opinion to do with truth? It was the opinion of men, in
every age of the world, that the prophets were imposters, and they killed them
because of their belief. They were whipped, tried, tempted, torn asunder . . .
. And why? Because it was the opinion of the people that they were wicked--and
the opinion, generally, of the most learned and pious. Hence, the Jews killed
their prophets, beheaded John the Baptist, crucified the Messiah, and
persecuted His Apostles; and the Chief Priests, Rabbis and Doctors were
foremost . . . .
These infamous lies and obscene stories , however,
have been found very palatable to a certain class of society, and in times of
our persecutions multitudes were pleased with them. Hence, not only did it
suit the inclinations of these gentlemen above alluded to, but preying upon
the cupidity of the uninformed, they made a very lucrative business of their
disgusting traffic, and sold it to the world garnished with the names of
Doctor Bennett, the Rev. Mr. Turner, the [157] Rev. Mr. Caswall, and numbers
of other reverends, associates of blacklegs and murderers. Hence we have awful
disclosures! terrible iniquity! horrid blasphemy! ornamented and dressed off
by the aforesaid reverends, and rewritten, republished, and circulated by
their brethren in this country. (Mr. Cleeve, I could furnish you with
thousands of such statements, if they are of any use to you.)
I say now, as I said before, that reports have nothing to do with truth;
and I will say, moreover, that public opinion has very little to do with it.
The testimony of Noah was just as true, although rejected by the
Antediluvians, as that of Jonah when all the inhabitants of Ninevah repented
in sackcloth and ashes. And Jesus's testimony was just as true, when they
cried, "Crucify him! crucify him!" . . . as when the people strewed branches
in the way and spread their garments for him to ride over, and cried,
"Hosannah! blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord!" And St. Paul's
testimony was just as true, when he was stripped and imprisoned, as when the
people of Lycaonia said, concerning him and Barnabas, "The Gods have come down
to us in the likeness of men," and would have worshipped them.
Truth has always been opposed by the children of men. It comes in
. . . corrupt hearts and wicked practices . . . . And instead
of meeting what they call error with the scriptures, and testing it with the
touchstone of truth, . . . they substitute vituperation, scandal, persecution
and abuse; . . . they tread in the steps of their venerable predecessors, the
Pharisees, who called Jesus an imposter; that he cast out devils
through Beelzebub, the prince of devils; declared that he was born of
fornication, and accused him of blasphemy.
So the same kind of persons, in these days, in the absence of truth, seek
to undermine the character of a good, honourable, and virtuous man. Hence, we
hear the hue-and-cry of false prophet, imposter, deceiver, blasphemer,
adulterer, etc. . . . Ministers in America join with [158] the drunkard,
profligate, and murderer, to hatch up stories against the Saints . . . .
Gentlemen, men of our calling ought to use other weapons. . . . The
eternal truths of God are still the same; and whether Joseph Smith was a good
man or a bad man, the truths we preach are scriptural, and you cannot gainsay
them; and if they are, what avails your attack upon character? . . .
Mr. Robertson: . . . General Bennett and Professor Caswall . . . had
testified that Joseph Smith kept up a seraglio of "Sisters of the White Veil,"
and "Sisters of the Green Veil;" and that Sidney Rigdon, who had at one time
been almost as great a man among the Mormonites as Joe Smith, had quarrelled
with Joe for the latter's attempt to introduce his, Rigdon's, daughter into
the sisterhood.
Was there not a body of men amongst the Mormonites called "Danites," or
"Destroying Angels," who were banded together to assassinate such as were
supposed to be enemies of the body? And had not Governor Boggs been
assassinated by this body? . . .
Now he (Mr. Robertson) demanded distinctly of Mr. Taylor what was the
nature of the sisterhood of the White and Green Veils--what was the nature of
the dispute between Sydney Rigdon and Joseph Smith--and what was the nature of
the society called "Danites" or "Destroying Angels?"
Elder Taylor: It would seem from the remarks of Mr. Robertson that he
also attaches very great importance to the statements of Mr. Caswall and John
C. Bennett--of course for want of better testimony . . . . We have had a
terrible account of the murder of Governor Boggs, I suppose given by the Rev.
Mr. Caswall. Ex-Governor Boggs is now living in California at the gold mines.
[159]
The audience burst into laughter at this information. "But I suppose
he must be dead," Taylor said, "because a reverend gentleman said so."
I must say that men of the profession and calling of my opponents would
have displayed a little more taste if they had possessed a little more
delicacy of feeling . . . . We are accused here of polygamy, and actions the
most indelicate, obscene, and disgusting, such that none but a corrupt and
depraved heart could have contrived. These things are too outrageous to admit
of belief; therefore, leaving the sisters of the "White Veil," the "Black
Veil," and all the other veils, with these gentlemen to dispose of--together
with their authors--as they think best, I shall content myself by reading our
views of chastity and marriage, from a work published by us, containing some
of the articles of our Faith: Doctrine and Covenants, page 330.
Although Taylor was fully aware of the practice of plural
marriage--he himself having at least ten wives at this time--it was not
yet time to proclaim such matters to the outside world. He read Section
101 (which subsequently was deleted), which said that all church
marriages should be solemnized in public meeting, and that "Inasmuch as
this Church has been reproached with the crime of fornication and
polygamy, we declare that we believe that one man should have one wife,
and one wife but one husband, except in case of death, when either is at
liberty to marry again."
We are again soberly told about "Danites" and "Destroying Angels." I
never happened to be acquainted with any of these among the Latter-day Saints.
But I can give you an account of some that I met with . . . . I was going with
my family to Far West, in the State of Missouri, and [160] while staying at a
place called De Witt, on the banks of the Missouri River, a mob of about 150
persons came, led on by two ministers; . . . the name of one was Sashiel
Woods, the other, Abbot Hancock. . . . They came there with swords by their
sides; . . . and with other ministers, one a Methodist of the name of Bogard,
engaged with a mob in driving about 15,000 men, women and children from their
homes in the depth of winter, after robbing and killing many in the most
barbarous manner . . . .
These deeds were principally instigated by ministers. These, gentlemen
are the destroying angels if you wish to know about them. (4)
The Rev. Mr. Cater . . . came now to Joe's pretended discovery of the
plates. Joe pretended that an angel directed him to a certain mound to dig for
sacred plates on which a revelation was engraved . . . . These plates, said to
be buried 1400 years, were fastened together with rings, in the form of a
book, though everyone knows that in that age writings were formed into the
shape of scrolls. These plates were few in number, about six inches long, and
yet one-half of them contained as much as the whole of the Old Testament. They
profess to refer to Jewish history, and yet they are written in Egyptian
hieroglyphics . . . .
But where the Book of Mormon came from was not long a mystery, for the
brother of one Solomon Spaulding, going to one of the meetings, recognized his
late brother's work, a romance of ancient America, which had never been
published, but of which the Mss. was lost. The widow of Solomon Spaulding
testified to the same effect, and that charge has never been replied to, to
this hour. But the great consideration is, that these persons pretend to add
to and supersede the Word of God. Now, the Bible is the sheet-anchor of
Christians, and it neither needs the Book of Mormon nor any other book, nor
the assistance of Joe Smith nor any other Joe. The awful [161] voice of
prophecy has spoken for the last time, and the cause of inspiration is closed.
Whatever is needed by the Christian for his guidance is there, and Mr. Cater
could remind his opponents of the curse denounced by the Spirit of God against
all who added to, or subtracted from, that volume.
Elder Taylor--I am prepared to answer all of these statements, and any
charges that these gentlemen can bring. We have certainly heard a strange
declaration . . . . He tells us the canon of scripture is closed, and that we
have all of the word of God that ever was written. I wonder where he studied
his Bible; for certainly we most assuredly have not got all by a great deal.
Taylor listed various books referred to in the Bible which were not
incorporated into the King James edition.
Here are sixteen books mentioned. . . . written by prophets, seers, and
revelators, under the immediate inspiration of the Almighty, and yet we have
them not. Where are they, Mr. Cater? Yet this gentleman calls us imposters
because we do not stick to the Bible . . . .
As for the charge that the Book of Mormon was a plagiarism, Taylor
submitted a clipping from the Quincy, Illinois, Whig, 17 July 1842,
containing a letter from John Haven of Holliston, Mass., to his daughter
Elizabeth at Quincy.
Your brother Jesse passed through Monson, (where the widow of Spaulding
resided) where he was in company with Mrs. Davieson (widow Spaulding), her
daughter, Mrs. McKinestry, and Dr. Ely, for many hours, during which he put to
her the following questions and received the following answers, in the
presence of Dr. Ely.
[162] Question--Did you, Mrs. Davieson, write a letter to Mr. John Storrs,
containing an account of the commencement of Mormonism? Answer: No, I did not!
And I never saw the letter until I saw it in the Boston Recorder with my name
on it. The letter was never brought to me to be signed . . . .
Question--Have you read the Book of Mormon? Answer: I have read a little
of it.
Question--Is there any similarity between Mr. Spaulding's and the Book of
Mormon? Answer: NOT ANY, with the exception of some names, something similar
the one to the other . . . .
Question--Where is the manuscript? Answer: Mr. Hurlbut came
here and took it away, promising to publish it, and said that I should have
half the proceeds.
Question--Did Hurlbut publish the manuscript? Answer: No! He informed me
by letter that the manuscript after having been examined did not read as they
expected, and that they WOULD NOT publish it. (5)
Mr. Robertson--What made you believe in the Book of Mormon?
Elder Taylor--First, its agreement with the scriptures; secondly, the
testimony in the scriptures concerning it; and thirdly, the testimony of other
witnesses....
Mr. Robertson demanded of Mr. Taylor . . . to prove their prophet spoke
the truth, and "that he had seen angels as he declared he had . . . . Did he
ever see any miracles performed by Joseph Smith? . . .
Elder Taylor-- . . . I do not believe that the truth of a prophet's
testimony depends upon miracles. Jesus says there never was a greater prophet
than John, yet John did [163] no miracles. . . . What miracles did Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Hosea, Habakul or Ezekiel do? Yet they were prophets.
Robertson pressed Taylor for evidence of miracles. Taylor said he
had thousands of testimonies, and he Bolton read a letter from the
Millennial Star, dated Bristol, 25 November 1849.
Dear President Pratt--As you were so kind as to publish the letter I
sent, dated July 9, 1849, containing an account of the miraculous power of God
displayed in the healing of Elizabeth Ann Bounsell, which made quite a stir
amongst the pious Christians in our city, I now venture to write to you again,
and say that the above circumstances caused many to call at the house to see
if it were true; and upon seeing, many rejoiced. Others mocked, saying, "She
would have got well if the elders had not laid their hands upon her." Amongst
the latter was one would-be great man, by the name of Charles Smith (who has
written a flimsy tract against the Latter-day Saints), who said it was not
enough to satisfy him. So the mother took another of her daughters, and put
her upon his knee and said, "Sir, is that child blind?" And after he had
examined her eyes, he said, "She is." "Well," said the mother, "she was born
blind, and she is now four years old; and I am going to take her to the elders
of the Church, for them to anoint her eyes with oil, and lay hands upon her;
and you can call again when you have time, and see her with her eyes opened;
for I know the Lord will heal her, and she will see." "Well," said he, "if she
does ever see, it will be a great proof." Accordingly the mother brought the
child to the elders, and Elder J. Jackwell anointed her eyes, and laid hands
upon her only once; and the Lord heard his prayer, so that the child can see
now with both of her eyes as well as any other person, for which we all feel
thankful to our Heavenly Father, and are willing to bear testimony of it to
all the world . . . .
[164] P.S. We, the father and mother of the child, do here sign our names to
the above, as being true.
William Bounsell
Elizabeth Bounsell
Elder Taylor--Here is the address of the parents of the child; anyone who
is dissatisfied can write to them and obtain the information.
Mr. Taylor then continued--When I commenced searching after truth, I did
not pursue the same course that you have done--seek to impugn the motives and
destroy the characters of individuals. I did not believe the truth was to be
obtained by opposing it. I examined the doctrines and compared them with the
Word of God . . . .
If these men have the truth, it is certainly very easy to detect error by
comparison. A man acquainted with coins can easily detect a counterfeit; it is
not necessary for him to find out the character of the man who made it . . . .
I can very soon detect any false system by comparing it with the scriptures;
but these gentlemen, having so bungling a counterfeit themselves, of course
are not proper to judge, and do not understand the true test. They are afraid
of the scriptures, because they destroy their own systems.
Despite publicity attached to the debate, there was little interest
at Boulogne in Mormonism. However, out of the experience Taylor prepared
a missionary tract, Three Nights' Public Discussion . . . at
Boulogne-sur-mer, France, of which he predicted, "I believe it will be
productive of good."
He sent copies to his family, noting that "I published two editions,
making 16,000," which indicates its immediate popularity.
[165]
(1) JD 1:16.
(2) Letter to Orson Hyde for the Frontier Guardian; reprinted MS 15
March 1850.
(3) The opinions of the clergymen were based on three strongly
unfriendly books: Henry Caswall's The City of the Mormons, J. B. Turner's
Mormonism in All Ages, and John C. Bennett's History of the Saints.
(4) Once again, Taylor is following the prophet's admonition never
to betray his brethren. Existence of the Danites as a Mormon guerilla
organization during the war in Missouri is a matter of sworn court
testimony, not only by apostates but by such men as Orson Hyde and W. W.
Phelps. Hyde and Phelps repented at having revealed military secrets by
giving testimony, but never said it was untrue.
(5) The Spaulding manuscript had vanished. A number of years after
this debate at Boulogne, it was discovered, and was published by the
church to establish that there was no similarity between it and the Book
of Mormon.
[166]
Chapter 11
THE SOUR SUGAR BEET STORY
Taylor "proceeded immediately after the discussion to Paris in
company with Br. Bolton, and Br. Pack remained at Boulogne."
I have organized a church in Paris to whom I have frequently spoken in
French, though I must say my French is not very perfect. I have baptized
several learned men; one had been a Jesuit priest, another an assistant editor
to a newspaper, and other learned men; all of them have been educated at
college and understand several languages. One of these, a young man, has
commenced preaching and baptizing in the country and hundreds are coming to
hear him. (1)
It is very difficult however on account of the laws, they
are so very rigid . . . . I had an interview with some of the government
authorities who treated me with the greatest courtesy and I expected to get
from them permission to preach the gospel throughout France; but instead of
this, they have utterly prohibited us from preaching anywhere throughout the
country. I presume they are afraid of excitement, for just about the time that
the ministry had it in consideration, there was a mob broke out in Denmark
that tore down the Saints' meeting house and very much abused many of the
Saints . . . .
I have published a pamphlet on the first principles of the gospel. It is
not lawful to circulate them, but I contrive to do it and evade the law.
Large meetings also were prohibited, but he managed to hold
conference in Paris, and to establish a monthly paper, L'Etoile du
Deseret.
[167] Br. Bolton has translated the Book of Mormon, but it needs a revision.
He was not sufficiently acquainted with French to prepare it for the press.
However, we have brethren that are as competent as any in France. The revision
is now going on. With one of our brethren we read over together Bro. Bolton's
translation. Our translator regulates the grammar and I the doctrinal points,
and among us all we shall, I believe, have a good translation. (2)
Later, Taylor wrote the family that the Book of Mormon was being
printed. "You will have some little idea of the trouble when I tell you
it has been written three times over." However, he finally was satisfied.
We have got a translation of the Book of Mormon, as good a one as it is
possible for anybody to make. I fear no contradiction to this statement . . .
. I had it examined and tested by some of the best educated men in France....
The translation is good, the printing, is good, and the paper is good.
I have made some little alterations; that is, I have marked the
paragraphs, and numbered them; . . . and in some instances where the
paragraphs are very long, I have divided them. The original simplicity of the
book is retained, and it is as literal as the genius and idiom of the French
language would admit. (3)
Taylor's sleep was broken one night by "a dream that troubled me
very much." Three times he saw his wife, Leonora, "lying sick at the
point of death."
On the following morning I . . . a Protestant minister, and he
observed that my countenance looked sorrowful, and enquired the cause. I told
him that my wife was lying at the point of death, and he asked if I had
received a letter. I told him no; but related to him how it had been shown to
me. But, I said, I got up and prayed the [168] Lord to spare her life, and I
feel consoled in knowing that she will be healed . . . .
He heard my prayer. I took note of the circumstances at the time, and
learned afterwards that such had been the case exactly as it had been shown
me. (4)
Taylor looked forward to returning home the summer of 1851, to
be united again with his family after two years. However, an Epistle
from the First Presidency counseled that he, together with other
members of the Twelve who were in the mission field, should stay
another year.
I start in about a week for Germany. I have got a tract or pamphlet now
translated into German and am making arrangements about the Book of Mormon. I
don't know but that I shall have to go alone into that land, for there is no
one in England that I can find that will be of any use to me . . . . however,
it makes but very little difference to me. The Lord can control affairs in one
place the same as in another, and all will be well.
I go to that land as I go elsewhere, in the name of Israel's God; if He
goes with me, all is well.
However, Taylor did find help in the translation. He corresponded
with George Viett, a German teaching in France, concerning it.
You in your letter speak about the Book of Mormon. I will give you my
views about it . . . . It is extremely difficult for any person without me
being present, to translate it, and in fact there are some points that could
not be translated correctly without me--or someone else as well acquainted
with the doctrinal points--being present.
[169] I found this to be particularly the case in the French translation. You
are aware that it requires more than a knowledge of words to translate the
Book of Mormon, Bible, or any other inspired record; we must know the ideas
intended to be conveyed before we can represent them correctly in another
language. And thus no matter how learned or well qualified a man might be as a
translator, he would need assistance . . . to make a perfect work and prepare
it for the press. (5)
"I wished to be perfectly satisfied that the translation was right,"
Taylor said.
Brother Richards and I heard some of it read at Boulogne, and
we thought it was very good; but still it had to be altered. I, therefore, got
some of the best professors in the city of Hamburg to look over it. Some few
alterations were necessary, but not many . . . .
I have often heard men in, this country sputter a great deal about the
meaning of odd words in the Bible; but this only exhibits their folly. It is
the spirit and intention of the language that are to be looked at, and if the
translator does not know this, it is impossible for him to translate
correctly; and this is the reason why there are so many blunders in the Bible.
(6)
In addition to his missionary labors, Taylor was busy in arranging
for the shipment of everything required to establish two much-needed
industries in Deseret. He wrote Brigham Young:
You in your epistle speak about manufacturing sugar, etc. Since then I
have organized a company to manufacture sugar at home instead of having the
merchants carry it to the valley; but it will need a little of your counsel
and assistance in the matter.
The company will bring out apparatus and machinery to manufacture from
150 to 300 tons of sugar in the fall [170] of 1852, providing the beets can be
raised and prepared. I have selected and forwarded upwards of twelve
hundred-weight of the best French beet seed for this purpose. . . . The
average crop in France is 35,000 lbs. of beets to the acre. What you can raise
in the valley, of course, I do not know. It is a crop, however, that will pay
better than any other kind . . . .
I would here state that there is also another company organized for the
purpose of establishing a large woolen manufactory. The best machinery will be
brought that can be purchased in England, and men brought to work it. If fine
merino wool can be obtained, as good cloth can be manufactured as in the west
of England . . . . The company will probably bring one or two thousand sheep,
merinos, if . . . possible, as fine wool is absolutely necessary for
broadcloth and fine women's wear. This company are all brethren, and I believe
wish to do right. (7)
At conference, held in Carpenters' Hall, Manchester, October 1850,
Taylor called for "the emigration of mechanics to the Valley, that we may
manufacture our own materials."
This is absolutely necessary for every people to attend to, if they wish
to prosper . . . . We have a rich soil, and a good climate, but there are many
inconveniences we have to suffer for want of home manufactures. We have to
transport from a distant country many things that are necessary to meet our
wants . . . .
Some people are anxious to obtain money, but it is labour that is true
wealth . . . . What is wealth? If a man has food, and clothing, and horses,
and carriages, and houses, and lands, he is generally considered a wealthy man
. . . . Where do these things come from, but from the men who manufacture the
raw materials? Even the gold by which these things are purchased could not be
obtained but by the labor of man.
[171] When we are in the fat valleys of the Rocky Mountains, what do we want
to do? We want to . . . prepare everything necessary to bring about this
wealth. We have the resources in our possession in great abundance, for it is
one of the best countries in the world for cattle, and for sheep, so that wool
will be quite plentiful, and of the best quality . . . .
There is nothing we require but we can manufacture ourselves . . . . We
need sugar; the sisters won't like to get along without their tea--I care
nothing about it without sugar myself. How must we get that? We are going to
raise beets, the same as they do in France. (8)
Getting the machinery for the two manufacturing enterprises made,
shipped, and transported overland to the valley was a heroic undertaking.
Taylor and a young convert from Jersey, Philip De LaMare, spent eight
months investigating the manufacturing process at French beet-sugar
factories. Taylor sent a ship-builder, Captain Joseph H. Russell, ahead
to construct 52 wagons to haul the sugar machinery across the plains; and
dispatched De LaMare to find, purchase, and break to the yoke 600 oxen to
pull the wagons.
Before leaving Europe, Taylor also finished two other tasks. One was
to have busts made of the martyred Joseph and Hyrum Smith. The other was
to finish a book, The Government of God.
To the Saints--I have just got out the busts of Joseph and Hyrum Smith. I
have thought the Saints might be desirous of getting a correct likeness of
these two martyrs. . . .
There are two qualities; one is of the best quality Plaster of Paris, the
other is made of a finer material ....
[172]
The prices are 5s for the common kind, and 9s for the best kind, per pair . .
..
They are neatly executed, and will make a beautiful ornament for the
chimney piece or library, and are of such a size as to be easily conveyed to
the Valley. (9)
He completed The Government of God, and delivered it to Franklin D.
Richards at headquarters of the British Mission, No. 15 Wilton Street,
London, just before sailing on the Niagara for America.
The Kingdom of God is the government of God, on the earth or in the
heavens . . . . In God's government there is perfect order, harmony, beauty,
magnificence, and grandeur; in the government of man, confusion, disorder,
instability, misery, discord, and death. In the first, the most consummate
wisdom and power are manifested; in the second, ignorance, imbecility, and
weakness.
There were signs of the coming of the Kingdom:
That the nations, having lost the spirit of God, will assemble to fight
against the Lord's people, being full of the spirit of unrighteousness, and
opposed to the rule and government of God.
That when they do, the Lord will come and fight against them himself;
overthrow their armies; assert his own right; rule the nations with a rod of
iron; root the wicked out of the earth; and take possession of his own kingdom
....
What will be the effects of the establishment of Christ's kingdom, or the
reign of God on the earth? . . . It is the doing away with war, bloodshed,
misery, disease, and sin; and the ushering in of a kingdom of peace,
righteousness, justice, happiness and prosperity. It is the [173] restoration
of the earth and man to their primeval glory and pristine excellence; in fact,
the "restitution of all things spoken of by all the prophets since the world
began. . . ."
Not only will the earth be restored, but also man; and those promises
which, long ago, were the hope of the Saints, will be realized. The faithful
servants of God who have lived in every age will then come forth and
experience the full fruition of that joy for which they lived, and hoped, and
suffered, and died. The tombs will deliver up their captives, and reunited
with the spirits which once animated, vivified, cheered and sustained them
while in this vale of tears, these bodies will be like unto Christ's glorious
body. They will then rejoice in that resurrection for which they lived . . . .
Having tasted the nature of the fall, and having grappled with sin and
misery, knowing, like the Gods, both good and evil; having, like Jesus,
overcome the evil, and through the power of the atonement having conquered
death, hell and the grave, regains that paradise from which he was
banished, not in the capacity of ignorant man. . . . but like unto God. He can
now . . . live and flourish eternally in possession of that immortality which
Jesus long ago promised to the faithful: "To him that overcomes, will I grant
to sit with me in my throne, and eat of the tree of life which is in the midst
of the paradise of God. (10)
Upon arriving in America, Taylor found that everything had seemingly
conspired against the success of the sugar project. The U. S. Government
assessed a duty of nearly $5,000 on the machinery; a river boat hauling
it up the Mississippi exploded; Captain Russell's wagons began breaking
down during the first day's travel, and had to be replaced, on credit.
[174]
Then, when the machinery finally arrived in the valley, the sugar
and woolen projects were taken completely out of Taylor's hands, and he
was called on a mission to visit settlements of the Great Basin. From
that point on, he had nothing to do with either enterprise.
The textile machinery was installed on Big Canyon Creek, and called
"Brigham Young's Woolen and Cotton Factory." For reasons unknown at the
time, the sugar-beet factory was a complete failure. When attempts over
several years failed to produce sugar--or even good molasses--the project
was abandoned. (11)
(1) This convert, Brother Ballanger, "was ordained to the office of
a Priest and went to the place of his birth to proclaim the great things
of the Kingdom of God." He reported that, "Yesterday my father's house
was filled to overflowing . . . . It rained, but notwithstanding, I was
obliged to stand out of doors and preach to more than one hundred
persons." (MS 1 Dec. 1850)
(2) Letters to Brigham Young and to Taylor's family, 13 March and 23
July 1851; also JD, 2 August 1852.
(3) JD, 22 August 1852.
(4) JD, 27 January 1882.
(5) 15 July 1851.
(6) Taylor worked on the translation with George Viett, Daniel Carn,
Charles Miller, and George P. Dykes. In Hamburg he published a monthly
periodical, a royal octavo sheet called Zions Panier, the first number
issued 1 November 1851. Roberts states that the Book of Mormon was issued
in a bi-linqual edition, "the text so arranged that the French and German
would face each other, each page containing the same matter in the same
opening."
(7) Letter 13 March 1851.
[175] (8) MS. 1 Dec. 1850.
(9) MS, 1 Nov. and 15 Dec. 1850.
(10) The work was published at Liverpool and London, 1852, a book of
118 pages. H. H. Bancroft in his History of Utah said, "As a dissertation
on a general and abstract subject, it probably has not its equal in point
of ability within the range of Mormon literature."
(11) Inasmuch as two church presidents were involved, LDS historians
have been extremely cautious in ascribing responsibility for the failure
of the sugar project. A comfortable explanation is that the alkali in
western American soils produced beet juice that had to be processed
differently from European methods. Another factor is that Mormon scholars
tend to consider church history as self-contained, separate and apart
from events in the outside world at the time.
However, if we look at the history of beet-sugar manufacture in
America, we find that no less than 16 attempts to establish the industry
here were flat failures, during a period of 77 years, while beet-sugar
manufacture was a commercial success in Europe.
The real reason for failure is given by Fred G. Taylor, a
vice-president of Utah-Idaho Sugar Company, in his book, A Saga of Sugar,
Salt Lake, 1944;
"In those days, and even in the long years that followed, masters of
the art of sugar making jealously guarded their secrets from others,
particularly from prospective competitors. Taylor and De LaMare stated
that they `received the courtesy and assistance of the French sugar
manufacturers' while working out their mechanical plans, but nowhere does
the record show that they obtained any information regarding the
chemistry or chemical controls employed in sugar making . . . . It is
safe to say that, notwithstanding the poor quality of their sugar beets,
knowledge of a few minor mechanical and chemical adjustments would have
made the Sugar House project a great frontier success."
It was to be 27 years after the Deseret failure before the first
successful beet-sugar factory in America began operation at Alvarado,
California, in 1879. Significantly, once the secrets of manufacture had
finally crossed the Atlantic, there were no more American failures caused
by inability to produce sugar.
[176]
Chapter 12
"THERE'S A GOOD TIME COMING, SAINTS"
During conference in April, 1853, John Taylor was called on a
mission "to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ in the valleys and the
mountains" of the Great Basin.
At this time he spoke for more than an hour in the new adobe
tabernacle on "Legitimacy and Illegitimacy." This was a powerful
discourse concerning the authority of the priesthood.
We now come to the principle of legitimacy, . . . or Priesthood, if you
please. The question, "What is Priesthood?" has often been asked me. I answer:
it is the rule and government of God, whether on earth or in the heavens; and
it is the only legitimate power, the only authority that is acknowledged by
Him to rule and regulate the affairs of His kingdom.
When every wrong thing shall be put right, and all usurpers shall be put
down, when he whose right it is to reign shall take the dominion, then nothing
but the Priesthood will bear rule; it alone will sway the sceptre of authority
in heaven and on earth; for this is the legitimacy of God.
In the absence of this, what has been the position of the nations? . . .
From whence did they obtain their power? Did they get it from God? . . . Go to
any power that has existed on this earth, and you will find that earthly
government, earthly rule and dominion, has been obtained by the sword . Hence
the common saying is [177] "Thrones won by blood, by blood must be
maintained." By the same principle that they have been put in possession of
territory, they have sought to sustain themselves--the same violence, the same
fraud, and the same oppression have been made use of to sustain their
illegitimacy . . . .
This, then, is the position of the world. Authority, dominion, rule,
government, has been obtained by fraud, and consequently is not legitimate.
They say much about the ordination of kings, and their being anointed by the
grace of God, etc. What think you of a murderer slaying hundreds of thousands
of his fellow creatures because he has the power, and while his sword is yet
reeking with human blood, having a priest in sacerdotal robes to anoint him to
the kingship? . . . The kings and potentates of the world profess to be
anointed by the grace of God. But the priests who anoint them have no
authority to do it. No person has authority to anoint a king or administer in
one of the least of God's ordinances, except he is legally called and ordained
of God to that power . . . .
It is impossible that there can be any legitimate rule, government,
power, or authority, under the face of the heavens, except that which is
connected with the Kingdom of God, which is established by new revelation from
heaven . . . . If we profess to be subjects of the Kingdom of God, we must be
subject to the dominion, rule, legitimacy, and authority of God. No person can
escape from this, unless he apostatizes and goes to the devil, like a fool. He
must be a fool who would barter away eternal life, thrones, principalities,
and powers in the eternal world, for the paltry trash which exists in the
shape of wealth and worldly honor; to let go his chance of heaven and of God,
of being a King and a Priest unto Him, of living and reigning forever, and
standing among the chiefs of Israel. I cannot help calling such men fools, for
they are damned now in making such a choice, and will be hereafter . . . .
[178] Those who have been under the dominion of Satan--the proud and haughty
usurpers, the shedders of innocent blood--these are they that have lived in
the world, and possessed all the good things of it. And what has been the
situation of the Saints of every age? All those who dared acknowledge that God
lived, that his kingdom belonged to Him, that it was His right, and that He
would without doubt possess it, have been trodden underfoot, persecuted, cast
out, hated, killed . . . .
This was the case in ancient days, and has been carried on in modern
times. I have, with my own eyes, seen holy Prophets expire, who were killed by
the hands of a murderous gang of blood-thirsty assassins, because they bore
the same testimony that the holy Prophets did in days of old. How many more of
their brethren who dared acknowledge the truth have fallen beneath the same
influences? --have been shot, whipped, imprisoned, and put to death, . . .
while hundreds of others, driven from their homes in winter, have found their
last bed, . . . because of the persecution heaped upon them by the enemies of
truth. The reason for all this vile outrage upon innocent men, women and
children, is because there is no legitimate rule upon the earth. God's laws
and government are not known, and His servants are despised and cast out . . .
.
The time has come to favor God's people--a time about which Prophets
spoke . . . and poets sung. These men looked through the dark vista of future
ages, and being wrapped in prophetic vision, beheld the latter day glory--the
time of the dispensation of the fulness of times, spoken of by all the holy
Prophets since the world began; for they all looked forward with joyful
anticipation to the things which have commenced with us; they all had their
eye upon the time when legitimacy would obtain its proper place upon the
earth, in the shape of the Kingdom of God established in the world, when all
false rule and dominion would be put down, and the kingdoms of this world
would become subject to God and His Christ. These are the ideas [179] that
they had, and these are the things that we are seeking to carry out . . . .
What advantage is there, then, between this government and
others? Why, we have peace, and, as eternal beings, we have a knowledge of
eternal things.... The curtains of heaven have been withdrawn, and we have
gazed as by vision upon eternal realities . . . .
Let us now notice our political position in the world. What are we going
to do? We are going to possess the earth. Why? Because it belongs to Jesus
Christ, and he belongs to us, and we to him; we are all one, and will take the
kingdom and possess it under the whole heavens, and reign over it for ever and
ever. Now, ye kings and emperors, help yourselves, if you can. This is the
truth, and it may as well be told at this time as at any other.
"There's a good time coming, Saints,
A good time coming,
There's a good time coming, Saints,
Wait a little longer." (1)
The following year, 1854, Taylor was elected a member of the
Territorial Legislature, but resigned before the first session began,
because of being called upon another mission, to publish a newspaper in
New York called The Mormon.
The official announcement of plural marriage as church policy two
years previously had stimulated inflamatory sentiment against the Saints
in the nation and the world. The subject was adroitly fanned by
politicians; polygamy was coupled with slavery as one of the "twin relics
of barbarism." The Gentile minority in Deseret fostered the issue as a
smoke-screen to cover the determination to capture political and economic
control of the territory.
[180]
Taylor's call "to publish a paper in New York was but part of a
general movement by which Mormonism and the Saints were to be represented
by their own accredited agents," Roberts says. (2) "Orson Pratt was in
Washington publishing the Seer; Erastus Snow and Orson Spencer were to
publish a paper in St. Louis; and George Q. Cannon, one
in San Francisco."
In early September, Taylor and a number of brethren "rolled out of
the city on our way to the Atlantic Ocean," his son, George J., reported.
Four people rode in the Taylor wagon:
John Taylor, my father; Angus M. Cannon, my cousin; Mrs. Caroline Gilham,
on a visit to her friends in the south; and myself. (3)
Our wagon was a light one, fitted up with projections, double cover, and
all the appliances considered essential to a trip across the plains. Among
other things we had a light sheet-iron stove, which we buckled to the hind end
of the wagon with straps . . . . Inside the wagon we had little pouches
attached to the bows containing munitions of war, awls, shoe thread, nails,
etc.; in short anything that might be wanted in a hurry. We also had looped
straps of leather nailed to the bows to hang our guns to . . . . We also had provisions for sixty days,
which without our
bedding and two or three boxes made a heavy load for our light wagon.
Enroute, when the party met companies of Saints headed for the
gathering at Deseret, Taylor sold subscriptions for The Mormon to them.
[181]
After arriving at Bluff City, Taylor held a meeting to consider the
best plan for publication of The Mormon.
It was decided that A. Robbins, E. K. Fuller, and I. Wright shall go by
stage across the country to Iowa City and from there on to Davenport and Rock
Island, thence to Chicago--Detroit--Sandusky--Buffalo and Albany to New York.
Dr. Clinton, Preston Thomas, and G. J. Taylor are to go down through St.
Joseph, Weston, Kansas City, Independence, to St. Louis, and we are to exert
ourselves to procure advertisements and subscriptions on the way for The
Mormon, and Brother Brown is to act as agent in this city.
At St. Joseph, George had his first experience as a guest in a
hotel, and at St. Louis, "I saw gas lights for the first time. I was
wondering where the wicks were, at first."
From St. Louis, John Taylor sent a prospectus of The Mormon to the
Millennial Star, announcing that the weekly journal would advocate the
"claims, social, moral, political, and religious," of the church. (4) In
letters accompanying the prospectus, he revealed that his mission was
"indeed a new phase in the history of Mormonism."
Hitherto, with the exception of home officers, we have not meddled in
politics. Our missions have been strictly religious . . . . But as our
religion embraces everything that pertains to the happiness of the human
family, whether it relates to this life or the life to come, in time or
eternity, I presume that we shall not be out of the bounds of our religion.
At any rate, we are now entered fairly into the political arena, and it
remains yet to be shown whether we can or cannot teach a better order of
things than [182] exists in the world at present . . . . If the kingdom of God
must come, and His "will be done on earth as it is in heaven," something more
orderly, intellectual, and powerful must be introduced than anything that
exists at present.
Referring to the rise of antagonistic political sentiment, he said
that "it would seem that we are none too soon here."
There is at present something brewing in Washington a ruse de guerre that
interests us materially. One of the leading cliques has been
on the wane for some time; its popularity is at a low ebb, and something must
be done to redeem its fortunes. It . . . has hit upon the desperate expedient
of gambling: the tables--at Washington; the stakes--Mormon blood and the
territory Utah; the winners--political emolument . . . . For this purpose
various bulletins are issued by incognitos, commencing with "The turbulent
Mormons," continued with "Mormon difficulties," "Troubles in Utah," etc., and
ending with "War with the Mormons," softened down with "Polygamy," etc.
Taylor clearly forsaw the course of future events, the rising
hysteria of the witch-hunt which would lead to the Utah War and carpetbag
government.
Their plan is to send out meddlers, obnoxious men, to promote
difficulties, with an armed soldiery to sustain them, in the hopes of creating
trouble, and then to raise the cry of "Mormon Aggression," "Treason against
government," etc. . . . Poor fools! Who does not know that there has been more
bloodshed, more turbulence and disorder, in any little frontier village, than
in the whole Territory of Utah since its organization!
We shall, however, be prepared to meet them on their own grounds . . . .
They will find a voice from St. [183] Louis, a voice from Cincinnati, and a
voice from New York. Brother Snow expects to issue the St. Louis
Luminary next week, and I shall as speedily as possible issue The Mormon from
New York City. The Cincinnati paper will not start until after the other two
are established . . . . (5)
We Mormons have the vanity to think that we are quite as good as other
folks. I thought I would stick out the name in bold relief, that when seen it
might be known of all men. I shall have for a motto-"It is better to represent ourselves, than to be represented by
others . . . ." (6)
The cause of God is onward! ONWARD! ONWARD! and it cannot stop. Truth
must go forth, intelligence must spread, the nations must be emancipated, and
a world redeemed; and whatever parts we may be called to act in the grand
drama, it will be all well. We shall gain the great goal, and inherit eternal
lives..
In New York, Taylor sold the wagon and horses to help finance the
projected newspaper. He wrote to Brigham Young that it was one thing to
be on a mission without purse or scrip, but quite another to publish a
newspaper on the same terms. Expenses would be at least $100 a week,
while he could expect little support from the local Saints, because the
church was shattered in the area.
In New York, when we went there, we found a people that called themselves
"Mormons." I called a meeting, and there were only two that I would
acknowledge as such. I told the rest to go their own way; told them what I
acknowledged to be Mormonism, and, if they would not walk up to that, they
might take their own course.
[184]
On Sunday, 17 December, George recorded:
Today we went to a pseudo Bro. Hicks, one of the has-beens--was, and
still claims to be, Prest. of the N.Y. Branch; but where the Branch is, is
difficult to ascertain. . . . We found that Bro. Hicks had given the Saints a
holiday about two years prior to our arrival, and he had not notified them
when to commence again.
Mission headquarters consisted of two rooms on the third floor of
Mrs. Englebrecht's boarding house at 256 Hicks Street in Brooklyn. The
missionaries paid $4 a week for board, with gas light, fire, and washing
extra.
One with two single beds, a table, wash stand, fireplace--or
rather grate--three chairs and one sofa, and the other adjoining it not any
too large for the single bed and chair and wash stand . . . . are not
the warmest I ever saw as the windows are loose and . . . Jack Frost sometimes
spreads himself upon the windows half an inch in thickness.
George was appointed to draw the impressive heading for The Mormon.
The 20-year-old artist worked with stiff fingers while the room was
almost cold enough, he said, to freeze the head off a nail.
At a council meeting 21 December:
J. Taylor spoke upon the establishment of a paper and means to do it
with. It was proposed that the brethren go in different directions and meet
members that are scattered through the country and . . . get them interested
in the work.
[185]
With the new year, George noted that "Father has not means enough to
pay another week's board." However that didn't stop him from engaging two
rooms for the editorial offices, at the corner of Nassau and Ann Streets,
in the heart of newspaper row. Rent, $225 per year. The missionaries
bought a tiny stove for $8, and worked in below zero weather, with fire
bells ringing almost constantly as overloaded chimneys in the city burst
into flame.
The first issue of The Mormon came off the press on Saturday, 17
January 1855. Inasmuch as the initial run was distributed free, a minor
riot resulted.
The news boys got wind of it and rushed into the building en masse,
filling the stairway and passage, and creating such a disturbance with their
clamours for the paper that . . . we ordered them out . . . .
Then we tried physical force, but the youngsters wedged themselves in the
doorway in such a way that it was impossible to get them away, as they had any
amount of backing. Then the proprietor came along and ordered them out, but
couldn't manage them, so he went and called some policemen.
Taylor didn't mince matters in the first issue. "We are Mormon," he
announced, "inside and outside; at home or abroad, in public and
private--everywhere."
"We are not ashamed," he added frankly, "to declare that we are
polygamists."
We do this calmly, seriously and understandingly, after due deliberation,
careful examination and close investigation of its principles and bearings
religiously, socially, morally, physically and politically. . . .
[186] Since this doctrine has been promulgated by us as a part of our
religious creed, every variety of opinion has been expressed by men in all
classes of society. It has been talked about by religious and irreligious,
professors and profane. It has been the theme in the legislative hall, the
pulpit, the bar-room and the press. Polygamy and the Mormons, Mormons and
polygamy, have resounded everywhere . . . . We unhesitatingly pronounce our
full and implicit faith in the principle as emanating from God, and that under
His direction it would be a blessing to the human family . . . .
We are not surprised, then, that men of reflection and virtue . . .
should feel indignant of polygamy. They look upon it as something pandering to
the brutal passions of man; and . . . can scarcely conceive of anything but
lasciviousness associated with it.
We respect the conscientious feelings of such men.... But we would
respectfully ask such persons if they ever seriously reflected upon the
matter? . . . Did they think that Abraham, Jacob, David and Solomon and a host
of other good men mentioned in the scripture were polygamists? That the Twelve
Tribes of Israel, to whom belong the covenants and promises, descended from
four women--the wives of one man? Did they ever reflect that those men were
more virtuous than this generation; and that for such things that are
practiced here every day with impunity--adultery--a man would be stoned to
death by all Israel? Did they ever reflect that it might be possible for the
Lord to be unchangeable? That . . . possibly he was not in error then; and if
not then, the same principles might probably be as correct now as they were at
that time? It is well for us not to be too hasty.
This was a bombshell to newspaper row. Nor did it help matters when
Taylor published articles on the Kingdom of God, explaining the Mormon
expectation of taking over control of the nation and the world in
preparation for the millennial reign.
[187]
With vehemence the Gentiles counterattacked. Press, pulpit and
public not only denounced the abominations of Mormonism, but hatched
various schemes to abate this "loathsome ulcer of the body politic." The
American Bible Society planned to flood Utah with Bibles. (Taylor advised
that they be well-bound, for they would get hard use.) Newspapers urged
New York churches to send missionaries to darkest Utah. There was a plan
to send troops to the valley to seduce plural wives; another to send an
army of women's-rights females to lead their Mormon sisters into the
light.
So bitter was the feeling that when Utah was threatened with famine
in 1855 because of crop failure, caused by drought and a plague of
crickets, the New York press "but ill concealed its rejoicing," Roberts
says, at the prospect that the Mormon question would be settled by
starvation.
"You may as well talk to sticks and stones as to Gentiles," Taylor
wrote Brigham Young.
In regard to preaching here, it seems to be of very little avail. There
are some odd ones get baptized, but it is like gleaning of grapes when the
vintage is gone . . . .
I have spoken, and so have others, to large congregations; but they seem
to be deaf and dumb and dead; very few indeed have been baptized, although
some of our most diligent Elders have labored among them increasingly. Some
Elders have been laboring for more than twelve months and have not baptized
one.
Mormonism was in the public eye. It was fashionable to know
something about it. People jammed large halls to hear Taylor [188] speak.
But it was curiosity about this outlandish sect that drew people, not
interest in the gospel.
It is almost impossible to produce any effect on the feelings of the
people. In New Jersey, I held several days' meetings, to see if something
could be done. They turned out in great numbers; Mormonism was popular; as
many as 200 carriages were present. We were treated well, and preached
faithfully. Somebody came and set up a little groggery, and it was removed
forthwith. Was anybody converted? No. They turned their ears like a deaf adder
to the cause; and that is the general feeling, so far as I have discovered . .
. . (7)
In newspaper row, "There seems to be a deadly hostility against us,"
Taylor wrote.
We have not a more virulent, bitter and unscrupulous enemy than
Greeley of the Tribune. I have lately spoken very plainly of his course in The
Mormon . . . .
I have examined his articles, watched his course, read his paper daily,
and have formerly conversed with him a little; but latterly I would not be
seen in his company. I was thrown in his society in traveling from Boston, and
occasionally met him afterwards; but I would not talk to him.
Taylor was particularly scornful of Greeley's self-righteous
attitude in denouncing plural marriage among the Saints, while he himself
was an advocate of free love.
The majority of the people think we are a most corrupt people, following
a doctrine something like those Free Love societies in the east. Greeley . . .
was associated with one of those societies, and was its principal supporter.
[189] That is what is called a virtuous kind of an abomination, used under a
cloak of philosophy, a species of philosophy imported from France. Hence they
call Greeley a philosopher; and, in writing about him, I have called him the
same. I believe him to be as dishonest a man as is in existence . . . .
I do not know that the editor of the Herald is any more honest; but, as a
journalist, he tells more truth. He publishes many things as they are . . . .
But Greeley will not; he will tell what suits his clandestine plans, and leave
the rest untold. (8)
John Taylor, Champion of Liberty, declared that all Gentile editors
"are in a state of vassalage; they cannot tell the truth if they feel so
disposed."
People talk very loudly about liberty; but there are very few who
comprehend its true principles. There is a species of bondage that is
associated with every grade of society . . . . There are yokes made for men of
every grade to put their necks into . . . . With regard to office-hunters,
they are in bondage to each other; and even the President of the United States
is trammelled, bound down, and no man has the manliness to say, "I dare do as
I please."
These things are so in a monetary point of view, in a religious point of
view, and they are so in a political point of view. Every man bows down his
neck to his fellow, and every man must be true to his party, no matter what it
is. Politicians are bound by their parties, editors by their employers,
ministers by their congregations, merchants by their creditors and Governors
and Presidents by political cliques. Divisions, strife, contention and evil
are everywhere increasing, and there is little room for truth in the hearts of
the people.
In the mercantile world there is what is called the credit system, which
I consider one of the greatest curses [190] that was ever introduced by man.
Some will set up a small groggery or grocery; they go into debt . . to some
larger ones in St. Louis; those to merchants in Cincinnati, New York and New
Orleans; and they are in debt to larger houses in England, France, Germany and
other places. They all bow the neck; they are all trammeled and bowed down
with the same chain.
People talk about our credit not being good lately. I hope to God nobody
will credit a Mormon. We don't want anything on credit. I want us to live as
we can live; and if we cannot live without going into debt to our enemies, let
us die--never put our heads under the yoke. (9)
John Taylor, Defender of the Faith, outlined the LDS political
policy in The Mormon:
We believe that our fathers were inspired to write the Constitution of
the United States, and that it is an instrument, full, lucid, and
comprehensive; that it was dictated by a wise and forseeing policy, and . . .
that it is the great bulwark of American liberty. We therefore rest ourselves
under its ample folds.
We believe that all legislative assemblies should confine themselves to
constitutional principles; and that all such laws should be implicitly obeyed
by every American.
We believe that all men should have a right to do good; a perfect freedom
of action; and be protected in that right; . . . but that no man is free or at
liberty to do wrong, or transgress law.
We believe that all men are responsible to God for their religious acts,
and therefore ought to have perfect freedom of conscience.
[191] We believe that the president, governors, judges and governmental
officers ought to be respected, honored, and sustained in their stations; but
that they ought to use their positions and power not for political emolument,
or party purposes, but for the administration of justice and equity, and for
the well being and happiness of the people.
We believe that legislators ought to be chosen on account of their
intelligence, honor, integrity, and virtue; and not because they belong to
some particular party clique.
We believe that the high party strife, log-rolling, wire-pulling,
political juggling and spoilation, are a disgrace to any politician; that they
are beneath the dignity of an American, and disgraceful and humiliating, alike
to the people and statesmen of this great republic.
We believe that legislative enactments ought to be for the good of the
whole, and not for any particular location or district; and that anything else
is at variance with the spirit and genius of our institutions.
We believe that although there is "much to lament, and room for very
great improvement, . . . that we have the most liberal, free, and enlightened
government in the world. (10)
For the Gentile audience, Taylor defined Mormonism as "a revelation
from the heavens to man, introducing a new dispensation to the human
family, viz: the everlasting gospel, which has been corrupted,
transformed, and changed."
It has its origin from God, and is the . . . living, breathing energetic,
intelligent power; instead of the dead, withered, lifeless, inanimate body or
form. It introduces man to a knowledge of himself, shows him his relationship
to his fellow man, to the world, to Saints, spirits, and to God. It unfolds
his origin and destiny, and [192] unlocks the dark, impenetrable future; the
heavens are unveiled, and eternity is laid open.
Standing upon its broad platform, encircled by the mantle of truth, the
man of God, by faith, peers into the future, withdraws the curtains of
eternity, unveils the mystery of the heavens, and through the dark vista of
unnumbered years, beholds the purposes of the great Elohim, as they roll forth
in all their majesty and power and glory. Thus standing upon a narrow neck of
space, and beholding the past, present, and the future, he sees himself as an
eternal being claiming an affinity with God, a son of God, a spark of Deity
struck from the fire of his eternal blaze. He looks upon the world and man in
all their various phases, knows his true interests, and with intelligence
imparted by his Father Celestial, he comprehends their origin and destiny . .
..
Such was the religion of the ancients, both upon the continents of Asia
and America. The everlasting gospel made known in the last days is nothing
more nor less than the ancient religion restored. It is the commencement of
the "restitution of all things, spoken of by all the holy prophets since the
world was." It is the bringing back of ancient, eternal principles, whereby
men can know God as they knew him formerly; not a vague fantasy, not a simple
form, but a living reality . . . .
Did ancient men of God revel in the truth? So do we. Did they have
revelations and visions? So do we . . . . Did God communicate with them? He
does with us . . . . Did they prophesy of a kingdom of God? We are helping to
build it up. Had they ministering angels? So have we.
Had they prophets, apostles, pastors, teachers, and evangelists? So have
we . . . . Did they expect that God would purge the wicked out of the earth
and introduce a reign of righteousness? So do we. Did they look for Jesus and
the saints to reign on the earth? So do we.
[193] We are, in fact, looking for all things that they did; seeking to know
all things that they knew, and to bring to pass all things that they
prophesied of, the great consummation of which is the restitution of all
things; and men may lie and rant and rave; they cannot frustrate the designs
of God, nor stop the progress of eternal truth one moment. Its course is
onward, ONWARD, ONWARD, and it defies opposition . . . .
The omnipotent power of eternal truth will stand unscathed in the view of
gathering hosts, and the nations will know that God rules the heavens, that
Mormonism is not a vague fantasy and wild chimera, but the greatest boon that
could be conferred upon man; the offspring of heaven, the gift of the Gods, a
celestial treasure, an earthly, heavenly inheritance, a living, abiding, and
eternal reality. (11)
Taylor moved from the rented rooms to a house in Brooklyn. He made
frequent trips to Westport, Connecticut. At Westport was a cotton mill
owned by a convert, Ebenezer Young (unrelated to Brigham), which Taylor
considered a nucleus for a manufacturing center, to provide employment
for converted textile workers from England, who were arriving by the
shipload.
Another reason for the house in Brooklyn, and the trips to Westport,
was Ebenezer's attractive daughter, Margaret, whom Taylor was courting.
Taylor composed an article for The Mormon, "Origin and Destiny of
Woman," which embodied basic LDS doctrine, and was also a love letter to
Margaret:
. . . Lady, whence comest thou? Thine origin? What art thou doing here?
Whither are thou going, and what is thy destiny? Declare unto me if thou hast
understanding.
[194] Knowest thou not that thou art a spark of Deity, struck from the fire of
His eternal blaze, and brought forth in the midst of eternal burning?
Knowest thou not that eternities ago thy spirit, pure and holy, dwelt in
thy Heavenly Father's bosom, and in His presence, and with thy mother, one of
the queens of heaven, surrounded by thy brother and sister spirits in the
spirit world, among the Gods? That . . . thou sawest worlds upon worlds
organized and peopled with thy kindred spirits who took upon them tabernacles,
died, were resurrected and received their exaltation on the redeemed worlds
they once dwelt upon . . . .
Thou longed, thou sighed, and thou prayed to thy Father in heaven for the
time to arrive when thou couldest come to this earth . . . . At length the
time arrived, and thou heard the voice of thy Father saying, go, daughter, to
yonder lower world, and take upon thee a tabernacle, and work out thy
probation with fear and trembling and rise to exaltation. But, daughter, . . .
you are to forget all things . . . in the spirit world . . . truth
shall touch the chords of your heart; . . . then intelligence shall illuminate
your mind, and shed its lustre in your soul, and you shall begin to understand
the things you once knew . . . .
Now crowns, thrones, exaltations and dominions are in reserve for thee in
the eternal worlds, and the way is open for thee to return back into the
presence of thy Heavenly Father, if thou wilt only abide by and walk in a
celestial law, fulfill the designs of thy Creator and hold out to the end; you
may go down to our grave in peace, arise in glory, and receive your
everlasting reward in the resurrection of the just . . . .
Thou will be permitted to pass by the Gods and angels . . . to thy
exaltation in a celestial world among the Gods. To be a priestess queen upon
thy Heavenly Father's throne, and a glory to thy husband and offspring, to
bear the souls of men, to people other worlds. . . . [195] while eternity goes
and eternity comes; and if you will receive it, lady, this is eternal life . .
..
If faithful, lady, the cup is within thy reach; drink then the heavenly
draught and live. (12)
At Westport on 27 September 1856, John Taylor and Margaret Young
were married. (13) Carefully vague about such matters, George noted in
his journal that "a girl came to keep house."
In The Mormon, Taylor's views went beyond issues of the day to
comprehensive discussions of world development.
A great destiny lies before the United States. The question is, is she
competent for the task? She has outridden the fiery test of revolution, hurled
defiance at a despot's power, and grasped the sceptre of liberty with a
powerful grip. She has, out of the chaotic, confused mass of material
associated with corrupt, governments, organized a system of government and
framed a constitution that guarantees to all, to the fullest extent, "Liberte,
Egalite, Fraternite . . . ." Here man is free to speak, free to think free to
write, free to act, free to do good. The very genius of our Constitution and
institutions is freedom. If there is a fault, it is the fault of party,
sectional strife, or narrow bigotry; it is not in our institutions . . . .
Such is America at present. What is her future? Her destiny is evidently
onward; for although yet in her youth, she has grown to be a giant among the
nations . . . .
Will the concentrated intelligence of past ages, with the improvements of
the present, advance man in the scale of being, and lead him to seek for
improvement in the science of life? We think it will, for man is a progressive
being. It is an era of transition, an age of active, busy preparation.
[196]
"Is it," Taylor asked, "preparatory to the establishment of some
vast permanent moral, political, or religious government. . . . under
which all the nations of the earth may gather?"
Although the present distracted state of the world might seem to forbid
the expectation of an immediate amalgamation, yet the rapid increase of means
of communication, the sure and decided commingling of interests, a universal
interchange of sentiment, an increasing desire among mankind to shake off the
shackles of despotism and enjoy the liberty of speech and conscience, all
conspire to show that such a combination of circumstances must eventually
result in some kind of universal government . . . .
Again we ask, who can take the helm of state? Whilst new political
elements are rising, and our healthy institutions grow, spread, and increase;
whilst wave after wave of population strikes our shores and penetrates our
territories; whilst demagogues at home, or cabals and intrigants abroad, worry
and fret us, who can say to the troubled elements, "peace be still?"
What were America's capabilities for assuming world leadership? "Is
she competent for the task?" Taylor asked. "Is she equal to the
emergency?"
The intelligence of the people will soon see the necessity of adopting
rules and regulations which will bring them to a closer acquaintance with
long-disused and forgotten laws of God of former days, which, when compared to
human laws, will be seen to be so far superior that the universal vox populi
will be for its establishment, as the only permanent and true basis for a good
and wholesome government . . . .
Our national sins have been small in comparison with other nations. We
are at the present time, comparatively, in our infancy. By pursuing a just and
honorable course we [197] should soon become the arbiter of nations and the
wonder and admiration of the world. (14)
From out of Taylor's most harrowing memory came a visitor. George J.
recorded:
A man called into the office this morning asking about Bro. Daniel
Spencer and stated that he was his brother. Father asked him if he had not
made an affidavit against Joseph Smith once in Nauvoo. He
said yes he had, and that he never denied anything he ever did. Father then
told him pretty sharply that he did not want any further conversation with
him. The man turned pale and muttered something about wanting to find out
about his brother. Father did not answer him, whereupon he marched downstairs
again, and perhaps it was as well he did so at once, for if he had lingered, I
am not sure but he might have been assisted to the foot of the stairs by an
Irishman's hint.
John Taylor's mission in New York ended in May, 1857. On that same
month, U.S. President James Buchanan dispatched the United States Army to
quell the "Mormon Rebellion" in Utah.
Taylor left T.B.H. Stenhouse in charge of The Mormon, and hastened
to the defense of Zion. Upon his arrival, he received high praise from
Brigham Young for his work on The Mormon.
I have heard many remarks concerning the editorials in that paper, not
only from Saints, but from those who do not profess to believe the religion we
have embraced; and it is probably one of the strongest edited papers that is
now published. I can say, as to its editorials, that . . . I have never read
one sentence in them but what my heart could bid success to it and beat a
happy response. (15)
[198]
(1) JD 1:221.
(2) Life
(3) It will be remembered that as a child, George J. was run over by
a wagon while enroute from Winter Quarters to the Valley. Now, on his
first trip East, he was a young man of 20, of artistic and literary
leanings. His journal contains many sidelights concerning the trip,
affairs in the East, and problems involved in publication of The Mormon.
The reference to "Caroline Gilham" concerns Caroline Hooper Saunders
William, an emigrant with the sugar train, and the most recent wife of
John Taylor. She was 39 at the time Taylor married her, in December 1852,
at the home of his friend, Luman Shurtliff, in Springville.
Caroline occupied an anomalous status in Taylor's family. Although
she was never publicly acknowledged as an "official" wife, she was
accepted in family circles as "Aunt Caroline," and ordinance work was
performed for her kindred in the St. George Temple after her death. (See
"Notes on the Lesser-known Wives.")
Caroline was the only "little-known" wife acknowledged in John
Taylor's will as his wife; she also was the only one to be buried in the
John Taylor cemetery plot at Salt Lake.
On this trip east, Caroline left Taylor's party at the Missouri
River, taking a paddle-wheel steamer downstream to visit her friends. She
evidently returned to Deseret without joining Taylor's group in New York.
(4) MS, 23 Dec. 1854.
(5) Plans for the Cincinnati paper never materialized.
(6) The paper's heading, drawn by George J. Taylor, proved to be a
striking one occupying a quarter of the front page. It portrayed the
American eagle, the All-Seeing Eye, the Mormon beehive, the flag, and
several mottos including the Mormon Creed, "Mind Your Own Business."
(7) Letters 15 July 1855 and 24 February 1857; JD 9 April 1857.
(8) Letter to Brigham Young, 24 Feb. 1857; JD 5:119.
(9) JD 9 August 1857.
(10) 17 February 1855.
[199] (11) The Mormon, 28 July 1855.
(12) Twenty years previously, Taylor had published in the Millennial
Star a poem in blank verse, "Lines Written in the Album of Abby Jane
Hart, of New York City." The above is essentially a prose rendition of
the "Lines."
(13) For an unknown reason, they weren't sealed until almost five
years later, 29 June 1861, by which time Margaret had one child and was
expecting another.
(14) 6 October and 24 November 1855.
(15) JD 1:123.
[200]
Chapter 13
"THE BULLETS IN ME YET HURT"
While in New York, Taylor had been instrumental in unmasking the
guilty secret of one of the most obnoxious Federal appointees ever sent
to Utah, Judge William W. Drummond, associate justice of the Territorial
Supreme Court.
"It began soon after Taylor began publishing The Mormon. Leonora
wrote that, on Brigham's advice, she had consented to the marriage of
Mary Ann to a Gentile named Drummond. Mary Ann was John Taylor's oldest
daughter, the apple of his eye. He immediately wrote to Brigham. Young,
apprehensive that Mary Ann had had her head turned by a charming
blackguard. In response, Brigham reassured him:
In regard to Mary Ann, your daughter, marrying Mr. Drummond, and my
counsel on the subject, I wish to make a few remarks. She seemed determined to
go with the Gentiles, and keep their company, regardless of the remonstrances
of her friends, and when sister Taylor came to me to know what
should be done about it, I told her that if he wanted to marry her, and she
was a daughter of mine, I should let him do so . . . . When she has
experienced enough of the world, she will be glad to return and perhaps bring
her husband with her. He is a very good-looking young man, and has been highly
recommended by Judge Kinney, who states that he is of a good family, and
respectable character. (1)
[201]
To Taylor's relief, he learned that Mary Ann had married another
Gentile named Drummond, before the judge arrived in Utah. (2)
Two years later, after a stormy career on the Utah bench, Judge W.
W. Drummond fled Utah and resigned, charging that Brigham Young's will
was superior in Utah to any law of Congress; that a "secret oath-bound
organization," the Danites, enforced Brigham's orders, even commiting
murder at his bidding; that Federal officials were harassed, court
records destroyed; and that Brigham pardoned Mormon criminals and threw
innocent Gentiles into jail. (3)
These charges caused great public excitement in the nation. Taylor
immediately dispatched an associate on The Mormon, W. I. Appleby, to
Washington to investigate the character and background of Drummond.
Appleby reported that Drummond had abandoned his wife and family, and
taken a prostitute to Utah with him, introducing her as his wife. (4)
Upon his return to Utah, Taylor denounced Drummond and his ilk.
We had some United States officials sent out here, who were not
polygamists; but one of them went so far as to show us what beautiful
civilization they had where he came from . . . . Here was your Judge Drummond
you had here. I was not here at the time, but I heard all about it . . . . He
came here and seemed determined to get up a fuss, if he could; that seemed to
be his object from the time he came until he went away . . . .
Besides that, he was such an honorable representative of the U.S., and
wanted to introduce such beautiful principles among us. This very same
individual was so [202] pure, so religious and holy, so virtuous and
righteous, his soul was pained in consequence of the doctrine of polygamy. At
the same time, he must bring an eastern whore to sit on the bench with him,
and thus insult the people of this Territory, and left his poor wife desolate
and forsaken in Oquaka, Illinois. This is one of those immaculate characters
they sent out to ameliorate your condition. . . .
Such men are infernal scoundrels, and ought to be damned; and they will
be. Yet they are the representatives here of Uncle Sam, and everybody must
take off their hats and bow to such mean reptiles . . . . I will say, "We will
be damned if we will." That is about my feelings, gentlemen . . . .
He and some others went back to Washington, and reported that the Mormons
were in a state of rebellion; that we were a very wicked people, very corrupt
and very depraved, almost as bad as some of our truth-telling ministers make
us out to be. (5)
Curtis E. Bolton, Taylor's former missionary companion in France,
wrote a refutation of Drummond's allegations. However, before this
reached Washington, President James Buchanan already had appointed Alfred
Cumming to replace Brigham Young as governor of Utah, and had dispatched
an escort of 2,500 troops to uphold his authority and quell the "Mormon
rebellion".
Taylor's defense of the Saints during the Utah War was so spirited
that he became known as a modern Joshua. The Millennial Star reported:
When Johnston's Army of 1857 was camped on Ham's Fork , Captain Van Vliet came to
Salt Lake for grain for the
command, but there was none for him. The people had made up their minds not to
be persecuted any more, and this is what [203] they said and did: Elder Taylor
addressed the meeting that the captain attended, and the Elder asked the
people, "Would you, if necessary, put the torch to your houses and lay the
land in waste and go to the mountains?"
Brigham Young said: "Try the vote."
Elder Taylor--"All you that are willing to set fire to your property and
lay it in ashes rather than submit to military rule and oppression, raise your
right hands."
About four thousand all voted.
Elder Taylor--"I knew what your feelings would be. We have been
persecuted and robbed long enough, and in the name of Israel's God we will be
free!"
The captain was astonished and went home a friend of the people.
While preaching that day, Elder Taylor got very earnest, and President
Young caught him by the coat-tail as a reminder. Taylor turned around and
said, "Brother Brigham, let go my coat-tail. I tell you, the bullets in me yet
hurt! . . ."
Well, Elder Taylor was like Joshua, only more so; when he got into debate
or in a mortal fight, he wanted the sun, moon and stars all to stand still and
look on while he demolished his adversaries. (6)
Speaking of former persecutors of the Saints at Nauvoo, Taylor
declared:
The poor, miserable, cursed, damned scoundrels, I pray that they may go
to hell
They now put on a smooth face (they have, perhaps, been at a
class-meeting, some of them), and wonder why we won't let those officers come
in here--why we won't [204] let the judges come here, such as they
appoint--why we won't let kind, gentlemanly men come here and rule over us.
You know such as we have had before in our midst. (7)
Fresh from experience in the East, Taylor compared people of the
outside world with the Saints.
Our young men and women who have not come in contact with it can scarcely
conceive of the amount of iniquity, depravity, corruption, lying, deception
and abominations of every kind that prevails in the Gentile world . . . .
Where are the men of truth? --nationally, socially, religiously, morally,
politically, or in any other way? Where are the patriots? Where are the men of
God? I declare before you and high heaven, I have not found them. Sometimes I
have thought that I had got my hand upon them, but they slipped out of my
fingers . . . .
People back East used to blame me for speaking and writing plainly. I
talk the same now. I feel that I can be sustained by the truth; and if I
cannot live by truth, I will die by it. And I am not afraid of telling it
before any people . . . .
The ministers say it is right to tell the truth, and then go to work and
lie. One politician banters another on account of the hypocritical course he
has taken, . . . and deceives as much as he possibly can to sustain his party.
It is not whether a thing is true or not, but whether it is policy or not; and
if a thing becomes policy, every influence, every kind of chicanery,
falsehood, and deception is brought to bear upon it; and when a little truth
will tell better, they mix that up along with it, but it is generally the
least ingredient in the whole mass . . . .
I bless the God of Israel that I am permitted to mingle with the Saints
of the Most High--to associate with men who, when I meet them and ask them
concerning any-[205]thing, I may expect to have an honest and truthful
answer--men in whom there is some truth, some integrity, something to catch
hold of, something you can rely on . . . .
Every true man among us feels he is a Saint of the living God, and that
he has an interest in the kingdom of God; every man feels that he is a king
and a priest of the Most High God. He is a saviour, and he stands forth and
acts with energy and power, with influence, and he is full of the Spirit of
the Lord. Hence the difference between him and others, and hence the necessity
of the experiences we have to combat, and the difficulties we have to overcome
....
I used to think, if I were the Lord, I would not suffer people to be
tried as they are; but I have changed my mind on that subject. Now I think I
would, if I were the Lord, because it purges out the meanness and corruption
that stick around the Saints like flies around molasses.
Speaking of the outside world, "You wonder why men act so much like
fools," Taylor said. "I wonder that they have as much intelligence as
they have: and the only reason . . . is that the Spirit of God is not
entirely withdrawn from them."
You can take an ox, or a hog, and put it into a stable, and feed it, and
it will get fat there. What for? For the knife. If you could only give it a
little revelation--if you could only make that ox or hog understand that it
was being prepared to be killed and eaten--I wonder how fat you could make it?
It is just so with the world; they are ignorant of their position, and
they glory in their shame, just as much as a hog does wallowing in the mire;
and they are just as ignorant of their destiny. This is the position of the
world, and that is the reason why you see things as they are--why there is so
much darkness; and I only wonder there is so much light among them as there is
....
[206] You cannot expect the conduct of a gentleman to proceed from a brute
beast; you cannot expect anything but a grunt from a hog. It is their nature;
and it is the nature of the wicked to act as they have done . . . . Not
desirous to retain God in their knowledge, they have given themselves up to
every kind of evil, and are led captive by the Devil; and the Scriptures say,
"His servants ye are whom ye list to obey." (8)
Regarding Federal carpetbaggers, Taylor was indignant.
We have been outrageously imposed upon by United States officials. They
send out every rag-tag and bob-tail, and every mean nincompoop they can scrape
up from the filth and scum of society, and dub him a United States officer.
And are we expected to receive all manner of insults from such men without one
word of complaint? They will assuredly find themselves mistaken.
"What! You don't mean to say you will fight against the United States?"
We don't want to; but we feel that we have as much right to talk as
anybody. We have rights, as American citizens, and we cannot be eternally
trampled on; but we shall assuredly maintain our constitutional rights, speak
fearlessly our opinions, and take just the course that we think proper . . . .
In the East at this time, there has been a great hue-and-cry; and almost
every editor, priest, and dog that could howl, has been yelping. They joined
heartily with Drummond, one of our amiable, pure virtuous United States
officers . . . . This pure man commenced a tirade against us, then other dogs
began to bark. We soon told the truth about it; then, by-and-by, somebody else
would tell it; and he now stinks so bad that they actually repudiate him. He
is too much even for them, and they had to cast him off . . . . (9)
[207] What are they sending an army here for? . . . When I heard that the
troops now on their way here had sealed orders, were coming with cannon, and
had stopped the mail, it argued that there was the Devil behind somewhere.
I will give you my opinion about the present course. The Republicans were
determined to make the Mormon question tell in their favor. At the time they
were trying to elect Fremont, they put two questions into their platform--viz,
opposition to the domestic institutions of the south , and to
polygamy. The Democrats have professed to be our friends, . . . but when they
do that the Republicans throw polygamy at them . . . . This makes the
Democrats gag, and they have felt a strong desire to get rid of the Mormon
question.
Some of them, I know, for some time past have been concocting plans to
divide up Utah among the several territories around . . . . Now, they go to
work and send out an army with sealed orders, and, if necessary, are prepared
to commit anything that the Devil may suggest to them; for they are under his
influence. They wish to steal the Republicans' thunder, to take the wind out
of their sails, and to out-Herod Herod.
Say they, "We, who profess to be the friends of the Mormons, . . . will
do more to them than you dare do; and we will procure offices by that means,
and save our party." And as Pilate and Herod could be made friends over the
death of Jesus, so they go to work and plan our sacrifice and destruction, and
make up friends on the back of it. They would crucify Jesus Christ, if he were
here, as quick as the Scribes and Pharisees did in his day, and the priests
would help them.
President Young says they shall not come here and destroy us; and I say,
Amen. (The congregation shouted, "Amen!")
[208]
In Washington, there had been utter misconception of the Mormon
people. It was believed that they would welcome the army as liberators
from "religious tyranny," that they were "kept in submission only by some
terroristic arm of the Church." (10)
Never were politicians more completely mistaken. John Taylor rallied
the people to the defense of Zion.
There are thousands of you who are Americans, who have been born in this
land, whose fathers fought for the liberties we used to enjoy, but have not
enjoyed for some years past. There are thousands of such men here who feel the
same spirit that used to burn in their fathers' bosoms--the spirit of liberty
and equal rights--the spirit of according to every man that which belongs to
him, and of robbing no man of his rights.
Your fathers and grandfathers have met the tyrant when he sought to put a
yoke on our necks; as men and true patriots, they came forward and fought for
their rights and in defense of that liberty which we, their children, ought to
enjoy. You feel the same spirit that inspired them; the same blood that
coursed in their veins flows in yours. You feel true patriotism and a strong
attachment to the Constitution and institutions bought by the blood of your
fathers, and bequeathed to you by them as your richest patrimony.
There are others of you that . . . may, perhaps, feel qualms of
conscience, and think, probably, that if we undertake to resist the powers
that are seeking to make aggression upon us, we are doing wrong. No such
thing. You let your conscience sleep at ease; let it be quiet. It is not us
who are doing wrong. It is others who are commiting wrong upon us . . . .
Why do this people feel so comfortable when an army is approaching? Are
you not afraid of being killed? No, [209] not a great deal. Why are you not
mourning and sorrowing, and why are you not distressed and troubled? Because
you have got a principle within you that cannot be conquered in time nor in
eternity. You possess the principles of eternal life in your bosoms, that
cannot be subdued. You know what your relationship is with the Eternal God,
and His Spirit gives joy and consolation to your bosoms . . . .
Taylor revealed that church leaders were well aware of underlying
motives behind the Utah Expedition, one being "the clamor of speculators
and contractors, who have, of course, a very disinterested desire to
relieve their venerated uncle by thrusting their patriotic hands into his
pockets." Because of rampant graft, it was called the "contractors' war."
President Buchanan, goaded by the Republicans, wished to show them that
in regard to the Mormons he dared out-Herod Herod, by fitting up an army to
make war upon the Mormons. But it was necessary to have a pretext. It would
not have been popular to destroy a whole community in cold blood; so he sent
out a few miserable minions and renegades for the purpose of provoking a
collision. These men not only acted infamously here, but published false
statements throughout the United States, and every kind of infamy . . . was
laid at the door of the Mormons . . . .
We were well informed as to the object of the coming of the army..We had
men in all of the camps, and knew what was intended. There was a continual
boast among the men and officers, even before they left the Missouri River, of
what they would do with the Mormons. The houses were picked out that certain
persons were to inhabit. Farms, property and women were to be distributed.
"Beauty and booty" were their watchwords. We were to have another grand Norman
conquest, and our houses, gardens, orchards, vineyards, fields, wives and
daughters were to be the spoils . . . .
[210] I know what your feelings are. We have been persecuted and robbed long
enough; and, in the name of Israel's God, we will be free! I feel to thank God
that I am associated with such men, with such a people, where honesty and
truth dwell in the heart--where men have got a religion that they are not
afraid to live by, and that they are not afraid to die by; and I would not
give a straw for anything short of that . . . .
I do not care anything about shooting; I have been shot. Neither do I
care anything about dying; for I could have died many a time . . . . But I do
care about those principles of truth which I have received; and I would not
exchange my position for that of any emperor, king, or potentate in any nation
under heaven . . . .
The great God has set His hand to roll forth His purposes; and the hand
that opposes it shall be palsied. The power of God shall be felt among the
nations that reject the truth . . . . God will put a hook in the jaws of our
enemies and turn them aside. And the day is not far distant when empires will
crumble to pieces and the hand of God be against the nations; and they will
know that there is a God in heaven, and a hand that is stronger than theirs.
(11)
In a "Proclamation by the Governor," Brigham Young warned that "We
are invaded by a hostile force."
Our opponents have availed themselves of prejudice existing against us,
because of our religious faith, to send out a formidable host to accomplish
our destruction. We have had no privilege or opportunity of defending
ourselves from the false, foul and unjust aspersions against us before the
nation . . . . We are condemned unheard, and forced to an issue with an armed
mercenary mob, which has been sent against us at the instigation of anonymous
letter writers, of corrupt officials, and of hireling priests and howling
editors, who prostitute the truth for filthy lucre's sake.
[211] The issue which has thus been forced upon us compels us to resort to the
great first law of self-preservation, and stand in our own defense, a right
guaranteed to us by the genius of the institutions of our country, and upon
which the government is based. Our duty to ourselves, to our families,
requires us not to tamely submit to . . . usurpation, tyranny and oppression.
Therefore I, Brigham Young, governor and superintendent of Indian affairs
for the Territory of Utah, forbid:
First--All armed forces of every description from coming into this
Territory, under any pretense whatever.
Second--That all the forces in said Territory hold themselves in
readiness to march at a moment's notice to repel any and all such invasion.
Third--Martial law is hereby declared to exist . . . .
The army, under command of Colonel Albert Sidney Johnston, was
encamped on the Green River at Ham's Fork, Wyoming, while awaiting orders
for the invasion.
Captain R. B. Marcy of the 5th Infantry wrote from there to "Rev.
John Taylor," 13 October 1857.
Herewith I take the liberty of sending you a letter from our mutual
friend, W.J.A. Fuller, of New York City. I also beg leave to trouble you with
the accompanying note of introduction to Governor Young from Mr. W.I. Appleby,
which I will thank you to read to the governor at your convenience . . . .
Suffer me to assure you that within the circle of my observation among
the officers of this army, there has not been the slightest disposition to
meddle with or in any way interfere with the religious or social customs of
your people; on the contrary, there has, from the commence-[212]ment of our
march, been an almost universal manifestation of a desire of a kind and
friendly intercourse; and I most sincerely hope that this desirable result may
be brought about.
"I can readily believe your statement that it is very far from your
feelings," Taylor replied, "to interfere with our social habits or
religious views."
However, it is not with the personal character, the amiable qualities,
high-toned feelings, or gentlemanly deportment of the officers in your
expedition that we at present have to do. The question that concerns us is one
that is independent of your personal, generous, friendly and humane feelings .
...
Excuse me, sir, when I say that you are merely the servants of a
lamentably corrupt administration, that your primary law is obedience to
orders, and that you come here with armed foreigners, with cannons, rifles,
bayonets and broadswords expressly and for the openly avowed purpose of
"cutting out the loathsome ulcer from the body politic . . . ."
In regard to our religion, it is perhaps unnecessary to say much, yet
whatever others' feelings may be about it, with us it is honestly a matter of
conscience. This is a right guaranteed to us by the Constitution of our
country; yet it is on this ground, and this alone, that we have suffered a
continued series of persecutions, and that this present crusade is set on foot
against us.
In regard to this people, . . . if let alone they are the most patriotic,
and appreciate more fully the blessings of religious, civil, and political
freedom, than any other portion of the United States. They have,
however discovered the difference between a blind submission to the caprice of
political demagogues, and obedience to the Constitution, laws, and
institutions of the United States.
[213] Nor can they in the present instance be hoodwinked by the cry of
"treason." If it be treason to stand up for our Constitutional rights; if it
be treason to resist the unconstitutional acts of a vitiated and corrupt
administration--who by a mercenary armed force would seek to rob us of the
rights of franchise, cut our throats to subserve their own party, seek to
force upon us their corrupt tools and violently invade the rights of American
citizens--if it be treason to maintain inviolate our homes, our firesides, our
wives, and our honor, from the corrupting and withering blight of a debauched
soldiery;... then indeed we are guilty of treason.
We have carefully considered all these matters, and are prepared to meet
the "terrible vengeance" we have been very politely informed will be the
result of our acts. It is in vain to hide it from you that the people have
suffered so much from every kind of official that they will endure it no
longer . . . .
You will see by this that it would be literally madness for your small
force to attempt to come into the settlements. It would only be courting
destruction. But, say you: have you counted the cost? Have you considered the
wealth and power of the United States and the fearful odds against you? Yes,
and here let me inform you that if necessary we would as soon meet 100,000 as
1,000; and, if driven to the necessity, will burn every house, tree, shrub,
rail, every patch of grass and stack of straw and hay, and flee to the
mountains. You will then obtain a barren, desolate wilderness, but will not
have conquered the people . . . .
We may admire the capabilities, gentlemanly deportment, heroism and
patriotism of United States officers; but in an official capacity as enemies,
we would rather see their backs than their faces . . . .
If you have leisure I should be most happy to hear from you. You will, I
am sure, excuse me if I disclaim the [214] prefix of "Rev." to my name.
Address: John Taylor, Great Salt Lake City.
Taylor accompanied Lt. General Daniel H. Wells, commander of the
Nauvoo Legion, to set up headquarters in Echo Canyon. From Camp Echo he
forwarded a letter to Brigham Young.
The health of the camp is generally good and the brethren seem to
cultivate the spirit of the Lord. The feeling of the Saints is: if it is
peace, all right--and if war, we are on hand.
The defenses are progressing and active steps being taken to give our
enemies a warm reception, but we're inclined to believe that they are getting
converted to the same opinion, "that they ain't good-looking and they can't
come in." (12)
The Mormons harassed the army by running off its livestock and
destroying its supplies. They burned Fort Bridger, and Fort Supply ahead
of the advancing troops.
In December, Taylor returned to Salt Lake for the convening of the
legislature. He, as speaker of the house, and Heber C. Kimball, president
of the council, signed a memorial from the legislature to the President
and Congress of the United States:
We appeal to you as American citizens, who have been wronged, insulted,
abused and persecuted--driven before our relentless foes from city to city,
from state to state, until we finally were expelled from the confines of
civilization to seek a shelter in a barren, inhospitable clime, amid the wild,
savage tribes of the desert plains. We claim to be a portion of the people,
and as such have rights that must be respected, and which we have a right to
demand.
[215] We claim that in a republican form of government, such as our fathers
established, and such as ours still professes to be, the officers are and
should be the servants of the people--not their masters, dictators and
tyrants.
To the numerous charges of our enemies we plead not guilty, and challenge
the world before any just tribunal to the proof . . . .
Try the of friendly intercourse and honorable dealing, instead
of foul aggression and war. Treat us as friends--as citizens entitled to and
possessing equal rights with our fellows--and not as alien enemies, lest you
make us such . . . .
All we want is truth and fair play. The administration has been imposed
upon by false, designing men. Their acts have been precipitate and hasty,
perhaps through lack of due consideration. Please let us know what you want of
us before you prepare your halter to hang, or "apply the knife to cut out the
loathsome, disgusting ulcer."
Do you wish us to deny our God and renounce our religion? That we shall
not do . . . .
Speaking to the Saints in the tabernacle, Taylor exhorted them to
have faith in the purposes of God.
What if we have to burn our houses? Why, set fire to them in good grace,
and dance a jig round them while they are burning. What do I care about such
things? We are in the hands of God, and all is right . . . .
I remember hearing a woman say in Missouri, "I'll be damned if I will
stand it any longer; for this is the fifth house the mob have burned down for
me in less than two years." Job did not feel so. He was severely tried; but
when he came down to sober reflection, he said in his heart, "The Sabeans may
take my asses, and the Chaldeans [216] may fall upon my servants and kill them
and steal my sheep, and my house be thrown down with the storm, and I may lie
in the ashes, and men that I would not associate with the dogs of my flocks
may wear away my life, and my body may go to dust; yet, though worms prey upon
it, in my flesh shall I see God. Naked I came into the world, and naked I
shall go out; blessed be the name of the Lord." Was not this a good feeling to
manifest? Let us try to imitate it and acknowledge the chastening rod of the
Almighty . . . .
Would you like the soldiers away? I do not know that I would. I do not
care anything about it. Perhaps the Lord may have hung them up there, like the
mother hangs up the rod and points to it. Does the mother want to hurt the
child? No. Neither does she want to be continually scolding . . . .
Who is there that can rise up and tell the destiny of this Church and
kingdom? Who is there, for instance, that can point out the bearings and the
operation of the soldiery that are now on our borders? Who can tell the Lord's
design in relation to these matters, and why it is that we are thus situated?
...
Could not the Lord control it otherwise? He could. Has He not the hearts
of all men in His keeping? Could He not roll them back very quickly? Yes; or
he could cause them to come on here. Why is it that He has allowed them to
come a certain distance, and kept them there, placing them like some of you
mothers do, when you hang up a rod that the children can see it? . . .
We are only little children now. This is the way I feel. I feel as a
little child, and I pray to God, "O God, expand my mind that I may understand
and comprehend the things of God, . . . and be able to comprehend the
blessings that we enjoy."
[217] Why, the kingdom of God is established, the Prophet of God and His
servants are among us, and we are now enjoying the very things that prophets
prophesied as they looked through the dark vista of ages unborn and
contemplated these blessings that we enjoy. They told about the time when the
kingdom of God would be established upon the earth, when He would restore the
ancient order of things, when His Spirit would be poured out, when light and
revelation would be communicated, when His purposes would be developed, and
when the little stone would be cut out of the mountain without hands. They
saw, in vision, that a little nucleus here in the mountains would arise, and
that the mountain of the Lord's house,would be established above the hills,
and that all nations should flock to the standard, as doves to their windows.
They saw the things in visions that we are now doing; they sang and
prophesied and rejoiced at what we have now commenced--the -building up of the
kingdom of God . . . .
Why is it that we have been driven and afflicted and persecuted, and our
names cast out as evil, and that we have had to endure so many privations,
sufferings, toils, and hardships for the last twenty years? Who can solve
these questions? Who can enter into the secrets of the Most High and unravel
the mysteries that dwell in the mind of Jehovah? . . .
If the Lord can have a people to listen to His law, there might be a
chance to establish His kingdom upon the earth; if not, the only way He can
establish His kingdom is to remove them from the earth, or give up His kingdom
until another time; for it is impossible to establish His kingdom without
having a people obedient to Him . . . .
Now, let me ask how we are going to stand, except we are guided by the
revelations of God? And let me [218] further ask how you are going to get the
revelations of God, except you live your religion? . . .
As it regards His kingdom and purposes, I would rather risk His judgment
and plan than my own . . . . I will say, "It is the Lord, and let Him do what
seemeth Him good . . ." I feel that we are in the hands of God, and all is
right. (13)
Colonel Thomas L. Kane of Philadelphia, staunch friend of the
Saints, arrived by way of California to serve as mediator between the
U.S. President, Johnston's Army, the newly-appointed governor, Alfred
Cumming, and Brigham Young.
During Kane's negotiations with Governor Cumming and the army at
Ham's Fork, the "Move South" began. Taylor was busy packing up wagons and
nailing up his houses on Taylor Row, as his families joined the exodus.
The population of Salt Lake and all settlements north of Lehi abandoned
their homes and streamed south beyond the Point of the Mountain toward an
unknown destination, leaving a guard behind to scorch the earth in
advance of an invading army.
The New York Times reflected the wave of compassion that swept over
the nation in sympathy for a persecuted people:
Whatever our opinions may be of Mormon morals or Mormon manners, there
can be no question that this voluntary abandonment by 40,000 people of homes
created by wonderful industry, in the midst of trackless wastes, after years
of hardship and persecution, is something from which no one who has a particle
of sympathy with pluck, fortitude and constancy can withhold his admiration.
Right or wrong, sincerity thus attested is not a thing to be [219] sneered at.
True or false, a faith to which so many men and women prove their loyalty, by
such sacrifices, is a force in the world . . . .
We think it would be most unwise to treat Mormonism as a nuisance to be
abated by a posse comitatus. It is no longer a social excrescence to be cut
off by the sword; it is a power to be combated only by the most skillful
political and moral treatment. When people abandon their homes to plunge with
women and children into a wilderness, to seek new settlements they know not
where, they give a higher proof of courage than if they fought for them . . .
.
Were we not guilty of a culpable oversight in confounding their
persistent devotion with the insubordination of ribald license, and applying
to the one the same harsh treatment which the law intends for the latter
alone? Was it right to send troops composed of the wildest and most rebellious
men of the community, commanded by men like Harney and Johnston, to deal out
fire and sword upon people whose faults even were the result of honest
religious convictions? Was it right to allow Johnston to address letters to
Brigham Young, and through him to his people, couched in the tone of an
implacable conquerer toward ruthless savages? Were the errors which mistaken
zeal generates ever cured by such means as these? And have bayonets ever been
used against the poorest and weakest sect that ever crouched behind a wall to
pray or weep, without rendering their faith more intense, and investing the
paltriest discomforts with the dignity of sacrifice? . . . .
We can afford to be merciful . . . . Posterity must not have to
acknowledge with shame that our indiscretion, or ignorance, or intolerance,
drove the population of a whole state from house and home, to seek religious
liberty and immunity from the presence of mercenary troops. (14)
[220]
Through Colonel Kane's efforts, Governor Alfred Cumming agreed to
proceed without military escort to Salt Lake City to assume the duties of
his office. When the army subsequently arrived, it marched through the
city and set up garrison at Camp Floyd, some 40 miles away at Cedar
Valley.
The Utah War was over. Taylor commented:
I do not remember having read in any history, or had related to me any
circumstance where an army has been subjugated so easily, and their power
wasted away so effectually without bloodshed, as this in our borders. If this
is not a manifestation of the power of God to us, I do not know what is. Has
any man's life been lost in it? No--not one. It is true our brethren have been
fired upon; but their balls failed of doing the injury that was expected. Our
brethren were told not to retaliate, and they did not do it." Where is there
such a manifestation of the power of God? (15)
(1) Young to Taylor, 30 April 1855.
(2) In a subsequent letter, 25 July 1855, Brigham Young mentioned
that "Judge Drummond and lady" had arrived in Utah. At this time Mary Ann
had already been married several months.
(3) Drummond to U.S. Attorney-General Jeremiah S. Black. 30 March
1857.
(4) Appleby to Taylor, 25 April 1857. The woman, introduced as the
former "Ada Carroll," was actually Mrs. Charles Fletcher of Baltimore.
She had deserted her husband to work in a Washington bordello, where
Drummond met her.
(5) JD 7:118 and 23:47.
(6) MS 56:389.
(7) JD 7:118.
[221] (8) JD 5:145.
(9) The Saints kept track of Drummond, who drifted into obscurity,
becoming a sewing machine salesman. Thirty years after arriving in Utah
as a member of the Supreme Court, he was jailed in Chicago for stealing
postage stamps to buy liquor. On 20 November 1888, he died in a Chicago
grogshop, a pauper.
(10) See Norman F. Furniss, The Mormon Conflict, 1850-1859; New
Haven, 1960. "Since Gentiles would not have accepted the rule of Brigham
Young, they assumed that the Mormons themselves were discontented with
the militant theocracy erected in a democratic nation. The Saints, these
non-Mormons falsely reasoned, would not oppose the entrance of the army
into their Territory; rather they would welcome it with open arms as a
savior come to redeem them from a living hell. The introduction of
polygamy, it was further assumed, must have fatally cracked the unity of
the sect. There seemed to be a considerable amount of evidence to support
these misconceptions . . . of the Mormons dissatisfaction with Brigham
Young's satrapy . . . . A number of editors took up the refrain. Only an
occasional newspaper warned that the Mormons, by calling home their
farflung missions in San Bernardino and elsewhere, gave evidence of the
determined preparation for war."
(11) JD 9 August, 23 August, and 13 September, 1857; also
Taylor-Colfax Debate.
(12) 25 November 1857. Letter signed by Taylor, F.D. Richards, and
N.V. Jones.
(13) JD 20 September and 6 December 1957; 13 November 1859.
(14) John Taylor's families stopped at Provo. There, his wife Sophia
gave birth to a boy, named John W. Taylor and destined to become the
father of the authors.
(15) JD 6:112.
[222]
Chapter 14
"THE WORLD RAGES"
Johnston's Army evacuated Camp Floyd and marched off to the Civil
War.
As the conflict raged in the nation, as pestilence, insurrection,
fire, famine, slaughter and earthquake ravaged the world at large, John
Taylor viewed impending chaos as the inevitable prelude to the
establishment of the kingdom of God.
Why is it that the world rages? Why is it that the priests of the day are
angry--that politicians are mad? It is because the Lord has set forth his hand
to accomplish his purposes and bring to pass the things spoken of by the holy
prophets . . . .
Who would have thought, a little while ago, that these United States--one
of the best governments under the heavens if properly administered--could have
been reduced to the present critical position? Who would have thought, a
little while ago, that all the ingenuity, skill, talent, power and wealth that
exist in the North and South would be brought to bear against each other for
their mutual destruction? . . .
The Lord will bring to pass his strange purpose, and accomplish the
things he has designed. It is for us to live our religion, to appreciate fully
the Gospel we possess, and fully obey its requirements, submit to its laws,
and yield to its dictations, following the direction of the holy Priesthood,
which holds the keys of the mysteries of the revelations of God, magnifying
our callings and honouring our God, that we may be prepared to fulfil our
destiny upon the earth . . . .
[223] Here we are a comparatively few people in the valleys of Utah who are
talking of seeing a kingdom set up, not only in these mountains but which
shall rule over the whole earth, that like a little stone hewn out of the
mountains without hands shall become a great nation and fill the whole earth.
The Saints had confidence in this as they were driven from Kirtland,
from Missouri, and from Illinois.
Their confidence did not fail them when armies came up against them to
destroy them, and the power and influence of the United States were arrayed
against them.
There is a certain unchanging, fixed principle in the bosoms of the
Elders of Israel that God is at the helm, and that no power, no reverses, no
influence that can be brought to bear against the Kingdom of God will
withstand the onward progress, but its course is onward until the kingdoms of
this world shall become the kingdoms of our God and His Christ, and He shall
reign with universal empire; and the kingdoms . . . under the whole heavens
will be given to the Saints of the Most High God. It is impossible to make the
Saints swerve from this feeling. It is in them a principle of life, vitality
and revelation . . . .
God is managing the affairs of all nations, and He has made known His
will and pleasure to His servants the prophets. He has given unto them the
everlasting Gospel, which they have received by the principle of revelation,
and can by that means draw aside the curtain of futurity and . . . understand
the designs of Jehovah . . . .
These men have been sent forth to tell the people of all nations the
things that are coming on them. The Elders of this Church . . . have been
bearing testimony of these things for over thirty years . . . . We have also
told them that their kingdoms would be overthrown and their nations would be
destroyed, and that God would speedily arise and shake terribly the earth . .
. . (1)
[224]
"Our nation has fallen from the highest pinnacle of union, power,
fame and wealth to the lowest depth of angry, malignant, bloodthirsty,
fraticidal war," Taylor declared in a notable discourse at the Bowery on
the 4th of July, 1861. At such a time, "It is folly to make speeches
about Washington or American liberty," he said.
We will for the present let them go, and inquire into the causes of the
decay and present position of the United States.
Nations do not rise and fall in a day, without a reason or a cause. The
origin for the unprecedented prosperity of the United States will be found in
a free and liberal constitution, . . . in the integrity of its citizens and
legislators, in its trade and commerce, in its vast agricultural and mineral
resources, in its mercantile and manufacturing ability, in its encouragement
of the arts and sciences, in the industry and talent of its citizens, and in
the rapid development of all the unbounded resources of one of the richest and
most productive soils that the world affords.
As a result, the original thirteen colonies with three million
people had in 85 years "increased to 32 millions, and its territory
extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific."
Liberty, equality, freedom and brotherhood were the foundations of the
noble edifice. The superstructure was raised by unflinching integrity, united
energy, and political and moral virtue . . . . Millions of the downtrodden
sons of Europe flocked to our shores and participated freely with us in the
great and rich blessings of civil and religious liberty . . . . We had a
patriotic people and a united government; we were one . . . .
Now I come to a subject that is painful . . . . For as surely as ever
there is a cause for a disease and decay of [225] the human system, so sure is
there a cause for a decay of the body politic . . . . The Babylonian, the
Media-Persian, the Grecian and the Roman powers have all had their rise, their
decay, their fall, while others of the smaller nations have followed . . . .
And our own great nation, young, fresh, buoyant--a little while ago promising
long life, in all the vigor of youth and power of manhood--is suddenly
prostrated . . . .
One of the leading reasons for the fall of this nation will be found in a
loss of national integrity, in the increase of crime and corruption, and a
want of a proper administration of the laws. The constitution is good; the
laws generally are good, but for a great many years past they have been
miserably administered . . . .
Under the administration of Washington, Monroe, Jefferson, Jackson and
others, the country flourished and the laws sustained . . . . As time
advanced, corruption and mob violence began to prevail. A religious party in
the far off west of Missouri were some of them murdered, and the rest driven
from their homes as outcasts . . . . The rights of American citizens were
trampled underfoot, the Constitution and laws desecrated . . . . That
religious people were the Mormons, many of whom are around me now. . . .
Joseph Smith then prophesied that mob law would go forth throughout the
land . . . . Mob rule commenced by slow degrees at first, but it gained power
until like a mighty avalanche it swept through the land. Since then it has
ruled rampant. Safety societies and vigilance committees have in some places
had almost exclusive rule. I have sat down with two United States Senators, a
Governor of a state, a general and other officers, and heard them deliberately
plan the removal of a great and numerous people . . . .
American citizens-- because the law could offer them no redress, no religious
freedom, no political franchise, no right of speech, no right of vote, no
right to worship God, no right to live, breathe or exist in the "land of the
free, the home of the brave, and the asylum for the oppressed
[226] I have seen men murdered in cold blood without redress, their murderers
going unpunished, and thousands driven from the state of Illinois, for no
other crime than worshipping God according to the dictates of their own
consciences.
Taylor's attitude toward tyranny was reflected by Eliza R. Snow's
poem, "Ode to the Fourth Day of July."
Shall we commemorate the day
With freedom's ensigns waving high,
Whose blood stain'd banners furl'd away-Whose rights and freedom have gone by?
Should we, when gasping 'neath its wave,
Extol the beauties of the sea?
Or, lash'd upon fair freedom's grave,
Proclaim the strength of liberty?
It is heart-rendering mockery!
I'd sooner laugh 'midst writhing pain,
Than chant the songs of liberty
Beneath oppression's galling chain!
Columbia's glory is a theme
That with our life's warm pulses grew,
But ah! 'tis fled--and, like a dream,
Its ghost is flutt'ring in our view! . . . (2)
At the Bowery, Taylor detailed the causes of the nation's turmoil:
The Constitution virtually destroyed, outrages of every kind were
perpetrated. Men shamefully "stumped their States," and pandered to the basest
passions of men. . . . They offered their patriotism . . . as unblushingly as
a bad woman does her charms. Frauds of every kind began to be practiced at the
polls. Newspapers and men were bought and sold like beasts of barter . . . .
Pugilists [227] controlled the polls, and . . . "ballot stuffing," as it is
termed, became almost the rule instead of the exception.
The modest and retiring men of worth stepped aside and gave place to
fiery sectionists and blatant demagogues. Hence, in Congress, the most
disgraceful proceedings took place--violent language, personal abuse,
crimination, recrimination and death took the place of calm deliberation,
intelligence, high-mindedness, decorum and patriotism, until our Senate and
House of Representatives became the arena of violence--the theater for the
display of all the baser passions of humanity.
Corruption and a lack of integrity, commencing at the head, spread
through all the branches of the body politic. Places were bought and sold . .
. . For some months after a President's election, he is run after by
office-seekers, . . . who like a pack of hungry dogs howl for a bone.
Thus our custom houses, post offices, gubernatorial chairs, judgeships,
Indian agencies, councils, ministers, and all places of honor and emolument
are filled generally with men who, to say the least, are mere partisans.
Defalcations have existed to an alarming extent. The grossest and most
palpable frauds have been perpetrated on the Government, and the Treasury is
annually robbed of millions by the peculations of what ought to be honorable
men. For years past at Washington, it has been almost impossible for a man to
get his just dues without bribery . . . . Individuals vie with states, while
states and territories vie with the United States, in acts of public plunder.
The Judiciary has also placed itself beneath contempt. Particularly in
many of the new states and territories, justice has been bought and sold . . .
In our own territory, we have had judges who gave sat for months trying to
implicate the innocent. Failing that, they unblushingly turned vagabonds,
thieves and murderers loose on the community . . . .
[228] Notwithstanding the health and vigor of the young republic, which, in
its giant strength has long withstood the insidious power of the disease, it
has at length succumbed. When individual communities, states, judges,
governors and presidents can with impunity trample underfoot the law . . . and
treat with contempt the Constitution, . . . when honor, purity, virtue and
integrity are gone, where are the cohesive qualities--the life-giving
power--the vital energy? Like a tree attacked by a worm that has struck its
roots. . . . in time its strength and glory fades, the foliage withers, the
limbs dry up, and the barkless, diseased trunk finally falls beneath the power
of the destroyer . . . .
The United States of America--that boasted justly of its greatness, its
power, its commerce, trade and agriculture, its civil and religious
institutions--the last born, as it were, among nations, the glory and pride of
the world is fallen and dismembered, severed, shattered and broken.
It may now be proper to inquire what part shall we take in the present
difficulties . . . . Shall we join the North to fight against the South? No!
Shall we join the South against the North? As emphatically, No! Why? They have
both . . . brought it upon themselves, and we have had no hand in the matter .
...
The Constitution of the United States has ever been respected and honored
by us. We consider it one of the best national instruments ever formed. Nay,
further, Joseph Smith in his day said it was given by inspiration of God. We
have ever stood by it, and we expect when the fanaticism of false, blatant
friends shall have torn it shred from shred, to stand by the shattered ruins
and uphold the broken, desecrated remnants of our country's institutions in
all their primitive purity and pristine glory. Our motto has always been, and
ever will be, "freedom to the Jew, Moslem, Greek and Christian." Our banner
floats for all, and we would not only proclaim liberty throughout the land,
but freedom to the world. (3)
[229]
In speaking of the kingdom of God on earth, Taylor compared the
concept with earthly practicalities.
We are selected out from among the nations that the Lord may place His
name among us. He has called upon us and we have listened to His voice and
obeyed the testimony of His servants . . . . Like some of old, a few of us had
been waiting to see the salvation of Israel, and our eyes have seen the
salvation of the Lord . . . .
Although we can seemingly grasp eternity, and revel in divine things, yet
it appears that we cannot understand how to take care of some of the first and
plainest interests of life, rendering it necessary for the President to place
guardians over us in the persons of Bishops to take care that we do not throw
our bread away and have to starve . . . .
The Latter-day Saints ought to be able to take care of themselves. Men
that are talking of possessing thrones, principalities and power, of becoming
kings and priests unto God, ought to know how to take care of enough wheat to
supply the wants of themselves and their families . . . . We talk of becoming
like God. What does he do? He governs this and other worlds, regulates all the
systems and gives them their motions and revolutions. In our world he gives
day and night, summer and winter, seed-time and harvest. He adapts man, the
beasts of the field, the fowls of the air and the fishes of the sea, to their
various climates and elements. . . . His hand is over all and His providence
sustains all. "The hairs of our head are numbered, and a sparrow cannot fall
to the ground without our heavenly Father's notice; He clothes the lilies of
the valleys and feeds the ravens when they cry . . . ."
We would be like him! Be kings and priests unto God and rule with him.
And yet we are obliged to have guardians placed over us to teach us how to
take care of a bushel of wheat . . . . (4)
[230]
Congress rejected the application of Utah Territory to be admitted
to the union as the State of Deseret. As carpetbag government continued,
John Taylor protested the tyranny of Federal appointees.
When we left . . . the United States, what did we leave for? Why did we
leave that country? Was it because its institutions were not good? No. Was it
because its constitution was not one of the best that was ever framed? No. Was
it because the laws of the United States . . . were not good? No. Why was it?
It was because there was not sufficient virtue found in the Executive to
sustain their own laws. That was the reason . . . .
Well, but do you not hold allegiance to the government of the United
States also? Do you not believe in the laws and institutions thereof? Yes, we
have always sustained and upheld them. And although we have had many very
heavy provocations to make us feel rebellious and opposed to that government;
yet we have always sustained it under all circumstances and in every position.
When they tried to cut our throats, we rather objected to that, you know.
We had some slight objection to having our heads cut off and trampled
underfoot. We did not think it was either constitutional or legal. But when
they took their swords away from our necks and said that we might enjoy the
rights of American citizens, that was all we wanted.
There is, however, a kind of political heresy that we have always
adopted. We have always maintained that we had a right to worship God as we
thought proper. . . . and that we would vote as we pleased . . . . It has
always been a principle with us, and in fact is given in one of our
revelations, that "he who will observe the laws of God need not transgress the
laws of the land . . . ."
We had sent among us Governors, appointed by the United States,
Judges, a Secretary, Marshal, and all [231] the adjuncts, powers, and officers
with the Territorial government. By them, in many instances, we have been
traduced, abused, outraged, and imposed upon. Have we retorted against the
United States? No, we have not.
Is it the duty of Federal officers . . . to conspire against the people
they come among? Is it their duty to traduce, abuse, vilify, and misrepresent
them? In other places such men would be summarily dealt with. We have borne
these things. They were not very much calculated to strengthen the attachment
that we had so often manifested to the government of which we form a part.
Still, we have been true to our trust, to our integrity, and to the
institutions and constitution of our country all the time....
Through some of these misrepresentations and a corrupt administration, a
pretext was found to send an army out here. We heard the report sounding along
from those plains that they were coming to destroy and lay waste. What, a
government destroy its own offspring? An army raised against an infant
territory? The cannon and the sword, the rifle and the pistol, brought to
spread death and desolation among a peaceful people? . . .
What was left for us to do under those circumstances but to act as men
and American citizens? To fall back on our reserved rights, and say to those
political gamblers who would stake the lives of the citizens of a Territory in
their damning games, "Back with your hosts, touch not God's anointed, and do
His prophets no harm." Was there anything wrong with that? No; I would do it a
thousand times over . . . .
But we frequently hear, "You are not loyal." Who is it that talks of
loyalty? Those who are stabbing the country to its very vitals. Are they the
men that are loyal? Those who are sowing the seeds of discord; those who are
perjuring themselves before high heaven and the country they profess to
serve--are these the loyal men? If so, God preserve me and this people from
such loyalty.
[232]
In July 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed into law an act of
Congress prohibiting polygamy in the territories. John Taylor denounced
this legislation as unconstitutional.
Do you profess to ignore the laws of the land? No; not unless they are
unconstitutional, then I would do it all the time--whenever the Congress of
the United States, for instance, passes a law interfering with my religion, or
with my religious rights.
I will read a small portion of that instrument called the Constitution of
the United States--now almost obsolete--which says, "Congress shall pass no
law interfering with religion or the free exercise thereof." And I would say,
gentlemen, you may go to Gibraltar with your law, and I will live my religion.
When you become violators of the Constitution you have sworn before high
heaven to uphold, and perjure yourselves before God, then I will maintain the
right, and leave you to take the wrong, just as you please . . . .
Who that is acquainted with the moral state of Christendom at the present
time does not shudder when reflecting upon the depravity, corruption,
licentiousness, and debauchery that everywhere stalk around? We have left this
state of things, and the Lord has introduced a new order amongst us, for we
profess to be under His guidance and direction, and consequently our ideas and
practices must be very different from those which obtain in the world.
We have more wives than one. Why? Because God ordained it. And we
maintain our wives and children. But they do not maintain their mistresses and
children, yet they will prate to us about their beautiful systems . . . . If
we have wives and children, we are not afraid to acknowledge them as such. We
do not have the children of one woman riding with us in a carriage, while
those of another are sweeping the streets and asking us for a half-[233]penny.
Nor are they paupers on the community. We do not believe in any such morality
as that . . . .
They say the course we pursue has a tendency to degrade women. We think
it has a tendency to elevate them, and the course pursued by the world is one
of the most damnably corrupt and oppressive that it is possible to conceive .
. . . Yet men who are steeped to the lips in such foul depravity and horrid
practices will preach to us about purity and morality . . . .
Our position is just as Joseph said: If we could not receive the . . .
everlasting gospel; if we could not receive the dictum of a Priesthood that
administers in time and eternity; if we could not receive a principle that
would save us in the eternal world, and our wives and children with us, we
were not fit to hold this kingdom . . . for it would be taken from us and
given to others . . . .
What did this principle open up to our view? That our wives, who have
been associated with us in time, . . . could reign with us in the eternal
kingdoms of God, and that they should be sealed to us not only for time, but
for all eternity . . . .
Congress says, if you fulfill that law we will inflict upon you pains and
penalties, fines and imprisonment--in effect, we will not allow you to follow
God's commands....
Whence came this law upon our statute books? Who constituted them our
conscience-keepers? Who appointed them the judge of our religious faith, or
authorized them to coerce us to transgress a law that is binding and
imperative on our conscience? We do not expect that Congress is acquainted
with our religious faith; but . . . we do claim the guarantees of the
Constitution and immunity from persecution on merely religious grounds....
We are trying to carry out the principle which God has revealed--which
is, to make all women wives, to respect, honor, and bless them while they live
on the [234] earth, and to exalt them to thrones in the celestial kingdom of
God hereafter. Is there anything low, grovelling or calculated to humble or
destroy in that? It is the most blessed, most noble, most exalted principle
that ever God revealed to man . . . .
In relation to all these matters, the safe path for the Saints to take is
to do right, and, by the help of God, to seek diligently and honorably to
maintain the position which they hold. Are we ashamed of marrying wives? No.
We shall not be ashamed before God and the holy angels, much less before a
number of corrupt, miserable scoundrels, who are the very dregs of hell. (6)
Three months after passage of the anti-polygamy bill, Colonel
Patrick E. Connor led his California Volunteers to Salt Lake City and
established a garrison on the foothills, Ft. Douglas. Utah was once more
under military supervision.
Colonel Connor fostered prospecting by his troops. With the
discovery of minerals in Utah--particularly a mountain of copper at
Bingham--Connor predicted that Mormonism would be overwhelmed by a
stampede of Gentile miners. "The results so far have exceeded my most
sanguine expectations," Connor reported to his superiors.
Already reliable reports reach me of the discovery of rich gold, silver
and copper mines in almost every direction . . . . If I be not mistaken in
these anticipations, I have no reason to doubt that the Mormon question will
at an early date be finally settled by peaceable means, without the increased
expenditure of a dollar by Government, or, still more important, without the
loss of a single soldier in conflict . . . .
[235] My policy in this Territory has been to invite hither a large Gentile
and loyal population, sufficient by peaceful means and through the ballot box
to overwhelm the Mormons by mere force of numbers, and thus wrest from the
Church--disloyal and traitorous to the core--the absolute and tyrannical
control of temporal and civil affairs . . . .
The number of miners in the Territory are steadily and rapidly
increasing. With them, and to supply their wants, merchants and traders are
flocking into Great Salt Lake City, which, by its activity, increased number
of Gentile stores and workshops, and the appearance of its thronged and busy
streets, presents a most remarkable contrast to the Salt Lake of one year ago
....
This policy on my part, if not at first understood, is now more fully
appreciated in its startling effect by Brigham Young and his coterie. His
every effort having proved unequal to the task of checking the transformation
. . . he and his Apostles have grown desperate . . . . Hence he and his chief
men make their tabernacles and places of worship resound each Sabbath with the
most outrageous abuse of all that pertains to the Government and the Union.
(7)
In common with other church authorities, John Taylor met this threat
by exhorting the Saints to keep apart. from the Gentiles, and unspotted
by the outside world.
We did not come here to copy after anything that exists in the world. We
had no such idea or intention. . . . When men come among us, we should be very
sorry indeed if they found us to be like the world. We are not like them,
neither do we wish to be . . . .
A few days ago I came across a man by the name of Ivins, whose father
apostatized in Nauvoo. The son has been around the mines. I asked him who were
the best off--the people here, or those following mining pursuits? He [236]
said that we were a long way ahead of them. The reason is that we have not
been following a vague phantom; but we have been cultivating the earth. . . .
and the result is that most of us have our houses, gardens, farms, cattle and
sheep; . . . and my opinion is that no community in the world with
our number are so prosperous as the people of Utah. There are
places where there are richer men than you can find amongst us, but there are
great numbers steeped in poverty. Have we any among us who are crying
for bread? Can you find widows and orphans in our midst who are destitute?...
I know of none myself. Can such a state be found in any other country? I have
never met with it in any country where I have traveled. Why is this? Because
the Lord has taught us principles that prompted us to provide for all....
We do not, today, try to imitate any of the governments of the earth. We
do not admire their policy. We do not believe that their systems are correct.
We believe that they have the seeds of dissolution within themselves, that
they will eventually crumble to pieces . . . .
We have left the various churches and sects of the day, and infidel
associations of all kinds, . . . and have gathered here simply because we
believed they were all wrong. Hence, a man must be a fool to suppose that we
are like them, for we have a faith that is entirely different from theirs. Our
ideas, socially and morally, are entirely different from theirs, because ours
come from God, and they get theirs from the notions that exist among men . . .
.
We believe that God has spoken, . . . that He has revealed to us His
will; that He has restored the ancient gospel with all its fullness,
blessings, richness, power and glory . . . . We believe that the Spirit leads
into all truth; that it brings things past to their remembrance,
and shows them things to come; and in this respect we differ from the
religions of the world, for they have no such idea as this. They do not
believe it.
[237] We believe that the Lord has commenced to establish His kingdom on the
earth, and we look to Him for wisdom and intelligence in regard to all
matters, whether they be of a political, social, or moral nature. Hence, in
these respects, we differ very materially from the rest of the world . . . .
Our religion is more comprehensive than that of the world. It does not prompt
its votaries with the desire to "sit and sing themselves away to everlasting
bliss," but it embraces all the interests of humanity in every conceivable
phase, and every truth in the world comes within its scope.
The Lord is making a great experiment, and we are trying to help Him.
Through the instrumentality of His servants, He has inaugurated the greatest
work ever commenced on earth. We are taking a stand to revolutionize the ideas
of ages, to overcome the fallacies of centuries, and to root out and destroy
the corruptions of past generations by introducing the law of the most high
God. . . . We believe that God has spoken, that the heavens have opened, that
holy angels have appeared, that the truths of God, which for ages have
slumbered, have again burst forth upon us, and that man, once more, is brought
into communion with his Maker. We have laid aside our religious dogmas,
theories, follies, and nonsense, and we have one faith, one Lord, one baptism,
one hope in our calling, one idea in relation to what we were, what we are,
and what we are going to be . . . . Like Moses' serpent, which swallowed up
all other serpents, Mormonism has banished all our preconceived notions of
religion, and has made us one . . . .
In political matters we are pretty well united. At our elections we
generally vote as a unit. This, we know, is contrary to the general custom,
and because we do not disagree and contend as in the world do, they
say that we are wrong. If we had intended to do as they do, we should not have
left them. We have long ago weighed them in the balance and found them
wanting. We have no desire to be affiliated with them; but in politics as in
[238] everything else we want to know the will of God, and then to do it . . .
.
Well, then, we are not concerned about what the nations of the world can
do against it, for they will crumble and totter, and thrones will be cast
down, as it is written in the Scriptures . . . . This is not our affair. They
are not our nations; they are not God's nations . . . . Our interest is not
bound up with them. They have nothing which we can sustain. In relation to all
these matters we feel perfectly easy. If war goes forth and desolates the
nations; if confusion exists among religious denominations, and if they should
continue to act as they are doing, like perfect fools, it is none of our
business . . . .
But what would you do if the United States were to being up an army
against you on account of polygamy, or on account of any other religious
subject? We would trust in God: as we always have done. Would you have no
fears? None. All the fears that I am troubled with is that this people will
not do right--that they will not keep the commandments of God. If we will only
faithfully live our religion, we fear no earthly power. (8)
Leonora Cannon, Taylor's first wife, died of pneumonia 9 December
1868. She had endured much for the gospel, but he was certain that her
rewards would be great in the hereafter.
Going through her journals, Taylor was swept back over events of the
35 years which he had shared with her.
"I had gone through all but death during his absence," Leonora wrote
when he returned from his first mission to England.
Lived in an old barrack room twenty feet square, with one small window,
the back door off, the hinges and [239] walls so open that a skunk came in
every night. One winter twice I found a large snake in the room. Naturally
nervous and timid, my sleep nearly left me. Twice when my children were sick
and I had a light in the middle of the night, drunken Indians came to the door
and there quarreled, some to get in and others keeping them back, and I alone
with three small children.
I had many privations and many mercies. I never saw one of Mr. Taylor's
relatives in my house the two years he was away. I was a stranger in a strange
land, without a friend or relative near me. My Heavenly Father, who has ever
watched over me, did not forsake me in the day of my adversity, but inclined
the hearts of my neighbors to be kind to me, for which I give Him thanks . . .
.
Leonora was with Taylor in the exodus from Nauvoo, as they left in
mid-winter for an unknown destination. On June 27, 1846, after arriving
at Council Bluffs, she wrote:
This day two years since poor Be. Joseph and Hyrum were murdered and
Father shot almost to death in Carthage Jail. Where shall we be, or how
situated, this time next year? The Lord only knows . . . .
July 6. We are now in the wilderness. Our property, which was worth ten
thousand dollars, is gone, all except the necessaries we have with us. We have
been obliged to sacrifice it to the mob. If the Lord will supply us with food
and raiment, I care nothing about what we have left.
Taylor smiled in memory of a scene at the time he prepared to leave
Winter Quarters for England.
July 29. Heard of Father's mission to England. Very stormy. Br. Pratt,
Hyde, Pierce and Little came to go with Father.
[240] July 30. Stormed dreadfully. Doc Richards and Br. Little slept in the
little tent. It blew down. The Doc got under the bed. The water found him
there. He and Br. Little walked about the camp with grandmother's old clothes
about them. It took a long time to gather up theirs again, all covered with
mud.
On September 31, with the husband gone, Leonora and her sister wives
went "over the river to gather grapes."
Camped all night. Then to Indian Village. Got some onions, potatoes,
apples. Box of raisins came from Father. I bought cakes and beer for the
girls. Drove to Council Point, took supper and remained all night. After
breakfast set off for the grapes. Found a great many. The cattle went off. I
went into the woods and prayed that they might be found. John
walked all day and could not find them. It was near sundown; he gave them up
and went to borrow a yoke of cattle to take the wagon to the Point. When he
was gone, I asked the girls to go with me into the woods to look for them. We
found them without any trouble. We returned with a barrel of grapes, a bag of
hops and very happy at having found the cattle. Got supper and went on about
four miles when it became dark. We lodged for the night on the prairie, when
John cut grass for the oxen. Next day we got our wheat and started home;
arrived there in the evening. Found all the children well, delighted to see us
again. Letter from Mr. Taylor. . . .
Memories . . . . Taylor treasured a passage in Leonora's journal
that summed up the sustaining faith which carried this gentle soul
through life's tribulations.
The Lord often led me by the way that I knew not, and in a path that I
naturally did not wish to go. Every sweet has its bitter. The way seemed to me
narrower every day. Without His almighty power to help me, I can-[241]not
walk. Unto Whom shall I go, or look for succor, but unto Thee, my Father and
only Friend?
(1) JD 7:369 and 10:257.
(2) MS 2:16.
(3) Deseret News, 10 July 1861.
(4) JD 10:274, 25 October 1863.
(5) JD 11:87.
(6) JD 11:216, 339, and 353.
(7) Letters of October 1863 and July 1864.
(8) JD 11:216, 339, and 353.
[242]
Chapter 15
THE MORMON QUESTION
"Taking it all in all," B. H. Roberts said of the Taylor-Colfax
debate, "this is doubtless the most important discussion in the history
of the Church." (1)
It began when U.S. Vice-President Schuyler Colfax visited Salt Lake
City in October, 1869, and made a rather unfriendly speech from the
portico of the Townsend House. John Taylor came to the defense of the
Saints through the nation's newspapers; Colfax replied in kind, and
Taylor again answered him.
"The great reputation of Mr. Colfax as a speaker and writer,"
Roberts said, "the fact that he had for many years been a member of
Congress and accustomed to debate, together with the high station he
occupied at the time of the discussion, gave to it a national importance.
It occurred, too, at a critical time in the history of the Church."
SPEECH OF VICE-PRESIDENT SCHUYLER COLFAX
As I stand before you tonight, my thoughts go back to the first view I
ever had of Salt Lake City, four years ago last June. After traveling . . .
over arid plains and alkali valleys and barren mountains day after day, our
stage coach emerged from a canyon one morning and we looked down upon your
city, covering miles in its area, with its gardens, green with fruit trees and
shrubbery, and the Jordan flashing in the sun beyond . . . . I felt indeed
that you had a right to regard it as a Palmyra in the desert . . . .
[243] I am gratified, too, that our present visit occurred at the same time
with your Territorial Fair, enabling us to witness your advance in the various
branches of industry. I was specially interested in the hours I spent there
yesterday, with some of your leading citizens, in your cotton manufactures
from the cotton you raise in southern Utah, your woolen manufactures, the silk
manufactures you have recently inaugurated, your leather and harness, the
porcelain, which was new to me, your furniture, your paintings and pictures,
the fancy work of the ladies, and the fruits and vegetables which "tell their
own story of the fertility of your soil. I rejoice over every indication of
progress and self-reliance . . . .
I have enjoyed the opportunity, also, of visiting your Tabernacle, . . .
the largest building in which religious services are held on the continent,
and of listening to your organ, constructed here, which in its mammoth size,
its volume of sound, and sweetness of tone, would compare favorably with any
in the largest cities of the Union.
Nor did I feel any the less interest in listening to your leading men, .
. . as they expounded and defended their faith and practice . . . . I listened
attentively, respectfully and courteously, to what failed to convince my mind;
and you will doubtless hear me with equal patience while I tell you frankly
wherein we differ.
But first let me say that I have no strictures to utter as to your creed
on any really religious question. Our land is the land of civil and religious
liberty, and the faith of every man is a matter between himself and God
alone.... And this right I would defend for you with as much zeal as the right
of every other denomination throughout the land. But our country is governed
by law, and no assumed revelation justifies anyone in trampling on the law. If
it did, every wrong-doer would use that argument to protect himself in his
disobedience to it.
[244] The Constitution declares, in the most emphatic language, that that
instrument and the laws made in conformity thereto, shall be the supreme law
of the land. Whether liked or disliked, they bind the forty millions of people
who are subject to that supreme law. If anyone condemns them as
unconstitutional, the courts of the United States are open, before which they
can test the question. But, till they are decided to be in conflict with the
Constitution, they are binding upon you in Utah as they are on me in the
District of Columbia, or on the citizens of Idaho or Montana.
Let me refer now to the law of 1862, against which you especially
complain, and which you denounce Congress for enacting. It is obeyed in the
other Territories of the United States, or if disobeyed its violation is
punished. It is not obeyed here, and though you often speak of the
persecutions to which you were subject in the earlier years of your church,
you cannot but acknowledge that the conduct of the government and the people
of the United States towards you, in your later years, has been one of
toleration, which you could not have realized in any of the civilized nations
of the world.
I do not concede that the institution you have established here, and
which is condemned by the law, is a question of religion. But to you who do
claim it as such, I reply, that the law you denounce only re-enacts the
original prohibitions of your own Book of Mormon on its 118th page, and your
Book of Doctrine and Covenants, in its chapter on marriage; and these are the
inspired records, as you claim them, on which your church is organized . . . .
The Book of Doctrine and Covenants in its chapter on marriage declares
that as the Mormon church has been charged with the crimes of fornication and
polygamy, it is avowed as the law of the church that a man shall have but one
wife, and a woman but one husband, till death shall part them.
[245] I know you claim that a subsequent revelation . . . gives you the right
to turn your back on your old faith and disobey the law; you would not
yourselves tolerate others in assuming, rights for themselves under
revelations they might claim to have received, or under religions they might
profess. The Hindoos claim, as part of their religion, the right, to burn
widows with the dead bodies of their husbands. If they were to attempt it
here, . . . you would prevent it . . . .
Colfax cited the regulation of saloons and bone-boiling
establishments as examples of restraints for the common good.
I might use other illustrations, . . . but I have adduced sufficient to
justify Congress in an enactment they deemed wise for the whole people for
whom they legislated . . . .
One thing I must allude to, personal to myself. The papers have published
a discourse delivered last April by your highest ecclesiastical authority,
which stated that the President and Vice-President of the United States were
both gamblers and drunkards. (Voices in the crowd, "He did not say so.") I had
not heard before that it was denied; but I am glad to hear the denial now . .
. . I only wish to state publicly in this city . . . that it was utterly
untrue as to President Grant, and as to myself, that I have never gambled to
the value of a farthing, and have been a total abstainer all the years of my
manhood. However, I may differ on political questions, . . . no one has ever
truthfully assailed my character. I have valued a good character far more than
a political reputation or official honors, and wish to preserve it unspotted
while life shall last. (2)
In closing, Colfax made reference to the recent formation of ZCMI,
organized as a Mormon cooperative to boycott Gentile trade.
[246] A few more words and I must conclude. When our party visited you four
years ago, we all believed that . . . your city might become the great city of
the interior. But you must allow me to say that you do not seem to have
improved these opportunities as you might have done . . . . You should
encourage, and not discourage, competition in trade. You should welcome, and
not repel, investments from abroad. You should discourage every effort to
drive capital from your midst. You should rejoice at the opening of every new
store, or factory, or mechanic shop, by whomsoever conducted. You should seek
to widen the area of country dependent on your city for supplies. You should
realize that wealth will come to you only by development, by unfettered
competition, by increased capital.
Here I must close. I have spoken to you, face to face, frankly,
truthfully, fearlessly. I have said nothing but for your own good . . . .
John Taylor was in Boston at the time, together with Bishop, John
Sharp and Brigham Young's son, Joseph A., to settle construction
contracts with officials of the Union Pacific Railroad.
Taylor's reply to Colfax was published in the New York Tribune, and
widely reprinted throughout the nation.
TAYLOR'S REPLY TO COLFAX
American House, Boston, Mass.
October 20, 1869
. . . I have read with a great deal of interest the speech of the Hon.
Schuyler Colfax, . . . as reported in the Springfield Republican. . . .
Mr. Colfax remarks: "I have no stricture to offer as to your creeds on
any really religious question . . . . But our country is governed by law and
no assumed revelation [247] justifies anyone in trampling on the law." At
first sight this reasoning is very plausible; . . . but with all due deference
permit me to examine these words and their import.
That our country is governed by law we all admit; but when it is said
that "no assumed revelation justifies anyone in trampling on the law," I
should respectfully ask, What? --not if it interferes with my religious faith,
which you state "is a matter between God and myself alone?" Allow me, sir,
here to state that the assumed revelation referred to is one of the most vital
parts of our religious faith; it emanated from God and cannot be legislated
away. It is part of the "Everlasting Covenant" which God has given to man. Our
marriages are solemnized by proper authority; a woman is sealed unto a man for
time and for eternity, by the power of which Jesus speaks, which "seals on
earth as it is sealed in heaven." With us it is "Celestial marriage." Take
that from us and you rob us of our hopes and associations in the resurrection
of the just.
This is not religion? You do not see things as we do. You marry for time
only, "until death does you part." We have eternal covenants, eternal unions,
eternal associations. . . . I make these remarks to show that it is
considered, by us, a part of our religious faith, which I have no doubt--did
you understand it as we do--you would defend, as you state, "with as much zeal
as the right of every other denomination throughout the land."
Permit me here to say, however, that it was the revelation (I will not
say assumed) that Joseph and Mary had, which made them look upon Jesus as the
Messiah; which made them flee from the wrath of Herod, who was seeking the
young child's life. This they did in contravention of the law, which was his
decree. Did they do wrong in protecting Jesus from the law? But Herod was a
tyrant. That makes no difference. It was the law of the land, and I have yet
to learn the difference between a tyrannical king and a tyrannical Congress .
. . . Now, I am [248] not sufficiently versed in metaphysics to discover the
difference in its effects between the asp of Cleopatra, the dagger of Brutus,
the chalice of Lucretia Borgia, or the bullet or sabre of an American soldier
....
Whose rights have we interfered with? Whose property have we taken? Whose
religious or political faith or rights have been curtailed by us? None . . . .
I wish we could say the same of others. I hope we shall not be condemned for
crimes we are expected to commit. It will be time enough to atone for them
when done.
We do acknowledge having lately started co-operative stores. Is this
anything new in England, Germany, France or the United States? We think we
have a right, as well as others, to buy or sell of, and to whom, we please. We
do not interfere with others in selling, if they can get customers. We have
commenced to deal with our friends....
But permit me here to return to the religious part of our investigations;
for if our doctrines are religious, then it is confessed that Congress has no
jurisdiction in this case and the argument is at an end. . . . I do not think
that Mr. Colfax had carefully digested the subject when he said, "I do not
concede that the institution you have established here, and which is condemned
by law, is a question of religion."
Are we to understand by this that Mr. Colfax is created an umpire to
decide upon what is religion and what is not, upon what is true religion and
what is false? If so, by whom and what authority is he created judge?...
According to this theory, no persons ever were persecuted for their
religion . . . . Could anyone suppose that that erudite, venerable, and
profoundly learned body of men--the great Sanhedrin of the Jews--or that those
holy men, the chief priests, scribes and pharisees, would persecute anybody
for religion? Jesus was put to death, not for his religion, but because he was
a blasphemer;... [249] because he, being a carpenter's son, and known among
them as such, declared himself the Son of God. So they said, and they were the
then judges. Could anyone be more horrified than those Jews at such
pretensions? His disciples were persecuted, proscribed and put to death, not
for their religion but because they "were pestilent fellows and stirrers up of
sedition," and because they believed in an "assumed revelation" concerning
"one Jesus, who was put to death, and who, they said, had risen again." It.
was for false pretensions and lack of religion that they were persecuted.
Their religion was not like that of the Jews; ours, not like that of Mr.
Colfax.
Loyola did not invent and put into use the faggot, the flame, the sword,
the thumbscrews, the rack and ribbet to persecute anybody; it was to purify
the Church of heretics, as others would purify Utah . . . . The nonconformists
of England and Holland, the Hugenots of France and the Scottish
non-covenanters were not persecuted or put to death for their religion; it was
for being schismatics, turbulent and unbelievers.
Talk of religion, what horrid things have not been perpetrated in its
name! All of the above claimed that they were persecuted for their religion.
All of the persecutors, as Mr. Colfax said about us, did "not concede that the
institution they had established, which was condemned by the law, was
religious . . . ."
You say we complain of persecution. Have we not cause to do it? Can we
call our treatment by a milder term? Was it benevolence that robbed, pillaged
and drove thousands of men, women and children from Missouri? Was it Christian
philanthropy that, after mobbing, plundering and ravaging a whole community,
drove them from Illinois into the wilderness among savages? . . . Of course we
did not suffer. "Religious fanatics" cannot feel. Like the eels the fishwoman
was skinning, "we have got used to it. . . ."
Is it wrong to call this persecution? We have learned to our cost that
"the king can do no wrong." Excuse me, [250] sir, if I speak warmly. This
people have labored under accumulated wrongs for upwards of thirty years past,
still unacknowledged and unredressed . . . .
Let me inquire into the law itself, enacted in 1862. The revelation on
polygamy was given in 1843, nineteen years before the passage of the
Congressional act. . . . (3) Now, who does not know that the law of 1862 in
relation to polygamy was passed on purpose to interfere with our religious
faith? . . . This law, in its inception, progress and passage, was intended to
bring us into collision with the United States, that a pretext might be found
for our ruin. These are facts that no honest man will controvert . . . .
But we are graciously told that we have our appeal. True, we have an
appeal. So had the Hebrew mothers to Pharaoh; so had Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar;
so had Jesus to Herod; so had Caesar to Brutus; so had those sufferers on the
rack to Loyola; so had the Waldenses and the Albigenses to the Pope; so had
the Quakers and Baptists of New England to the Puritans . . . .
But these things were done in barbarous ages. Do not let us, then, who
boast of our civilization, follow their examples; let us be more just, more
generous, more forbearing, more magnanimous. We are told that we are living in
a more enlightened age. Our morals are more pure (?), our ideas more refined
and enlarged, our institutions more liberal. "Ours," says Mr. Colfax, "is a
land of civil and religious liberty, and the faith of every man is a matter
between himself and God alone"--providing God don't shock our moral ideas by
introducing something that we don't believe in. If He does, let Him look out.
We won't persecute--very far be that from us--but we will make
platforms, pass Congressional laws and make you submit to them. We may, it is
true, have to send out an army, and shed the blood of many; but what of that?
It is so much more pleasant to be proscribed and killed according to the laws
of the Great Republic, in the "asylum of the oppressed," than to perish
ignobly by the [251] decree of kings, through their miserable minions, in the
barbaric ages . . . .
Let me ask here respectfully with all sincerity: is there not plenty of
scope for the action of government at home? What of your gambling halls? What
of your gold rings, your whiskey rings, your railroad rings, manipulated
through the lobby into your Congressional rings? What of that great moral
curse of the land, that great institution of monogamy--prostitution? What of
its twin sister--infanticide? I speak to you as a friend. Know ye not that
these seething infamies are corrupting and destroying your people? and that
like the plague they are permeating your whole social system? that from your
gilded palaces to your most filthy purlieus, they are festering and stewing
and rotting? What of the thirty thousand prostitutes of New York City and the
proportionate numbers in other cities, towns and villages, and their
multitudinous pimps and paramours, who are, of course, all--all--honorable
men! Here is ample room for the Christian, the philanthropist, and the
statesman. Would it not be. Well to cleanse your own Augean stables?
This "bonehouse," this "powder magazine," is not in Salt Lake City, a
thousand miles from your frontier. It is in your own cities and towns,
villages and homes. It carouses in your secret chambers, and flaunts in the
public highways; it meets you in every corner, and besets you in every
condition. Your infirmaries and hospitals are reeking with it; your sons and
daughters, your wives and husbands, are degraded by it. . . .
Ye American Statesmen, will you allow this demon to run riot in the land,
and while you are speculating about a little political capital to be made out
of Utah, allow your nation to be destroyed? . . . We can teach you a lesson on
this matter, polygamists as we are. You acknowledge one wife and her children;
what of your other associations unacknowledged? We acknowledge and maintain
all our wives and all of our children . . . . We have no gambling halls, no
drunkenness, no infanticide, no houses of [252] assignation, no prostitutes.
Our wives are not afraid of our intrigues and debauchery; nor are our wives
and daughters corrupted by designing and unprincipled villians. We believe in
the chastity and virtue of women, and maintain them. There is not, today, in
the wide world a place where female honor, virtue and chastity are so well
protected as in Utah . . . .
You may say it is not against your purity that we contend, but against
polygamy, which we consider a crying evil. Be it so, why then, if your system
is so much better, does it not bring forth better fruits? . . . Is it too much
to say, "Take the beam out of thine own eye and then shalt thou see clearly to
remove the mote that is in thy brother's?"
Colfax spent six weeks preparing a reply. When it appeared in the
New York Independent, the grasp of Mormon history and doctrine indicated
that the Vice-President had written it with apostate help. A dissident
group of intellectuals, the Godbeites, had recently separated from the
church, and some of them were known to have had the ear of Colfax.
Perhaps Edward Tullidge or Taylor's former associate on The Mormon,
T.B.H. Stenhouse, had helped in writing the Vice-President's article.
RESPONSE FROM COLFAX
The demands of the people of Utah Territory for immediate admission into
the Union as a State . . . compels the nation to meet face to face a question
it has apparently endeavored to ignore . . . . The discussion of this question
. . . will embrace in its scope the present condition of that people, and
whether Congress owes any duty whatever to its insulted laws, to the officers
charged with their execution and to the law-abiding people
resident within the limits of the Territory.
[253] The remarkable conversation between Brigham Young and Senator Trumbull
must still be fresh in the popular mind. In it the former person threatened,
if the officers of the United States acted objectionably to him, he would
eject them from the Territory. (4) And the recent expulsion of prominent
members of his church for doubting his infallibility, proves
that he regards his power as equal to any emergency, and has a will equal to
his power.
I propose in this article to examine, in the light of history, some
phases of the Mormon question, treating of those especially which are the
favorite themes of the Mormon leaders.
I. Their Fertilizing the Desert.
For this they claim great credit; and I would not detract one iota from
all they are legitimately entitled to. It was a desert when they first
emigrated thither. They have made large portions of it fruitful and
productive, and their chief city is beautiful in location and attractive in
its gardens and shrubbery. But the solution of it all is in one word--WATER.
What seemed to the eye a desert became fruitful when irrigated; and the
mountains whose crests are clothed in perpetual snow furnished, in unfailing
supplies of their ravines, the necessary fertilizer . . . .
II. Their Persecutions.
This also is one of their favorite themes. Constantly it is reiterated .
. . . They have been driven from place to place, they claim, solely on account
of their religious belief. . . . My object, by this historical retrospect, is
to show that they were not driven from any region on account of hostility to
their religion, as they so persistently assert . . . .
Their first removal was in 1831, to Kirtland, Ohio, which they declared
was revealed to them as the site of the New Jerusalem. . . . A bank was
established there by [254] them; large quantities of bills of doubtful value
issued; and, growing out of charges of fraudulent dealing, Smith and Rigdon
were tarred and feathered in 1832 . . . .
In January 1838, the bank failed; and, to avoid arrest for fraud, the
leaders fled in the night to Missouri. Their followers joined them there, and
were soon accused by the people of "plundering and burning habitations, and of
secret assassinations." Nor do these charges against them rest on the
testimony of those who had not been of their own faith. In October 1838, T. B.
Marsh, ex-President of the Twelve Apostles, and Orson Hyde, one of the
Apostles, made affidavits in which Marsh swore, and Hyde corroborated it
. . . . (5)
The governor of Missouri gives the reasons for their expulsion as follows:
"These people had violated the laws of the land, by open and armed
resistance to them; they had instituted among themselves a government of their
own, independent of, and in opposition to, the Government of this State; they
had, at an inclement season of the year, driven the inhabitants of an entire
county from their homes, ravaged their crops and destroyed their dwellings."
There is nothing as to their religion here . . . .
In Nauvoo they remained until 1846. The disturbance which finally caused
them to leave that city was not in consequence of their religious creed.
Foster and Law . . . renounced the faith and established an anti-Mormon paper
at Nauvoo, called the Expositor. In May 1844, the prophet and a party of his
followers . . . attacked the office, tore it down, and destroyed the presses.
The proprietors fled for their lives to Carthage, the county seat, and
obtained warrants for Joseph and Hyrum Smith . . . were taken to the
county jail at Carthage. . . . murdered the prisoners. It was
murder, and nothing else,... but the origin of this tragedy can be traced
directly to [255] the illegal mobbing of a free press for daring to publicly
denounce Mormonism and its practices . . . .
I may briefly . . . trace the history of their collisions in their
present region with the general government. In September 1850, President
Fillmore appointed Brigham Young . . . as Governor. The next year the Federal
Judges were compelled by Brigham Young's threats of violence to flee from the
Territory, and the laws of the United States were openly defied . . . . Most
of the civil officers of the Territory . . . were harassed and threatened as
their predecessors had been. In February 1857, a mob of armed Mormons,
instigated by sermons from the heads of the Church, broke into the United
States Courtroom, and at the point of the bowie-knife compelled Judge Drummond
to adjourn his court sine-die; and very soon all of the United States
officers, except the Indian agent, were compelled to flee from the Territory.
President Buchanan now determined to supersede Brigham Young as Governor,
effectually. In 1857 he appointed Alfred Cumming Governor, and Judge Eckles,
of Indiana, Chief Justice, and sent them to Utah, with a force of 2,500
soldiers to protect them and to compel obedience to the law. Brigham Young
issued a proclamation denouncing the army as a mob, forbidding it to enter the
Territory, and calling the people to arms to repel its advance. They fortified
Echo Canyon, . . . and a party of mounted Mormons commenced the war by
attacking and destroying several of the supply trains, and cutting off from
the rear of the army . . . 800 United States oxen..,.. In the spring of 1858 .
. . the troops encamped forty miles from the city and remained there till
1860, when they were withdrawn.
This sketch is not colored by any views of my own. I have simply drawn it
from history, nothing extenuating nor setting down aught in malice. But the
reader will fail to find in it any of what they call their "persecutions"
sprang from their peculiar religious faith.
[256]
III. Their Polygamy.
In their Mormon Bible . . . polygamy is denounced as the wickedest of
crimes . . . . I need not repeat the argument of the Josephites (the
anti-polygamy Mormons) that, if God did declare polygamy abominable . . . he
could not possibly make a revelation afterwards commanding it. Suffice to say,
the Mormons claim that he did; . . . and on that assumed revelation of 1843
they justify its practice, and their defiance of the law of the United States
....
I propose to inquire whether a revelation of this kind vindicates them in
defying the law of the United States upon the subject.
Colfax spent considerable time quibbling, about John Taylor's answer
to his speech at the Townsend House, repeating that "threats and abuse"
awaited those "daring to speak against polygamy" in Utah, and that "Godbe
and others were expelled from the church for doubting the infallibility
of Brigham Young." Colfax also dealt at length with the British
extirpation of the Suttee in India--the burning of widows--despite "the
Brahmins denouncing it with great violence (as the Mormons denounce our
anti-polygamy law of 1862) as an `interference with their religion.'"
I come now to another one of Apostle Taylor's arguments, a favorite and
daily argument with all Mormon preachers: "Let us here," he says,
"respectfully ask, is there not plenty of scope for the action of the
government at home? . . . What of that great moral curse of the land--that
great institution of monogamy--prostitution? What of its twin-sister,
infanticide? We can teach you a lesson, polygamists as we are . . . ."
[257] I prefer to meet this argument on the main point squarely. The "Great
moral curse of the land," as he calls it, is . . . everywhere banned by the
law, banned by public opinion, banned by religion, banned by morality; and
exists, where it does exist, in defiance of all; while the great bulk, the
overwhelming proportion of the people, live faithful, as our first parents
did, one husband with one wife . . . .
In Utah, "religion" teaches them that a man may take as one of his wives
his half sister, the offspring of his own mother. "Religion" tells them that
it is right and fitting that the daughters of his own brothers and sisters may
be made the mothers of his children. "Religion" assures them that a man may
take a mother and all her daughters into the sacred companionship of wifehood
together. . . . Need I pursue the argument further? . . .
IV. Is Utah Within the United States?
Here only, in the whole civilized world, are practices like those I have
referred to tolerated. Here only, in the nation, are the laws of the United
States openly ignored and defied. Here only, from ocean to ocean, dare any man
proclaim that, as he has done before, he will drive out the officers of the
Republic if they perform their duties objectionably to him . . . . The Mormons
claim the benefit of every law they see fit to approve--homestead,
naturalization, protection of property by courts and Government, legislative
and judicial offices in their Territory, etc.--and trample underfoot such
other laws of the Government . . . as they see fit to reject. It is time to
understand whether the authority of the nation or the authority of Brigham
Young is the supreme power in Utah; whether the laws of the United States or
the laws of the Mormon Church have precedence within its limits . . . .
"To this second production," Roberts said of the Colfax article,
"Elder Taylor made an elaborate and masterly reply that was quite as
extensively published in the [258] east as was the Vice-President's
article. He followed his opponent through all his meanderings in dealing
with the Mormon question; he corrected his errors, reproved his blunders,
answered his arguments, laughed at his folly."
RESPONSE FROM TAYLOR
I am sure will excuse me for standing up in defense of what
I know to be a traduced and injured people. I would not accuse the gentleman
of misrepresentation. I cannot help knowing, however, that he is misinformed .
...
He states that "The demand of the people of Utah Territory for immediate
admission into the Union, as a State, . . . compels the nation to meet face to
face a question which it has apparently endeavored to ignore." Is there
anything remarkable in a Territory applying for admission into the Union? Why
should Utah be the exception? Since her application, California,
Nevada, Kansas, Minnesota, Oregon and Nebraska have been admitted. And why
should Congress, as Mr. Colfax says, "Endeavor to ignore Utah?" Why should it
be so difficult a question to "meet face to face? . . ."
Something was said about United States officers. I am sorry to say that
many . . . may indeed be satraps and require homage and obeisance; but we have
yet to learn how to bow the knee. . . . Some remarkable conversation was had
between Brigham Young and Senator Trumbull. Now, as I did not happen to hear
this conversation, I cannot say what it was . . . . Brigham Young does not
generally speak even to a United States Senator with honeyed words and
measured sentences, but as an ingenuous and honest man.
[259] But we are told "the recent expulsion of prominent members of his
church for doubting his infallibility . . . ." I am sorry to have to say that
Mr. Colfax is mistaken here. No person was ever dismissed from the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for disbelieving in the infallibility of
President Young. I do not believe he is infallible, for one; and I have so
taught publicly. I am in the Church yet. Neither have I ever heard President
Young make any such pretensions."
Taylor took up in order the four major points of Colfax's argument:
I. Their Fertilizing of the Desert.
"For this they claim great credit, but the solution of it all is in one
word--water."
Water! Mirabile dictu! Here I must help Mr. C. out. This wonderful little
water nymph, after playing with the clouds . . . for generations, . . . about
the time the Mormons came here took upon herself to perform a great miracle,
and, descending to the valley, with a wave of her magic wand . . cities and
streets were laid out, crystal waters flowed in ten thousand rippling streams,
fruit trees and shrubbery sprang up, gardens and orchards abounded, cottages
and mansions were organized, and the desert blossomed as the rose . . . .
But to be serious, did water tunnel through our mountains, construct
dams, canals and ditches, lay out our cities and towns, import and plant
choice fruit trees, shrubs and flowers, . . . and transform a howling
wilderness into a fruitful field and garden? . . . Unfortunately for Mr.
Colfax, it was Mormon polygamists who did it.... What if a stranger on gazing
upon the statuary in Washington and our magnificent Capitol. . . . would
announce that instead of the development of art, intelligence, industry and
enterprise, its component parts were simply stone, mortar, and wood? . . .
[260]
II. Their Persecutions.
"This also is one of their favorite themes . . . . They have been driven
from place to place, they claim, solely on account of their religious belief .
. . ."
This, sir, is all true. Does it falsify a truth to repeat it?
Regarding troubles at Kirtland, Taylor pointed out that "Smith and
Rigdon were tarred and feathered in March 1832, in Hiram, Portage
County." This had nothing to do with the bank's operations, for the bank
wasn't organized until 1836.
But did the bank fail? Yes, in 1837 in the great financial crisis; and so
did most of the banks in the United States, in Canada, a great many in
England, France, and other parts of Europe. Is it so much more criminal for
the Mormons to make a failure than the others?
Regarding Danite activities, Taylor flatly contradicted the
affidavits of Marsh and Hyde.
It is not true that these things existed, for I was there and knew to the
contrary . . . . (6)
I cannot defend the acts of Thomas B. Marsh or Orson Hyde--although the
latter had been laboring under a severe fever, and was at the time only just
recovering--no more than I could defend the acts of Peter when he cursed and
swore and denied Jesus . . . . but if Peter, after going out and "weeping
bitterly," was restored, and was afterwards a chief apostle, so did Orson Hyde
repent sincerely and weep bitterly, and was restored . . . .
Thomas B. Marsh returned a poor, broken-down man, and begged to live with
us. He got up before assembled [261] thousands and stated: "If you wish to see
the effect of apostacy, look at me." He was a poor wreck of a man, a helpless
drivelling child, and he is since dead. A people are not to be judged by such
acts as these.
As to the message of the governor of Missouri regarding Mormon
aggression, Taylor said, "Now, if the Governor had reversed his statement
it would have been true."
Mr. Governor, it was your bull that gored our ox. We were robbed,
pillaged and exiled. Were you? Our men, women and children were murdered
without redress, driven from their homes in an inclement season of the year,
and died by the hundreds . . . in consequence of hardships and exposure. . . .
Mr. Colfax, in summing up, says, "There is nothing in this as to their
religion." Read the following:
Tuesday, November 6th, 1838, General Clark made the following remarks to
a number of men in Far West, Mo:
"Gentlemen, . . . another article remains for you to comply with: that
is, that you leave the state forthwith, and whatever may be your feelings
concerning this, or whatever your innocence, is nothing to me. The orders of
the Governor to me were that you should be exterminated. I would advise you to
scatter abroad and never again organize yourselves with bishops, presidents,
etc., lest you excite the jealousies of the people."
Is not this persecution for religion?
Taylor termed the Nauvoo Expositor "an infamous sheet, containing
vile and libelous attacks," which "would not have been allowed to exist
in any other community a day."
[262] A warrant was issued for the arrest of Joseph and Hyrum Smith, for
treason. They were remanded to jail, and while there were murdered. . . by men
with blackened faces. . . . The guard helped them in the performance of their
fiendish act. I saw them, for I was there at the time. I could a tale unfold
that would implicate editors, officers military and civil, ministers of the
gospel, and other wolves in sheep's clothing.
The following will show in part what our position was:
"A proclamation to the citizens of Hancock County: Whereas, a mob of from
one to two hundred men, under arms, have gathered themselves together in the
southwest part of Hancock County, and are at this time destroying the
dwellings and other buildings, stacks of grain and other property of a portion
of our citizens in a most inhuman manner . . . . The rioters spare not the
widow nor orphan, and while I am writing this proclamation, the smoke is
arising to the clouds, and the flame is devouring four buildings which have
just been set on fire by the rioters. Thousands of dollars worth of property
has already been consumed, an entire settlement of about sixty or seventy
families laid waste, the inhabitants thereof are fired upon, narrowly escaping
with their lives, and forced to flee before the ravages of the mob. Therefore,
I . . . command said rioters and other peace breakers to desist, forthwith,
and I hereby call upon the law-abiding citizens, as a posse commitatus of
Hancock County, to give their united aid in suppressing the rioters and
maintaining the supremacy of the law.
"J. B. Backenstos, Sheriff of Hancock County, Ill."
Mr. Backenstos was not a Mormon.
We set out in search of an asylum, in some far-off wilderness, where we
hoped we could enjoy religious liberty. . . . because there was not virtue and
power in the State and United States authorities to protect . . . [263]
rights. We made a treaty with them to leave. After this treaty, when the
strong men and the majority of the people had left, and there was nothing
but old and infirm men, boys, women and children to
battle with, they violated their treaty by making war upon them, and driving
them houseless, homeless, and destitute across the Mississippi River.
The archaeologist, the antiquarian, and traveler need not then have gone
to Herculaneium, to Pompeii, to Egypt or Yucatan, in search of ruins of
deserted cities. They could have found a deserted temple, forsaken family
altars, desolate hearthstones and homes, a deserted city much easier: the
time, the nineteenth century; the place, the United States of America; the
state, Illinois; and the city, Nauvoo.
Taylor denied the Colfax account of events leading to the Utah War.
He added:
There was really no more cause for an army, then than there is now; . . .
and the bills of Messrs Cragin and Cullom are only a series of the same
infamies that we have before experienced, and are designed, as all unbiased
men know, to create a difficulty and collision, aided by the clamor of
speculators and contractors, who have, of course, a very disinterested desire
to relieve their venerated uncle by thrusting their patriotic hands into his
pockets. (7)
I am sorry to be under the painful necessity of repudiating Mr. Colfax's
history.
It is said that "corporations have no souls," and nations are not
proverbially conscientious about their nomenclature or records. Diplomacy
generally finds language suited to its objects . . . . When President Polk
wanted to possess himself of the then Mexican territory of Upper California,
he sent Gen. Taylor with an army of occupation into disputed Mexican
territory, well knowing that an honorable nation would be obliged to resent it
as [264] an insult, and that would be considered a casus belli and afford a
pretext for making war upon the weak nation, and possessing ourselves of the
coveted territory. History calls it conquest and reprisals . . . .
President Buchanan, goaded by the Republicans, wished to . . . make war
upon the Mormons; but it was necessary to have a pretext. It would not have
been popular to destroy a whole community in cold blood, so he sent out a few
miserable minions and renegadoes for the purpose of provoking a conflict.
These men not only acted infamously here, but published false statements
throughout the United States, and every kind of infamy--as is now being done
by just such characters--was laid at the door of the Mormons. . . .
But in place of the "Beauty and booty" expected by the invading
army, Taylor said:
The Lord put a hook in their jaws, and instead of reveling in sacked
towns and cities and glutting their libidinous and riotous desires in
ravishing, destroying and laying waste, they gnawed dead mules' legs at
Bridger, rendered palatable by the ice, frost and snow of a mountain winter, .
. . at a cost to the nation of about forty millions. We had reason to say
then, "The Lord reign, let the earth be glad."
Oh, how wicked it was for President Young to resist an army like the
above, prostituted by the guardians of a free and enlightened Republic to the
capacity of buccaneers and brigands!
In the spring rumors prevailed of an intended advance of the army.
Preferring compromise to conflict, we left Salt Lake City and the northern
part of the Territory en masse, . . . after first preparing combustible
materials and leaving a sufficient number of men . . . to destroy everything.
Had we been driven to it, . . . every house would have been burned; . . .
every barn, grain and hay stack; every meeting house, courthouse and store
demolished; [265] every fruit tree and shrub would have been cut down; every
fence burned, and the country would have been left a howling wilderness as we
found it. We were determined that never again should our enemies revel in our
possessions.
I now come to Mr. Colfax's next heading:
III. Their Polygamy.
As this is simply a rehash of his former arguments, without answering
mine, I beg to be excused inserting his very lengthy quotations, as this
article is already too long. . . . (8)
Mr. C. again repeats his argument in relation to the suttee, or burning
of widows in India . . . . To present Mr. Colfax's argument fairly, it stands
thus: The burning of Hindoo widows was considered a religious rite by the
Hindoos. The British were horrified at the practice, and suppressed it. The
Mormons believe polygamy to be a religious rite. The American nation considers
it a scandal and that they ought to put it down . . . I think that is a fair
statement of the question . . . .
Hold! Not so fast. Let us state facts . . . . The British suppressed the
suttee, but tolerated eighty-three millions of polygamists in India. The
suppression of the suttee and that of polygamy are two very different things.
If the British are to be our exemplars, Congress had better wait until
polygamy is suppressed in India.
Having "waded through Mr. Colfax's charges and proven the falsity of
his asserts and the tergiversation of his historical data," Taylor
launched again into denunciation of prostitution, foeticide and
infanticide, as threatening "the demoralization and destruction of our
race."
[266] Your bans are but a mockery and fraud, as are your New England
temperance laws. Your law reaches one in a thousand who is so unfortunate as
to be publicly exposed. These crimes . . . run riot in the land, a withering,
cursing blight. The affected purity of the nation is a myth, like the whited
walls and painted sepulchers of which Jesus spake, "within there is nothing
but rottenness and dead men's bones. . . ." You are virtuous, are you? God
deliver us from such virtue.
To a Territory out of debt, prosperous, free from vice and crime,
"What are we offered by you in your proposed legislation?" Taylor asked,
"for it is well for us to count the cost."
First--, confiscation of property, our
lands, houses, gardens, fields, vineyards and orchards legislated away by men
who have no property--carpetbaggers, pettifoggers, adventurers, robbers--for
you offer, by your bills, a premium for fraud and robbery. The first robs us
of our property and leaves us the privilege, though dispoiled, of retaining
our honor and of worshipping God according to the dictates of our own
conscience.
Now for the second--the great privilege which you offer by obedience:
Loss of honor and self-respect; a renunciation of God and our religion; the
prostitution of our wives and children to a level with your civilization; to
be cursed by your debauchery; to be forced to countenance infanticide in our
midst, and have your professional artists advertizing their dens of murder
among us; to swarm, as you do, with pimps and harlots and their paramours; to
have gambling, drunkenness, whoredom, and all the pestiferous effects of
debauchery; to be involved in debt and crime, forced upon us; to despise
ourselves; to be despised by our wives, children, and friends; and to be
despised and cursed of God, in time and in eternity.
This you offer us . . . . We have, and prefer, purity, honor, and a clear
conscience. And our motto today is, as [267] it ever has been and I hope ever
will be, "the Kingdom of God or nothing." (9)
Colfax was allied with the Gentile "ring," dedicated to political
and economic control of Utah. However, two years later his influence
suddenly was curtailed when the world learned that the public image of
piety of the Vice-President was indeed too good to be true. "Smiler"
Colfax was found guilty of accepting bribes to influence legislation.
Though he avoided impeachment--by the narrow margin of three votes--it
was on the technicality that his bribery had occurred when he was a
Congressman, before he became Vice-President. "These charges of
corruption," Roberts, says in the CHC, followed him "to the close of his
life."
(1) Life of John Taylor.
(2) A Gentile paper quoted Brigham Young as saying, "Who goes to the
White House these days? A gambler and a drunkard. And the Vice-President
is the same." (Salt Lake Daily Reporter, 10 April 1869.)
President Grant's weakness for the bottle was well known. As for
Schuyler Colfax, he evidently was protesting too much. He was known as
the "Christian Statesman," being famous for a display of public piety.
However, he also was called "Smiler" Colfax by those who suspected that
his ostentatious attitude of rectitude was too good to be true.
Subsequent events confirmed these suspicions.
(3) Taylor was aware that the first revelation on polygamy was
received in 1831. It was not policy, however, to mention this.
(4) Senator Lyman Trumbull of Illinois visited Salt Lake with a
party of Chicago businessmen, and held audience with Brigham Young. Then
at a Gentile banquet in the city, Trumbull related that Brigham "had said
in effect that, if the federal officers didn't behave themselves, he
would have them ridden out of the city; and from this meeting the report
. . . gave to Vice President Colfax the [268] advantage to push General
Grant almost to the verge of actual war against Mormon Utah." --CHC
5:281.
(5) These affidavits have previously been quoted in Chapter 3 of
this work.
(6) It Was policy at this time to deny the existence of the Danites,
just as previously it had been policy to deny the practice of polygamy.
Marsh, Hyde (and also W. W. Phelps) were cut off for revealing secrets,
just as men were cast out for revealing the practice of polygamy before
it was announced to the world.
For an LDS account, see Leland H. Gentry, The Danite Band of 1838,
in BYU Studies, Summer 1974.
(7) The Cragin and Cullom bills were typical of "a number of hostile
schemes during several previous years," states Roberts in the CHC, "which
aimed at nothing short of complete destruction of local self-government
in Utah."
(8) In avoiding answer to Colfax's charges of excesses and abuses in
the practice of plural marriage, Taylor unfortunately lets such lurid
tales go unchallenged. A brief statement of the ascetic requirements and
the discipline involved in correctly living the Principle certainly would
have been in order. Taylor goes to exhaustive length defending the
importance of the practice, and its divine origin; but fails to refute
popular myths regarding its abuse.
(9) For complete text of the Taylor-Colfax debate, see The Mormon
Question, being a Speech of Vice-President Schuyler Colfax, at Salt Lake
City, a Reply thereto by Elder John Taylor; and a Letter of
Vice-President Colfax published in the "New York Independent," with Elder
Taylor's Reply. Two thousand copies of this pamphlet were issued by the
Deseret News office, Salt Lake City, 1870.
[269]
Chapter 16
THE UNITED STATES VS. THE CHURCH
OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS
The aftermath of the Civil War brought the nation to its lowest ebb.
In a notable oration on the Fourth of July, 1867, John Taylor attributed
America's rise to reliance on Divine providence, and its fall on
arrogance, when "She gloried in her own strength and forgot the Lord."
It may be said we are met here to have a political jubilee, and why
introduce religious subjects? I answer that my religion and politics are so
blended and intermingled that it is difficult to separate the one from the
other. The honorable signers of the Declaration of Independence were not
ashamed . . . to profess, "a firm reliance on the protection of Divine
Providence;" and why should we feel ashamed to acknowledge that those patriots
and statesmen who framed the Constitution of the United States were led by
inspiration? It is an honor to any man or group of men to seek the inspiration
of the Almighty. It is a greater honor to receive it.
The new land was settled because kingcraft, or priestcraft, "had
ruled with an iron hand throughout Europe, Asia and Africa," Taylor said.
The "victims of tyranny" fled for asylum to America at a time when "the
sacred germ of liberty, just springing into life, was in danger of being
crushed by the iron heel of despotism."
[270] Here, then, was a body of men gathered from the various nations,
desirous to form a government to meet the wants and exigencies of common
humanity. The experience gained in those nations had taught them their evils.
It was for them to avoid the rocks and shoals oil which many of them had
foundered, and to produce a strong, a just and equitable government, "deriving
its just powers from the consent of the governed." They stood upon an elevated
platform; they were pioneers of a new world; they trod the verge of a mighty
continent, and were experimenting on a gigantic scale! . . .
The fate of a . . . new world was at stake, and the destinies of unborn
millions in their hands . . . . Was it strange that men of keen perceptions,
enlarged minds and philanthropic hearts, should sensibly feel the heavy
responsibilities resting upon them and seek--and obtain-Divine assistance? And
shall we, of all others, fail to recognize the dispensation of Providence in
this great national revolution, and acknowledge the hand of Almighty God? Let
us rather, reverently thank His name for the benefits of "life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness....
Let me here remark that in no part of tile political world could
a government like ours have been established. In no part of the
natural world could so good a place have been found . . . . Every material was
here, in rich abundance, for the sustenance of man, the building of cities,
the facilities of trade and commerce, the advancement of the arts and
sciences--everything essential to the comfort and convenience of humanity.
Where was there a country better adapted to try a governmental experiment? . .
.
In no part of the world could we, as a people, have enjoyed the amount of
liberty and freedom from oppression that we enjoy here. This may seem strange
to the ears of those who have not reflected upon the subject; it is
nevertheless true. We talk sometimes of mob violence, of persecution, of
official and governmental corruption and [271] depravity. What of that? While
the constitution is acknowledged, it places the wrongdoer in the wrong,
condemns his practices and reveals the right; and whether mobs or Congress
violate it, they come under its reprehensions. In other nations, the laws
would be against us; in this, the Constitution and Constitutional laws sustain
us....
Under a government just and equitable . . . this country flourished,
following the arts of industry and peace, as no nation ever did before. . . .
She prospered under the direction, the guidance and protection of the
Constitution. Well might Joseph Smith exclaim, "It was given by inspiration of
God." In such a condition, surrounded by so many blessings, what might have
been her destiny?
Had she still sought for and obtained the inspiration of the Almighty;
had she still progressed in virtue, integrity, honesty and wisdom; with the
riches, prestige and power of the earth and the blessings and aid of the
Almighty. . . kingdoms would have sought her protection, and nations her
alliance. Emperors would have bowed to her dictum and acknowledged her queen
of the world. Her conquests would have been the conquests of truth over error,
of light dispelling darkness, the conquests of virtue, integrity and honor.
She would have been the rising national sun, whose luminous beams would have
penetrated the political darkness of the nations, and from whose refulgent
rays new thoughts, new ideas, new principles and new actions would have
emanated . . . .
Instead of which--oh, how humiliating is the picture! --she who might
have been queen of nations is now humbled in the dust and clothed in sackcloth
and ashes. Her young men have fallen in battle and her maidens mourn. Divided
and rent asunder by factions, military is taking the place of civil authority
and "children are her oppressors." Her wise men have departed, and there is no
one to point out the path of peace. The nations afar off point the finger of
scorn and say, "Is this your model nation, this your pattern of republican
government? . . ." While [272] she, torn, mangled, bleeding, palpitating and
helpless is dumb at the reproach.
In an evil hour she gave way. She forgot "the rock from whence she was
hewn and the pit from whence she was dug." She gloried in her own strength and
forgot the Lord her God. She abandoned the path of economy and industry, and
engaged in suicidal fraternal warfare; and while she was indulging in
riotousness and debauchery, in wantonness, fraud and corruption, exultingly
exclaiming, "Is not this great Babylon that I have built by the might of my
power," there was a handwriting upon the wall that made all knees tremble:
"Thou art weighed in the balances and found wanting. . . ."
Oh, man! immortal man, made in the image of God, bearing the impress of
Jehovah--when wilt thou fulfill the high destiny for which thou were ordained
by thy creator? When will folly, empty pride, passion, jealousy, rage and
revenge give way to wisdom, humility, virtue, integrity, kindness, mercy,
magnanimity, universal brotherhood, and a reverence of God and His law? . . .
Oh! how fully hast thou demonstrated, in this Eden of the earth, the
incompetency of man to govern without the inspiration of the Almighty . . . .
What shall I say of US? . . . As part of the common brotherhood of the
nation, we will perform the part of a good citizen; rally round the cause of
right; maintain inviolate the Constitution of the United States; seek to God
for wisdom in every emergency; . . . cleave to the truth. And if all men
forsake this great bulwark of human rights, let us rally around it, and save
it from pollution and destruction, and hand it down uncontaminated and
undefiled to our children and children's children. (1)
"The years from 1871 to 1875 are notable in the history of Utah for
the judicial reign of terror which prevailed," Roberts says. (2)
Carpetbaggers headed by Chief Justice James B. McKean arrogated [273]
authority to empanel "packed juries of pronounced anti-Mormons, chosen to
convict the Church leaders."
Brigham Young was arrested for "lewd and lascivious cohabitation;"
but this was only the first step in a scheme to convict the church
president of murder.
"Popular excitement ran high. For a time there was a threatened
collision between the court and the people. It was at this juncture that
Elder Taylor published five letters in the Deseret News, reviewing the
situation;"
Why is it that the mercantile, commercial and mineral interests of this
Territory must be jeopardized or ruined by the machinations of a few strangers
sent here among us, having no sympathies with the people or in the interests
and prosperity of the Territory? Why is it that the liberties of our most
esteemed citizens are attacked and their characters assailed under the guise
of law? Why this palpable attempt to stir up sedition, provoke strife, and, is
it too much to say, to inaugurate a scene of desolation and bloodshed?
I have asked myself: Are governments organized to oppress and enslave
their subjects? Are courts instituted to insult, outrage, abuse, and tyrannize
over the people and legislate them out of the last remnants of their rights?
If not, why are we subject to this living insult, this crying disgrace, this
burning shame, this foetid excrescence of the body politic? . . .
I speak in behalf not only of the Mormon community, but, I am assured, of
three-fourths of the respectable Gentile citizens of this Territory, who feel
themselves injured and their property and prospects jeopardized by these
wanton extra-judicial acts. For it is evident to all, [274] that except this
crusade is stopped, financial ruin must inevitably ensue.
These questions . . . have been solved by the very extraordinary and
lucid opinion of his honor Chief Justice J. B. McKean, delivered October 13,
1871, at the United States courtroom . . . . I quote: "It is therefore proper
to say, that while the case at the bar is called The People vs. Brigham Young,
its other and real title is FEDERAL AUTHORITY versus POLYGAMIC THEOCRACY."
This certainly elucidates the subject and throws light upon actions that
heretofore were not only enigmatical, but inexplicable. We have been pursuing
the even tenor of our way. . . . progressing in agricultural, commercial and
mineral enterprises, in machinery, manufactures and railroads, . . . until
these birds of evil omen. arrived, who. . . like the deadly simoon are
parching, withering, paralyzing, blasting and destroying everything within
their reach.
We now have a reason given for this . . . crusade against the liberties
of the citizens of this Territory; . . . this prosecution, persecution and
infamy that have disgraced our courts for some years past. There has been an
undercurrent that was extremely difficult to comprehend. . . . His honor Judge
McKean, however, has dispelled the mist in which it was shrouded, and has
plainly given us to understand that it is . . . the United States against the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . . . .
They have tried by every possible means to make themselves odious to the
people--and it must be acknowledged that they have succeeded admirably, for
never were a set of men more thoroughly despised anywhere in these United
States. By the unprecedented method of procuring juries, the ignoring of
Territorial law and Territorial courts and officers, and other outrages, they
have evidently been trying to provoke seditions, that a good pretext could be
had for calling out troops, that the fires of war might be kindled. . . .
[275] But the people would not revolt, and the more they were incensed and
goaded to it, the more they would not do it. The authorities, like the men who
desired someone to kick him, could not get kicked . . . . At last, when
everything else failed, as a dernier resort they tried it on our
Presidency, feeling confident that this would goad us to desperation, and they
telegraphed for troops beforehand. (3) But even this did not go off. So,
puzzled, perplexed, annoyed and baffled in their great aim, his honor the
Judge comes plainly out, makes a clean breast of it, and tells us that
everything else has been strategy, a feint, a ruse, but that war upon the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was the object which he had in
view.
Many leading newspapers agreed with Taylor's charge that the
Utah-Washington coterie were guilty of an anti-Mormon conspiracy. The
Omaha Herald minced no words:
This conspiracy began with the advent of the existing herd of federal
mercenaries to Utah. It crystalized under the agitation of the Cullom Bill,
which was drawn in Salt Lake. (4) The object was to break down the political
power of the people who had conquered Utah from a desert waste into a
beautiful garden. This was necessary to enable these malignants to occupy,
possess and control it. With the fall of Mormon power, McKean, Woods & Co.
were to bring Utah into the Union as a state, and become senators of the
United States, and heroes in a land already suffering from a surfeit of such.
(5)
The Cullom Bill failed . Far-fetched edicts of the law,
promulgated through stump speeches from the bench, likewise failed. The
scepter, not yet grasped, was departing. Something must be done. Criminal
statutes must be invoked. Proofs of crimes other than that of polygamy must be
secured. But before this is permitted, in pursuance of a deliberate plan,
decisions must be [276] promulgated whereby, under a thin disguise, Mormons,
on account of their religious beliefs and practices, must be excluded from
juries which would be thus necessarily constituted of their deadliest
enemies--men who would do the known wish, if they did not obey the actual
behest, of their desperate masters. And this is but a brief outline of a
conspiracy which aims, at whatever cost, to destroy men and institutions in a
territory whose civilizing and industrial achievements are the admiration of
mankind. (6)
"The whole thing is instigated by a `ring' of . . . small-fry,
popinjay politicians, and would-be statesmen," the San Francisco Examiner
charged, who "know full well that they will have no show for promotion
until the Mormon power is broken."
Hence it is that they seek to create a civil war by means of packed
juries, unprincipled judges and perjured witnesses. Of course, if they
determine that no Mormon shall sit on a jury to try Young . . . he will
necessarily be convicted . . . . If they can send Brigham to prison, and
induce the people to rise up and liberate him, and thus produce a conflict,
Utah will be at once admitted as a state, and under the protection of federal
bayonets these mischief-makers can have themselves elected senators,
congressmen, etc., just as the thieving carpetbaggers did at the south. The
whole affair is a disgrace to the American name. That a vile, little clique of
corrupt politicians should be permitted to use the power of the government to
embroil a peaceable community in civil strife, to gratify their personal greed
for place and plunder is an outrage upon decency, humanity, and justice. (7)
Such was the enemy and such the aims which Taylor denounced:
We are informed by his honor that "a system is on trial in the person of
Brigham Young; let all concerned [277] keep this fact steadily in view." Now,
as . . . it is not . . . a system of political rule, it must therefore and can
only be a religious system which is on trial in the person of Brigham Young. .
. . His honor gives us to understand that he has been accused of one thing and
is being tried for another, and furthermore he is already prejudged of guilt.
...
I would not treat his honor discourteously, but quote the language of the
Washington Capitol, that "it is our judiciary, and not polygamy, that is being
tried, and sorely tried . . . . Thoughtful minds will concur in expressing the
belief that we procure its annihilation at heavy cost when we destroy our
courts and fetch justice into such contempt . . . ."
In the above it has been shown that when these gentlemen came here, they
found us in a very happy, orderly, and prosperous condition; that, with or
without the knowledge of the administration, they have been conspiring against
the liberties of the people; that . . . they have made a violent attack upon
our religion; that they have repudiated and trampled underfoot our laws and
ignored our courts organized by Congressional enactment; that they have
arraigned our citizens for one thing and are trying them for another; that
they have obtained juries in a manner unknown to the Territorial laws,
prejudged cases, and acted as the most violent, vicious, and malignant
partisans, and by their acts have sought to provoke anarchy and revolt.
I would not be discourteous to our Federal officers;... but as public men
their acts must be scrutinized, and when the liberties of the people are
tampered with . . . it is time that the people look after their own interests
and not suffer themselves to be despoiled of moral, social, judicial,
religious and constitutional rights without a remonstrance. . . .
It must be remembered that while the court has persons at the bar, the
court itself is at the bar of public [278] opinion; for it is a fact that
judges are as amenable to law as are other citizens of the United States, and
to all men of reflection it is becoming a serious question how far Federal
authority shall be permitted to lend itself to factionists and party and
political cabals; how far it shall be permitted to interfere with private,
social, political and religious rights; and whether, under the name and guise
of Republicanism, we are not breaking down the safeguards and bulwarks of
society and rushing thoughtlessly and recklessly to the worst kind of anarchy
and despotism. (8)
"There has been from time immemorial a continual struggle between
the governors and the governed," Taylor said in his second letter, "the
first trying to usurp power, authority and dominion, and the other to
resist these encroachments."
Where integrity, virtue, and honesty have prevailed, whether under
monarchial or republican rule, there have existed happiness and freedom. Where
these have been lacking, disorder, anarchy, bondage and confusion have been
the result. Liberty is not a name but a reality.
In Republican France, under Napoleon, "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity" was
written over the entrance to every public edifice, while twenty persons could
not meet together in a private house without the permission of the police, and
private papers could be examined by the same authority. At the same time in
monarchial England, you needed no passport, your house was your castle, and
your papers and property were safe. In monarchial England all men can worship
God according to the dictates of their own consciences and be justified in
that right. In republican America, thousands of her citizens have time and
again been robbed, murdered, pillaged, driven and exiled for their religion
alone.
This same England centuries ago proscribed, persecuted and exiled her
citizens for the same offense, and [279] her Puritans had to flee to Holland,
and to the then wilds of America, to secure themselves from the fury of their
oppressors. And yet, strange as it is, those very Puritans persecuted the
Quakers and Baptists for believing in and worshiping God.
Freedom, justice and liberty are not therefore the growth of republican
institutions alone. Freedom and liberty are the gifts of God, and are
frequently wrenched unwillingly from the hands of tyrants. Tyranny, under, any
guise, is a hideous monster. Dressed in the trappings of royalty or the plain
garb of republicanism, it is still a monster. . . . Tyranny is the same,
whether in the dictator, . . . the general, the judge or the preacher.
The very honorable, venerable and patriotic gentle men who framed our
Declaration of Independence had many of the above facts in view, and, smarting
under the lash of British tyranny, entered their vehement protest,... as in
living letters of fire "All men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, that among
these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these
rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from
the consent of the governed."
The honorable framers of the Constitution of the United States were no
less alive to these matters, and while they threw safeguards around the civil
power, were very anxious to protect the people in their individual, social,
religious and political rights. And lest their ideas should be misunderstood,
they made several amendments directly intended to protect the rights of the
people.
We have never had any difficulty with law-abiding citizens, with lovers
of good order, with patriots and honest men. And the bigoted and fanatical
attacks against this people have been instituted against private interests,
constitutional guarantees, religion and the rights of man....
[280] There are certain inalienable rights possessed by man; . . . and that as
every individual possesses the right to breathe, and to have the blood
circulate, so every individual in every community in all the world inherits
this inestimable, God-given right ; and like the breath or blood,
he carries it with him wherever he goes, and no person, no potentate, prince
or president, no legislature, no government, no tribunal or court can
legitimately dispossess him of this right. It is inherited from God and must
not be interfered with by man.
As every interference with or stoppage of the blood or breath in the
natural body produces distress, disorder and convulsions in the system, so
every interference with this inherent right of man produces convulsions in the
body politic; and the unnatural attempts of kings, emperors, presidents,
legislatures, judges, governors or autocrats to interfere with this sacred,
eternal, God-given right, have been productive of all the oppressions,
bloodshed, injustice, war, carnage and desolation, the tears, groans and
misery with which the world has been cursed. . . .
It is alleged "that all nations have the elements of destruction within
themselves;" and this, in fact, is the principal element of destruction that
is found among all nations; for, so far as they interfere with this inherent
God-given right, they open the flood-gates of error; and injustice, tyranny,
oppression and corruption follow in its train; anarchy, confusion and revolt
ensue; and weakness and desolation are the result . . . .
Our fathers discovered that all governments derive their just power from
the consent of the governed. It has been well said by an eminent author, that
"all delegated power is trust, and all assumed power is usurpation. A
constitution is not the act of government, but of a people constituting a
government." Assuming the above hypothesis to be right--and no man can
successfully dispute it--what becomes of the action of our Federal officers? .
. . There is said to be a hundred thousand inhabitants in this Territory. How
many of them had a voice in the selection of the present Federal officers? Not
[281] one. There is a grand jury here. Out of one hundred thousand Mormons,
how many of them sat on this grand jury? Not one . . . .
Liberty does not consist in the clanging of bells, the sound of trumpets,
the beat of drums, the rearing of tall liberty poles, in the parade, the pomp,
the glitter and show, nor in the declamation of demagogues nor the sanctity of
courts, . . . but in the preserving of these rights to the people, and
preserving intact as the living inheritance of man. Every man that
sustains these principles is the friend of freedom and humanity, and every one
who opposes them, whether among autocrats, monarchies, or, republics, is a
disturber of the peace, a sower of discord, an enemy of mankind and of God.
(9)
In Taylor's third letter he analyzed Constitutional law. "The
principles of universal liberty," he said, "are, in fact, the leading
prominent features of the Kingdom of God."
For when God's will "shall be done on earth as it is done in heaven," the
shackles will be knocked from every son and daughter of Adam; there will be
proclaimed a universal jubilee, and all mankind will be free, every wrong will
be suppressed, and every right maintained. . . . Then these heaven-born
principles announced at the birth of Jesus, "Peace on earth and good will to
men," shall be proclaimed to every nation . . . . Then all hearts shall be
made glad, the voice of mourning and sorrow banished from the earth. . . .
This is what the United States are trying to inaugurate. Judge McKean
says it is a system that is on trial. He does not know it, but the above is
the system--what he is pleased to call "Polygamic Theocracy," against which he
says Federal authority is arrayed;--or, in other words, the United States
versus popular sovereignity, the inalienable rights of man, universal freedom,
the reign of peace, the kingdom of God.
[282]
Taylor pointed out that while the Constitution was an inspired
document, it contained a basic flaw. Its framers "were not legislating
for the world, nor forming compacts for any other people than their own.
They did not even prohibit slavery. Their compact was simply with the
Caucasian race."
It is fair to say, then, that the liberty they professed was only for
themselves--for the European community who might come here, the Caucasian
race--not the Negro, not the Indians, perhaps not the Asiatic or Chinese, but
for the white. Everything else professed is a falsehood, a sham . . . .
It may be asked why the framers of the Constitution did not carry out the
views enunciated by the declarers of independence, in regard to the
inalienable rights of man?... Simply because they had not the moral courage,
or power, to enforce principles that to their understanding were "self-evident
truths." Were I their apologist, I might say that, just emerging from
despotism, composed of different nationalities and a diversity of interests,
finding it impossible to agree on every principle, they thought it better, as
a compromise, to sacrifice this one and retain so many that were good, than to
lose the whole, break up in confusion and lose their national unity. But this
sacrifice has cost the nation dearly, for . . . slavery for nearly a century
has been a subject of bitterness, acrimony, heart-burning and hatred, . . .
until it culminated in one of the most bloody, revengeful, fratricidal wars
recorded in history, thus exhibiting a terrible retribution for the violation
of natural law and inalienable rights.
It may be asked, if this instrument was imperfect, why do you sustain it?
Simply that, with this one fault, it was the best instrument in existence, and
it was all and more than the nation has ever lived up to. . . .
[283] Laboring under accumulated acts of tyranny, groaning under oppression
and wrong, smarting under the taunts of imported minions, the American people
presented the sublime spectacle of a whole continent determined to be free!
They issued the Declaration of Independence, wrenched the manacles from their
limbs and threw them as a guage at the feet of the forgers, entered into
articles of confederation, framed a Constitution, erected their liberty poles,
flung to the breeze the Stars and Stripes.... That king of birds, the eagle, .
. . was selected as their emblem. They resurrected the twin goddesses of
justice and liberty, and chimed a bell that . . . "Proclaimed liberty
throughout the land." The fire of freedom burned in every patriotic heart; and
in that instrument they were determined to perpetuate to their posterity and
succeeding generations that freedom and liberty they had wrenched from the
hand of tyranny. . . .
Here we may pause and inquire, if indeed the above is a correct
exposition of our rights and privileges as American citizens, how is it that
such infamies can transpire as have lately been exhibited in our courts? I may
here be met with the statement that we are only a Territory. True, we are only
a Territory, but we are American citizens, and have never abjured our
citizenship nor relinquished our Constitutional guarantees. . . . If the above
be trite, and the axiom of the Declarers of Independence be correct, that the
governments "derive their just powers from the consent of the governed," what
then becomes of Our Federal officers? --for not one of our citizens invited
them here, or had any vote in their coming, nor was consent asked . . . .
Do men gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles?" Who are the
instigators of our present difficulties? Every schoolboy knows. Who have been
seeking to introduce anarchy, sedition and strife? Let our federal officers
answer. Are they not here simply as plotters of mischief, as conspirators
against the peace of [284] the people? Professing to administer law, have they
not been the first to break it? . . .
In fact, the Territorial government finds in the persons of Federal
officers "another government," not of the people and in violation of
Constitutional guarantees and authority, . . and asks by what authority it
presumes to set itself against the legitimate constituted authority of the
people of the Territory or State; by what authority it ignores its laws; by
what authority it overrides and tears down the safeguards of society, and
fosters in our midst drunkenness, gambling and whoredoms--those infamous
adjuncts and institutions of professed civilization; by what authority it
repudiates its officers; by what authority it interferes with the . . .
social, religious, political and moral rights .
In his fourth letter, Taylor advised that it was "very important
that we look well to our political landmarks."
. . . As we are legislating on first principles and forming precedents
for unborn millions that may tread our footsteps, it is well for us to "ponder
well the path of our feet," and be careful that we introduce no principles,
advocate no system, establish no precedent or antecedent that is questionable,
unequal, unjust or oppressive; . . . and that we guard, jealously and safely,
our political rights and immunities.
It has been the opinion of many statesmen, and is a favorite dogma of
monarchists, that democracy or republicanism is only adapted for small
communities . . . . It is further urged that peoples are not capable of
self-government. I might ask who, then, are? Are kings, emperors, autocrats,
presidents, judges and others more competent? History does not so instruct us.
Who are these magnates? Are they not people? Is their intelligence more
profound? Are their principles more correct, their lives more virtuous, their
blood more pure than other peoples? Let history answer.
[285] We are told, however, that "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty;"
and as we possess the best Constitution and the best government in the world,
let us preserve it, and transmit it intact, pure and unadulterated to our
children.
"A Territorial government is a very peculiar organization," Taylor
pointed out. "It presents the anomalous position of monarchial rule in a
republican government."
It is with very great delicacy that I would question the acts of our
legislators and statesmen. I look upon them as leading, representative men of
the greatest nation on earth. Yet, withal, they are but men, and in the heat
of debate, under partisan influences. . . . policy, political necessities,
conflicting interests and a desire to promote the public weal, they sometimes
make grave mistakes. I think that the organization of territories is one of
these, which I now proceed to examine; and will state that as there is no
Constitutional authority for such an organization, it is simply an
unauthorized jurisdiction; for the constitution is as binding upon Congress as
upon the people, and anything not authorized in that instrument is assumed.
Congress has indeed the power to admit new states into the Union . . .
but nowhere does it possess the Constitutional power to organize Territorial
governments. It possesses . . . power to dispose of and make all needful rules
and regulations respecting the "territory and other property of the United
States," but not to legislate for the inhabitants of territories, who are not
property . . . .
Senator Cass said, "There are two points I always have maintained with
reference to this subject: first, that Congress, under the Constitution, has
no right to establish governments for the Territories; secondly, that under no
circumstances have they the right to pass any law to regulate the internal
affairs of the people inhabiting them." (American Statesman)
[286] . . . Governor Walker of Kansas, in a State paper, declares that popular
sovereignty is a power that cannot be delegated, but rests exclusively with
the people. Mr. Calhoun is also very definite on this point. . . . From the
above it is evident that the Constitution nowhere authorizes the formation of
Territorial governments, . . . and that this also is the opinion of some of
our most prominent statesmen. . . .
The Territorial question is a subject that has caused Congress
considerable trouble ever since its first organization. It is true that . . .
into the Union without Territorial tutelage.
But as party lines began to be more clearly defined, and the slavery question
pushed itself into a greater prominence before the nation, a jealousy sprang
up between the North and the South in regard to the acquisition of new States,
. . . neither party being willing to admit a Southern or Northern State
without a corresponding equivalent, so as to preserve the balance of power . .
..
Texas had been admitted to the Union as a slave state, and with its
great size had the potential of being divided into several states, all
pro-slavery. "There was in prospect a terrible struggle between the
proslavery and anti-slavery parties," Roberts states in his Life of John
Taylor. "It was thought that if a large state extending from the Pacific
Ocean eastward to Salt Lake, with slavery prohibited by its constitution,
was admitted into the Union, it would offset the late accession of Texas,
and calm the rising storm over that question."
This situation resulted in what probably was the most remarkable
irony of LDS history--that by reason of a snowstorm, Utah was to be
denied statehood for a period of 45 years. Taylor explained the
circumstances:
[287] General Wilson, as the delegate to Utah, came here in 1849 with a
request for us to unite with California and form a state, that the Territorial
question then agitating the nation might be removed from Congress. I was one
of a committee who communicated with him on that subject, being interested in
this question. (10) He informed us that if we felt unwilling to form this
union, he was requested to appeal to our patriotism to aid him in avoiding
apprehended difficulties. We acceeded to his request, . . . on the condition
that we were each, within two years, to form a separate state. . . . (11)
The other delegate, , was sent by
water to California for the same purpose. General Wilson left late in
the fall, with a part of his family and an escort. He was detained for a
length of time by a severe snowstorm, which prevented his arrival in
California at the time specified. The other delegate, not being able to wait
for him, made other arrangements with the people of California, and his
mission was thus frustrated.
Had it not been for a snowstorm, we should have been a free people. As it
is, we have been living under the worst species of despotism--a satrapy--from
that time to the present. Does freedom depend upon such adventitious
circumstances? Are the liberties of men depending upon such contingencies?
"I propose now to show," Taylor declared, "that the Territorial
governments are in violation of the people's rights, subversive of
liberty, and pernicious in their results."
A Territorial government is a relic of a monarchy, and is simply a
satrapy. In a republican state government, which Congress is authorized to
establish, the people elect their own governors, state officers, and
judiciary, and control all their internal affairs. In the government of a
[288] Territory it is quite the reverse: neither the government, secretary,
marshal, attorney or judge is appointed by the people; they have no more to do
with their selection or appointment than the inhabitants of Timbuctoo.
They have, it is true, a local legislature; but in Utah this is simply a
farce. The governor, with or without cause, can veto all they do, and thus the
will or vote of one hundred thousand inhabitants, represented by a
legislature, amounts to nothing, while one man, a stranger, having no
sympathies with the people, can annul all that one hundred thousand have done.
But should he not veto a bill, Congress can do so . . . . Further, should it
escape both of these tests, it is still liable to be disturbed by the
judiciary, who, with some kind of authority--certainly not that of the
people--reject laws at pleasure. . . .
The people are entirely ignored in the whole operation, just as much as
the serfs of Russia, or the slaves of the South previous to their freedom . .
. . It is true we have an Organic Act, and a form of government which ought to
be held sacred; but that makes no difference. are simply
playthings for children, to be given and taken at pleasure, just as mamma
says, like little boys who don't play marbles "for keeps." Our laws are
ignored, our Territorial officers are ignored, our courts are ignored, and
then our juries are worse than a farce. . . . That, however, may be accounted
for on the assertion of his honor, the Chief Justice, who, it is evident, did
not come here to administer justice according to law, but, as he very gravely
informed us, to make war on a "system in the person of Brigham Young." Such is
our Territorial government.
It only remains to ask, is this what we have bargained for? Is this the
freedom that the declarers of independence and the framers of the constitution
contemplated? Is this a democratic government, republican in form?
[289] His honor, Chief Justice McKean, in his naturalization programme,
informed an applicant a short time ago that he was now admitted to all the
rights of an American citizen. He could now hold any office under the
government except that of President of the United States.
What are these inestimable rights with which his honor favors his
neophyte? The right to be tried by a packed jury--his sworn enemies. The right
to have his wife judicially declared a strumpet, and his children judicially
bastardized. The right to the sympathy of the judge while passing sentence of
three years hard labor in the penitentiary for living with his own wife. The
right to have his religion assailed. The right to be driven from his home
without redress. The right to vote for a legislature to make laws which any
political despot can annul at pleasure. The right to pay taxes without
representation. The right to be maligned, slandered and abused. The right to
have pimps, whorehouses, gambling saloons and debauchery forced upon him by
judicial exertion. The right to live in a satrapy. The right to die and be
buried.
These are some of the "rights" of the citizens of this Territory in this
vaunted republic today. Certainly the citizens of Great Britain,
France, Germany and Scandinavia ought to be glad to repudiate such infamous
tyrannies as they came from, and shout hosannah for the glorious privileges
that American citizenship gives. O, ye benighted foreigners, how you must long
for naturalization, in order that you may share with us these inestimable
privileges and blessings. (12)
In the fifth and concluding letter of the series, the Champion of
Rights recapitulated his catalogue of carpetbag oppression, then added,
"Having said so much on this subject, let me now address a few words to
the Saints."
You made the roads, killed the snakes, built the bridges, redeemed the
sterile desert country and made it [290] "blossom as the rose." And where poor
Digger Indians shivered and the wolf prowled, now exist productive farms,
pleasant orchards, beautiful gardens; and you exhibit an example of thrift,
industry, virtue, honesty and integrity that others would do well to imitate.
Your factories, your railroads, your cities and villages, erected and redeemed
by your industry from a howling wilderness, are now oases on the desert; while
your social enjoyments, your theaters, your ballrooms, your social parties,
your excellent music, your jubilant songs, and your shouts of hosannah make it
an Eden to the pure and virtuous.
But these very beauties and excellencies are your danger. Corrupt men
look upon your possessions with greedy eyes, and, like vultures, are ready to
pounce upon their prey. They want your houses and lands, your orchards,
gardens and farms, your mills, factories and mines; and these parties profess
to be shocked at your lasciviousness and would rob you by the grace of God.
Faced with this threat, Taylor counseled the people to follow a
policy of endurance and non-resistance, to refuse to be provoked to
retaliation which would constitute an excuse for conquest and pillage.
The lamb is drinking below; the wolf is fouling the water above. The big
boy is strutting about with a chip on his shoulder, daring you to knock it
off. Some pretext is needed. Don't give it to them. They want a pretext to
plunder you; their programme is to pillage, rob, ravage, lay waste and
destroy. They want your farms, and, although very virtuous, would like to
ravish your wives and daughters. Don't give them an opportunity. Let the same
wisdom that has governed your acts hitherto still be continued. They want a
cause to quarrel, that they may rob and pillage according to law. Don't give
it to them. They would like to provoke riot, bloodshed, sedition and revolt,
that they may have a pretext to destroy you. Don't work into their hands.
[291] Let them pack their juries from houses of ill fame to try you on virtue.
Never mind; it is their virtue that suffers, not yours. Let them try you for
living with and protecting your wives and providing for your children.
Fidelity and virtue are not crimes in the eyes of the Almighty, only in
theirs. Rotten and corrupt themselves, this clique would like to reduce you to
their level. Their aim is to strangle virtue, purity and sobriety, introduce
gambling halls, drunkenness and dens of prostitution, infamy and vice. No
matter; still be quiet.
"But they are accusing some of our best and most honorable men of
murder!" What of that? Who have they suborned as their accusers? They
themselves call them by the mild name of assassins. These are their fellow
pirates, with whom they hob-nob and associate. (13) Be quiet! "But other
aggressions are contemplated. They are bent on provoking a quarrel and
mischief." No matter; it takes two to make a quarrel. Don't you be one of
them. "They offer themselves to be kicked." Don't do it; have some respect for
your boots. "But they insult us on every hand." What? They insult you? . . .
Now, who could consider himself insulted by the hissing of a snake, the attack
of a wasp, or the odor of a skunk? You would simply avoid them; it is not in
their power to insult you.
The mules in the stable below may bray in response to the clamor above;
let them manage the exhibition in the menagerie in their own way in that
delectable stable; still let them alone. (14)
But don't let us be dull and dumpish and careless. Watch every point,
note every action, keep a record of every event, exhibit every falsehood,
expose every wrong, watch and avoid them as you would the leprosy. Be vigilant
in everything and everywhere. Watch their morality and their manipulation of
mines. Follow them to their secret dens. Keep a true record of all their acts,
and the time is coming when their stench will sicken the nations.
[292] They and their paramours may be protected for awhile, but the covering
will fall, their pretentious purity be exposed, and their acts be bruited
through the land. Keep quiet and don't be caught napping. "Fear God and keep
your powder dry. . . ."
If they take you to the stable, close your nostrils to the stench. If
they can stand it always, you can for a short time. If your ears are offended
at their ribald exordiums, put cotton in them. If they send you to prison,
rejoice. Let them have their full swing, and they will hang themselves. Keep
quiet; but let every man in Israel make a common cause. . . . of right and
justice, against wrong and oppression. It is our cause, the cause of liberty,
the cause of humanity, the cause of God . . . .
Our Heavenly Father has committed to our trust everlasting, eternal
truths. Maintain them inviolate. Let the living fire burn in your bosom and
guard vigilantly the sacred truths that the great Elohim has committed to your
trust. Utter not their shibboleth, nor bow to their rotten, contemptible
shrine.
Be men among men; but don't play into their hands. Let them alone! "But
they may put more of our friends in prison." Let them do it. . . . It will
take a big prison to hold them all. We shall have lots of company. Keep quiet!
"But they may place us under military rule." All the better. The military
are much more honorable than the judiciary. There is no law which they can
place us under that we cannot obey. We must live above all law, and nothing
can harm us "if we be followers of that which is good." So keep quiet! "But it
interferes with our material prosperity, our trade and commerce, our mines and
industries." No matter. If others can stand it, we can. Keep quiet!
There is something heroic in being able to view with firm nerves and
unblanched cheek the acts of your petty [293] tormentors. In former ages a
body of philosophical Stoics prided themselves very much on their stoicism.
Even our Indians boast of this quality, and when a captive brave is tied to a
tree, and they are plucking off his nails, breaking his bones, and tearing his
flesh by piecemeal, he laughs at his tormentors, and tells them they don't
know how to do it. But you stand in another position. Filled with the light of
eternal truth, rejoicing in the possession of the favor of God, "having the
promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come," standing on a
more exalted platform, you can smile with complacency on their feeble attacks,
and
"Like Moses' bush ascend the higher,
And flourish unconsumed in fire."
But independent of all this, it is our very best policy to keep quiet.
The court can proceed, yet the sun will rise and set, the earth will roll on
its axis, potatoes and corn will grow irrespective of the decrees of courts.
Hitherto you have been subject to the misrepresentations and manufactured lies
from the small fry of this coterie, little whelps who lick the hands of their
master, and vomit their lies by wholesale to pervert public opinion. But they
are found out. They have run their erratic race. You have no fear from them.
Your cause is before the public.
The eyes of the great American nation are now upon you, and men of honor,
probity and position represent your acts. And to their honor be it spoken, the
intelligent press, irrespective of party, denounce your prosecutors. This
clique is not representative of American sentiment. The majority of strangers
in our midst repudiate them; and there are hundreds of thousands of honest,
high-minded, honorable men throughout the land who despise as much as you do
these infamous acts.
We live in the most liberal and enlightened nation in the world. If there
are evils, they can be corrected. The undercurrent--the vital, strong, living
sentiment of [294] America--is fair play, justice for all, equal rights,
liberty, equality and brotherhood. . . . Men of standing and position are now
noting your acts, and they will report them truly and correctly.
Therefore, keep quiet, and do not play into your enemies' hands. . . .
Let them have full swing. And if I am not mistaken in the American nation,
there is enough of the spirit of '76, . . . which, if once aroused, will speak
in thundertones and reverberate through the land; and while ignominiously your
prosecutors will hang higher than Haman. They will be buried in the shades of
everlasting infamy, or if remembered, only to be execrated from generation to
generation. All right; therefore, live your religion, maintain, your
integrity, be "still and see the salvation of God." (15)
"The wisdom of the policy advised by Elder Taylor was soon
vindicated by glorious results," Roberts states. The U.S. Supreme Court
decided that both the grand and petit juries summoned by Judge McKean
were drawn unlawfully, and as "a legal consequence, all the indictments
now pending in the courts of Utah are null and void. Brigham Young and
his Mormon brethren must be discharged from confinement, and the records
of this judicial conspiracy expunged."
(1) Deseret News 16:220.
(2) Life of John Taylor.
(3) McKean provided a pipeline to the Gentile press. Prior to
Brigham Young's arrest, the New York Herald was informed of the grand
jury indictment. It headlined, "BRIGHAM YOUNG HAS BEEN INDICTED. THE
MORMONS ARE ARMING," and it reported that the Deseret News was goading
the people to open rebellion. The people of Utah were unaware of the
indictment until the following day, when Young was arrested.
[295]
(4) Robert N. Baskin, prosecuting attorney for Judge McKean's court,
drafted the Cullom Bill. See his Reminiscences of Early Utah.
(5) The Cincinnati Commercial listed the ten ringleaders of the
carpetbag government in Utah as : (1) Chief .Justice J. B. McKean; (2)
Prosecuting Attorney R. N. Baskin; (3) Land Office Registrar George R.
Maxwell; (4) J. P. Taggart, U.S. Assessor; (5) O. J. Hollister, U. S.
Collector; (6) Dennis J. Toohey, recent partner of Hollister in
publishing the Corinne Reporter; (7) Frank Kenyon, proprietor of the Salt
Lake Review; (8) Associate Justice C. M. Hawley; (8-1/2) C. M. Hawley,
Jr.; (9) George A. Black, Secretary of the Territory; and (10) Governor
George L. Woods.
(6) 4 October 1871.
(7) Quoted in Deseret News, 25 October 1871.
(8) MS, 15 November 1871.
(9) MS, 21 November 1871.
(10) Other members were Charles C. Rich and Daniel Spencer.
(11) "The state thus proposed is truly stupendous to contemplate,
embracing perhaps a sixth of the entire modern area of the United
States." (See The State of Deseret, "Utah Historical Quarterly," April,
July, October, 1940.)
(12) MS, 5 December 1871.
(13) The ring planned to convict Brigham Young of murder on the
testimony of the notorious Bill Hickman, self-styled "Danite chief of
Utah," who claimed that he killed men at Brigham's orders.
(14) Federal judges were so unpopular at this time that they could
find no courtroom in Salt Lake City except the hayloft above the stables
of the Overland Stage.
(15) MS, 33:785-89, 801-803.
[296]
Chapter 17
THE "BLACK BOOK"
Among the many repressive measures introduced into Congress was a
bill sponsored by Samuel A. Merritt, house delegate from Idaho.
John Taylor replied to the proposed legislation with satire, in a
letter entitled "A Brief Remedy."
As there are before the great people of the United States at the present
time quite a number of different measures aimed at the solution of the "Mormon
problem," the Salt Lake Herald comes out with its suggestion which has at
least the charm of brevity:
"Merritt's Bill for the extinguishment of Utah . . . is nice reading for
a winter afternoon. The sixteenth section--the bill only contains twenty-six
sections, and is about the length of the Levitical law--provides that the
Governor is to appoint all `probate judges, justices of the peace, judges of
elections, notaries public and sheriffs in said Territory;' but why the deuce
the Governor isn't to be provided with power to appoint all the lawyers,
blacksmiths, storekeepers, school teachers, and the Delegate to Congress, we
can't see. We have commenced reading the bill through, and propose finishing
it, if it takes till next Christmas; yet, after all, there is no question but
the whole affair could be greatly simplified. Here is the rough draft of a
measure which, should Congress kindly pass it, would answer every purpose:
[297] "Sec. 1. Be it enacted, etc., that the Governor, the three Judges and
the Marshal of Utah, by and with the consent and advice of the `ring,' shall
do as they darned please in that Territory; and anybody who dares to dispute
the righteousness and constitutionality of this measure shall be `shot down in
a quiet and Christian-like manner ...."
"Sec. 2. All laws, except this, relative to Utah, are hereby now and
forever repealed.
"That would fill the bill, and we offer it to Congress, certain that its
passage would solve the Mormon problem; for with such power the `ring' would
commence to cut each other's wizens over the spoils in less than a fortnight .
. . ."
Salt Lake City, Feb. 12, 1873.
Editors Herald: Your remarks in this morning's paper . . . brought to my
mind a little episode that transpired in the Turkish empire, and which I have
translated for the delectation of your readers from "Journal du Voyage au
Levant;" tome III; Paris, 1848.
The story concerned an Englishwoman traveling with a caravan in
Lebanon. Lady Stanhope accepted the offer of a rich merchant to refresh
herself with a cup of coffee at his mansion. When she didn't leave after
having coffee, the merchant felt obliged to invite her to dinner; and
when she still stayed on, hospitality required that Lady Stanhope should
be welcome to spend the night. But Lady Stanhope continued to stay at the
mansion, and wore out her welcome; in fact, she took possession of the
place. When the merchant attempted to have her ousted from his property,
Lady Stanhope appealed to the emir. The emir confirmed her right to
possess the mansion, for "Remember that she is a great princess!"
[298]
This legend had an obvious parallel in the Utah experience with
Federal carpetbaggers, who arrived as servants of the people, liked what
they saw, and stayed on to attempt to take over the Territory.
I think, with you, that we ought to have a change of government. It would
then be so much easier to arrange matters . . . . And then it is too
humiliating for the president to be under the necessity of log-rolling his pet
measures through Congress. If we had an empire, a firman issued by his serene
highness would accomplish everything without the foolish form of law. Besides,
the President has been credibly informed by a very honorable gentleman, Sam
Merritt, that "the demoralizing effect of corrupt Mormon rule excludes all
others except Mormons from a share of the riches of Utah." Now, nothing could
be easier, if we could get the Government changed to an empire, than to do
things as they do them in Turkey. At present Congress is in the way; States
and Territorial governments are in the way; the Supreme Court is in the way;
and it is extremely difficult to get a private matter passed. . . .
Let us have a coup d'etat, turn Congress out of doors, oust the Supreme
Court, burn the Constitution, and proclaim the empire. Then we can divide the
Mormon spoils among the "loyal and peaceable and honest" citizens of these
United States. We can then go and sit down on their properties, as the
Christian lady did on that of their host, and for kindness, courtesy and
hospitality, return robbery and fraud--I beg pardon, "reprisals" would be a
better term . . . .
Vive l'empire! (1)
When the "Mormon question" resulted in the introduction of several
more repressive bills in Congress, John Taylor once again used the public
press to uphold the rights of his people. His six letters constitute a
ringing defense of human liberty.
[299] As time rolls on, and Congress is again in session, it seems necessary,
in the common routine of events, that Utah and the Mormons should be dragged
into the political arena and receive their usual quantums of knocks, kicks and
upheavals from the battledore of public opinion, aided by the press; and they
are therefore brought forward before the Congress of the United States, for
their delectation and that of the nation and the world, as were the wild
beasts and the gladiators of Rome, to gratify the sanguinary appetites of
their assembled votaries.
True to the response of their chieftains, already several champions have
thrown down the gauntlet, and expressed themselves ready to do battle for
their cause and party. There seems, therefore, nothing left for us but to
defend ourselves as best we may . . . .
We have never claimed, nor do we now, any special rights or privileges;
but we do claim, and have a right to expect, our inalienable and
constitutional rights, as American citizens. We do claim the rights enjoyed by
other States and Territories, without any invidious distinctions or special
legislation; and above all, we do claim the right we accord to all, of
worshiping God according to the dictates of our own conscience; and we further
believe that the President, the members of Congress, the Judiciary and other
officers of government, are as much bound by their constitutional obligations
as we are, and that the great national compact into which we have all entered
is binding upon the whole commonwealth. We are of right the peers of this
great common brotherhood. We claim equality in social, moral, religious, legal
and political rights. We ask this much; we demand no more. We are getting
tired of special legislation, packed juries, and mission juries.
But why beat about the bush? Who does not know that it is the Mormon
religion that is attacked under the guise of polygamy? . . . We, a number of
us, avowedly proclaim ourselves polygamists, and shrink not from the issue.
But we consider that we have political as well as [300] religious rights, and
we aver that it is unjust, oppressive and infamous to place a whole Territory
under the ban of unconstitutional enactment, to rob everyone of his
inalienable rights, and tear ruthlessly away the last vestige of human liberty
from a whole Territory, simply because a few polygamists live in it.
If polygamy is a crime, let it be so understood and acted upon; but what
have other citizens to do with that? Because Boss Tweed and a few of his
coadjutors committed high crimes in New York, shall the city or state of New
York be condemned for that? . . . Would the honorable gentlemen composing the
Congress of the United States like to be ostracized . . . the Credit Mobilier fraud? Yet that is the
kind of legislation
which is contemplated by the framers of several bills now before Congress.
These bills are a direct attack upon the rights, immunities and freedom
of the citizens of a whole Territory, guilty or innocent, unheard and
uncondemned. . . . Has it indeed become necessary to trample underfoot every
vestige of republican institutions to destroy Mormonism? Hateful as it may be
to us, can we not find some plausible excuse, some legal outlet, to wreak our
vengeance on their devoted heads, without rending into fragments our own
institutions, recklessly grasping the pillars of State, and like Sampson,
pulling down the house? . . . Such acts may become an unthinking populace, a
frenzied mob. From reverend seniors and grave Senators, we look for more
deliberation.
One prominent feature contemplated in some of those bills is the
repealing of our city charters. Now, what can that mean? Situated as we are,
in the midst of a mining population, where reckless and unprincipled men
gather from the whole nation and from abroad; where the revolver and bowie
knife are used instead of argument; where highway robbery, by characters under
the euphonious name of road agents, is of almost daily occurrence; where
cattle [301] and horse-stealing is engaged in as a regular business, and
organized bands of thieves depredate upon communities; where even railroad
travel is becoming unsafe; . . . where hired desperadoes are employed, at so
much per diem, or by the job, to obtain and retain forcible possession of
mines and other properties--what can it mean? Shall Salt Lake City and other
cities in the Territory be deprived of all law, stripped of all legitimate
authority, of protection against the aggressions of such bands of desperadoes?
...
We have in all conscience difficulties enough to contend with, to
maintain peace and preserve order, without having Congress assist in the
introduction of anarchy . . . What is the object? Is it to introduce anarchy,
to compel us to copy after the fashion of others, in the introduction of
Vigilance Committees, Ku Klux, Jayhawkers, Plug-uglies, or some of the many
questionable adjuncts introduced of late to aid in the government of society?
. . . And, reasoning from cause to effect, can it be the intention of our
reformers in Congress, by introducing anarchy, to force a whole community to
equally extravagant measures, that a pretext may be found for spoil, robbery,
plunder, and devastation and ruin. . . and this simply to get rid of a
troublesome political problem?
It is hoped that there is no such intention; but then, what means the
robbing of the people of the last vestige of civil liberty, as contemplated in
these bills; the placing of them under the exclusive jurisdiction of Federal
officers and appointees--generally carpetbaggers who have no sympathy for the
people but who are, most of them, their openly avowed enemies? What means
these military posses and military prisons, provided for in these bills?
People must think, Are we living in war time? Or is it intended to provoke
hostilities and make war upon us--a judicial military war, provoked and
provided for by legislative enactment? . . .
[302] I am not writing under the very questionable shelter of a nom de plume,
and have nothing but facts to relate, for which I hold myself responsible.
Calmly and deliberately, then, I avouch that most of our Federal officers have
not been, are not, and cannot be relied upon. . . .
I will briefly state some things that I could sincerely wish were not
true: . . . that while our Territorial courts, officers and municipal
authorities have been always foremost in punishing crime, whether committed by
Mormons or Gentiles, some of the United States officials have shielded and
protected criminals, and for this purpose every subterfuge known to the law
has been brought into requisition. Thus, by writs of error, injunctions,
habeas corpus, pardons, and officious and indecent interference, they have
exhibited themselves as the abettors and protectors of crime. They have
liberated felons and murderers, encouraged drunkenness and riot, protected and
shielded brothel houses, winked at and sustained gambling, and so clogged the
wheels of justice in both civil and criminal cases that they have brought the
judiciary into such contempt that it has become a stink in the nostrils of
honest men.
In making this indictment, Taylor was speaking from intimate
personal knowledge. He was himself a Territorial probate judge.
It would only be just here to say that they liberate those criminals
because of an alleged lack of jurisdiction in the inferior courts, Territorial officers, and for want
of a proper jury law. This,
however, is simply a figment. Whatever the cause, however, the effects are the
same, and the courts are brought into the most profound contempt.
It is the almost universal opinion here that these obstructions are
thrown in the way of justice for the purpose of obtaining adverse legislation,
which would enable them to carry out their designs against the interests and
liberties of the people.
[303]
Despite the Supreme Court decision which had reversed all Utah
indictments for the past eighteen months, arbitrary acts by the carpetbag
judges continued.
In view of such arrogance and assumption of authority our
Territorial Federal judiciary . . . the reversal of their rulings,
are we still to be told by these same gentlemen--in opposition to the rulings
of the Supreme Court of the United States--"That we are clogging the wheels of
Justice, and that we need some special legislation from Congress? . . ."
A benevolent sentiment and an enlightened Christian charity would like to
find an excuse for the action of our chief justice , and when
one looks upon his gray hairs, his wrinkled forehead and solemn, careworn
features, the thought necessarily intrudes--may not the learned gentleman be
at least sincere in his erratic administration? For there is something
praiseworthy, nay sublime, in the contemplation of a judge who, impressed with
his responsible position, . . . sternly yet faithfully dispenses even-handed
justice to all. But when we reflect that he ignores the law of Congress, . . .
perverts Territorial statutes, . . . and manipulates a jury for the evident
purpose of condemning the accused, then this beautiful picture fades away.
When we further reflect that another gentleman, Brigham Young, must be
singled out as the object of the ire of the judge, . . . and appear before his
august presence in his court field over a stable, to be bantered and badgered
by heartless minions of the law, be jeered at by jockeys, stable-boys, and
bootblacks; and then to be informed that . . . "It is therefore proper to say
that while the case at the bar is called The People versus Brigham Young, its
other and real title is FEDERAL AUTHORITY VERSUS POLYGAMIC THEOCRACY; . . ."
could no representative of a system be found but this
honorable and venerable gentleman?
[304] In view of such acts, the beauty of the ermine fades; the reverence for
its wearer vanishes; and in place of the dignity of a court and the majesty of
the law, we see an exhibition of fraud, trickery, inhumanity, injustice, and
tyranny. (2)
"It may be well for us to inquire a little into the nature of the
legislation contemplated in those bills now before Congress," Taylor
stated in his second letter, "and what the results will be upon Utah and
the nation."
Mr. Frelinghuysen has introduced two, Mr. Logan one, Mr. Poland one, Mr.
Sargent two, and how many more have been introduced we have not yet
ascertained. Utah certainly cannot complain of being neglected in the national
councils. . . . But when we reflect that these bills, without exception, are.
. . calculated to strip the people of the last vestige of civil and religious
liberty, it puts another phase on the matter.
It is alleged that the original bill, from which these were taken (for
several of them are nearly duplicates), was gotten up by some parties here . What if it was? There is
no necessity for blaming any ring
here, or anywhere else . . . . No matter who are the framers or originators. .
. . we are not to suppose that the introducers of those bills, nor the members
of the several committees, nor those gentlemen composing the Senate and House,
. . . are ignorant either of the contents of those bills or of their injustice
and unconstitutionality. . . .
Not one of them dare introduce such legislation for the governing of his
constituents. All know, or should know, that these acts are
unconstitutional. All know that they are in violation of the treaty of
Guadaloupe Hidalgo. All know that it is a breach of the covenant entered into
our Organic Act. All know that they are at variance with representation and
republicanism. All [305] understand that it is a religious persecution and
that these bills are gotten up as proscriptive, intolerant acts, and that in
passing them they violate all the known guarantees of public and personal
rights, social and religious freedom, municipal and individual immunities, and
are introducing measures too palpable and flagrant to be known by any other
name than that of despotism.
This latter term sounds harsh, and I would not be discourteous; but in
all candor it is right to call things by their proper names. . . . Webster
defines a despot as "one who rules regardless of a constitution and laws--a
tyrant." And to be disfranchised by special legislation on purely religious
grounds . . . by the Congress of the United States, is more reprehensible than
that mob despotism which drove us from Missouri and Illinois; because, while
the latter . . . did it under the influence of frenzy and excitement, the
former in calm, deliberative council, in committee rooms and in their
Congressional halls, . . . deliberately and in cold blood ignore, rend to
atoms, and trample underfoot the most sacred guarantees of our nation's
franchise.
Taylor analyzed the provisions of the various bills before Congress,
and concluded:
The Federals can make their own special appointments; manipulate or veto
all laws; serve processes by their own officers; . . . select and pack their
own juries; try before their own judges; prosecute them by their
own attorneys; put them in their own military jails; and then refuse them any
redress or writ of habeas corpus except through these very men who have thus
condemned them . . . .
The crowning example of repression, Taylor said, was that such
legislation made it impossible to seek justice in a court of appeal.
[306] But you can appeal to the United States Supreme Court? Not if they can
help it. These same creatures are to point out the way. The road leads through
them. If they shut it, who can open it? The crowning infamy of these bills is
to place the people under foreign rule, and then prevent an appeal, for no
appeal can be had to the Supreme Court of the United States if these bills
pass. The whole Territory is placed at the mercy of four or five men,
strangers and enemies.
A century ago, our seniors and fathers, in their Declaration of
Independence, . . . declared to this nation and the world that governments
"derive their JUST POWERS from the consent of the governed . . . ." Do you
wish to throw in the teeth of your venerable seniors and ancestry that they
labored under a delusion, that they were in error--in plain words that they
lied? On the other hand, do you wish to pronounce, to the world that your
government is "unjust?" Gentlemen, take which horn of the dilemma you please.
You have, so far as you have gone--and not I--written your own record; you are
inditing your own history.
With all the reverence and respect due to the rulers of a mighty nation,
from the tops of these distant mountains I call upon you to pause in your
career. . . . I plead with you in behalf of our common humanity and the rights
of man, to reflect. Would you, to gratify a morbid sentimentality, desecrate
and tear down one of the most magnificent temples of human liberty ever
erected? Would you wantonly deliver up the sacred principles of liberty,
equity and justice, bequeathed by your fathers, to the grim Moloch of party,
who is crushing, grinding and trampling underfoot our God-given rights, and
whose sanguinary jaws are extended to gorge and devour the quivering remnants
of our feeble expiring liberty?
Have we not had more than enough of trouble already? Can we never be
satisfied? "Let us have peace." (3)
[307]
In his third letter, Taylor brought his heavy guns to bear against
the provision in the Logan Bill providing that "the common law of
England. . . is hereby extended over and declared to be in force in the
Territory of Utah."
"What is this common law?" Taylor asked, pointing out its enormous
and complex bulk, reaching back through centuries of kings and
commonwealth, under various dynasties, and passing "from Paganism to
Catholicism, from Catholicism to Protestantism, and back again." To
emphasize the absurdity of applying it to Utah, he quoted portions of the
English common law:
The first is selected under Catholic rule. An act of Parliament. . .
provides, "That the Diocesan, alone, without the intervention of the Synod,
might convict of heretical tenets; and. . . commit the unhappy victim to the
flames, without waiting for the consent of the crown."
Second, under Protestant rule: "Nonconformists . . . such as absent
themselves from divine worship in the established church . . . forfeit one
shilling to the poor every Lord's day they so absent themselves, and 20 pounds
to the king if they continue such default for a month together; and if they
keep any inmate thus irreligiously disposed in their houses, they forfeit 10
pounds per month."
With regard to papists, "They can hold no office or employment. . . ."
"They may not come within ten miles of London on pain of 100 pounds." "They
are not permitted to travel above five miles from home, unless by license,
upon pain of forfeiting all their goods; and they may not come into court
under pain of forfeiting 100 pounds." "And where these errors are also
aggravated by apostacy or perversion. . . . the offence amounts to high
treason; . . . and if they do not depart, or if they return without the [308]
king's license, they shall be guilty of felony and suffer death.
Need I mention here the trial by battle, by fire and water; the walking
over red hot iron bars and dipping the arms in boiling water; all of which
processes were enacted by law and used by the judiciary to prove the innocence
or guilt of parties, or to decide the rights of property?
It may be said that this section provides "That the
common law of England in force in the Colonies of America at the date of the
Declaration of Independence" is intended. True; but then, under the law, these
same colonies banished Baptists and Quakers, and placed them under the
penalties of death if they returned; and they found a way to take the lives of
persons accused of witchcraft, by burning and drowning.
But we are more enlightened now. Are we? Read: "A trial that will be
watched with great interest by henpecked husbands is soon to take place at
Baltimore. A woman of that city has been arrested on the charge of being a
common scold. The laws of Maryland make no provision for the punishment of
such an offence, and she is to be tried under the old English common law. This
defines such an offence as common barratry, and provides as one of the means
of punishment, `boring a hole through the tongue.'" (Ogden Junction, Feb. 15,
1874)
Blackstone tells us that they practiced the ducking of scolds in water.
It is hardly supposable that in Baltimore they will do this boring or ducking;
but give his honor Judge McKean the common law, . . . and it would not be any
more difficult to convict of treason or felony, or
death, than it was for the Catholics to fine, banish and destroy the
Protestants; . . . or the Protestants, in their rule, the Catholics. Both in
their turn were heretics, as we are today . . . .
[309] I tell you frankly, gentlemen, . . . you possess no right to place
American citizens under foreign law. Does the Congress of the United States of
America proclaim itself incompetent to make laws for its own citizens? Does it
wish to be understood . . . that it is necessary to invoke the aid of
monarchs, despots and tyrants? . . . Do we require the Doge of Venice, with
its horrible Council of Ten and its necessary "Bridge of Sighs?" Shall we have
need for the Inquisition with its accompanying tortures? Do we require the
Star Chamber of England, with its Tower, its axe and headsman? Do we need the
aid of the whipping post, the stocks, the Smithfield fires, the rack and the
gibbet? Or do we require an autocratic governor, with his staff of judges and
Federal appointees, possessing all the power of the Doges, with their pains,
penalties, and military prisons, to carry out republican principles in
America?
Surely so great and powerful a nation as that of the United States . . .
can afford to treat considerately, if not justly, its less fortunate
dependency, numbering not more than about one hundred and thirty thousand
inhabitants. (4)
If it is their misfortune to have imbibed heretical doctrines and to be
duped of a false religion, surely their more enlightened confreres, who are
moving in a higher plane, and are blessed with a true religion, can afford to
exhibit sufficient magnanimity to treat their less fortunate brethren at least
with even-handed justice. This is all we ask; is it too much to require? (5)
The probate courts of Utah, with Mormon judges, had jurisdiction in
matters of Territorial law. These courts were under particular attack in
Congress. In his fourth letter, Taylor presented evidence of the probate
courts' impartiality, then opened his "Black Book" to contrast this with
the record of the Federal courts under carpetbag rule.
[310] I have before me a transcript from the records of the Probate Court of
Salt Lake County , . . . wherein there is an exhibit of eighty-four civil
cases . . . over a period from Feb. 6, 1865, to Dec. 28, 1869 . . . which have
been adjudicated before that tribunal, and in which there is not a particle of
evidence to show . . . any injury or injustice to Mormons or non-Mormons; and
these cases clearly show an unbounded confidence reposed in the Probate Courts
by non-Mormons and Dissenters, sixty-two of them out of the eighty-four . . .
. being plaintiffs. It also plainly demonstrates that the administration of
justice in this court is not affected by the religious status of the parties
litigant, for of the eighty-four cases, twenty-five were lost by non-Mormons,
and fifty-nine by Mormons. . . .
I feel proud to see a record like the above, for while it gives the lie
flatly to our defamers, it proves that outcourts and juries act justly, and
are not influenced by any religious bias. Our religion teaches honesty and
justice, and I am pleased to see it so fully carried out . . . .
Mr. R. N. Baskin. . . . who is well known to be a prime mover in the
clamor for special legislation for Utah, testified before the Congressional
House Committee on Territories, June 21, 1870, as follows: "For five years
past I have been a resident of Utah, and I must do the Mormons the justice to
say that the question of religion does not enter into their courts. In
ordinary cases I have never detected any bias on the part of jurors there in
this respect, as I at first expected. I have appeared in cases where Mormons
and Gentiles were opposing parties in the case, and saw, much to my surprise,
the jury do what was right." (6)
I wish I could say the same for them . . . .
We must now turn over a new leaf, and after having examined the action of
our courts in sustaining justice, see what others have done in opposing
justice, protecting and liberating criminals, encouraging lawlessness,
drunken-[311]ness and lasciviousness, and shielding crime. I am sorry to have
to make such an expose, but am necessarily obliged to show the contrast in the
vindication of right. In England they have their Blue Book. I am afraid that I
shall have to open the Black Book.
Taylor listed 127 cases of men convicted before the Police Courts of
Salt Lake of selling liquor without a license, who were subsequently
discharged by the Federal Court. "Is it not singular that these rulings
should ALL be in favor of violators of laws?" He asked, and he suggested:
"it seems that there needs a little praying done by the ladies of the
Temperance Reform Brigade."
If this was all--although bad enough--we might leave it to the ladies to
correct; but the plot thickens as we proceed: I again quote from the Black
Book:
"The following named persons were arrested, charged with various crimes,
and committed to the Third Judicial District Court , and have not to
my knowledge been called to answer-". . . George H. Graham, seduction and rape . . . . John Spiker, assault
with intent to kill . . . . Joseph Murphy, gambling . . . . James Lewis, grand
larceny . . . . Charles H. Marion, grand larceny . . . . Jerry Crowley, grand
larceny . . . . Thomas Butterwood, passing counterfeit . . . . Charles
Burgess, grand larceny . . . . A.C. Bernard, receiving stolen goods . . . .
Samuel Nickens, assault and intent to kill . . . . Joseph Silver, assaulting
an officer . . . . Charles Marion, grand larceny . . . . John Dowd, grand
larceny . . . . W. M. Sullivan, murder . . . . John W. Fagan, assaulting an
officer.
" I hereby certify that the within and foregoing abstracts from the
Police Record of Salt Lake City are true and correct.
" Andrew Burt, Chief of Police."
[312] Does the above need any comment? Territorial courts administer
even-handed justice to Mormon and non-Mormon. The U.S. Court appears as the
protector and defender of the crime of rape and seduction, of gamblers,
thieves, counterfeiters, perjurers, of violent men and murderers.
It is a sorry thing to have to present such a record; . . . . I would
rather it had slept in eternal oblivion. But when the citizens of this
Territory and our Territorial courts are maligned, misrepresented and outraged
by some of these courts, by our governor and a clique of their sympathizers
and abettors, and when this same party are moving heaven and earth to fasten
upon this people more of these infernal infamies, it is time the veil was
lifted, that men may be seen in their true light. (7)
In his fifth letter of the series, Taylor again opened the "Black
Book."
In the crusade inaugurated by Judge McKean, Strickland, Hawley and
others, prosecutions were instituted against Brigham Young, Daniel H. Wells,
George Q. Cannon, Joseph A. Young, Hiram B. Clawson, Hosea Stout, William H.
Kimball and others. Picked and special juries were organized in accordance
with the Cullom Bill . . . in anticipation of that Bill being passed; . . .
they acted upon its provisions as
though it had passed.
The action of the District Court, it is true, was over-ruled by the
Supreme Court of the United States, which . . . repudiated the ruling of the
McKean court. But these very laws are now sought to be passed in
Congress, authorizing the re-enactment of just such a state of things and
calculated to strip the people of the last vestige of human liberty and place
them at the mercy of such men as I now propose to give the record of.
[313]
Taylor listed cases of U.S. Deputy Marshals convicted of assault and
lascivious cohabitation. According to affidavit one of them, Sam Gilson,
hired a witness in a murder trial to give false testimony. (8) A madam
and her soiled doves were convicted of running a house of ill-fame, but
freed by Judge Hawley on a writ of habeas corpus. Taylor listed convicted
horse thieves, murderers and rapists who were sprung free by Federal
fiat. In Box Elder County a gang of cattle rustlers, which included two
U.S. Deputies, were convicted of stealing 267 head of livestock. Taylor
quoted the charge of Associate Justice C. M. Hawley in freeing the gang
on a writ of habeas corpus:
"If any judge or sheriff . . . in the Territory should at any time in the
future seek to interrupt you in the free exercise of your liberty as American
citizens, you will please make the fact known to me, and I shall see that they
are punished to the utmost extent of the law. Gentlemen, you are now
discharged and this court adjourned."
Well might the sheriff, Mr. Burt, indignantly express himself as follows:
. . . "Thus turning a horde of bandits loose on the community; suffering them
to commit their depredations with impunity, aided, encouraged and backed up in
their nefarious practices by the judiciary; while the officers were threatened
with the severest penalties of the law if they should presume, to interfere .
. . ."
Has it come to this, that a U.S. Judge can find a way to punish honest
men, but cannot discover a method to punish the guilty? . . . These gentlemen
are constantly telling us that there is a deadlock in the courts, and that
they can do nothing, whereas, when it suits them they are the greatest hands
at breaking locks of any set of men between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
When Chief Justice McKean, in his raid on President Young and others, wanted
to fill his mission he stuck at nothing. . . . Mar-[314]shals and deputy
marshals sprang up under this administration like mushrooms; attorneys and
deputy attorneys almost ad infinitum; he could manipulate juries to order as
easily as a juggler could his cards; he could send civilians to military
prisons . . . at will; and he manifested the most inventive genius of any
judge in existence.
He now knows how to liberate . . . criminals of every grade, but he
cannot find a way to punish the guilty. The Legislature has tried to assist
him to unlock; the Governor vetoes the laws. The County Court hands him a key
to unlock, but he won't have it. He and the Governor are unyielding on the
lock question. He evidently thinks that the Supreme Court of the U.S. has
infringed upon his judicial reign, and he is determined to be revenged.
This locking evidently suits thieves and vagabonds, as the following,
from the Ogden Junction, March 13, will show:
"A few days ago, Skein and Davis visited Wadman at the county prison
(Ogden) and were overheard by the guard, making propositions to Wadman to take
all the guilt himself, exculpating them, and promising that they would raise
him $300; and in the event of his conviction, they would get him out by the
aid of Judge McKean and habeas corpus, which they found out would cost them
$30. Skein declared he had never heard of one case of the kind that Judge
McKean had not cleared. (9)
"As I have exposed a good many of the acts and doings of individuals
and the courts," Taylor said in his sixth and final letter of the series,
"it may not be improper now to examine some of the allegations made
against us as Latter-day Saints."
In a statement remarkable for its candor, Taylor frankly discussed
such subjects as blood atonement, the policy of [315] making untrue
statements to conceal church secrets--including his own testimony
regarding plural marriage at Boulogne-sur-mer-and the massacre of a
Gentile wagon company at Mountain Meadows.
For if our system will not stand the most searching and scathing
investigation, it is not worth having or adhering to. Attrition has a tendency
to brighten metals, and the most intense application of fire only tends to
purify gold.
I have been asked by parties, "Do you believe in the doctrine of `Blood
Atonement', as quoted by Presidents Young and Grant?" . . . I most assuredly
believe in the doctrine as preached by the presidency . . . . We believe, with
other peoples and nations, that there are crimes for which men ought to die.
We believe, moreover, that . . . the right way to do it is by the shedding of
their blood; and that it is much better for them thus to atone, or expiate
their guilt for their sins in this world, than to rush into the eternal world
without. But we do not propose to be the executioners; and hence our
Legislature passed a law predicated upon this idea, giving the convicted
criminal . . . the choice of being beheaded, shot, or hung . . . .
I am asked, "Have you not secrets among you that you do not tell?" Yes.
There are many principles that I believe in that I cannot tell, not because
they are wrong, unjust, wicked or oppressive, but simply because it is
forbidden . . . . "Well, why don't you tell them?" Ask the same questions of
the Freemasons, the Odd Fellows, the Druids, the Grangers and others. I should
say, go to the Lord and ask Him for the reasons; you have the same chance I
have. "Why did you not answer distinctly and categorically some questions put
by some priests at Boulogne, France, and tell them all you knew?" Simply
because I did not think proper.
[316] I now come to the investigation of a subject that has been harped upon
for the last seventeen years, viz: The Mountain Meadows massacre. That bloody
tragedy has been the chief stock in trade for . . . penny-a-liners, the press
and pulpit, who have gloated, in turn and by chorus, over the sickening
details. (10)
Do you deny it? No. Do you excuse it? No. There is no excuse for such a
relentless, diabolical, sanguinary deed. That outrageous infamy is looked upon
with as much abhorrence by our people as by any other parties in this nation
or the world; and at its first announcement its loathsome recital chilled the
marrow and sent a thrill of horror through the breasts of the listeners. It
was certainly a horrible deed; and like many other defenseless tragedies, it
is one of those things that cannot be undone.
The world is full of deeds of, crime and darkness; and a question often
arises, who is responsible? It is usual to blame the perpetrators. It does not
seem fair to accuse nations, states and communities for deeds perpetrated by
some of their citizens, unless they uphold it . . . .
It is said that the victims of the Mountain Meadows massacre committed
every kind of outrage in their travels through the settlements; that they
robbed hen roosts, stole cattle and sheep, poisoned wells, and that they
threatened to take their women and children some distance and then return and
spoil and destroy the Mormons. This I only have from statements made by men
living on their line of travel. It is said that ten or twelve Indians were
killed by eating beef poisoned by them; that this and other acts enraged the
Indians, who followed them for nearly 100 miles, increasing their forces as
they went, and eventually it culminated in their attack upon them and their
massacre. That any white man could be found to embark on it is a disgrace to
humanity. I do not know it, but I am afraid that some did; but being done,
what then? . . .
Let us calmly and deliberately examine the facts in the case. The horrid
butchery took place on the then [317] extreme limits of our Territory, in fact
outside of all our then settlements, upwards of three hundred miles from Salt
Lake City. It was commenced and almost exclusively carried out by Indians,
according to the best information we can get. It must also be remembered that
this horrible butchery took place at the time of what is known as the Mormon
War . (11)
Taylor closed his Black Book by saying "that while I have been
obliged to open public records that I would rather have remained closed,
. . it has simply been in defense of an insulted and outraged public,
against the plottings and calumnies of an unscrupulous ring." (12)
Taylor's vigorous defense of liberty had its effect in a change of
climate with the nation's attitude toward a belengered sect. A few months
later, the arbitrary George L. Woods was replaced as Governor. Then after
Judge McKean outraged both Mormons and Gentiles by sentencing Brigham
Young to a day in prison on a technicality during a divorce case,
President Grant dismissed McKean for acts "which are considered
ill-advised and tyrannical, and in excess of his powers as Judge."
"The Federal officers which followed the McKean ring were a better
class of men," Roberts states, "and for some years Utah had a period of
peace; a circumstance which vindicated the wisdom of Elder Taylor's
counsel to `Be quiet.'" (13)
(1) MS, 11 March 1873.
(2) Deseret News, also MS, 17 March 1874.
[318] (3) Deseret News, also MS, 25 March 1874.
(4) It will be noted that Utah has grown by 30,000 since Taylor's
previous series of letters.
(5) Salt Lake Herald, also MS, 31 March 1874.
(6) Baskin, a most active member of the "ring," was at this time
prosecuting attorney for McKean's court. He subsequently became chief
justice of the Supreme Court of Utah, and mayor of Salt Lake City. For
the Gentile view of the controversy, see his Reminiscences of Early Utah,
Salt Lake, 1914.
(7) Salt Lake Herald, also MS, 14 April 1874.
(8) Gilson also arranged the deal with Bill Hickman in the attempt
to convict Brigham Young of murder.
(9) Salt Lake Herald, also MS, 28 April 1874.
(10) A Gentile wagon company consisting of some 140 people camped in
southern Utah at Mountain Meadows, located between Cedar City and St.
George. Mormon zealots, enlisting Indian support as a cover, ambushed the
company. After a siege of three days the Mormons negotiated with the
company and arranged to lend the members to safety under a flag of truce.
Instead, after the company was disarmed, the Mormons killed men, women,
and all except seventeen small children. Some fifty-five Mormon men were
involved, and the plan was conceived and directed by local church
officials.
(11) At the time this letter was written, it was still policy to
attribute responsibility for the massacre to the Indians. Subsequently,
John D. Lee's Confessions, and the testimony at his trials, established
that local Mormons were responsible for planning the affair, and that
they did the actual killing. Three years after the above letter, Lee was
convicted and executed as a scapegoat to quiet the matter. However, it
was not until 1950 that Juanita Brooks told, as far as possible, the
complete story in her Mountain Meadows Massacre. She followed this in
1962 with John Doyle Lee; Zealot-Pioneer-Builder-Scapegoat. Largely
because of her work in clearing his name, Lee was restored to church
membership.
(12) Deseret News, also MS, 12 May 1874.
(13) Life.
[319]
Chapter 18
"A SOLEMN DAY FOR ISRAEL"
Zion continued to prosper. Branches of the church cooperative store,
ZCMI, spread throughout the settlements. Brigham Young instituted the
United Order over the length and breadth of Mormon country. New colonies
settled the desert, to make it blossom as the rose.
Writing to Joseph F. Smith on 11 January 1876, John Taylor outlined
the method of establishing a new colony:
Dear Brother: Five hundred missionaries are being called to make
permanent homes in Arizona Territory.
We have apportioned to each county what is deemed fair and equitable
according to its size, and your quota is 20 from Davis County.
You will please meet with your Bishops and make early arrangements for
raising that number, and report immediately when ready. We want good, faithful
men, who are willing to carry out the principle of the United Order, taking
with them not more than one wife, and who are able to fit themselves up with
an outfit, or assist those who are unable to do it themselves.
At a special meeting of the Bishops of this city, last Saturday evening,
two were called for from each ward and we expect a report from them on
Thursday, Jan. 13th.
We want all of them to be ready at the earliest possible date, so as to
enable them to reach their destination in time to put in crops this spring.
All should be in readiness by the 30th of January.
[320]
It was not unusual that John Taylor should organize this colony,
instead of Brigham Young. Brigham, afflicted with arthritis, customarily
wintered at St. George's balmy climate. With advancing years he had been
delegating responsibility. President Young had "stated that John Taylor
was the man that stood next to him; and that where he was not, John
Taylor presided." (1)
On 16 December, 1876, Taylor wrote a letter to Brigham Young at St.
George that was both official and personal. "Permit me," he said, "as the
season approaches to wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year,
with a hundred thousand more added."
I have listened with very great pleasure to the accounts given of the
progress of the Temple and your zeal and energy in hastening its completion;
and I shall feel, as yourself, like shouting Hosannah to God and the Lamb,
when another Temple shall be completed and dedicated in which the ordinances
of the Lord's house can be performed, in accordance with the holy priesthood
and acceptable to our heavenly Father.
It was gratifying for some time to hear of the good health that you
enjoyed, and I was very sorry to learn, more recently, of a slight attack of
your old complaint. I pray that your disease may stand rebuked and that the
life-giving power of the Spirit of God may rest upon you, and flow through
you, that you may be enabled to carry out your desires in the advancement of
the Church and Kingdom of God on earth.
The Temple here is progressing as fast as we could reasonably expect, for
the season. There was a slight lull and withdrawal of hands for a short time;
but that is now avoided. Wells, myself and others have done a
little preaching on the subject, and laid before the people the necessity of
renewed and increased efforts in the [321] work, and there seems to be a
willingness and a strong desire among the people to complete this Temple. . .
. There are now between seventy and eighty stone cutters at work, and an
attempt is being made to get a number of fine workmen to do the face work.
As Territorial superintendent of district schools, Taylor discussed
in the letter the issuing of revised text books. The prophet's health was
failing, and Taylor closed with a fervent prayer.
Prest. Young, God bless you with health of body and strength of mind,
that you may be full of the Holy Ghost and the power of God, that your heart
may be joyous and happy; that your peace may flow as a river, the holy angels
watch over you continuously in time, and that in all the eternities you may
rejoice in the assemblies of the past, in the name of Jesus, Amen.
The following April, 1877, annual conference was held at St. George
in conjunction with dedication of the first temple completed in Utah.
Upon arrival in St. George, Taylor was concerned regarding Brigham
Young's health. The prophet had previously been using a crutch and cane;
but now he was unable to walk, and had to be carried about in an
armchair, made for the purpose by Howard Cottam.
Because of his health, there was talk that he might retire from
office in favor of his son, Brigham Jr., commonly known as "Young
Briggie." The Salt Lake Tribune published a number of predictions to this
effect.
[322] ST. GEORGE, April 6--Three thousand Mormons attended the conference
today, which was declared convened by the Prophet Brigham. The Melchisedek, or
high priesthood, was represented by Brigham and his two sons, Briggy and
Johnny, the One-Eyed Pirate , Cannon and nearly
all the Twelve Apostles....
This conference is proving a rather dull affair, as the real business,
the promotion of Briggy, is the absorbing thought of those who think at all.
Brigham Young made reference to persistent rumors by saying from the
stand, "Don't you worry who my successor will be. This is in the Lord's
hands."
Reporting the last day of conference, the Tribune said:
The conference was attended by the usual number of unwashed Saints today.
Wilford Woodruff addressed them in his usual corn-cutting style, exhorting
them to unquestioning obedience, and advising them to drink deeper of the cup
of Enoch. Apostle C. C. Rich also gave the Saints a long
discourse on Enoch, but . . . the truth is the priesthood does not feel so
exuberent as on former occasions . . . .
In the afternoon the officers of the Church were voted for. Old Brigham
was re-elected President, Prophet, Seer, Revelator and Trustee-in-Trust for
the Latter-day fraud, thus beating the Prince out of his throne for another
six months at least.
Enoch! Enoch! Enoch! was the only subject brayed on today. Old Brigham is
trying to feather his nest before he dies.
A reason for emphasis on the United Order at the conference was to
rally the [323] Saints to unity in the face of grave danger. The truce
between the church and the world had been shattered recently by the trial
and conviction of John D. Lee for his part in the Mountain Meadows
tragedy twenty years previously. Lee had been executed nearby at Mountain
Meadows just three weeks before, and the Tribune called it "The Mountain
Meadows Conference."
Publication of Lee's Confessions had engendered widespread
excitement. T.B.H. Stenhouse and his wife, Fanny, also had each published
an unfriendly book, which added to the furor. A typical reaction came
from the New York Herald.
The execution of John D. Lee, the confession he made when confronting an
ignominious death, the implication of Brigham Young and other Mormon magnates
as accomplices in the Mountain Meadows Massacre, and the new sense of
indignant hostility to the bloody, beastly, law-defying hierarchy on the
border of the Great Salt Lake, contribute to make this the most important
occasion which has yet arisen for effacing the foul blot on American life
which has so long existed in the region of the Rocky Mountains. . . . (2)
The time has at length come for vigorous action, and it would be unwise
to let so favorable an opportunity slip. The first and most urgent thing to be
done is to bring all the accomplices to the Mountain Meadows Massacre to
justice. Their trial, condemnation and execution would be a great step toward
putting the public mind in a proper temper for dealing finally and effectually
with the troublesome Mormon question. The next great step will be the passage
by Congress of such laws as will thoroughly uproot polygamy and the abject
slavery of women which it involves . . . .
[324] For the present we only insist on the vigorous execution of the criminal
laws against John D. Lee's bloodstained accomplices. (3)
In this resurgence of enmity, the Salt Lake Tribune became venomous.
With the same issue reporting the final day of conference, it published a
supplement of "Mormon Horrors!"
The Mormon priests, just now, are preaching louder than ever before the
three grand necessities of Mormonism--unity, righteousness and obedience. This
sounds very sanctifying, no doubt to the people outside of Utah, who know
nothing of the significance of these terms in the Mormon vocabulary. Their
unity, righteousness and obedience are all expressed in one word of common
English--subserviency--to the will of Brigham Young . . . .
John D. Lee is an illustrious example of Mormon subserviency. For thirty
years he knew no human or divine will but that of Brigham Young. . . . When he
at last became a convict as a legitimate reward for a lifetime's compliance
with the will of the heartless despot who had made so good use of him, Brigham
sends him word by his faithful wife, Rachel, "Tell Brother John not to give
himself any uneasiness. Not a hair of his head shall be harmed."
Relying still, as in the past, upon the word of this insidious enemy of
mankind--literally hanging upon his inspired utterances--John D. Lee was
cajoled into silence which really cost him his life; for had he turned State's
evidence and made his confession prior to his final conviction, he would have
been spared to testify to the guilty conspiracy of his masters, the real
projectors and instigators of the terrible deed.
"See what a lifetime's obedience to Brigham Young has brought me to!"
exclaimed the sacrificed Lee, as he stood at the end of his coffin, upon the
brink of eternity.
[325]
At the height of the resurgence of the "Mormon problem," Brigham
Young died, 29 August 1877. The Deseret News reported:
At four o'clock this afternoon, PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG departed this
life, surrounded by his family and intimate friends. This announcement will
thrill the whole Territory with grief. We feel the weight of this great loss
to the world, and cannot at this moment express in the faintest degree our
deep sense of the void occasioned by his departure. He was a GREAT MAN in
every sense of the term. And he has left a mark upon the age which the future
will never efface, but which will grow brighter and broader as the man, his
deeds and his sentiments become better known and appreciated.
To the Latter-day Saints he has been for more than thirty-three years a
counselor, a father, a friend, a guide, and a tower of strength. To all
mankind he has been a prophet and a benefactor so far as they would accept his
advice and receive his teachings.
He has, under God, rescued thousands from poverty and raised them to
independence, opened the deserts of these mountains to colonization, preached
the gospel of salvation to many nations, declared the counsel of heaven to
inhabitants of the earth, prepared the way in the Temples of God for the
redemption of hosts of the dead, organized and consolidated the order of the
everlasting Priesthood, and, having finished his work on earth, gone into the
spirit world to join with Joseph, Hyrum, Willard, Jedediah, Heber, George A.
and other great and glorious servants of the Lord, to continue the divine work
they all labored for on earth.
We mourn his departure. But they rejoice in great gain. If a mighty man
has left us in grief, a mightier spirit is received among them with welcomings
and gladness. For his freed soul, no longer clogged with the cares and pains
of fading mortality, will wield a potent influence behind the veil.
[326]
There were persistent rumors that Brigham Young did not die from
natural causes."Like all great men, he has had bitter enemies," the
Deseret News stated.
No man has been more villified, misrepresented and falsely accused than
Brigham Young. His life has been frequently sought. The bullet and the knife
of the assassin have been prepared to shed his heart's blood, and plots have
been illegally laid by the emissaries of the law to rob, imprison, and destroy
him. But the hand of the Lord has delivered him on every occasion. (4)
To quiet rumors of foul play, John Taylor arranged for immediate
publication of the report by attending physicians.
LAST MOMENTS OF PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG.
In order to satisfy the feelings of many of our readers and answer
numerous inquiries concerning the particulars of the last sickness of our late
beloved President, we publish the following, arranged from reports made by
Drs. Seymour B. Young and F. D. Benedict, and others who were present during
the last hours of the President's earthly existence:
President Young's sickness commenced on Thursday, Aug. 23, continuing the
whole of the afternoon. He had an inclination to vomit, but he continued to
attend to his business as usual. In the evening he was present at a Bishop's
meeting in the Council House, and instructed the brethren in their duties,
speaking with marked point and power.
At 11 o'clock at night, on retiring, he was seized with an attack of
cholera morbus, the usual symptoms of vomiting and purging being almost
continuous until five o'clock Friday morning, when, at his own request, a mild
opiate was administered hypodermically into each foot, to relieve the intense
pain, caused by the constant cramping of the muscles.
[327] During the whole of that day his sufferings were great, continuing
through most of the night, but becoming less severe towards Saturday morning,
when he slept for a few hours. This was the first rest he enjoyed from the
commencement of his attack. During the whole of this period he endured his
pain cheerfully, and occasionally made humorous remarks as was his wont when
he saw those around him inclined to be troubled.
Inflamation of the bowels set in on Saturday at 3 p.m., and the abdomen
commenced to swell. One small dose, half a grain of opium, was administered,
and at midnight the same quantity . . . . Throughout Sunday he continued, both
while awake and asleep, to moan. When asked if he suffered pain his invariable
reply was, "No, I don't know that I do." During the same night his sufferings
were less severe, but continuous, although at eight o'clock he had a grain of
opium and at midnight half a grain.
On Monday morning, at eight o'clock, he showed increasing symptoms of
nervous prostration, by constant moving of the hands and twitching of the
muscles of the arms. One grain of opium was administered, and from then till
12 noon, he suffered severely. Another grain of opium was given him and at
8:20 in the evening and a half grain more. About 9 o'clock he sank into a
quite sleep, resting without moaning. During Sunday and Monday he had
received, at intervals of half an hour, a table spoonful of milk and brandy,
an ounce of the latter to eight of the former. . . . About 10 o'clock Monday
evening he sank into a semi-comatose condition, from which it was difficult to
arouse him, although by persuasion, he swallowed the milk mixture every half
hour and a teaspoonful of ice water at intervals.
At one o'clock on Tuesday morning, warm stimulating injections were
given, after which he thoroughly aroused, and, by the aid of his attendants
got out of bed twice. At four o'clock the same morning he sank down in bed
apparently lifeless. Artificial respiration was resorted to, by [328] which
the lungs were kept inflated, and hot poultices were placed over the heart, to
stimulate its action . . . .
Hands were laid upon him by the various brethren very frequently from the
time he was attacked until his demise. President John. W. Young and others
administered to him the ordinance for the sick, calling on the Almighty to
restore him . . . . While lying in a kind of stupor, his son John W. asked
him, "Do you know me, Father?" He responded, "I rather guess I do . . . ." He
subsequently revived and spoke to those around him, saying he felt better and
wished to rest.
This condition remained until about 8 in the evening when partial
prostration again ensued, and his case was considered exceedingly critical by
the attendant physicians, Drs. S. B. Young, W. F. Anderson, J. M. Benedict and
F. D. Benedict. After consultation, an entire filling up of the lower part of
the bowels by injection was determined upon, for the purpose of creating an
action through the alimentary canal, but was not persevered in, on account of
fainting symptoms, and the patient objecting to the treatment, which caused
him to cry out with pain. He passed the night in a semi-comatose state.
On Wednesday morning symptoms of approaching dissolution were plainly
evident. The early coma was entirely attributable, so the doctors say, to a
poisoning of the blood, from a pressure of the swelled bowels, causing a
prevention of return currents of the circulation to the heart and lungs. . . .
The temperature and pulsations were taken frequently, the temperature
remaining at 99 until 4 a.m. on Wednesday when it rose to 101-3/4, and to 105
just previous to his decease. His pulse ranged from 120 to 128, the latter
being reached after the administration of the stimulating medicines. . . . (5)
[329]
It was reported that Brigham Young's last coherent words were,
"Joseph, Joseph, Joseph!"
On 3 September the Deseret News reported the funeral:
Yesterday morning the glorious sun, shining bright and clear from a
cloudless and lovely sky, ushered in one of the finest and calmest Sabbath
days ever seen in Utah. Special trains from the north, the south, and the
west, brought in vast crowds of people from points far and near to witness the
obsequities of President Brigham Young....
There was a continuous stream of living humanity passing through the
Tabernacle . . . to view the mortal remains of our departed President . . . .
It is estimated that nearly 25,000 persons took their last farewell of the
honored dead. . . .
Precisely at 12 noon, the immense congregation was called to order by
Elder George Q. Cannon, who at the request of the family conducted the
ceremonies.
After opening prayer by Elder F. D. Richards, there were remarks by
President D. H. Wells, and Elders Wilford Woodruff, Erastus Snow, George
Q. Cannon, and, as final speaker, John Taylor.
Today is a solemn day for Israel. We have before us the body of the man
who has led us for the past thirty-three years. Thirty-three years ago I was
with and witnessed the departure of our first President, Joseph Smith. . . .
Both of these presidents had the faith and confidence of the Saints of the
Most High, and the guidance and direction of the Lord. And the feelings of the
people as exhibited here, the gathering together of this Priesthood and the
Saints which I see before me today, is evidence of the respect and kindness
that beat in every heart and throb through every pulse. . . .
[330] As has been said, his name and his fame are known among all people, and
a knowledge of these events has spread to the uttermost bounds of the
everlasting hills.... The former President, Joseph Smith, and this our late
President, Brigham Young, meet again face to face in the eternal worlds. Both
have triumphed, both have overcome.
There were dire predictions by the world press that Mormonism would
dwindle and wither away without Brigham Young's leadership. "The success
of Mormonism," said the San Francisco Chronicle, "will depend much on the
man who shall become Young's successor."
Other papers had varied reactions, reflecting attitudes of the day.
During the last ten years of his life we have not been ashamed to own him
as a friend, and to receive frequent proofs of his friendly regard in return .
. . . Brigham Young is dead, and in his grave will be buried the strength and
the hopes of a people of whose peculiar religious and social institutions he
was the founder and chief support.
Brigham Young is dead, and he died, full of years and of crimes, in his
bed. There can be no question that he was a man of very remarkable ability;
and in weighing the black deeds that stain his name it is necessary also to
reckon the many evidences his career affords of mental power and
administrative capacity. The history of Brigham Young, however, is the history
of Mormonism. He it was who made the Church a living community. By introducing
terror and superstition, by practicing at once the arts of modern civilization
and the devices of medieval tyranny, [331] he succeeded in establishing a
compact, self-supporting, bigoted and disloyal community
With the death of Brigham Young, a crisis in the existence of the church
must occur . . . .
He has labored unceasingly to populate the Territory with the most
ignorant and deluded creatures of Europe; he has fomented treason and raised
troops to fight the Government; he has opposed free schools and popular
education; he has inhibited free religious worship; he has . . . prevented
free speech and tried to muzzle a free press; he has placed a barrier in the
face of every democratic advancement of the age; he has made the Territory a
perfect pandemonium of debauchery and crime. Ignorance was the platform on
which he had planted the Church....
There is no monument, save the name of Mormon, which will mark the
Prophet's late existence, and though a hundred thousand Saints may weep at his
death, in the course of a few decades his name will either be totally
forgotten or remembered only as that of a wicked humbug or an arrant knave.
The death of the pretended vicegerent of God will be hailed with genuine
delight all over the land. Satan will hold a nine days' jubilee, and summon
from the lowest depth of hell the fiends incarnate, to welcome the impostor.
There will be a little hell on earth in the vicinity of Salt Lake City, for a
while, at least, and during the struggle for the succession some of the
remaining human butchers may go to join Brigham. We trust that such may be the
case, for while they live the moral atmosphere of Utah will remain unpurified.
With the death of the leaders the Mormon problem would be solved and the
disgrace of the nineteenth century obliterated.
[332]
Say what we may, his success was wonderful. The imagination is taxed to
comprehend the facts. He built a city, subdued a wilderness, and in defiance
of almost insurmountable obstacles organized not only his church, but society
. . . . The wilderness was made to bloom. Cities rose as if by magic.
Manufacturers flourished, and, remote from civilization, the most difficult
problems of civilization were successfully worked out under the management of
Brigham Young.
His word was law; his will supreme. He taught his followers that he was
in direct communication with Jehovah, and his revelations had the sacredness
of the old Sinai commands. During his career, Brigham Young had his eye to the
money side of the question, and made himself immensely rich. He lived in
luxury. The Lord only knows the number of his children, grandchildren and
great-grandchildren. . . .
Since he is dead, who will step into his shoes? Evidently no man living
can assume command, and though it would be rash to assume that Mormonism is
dead, it would be equally rash to believe that it can survive for any extended
period the death of its great leader.
The world will await with impatience the next step in Mormondom that will
bring to the front the leader who is to make the Latter-day Saints the
greatest people in the world, or to burst the bubble of fanaticism,
transforming the Saints into sinners and leaving us just where we were when
the angel Moroni called Joseph from the plow to open the final Gospel
Dispensation. Which shall it be?
[333]
What changes will the death of this extraordinary man bring to the
Mormons? Polygamy must be done away with, for with the extensive settlements
all around them, they cannot long sustain it. The Government has also ceased,
to tolerate it. There will be a struggle for the succession, but it is
believed the death of Young will divide the Mormons, in which event the sect
will be overrun by outside pressure, and gradually disappear.
It is hard to speak of him just as he deserves. When we think of the man
who gathered his rough followers together, led them to a then almost
unexplored wilderness, and, sitting down with a tremendous wall of mountains
behind him and nothing but a sagebrush desert and hostile tribes before him,
commenced the founding of a city and the building up of homes, it reminds us
of Cortez burning his ships on an unknown coast. And when we think how he
field his followers to him until the desert smiled with waving fields and the
city shone like a gem on the dusky breast of an Indian girl, we find much to
admire, and are forced to say that no man, except he possessed remarkable
energy, judgment, will, courage, magnetism and brain power, could ever have
done what Brigham Young accomplished.
Had he been guided by a lofty principle, there would have been sorrow
everywhere when he came to die. But, unfortunately, he had not a thought which
was not selfish; not a desire which was not unhallowed. . . . He has planted a
plague spot in the depths of our continent.... He was a false light; it is
well the light has gone out.
In the death of Brigham Young the Mormon Church has lost its power. No
successor to Brigham, although [334] invested with all the pomp and solemnity
of the Church, will ever be a Brigham Young. . . . Brigham was the backbone of
Mormonism as opposed to National Unity, and the backbone being gone,
necessarily there must be dissolution.
The Deseret News was as a voice in the wilderness, countering the
popular press forecasts of impending disaster.
"The Mormon system will be put on trial for its existence with the death
of Brigham Young."
The above, from the Omaha Herald, expresses a sentiment entertained by a
very large number of people in both hemispheres. The popular idea is that the
whole Mormon Church is comprehended in its head, and that with the removal of
the leader the body must fall to pieces....
The opinions now entertained and very generally expressed by the press of
the country prevailed at the time of the martyrdom of Joseph and Hyrum Smith.
Indeed, those who planned, desired or consented to the death of the great
Prophet and Seer of the nineteenth century excused themselves . . . by the
argument that the death of the leader was the death of the system, and that
his removal would dispose of the "Mormon question," and scatter the Mormon
people forever.
But history has demonstrated their error. As in former times, the blood
of the martyrs proved the "seed of the church," and Mormonism flourished and
extended, took deeper root and bore riper fruit than ever before. Great
emergencies bring forth great men. The man for the times comes to the front. .
..
This is not the Church of Joseph Smith, not of Brigham Young, but of
Jesus Christ. . . . The strength of this work is in its divinity. The
Latter-day Saints worship God, not man. They partake, individually, of the
same spirit [335] that rests upon their leaders. Theirs is not a blind path.
They walk in the light, and cling to the men who are placed in authority,
because the spirit of truth bears witness to their calling, and because they
understand something of the order of that priesthood which God has restored to
direct erring humanity in the road which leads to His Eternal Presence.
The "Mormon system" has always been on trial. It has been continually
subjected to severe tests, from the day of its birth into the world. It is no
more in danger now than at any period of its earthly existence. It will
steadily advance, spreading the knowledge of the truth concerning God and His
designs in relation to the human family, working out the plan of salvation for
the living and the dead, and preparing the way for the feet of Him whose right
it is to reign over all the earth. (6)
It must be remembered that the question of succession had no easy
answer at this time. Only once before had leadership changed hands, and
at that time rivalry over succession had splintered the Saints into many
dissident groups. Less than half the church membership in the Nauvoo area
followed Brigham Young to Utah.
There also was uncertainty over ranking in the Quorum of the Twelve.
Orson Hyde, Orson Pratt, and Wilford Woodruff had at previous times been
ranked ahead of John Taylor in the Quorum of the Twelve. Each of the four
men might claim the right of succession. (7)
In an article headed "THE SUCCESSORSHIP," the Salt Lake Tribune
discussed various factions, personalities and possibilities involved:
[336] Speculations are many and varied, both inside and outside the pale of
the Church, as to who will succeed to its Presidency. Three distinct and
widely diverse parties or interests claim our attention as to the probable
future governing power of Mormonism.
First is the Smith family, the acknowledged leader of whom is Joseph
, the present head of the Smith faction of the Mormon Church and eldest
son of the founder of Mormonism. (8) Second is the Young dynasty represented
by Brigham, Jr., and John W, Young. Thirdly are the Twelve Apostles of the
Church, of whom John Taylor is the nominal President. The question is, which
of these parties, or interests, will obtain control of the Church?...
The chief priestly and presiding power is the Apostleship . . . . Joseph
Smith ordained and set apart twelve men to be Apostles of this dispensation;
of this number Brigham Young was one, and at the time of Smith's death was the
senior or first apostle. By virtue of this Apostleship, and this only, Brigham
and his quorum succeeded to the control of the Church. For over three years
the Twelve jointly presided; and they made a fatal mistake when they isolated
Brigham and two others from their number and created a First, Presidency.
The subsequent experience of Hyde, Pratt, Taylor, Lyman and others,
proves that they created a power they could not control--that they made a rod
for their own backs. . . . (9)
The Apostleship, then, being the ruling power in the church, and
Brigham's accession to power having been by virtue of his Apostleship, and by
the will of his fellow Apostles, it clearly follows that with Brigham gone the
only power that can rightly assume control of the Church is the Quorum of the
Twelve Apostles. Brigham's counselors do not figure at all in this matter. It
has been a custom always for any President of the Church, from the head down
to a small branch president, to choose his own counselors to suit himself. . .
. Brigham's two counselors, [337] D. H. Wells and John W. Young, were lay
members. Neither of them was ever an Apostle. . . . (10)
There can scarcely be any doubt but the Youngs, notwithstanding the
Apostles have a clear right to control, will endeavor to obtain their father's
place. John W. will no doubt assume that his counselorship to his father
entitles him to a place in the new Presidency; and Brigham, Jr., will probably
assert his right to the first place by virtue of his heirship to the deceased
prophet, seer and President. (11)
It will be interesting to watch who will go in with the boys to furnish
brains for the new triumvirate. . . . This Young faction will carry with them
all the men who occupy places of profit and emolument under the old regime . .
. . It will also carry a majority of the most pliant tools of the late
chieftain, the men who have acted as secret police, spies, block teachers,
etc. These forces, it must be admitted, would give the boys a good start in
the race. . . .
There is a powerful undercurrent in the Mormon Church, especially among
the older members, in favor of the Smith family. This was plainly demonstrated
last year when Joseph Smith visited this city. It is claimed by many that the
first Prophet predicted that his posthumous son, David, would be the future
leader of Israel. Others claim that Joseph was ordained by his father. Anyway,
the name of Smith has a charm for all the old Mormons, and Brigham's exacting avarice, tyranny
and worldliness have caused thousands to look back with fondness to Smith's more generous rule,
and forward to an uncertain future
when some change for the better will come.
They believe that Brigham's death will bring about that long desired change. This element
only wants a leader to carry them over to the sons of the Prophet Smith. Now is Joseph > Smith's
opportunity. Will he avail himself
of [338] it? If so, he should be here on the sixth of October next, and in the
tabernacle announce himself as the only rightful successor of Joseph the
Prophet, and he will get thousands to follow him . . . .
But the great body of the Mormon people who believe in their religion,
and who have no selfish motives to serve, will beyond a doubt go with the
Twelve, if the Twelve act in unison and point the way. Will they do this? To
answer this question, the personnel of that quorum must be considered, but our
space will not admit of a proper estimate of these men in this article.
Suffice it to say that Cannon will probably go with the Young
boys. Jos. F. Smith would hardly know whether to go with the Twelve or join
the Smith party, but the chances would be in favor of blood.
Carrington and Richards would try to be on the winning side. If
Taylor, Pratt and Hyde can agree, they will probably
carry the rest of their quorum with the above exceptions and reservations.
(12)
Another factor, the Tribune said, concerned the standing of John
Taylor. "Although the first called of the Twelve, he is not the President
of that quorum, that elevation being still held by Orson Hyde." The paper
concluded that "The situation is decidedly interesting, and the ungodly
in Zion will find entertainment enough in merely watching proceedings."
(13)
When the Twelve, together with the two members of the former First
Presidency, met together two days after Brigham Young's funeral, the
world waited for the decision. John Taylor subsequently in his Succession
in the Priesthood discussed matters taken up by that council. (14)
. . . The Twelve, when they were first organized, were directed to have
the oldest man selected for their [339] President, who was Thomas B. Marsh.
There were similar arrangements made in many instances in regard to High
Councilors, and in such cases they were regulated, if my memory serves me
right, in the same way. This is my understanding of the order in the early
history of the church. . . . If the Priesthood administers in time and in
eternity; and if quorums of this kind are organized upon the earth, and this
Priesthood is not taken away, but continued with them in the heavens, we do
not wish, I think, to break up the order of the Priesthood upon the earth; and
it would seem to be necessary that these principles of perpetuity or
continuity should be held sacred among us. . . .
This principle is confirmed by the Prophet Joseph Smith in an address to
the Saints, embodied in the Doctrine and Covenants. He writes:
"And again, what do we hear? Glad tidings from Cumorah! Moroni, an angel
from heaven, declaring the fulfilment of the Prophets--the book to be
revealed. A voice of the Lord in the wilderness of Fayette, Seneca County,
declaring the three witnesses to bear record of the book. The voice of Michael
on the banks of the Susquehanna, detecting the devil when he appeared as an
angel of light. The voice of Peter, James and John in the wilderness, between
Harmony, Susquehanna County, and Colesville, Broome County, on the Susquehanna
River, declaring themselves as possessing the keys of the kingdom, and of the
dispensation of the fulness of times.
"And again, the voice of God in the chamber of old Father Whitmer, in
Fayette, Seneca County, and at sundry times, and in divers places through all
the travels and tribulations of this Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. And the voice of Michael, the arch-angel; the voice of Gabriel, and of
Raphael, and of divers angels, from Michael or Adam, down to the present time,
all declaring their dispensation, their rights, their keys, their majesty and
glory, and the power of their Priesthood; [340] giving line upon line, precept
upon precept; here a little, and there a little--giving us consolation by
holding forth that which is to come, confirming our hope. . . ."
As I stated, the Twelve, when they were called, were placed on the same
footing that I have referred to, and Thomas B. Marsh was the senior of that
quorum; hence he was appointed, and he is spoken of in the revelations, as
their President. At the time of his apostacy, there was another change made.
David W. Patten would have been the next, had he lived, but he was killed in
Missouri before Thomas B. Marsh apostatized. Had he lived, he would have been
President of the Twelve, instead of Brigham Young. But he died, and
consequently Brigham Young, being the senior member of the Twelve, was
appointed in his place. (15)
Now in regard to the apostacy of Thomas B. Marsh.... (16) The fact of a
President of the Twelve, who ought to be true to his trust, Apostleship and
calling, and the guardian and protector of the people, making such statements,
is truly infamous. . . . Thomas B. Marsh was unquestionably "instigated by the
devil . . . ." The consequence was he was cut off from the Church. When he was
cut off, he seemed to have lost all the spirit and power and manhood that he
once enjoyed. . . .
Taylor recalled Joseph's exhortation to the Twelve not to betray
heaven, Jesus Christ, their brethren, or the revelations of God. "But
whatever you do, do not betray your friends."
came to me on a certain occasion, and quoted this
affidavit which Marsh had made, and told me he would give his life over and
over again, if it were possible, to wipe out the recollections of that act;
but I think, as I said before, that Brother Hyde was scarcely in his right
mind; he was laboring under a fever and was hardly himself. . . . He went on a
mission to Jerusalem and to other places, and proved himself as faithful as he
knew [341] how to be. But he was not, I think, the man that he was before.
Such things affect men. . . .
Far West, John E. Page . . . and I were ordained into the Quorum of
the Twelve at the same meeting. Brother Woodruff was ordained after the scenes
of the war at Far West on the cornerstone of the foundation of the Temple, and
I helped to ordain him. Brother George A. Smith was ordained at the same time
....
Now we come to some other events . . . . Through some inadvertence, or
perhaps mixed up with the idea of seniority of age taking the precedence,
Wilford Woodruff's name was placed on the records of the time, and for many
years after, before that of John Taylor. (17) This matter was investigated
some time afterwards by President Young and his council . . . and it was voted
on and decided that his name be placed before Wilford Woodruff's, although
Wilford Woodruff was the older man. The reason assigned for this change was
that although both were called at the same time, John Taylor was ordained into
the Twelve prior to Wilford Woodruff; and another prominent reason would be
that as John Taylor assisted in the ordination of Elder Wilford Woodruff, he
therefore must precede him in the Council.
Another question arose afterwards on this same subject: Orson Hyde and
Orson Pratt had both of them been disfellowshipped and dropped from their
Quorum, and when they returned, without any particular investigation or
arrangement, they took the position in the Quorum which they had formerly
occupied . . . . Brother George A. Smith drew my attention to this matter . .
. . He stated at the same time that these brethren having been dropped from
the Quorum could not assume the position that they before had. . . . He
stated, at the same time, that these questions might become very serious ones,
in case of a change of circumstances arising from death or otherwise;
remarking, also, that I stood before them in the Quorum. I told him I was
aware of that, and of the correctness of the position [342] assumed by him,
and had been for years, but that I did not choose to agitate or bring up a
question of that kind. Furthermore, I stated that, personally, I cared nothing
about the matter, and, moreover, I entertained a very high esteem for both the
parties named; while, at the same time, I could not help but see, with him,
that complications might hereafter arise. Some time after, in Sanpete, in
June, 1875, President Young brought up the subject of seniority, and stated
that John Taylor was the man that stood next to him; and that where he was
not, John Taylor presided. He also made the statement that Brother Hyde and
Brother Pratt were not in their right positions in the quorum. Upon this
statement, I assumed the position indicated.
Thus our position at that time seemed to be fully defined; . . . and from
that time to the death of President Young, I occupied the senior position in
the Quorum. . . . Thus I stood in the same position that President Young did
when called to occupy the same place at the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
...
On 10 September 1877 came the decision the Saints and the world had
awaited.
EPISTLE of the Twelve Apostles and Counselors to the CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF
LATTER-DAY SAINTS in All the World.
BELOVED SAINTS:
A time of mourning has fallen upon Zion, and it is with feelings of
profound sadness that we address this epistle to you. Our beloved brother,
guide and counselor, our prophet, seer and revelator, President Brigham Young,
has been taken from our midst by death . . . .
At a ripe old age, in the quiet of his own home, he has passed to his
rest. This is a consolation to us who survive him . . . . He not only has been
the President of the Church, but a father to his people. Their welfare and
[343] prosperity, their preservation from evil, and their advancement in
everything holy and pure has always been the uppermost thought and desire of
his heart. In his love for and devotion to the work of God he has never
wavered. During the thirty-three years that he has presided over the Church,
since the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph, his knees have never trembled, his
hands have never shook; he has never faltered or quailed. . . . The Lord,
however, not only blessed him with valor, but He endowed him with great
wisdom. His counsels, when obeyed, have been attended with salvation, and as
an organizer and administrator he has no superior . . . . He always had the
counsel of the Lord and none ever sought it from him in vain.
Beloved Saints: We have been greatly favored of the Lord in being
permitted to live in this dispensation, and in having been led by two such men
as the prophets Joseph and Brigham. Of Joseph, the prophet and seer of the
Lord, it has been truthfully said, that at his death, he had done more (save
for Jesus only) for the development of the principles of life and salvation of
men in this world, for the space of time in which he was on earth, than any
other man that ever lived upon it. The prophet Brigham has proved himself
worthy to be his successor . . . .
Joseph may be martyred, Brigham may die, so far as this life is
concerned; but our Heavenly Father still lives, and the holy priesthood and
apostleship, which He restored to the earth, still remains to guide and
govern, and to administer ordinances to the Church which He has established.
Our beloved brother Brigham Young has gone from us to join the Prophet Joseph
and the host of the holy and the pure who are behind the veil; but we do not
therefore lose the benefit of his labors. He is now in a position to do more
for that work which he loved so well, and for which he labored so ardently. .
..
The President of the Church having been taken from us by death, the
Church is now placed in the same position that it was at the martyrdom of the
Prophet Joseph--[344] there is no quorum of First Presidency. . . . Once more
the necessity for the Twelve Apostles to step forward and take the Presidency
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has arisen. . . .
On Tuesday last, September 4th, the two counselors of President Young and
ten of the Twelve Apostles--two of the Twelve, Brothers Orson Pratt and Joseph
F. Smith being absent in England--held a meeting, and waited upon the Lord.
With humble, contrite and saddened hearts we earnestly sought to learn His
mind and will concerning us and His Church. The Lord blessed us with the
spirit of union and condescended to reveal to us what steps we should take.
Elder John Taylor, the senior Apostle, and who has acted as President of
the Twelve, was unanimously sustained in that position. With the same
unanimity also it was voted that the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is the
presiding quorum and authority in the Church. . . .
The former counselors of the First Presidency, Daniel H. Wells and
John W. Young, were appointed counselors to the Twelve, with George Q.
Cannon also counselor in financial affairs.
The new leadership was sustained with warmth and enthusiasm at
October conference. In fact, even the irascible Tribune approved. The
paper said, "It is not probable that the supreme government of the Mormon
Church has been constituted to suit The Tribune, but we are free to admit
that we are well satisfied with it."
[345]
(1) Succession in the Priesthood.
(2) Brigham Young and other authorities at Salt Lake were not
implicated in the massacre itself, but had persistently tried to lay
blame on the Indians, and had supressed evidence of Mormon participation.
Juanita Brooks reported that even in the modern day she was not allowed
access to material in the Church archives regarding the affair.
(3) 8 April 1877.
(4) "Obituary," Deseret News, 30 August 1877.
(5) Deseret News, 31 August 1877.
Speculation concerning the cause of Brigham Young's death has
continued to the present day among historians and scholars. Therefore,
the authors submitted the doctors' report to a prominent physician of
Sacramento, California, for a possible diagnosis in light of modern
medical knowledge. After consultation with pathologists, Dr. Max L.
Dimick reported that Brigham Young exhibited the classic symptom of
arsenic poisoning.
(6) 1 September 1877.
(7) John Taylor find not been sustained as President of the Twelve
at this time. See Deseret News 1975 Church Almanac.
(8) Not so. Joseph F. Smith was the son of the founder's brother,
Hyrum. None of the Prophet's family joined the Utah church.
(9) As previously noted, John Taylor, Orson Hyde, Parley Pratt, and
Orson Pratt believed the church should be governed by the Twelve, and at
Winter Quarters they blocked an attempt to form a First Presidency.
Subsequently, when Brigham Young was sustained President of the Church at
Winter Quarters, 27 December 1847, Taylor and Parley Pratt were in Utah;
Orson Hyde evidently was appeased by being sustained President of the
Twelve on that day, and Orson Pratt did not attend the meeting.
(10) In the case of John W. Young, he had been privately ordained an
Apostle at the age of ten by his father, 22 February 1855. However, John
W. was never seated in the Quorum of the Twelve. See Succession in the
Church Presidency, Reed C. Durham and Steven H. Heath, Salt Lake, 1970.
[346]
(11) Among others making this prediction. Stenhouse says, "Several
years ago, Brigham secretly ordained his three sons apostles--Joseph A.,
Brigham, and John W.--with the intention that Brigham Junior should
subsequently be president of the Church, and his two brothers
counselors." (However, Joseph A. died before his father.)
If it is true that such a dynasty was planned, the way was open by
reason that at the time of Brigham Young's death, and for two years
previously, no one was sustained as president of the Quorum of the
Twelve.
(12) 2 September 1877.
(13) 1 September 1877. In discussing succession, it is significant
that John Taylor never had been sustained as president of the Twelve,
although he had been acting as such for two years. During the four
conferences held over this period of time, Taylor was sustained as "First
Apostle," but was not presented as "President of the Twelve." Brigham
Young had also placed Orson Hyde and Orson Pratt below Taylor in
seniority in the quorum. Thus there actually was no president of the
Twelve at Brigham's death; therefore, the question of succession was an
open one.
(14) Discourse, 7 October 1881; published as a pamphlet.
(15) This was the last time that age determined position in the
Twelve. The order thereafter went according to seniority in ordination.
Otherwise, John E. Page would have become president on ordination, for he
was older than Brigham Young; and Page would have been in turn supplanted
by Lyman Wight.
(16) Marsh made affidavit regarding Joseph Smith's involvement in
Danite activities in Missouri. Orson Hyde confirmed Marsh's statement. In
the above discourse Taylor had a portion of the Marsh affidavit read. It
has been deleted here because the subject was previously discussed in an
earlier chapter.
(17) Not only Woodruff, but John E. Page and Willard Richards were
placed ahead of Taylor, where originally they had followed him in
ranking.
[347]
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Newspapers
Papers Edited by John Taylor:
Deseret News, Salt Lake City.
L'Etoile du Deseret, Paris.
The Mormon, New York.
Nauvoo (Illinois) Neighbor.
Nauvoo (Illinois) Wasp.
Times and Seasons, Nauvoo, Illinois.
Zions Panier, Hamburg.
Other Newspapers:
Alton (Illinois) Telegraph.
Beaver (Utah) Square Dealer.
Boston Recorder.
Church News, Salt Lake City.
Cincinnati Commercial.
Corinne (Utah) Reporter.
Eureka (Nevada) Republican.
The Frontier Guardian, Kanesville, Iowa.
Indianapolis Sentinal.
The Luminary, St. Louis.
Manx Liberal, Isle of Man.
Manx Sun, Isle of Man.
Nauvoo (Illinois) Expositor.
New York Herald.
New York Independent.
New York Sun.
New York Tribune.
Ogden (Utah) Junction.
Omaha Herald.
Quincy (Illinois) Argus.
[348]
Sacramento Union.
Salt Lake Herald.
Salt Lake Daily Reporter.
Salt Lake Review.
Salt Lake Tribune.
San Francisco Call.
San Francisco Chronicle.
San Francisco Examiner.
San Francisco Stock Exchange.
Sangamo Journal, Illinois.
The Seer, Washington.
Tuscarora (Nevada) Times.
Virginia (Nevada) Enterprise.
Warsaw (Illinois) Signal.
Washington Capitol.
The Western Standard, San Francisco.
Books, Pamphlets and Papers of John Taylor
Taylor, John, The Government of God. Liverpool, 1852.
________, Journal.
________. The Mormon Question. Being a Speech of Vice-President Schuyler
Colfax, at Salt Lake City, a Reply thereto by Elder John Taylor; and a Letter
of Vice-President Colfax published in the "New York Independent," with Elder
Taylor's Reply. (Known as the Taylor-Colfax Debate.) Salt Lake, 1870.
________, "Letters, 1838-1887." Authors' collection. Raymond W. Taylor secured
copies of approximately 1,000 letters by and to John Taylor. The major portion
came from 26 boxes of John Taylor papers in the Church Historian's Office.
[349]
________, (about) Little Known Wives of John Taylor. BYU Special Collections.
________, "The Martyrdom of Joseph Smith." Published in Richard F. Burton's
City of the Saints. London, 1861.
________, "Memoirs of the Late President John Taylor ...." Published in the
Documentary History of the Church.
________, "Reminiscences," the Juvenile Instructor, 30 October and 3 November,
1875.
________, "A Journey Across the Plains," 9 January 1875.
________, Three Nights Public Discussion . . . at Boulogne-sur-mer, France,
Liverpool, 1850.
________, "A Short account of the MURDERS, ROBBERIES, BURNINGS, THEFTS, and
other outrages committed by the MOB and MILITIA of the State of Missouri, upon
the LATTER-DAY SAINTS. The Persecutions they have endured for their Religion,
and their Banishment from that State by the Authorities thereof, by JOHN
TAYLOR, Elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."
Springfield, Illinois, 1839.
________, Succession in the Priesthood, "A Discourse by President John Taylor,
delivered at the Priesthood Meeting, held in the Salt Lake Assembly. Hall,
Friday evening, October 7th, 1881." Pamphlet.
[350]
Books and Periodicals
Bancroft, Hubert Howe, History of Utah, 1540-1887. San Francisco, 1890.
Baskin, R. N., Reminiscences of Early Utah. Salt Lake, 1914.
Beadle, J. H., Life in Utah; or, the Mysteries and Crimes of Mormonism . . . .
Philadelphia, 1870.
Bennett, John C., The History of the Saints; or an Expose of Joe Smith and
Mormonism. Boston, 1842.
The Book of Mormon.
Brooks, Juanita, The Mountain Meadow Massacre. Stanford University, 1950.
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