Early History of Persecution

Early believers in the LDS Church suffered tremendous persecution. Those who joined the church in the first days in New York suffered pretty mild persecution compared to what would come later. The headquarters of the church moved from New York to Kirtland, Ohio in January of 1831. Although there was some persecution from time to time, the nearly 7 years of the Ohio period was not dominated by these problems. But then the Saints moved to Missouri. Things were different in Missouri from the very beginning.

Although the headquarters was in Ohio, a second settlement was established in Jackson County starting in 1831. By 1833 the church members were driven from Jackson County by mobs, their leaders tarred and feathered, some of their homes burned, and the rest stolen from them. Remuneration for the loss of property never occurred as the local authorities (and later federal authorities) refused to provide justice.

It would be bad enough if this was the only persecution that occurred in Missouri, but it was only the opening round compared to the atrocities that would follow.

The Saints found temporary refuge in Clay County, Missouri, but the residents made it clear that they could not stay. In 1836, the residents of Clay County voted to expel the Saints, and the state of Missouri created Caldwell County for their home. They built up new cities in Caldwell County, but their numbers grew and they spilled over into Ray, Carroll, Clinton, and Daviess Counties. [1] That created problems.

Mobs continued to attack outlying areas, and some Mormons were fed up with running. A few of them organized defenses and retaliatory attacks. Sidney Rigdon delivered a fiery speech condemning the apostates and their enemies. Some took this as permission to fight back. The battles got worse.

As the Saints from Ohio began arriving in early 1838, the Mormons were again mobbed by those who feared their growing political influence. In August of 1838, Mormons attempting to vote in the town of Gallitin in Daviess County were attacked and kept from the voting. A group of Saints, calling themselves Danites, began to fight back without Joseph Smith or the Church knowing or approving their actions. In October, Mormon Apostle David W. Patten was killed in a battle along the Crooked River in Ray County. Finally, on October 27, 1838, Governor Lilburn Boggs issued what later became known as the Extermination Order. [2] It read, in part as follows:

The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary, for the public peace-their outrages are beyond all description. If you can increase your force, you are authorized to do so, to any extent you may consider necessary. [3]

Three days after the order, a mob attacked Mormon settlers in the village of Haun's Mill and massacred dozens of men, women and children. On October 31, 1838, Joseph Smith and several others were arrested. The militia commanders illegally condemned the Mormon leaders to death, but Alexander Doniphan, a former state legislator and friend to Mormons, refused to allow it to be carried out, declaring that such action would be "cold-blooded murder." Moreover, he said, the militia could not condemn Joseph Smith, because he was a civilian, and that he had to be tried before a civilian court. In the end Joseph Smith and other leaders lives were spared but they were imprisoned nontheless. [4]

Once again the Saints were driven from their homes in the dead of winter. Brigham Young lead the people to Illinois where kind people, especially the citizens of Quincy, took care of them. Joseph Smith and a few others languished in jail until April of the following year. They were not permitted to see their families or even to call witnesses on their behalf. After several attempts at a trial, the guards allowed Joseph Smith and the others escape to Illinois, where they rejoined their families. [5]

In our next post we will cover the trials that awaited the Saints in Illinois and on the trail to the West. With that historical foundation we will then address the Mountain Meadows Massacre.