GALLATIN.
The sparsely settled counties of upper Missouri, as well as the newly
organized county of Caldwell, seemed to promise an asylum where the
exiles from Jackson and Clay Counties, and the gathering saints from
the East, could find peace and rest. But the illusion was soon to be
dispelled, the hope blighted. They were to receive another testimony
that the Church of Christ was still militant, and not triumphant; and
that the true disciple of Christ must endure patiently the fortunes of
that warfare.
Renewed hostilities with the Missourians began in this way: On the 6th
of August, 1838, an election was held at Gallatin, in Daviess County;
and the old settlers under the leadership of H. P. Peniston, made a
determined effort to prevent the "Mormons" from voting. Some of the
bullies among the Missourians persistently insulted the brethren, which
was endured patiently for a time; but when at last a drunken rough--one
Dick Welding--attempted to strike a brother by the name of Samuel
Brown, Perry Durphy caught his arm, and this was made an excuse by the
Missourians to begin a general assault.
The Missourians, although outnumbering the brethren, found themselves
overmatched and beat a hasty retreat to get arms. Among those who
fought hardest for his rights as an American citizen, and in the
defense of his brethren, was John L. Butler; and as soon as they
left, Butler called the brethren together and said: "We are American
citizens; our fathers fought for their liberty, and we will maintain
the same principles." Here he was interrupted by the county officials
who told the brethren that the whole disturbance was a premeditated
thing, to prevent them from voting, and requested them to withdraw, as
they feared it might end in bloodshed.
By this time the Missourians began to collect, armed to the teeth and
greatly reinforced; and as the brethren were unarmed, they retired to
their homes, collected their families and concealed them in the hazel
thickets. The rain fell in torrents through the night; the women and
children were lying on the ground, while the men guarded them.
Judge Morin, of Daviess County, some two weeks before the time of
election, had told Levi Stewart and others that there was a movement
on foot then to prevent the "Mormons" from voting; and advised them
if they went to the election at Gallatin to go armed, prepared to
assert their rights. The brethren, however, had not heeded the friendly
warning, and went to the polls unarmed, with the result above stated.
The report of the trouble at Gallatin which reached Far West was
very much exaggerated. It stated that three of the brethren had been
killed, and were refused burial, and that the people of Daviess County
were arming to drive the saints from their homes in Diahman. Upon the
reception of the report, the Prophet Joseph, his brother Hyrum, and
other leading men started for the settlement of the saints, their
company increasing on the route, by brethren living between Far West
and Diahman joining them. The company arrived at the house of Lyman
Wight, and there learned the truth in relation to the Gallatin trouble.
The whole country was in an uproar, in which ministers of the gospel
and county officials joined; and by their connection with it made the
disturbance formidable.
The whole company that had come with Joseph from Far West rode over to
a spring on the prairie, a short distance from Wight's house, and a
committee called upon Judge Adam Black, the justice of the peace for
that district, and judge-elect for the county, to learn if he justified
the course of the proceedings at Gallatin, on the part of the old
settlers; to which he replied he did not. As he was a justice of the
peace, they desired to know if he would administer the law justly and
not join the mob. The question was put to him because rumor had it
that he was connected with the mob element. He replied that he would
administer the law fairly, and consented to give a statement in writing
to that effect, and also denied having any connection with the mob. As
this occurrence at Black's residence was made the excuse for commencing
those hostilities which terminated so disastrously to the saints, I
give Black's agreement in full--orthography and capitalization as in
the original:
I, Adam Black, a justice of the Peace of Davies county do here by
Sertify to the people, coled Mormin, that he is bound to suport the
Constitution of this State, and of the United States, and he is not
attached to any mob, nor will he attach himselff to any such people,
and so long as they will not molest me, I will not molest them. This
the 8th day of August, 1838.
ADAM BLACK J. P.
While the judge-elect was making out this, to him, weighty document,
Mrs. Black was chastising the brethren with the valor of her tongue, in
a manner that, doubtless, would have made the ancient Xantippe green
with envy. After securing this agreement of peace from Judge Black,
the company returned to Wight's, where they met some citizens from
Millport, and arranged to hold a conference the next day at noon with
the principal men of Daviess County. Among those who attended that
meeting, the day following, were Joseph Morin, State senator-elect;
John Williams, State representative-elect; the clerk of the circuit
court and others. Those men, and the principal elders of The Church,
entered into a solemn agreement to preserve each other's rights, and
stand in each other's defense. If men in the respective parties should
do wrong, they were not to be upheld or screened from justice by their
friends; but must be delivered up to be dealt with according to law and
justice.
But like some hardened sinner, who "even in penance will plan sins
anew," so with the Missourians; while some of their leading men were
entering into covenants of peace, others of them were planning the
destruction of the saints. The very day following the agreement of
peace referred to, Wm. P. Peniston, who had incited the mob disturbance
at the Gallatin election, went before the circuit judge, Austin A.
King, and made out a complaint against Joseph Smith, Lyman Wight and
others, accusing them of having surrounded the house of Adam Black,
and under threats of immediate death, compelled him to sign a most
disgraceful paper; also that the same men and their followers had
threatened to take his life on sight, and the same threat extended to
others. He claimed that the body of men following Joseph Smith numbered
some five hundred, that they were armed, and that their actions were
of a highly insurrectionary character, and that their object was to
intimidate and drive from the county all the old citizens, and possess
themselves of their lands, or to force such as would not leave to
accept their measures and submit to their dictation. In the latter part
of the month, Adam Black, himself, swore out a complaint to the same
effect; adding that the "Mormons" would not submit to the law.
As soon as it was heard that Joseph Smith and a body of followers
had gone armed into Daviess County to inquire about their friends, a
committee of Ray County citizens came up to Far West to inquire into
the reasons of such a movement. A meeting was called and a committee
appointed to give the committee from Ray all the information required.
Joseph's movements were watched very closely. On the occasion of his
returning from a visit to a company of saints camped on the forks of
Grand River, between thirty and forty miles from Far West, he and the
small company of brethren with him were chased some distance by a body
of armed men, but they escaped.
It was reported that Joseph would not submit to civil process, that he
defied the law. A charge had been trumped up in Daviess County against
him, for going there in arms to inquire about the Gallatin election
troubles, and on the morning of the 13th of August the sheriff of
Daviess County and Judge Morin called upon Joseph and informed him that
they had a writ for his arrest. Joseph expressed his willingness to
be tried, but as the people of Daviess County were very much--though
unjustly--exasperated at him, he wished to be tried in his own county,
and the laws gave him that right. Upon this insistence the sheriff
refused to serve the warrant, and he said he would see Judge King about
it. Joseph agreed to remain at home until his return; which he did.
On his return the sheriff informed the Prophet that he was out of his
jurisdiction.
The excitement which had been aroused, however, could not be abated.
On the contrary, it spread into surrounding counties and its intensity
increased.