THE ESCAPE OF THE PROPHET FROM MISSOURI.
The winter of 1838-9 must have been a trying one to Joseph the Prophet
and his associates immured in Liberty prison. The gloom of their prison
life must have caused them less sorrow than the anxiety they felt for
the safety of their families and friends, who were being abused and
insulted by a heartless mob, even while making arrangements to leave
the State. Still there were occasional glimpses of sunshine breaking
through the clouds. Some of the faithful brethren called occasionally,
bringing them the news from their families and their people, and the
progress being made in the preparations to leave the State. Letters
also from their families were brought to them, so that they were not
altogether cut off from that sweet communion which affection breeds.
Nor was the Lord unmindful of them, but he communed with them, and
through the Prophet Joseph some of the noblest revelations ever given
to The Church were received in that gloomy stone prison known as
Liberty jail.[A]
[Footnote A: See Doc. & Cov. Sec. 121, 122 and 123.]
Nor were Joseph and his companions neglectful in making every proper
effort to obtain justice from the State authorities. On the contrary
they exhausted every means their minds could conceive of to regain
their liberty. They petitioned the legislature, but without availing
anything. Failing here, they petitioned the supreme court of the
State twice for a writ of habeas corpus, but each time the petition
was denied by Judge Reynolds, who subsequently became governor of the
State..
They then petitioned the county court, and in about three weeks
afterwards Judge Turnham came into their prison and said he had
permitted Sidney Rigdon to get bail, but he had to do it in the night;
and that he would have to make his escape in the night as his enemies
had sworn they would kill him if they could find him. The judge said
that he dared not admit the others to bail, lest it should cost him
his own life, as well as theirs. The judge informed the prisoners that
the whole scheme for the expulsion from the State of the "Mormon"
people was arranged early in the spring, and that every officer in
the State from the governor down was connected with the plot. He said
the governor was now heartily sick of the whole transaction and would
grant them a release if he dared; but the matter had gone beyond his
control. However, the judge bid the prisoners to be of good cheer, as
the governor had arranged a plan for their escape.
In April the prisoners were taken to Daviess County, where they
expected to be tried. Here they found Judge Thomas C. Birch on the
bench--formerly the prosecuting attorney for the State in the _ex
parte_ examination of the Prophet and his companions before Judge King
at Richmond, and the man who was connected with the court-martial that
condemned them to be shot in the public square at Far West. They were
arraigned by a grand jury, composed of men connected with the massacre
at Haun's Mill, some of whom, while under the influence of liquor,
boasted of their deeds of cruelty at that horrible butchery. This grand
jury did double service. During the day it acted as a court of inquiry,
at night members of it were chosen by turns to act as a guard over the
prisoners!
After ten days passed in this manner, the jury reported indictments
against the prisoners, for "treason, murder, arson, theft and stealing."
The prisoners asked for a change of venue to Marion County. That was
denied, but one was given them to Boone County, and Judge Birch made
out the mittimus without date, name, or place; and the prisoners in
charge of the sheriff and four other men and a two horse team and wagon
started for Boone County.
Passing through Diahman the prisoners were allowed to purchase two
horses of the guard, giving some clothing for one, and their note for
the other. The third day out from Gallatin three of the guards and the
sheriff got drunk and went to bed. The sheriff, previously having shown
the prisoners the mittimus made out by Judge Birch, now also informed
them that Birch had told him not to take the prisoners to Boone County.
After exposing the plan that had been laid for their escape by the
authorities, the sheriff assured the prisoners that he should take a
good drink of whiskey and go to bed, and they could do as they pleased.
Accordingly when all the guards but one were asleep, that one, who,
by the way, was sober as well as awake, assisted them to mount their
horses and escape. Ten days later they arrived among their friends in
Illinois. The Prophet in a signed summary of the persecutions endured
by himself and his people in Missouri says:--
Before leaving Missouri I had paid the lawyers at Richmond thirty-four
thousand dollars in cash, lands, &c.; one lot which I let them have,
in Jackson County, for seven thousand dollars, they were soon offered
ten thousand dollars for it, but would not accept it. For other
vexatious suits which I had to contend against, the few months I was
in the State, I paid lawyers' fees to the amount of about sixteen
thousand dollars, making in all about fifty thousand dollars, for
which I received very little in return; for sometimes they were afraid
to act on account of the mob, and sometimes they were so drunk as
to incapacitate them for business. But there were a few honorable
exceptions.
Among those who have been the chief instruments and leading characters
in the unparalleled persecutions against The Church of Latter-day
Saints, the following stand conspicuous, viz.: Generals Clark, Wilson
and Lucas; Colonel Price, and Cornelius Gilliam; Captain Bogart also,
whose zeal in the cause of oppression and injustice was unequalled,
and whose delight has been to rob, murder and spread devastation
among the saints. He stole a valuable horse, saddle and bridle from
me, which cost two hundred dollars, and then sold the same to General
Wilson. On understanding this, I applied to General Wilson for the
horse, who assured me, upon the honor of a gentleman and an officer,
that I should have the horse returned to me; but this promise has not
been fulfilled.
All the threats, murders and robberies, which these officers have been
guilty of, are entirely overlooked by the executive of the State; who,
to hide his own iniquity, must of course shield and protect those whom
he employed to carry into effect his murderous purposes.
I was in their hands, as a prisoner, about six months; but
notwithstanding their determination to destroy me, with the rest of my
brethren who were with me, and although at three different times (as I
was informed) we were sentenced to be shot, without the least shadow
of law (as we were not military men), and had the time and place
appointed for that purpose, yet through the mercy of God, in answer
to the prayers of the saints, I have been preserved and delivered
out of their hands, and can again enjoy the society of my friends
and brethren, whom I love, and to whom I feel united in bonds that
are stronger than death; and in a State where I believe the laws are
respected, and whose citizens are humane and charitable.
During the time I was in the hands of my enemies, I must say, that
although I felt great anxiety respecting my family and friends, who
were so inhumanly treated and abused, and who had to mourn the loss
of their husbands and children who had been slain, and, after having
been robbed of nearly all that they possessed, were driven from their
homes, and forced to wander as strangers in a strange country, in
order that they might save themselves and their little ones from the
destruction they were threatened with in Missouri, yet so far as I
was concerned, I felt perfectly calm, and resigned to the will of my
Heavenly Father. I knew my innocency, as well as that of the saints,
and that we had done nothing to deserve such treatment from the hands
of our oppressors. Consequently, I could look to that God who has
the hearts of all men in his hands, and who had saved me frequently
from the gates of death, for deliverance; and notwithstanding that
every avenue of escape seemed to be entirely closed, and death stared
me in the face, and that my destruction was determined upon, as far
as man was concerned, yet, from my first entrance into the camp, I
felt an assurance that I, with my brethren and our families, would be
delivered. Yes, that still small voice, which has so often whispered
consolation to my soul, in the depth of sorrow and distress, bade
me be of good cheer, and promised deliverance, which gave me great
comfort. And although the heathen raged, and the people imagined vain
things, yet the Lord of Hosts, the God of Jacob, was my refuge; and
when I cried unto him in the day of trouble, he delivered me; for
which I call upon my soul, and all that is within me, to bless and
praise his holy name. For although I was "troubled on every side, yet
not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not
forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed."
The conduct of the Saints, under their accumulated wrongs and
sufferings, has been praiseworthy; their courage in defending their
brethren from the ravages of the mobs; their attachment to the
cause of truth under circumstances the most trying and distressing
which humanity can possibly endure; their love to each other; their
readiness to afford assistance to me and my brethren who were
confined in a dungeon; their sacrifices in leaving Missouri, and
assisting the poor widows and orphans, and securing them houses in a
more hospitable land; all conspire to raise them in the estimation
of all good and virtuous men, and has secured them the favor and
approbation of Jehovah, and a name as imperishable as eternity. And
their virtuous deeds and heroic actions, while in defense of truth and
their brethren, will be fresh and blooming when the names of their
oppressors shall be either entirely forgotten, or only remembered for
their barbarity and cruelty.
Their attention and affection to me, while in prison, will ever be
remembered by me; and when I have seen them thrust away and abused
by the jailer and guard, when they came to do any kind offices, and
to cheer our minds while we were in the gloomy prisonhouse, gave me
feelings which I cannot describe; while those who wished to insult and
abuse us by their threats and blasphemous language, were applauded,
and had every encouragement given them.
However, thank God, we have been delivered. And although some of our
beloved brethren have had to seal their testimony with their blood,
and have died martyrs to the cause of truth; yet
Short though bitter was their pain,
Everlasting is their joy.
Let us not sorrow as "those without hope;" the time is fast
approaching when we shall see them again and rejoice together, without
being afraid of wicked men. Yes, those who have slept in Christ shall
he bring with him, when he shall come to be glorified in him, and
admired by all those who believe; but to take vengeance upon his
enemies and all those who obey not the gospel.
At that time the hearts of the widows and fatherless shall be
comforted, and every tear shall be wiped from off their faces. The
trials they have had to pass through shall work together for their
good, and prepare them for the society of those who have come up out
of great tribulation, and have washed their robes and made them white
in the blood of the Lamb.
Marvel not, then, if you are persecuted; but remember the words of the
Savior: "The servant is not above his Lord; if they have persecuted
me, they will persecute you also;" and that all the afflictions
through which the saints have to pass, are in fulfillment of the words
of all the prophets which have spoken since the world began.
We shall therefore do well to discern the signs of the times as we
pass along, that the day of the Lord may not "overtake us as a thief
in the night." Afflictions, persecutions, imprisonments and deaths,
we must expect, according to the Scriptures, which tell us, that the
blood of those whose souls were under the altar could not be avenged
on them that dwell on the earth, until their brethren should be slain
as they were.
If these transactions had taken place among barbarians, under the
authority of a despot, or in a nation where a certain religion is
established according to law, and all others proscribed, then there
might have been some shadow of defense offered. But can we realize
that in a land which is the cradle of liberty and equal rights, and
where the voice of the conquerors who had vanquished our foes had
scarcely died away upon our ears, where we frequently mingled with
those who had stood amidst "the battle and the breeze," and whose
arms have been nerved in the defense of their country and liberty,
whose institutions are the theme of philosophers and poets, and held
up to the admiration of the whole civilized world--in the midst of
all these scenes, with which we were surrounded, a persecution the
most unwarrantable was commenced, and a tragedy the most dreadful was
enacted, by a large portion of the inhabitants of one of those free
and independent States which comprise this vast Republic; and a deadly
blow was struck at the institutions for which our fathers had fought
many a hard battle, and for which many a patriot had shed his blood,
and suddenly was heard, amidst the voice of joy and gratitude for our
national liberty, the voice of mourning, lamentation and woe? Yes! in
this land, a mob, regardless of those laws for which so much blood had
been spilled, dead to every feeling of virtue and patriotism which
animated the bosom of free men, fell upon a people whose religious
faith was different from their own, and not only destroyed their
homes, drove them away, and carried off their property, but murdered
many a free-born son of America--a tragedy which has no parallel in
modern, and hardly in ancient, times; even the face of the red man
would be ready to turn pale at the recital of it. It would have been
some consolation, if the authorities of the State had been innocent in
this affair; but they are involved in the guilt thereof, and the blood
of innocence, even of _children,_ cries for vengeance upon them.
I ask the citizens of this vast Republic, whether such a state of
things is to be suffered to pass unnoticed, and the hearts of widows,
orphans and patriots to be broken, and their wrongs left without
redress? No! I invoke the genius of our Constitution. I appeal to the
patriotism of Americans, to stop this unlawful and unholy procedure;
and pray that God may defend this nation from the dreadful effects of
such outrages.
Is there not virtue in the body politic? Will not the people rise
in their majesty, and with that promptitude and zeal which is so
characteristic of them, discountenance such proceedings, by bringing
the offenders to that punishment which they so richly deserve, and
save the nation from that disgrace and ultimate ruin, which otherwise
must inevitably fall upon it?
JOSEPH SMITH, Junior.
The other prisoners who had been left in Richmond during this dreary
winter, in the spring were taken to Columbia, in Boone County, and
during the summer also escaped and joined their fellow exiles in
Illinois.