CHAPTER II.

HISTORY OF MORMONISM (_continued_).

_The First Hegira_ from Palmyra to Kirtland--The first Temple--Rapid growth of the Mormon Church--Brigham Young and other missionaries sent to foreign lands--The name "Latter-day Saints" adopted--Smith and Rigdon compelled to flee from Kirtland--_The Second Hegira_--The "Danites" organized--Rapid increase of the Mormons in Missouri--Jealousy of the Missourians--Mormons driven across the Missouri River by a mob--Their property confiscated--Their leaders imprisoned.

The First Hegira or exodus of the Mormons was from Palmyra to Kirtland, O., in 1831. This was a very tedious journey at that time, since they moved onward in wagons, carrying their household goods with them. On their arrival at Kirtland they were greeted by one thousand Mormons, who were the converts of Rigdon and other Mormon preachers.

Kirtland is three miles from Mentor, the home of the late President Garfield, and twenty-two miles east of Cleveland, and is situated in a remarkably fertile country. As soon as the Mormons arrived there they purchased a square mile of land, which they laid out in half-acre lots. In addition they bought a number of farms. They evidently expected to remain there a long time, since they erected a number of substantial houses, and a most beautiful temple, which Smith called the "School of the Prophets."

All Northern Ohio looked on in astonishment when the Mormons built their temple. It was, indeed, a remarkable structure. It was begun in 1832 and finished in 1836, the entire cost being $40,000. There was but little resemblance between it and the small meeting-houses common to the rural portion of Ohio; and although now it is over fifty years old, yet it is in good preservation, considering the neglect with which it has been treated, and might easily be restored to its former beauty. It is now owned by Joseph Smith, Jr., the son of the prophet, who, however, has no affiliation whatever with the Utah Mormons.

From the time the Mormons arrived at Kirtland they increased with astonishing rapidity, notwithstanding the fact that they were generally hated. Rigdon preached to crowds of people who flocked there from every part of the lake region to hear his eloquence. He seems to have had a wonderful power over the people, and so great an influence that it is felt even to the present day in that vicinity.

But the work of the Mormons extended beyond Kirtland. In the year of the First Hegira it extended over several of the States, and in three years afterward Mormon societies were established in Canada, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio, Virginia, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and in nearly all of the Northern and Middle States and in some of the Southern States. A large number of converts were made chiefly through the earnestness and captivating eloquence of the Mormon preachers; for the more intelligent and better educated were sent out for that purpose. Besides, these missionaries had no compensation, and this was one secret of their successful preaching. They braved every danger and faced a frowning world rejoicing in tribulation. And then, too, the Mormons were a community who had all goods _in common_; and this fact threw a fascination over the new faith to thousands of uneducated people. They heard Scriptural expressions used by the leaders, but they had only a vague idea of what it was they professed; but still there was a novelty about the movement that captivated them, and they were willing to be led by insinuating men. Therefore the Mormon preachers won converts wherever they went. Rigdon said that Kirtland was only the eastern boundary of the promised land, and that from thence it would extend to the Pacific Ocean.

They were not content, however, to obtain followers only in our own country. In May, 1835, missionaries were sent to foreign lands to make proselytes; among the foreign missionaries was Brigham Young, who had joined the Mormons at Kirtland in 1832, and was ordained an elder.

Previous to this, at a conference of elders on May 3d, 1833, the name "Mormons" was repudiated and that of "Latter-day Saints" was adopted.

In 1835 Smith issued a command that the elders, who numbered between three and four hundred, "should seek learning, study the best books, and get a knowledge of kingdoms, countries, and languages." A professor of Hebrew was hired to teach that language, and a seminary erected, which is now used by the Methodists of Kirtland for their church.

The Mormons only remained in Kirtland seven years. Trouble had long been threatening, but it culminated in 1838, when Smith and Rigdon were compelled to flee on account of their bank bursting, with loss and annoyance to many sufferers. They fled to Far West, Mo., where the main body of their followers had in the mean time settled. This may be called the SECOND HEGIRA.

It was on this particular westward march that the prophet organized a military command and a body-guard, and began to assume the prerogatives of his high military as well as spiritual mission. He had two hundred disciplined men-at-arms after he reached the State line of Missouri as his body-guard. They were called "Danites," and their conduct is said to have precipitated the tragic scenes that were followed by the expulsion of the Mormons from that State.

There had been some Mormons in Missouri since 1831 when Oliver Cowdery, one of the original members of the Mormon Church, was sent there to look for a fitting locality for the New Jerusalem, and, as they said, to evangelize the Indians and Gentiles generally. His report of Jackson County, Mo., was so favorable that Smith and Rigdon directed their steps thither under the greatest difficulties in travelling, making a portion of the distance of over three hundred miles on foot. On their arrival at Independence they were so charmed with the country that they at once selected it as the place for the New Zion; and, to silence all cavil among his followers, Smith had a "revelation" to that effect.

The site of the temple was chosen with all the ceremony they could muster for the occasion. Here, Smith said, the Latter-day Saints would finally gather, Christ would appear in person, and the Mormons would reign a glorious and triumphant people for a thousand years.

Smith and Rigdon returned again to Kirtland and remained there until 1838; but meanwhile the Mormons increased rapidly in Missouri, settlements being made not only in Jackson County, but also in Clay, Ray, and Caldwell counties; and with their habitual industry and thrift they made homes of comfort and rapidly gained wealth.

But while their general cause advanced, they were correspondingly hated by their neighbors. _Jealousy and politics_ seem to have been the chief causes of this animosity. They had acquired so much property that the Missourians thought they would have "the rule of the counties" through their numbers and property. Besides, the Mormons were wont to boast of their political ascendancy. They called their prophet the commander-in-chief of the armies of Israel. They said that State would soon be in their hands, and finally the whole country. And the facts seemed to justify this braggadocio, as the whole of Jackson County was theirs, and converts were flocking to their ranks in great numbers. Accordingly, a public meeting was held at Independence by the alarmed Gentiles, which resulted in the Mormons being driven across the Missouri River by an infuriated mob into Clay and Caldwell counties.

With this dispersion the other Mormon settlements suddenly developed into places of importance, particularly a town called Far West. It was here that Smith and Rigdon came when driven out of Ohio in 1838. With their coming a new impetus seems to have been given to the Mormons. With all the vexations caused them by their enemies, mills, workshops, farms, and industries of many kinds sprang up in the wilderness.

With all these tragic circumstances there grew into a terrible reality one of those wild and romantic histories which could only have taken shape on a Western frontier, and which was developed by these unusual incidents, and by the vanity and egotistical spirit evinced by the Mormons. They claimed to be a chosen people under special divine direction. They shrank not from urging such prerogatives and acting upon them. They were the Saints, and all other people were Gentiles. They were the Lord's Saints, and the earth was the Lord's. They were led by an inspired prophet. Consequently, whenever the day of election for civil officers came, they must vote solidly the Whig or the Democratic ticket, just as the leader should indicate. It is obvious to any one knowing the fierce zeal of partisan politics how this course on the part of the Mormons would subject them to constant embroilments with surrounding citizens. Mutual acts of plunder and retaliation between the Saints and Gentiles became frequent, and they were terrible in their consequences. We must recollect all the while that the Mormons were the persecuted party on account of their eccentricities; and in a spirit of retaliation they in many instances drove their opponents from their immediate vicinity, burning their houses and confiscating their property. Worse than all, they drove some women and children into the woods, and two children were born of homeless mothers. This was the crowning event that fired the Missourians into a war of extermination against the Mormons; and in consequence the State troops were called out by the Governor, as he said, "to enforce order upon all citizens, even if it was found necessary to exterminate the hateful and obnoxious Mormons," _who were presumed to be in the wrong_.

A fearful drama followed under the leadership of Major-General Clark, who is described as being as rude as the most uncivilized of Mormons. He allowed the enemy to withdraw from the State, but he took all their lands and property to pay the cost of the war. The Mormon property thus confiscated was worth nearly two millions of dollars, _and that confiscation was undoubtedly an act of lawlessness and injustice_.

The Mormon leaders were arrested and put in jail, and at a court-martial it was decided to have them shot; but that act would have been so grossly unlawful that, on the protest of one of the generals, the court rescinded its orders.

With their leaders in jail, the Mormons submitted to the conditions of peace offered them, and prepared to withdraw from the State into Illinois, where Joseph Smith and his fellow-captives joined them after breaking from prison while their guard was in a drunken slumber.