Volume 6 Chapter 25
Contents
Attempts to Draft Saints into Mob Service against Nauvoo—Threatened Invasion from Missouri—James A. Bennett Urged to Come to Nauvoo.
[Page 504]
Wednesday, June 19, 1844.—The Legion assembled on the parade-ground. A company of the Legion came in from Green Plains about 11 A.M. I met them at the front of the Mansion, and an escort came down from the parade-ground below the Temple and escorted them to the ground.
At 1 P.M. a company of volunteers arrived from Iowa and were also escorted to the parade-ground.
Effort to Draft Chester Loveland into Mob Service.
On Sunday, the 16th, a committee of the mob, headed by James Charles, a constable of Hancock county, went to the house of Captain Chester Loveland, who lives four miles southeast of Warsaw, and required him to call out his company to join the posse of David Bettisworth to go to Nauvoo and arrest me and the City Council. He peremptorily refused to comply with their request. The same posse returned on the 17th with an order, as they stated, from the Governor, which Loveland believed (and no doubt correctly) to be a forgery, and therefore still refused to go on any terms. The posse then reported his refusal to Colonel Williams, who appointed a committee of twelve to lynch, tar and feather Captain Loveland on the 18th; which committee went that evening and arrived about midnight.
Loveland, who had been informed of Williams’ order, prepared himself for defense and kept watch. As soon as they came and he saw their number, and that they were provided with tar bucket, bag of feathers and a bundle of withes, in addition to their fire-arms, he blew out his light and placed himself in a suitable position to defend the door (which he had fastened) and the window. They went around his house several times, tried his door, rapped, called him by name, and consulted together. Some were for breaking the door; others thought it too dangerous. They knew he must be in there, for they were near his door when the light was blown out. Finally their courage failed; and notifying him to leave the country immediately, they took their departure. During this trying time Loveland did not speak.
Roads Leading into Nauvoo Picketed.
In the afternoon I gave orders to General Dunham to have a picket-guard under Col. Markham, posted on all the roads leading out of the city; also an inner guard, under Major Jesse P. Harmon, posted in all the streets and alleys in the city, and also on the river bank. I also gave orders to have all the powder and lead in the city secured, and to see that all the arms were in use, and that all unclaimed arms be put in the hands of those who could use them.
I insert the affidavit of Anson Call, David Evans and William E. Horner:
Affidavit: Call, Evans and Horner—Treatment of Nauvoo Committee by Levi Williams, et al.
State of Illinois,
City of Nauvoo. ss.
Hancock County, June 19, 1844.
Personally appeared before me, Aaron Johnson, justice of the peace of said county, Anson Call, David Evans and William E. Horner. of Hancock county and state aforesaid; and being duly sworn, depose and say that on Monday, the 17th instant, we started for Rocky Run precinct, and arrived yesterday. We then went to Col. Williams’ of that place, and there soon assembled twenty or thirty men. We were informed that Col. Williams had gone to Lima to get the colonel there to bring on his regiment. We then informed them that we were delegated on behalf of the people of Nauvoo to transact business with them. They informed us they had a committee set apart to do their business, and that one was absent, and the other two would shortly be here. That while a person was seeking the two men, we observed to the people that General Smith was willing to be tried in any state, for any crime of supposed crime that he had ever committed, except in the state of Missouri.
One of the persons objected to General Smith being tried by the Municipal Court in Nauvoo, and declared that nothing else would do but for him to be taken upon the old writ, and by the same person who took him in custody before, and tried at the place where the writ was issued.
It was then observed that Judge Thomas had advised General Smith to enter into bonds to be tried before the Circuit Court, and this would allay all the excited feelings of the people.
It was then moved by one of their company, and sanctioned by the people, that a committee should wait on the Judge who gave General Smith this advice, and give him a coat of tar and feathers; when one John Elliott, of notoriety, agreed to find the tar and feathers for that purpose.
After some further conversation, a man whom they called Lawyer Stephens came in from Warsaw, and asked where Col. Williams was. He was told that he had gone to Lima. They then observed to the lawyer that we were delegates from Nauvoo, when he replied. “We are expecting delegates, too, at Warsaw;” and he said the people were talking of introducing them to the Mississippi river; and says he, “Gentlemen, you can do with your delegates what you think proper.”
A Mr. Crawford, one of the committee, observed that he went against such proceedings, and advised them as a body to keep cool. They then told the lawyer the advice that the Judge of the Circuit Court had given to General Smith, when he said it was unlawful advice, and it was a second time moved and assented to that a committee should wait on Judge Thomas and give him a coat of tar and feathers. The remainder of the committee having come in, they stated to us that they had written to the Governor to obtain aid from other counties; and if the Governor did not send them aid, they were too weak to go themselves now, but were summoning all the people that would come into the county until they got force enough to come up and take Joseph Smith with the first warrant, and take him to the place where the writ was first issued; and nothing less than that would satisfy the people.
Anson Call,
David Evans,
Wm. E. Horner.
Sworn and subscribed to this 19th day of June, 1844.
Aaron Johnson, J. P.
From the best information they could learn, there were two hundred armed men at Rocky Run precinct, two hundred at Warsaw, two hundred in Missouri, and the whole receiving constant additions.
At 9 P.M. I was at home. The city all quiet.
Preparations for an Attack.
Thursday, 20.—At daybreak I went with my staff and Major-General Dunham to the prairie, to view the situation of the ground, and to devise plans for the defense of the city, and select the proper locations to meet the mob, and made arrangements for provisions for the city, instructing my agent to pledge my farms for the purpose.
Report of Dr. Southwick.
At 10 A.M. Dr. Southwick from Louisiana arrived, and reported that there was not much excitement in St. Louis; that a cannon had arrived at Warsaw from Quincy, and that it had been reported to him that there was great excitement in Upper Missouri.
At 11, I reviewed the Legion facing the Mansion, and went to parade on the banks of the river.
I insert the affidavit of Carlos W. Lyon.
Affidavit: Carlos W. Lyon.
State of Illinois,
City of Nauvoo. ss
On the 20th day of June, 1844, came before me, Willard Richards, recorder of the city aforesaid, Carlos W. Lyon; and after being duly sworn, deposeth and saith that while at St. Louis, Mo., on Monday, the 17th instant, it was a common topic that they were furnishing arms and ammunition to be sent by steamboat to Warsaw, Illinois; and said if the people of Warsaw need five hundred men, to give notice by the steamer Boreas, and the men should be sent from St. Louis to Warsaw; and that your said affiant also saw a cannon landed from the steamer Mermaid at Warsaw; and further he saith not.
Carlos W. Lyon.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 20th day of June, 1844,
Willard Richards,
Recorder of the City of Nauvoo.
Wrote to John Tyler, President of the United States, as follows:
An Appeal to President Tyler.
City of Nauvoo, Illinois, June 20th, 1844.
Sir.—I have just enclosed to the Governor of the State of Illinois copies of the enclosed affidavits and extra. I am sorry to say that the State of Missouri, not contented with robbing, driving and murdering many of the Latter-day Saints, are now joining the mob of this state for the purpose of the “utter extermination” of the Mormons, as they have resolved. And now, sir, as President of the United States, will you render that protection which the Constitution guarantees in case of “insurrection and rebellion,” and save the innocent and oppressed from such horrid persecution?
With great respect, I have the honor to be your obedient servant,
Joseph Smith, Mayor.
John Tyler, President of the U. S., Washington, D. C.
I here insert affidavits of Hiram B. Mount and John Cunningham:
Affidavit: Mount and Cunningham—Attempt to Draft them into the Mob Service.
State of Illinois,
Hancock County, ss.
City of Nauvoo, June 20th, 1844.
Personally appeared before me, Aaron Johnson, an acting justice of the peace in and for the county of Hancock, Hiram B. Mount and John Cunningham, who being duly sworn, depose and say that George Baker, John Banks, Joseph Barber, and two others came to your deponents on Saturday the 15th inst., at Morley Settlement, in said county, and demanded our arms. We replied that we had none, when they required of us to go with them to Nauvoo to take Joseph Smith and other prisoners, and they promised to supply us with arms. Second, if we would not do so, that we were required to leave our homes and go to Nauvoo. We must either go against Smith, or take part with him.
They then told us they intended to go to Nauvoo to take Smith; and if they could not take him, they would take some of the head men of Smith’s clan, and hold them under bonds of death until Smith was delivered up to them. And your deponents further say that John Banks told them if they could not get volunteers enough, they would get a force that would take him.
Hiram B. Mount,
John Cunningham, (x—his mark).
[Seal]Subscribed and sworn to this 20th day of June, 1844, before me,
Aaron Johnson, J. P.
Affidavit: Allen T. Wait—Attempt to Draft him into Mob Service.
State of Illinois,
Hancock County, ss
City of Nauvoo, June 20th, 1844.
Personally appeared before me, Aaron Johnson, an acting justice of the peace in and for said county, Allen T. Wait, of Morley Settlement in said county; and being first duly sworn, deposeth and saith that on Saturday morning he was at the house of Colonel Levi Williams, when he told me that I must take up arms and go and fight against Joseph Smith, or I must leave the place immediately, or else I must give up my arms and stay at home.
He also said they would take Smith by law if they could; or if the Governor would not grant a writ to take him they would take him anyhow. He also said, if the people would not give Smith up, they would lay the whole city of Nauvoo in ashes.
I inquired what they would do with those people of Nauvoo who would not fight? He said they must make some signal, or else they must share the same fate—they must all perish, men, women, and children.
I then left in order to go home, when Captain Harrison P. Crawford overtook me, and told me if the Governor would not help them they did not care for the Governor anyhow. He said Governor Ford was an unconstitutional man; he had issued two illegal writs, and they were done so on purpose: and any such man ought not to hold any office whatever; and they intended to proceed against the Mormons whether they got any authority from the Governor or not.
Allan T. Wait.
[Seal]Subscribed and sworn to this 20th day of June, 1844, before me,
Aaron Johnson, J. P.
Likewise the affidavit of Isaac Morley, Gardner Snow John Edmiston and Edmund Durfee.
Affidavit: Isaac Morley et al.—Attempt to Draft them into Mob Service,
State of Illinois,
Hancock County, ss
City of Nauvoo, June 20th, 1844.
Personally appeared before me, Aaron Johnson, an acting justice of the peace in and for said county, Isaac Morley, Gardner Snow, John Edmiston and Edmund Durfee, all of Hancock county aforesaid; and being first duly sworn, depose and say that on Saturday, the 15th day of June, 1844, at Morley Settlement in said county, certain persons—to wit., George Baker, farmer, John Banks, Esq., Luther Perry, constable, Joseph Barber, farmer; and another person whose name we do not know, called upon your deponent, Isaac Morley, when John Banks said they waited on him to make three propositions—namely: first, that we were to take up arms, join with, and go along with them to Nauvoo to arrest one Joseph Smith and others, about seventeen in number, living in Nauvoo; second, to remove our effects to Nauvoo; or third, to give up our arms to them and remain neutral. And said Isaac Morley was required to notify all the brethren in the neighborhood, and report to the said committee, which of these propositions we accepted, by 8 o’clock on Monday morning following; and that one of the above resolutions was to be complied with within that time.
On the same day said Joseph Barber and Luther Perry went to where your deponent, Edmund Durfee, was at work in a field in the same neighborhood, and said they had come to notify him that said Durfee must comply with one of the above propositions; if not that said Durfee would smell thunder.
And all your deponents further depose and say that they have been compelled to leave their homes and flee to Nauvoo for protection. “For we were afraid to stay there on account of the mobs threatening to utterly exterminate us,” according to a Warsaw Signal extra of June, 14th, 1844, if we stayed at home; and further your deponents say not.
Isaac Morley,
Gardner Snow,
John Edmiston,
Edmund Durfee.
[Seal]Subscribed and sworn to this 20th day of June, 1844, before me,
Aaron Johnson, J. P.
Also the affidavit of Solomon Hancock, William Garner, and John G. Lofton:
Affidavit: Hancock, Garner, Lofton—Attempt to Draft them into Mob Service.
State of Illinois,
Hancock County, ss
City of Nauvoo, June 20th, 1844.
Personally appeared before me, Aaron Johnson, an acting justice of the peace, Solomon Hancock, William Garner and John G. Lofton, who being first duly sworn, depose and say that on Saturday, the 15th day of June, 1844, at Morley Settlement in said county, certain persons,—to wit., John Clark, John Crawford, Jeremiah Bently, and three others, all farmers, came to your deponents and made three several propositions to them, to wit: first, that we were to take up our arms and join with them in going to Nauvoo, to take Joseph Smith and others prisoners; second, to remove with our effects to Nauvoo immediately; or, third, to give up our arms to Col. Levi Williams and remain neutral.
We were ordered to give in our decision on Monday then next by 8 o’clock in the morning; and if we would not agree to their decision, we must abide the consequences. And in consequence of mobs gathering in the neighborhood, we have been obliged to leave our homes in order to save our lives, and are come to Nauvoo for protection.
Solomon Hancock further deposeth and saith that said John Clark did on Tuesday, 18th instant, inform your deponent that one of their party had gone to St. Louis and had obtained three cannon, and were expecting three companies of volunteers from St. Louis to join them in going to Nauvoo to exterminate the Mormons; and further your deponents say not.
Solomon Hancock,
William Garner,
John G. Lofton.
[Seal]Subscribed and sworn to this 20th day of June 1844, before me,
Aaron Johnson.
Also the affidavit of James Guyman:
Affidavit: James Guyman—Threats of Invasion from Missouri.
State of Illinois,
Hancock County, ss
City of Nauvoo, June 20th, 1844.
Personally appeared before me, Aaron Johnson, an acting justice of the peace in and for said county, James Guyman, of Green Plains precinct in said county; and being first duly sworn deposeth and saith that on Saturday morning, the 15th instant, he was at Rocky Run precinct, when one Captain Wyers, captain of an “Independent Anti-Mormon Minute Men Company,” came to a house where your deponent was staying. He inquired for a drum. He wanted either to borrow it or buy it until the affray with the Mormons was over.
I asked him how he was going to proceed to take Smith. He then said Missouri had offered to send over two thousand men, to come over to assist and take him.
I asked whether it was legal for them to come over here. He replied when they came over the constables were going to summons them, and also to summons every man who was in or would come into the county.
I asked if it was according to law to proceed that way, and he replied it was, and he went in for the law and democracy. He said they had sent two men to the Governor to order the militia out in their favor to help to take those criminals: and if he would not do just right, they would execute him by taking his head from his shoulders.
I replied, “You said you were a democracy man, and went for the law.” I said, “Do you call that democracy or mobocracy?”
He said if they went that far, and if the Governor ordered the militia against them instead of in favor of them, he would turn mob, and the militia would join him, and they would take the Governor’s head from his shoulders. He repeated it two or three times.
I enquired if it was law to go and drive those innocent Mormons who were living in the neighborhood, or tyrannically compel them to do things not agreeable to their will? He allowed that in this case it was.
I asked what he was going to do with these old settlers who would neither take up arms and fight against Smith nor in favor of him; when he replied they must fight either for one side or the other, or they must share the same fate as the Mormons.
Your deponent further saith that he is not a Mormon, and does not belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and further saith not.
James Guyman.
[Seal]Subscribed and sworn to this 20th day of June, 1844, before me,
Aaron Johnson, J. P.
Also the affidavit of Obadiah Bowen:
Affidavit: Obadiah Bowen—Attempt to Draft him into Service of Mob.
State of Illinois,
Hancock County, ss
City of Nauvoo, June 20th, 1844.
Personally appeared before me, Aaron Johnson, an acting justice of the peace, in and for said county, Obadiah Bowen, of Morley Settlement, in said county; and being first duly sworn, deposeth and saith that on Saturday the 15th instant, John Clark rode up to where I was at work in Morley Settlement, and said he was afraid the Mormons would come and destroy their property; “and,” said he, “if I have any destroyed by any person, I shall make my resort upon the nearest Mormons, and take their property in place of that which shall be taken away;” wherever he could find it, so long as it was a Mormon’s; and that on Tuesday, the 18th instant, as I was coming from my house to the road leading to Lima, a mob was at the forks of the road standing still and consulting together; I came on the road about twenty rods ahead of them. In a few moments Colonel Levi Williams, John Clark and five others rode along the same road after me.
I heard them talking about shooting the Mormons, when Clark said, “It is no disgrace to shoot a Mormon, anyhow,” when they all laughed. They overtook me, and Col. Williams asked me where I lived. I replied in Morley Settlement. He asked me if I was a Mormon, when Clark laid it was no odds—he is on their part.
Col. Williams then threatened me, and said I must be sure and be at his house by nine o’clock in the morning; if not I must either get out of Morley Settlement, or be served the same sauce as the Mormons. He gave me to understand that they were going to make a total destruction of Morley Settlement tomorrow, and I had better get out of it.
He then talked about Joseph Smith, when I replied I understood Joseph Smith had a fair trial and was bound over to the Supreme Court. He said, “If he is not, we do not care, it is illegally done;” and he should go ahead. He should gather the troops, and there would be two thousand men landed tomorrow from Missouri. He said they were volunteers. They should meet next day at Carthage, and then go against Joseph Smith and demolish the city of Nauvoo, for have him at any rate they would. He was in a very great passion, and let out a great many oaths and [said] other things that I have not mentioned.
In consequence of their threats, and to save our lives, we were obliged to leave our homes in a very stormy night, and had to cross a dangerous stream that was swollen by the rain, and was unable to protect myself from great sufferings and hardships, and came to the city of Nauvoo for protection.
Obadiah Bowen.
[Sea]Subscribed and sworn to this 20th day of June, 1844, before me,
Aaron Johnson, J. P.
Also the affidavit of Alvah Tippitts:
Affidavit: Alvah Tippetts—Violence of John Williams Upon.
State of Illinois,
Hancock County. ss
City of Nauvoo. June 20th, 1844.
Personally appeared before me, Aaron Johnson, a justice of the peace in and for the said county, Alvah Tippetts, of Warsaw, in Hancock county and state aforesaid; and being first duly sworn, deposeth and saith that on Wednesday, June 12th, at Green Plains, one Col. Levi Williams came to your deponent about sunrise, and ordered me out of the house that very day.
I replied he was very hasty. He again ordered me out of the house, and said. if I spoke a word, he would put me out of the house immediately.
I then took away part of my goods and left the house accordingly, because I was afraid to stay there another night.
The next day I went back after the remainder of my property, and called at the house of Col. Levi Williams for some things belonging to me.
When I arrived there John Williams, the son of said Levi Williams, aged about twenty-eight years, abused me for placing confidence in Joseph Smith and the people of Nauvoo. He then took me by the back of my neck and pushed me away, and said he would not have such stuff in his house. The second time he pushed me by the neck, and his foot to my back. He pushed me several times and kicked me. Again, when in the street, he kept kicking and pushing me, and abusing me with his tongue. I am sixty-one years old. I did not say anything to him to cause this abuse; but it was all on account of my believing that Joseph Smith and the people of Nauvoo would do nothing but what was according to law.
Alvah Tippetts.
[Seal]Subscribed and sworn to this 20th day of June, 1844, before me,
Aaron Johnson, J. P.
Reinforcement for Nauvoo from Ramus.
I had sent orders to Captain Almon W. Babbitt, commander of the company at Ramus, to come immediately with his company to Nauvoo, and help to defend the place; and this morning my brother-in-law, William McLeary, informs my that when the letter was read to the company, Babbitt refused to come, and said it was a foolish move, and objected to any of the company coming. The company was marshaled into line, when Babbitt said, “If any of you go, not one will ever get to Nauvoo alive,” when immediately my Uncle John Smith stepped in front of the line and said, “Every man that goes at the call of the Prophet shall go and return safe, and not a hair of his head shall be lost; and I bless you in the name of the Lord.”
The company immediately threw the command upon Uriah B. Yager, who accepted of it, and started for Nauvoo, although many of them were destitute of boots or shoes. The company had not traveled five miles before they suddenly came upon double their number of the mob, who had two red flags flying, and who had paraded their company and taken a position in a wood that commanded the road. The company from Macedonia opened file about ten feet apart and marched past them within rifle shot, while the mob fired several guns at them, the balls whizzing past their heads. They came here at daybreak this morning, and I directed the quartermaster to furnish those who needed with shoes.
I wrote the following letter:
Letter: Joseph Smith to Ballantyne and Slater—Advice on moving into Nauvoo.
Nauvoo, June 20th, 1844.
Brothers Ballantyne and Slater:—On information from you by J. McIllrick, I would advise that your families remain where they are and be quiet, as the mob will not be likely to disturb them; but any amount of wheat or provisions you may have you had better remove without delay to Nauvoo, as it will be better for you to bring it here and have your pay than to leave it for the mob to consume and destroy.
I remain your brother in Christ Jesus,
Joseph Smith.
Ballantyne And Slater, Doyles Mills, near Plymouth, Ill.
I here insert the affidavit of John P. Greene and John M. Bernhisel:
Affidavit: Greene and Bernhisel—Threatened Invasion from Missouri.
State of Illinois,
County of Hancock, ss.
City of Nauvoo.
On the 20th day of June, 1844, personally appeared before me, Aaron Johnson, a justice of the peace within and for said county, John P. Greene, marshal of said city, and John M. Bernhisel; and after being duly sworn, depose and say that a body of citizens, in a mass meeting convened on the 13th instant at Carthage, resolved to exterminate the Latter-day Saints of the said city of Nauvoo, and for that purpose, according to the purport of the Warsaw Signal extra, dated June 14, 1844, bodies of armed men are coming from the State of Missouri, and also from the territory of Iowa, and the cannon and ammunition are being transported from the state of Missouri to Illinois for the purpose of utterly exterminating the Latter-day Saints. And your affiants would further state that these bodies of armed men, cannon, arms, and munitions of war are transported in steamboats navigating the waters of the United States, and that the name of one of these boats is the Die Vernon.
John P. Greene,
John M. Bernhisel.
[Seal]Subscribed and sworn to before me, this 20th day of June, 1844.
Aaron Johnson, J. P.
Dr. Richards wrote the following:
Letter: Willard Richards to Jas Arlington Bennett—Affairs in Nauvoo—Western Movement.
Mayor’s Office, Nauvoo, June 20th, 1844.
Dear General.—Yours of the 14th of April was received at a late date. A multiplicity of business on account of the peculiar state of affairs, has prevented a reply till now. Your views about the nomination of General Smith for the Presidency are correct. We will gain popularity and external influence. But this is not all: we mean to elect him, and nothing shall be wanting on our part to accomplish it; and why? Because we are satisfied, fully satisfied, that this is the best or only method of saving our free institutions from a total overthrow.
You will discover by this day’s extra Nauvoo Neighbor, and previous papers which I shall forward with this, that we are already being surrounded by an armed mob; and, if we can believe a hundredth part of their statements we have no alternative but to fight or die. All the horrors of Missouri’s murders are crowding thick upon us, and the citizens of this county declare in mass-meetings, “No peace till the Mormons are utterly exterminated from the earth.” And for what?
A band of thieves, counterfeiters, bogus-makers, gamblers, debauchers, murderers, and all that is vile, established a printing-press in this city for the purpose of carrying on all their hellish plans and overthrowing every principle of righteousness; and after publishing one number, called the Nauvoo Expositor, filled on every column with lies and libel the most dark and damnable it were possible for men or demons on the earth or in the shades of Gehenna, calculated to destroy every chartered right to our peaceful city, and constitutional principles to our nation, being destitute of every vestige of truth, and without one redeeming quality, either in the paper or the characters of its publishers.
The City Council, on the 10th instant, ordered the press and fixtures to be abated as a nuisance which order was executed by the proper authorities without delay, without noise, tumult or confusion.
The proprietors immediately evacuated their houses and the city, and the night following fired one or more of their buildings, just as they did in Missouri, thinking to raise a hue-and-cry that the Mormons had done it, and by that means bring a mob on us without a moment’s delay; but our vigilant police discovered the fire and abated that also.
Chagrined at their disappointment, and drunk with madness, they next went to Carthage, the county seat and headquarters of mobocracy, and swore that Joseph and about seventeen others had committed a riot, and sent a warrant for their apprehension. They offered to go before any magistrate in the vicinity and answer to the charge. The officer would not consent, but would take them to Carthage. They had threatened their lives at Carthage and did not consider it safe to go thither, and prayed out a writ of habeas corpus from the Municipal Court, and were set free.
This only enraged the mob the more, and another writ was issued by a county magistrate in the vicinity, not a Mormon, before whom they were brought, and every exertion made to convict them, but the magistrate discharged them.
This does not satisfy them. They are determined to have “Joe Smith,” brought before themselves for trial at the headquarters of mobocracy swearing that all they want is to get him out of the city; and they will shoot the “damned rascal.”
Cannon, ammunition and men are passing over the Mississippi from Missouri to Illinois, and the mob is collected by hundreds at different points in the county swearing everlasting vengeance; and when their oaths and writs will end, God knows.
We have sent messengers to the Governor, but had no returns, and shall dispatch messages to the President of the United States next boat.
If the virtuous part of the community, the state, the nation, will come to the rescue of innocence and the rights our fathers bled to purchase, that our peace and happiness may be secured to us in common with others, it is all we ask; but if they will not, and the mob goes on, we say a dishonorable life is worse than an honorable death, and we are ready for the onset; and we call upon all patriots, far and near, to lend a helping hand to put down the mob and restore peace.
If this is not done immediately, and the mob attempt to execute their threats, you may soon have the opportunity of beholding that glorious “vision in the west” you have sublimely contemplated in your letter.
I write you at this time at the request of the Prophet, and I invite you to come to our assistance with as many volunteers as you can bring. And if the mob cannot be dispersed, and the Government will not espouse our righteous cause, you may soon, very soon, behold the second birth of our nation’s freedom; for live without the free exercise of thought, and the privilege of worshiping God according to the dictates of our consciences, we will not! We will die rather, and go where the wicked cease to trouble. But we firmly believe there are virtuous men and patriots enough yet left to sustain those principles which alone are worth living for. Will you come?
Here is Oregon. Here is California. Where is your ambition? Patriotism? Your “separate and independent empire,” if you sit calmly still and see the most virtuous and noble people that ever trod upon the footstool of Jehovah ground to powder by a miscreant mob and not stretch forth your potent arm for their defense in all the majesty of a God? If you do not, your turn may come next; and where will it cease?
Let the first blow be struck upon us from this hour, and this field is open for every honest patriot from the east to the west sea, and from the river Mississippi to the ends of the earth.
General, will you stand neutral? Come, and you will know for yourself.
I close in haste, with good wishes to yourself and family.
W. Richards.
General J. A. Bennett,
Arlington House, N. Y.
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