David W. Kilbourne to Rev. T. Dent, December 16, 1845

Historical Introduction

The death of Joseph and Hyrum Smith did not resolve tensions between the Latter-day Saints and their neighbors. Crime continued and continued to be blamed on the Saints. In May 1845, three men broke into the home of John Miller in West Point, Lee County, Iowa. During the break-in, Miller was killed and his son-in-law, Henry Leisi (or Leizi), was critically injured and died three weeks later. Two of the men implicated in the murder were Stephen and William Hodges, who were believed to be Latter-day Saints. Eventually they were hung for the crime.¹

Lee County, Iowa, residents eventually followed the example of Hancock County, Illinois, residents in forming an official Anti-Mormon party. In the fall of 1845, an indignation meeting was held in Montrose, followed by a larger meeting in Fort Madison, at which the Anti-Mormon party was formed with candidates to run in the next election. A preamble and resolutions from the meeting were sent out to all the citizens of the county, inviting them to vote for the Anti-Mormon candidates and promising that their purpose in office would be to remove Latter-day Saints from Lee County.²

Document Transcript

Fort Madison Upper Miss R.
Lee County
Iowa T[erritor]y
North America
Decr 16 1845

Revd T. Dent
Grindleton in Mytton
Clith[e]roe
England

Respected Friend

Your much esteemed favor of October 23^rd came safe to hand a few days since. It gave me great pleasure to hear from you once more; mingled however with regret on account of the serious & protracted indisposition with which you have been afflicted. I have enjoyed the best of health since I last wrote you. But during the last year I have been deeply afflicted in the loss of an affectionate father & mother—They had lived together upwards of fifty years & were aged 74 & 75 years.³

I spent the last summer in New York City on a visit & returned here only four weeks since. There have been exciting times at Nauvoo for six months past. Several dens of Mormon thieves [and] murderers have been broken up. In the early part of the Summer a house in this County—about five miles from my house—was entered by three men about 12 O Clock on a Saturday night & two men, Father & son murdered. They were traced to Nauvoo—were arrested & by force brought back to this County—had a legal trial—were found guilty & hung on the 15^th July. They were Mormons.—The third person has since been arrested and is now in prison in this place—He is a good Mormon from Nauvoo.⁴

On the 4^th July in broad day light 5 men entered the house of Coln Davenport at Rock Island (about 100 miles above this—) & murdered him—& took about $800 in cash—a Gold watch &c.⁵ They were traced—three of them caught—tried convicted & all hung at the same time on one Gallows in October. They were from Nauvoo—The other two have since been arrested and are now in jail at Rock Island—They are also from Nauvoo.

These things so excited and exasperated the people in all this region of Country that publick [sic] meetings were held during the summer & resolutions passed giving the Mormons formal notice that they must leave Nauvoo. All those [Mormons] living out were compelled to flee to the city—such was the indignation of the old citizens.⁶ Under this state of things the Mormons made up their minds that they could not remain here. They accordingly decided to leave the country—& they are now getting ready to leave for California in Mexico on the 1^st of April next. They are now building in Nauvoo some 2000 waggons, they go by land over the Rocky Mountains & calculate one waggon with four yoke of oxen for every ten persons. They are divided into companies of 100 families each—with a Captain for each company—. They are now selling off what they cannot take along. The head men are also negotiating a sale of their Temple & other public buildings together with the town site. I believe they have had some offers from the Catholics.

[Sidney] Rigdon left them more than a year ago & settled in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania & is publishing a paper there—He denounced all the present leaders at Nauvoo—says that Joe Smith was a fallen Prophet—that he Rigdon is now the true & only Prophet of the church.⁷ Brigham Young one of the twelve is the leader. He exercises as absolute power over them as ever Joe did—he equals him in depravity & all evil practices. He pretends to have revelations (a short time since in one of his public discourses told his people that the Bible was no more to him than a last years Almanac—that he was all the Bible they needed. I made the Mormons an offer for their temple & other buildings—having a large flock of sheep—I thought I could use their homes for sheep pens & the Temple to shear the sheep in—by which means the original design of the building would be carried out viz Fleecing the Flock—

It will be a glorious deliverance for all this section of country when they turn their backs upon it—but woe to the Country wherever they go . . .

We have had most bountiful crops this season—never a more productive one known. Wheat is selling here at half a Dollar per bushel of 60 lbs Indian Corn 16 cts Oats 14 cts—Beef 2_ cts per pound & Pork 3 cts. I shall endeavor to send you occasionally such News Papers as may give accounts of the movements at Nauvoo—together with any published at Nauvoo—together with any published matter in relation to that people which I think will interest you.

I shall always be gratified to hear from you

With Very Cordial Salutations

I remain Yours Truly

D. W. K