[ Full-text transcription of: Witness Sampson Avard, Leader of Danites ]
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Copies of Part of the Evidence taken in the
Examination of the Mormon
Prisoners before Judge King.
Not
to be opened
Copy of the testimoney given before Honle
Austin A. King Judge of 5 Judicial circuit
in the State of
begun Nov 12th.
Smith Jr, Hiram Smith, Sidney Rigdon,
Parley P. Pratt, Lyman Wight, Amazy Lyman,
Geo. W. Robinson, Caleb Baldwin, Alanson Ripley,
hannon, Jacob Gates, Chandler Haldbrook,
George W. Harris, Jesse D. Hunter Andw Whitlock,
Martin C. Alred, Wm Alred, Geo. Grant, Darwin
Chase, Elijah Newman, Alvin G. Tippetts,
Zedekiah Owens, Isaac Morley, Tho Beck
Moses Clawson, John J. Tanner, Dan’l Shearer,
Dan’l I Thomas, Alexander McRay, Elisha Edwards,
John S. Higby, Ebenezer Page, Benjm Covey,
Ebenzer Robinson, Lyman Gibbs, Jas M. Henderson,
David Pettigrew, Edward Partridge, Francis
Higby, David Frampton, George Kimble, Joseph
W. Younger, Henry Zabriskey, Allen J. Stout,
Benj Jones, Dan’l Carn, John T. Earl and
Norman Shearer, who were charged with and
several crimes of high treason against the State,
murder, burglary, arson, robbery, and larceny.
Sampson Avard, a witness, produced, sworn, &
examined, on behalf of the state, deposeth &
saith: That about 4 months ago, a band called
the Daughters of Zion, since called the Danite
band, was formed of the members of the Mormon
church, the original object of which was to drive
from the
dissented from the Mormon church; in which
they succeeded admirably, and to the satisfaction
of all concerned. I consider Joseph Smith, Jr
as the prime mover and organizer of this Danite
band_ The officers of the band, according to
their grades, were bought before him, at a
school house together with Hiram Smith &
Sidney Rigdon, the three composing the first
presidency of the whole church. Joseph Smith
then blessed them xc then he prophesied over them, declaring
that they should be the means in the hands of God
of bringing forth the millenial kingdom It
was stated by Jos Smith Jr. that it was necessary
this band should be bound together by a cove-
-nant. That those who revealed the secrets of
this society should be put death. The cove
nant taken by all the Danite band was as
follows, to wit: They declared, holding up their
right hands, “In the name of Jesus Christ, the
Son of God I do solemnly obligate myself “ever
to conceal and never to reveal the secret purposes
of this society, called the Daughters of Zion,
Should I ever do the same, I hold my life as
the forfeiture.” The prophet Joseph Smith Jr,
together with two his counsellors, Hiram Smith
& Sidney Rigdon were considered as the supreme
head of the church and the Daniete band feel
themselves as much bound to obey them as to
obey the Supreme God. Instruction was given
by Joseph Smith Jr that if any of them should get
into difficulty, the rest should help him out, and
that they should stand by each other, right or
wrong, This instruction was given at a danite
meeting, in a publick address. As for Joseph
Smith Jr and his two counsellors, the witness does
not know they ever took the Danite oath
He knows that all the rest of the defendants are
danites, except Sidney Tanner, Andw Whitlock
Zedah Owens, Thos Rich, John I. Tanner, Dan’l S
Thomas, David Pettigrew, Geo. Kimble, Anthony
Head, Benj. Jones, and Norman Shearer
At the election last August, a report came to Far
West that some of the brethren in Daviess cty were
killed. I called for 20 volunteers to accompany
me to [“Adam ondi Ahmon Mr Joseph Smith
in company” crossed out]
I went, and about 120 Mormons accompanied me
to Adam ondi Ahmon Mr. Joseph Smith, Jr in com
pany. When we arrived there, I found the re
port exagerated. None were killed. We visited
Mr. Adam Black—about 150 or 200 men of us
armed. Jos Smith was commander, and if Black
had not signed the paper he did, it was the common
understanding & belief that he would have shared
the fate of the dissenters. Sidney Rigdon and
Lyman Wight were at Adam when we went
to Blacks & advised the movement.
As regards the affair at DeWit, I know little
personally, but I heard Mr. S. Rigdon say they
had gone down to DeWitt, where it was said
a mob had collected to wage war upon the
Mormons residing in [“
Joseph smith, Jr, with his friends went down
to De Witt to give aid & help to his brethren.
The company, as I presume, were armed, they re
-turned armed. Hiram Smith & Geo. W. Robert
son were in the company. Amazi Lyman
went to see what was gong on. I hearded these
persons say they were in Hinckle’s camp at
De Wit several days -When the Mormons
returned from De Wit, it was rumoured that
a mob was collecting in
Smith Jr, the Sunday before the late disturban
-ces in
-tice that he wished the whole county collected
on the next day (Monday) at
declared, on Sunday or Monday, I don’t recol
lect which), that all who did not take up
arms in defense of the Mormons of Davis
should be considered as tories, and should
take their exit [“out” crossed out] from the county.
At the meeting on Monday, when person
met from all parts of the
well, Jos Smith Jr took the pulpit, &
delivered an address, in which he said that we had
been an injured people, driven violently from
-or, magistrates, judges & even to the Prest. of
the U. States, & there had been no redress for
us, and that now a mob was about to destroy
the rights of our
brethren of
that it was high time that we should
take measures to defend our own rights.
In the address he related an anecdote
about a captain who applied to a Dutch
-man to purchase potatoes, who refused to
sell
sell. The captain then charged his com_
pany, several different times, not to
touch the Dutchmans potatoes, In the morn
-ing the Dutchman had not a potatoe left in
his patch. This was in reference to touching
no property in our expedition to
Cty, that did not belong to us, but he told
us that the [“people” crossed out] children of God did not go to war
at their own expense. A vote was taken
whether the brethren should embody and go
down to
-tion was put by the prophet Jos Smith Jr
and passed unanimously, with a few exceptions
Captains Patten and Brunson were appoint
-ed commanders of the Mormons by Jos Smith Jr
to go to
generals. I once had a command as an
officer but Jos Smith Jr removed me from it
& I asked him the reason & he assigned that he
had another office for me; afterwards Mr.
Rigdon told me I was to fill the office of
Surgeon to attend to the sick & wounded
After we arrived at Diahmon in
council was held, at night composed of Jos
Smith Jr., Geo W. Robertson, Hiram Smith
Captains Patton & Brunson, Lyman Wight
Prest R Cahoon, P.P. Pratt and myself &
perhaps Mr. Hinckle- Prest. Rigdon was
not present, he remained at
correspondence was kept up between him &
Jos Smith Jr. I heard Mr Rigdon read one of
the letters from Smith which as I remember
was about as follows That he knew from
prophesy & from the revelation of Jesus
Christ that the enemies of the Kingdom were
in their hands, & that they (the mormon church)
should succeed-Rigdon on reading the
letter said it gave him great (“satisfaction” crossed out) consolation
[“that” crossed out) to have such authority that the kingdom
of God was rolling on. In the above
refered to council Mr Smith spoke of the
grievances we had suffered in Jackson, Clay,
Kirtland & other places, declared that we must
in future stand up for our rights as citizens
of the U. States. & as Saints of the most high
God. & that it was the will of God we
should do so. That we should be free and
independent, and that as the State of
-ouri and the U.. States would not protect us
it was high time that we should [ ] up as the
saints of the most high God & protect ourselves
& take the kingdom Lyman Wight observed
that before the winter was over he thought we
would be in
them that they should be united in supporting
each other. Smith said on some occasion
that one should chase a thousand and two put
ten thousand to flight. That he considers the
U. States rotten, he compared the mormon
church to the little stone spoken of by the prophet
Daniel & that the Dissenters first & the State next
was part of the image that should be destroyed
by this little stone The Council was
called on to vote the measures of Smith, which
they did unanimously. On the next day
Capt Patton who was called by the prophet
Capt Fear naught, took command of about
100 armed men & told them that he had a job
for them to do & that the work of the Lord was
rolling on, & they must be united. He then led
his troops to Galatin, saying he was agoing to attack
the mob there. He made a rush into Gal-
-atin, dispersed the few men there and took
the goods out of Stollings’ store. & carried them
to De ahmion. & I afterwards saw the store house
on fire. When we returned to Diahmon the
goods were deposited in the Lords storehouse
under the care of the bishops Vincent Knight
Orders were strictly given that all the goods
should be deposited in the Lords store house
no individuals were to appropriate anything
to themselves until a general distribution
should be made- Jos. Smith Jr was at
Adam ondi Ahmon giving directions about
things in general connected with the war
when Patten returned from Galaten to Adam
ondi Ahmon, the goods were divided or appor
-tioned out amongst those engaged, and these
affairs were conducted under the superin
tendency of the first presidency. A part
of the goods were brought to
their arrival under the care of Capt Fear
naught. prest Rigdon and others shouted three
hozannahs to the victors- On the day
Patten went to Galatin. Col. Wight went
to
many cattle, beds, furniture &c brought into
our camps by the mormons. After we re
-turned to
-stantly kept in motion: and there was
a council held at the house of Prest Rigdon
to determine who should be chiefs. It was
determined that Col Wight should be commander
in chief at Adam ondi ahmon. Brunson
Capt of the flying horse of
le should be commander in chief in chief of the Far
West troops. Capt Patton Capt of the flying
horse or cavalry, and that the prophet
Jos smith Jr should be commander in
Chief of the whole Kingdom. the Council
was composed of Jos Smith Jr Capt
Fear naught alias Patton col. Hinckle,
Col Wight & Prest Rigdon- the object of the
council was in furtherance of the scheme
proposed in council in Davis Cty refered to
above__ after this council Fear naught dis
-puted as to the chief commander of the far west troops
& had a smart altercation about it with Hinkel
but Smith proposed that they agree to disagree
and go on for the good of the Kingdom. The troops
were kept together until the militia came out
lately: there was from 500 to 800 men as I should sup
-pose under arms. It was about this time that
the militia came, out lately to
that our prophet, assembled the troops together at
and stated to them that the
be set up & should never fall, and for every one that
we lacked in numbers, of those who came against
us the Lord would send angles, who would fight for
us & that we should be victorious-- After
the militia had been near
address Smith said that those troops were militia, & that
we were militia too, and both sides clever fellows, &
that he advised them to know nothing of what had
happened, to say nothing & to keep dark:- that he Smith
had forgotten more than he had ever known_
After it was ascertained that the militia had ar
-rived, inteligence was immediately sent to Diahmon
to Col Wight_ next morning Col Wight arrived in
The troops were constantly Kept prepared, and in a
situation to repel attack- The evening the militia
arrived near
-ing in the mormon camps that they were militia
legally called out, [“previous” crossed out] and indeed previous to
their arrival it was ascertained that there were mi
-litia on their way to Far West.__ Some months
ago I received orders to destroy the paper concerning
the Danite Society, which order was issued by the
first presidency, and which paper being the consti
-tution for the government of the daniete Society, was
in my custody, but which I did not destroy__It is
now in Genl Clark’s possession__ I gave the paper up
to Genl Clark after I was taken prisoner__ I found it
in my house, where I had previously deposited it, and
believe it had never been in any person’s posession after
I first reced it_ This paper was taken into prest Rigdons
house and read to the prophet & his counsellors, and
was unanimously adopted by them as their rule and
guide in future_ After it was thus adopted I was
instructed by the council to destroy it, as, if it should
be discovered, it would be considered treasonable_
This constitution, after it was approved of by the first
presidency was read, article by article to the Dan
-ite band and unanimously adopted by them_ This
paper was drawn up about the time that the Danite
band was formed_ Since the drawing up of the
paper against the dissenters, it was, that this consti
-tution of the Danite band was drafted- but I have
no minutes of the time, as we were directed not to keep
[“no” crossed out] written minutes_ which constitution above
refered to is as follows_
“Where as in all bodies laws are necessary, for the per
manancy, safety, and well being of society, We the
members of the society of the daughters of
to regulate ourselves under such causes as in righteous
ness shall be deemed necessary for the preservation of
our holy religion, and of our most sacred rights, and the
rights of our wives and children, But to be explicit
on the subject, it is especially our object, to support
and defend the rights confered on us by our venera
-able sires, who purchased them with the pledges of their
lives, their fortunes, & their sacred honours - And
now to prove ourselves worthy of the liberty con
fered on us by them, in the providence of God, we
do agree to be governed by such laws, as shall perpet
-uate these high privileges, of which we know
ourselves to be the rightful possessors, and of which
priviledges wicked and designing men have tried
to deprive us, by all manner of evil, and that purely
in consequence of the tenacity we have manifested
in the discharge of our duty towards, our God, who
had given us those rights and privileges, and a
right in common with others to dwell on this
Land- But we not having the priviledges of
others allowed unto us. have determined, like unto
our fathers to resist tyranny whether it be in
Kings, or in people It is all alike unto us our
rights we must have, and our rights we shall
have in the name of Israels God.
Article 1st
All power belongs originally, and legitimately to the people,
and they have a right to dispose of it as they shall deem
fit_ But as it is inconvenient, and impossible to con
vene the people in all cases. the legislative powers have
been given by them from time to time into the hands of
a representation, composed of delegates from the people
themselves_This is and has been the law, both in
civil and religious bodies, and is the true principle
Article 2nd
The executive power shall be vested in the president
of the whole church and his councellors__
Article 3rd
The legislative powers shall reside in the president
and his cousellors, together and with the generals and
Article 3rd
The legislative powers shall reside in the President
and his counsellors, togeather and with the Generals
and Colonels of the society By them all laws
Shall be made regulating the Society
Article 4th
All officers shall be during life and good behavior
or to be regulated by the law of God
Article 5th
The Society reserves the power of electing all its officers
with the exception of the Aides and Clerks which
the officers may needs in the various stations. The
nominations to go from the Presidency to his second
and from the Second to the third in rank and so
down thru all the various grades each branch or de
=partment retains the power of electing its own partic
=ular officers
Article 6th
Punishment Shall be (“inflicted” crossed out) administered to the
guilty in accordance to the offence and no mem
ber shall be punished without law or by any
others than those appointed by law for that pur
=pose The Legislature Shall have power to make
laws regulating punishments as in their judge
ments Shall be wisdom and righteousness
Article 7th
There shall be a secretary whose business it shall
be to Keep all the Legislative records of the Society
and also to Keep a Register of the names of any
member of the Society also the rank of the officers
He shall also communicate the laws to the Generals
as directed by laws made by the regulation of
such business by the Legislature
Article 8th
All officers shall be subject to the Commands of
the Captains General given (“to the” crossed out) through the
Secretary of War And so all officers shall be subject
to their superiors in rank according to laws made
for that purpose.
“Where as in all bodies laws are necessary, for the
permanent, safety and well being of society, We the
members of the society of the Daughters of Zion do agree
to regulate ourselves under such laws as in rightious
ness shall be deemed necessary for the preservation
of our holy religion, and of our most sacred rights,
and the rights of our wives and children, But to be
explicit on the subject, it is especially our object to
support and defend the rights confered on us by our
venerable sires, who purchased them with the pledges
of their lives, their fortunes, & their sacred honours. And
now to prove ourselves worthy of the liberty confered
on us by them, in the providence of God, we do agree
to be governed by such laws, as shall perpetuate these
high priveleges, of which we know ourselves to be the
rightful possessors, and of which priveleges wicked and
designing men have tried to deprive us, by all manner
of evil, and that purely in consequence of the tenacity
we have manifested in the discharge of our duty towards,
our God, who had given us these rights and priveleges,
and a right in common with others to dwell on this
land But we not having the priveleges of others
allowed unto us. have determined, like unto our fathers
to resist Tyranny whether it be in Kings, or in people
it is all alike unto us our rights we must have, and our
rightst we shall have in the name of Israels God.
Article 1st
All power belongs originally and legitimately to the
people, and they have a right to dispose of it as they
shall deem fit But as it is inconveniant, and impossi
ble to convince the people in all cases. the legislative
powers have been given by them from time to time
into the hands of a representation, composed of delegates
from the people themselves This is and has been the law,
both in civil and religious bodies, and is the true
principle
Article 2nd
The Executive power shall be vested in the President
of the whole church and his counsellors.
Colonels of the society By them all laws shall
be made regulating the society.
Article 4th
[“The society reserves the power of electing all its officers with
the exception” crossed out] All offices shall be during life, and
good behavior, or to be regulated by the law of God.
Article 5th
The society reserves the power of electing all its officers,
with the exception of the aids and clerks which the of
-ficers may need in the various stations. The
nominations to go from the presidency to his second &
from the second to the third in rank, and so down through
all the various grades each branch or department re-
-tains the power of electing its own particular officers
Article 6th
Punishment shall be administered to the guilty in ac
-cordance to the offence, and no members shall be pun
-ished without law. or by any other than those ap
pointed by law for that purpose _ The Legislature
shall have power to make laws regulating punish
ments, as in their judgments shall be wisdom and
righteousness
Article 7th
There shall be a secretary whose business it shall be
to Keep all the legislative records of the society, and also
to Keep a register of the names of every member of the
society, also the rank of the officers. He shall also
communicate the laws to the generals, as directed by
laws made by the regulations of such business by
the legislature
Article 8th
All officers shall be subject to the Commands of the
Captain General, given through the Secretary of War
And so all officers shall be subject to their superiors
in rank according to laws made for that purpose”
In connection with the grand scheme of the prophet
his preachers and apostles were instructed to preach to
and to instruct their followers, (who are estimated in
Europe & America at about 40,000) that it was
their duty to come up to the Stake called
and to possess the Kingdom, that it was the will of
God that they should do so, & that the Lord would
give
give them power to possess the Kingdom_ There
was another writing drawn up in June last, which
had for its object to get rid of the dissenters, and which
had the desired effect. (this is the paper drawn up against
the dissenters refered to above by the witness)_ Since
that time, and since the introduction of the scheme
of the prophet made known in the above constitu
tion, I have the prophet say that it was a fortu
nate thing that we got rid of the dissenters, as
they would have endangered the rolling on of the
into effect by the danite band, That they the
dissenters were great obstacles in the way, and
that unless they were removed, the aforesaid King
-dom could not roll on__ This paper against the
dissenters was drafted by Sidney Rigdon and
is as follows:
“
“To Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, John Whitmer
William. W. Phelps, and Lyman E. Johnson, greet
-ing Whereas the
citizens of
with the abuse received from you at different times and
on different occasions, until it is no longer to be en
-dured, neither will they endure it any longer, having
exhausted all the patience they have and conceive
that to bear any longer is a vice instead of a virtue
We have bourn long and suffered incredibly, but
we will neither bear nor suffer any longer, and
the decree has gone forth from our hearts, and shall
not return to us void_ Neither think gentlemen
that in so saying we are trifling with either you
or ourselves for we are not. There are no threats
from you, no fear of loosing our lives by you, or
by anything you can say or do will restrain us,
for out of the county you shall go, and no power
shall save you_ And you shall have three days
after you receive this communication to you, in-
-cluding twenty four hours in each day for you to de-
-part, with your families peaceably, which you may
do undisturbed by any person, but in that time
if you do not depart we will use the means in
our power to cause you to depart, for go you
shall_ We will have no more promises to reform
as you have already done, and in every instance vio
-lated your promise, and regarded not the covenant which
you had made, but put both it and us at defiance
We have solemnly warned you, and that in the most
determined manner, that if you did not cease that
course of wanton abuse of the citizens of this county,
that vengeance would overtake you sooner or
later, and that when it did come, it would be as
furious as the mountain torrent, and as terrible as
the beating tempest, but you have affected to des
-pise our warnings, and pass them off with a sneer,
or a grin, or a threat, and pursed your former course,
and vengeance sleepeth not, neither does it slumber,
and unless you heed us this time, and attend to our re-
-quest it will overtake you, at an hour when you do
not expect, and at a day when you do not look for
it. and for you there shall be no escape, for there
is but one decree for you, which is depart—depart,
or a more fatal calamity shall befall you-
After Oliver Cowdrey had been taken by a States War
-rant for Stealing and the Stolen property found concealed
in the house of William W Phelps in which nefarious
transaction John Whittmer had also participated, Oliver
Cowdrey stole the property conveyed it to John Whitmer
and John Whitmer to William W Phelps and there the officer
of the law found it. While in the hands of the officers
and under an arrest for this vile transactions, and
if possible to hide your shame from the world like
criminals which indeed you were, you appealed to
our beloved brethren President Joseph Smith Jr, Sid=
=ney Rigdon men whose characters you had endeavour
-ed to destroy by every artifice you could you could invent, not
even the basest lying excepted, and did you find them
Revengeful?-- no but not withstanding all your scanda
lous attacks still such was the nobleness of their character
that even vile enemies could not appeal to them in vain,
They enlisted as you well know their influence to save
you from your just fate, and they by their influence deli=
=vered you out of the hand of the officer, while you were
pleading with them you promised reformation, you
bound yourselves by the most solemn promises that you
would never be employed again in abusing any of the
citizens of
attempt to escape, the work house. But now for the
Sequel . ?Did you practice the promised reformation? you
Know you did not, but by secret efforts, continued to prac-
-tise your iniquity, and secretly to injure their character
notwithstanding their Kindness to you.! are such
things to be borne, you yourself would answer that
they are insufferable If you were to answer according
to the feelings of your own hearts. As we design this
paper to be published to the world we will give an
epitome of your scandalous conduct and treachery for
the last two years. We wish to remind you that Oliver Cowdery
and David Whitmer were among the principal of those who
were the means of gathering us to this place by their testimony
which they gave concerning the plates of the book of Mormon;
That they were Shown to them by an Angel which testimony
we believe now as much as before you had so scandalous
=ly disgraced it; You commenced your wickedness by heading
a party to disturb the worship of the Saints in the first
day of the week and made the house of the Lord in Kirtland
to be a scene of abuse and slander, to destroy the reputation
of those whom the church has appointed to be their teachers
and for no other cause only that you were not the persons.
The Saints in Kirtland having elected Oliver Cowdery to
be a justice of the peace, he used the power of that office to take
their most sacred rights from them and that contrary to law
He supported a parcel of Blacklegs and in disturbing
the worship of the saints, and when the men whom (“you” crossed out) the church
had chosen to preside over their meetings endeavoured to put
the house to order, he helped (and by the authority of his Justices
office too) these wretches to continue their confusion and threat
=ened the church with a prosecution for trying to put them
out of the house, and issued wits against the Saints for endea
=vouring to sustain their rights, and bound themselves under
heavy bonds to appear before his honor, and required bonds
which were both inhuman and unlawful, and one of these
was the venerable father who has been appointed by the
church to preside, a man of upwards of seventy years
of age, and notorious for his peaceable habits, Oliver Cow
dery David Whitmer and Lyman E Johnson united with a
gang of counterfeiters, thieves, liars, and blacklegs of the
deepest dye to deceive, cheat, and defraud the saints out of
their property, by every act and stratagem which wicked
-ness could invent, using the influence of the vilest
persecutors to bring vexatious lawsuits, villainous
prosecutions, and even stealing not excepted, In the midst
of this career, for fear of the saints would seek redress
at their hands, they breathed out threatenings of mobs
and actually made attempts with their gang to bring mobs
upon them. Oliver Cowdery and his gang, such of them
as belonged to the church, were called to an account by the
church for their iniquity. they confessed repentence, and
were again restored to the church, But the very first oppor
=tunity they were again practising their former course,
while this wickedness was going on in Kirtland, Cowdery
and his company were writing letters to
destroy the character of every person that they thought were
standing in their way, and John Whitmer and William W. Phelps
were assisting to prepare the way to throw confusion among
the saints of far West. During the full career of Oliver Cow
=dery & David Whitmer’s Bogus money business got abroad in
to the world that they were engaged in it, and several Gentlemen
were preparing to commence a prosecution against Cowdery
he finding it out, took with him Lyman E Johnson, and fled
to far West with their families, Cowdery stealing property, &
bringing it with him, which has been, within a few weeks
past obtained by the owner, by means of a search warrant and
he was saved from the penitentiary by the influence of two influential
men of the place. He also brought notes with him upon which
he has received pay and made an attempt to sell them to Mr.
Arthur of
reported the he has a note of one thousand dollars against a prin
=cipal man of this church, when it was a palpable falsehood,
and he had no such thing, and he did it for the purpose of in
=juring his character. Shortly, after Cowdery and Johnson left
Kirtland for far West they were followed by David Whitmer, on
whose arrival a general system of slander (“ing” crossed out) and abuse
was commenced by you all, for the purpose of destroying
the characters of certain individuals whose influence & their
regard for righteousness you dreaded, and not only yourselves
but your wives and children, led by Yourselves were busily en
=gaged in it. neither were you contented with slandering
and vilifying here but you Kept up continual correspondence
with your gangs of marauders in Kirtland, encouraging
them to go on with their iniquity which they did to perfection by
swearing false to injure the characters and property of innocent men
stealing cheating, lying, instituting vexatious lawsuits selling Bogus
money and also Stones and Sand for bogus in which nefarious
business Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and Lyman E Johnson were
engaged while you were there. Since your arrival here you
have commenced a general system of the same Kind of
conduct in this place, You set up a nasty, dirty, pettifoggers office
pretending to be Judges of the law, when it is a notorious
fact that you are profoundly ignorant of it, and of
any other thing which is calculated to do mankind
good, or if you know it you take good care never to prac
=tise it. And in order to bring yourselves into notice you
began to interfere with all the business of the place try=
=ing to destroy the character of our merchants and bring=
=ing their creditors upon them and break them up, In ad
=dition to this you stirred up men of weak minds to
prosecute one another for the vile purpose of getting a fee
for pettifoging for one of them. You have also been threat=
=ning continually to enter into a general system of prose
=cuting, determined as you said to pick a flaw in the
titles of those who have bought city lots and built upon them
not that you can do any thing but cause vexatious lawsuits
And amongst the most monstrous of all your abomina
=tions we have evidence, which when called upon we can pro
=duce that letters sent to the post office in this place have been
opened, read, and destroyed, and the persons to whom they
were sent never obtained them thus ruining the business
of the place. We have evidence of a very strong character
that You are at this very time engaged with a gang of
counterfeiters coiners and blacklegs, as some of those characters
have lately visited our city from Kirtland and told what they had
come for, and we Know assuredly, that if we Suffer you to continue
we may expect and that speedily to find a general system of
stealing counterfeiting cheating and burning property, as in
Kirtland, for so are your associates carrying on there at this time
and that encouraged by You by means of letters you send continu
=ally to them, and to crown the whole you have had the auda
-city to threaten us, that if we offered to disturb you you
would get up a mob from Clay and
this insult if nothing else and your threatnings to shoot
us if we offered to molest you we will put from the
ed by some 84 Mormons
Far west June 1838
To Oliver Cowdrey David Whitmer John
Whitmier William W Phelps and Lyman E.
Johnson Greetings Whereas the Citizens of Cald-
well County have borne with the abuses received
from you at different times and on different oc-
cassions until it is no longer to be endured, neither
will they endure it any longer, having exhausted
all the patience they have. We have borne long
and suffered incredibly, but we will bear nor
suffer any longer and the decree has gone forth
from our hearts and shall not return unto us
void. Neither think gentlemen in so doing we
are trifling with either you or ourselves for we
are not. There are no threats from you, no fear
of lossing our lives by you or any thing you can
say or do will restrain us for out of the County
you shall go and no power shall save you, and
you shall have three days after you receive this our
Communication to you including twenty four
hours in each day for you to depart with your
families peaceably which you may do un-
disturbed by any person But in that time if
you do not depart we will use the means in
our power to Cause you to depart for go you shall.
We will have no more promises to reform as you
have already made and in every instance vio-
lated your promises and regarded not the Covenant
which you had made, but put both it and us at
defiance We have Solemnly warned you and
that in the most determined manner, that if
you did not Cease that course of wanton abuse
of the Citizens of this County that vengence would
overtake you sooner or later, and that when it did
Come it would be as furious as the Mountains
torrent and as terible as the beating tempest
But you have affected to despise our warnings
and pass them off with a sneer or a grin or a threat
and still persued your former course. Vengince sleeps
not neither does it slumber; and unless you heed us
this time, and attend to our request, it will overtake
you at an hour where you do not expect it and at a
day when you do not look for it_ and for you there
shall be no escape; for their is but one decree for you
which is depart depart or else a more fatal calamity
Shall befall you After Oliver Cowdrey had been
taken by a States warrent for stealing and the stolen
property found Concealed in the house of William
W Phelps; in which nefarious transaction John
Whitmier had also participated. Oliver Cowdry
stole the property Conveyed it to John Whitmier
and John Whitmier to William W Phelps and
there the officers of the law found it. While in the
hands of the officers and under an arrest for this
vile transaction and if possible to hide your shame
from the world like criminals which in deed you
were, you appealed to our beloved breathren
President [“Rigdon” crossed out] Joseph Smith and Sidney
Rigden Men whose characters you had endeav=
=oured to destroy, by every artifact you could
invent not even the basest lying excepted
Notwithstanding all your scandolous attacks,
still such was the nobleness of their Characters
that even vile enemies could not appeal to them
in vain They enlisted as you well know other
influance to save you from your just fate and
they by their influance delivered you out of the
hands of the officer While you were pleading
with them you promised reformations You bound
yourselves by the most solemn promises that you
would never be employed again in abusing any
of the Citizens of Caldwell and by Such conde
=scentions did you attempt to escape the workhouse.
but Now for the sequel did you practice the
promise reformation. You Know that you did not
but by Secret efforts Continued to practice your in-
equity and clandestinely to injure their Character
notwithstanding there Kindness to you. Are such
things to be borne? You yourselves would answer that
they are unsufferable if you were to answer accor-
ding to the feelings of your own hearts. As we design
this paper to be published to the world we will
give an epitome of your scandalous conduct and
treachery for the last two years. We wish to remind
you that Oliver Cowdrey and David Whitmier
were among the principal of those who were the
means of geathering us to this place by their testi
=mony which they gave concerning the plates of
the book of Mormon, that they were shown
to them by an Angel which testimony we believe
now as much as before you so scandalously dis-
=graced it. You commenced your wickedness by
heading a party to disturb the worship of the
saints of the first day of the week, and made
the house of the Lord in Kirtland to be a
scene of abuse and slander to destroy the reputation
of those whom the Church had appointed to be
their teachers and for no other cause only that
you were not the persons. The saints in Kirtland
having elected Oliver Cowdry to be a justice of the
peace, he used the power of that office, to take
their most sacred rights from them, and that
Contrary to law. He supported a parcel of Blacklegs
in disturbing the worship of the Saints-and when
the Men whom the Church had chosen to preside
over their Meetings endeavored to put the house to
order- Oliver Cowdry by the Authority of his office
assisted those wretches in continuing their confusion
and threatened the Church with a prosecution
for trying to put them out of the house. And
issued writs against the Saints for endeavoring
to Sustain rights and bound them under heavy
bonds to appear before his honour - and required
bonds which were both inhuman and unlawful
One of those injured men was a man upwards
of Seventy years of age the venerable Father who
had been approved by the Church to preside_ a
man notorious for his peaceable habits
Oliver Cowdry David Whitmier and Lyman
E Johnson united with a gang of Counterfeiters
thieves, liars, and Blacklegs of the deepest die
to deceive, cheat and defraud the Saints out of
their property by every act and stratagem which
McKnip could invent using the influance of the
vilest persecutors to bring vexatious lawsuits [“upon” crossed out]
vilanous persecutions and even steeling not ex_
cepted. In the midst of the career for fear
the saints would Seek redress at their hands
they breathed out threatening of Mobs and
actually made attempts to with their gang to
bring mobs upon them. Oliver Cowdry and
his gang such of them as belonged to the Church
were called to an account by the Church
for their inequity_ they confessed repentance
and were again restored to the Church.
But the very first opportunity they were
again practicing their former course. while this
wickedness was going on in Kirtland Oliver
Cowdry and his gang were writing letters to Far
West in order to destroy the Character of every
person they thought were standing in their way
And John Whitmier and William W Phelps were
assisting to prepare the way to throw confusion
among the Saints of
Career of Oliver Cowdry and David Whitmiers
Bogus money business it got abroad into the wold
that they were engaged in it, and several gentlemen
were preparing to commence a prosecution against
Cowdry He finding it out took with him Lyman
E Johnson and fled to
=ilys: Cowdry Stealing a property and bringing
it with him; which has within a few weeks past
been obtained by the owners by means of a search
warrent and he was saved from the Peneten-
tiary by the influance of two influntial men of
this place. He also brought notes with him upon which
he had received pay and had promised to destroy them
Since here he made an attempt to Sell them to
Mr Arthur of
Johnson on his arrival reported that he had a note
of One thousand dollars against a principal man
in this Church when it is a fact that it was a
palpable falsehood and had no such thing and
he did it for the purpose of injureing his character.
Shortly after Cowdry and Johnson left Kirtland
for
Whitmor on whose arrival a general system
of slander and abuse was commenced by you all
for the purpose of destroying the Character of
certain individuals whose influance and strict
regard for righteousness you dreded and not only
you but your wives and children led by yourselves
were busily engaged in it. Neither were you con
tented with slandering and vilifying here: but you
kept up continual correspondance with your
gang of Marauders in Kirtland encouraging
them to go on with their inequity which they did
to perfection by smearing falsely to injure the
Character and property of innocent men-cheating
stealing, lying, and instituting vexateous Law
Suits, Selling bogus money, and also Stones and
Sand for bogus (word crossed out, money), in which nefarious business
You Oliver Cowdry David Whitmer and Lyman
E Johnson were engaged while at Kirtland- Since
your arrival here you have commenced a general
System of the same kind of conduct in this place
you got up a nasty dirty pettifoggers office pre
tending to be judges of the law When it is a no-
trious fact that you are profoundly ignorant
of it. and of every other thing calculated to do
mankind good or if you know it you take good
care never to practice it. And in order to bring
yourselves into Notice you began to interfere with
all the business of the place trying to destroy
the Character of our Merchants and bring
their credetors upon them and break them up.
In addition to this you steared up men of weak
minds to prosecute on another for the vile pur-
pose of geting a fee for a pettifogger from them
You have (“been” crossed out) also been threatening Continually to
enter into a general System of prosecuting--determined
as you said to peck a flaw in the titles of those who
have purchased City lots and built upon them
not that you can do anything but cause vexatious
lawsuits. And among the most monstrous of all
your abominations we have evidence which when
Called upon we can produce; that letters sent
to the Post Office in this place have been opened
and read and destroyed, and the persons to
whom them were Sent never obtained them-
thus ruining the business of the place. We have
evidence of a very Strong Character that you
are this very time engaged with a gang of
Counterfeiters and coiners and blacklegs as Some
of those Characters have lately visited our city from
Kirtland and told what they had come for, and
we know assuredly that if we suffer you to
continue we may expect and that speedely to
find a general System of Stealings, Cheating, coun-
terfeiting, and burning property as in Kirtland
for so are your associates carrying on there at this
time and that encouraged by you by means of
letters you send continually to them.
And to crown to whole you have had the au-
dacity to threaten us that if we offered to dis
=turb you-you would get up a mob from Clay
and
else and your threatenings to Shoot us if we
offered to molest you We will put you from
the
Sampson Avard Geo W Pitkin Mile Andrews
Ralp Cox Philo Dibble D B
Geo M Robinson Daniel Carn Ebenezer Robin
son Truman Brace Amasa Lyman Dani’l
Carter D Hunter Erastus Bingham
Alexander McRea
Samuel Bent
Barlow Elisha Evertt Silas Maynarde
Andrew Rockwell Elijah Averett Joseph Clark Jr
Lorenzo Barnes Joseph Corlay Levi M Hancock
Stephen
Higbee Chandler Holbrook Tad Yale Huntington
Johnson John Somy George P Dykes William
C. Gallagher Anthony Head Richard Howard
George Washington Vorheese John W Clunk
Hamron H Hills Cyrus Daniels Jothan
Maynard Benjamin Burson Squire Bozanth
Timothy B Foset Daniel Sheaver Sylvester
Hulet Solomon Daniel William Stringham
Andrew Moore Avrell Knight James B Isee
Dwight Hadding Ezekial Billington John
Fawsett John Crush Rufus Allen Norvil
M. Head Alfred Has Joseph Rose William
Hewatt Lewis Allen Herman Clark Jared
Carter Harvery Greene Seymour Bronson
James Hendrix James S Allen Ethan
Barrows Charles C Rich John Smith
Harloe Redfield Joseph Cooledge Edward
Seaky Jackson Smith Jacob Gates
Sydney Tanner James Brashear Joseph
Holbrook Mathaw Tanner Wensiers Carter
Hirarm Smith Nelson Maynard Phil Allen
About the time the dissenters fled, President Rigdon
preached a sermon from the text “ye are the salt of
the earth; but if the salt have lost its savor, where
-with (“it” crossed out) shall it be slated? it is thewillforth good for
nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden und
-er foot of men.” commonly called the salt ser
mon, in which the dissenters were (“compared to” crossed out) called the
salt that had lost its savor, and that they should
be trampled upon, and driven out by the saints, which
was well understood by the danites to be a part
of their duty to do.-- When Genl; Lucas’ men
marched up to
-derstood him, that he had said to one of the mili
-tia captains, not to come any further as he might
get into danger- Smith after erecting his bul
-works, (the night after genl Lucas arrived) asked
me if I did not think him pretty much of a general
and I answered in the affirmative-We were
advised all the time to fight valiantly, and that
the angles of the Lord would appear in our defense
and fight our battles- In refferences to
Bogarts battle, I know but little personally as
to the start of the troops to fight Bogart- I was called
upon to go along with the company (which was
commanded by Patten) as surgeon this was about
do me more good than fighting I remained at
home.--In the morning of the fight, about 6
o’clock I was called on by a Mr Emmet who in
-formed me that Capt Fearnaught was wounded
mortally--I went to Patton about 3 miles from
the battle ground where I found Jos Smith Jr present
laying hands on the wounded & blessing them to heal
them-- Abraham OBanion was also mortally wound
-ded. I heard the following of the prisoners say
he was present in the fight to wit Norman Shearer