Smith and Rigdon tarred and feathered in Ohio On the night of March 24, 1832, Joseph Smith and
Sidney Rigdon were attacked by a mob at the
Johnson home in
Hiram, Ohio. They were dragged from their bed, beaten, tarred and feathered, and reportedly threatened with castration. The mob also attempted to force poison into Smith's mouth, resulting in the loss of a tooth and chemical burns to his skin. Despite his injuries, Smith preached a sermon the following morning and baptized three individuals. Braden’s account included factual errors, such as misidentifying Eli Johnson as Marinda’s brother rather than her uncle. Most contemporary sources point to Smith and Rigdon's doctrines, particularly consecration, as the motive of the attack. Historian
Richard Bushman disputes Braden's and Brodie's theory for "lack of credible evidence".
Violent expulsion from Jackson County Shortly after the formal organization of the
Church of Christ in upstate New York in 1830, Mormon missionaries conducted expeditions and began establishing permanent settlements in western Missouri, particularly in
Jackson County, starting in 1831. On July 20, 1831, Joseph Smith announced a revelation designating Independence, the county seat of Jackson, as the site of the
City of Zion -- the New Jerusalem, a physical, Millennial city to be populated by later-day saints. Smith dedicated the
Temple Lot in Independence as the site of the Zion Temple on August 3, 1831. A comprehensive
plat was devised by Smith in 1833, describing the planned city as an organized
grid system of blocks and streets, with blocks house lots that alternated in direction by columns of blocks between north-south streets. The rapid growth of the Mormon population and their distinct religious beliefs created tension with existing non-Mormon residents. The Mormons' economic cohesion, marked by their collective land purchases and successful agricultural endeavors, and their proselytizing among Native Americans and African-Americans, heightened the fears and anxieties of the non-Mormon community. In July 1833, tensions boiled over when the
Mormon newspaper in Independence published an issue that was controversial with the non-Mormon residents of the county. At a meeting, non-Mormons adopted a statement accusing the Mormons of planning to take over the county, inviting free black settlers, and having a corrupting influence" on their slaves. Locals attacked the Mormon press, razed the building, and scattered the type on the street. On November 4, some 50 Missourians gathered near the Big Blue River and captured the Mormon ferry. A gunfire exchange ensued which resulted in the death of one Mormon and two non-Mormons. After the local militia intervened, the Mormons surrendered their arms and agreed to leave the county within ten days. The Mormons were given a short amount of time to comply; when they refused to leave,
a violent expulsion occurred. The Mormons were forced to flee their homes and seek refuge in neighboring counties. The Missouri state government, rather than protecting the Mormons, largely turned a blind eye to the violence and displacement.
Danites and expulsion of dissenters In 1836, the state congress established
Caldwell County as a place for the Mormons to settle. The church relocated its main headquarters in January 1838 from
Kirtland, Ohio to
Far West in Caldwell County. Settlement in the area increased as thousands of Mormons poured into the new headquarters in Missouri from Kirtland and other areas. Mormons established new colonies outside of Caldwell County, including
Adam-ondi-Ahman in
Daviess County and
De Witt in
Carroll County. The Missourians saw expansion of Mormon communities outside of Caldwell County as a political and economic threat. In June 1838, a letter, first drafted by
Sidney Rigdon and signed by 83 Danites, was sent to the principal dissenters:
Oliver Cowdery,
David Whitmer,
John Whitmer,
William Wines Phelps, and
Lyman E. Johnson. The letter demanded the dissenters depart the county within three days, writing: 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, including twenty-four hours in each day, for you to depart 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. It warned: We have solemnly warned you, and that in the most determined manner, that if you do 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 despise our warnings, and pass them off with a sneer, or a grin, or a threat, and pursued your former course; and vengeance sleepeth not, neither does it slumber; and unless you heed us this time, and attend to our request, 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. The letter — later known as the "Danite Manifesto" — displayed the signatures of eighty-three Mormons, including that of Joseph Smith's brother, and fellow member of the
First Presidency,
Hyrum, but not Joseph or Rigdon. Robinson later said that all of the signers were Danites. The letter had the desired effect, and the few named dissenters quickly fled the county. Reed Peck asserted that "the claims by which this property was taken from these men were unjust and perhaps without foundation cannot be doubted by any unprejudiced person acquainted with all parties and circumstances."
Missouri war and violent expulsion On August 6, 1838, in Daviess County,
a brawl erupted between a group of Mormons and non-Mormon residents during election day. The perception that Mormons intended to vote as a bloc clashed with the opposition of non-Mormons who sought to prevent them from casting their ballots. Meanwhile, the
siege of DeWitt unfolded in Carroll County, where a large mob of vigilantes encircled the settlement, cutting off its supplies and demanding the Mormons' departure. Outnumbered and fearing violence, the Mormons sent appeals for assistance to other Mormon communities in nearby counties. The siege ultimately ended when a state militia unit arrived, and the Mormons agreed to evacuate the town. Other sources of tension included Joseph Smith's practice of polygamy, Smith's opposition to slavery during his
presidential campaign, and the doctrine of human deification. Tensions boiled in 1844 following the destruction of the anti-Mormon
Nauvoo Expositor newspaper press, which was condemned as a "public nuisance" by Smith and the city council. In response, the
Warsaw newspaper called for a "war of extermination" against the Mormons, to be made with "powder and ball". Amid the uproar, Smith was arrested and jailed in Carthage, where he and his brother Hyrum Smith were ultimately killed by a vigilante mob. After Smith's assassination, tensions between the Mormons and their opponents in Illinois escalated, culminating in a mob of about 1000 armed vigilantes
sieging Nauvoo in 1846. The Mormons eventually surrendered and were expelled from the city, crossing the Mississippi into Iowa. In 2004, the
Illinois House of Representatives unanimously passed a resolution of regret for the forced expulsion of the Mormons from Nauvoo.
Utah Territory and the Utah War After Mormons established a community hundreds of miles away in the
Salt Lake Valley in 1847, anti-Mormon activists in the
Utah Territory persuaded President
Buchanan that the Mormons in the territory were rebelling against the United States under the direction of
Brigham Young. In response, in 1857 Buchanan sent one-third of United States's standing army to Utah in what is known as the
Utah War. During the Utah War, the
Mountain Meadows massacre occurred. Historian
Wallace Stegner wrote “It would be bad history to pretend that there were no holy murders in Utah and ... no mysterious disappearances of apostates". One example cited by historians occurred in March 1857, when an elderly church member of high standing, William R. Parrish, decided to leave Utah with his family when he "grew cold in the faith", but had his throat slit near his
Springville, Utah home.
Mountain Meadows massacre . On September 11, 1857 LDS settlers with the Utah Territorial Militia (officially called the
Nauvoo Legion) murdered at least 120 children, women, and men, in the end sparing only seventeen young children under the age of seven. The massacre in the southern
Utah Territory at
Mountain Meadows was considered the largest act of
domestic terrorism in United States history prior to the 1995
Oklahoma City bombing. It was perpetrated during a period of
escalating tensions between Mormons and the United States which Mormons viewed from an apocalyptic lens. The victims were mostly from Arkansas, and were passing through the Utah territory on their way to California. The massacre was influenced, in part, by unfounded rumors that some of the emigrants had previously persecuted Mormons. Leading the massacre were
William H. Dame, regional church president and colonel of the
Mormon militia, and his battalion leaders
Isaac C. Haight (also a regional church president),
John D. Lee, and John H. Higbee. The militia surrounded the emigrants and laid siege, and after forcing them to surrender, the militia systematically executed all of them except the youngest children, who were taken and adopted by nearby residents. The militia covered up the massacre by blaming it on
largely uninvolved Native American tribes. Though Dame, Haight, and other leaders were indicted in the 1870s for their roles in the massacre,
John D. Lee was the only participant who stood trial, where he was ultimately convicted and executed. Brigham Young was accused of either directing the massacre or with complicity after the fact. When Young was interviewed on the matter and asked if it was related to his beliefs regarding blood atonement, he replied, "I do, and I believe that Lee has not half atoned for his great crime." He said "we believe that execution should be done by the shedding of blood instead of by hanging," but only "according to the laws of the land". American troops who visited the site later constructed a cairn at the site, topped with a sign saying "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord." According to a Mormon present at the event, when Young visited the site sometime afterward, he remarked "Vengeance is
mine, and I have taken a little"; his party proceeded to destroy the cairn and memorial. ==Joseph Smith and violent crime==