Expulsion of Mormons from Jackson County, Missouri

1833 forced removal of Mormons

The Expulsion of Mormons from Jackson County, Missouri occurred in 1833 when Mormons (Latter Day Saints) were forcibly displaced from Jackson County, Missouri amidst escalating violence between Mormon residents and non-Mormon vigilantes.

Mormons began establishing a community in Jackson County in 1831, an outpost to the largest Mormon body in Kirtland, Ohio. Jackson County was later designated as a gathering place, where they believed they would eventually establish the city of Zion.

Tensions mounted in July 1833 when a controversial issue of the local Mormon newspaper was published. One article reminded free people of color to bring proper identification before immigrating to Missouri, as required by state law. Another article advised potential Mormon settlers to make financial preparations before immigrating, rather than expecting to obtain land “by the sword” as in the Old Testament. In response, local Missourians formed a mob and destroyed the Mormon printing press.

In October 1833, Mormon leaders received an ultimatum demanding their departure from the county. The expelled Mormons sought refuge in neighboring counties, especially Clay County. Despite legal efforts and sympathy from the Missouri press and state government, the Mormons were unable to regain a foothold in Jackson County. The expulsion had a profound impact on the Latter Day Saint community, shaping their history, migration patterns, and religious development in subsequent years.

Background

See also: Zion (Latter Day Saints) and Temple Lot

This one page Plat written in June 1833 by Joseph Smith defines a comprehensive multiple city plan.

Shortly after the founding of the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saint), early Mormon missionaries were instructed in a revelation to Joseph Smith in September 1830 to "go among the Lamanites and preach my gospel unto them." The "Lamanites" were understood to be Native Americans living on the border of Missouri, where they were being forcibly relocated by the United States government. The location of Zion was not specified, but originally given in revelation to be "among the Lamanites," across the border of Missouri in Indian territory. When missionaries arrived however in January 1831, the United States government did not permit any missionary work or Latter Day Saint settlements.

On July 20, 1831 Smith received a new revelation that the location of Zion would be located across the river on the "borders of the Lamanites" in Jackson County, specifically in the county seat of Independence. Earlier revelations were modified to reflect the new location in Missouri rather than Indian territory. The Mormons settled primarily in the western part of Kaw Township and opened a school in what is now Troost Park. On August 3, 1831, Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, Peter Whitmer Jr., Frederick G. Williams, W. W. Phelps, Martin Harris, and Joseph Coe laid a stone as the northeast cornerstone of the anticipated temple in Independence. On December 19, 1831, Edward Partidge, who had been selected as Bishop to the Independence congregation, purchased 63 acres (250,000 m), including the Temple Lot.

In June 1832, W.W. Phelps, Mormon convert and a former editor from New York, moved to Independence, and set up operation of a printing press, establishing The Evening and the Morning Star, a monthly Mormon newspaper. Independence resident Josiah Gregg recalled: "in proportion as grew strong in numbers, they also became more exacting and bold in their pretensions. In a little paper printed at Independence under their immediate auspices, everything was said that could provoke hostility between 'saints' and their 'worldly' neighbors, until at last they became so emboldened by impunity, as openly to boast of their determination to be the sole proprietors of the 'Land of Zion.'"

In December 1832, contemporary sources estimated that 100 Mormons populated Jackson County. By 1833, about 1200 Mormons had settled in the county, making up between one-third and one-half of the population. As the number of Mormons in the area grew, tensions emerged between the Mormons and their non-Mormon neighbors. This was partly due to the religious and cultural differences between the two groups, economic competition, political differences, and fears of cultural displacement.

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 plan called for 24 Mormon temples at the city's center.

July edition of The Star and escalating violence

The July 1833 edition of the Evening and the Morning Star, a Mormon local newspaper, featured multiple stories that contributed to the growing tensions.

The most controversial piece, titled "Free People of Color," reminded readers to comply with Missouri state law, which required free people of color to bring proof of citizenship when settling in the state. This inflamed tensions with the Missourians, who interpreted it as evidence of the Mormons actively facilitating and encouraging the settlement of free blacks, which was seen as extremely undesirable to settlers of the newly-created slave state. The Star would later publish an extra denying these allegations, arguing their intent was to deter such migration.

A second piece cautioned Mormons to adequately prepare before attempting to migrate to Jackson County, reminding them that while "the children of Israel" were "compelled to obtain by the sword, with the sacrifice of many lives", land in Jackson had to be lawfully purchased: "to suppose that we can come up here and take possession of this land by the shedding of blood, would be setting at nought the law of the glorious gospel, and also the word of our great Redeemer: And to suppose that we can take possession of this country, without making regular purchases of the same according to the laws of our nation, would be reproaching this great Republic ... under whose auspices we all have protection." While the piece attempted to stem the influx of unprepared Mormon settlers and emphasized the need to respect property rights, the mere mention of land being obtained "by the sword" inflamed anxieties among Missourians.

Destruction of The Star

The situation escalated when citizens of Jackson County convened a town meeting to address their concerns on "the Mormon issue". The meeting's address, penned on July 20, accused the Mormons, who were described as "little above the condition of our blacks either in regard to property or education", of having a "corrupting influence on our slaves", seeking to win lands by violent means, and of plotting to take over the county: "we are daily told, and not by the ignorant alone, but by all classes of them, that we...of this county are to be cut off, and our lands appropriated by them for inheritances." The address argued that "it requires no gift of prophecy to tell that the day is not far distant when the civil government of the country will be in their hands". It demanded that no further Mormons settle in the county, that the existing Mormons leave, and that their newspaper cease publication immediately. The address concluded warning that those who failed to comply would face dire consequences.

After the demands were presented to prominent Mormons, the meeting reconvened and were told that the local Mormon leaders requested an "unreasonable" amount of time to respond. As a result, a mob attacked the newspaper's printing office, destroyed the press, and tarred and feathered two Mormon leaders.

Forced "agreement"

On July 23, a mob again gathered at the courthouse square, and rounded up six of the church's high priests. The vigilantes dispersed after extracting an agreement from them that half of the Mormons would leave the county by January 1, 1834, and the rest by April 1. In exchange for the Mormons leaving their homes, the local citizens council would "use all their influence to prevent any violence" so long as the Mormons complied with the "agreement".

Expulsion

In October 1833, W. W. Phelps and Orson Hyde traveled to Jefferson City, the state capital, to present a petition to Governor Daniel Dunklin requesting militia protection and redress for damaged property. The government of Missouri condemned the actions of the vigilantes, and advised the Mormon representatives to prosecute their offenders through local courts. Following the governor's advice, the Mormon leaders filed lawsuits against the perpetrators of the printing shop's destruction.

On October 31, likely catalyzed by the Mormons' legal actions, a mob raided a Mormon settlement eight miles west of Independence, damaging several houses and whipping the men inside. The next day, the Mormon storehouse in Independence was sacked, having its goods scattered 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.

Aftermath

References

Givens, Terryl L. (2019). The Latter-day Saint Experience in America. Oxford University Press.
^ Vogel, D. (2023). Charisma under pressure: Joseph Smith, American prophet, 1831–1839. Signature Books. page 140
Staker, M. L. (2009). Hearken, O ye people: The historical setting of Joseph Smith's Ohio Revelations. Greg Kofford Books. Page 49
^ Smith, J., & Marquardt, H. M. (2013). Joseph Smith's 1828–1843 revelations. Xulon Press.
^ Kolin, Philip C. (1994). "Orpheus Ascending: Music, Race, and Gender in Adrienne Kennedy's She Talks to Beethoven". African American Review. 28 (2): 293–304. doi:10.2307/3042001. JSTOR 3042001.
^ Addams, R. Jean (2014). "The Establishment and Redemption of Zion". The John Whitmer Historical Association Journal. 34 (1): xiv–33. JSTOR 43200574.
Revelation Book 1, p. 41, The Joseph Smith Papers, accessed November 11, 2023
"Marker at Troost Park – Ensign Peak Foundation". Retrieved 2023-11-05.
"Factors in the Destruction of the Mormon Press in Missouri, 1833".
"Uncle Dale's Old Mormon Articles: Early Ohio 1832–34".
Harper, Steven C. (2017-10-31). "Mormon Authority and Identity in America". VoegelinView. Retrieved 2023-11-05.
Bushman, Richard L. (1960). "Mormon Persecutions in Missouri, 1833". Brigham Young University Studies. 3 (1): 11–20. ISSN 0007-0106. JSTOR 43043849. Missourians were voluble about the causes of their enmity. Declarations adopted by mass meetings in Jackson County and articles by individual apologists described the sources of resentment interference with Negroes, collusion with Indians, threatened armed aggression, the offensive religion of the Mormons, and their growing political power
Taysom, Stephen C. (2010). "Imagination and Reality in the Mormon Zion". Shakers, Mormons, and Religious Worlds: Conflicting Visions, Contested Boundaries. Religion in North America. Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Press. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-253-35540-9. LCCN 2010012634.
Frampton, T. Ward (2014). ""Some Savage Tribe": Race, Legal Violence, and the Mormon War of 1838". Journal of Mormon History. 40 (1): 175–207. doi:10.2307/24243875. ISSN 0094-7342. JSTOR 24243875. Missourians ... interpreted the passage as clear evidence that the Mormons were encouraging and facilitating the settling of free blacks in Jackson County; Phelps immediately protested that his intent was actually to discourage that very thing. In the same issue, however, was a second article that seemed to betray where the Mormons' sympathies truly lay: "The saints must shun every appearance of evil. As to slaves we have nothing to say. In connection with the wonderful events of this age, much is doing towards abolishing slavery, and colonizing the blacks, in Africa."
"Evening and Morning Star Volume 2, Number 14".
"History of Joseph Smith". BYU Library Collection. Times and Seasons, volume 6, number 5. Retrieved 2024-11-02.
"Uncle Dale's Old Mormon Articles: Missouri, 1831–1837".
Brodie, Fawn M. (1957). No Man Knows My History. p. 129. A mob had stormed into Independence, burned the printing house, smashed the press, carried off the newly printed collections of revelations, tarred and feathered Bishop Partridge, and ordered the whole colony to leave the county.
Kinney, Brandon G. (2011). The Mormon War: Zion and the Missouri Extermination Order of 1838. Westholme. ISBN 978-1-59416-534-4. Three days later the group returned, threatening the leaders with one hundred lashes—a death sentence—unless they agreed to leave Jackson County. The leaders responded that half the colony would leave by January 1, 1834, and the rest before spring.
THE WESTERN MONITOR. Fayette, Missouri, August 2, 1833.
Jennings, Warren A. Zion is Fled: The expulsion of the Mormons from Jackson County, Missouri. p. 158. Finally, on October 19, the Governor forwarded his opinion to the elders. He informed the petitioners: I should think myself unworthy the confidence with which I have been honored by my fellow-citizens, did I not promptly employ all the means which the Constitution and laws have placed at my disposal, to avert the calamities with which you are threatened... No citizen, nor number of citizens, have a right, to take the redress of their grievances, whether real or imaginary, into their own hands: Such conduct strikes at the very existence of society, and subverts the foundation on which it is based.
Jennings, Warren A. Zion is Fled: The expulsion of the Mormons from Jackson County, Missouri. p. 158. The advice of the governor was acted upon. The disciples consulted with four lawyers from Clay County.
Wosnik, Peter J. (2017). Religious Liberty, Zion, and the Mormon Expulsion from Missouri, 1831–1839. p. 47. That night forty or fifty armed mob members "unroofed" nearly a dozen houses. The mob then "caught three or four of the men, and notwithstanding the cries, and entreaties of their wives and children . . . whipped and beat them in a barbarous manner.
Lund, Matthew (2012). The Vox Populi Is the Vox Dei: American Localism and the Mormon Expulsion from Jackson County, Missouri. doi:10.26076/d96e-064b. vigilantes split opened the doors of the Gilbert & Whitney store and threw the goods out into the street.
Jennings, Warren A. Zion is Fled: The expulsion of the Mormons from Jackson County, Missouri. p. 177. The fire must have been heavy, for when the battle was over two of the citizens and several of their horses were dead on the field
Lund, Matthew (2012). The Vox Populi Is the Vox Dei: American Localism and the Mormon Expulsion from Jackson County, Missouri. doi:10.26076/d96e-064b. After relinquishing their arms, the Mormon company disbanded. The men Colonel Pitcher demanded were surrendered and subsequently imprisoned. A few days later, however, the Missourians released them without trial.
Lund, Matthew (2012). The Vox Populi Is the Vox Dei: American Localism and the Mormon Expulsion from Jackson County, Missouri. doi:10.26076/d96e-064b. Feeling powerless, Governor Dunklin eventually conceded to popular rule in Jackson County. Likewise, submitting to the limitations of the federal constitution, the Jackson Administration bowed to the local will and sovereignty of the state. Consequently, the Mormons failed to receive protection and redress from local, state and federal authorities for depredations committed against them.
LeSueur, Stephen C. (1990). The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri. University of Missouri Press. p. 19. ISBN 978-0-8262-0626-8.
Kinney, Brandon G. (2011). The Mormon War: Zion and the Missouri Extermination Order of 1838. Westholme. ISBN 978-1-59416-130-8. The newspapers throughout the state and the nation decried the outrageous acts of the Jackson County citizens against the Mormons ... The scathing editorials were indignant that the Mormons had been forcibly dispossessed of their lands and property.
Firmage, Edwin Brown; Mangrum, Richard Collin (2001). Zion in the Courts: A Legal History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830–1900. University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-0-252-06980-2.
Bushman, Richard L (2007). Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling. New York City, NY: Vantage. pp. 344–345. ISBN 978-1-4000-7753-3. Retrieved 12 April 2011.

Portals:

Categories: