Show copyright Secure aJ HISTORY OF JOSEPH SMITH bjune 1836 1 the citizens of clay county met pursuant to adjournment the chairman and add secretary resumed I 1 their stations when the committee appointed I 1 by the public meeting keeting of the citizens at the court house in in liberty on the ultimo reported through 0 their chairman W J moss the foregoing preamble and resolutions of the elders of the church of latter day saints on the dinst whereupon it was resolved that this meeting do accept and receive the reply of the mormons cormons to the resolution solution le passed on the of june as perfectly satisfactory be resolved by this meeting that we will use our utmost endeavor to co carry in into effect the object contained in the preamble and resolutions passed on wednesday the as agreed to by the mormons cormons Mor mons B be ei it t further resolved that we urge it on our fellow citizens citizens to keep the peace towards the mormons cormons Mor mons as good faith justice morality and religion requires us I 1 Bea be it further B resolved thata that a committee of ten persons two in each township be appointed to raise money by subscription to aid those of the cormons mormons Mor Muri mons nuns who may from necessity require it to leave this county resolved that samuel tillery jeremiah minger nini mini I 1 and abraham shafer be appointed a committee to receive the pecuniary aid by subscription for the purpose of aiding the poor persons that may belong to the mormons cormons Mor mons in removing 1 movina from this county to their place of abode that the elders of the church chui ch be requested to report the above named persons to the aforesaid committee who will judge of the proofs and facts en entitling tilling the mormons cormons to pecuniary aid and appropriate the funds accordingly I 1 resolved that the said committee be authorized to employ some suitable person to accompany those that may wish to examine a new country fc its is also understood that if the money which may be received by the committee is not appropriated for the purpose above named it shall shah be refunded back in proportion to the amount subscribed resolved that the chair appoint five persons in each township to carry the object of the above resolutions into effect I 1 the following gentlemen were then appointed in the different town townships shins for liberty township john thornton joel turnham Turn bam peter rogers john bird david atchison for fishing river township township Town shiT elisha cameron fi price G withers M welton velton I 1 james kazey por For platte township T 0 gordon S harris W owen L rollins 1 I marsh for washington township B riley S crawford awford Or T findley G mcelvaine P Y G barroc Barf cec for I 1 gallatin township D dale W nash wm I 1 todd B ricketts L 1 For boin I 1 be it further resolved that th this is meeting recommend the mormons cormons to the good treatment I 1 of the citizens of the adjoining coun counties we also recommend the inhabitants of the neighboring counties to assist the mormons cormons in selecting selecting some abiding place for their people where abe they y will be in a measure the only occupants and an where none will be anxious to molest them Be resolved solved that the proceedings of this meeting I 1 be handed over to the publishers of th the far west with a request that it be b e printed I 1 which was severally read and unanimously adopted and meeting 0 adjourned JORN BIRD chairman secretary liberty july 2nd and 1836 kirtland july I 1 36 to W W phelps ph elp and others dear brethren yours of the faist is t dinst accompanying the proceedings of a public meeting m eating C held by the people of clay was duly received we are sorry that this disturbance has broken out but we do not consider it if our fault you are botter better acquainted with circumstances cum stances es than we are and of course have been directed by wisdom in your moves rel eltive to leaving the county we forward you our oar letter to mr thornton and others that you may know all that we have said we advise that you be not the first aggressors give no 0 occasion and if the people will lelyou let you dispose of your property settle your aff affairs lairs and go in peace you have thus far had an asylum and now seek another as god may direct relative to your going to wisconsin we cannot i say we should think if you could stop short in peace you had better you yoa know I 1 our feelings relative to not giving the first of fence and also of wives wives and little ones in case a mob should seek their lives we shall publish the proceedings of the public meeting with your answer as well as our ou r letter we mean that the world shall know all things as they transpire if we are perse persecuted buted and driven men shall know it be wise let prudence dictate all you counsels preserve peace with all rilen men if po possible sible STAND I 1 by the constitution oj of your country count nj observe its principles and above all show yourselves men of god worthy citizens and we doubt not community ere lung long will do you justice and rise in indignation iad ignatiou against those who ho are the instigators of your suffering and ana affliction in the bonds of bi biot herly love we wi subscribe tib scribe ourselves as ever SIDNEY RIGDON SMITH junior OLIV OLIVER ER F G WILLIAMS HYRUM SMITH the letter to mr thornton referred to above was as follows K Kirt huid G aua county ohio july 25 1536 36 to john thornton 1 34 peter 11 oger esq andrew robertson h esq sq james T V thompson esq col wm win T wood doctor woodson I 1 mobs james al hut hughes rhes esq david R atchison Ate hison esq and A W duniphan doniphan esq GE GENTLEMEN ME I 1 we have just perused with feelings of deep interest an all article ardele in the far fair west 55 printed at liberty alay clay county missouri containing the proceedings of a public meeting of the citizens or of said county upon the subject of in an excitement now prevailing among you pu occasioned either filin false reports against against the church of latter day saints or from fro M the fact that said church is dangerous 0 to the welfare of your county and will if suffered among you cause the ties of peace and friendship so desirable among among all men to be burst asunder and bring war and desolation desolate des I 1 on upon your now pleasant homes arder existing circumstances cum stances while rumor is afloat with her accustomed cunning unni nr 11 and while public opinion is fast sect ing like a flood tide against a the members of said church we cannot but bu admire the candor with which your preambles and resolutions were clothed as presented to the citizens of clay county on the of 01 june last though as you expressed in your report to said M meet ee t no g we do not contend that we have the least right under the constitution and laws of the country to expel them by force yet communities muni ties may beat be at times unexpectedly thrown into it a situation when wisdom prudence and that first item in natures law SELF belf DEFENCE would dictate that the responsible and in fluen flue juial cial part should step forward and guide the public mind in a course to save difficulty preserve rights and spare the innocent b blood flotd from stain staining inz that soil so dearly purchased with the lives and fortunes of our fathers ind and as you have hava come forward as mediators to prevent the effusion of blood and save disasters consequent upon civil war we take this opportunity port unity to present to you though D strangers strangers and through d you voul if you wish to ahe people of clay county our heart heartfelt felt gratitude for eaury kindness rendered remi ered our friends in affliction when driven from their peaceful homes and to yourselves also for the prudent course in the present excited esc cited state of your community but in doing t this hi is j justice ustice i to ourselves as communicants of that church to which our friends belong and duty towards them as acquaintances and former fellow citizens require us to say something to exonerate them from the foul foal eh charges arges brought 0 against them to deprive them of their constitutional privileges and drive them from the face of society they have been charged in conse consequence of the whims and vain notions of some few uninformed with claiming that upper country and that ere long they were to possess assess it at all hazards al and in defiance 0 of all consequences I 1 this is unjust and far fai from a foundation in truth a thing not expected or looked for not I 1 I 1 desired by this thia society as a people and where the idea could have originated 0 la is unknown to us we do not neither did we ever insinuate a thino thing of this kind or hear it from the leading men of the society now in i in your country there Ther is is nothing in all our religious faith to warrant it but on the contrary the most strict in injunctions to live in obedience to the laws and follow peace with all men and we doubt not I 1 j but a recurrence to the jackson county difficulties with our friends will fully satisfy you that at least heretofore such has been the I 1 i course followed by them that instead of fighting for their own rights they have sacrificed them for a season to wait the redress guaranteed in the law and so anxiously looked for at a time distant from this we have been and are still clearly under the conviction that had our friends friend been disposed they might have maintained their possessions in in jackson county they might have resorted to the same barbarous moans means with their neighbors throwing Z down dwellings threatening threat ning lives driving innocent women and children from their homes and thereby have annoyed their enemies equally at least but this to their credit and which ever must remain upon the pages of time to their honor they did not they had p possessions oss they had homes they had sacred rights and more still they had helpless h harmless arm innocence with in an approving conscience conscience that they had violated no law of theia country or their god to urge them forward but to show to all that abe they were willing to forego these for the peace of their country they tamely submitted and have since been wanderers among stran strangers ers though hospitable without homes we think el ink these sufficient reasons to show t to your patri patriotic otie minds that our friends instead I 1 I 1 of having a wish to expel a community by force of arms would suffer sull er theia rights to be taken from them before shedding blood another charge brought against our friends is that of being dangerous in in societies where slavery is tolerated and practised practiced without occupying oc cuffing time here we refer you to the april 1836 number of the latter day saints messenger and advocate 31 printed at this place a copy of which we forward to each of you from the length of time which has transpired since its publication you can easily ii wua no other reason leason than to correct the public mind generally without a reference or expectation ot of any excitement of the nature of the one now in in your country why we refer you adu particularly to this publication is because many of our friends who are aie now at the west were w ere in in this place when this paper made its appearance appear ancey and from f rum personal onal observation gave gae it their decided approbation ampro aaion and expressed those sentiments to be their own in the fullest particular another charge of great magnitude is is brought 0 against our friends in the tha wets weak it 0 of f keeping up a constant communication wi with th the indian tribes on the tion f r 6 tier with declaring claring even from the that are a part of gods chosen chasen people and are destined by heaven to inherit this thia laud land in common with themselves we know of nothing under the present aspect of our indian ro relations rotations 0 calculated to arouse the fears of the people of i the upper missouri Mid more than at a combination or indu influence ence of this thia nature and we cannot look upon it other than one of the most subtle purposes of those whose feelings are embittered against our friends to turn the e 03 e of suspicion u upon pon theta them f from rom every man who m ho is ia acquainted with wilh the barbarous barbar oui cruelty of crudu rudu savages fc i cg ce a ramor ruin ag allott that taw sturn indians ludi ans i w ere showing signs c af war we have received frequent private va te letters from our friends who have hae not only expressed fears fr their own safety in case cabe the indians shoals break out but a decided determination to be amono among the first to repel any invasion invasion and defend the 11 frontier I 1 from all hostilities we mention the last fact because it was wholly uncalled for on oil our part and came previous to any excitement on the part art of the people of clay comaty against our 0 ur friends and definitely show that this charge is also untrue another charge against our friends and one that is u urged as a reason why aliv they must mast immediately med i at el 1 leave I ea the county of clay is that 1 t they e are making or are like to make the same ta their air permanent home the centre and general rendezvous of their people 3 we have never understood such to be the purpose wish wis b or design of this society but on the contrary have ever su supposed rp ased that those who resided in ula alay y county only designed def signed it as a temporary residence until the law ind and authority of our country should put them in the quiet po possession session of their homes in jackson county and such as had not possessions there could purchase to the entire satisfaction and interest of the people of jakson jackson county having partially mentioned the beadi leading objections urged against our friends we would woid here add that it hits has not been done with a view on oa our part to dissuade you from acatino acting in 3 strict conformity with your preamble amt resolutions offered to the people of olay clay county on the alt but from a sens sence d of duty daty to al a people eople embarrassed persecuted and afflicted for you are aware addre gentlemen that in times of excitement virtues are transformed into vices i ac acts ts in other cases and other circum circumstances 8 would b 66 e considered upright and honorable interpreted contrary to their real intent and made and criminal and from whom could we look for forbearance and compassion compas dion with confidence and assurance more M ore than from those whose bosoms are warmed with those pure ar e principles of patriotism w with th wh c ciyou y ou eve have been 0 guided in the present instance to secure the peace of your county and save a persecuted people from further farther violence and destruction it is said thit that our friends are poor that they have but little or nothing C to bind their feelings or wishes to clay cou county nt y an and d that i in n consequence have a les less 8 c claim I 1 a upon that county we do not deny the fact that our friends are poor but their persecutions have helped to render them so while other men were peacefully follo following wim theia avocations and extending their interest they have been deprived of the right of citizenship prevented from enjoying their own charged with violating I 1 a 11 1 1 tile the sacred principles ot or our constitution i and and i laws made to feet feel the keenest keene st aspersions of the to monue tongue nue of slander waded through all but I 1 death and are now suffering under calumnies calum calain nies calculated to excite the indignation and hatred of every people among whom they dwell thereby exposing them to destruction and inevitable ruin I 1 if a people a community pr or a society can alcum accum accumulate ate wealth increase in in worldly fo fortune tune improve in in science and arts rise to eminence eminence |