Show MARTYRS TO THE TRUTH to the history of the church the martyrs to the truth of this dispensation number about forty but this statement applies to those whose blood has been shed for the testimony of jesus and has no reference to the many hundreds whose lives have been sacrificed through the hardships and exposure to which the saints were subjected in the early days of the church in this connection it is estimated that not less than three hundred of the saints lost their lives from these causes in the missouri persecutions alone the deaths of quite a number are also traceable indirectly to the crusade carried on during the last few years on march 1832 joseph smith and sidney rigdon were dragged from their beds at midnight in the town of hirani hiram portage county ohio daubed with tar and feathers and severely injured Aqua fortis was poured into president joseph mouth and he was held by the throat until left for dead one of his children who was sick with measles and in bed with him at the time of the outrage was thereby exposed to the night air and died almost immediately she may therefore be called the first martyr of this dispensation but the first man whose blood was shed for the gospels sake was brother andrew barber who was shot and killed in a skirmish which occurred between a company of saints and a mob several miles west of the bi blue in jackson county on nov 1888 1839 in this engage ment two of the robbers were killed and several were wounded on both sides on october 1888 a battle was fought between a mob and about seventy five brethren on crooked river biver caldwell co mo in this gideon carter was killed and eleven others wounded among them were apostle david W patten and patrick 0 bannion who died soon afterwards five days after this me memorable battle the haunts hauns mill AM massacre massacre took place in which eighteen or nineteen defene de fenceless eless saints were inhumanly butchered by a mob the names of those whose lives were sacrificed upon that occasion as far as obtainable are thomas mcbride levi N Merri cb ellas elias benner josiah fuller benjamin lewis smith sardius smith george S richards wm napier augustine harmer hanner simon cox hiram abbott john york charles merrick john lee and john byers and among the wounded who subsequently recovered were isaac laney nathaniel K Knight Wm yokum jacob and george Myers Tarlton lewis jacob haun jacob fontz jacob charles jimison john walker alma smith and miss mary sted well who was shot through the hand while endeavoring to escape the details of the martyrdom of the prophet and patriarch joseph and hyrum smith are so well known to the latter day saints as to need no description here I 1 will therefore briefly mention that on june 1844 at about p m an armed mob with blackened faces i surrounded and entered the car thage jail and cruelly and deliberately murdered joseph and hyrum smith in cold blood while john taylor was badly wounded and willard richards received a alight wound on the ear this diabolical deed was perpetrated at the time when governor ford had pledged his word thattie that the brethren should be protected the next martyr in the course of this narrative was edmund durfee who was killed by a mob in green plains hancock county ill in november 1845 about the same time joshua smith was poisoned in carthage on september 1846 the so called battle of nauvoo took place wm anderson his hie son augustus and isaac norris were slaughtered while others among the defenders were wounded the bobbera who were driven back also sustained considerable sid erable loss in may 1867 1857 while apostle parley P pratt was on his way from st louis to arkansas he was followed by three bloodthirsty blood thirsty wretches one of whom was hector H mclean who had previously declared their intention of killing him to aid them in their sau sanguinary guin design they preferred fictitious charges against him but from these he was honorably discharged by a united states court at van buren these assassins there followed him and murdered him in cold blood near van buren arkansas on may lath 1857 reference must now be made to the martyrdom of of recent years has presented some remarkable examples of courage and devotion in meeting death for the sake of truth and righteousness kontuly on july 1879 joseph standing while performing a second mission to the southern states was way aid and brutally murdered by an armed mob near nearVa Var mells nells station whitfield county georgia his companion the providence of god escaped the fury of the mob and was permitted to return home with the body on august loth 1884 there was enacted one of the most shameful and inhuman acts that has ever been recorded in the history of the church in the murder of elders wm 8 S berry of Ha narra johnh john H gibbs of paradise and brothers martin conder and john B R hudson of tennessee sister conder mother of the two last named was also severely wounded and david hinson leader of the mob was killed this occurred at the residence of mr conder on cane creek lewis county tennessee the last martyr of this dispensation of whom we have reliable account was edward M dalton who was murdered by deputy marshal wm thompson junr while riding peacefully through the streets of parowan carowan Pa rowan iron county on december 16 1886 yet in all probability the number of martyrs has been 1 augmented by the mysterious dis appearance app earence of elder alma P rich ards of milton morgan county who while laboring recently as a missionary in the southern states I 1 was undoubtedly waylaid and mur dered by a mob near jeredian Mer edian miss on august 2 1888 1 in conclusion it may be stated that while the above includes all the actual martyrs in the history of the latter day saints sainte there are a number of instances wherein the servants of god although seriously bously wounded were through the power and blessings of god manifested in their behalf restored to life and health and permitted to live for many years in a few instances the survivors are living today to day and these are properly entitled to the honor of being called living martyrs to the truth among them I 1 would make special mention of bro philo dibble now a resident of spring ville who was fatally shot in the stomach in the engagement with the mob near the big blue in jackson Coun november and of isaac laney and alma smith who were dangerously wounded at the massacre at haunts hauns mir mill in which the first named was literally riddled with bullets while almost the entire hip of the latter was shot away these brethren through the power of god recovered and lived more than thirty five years afterwards elder laney died in this city on october ra and elder eldera smith in Co coalville alville on tune lurle I 1 oth 1987 in the abon refers haa wn mada ta thib stany jw bw haj adv died wilily white ort olt ills iii foreign a fads of ch there hdale har ben rio during 1110 but it akl jukl d ste tiri ana fr th fc ud haat nilen their HW fo rora I 1 thia att teke etke slid ahlf abr efte 1 W ga mhd nd hwing aw a W ethelh hereafter hete after nhe ek e caong tw TA lAtt erlay my fiak 1 name 10 be ba av fr field hald dpn by tetto afe 41 abacot hattar that habte |