| Show PSG 1 I FROM A YOUNG 111 I 11S HISTORY I J i Experience of BcriaTTiri J F Johnson IT the > Missouri Expulsion I Expul-sion and Brief Notes of His Llfo Pribr 1 ord Subsequent to That Period I Dcnjln rmnklln Johns was J born July 28 1S19 In the town of 1010 fret Chautaunua county N V o In 181 he heard the Gospel nnd be eyed at first hearing receiving It with his whole heart he would hove hove been baptized If his father had I not forbade him Although then but but ao boy In > ctun he wo a lOon I nin and desires concerning the crei work of Jehovah for he had ben shown Ills lifes labors In childhood as associated with the fullness of the Gospel as then revealed Only ono other fact la I nccenary to prove that ho was a chosen of nod and that la I that ho Iran kept the faith In June 1833 he moved to Klrtlatid Ohio In company with rather John Smith a brother to the first Patriarch Patri-arch Joseph Smith who was father of the Prophet Joseph I remember vtell that rather John Smith stopped over night at my father house while upon that journey Jour-ney i Benjamin F Johnson became np prentice to n saddler noon alter ur riling at Klrtlnnd He received n liatllarchal Meaning under the hondo hond-o Patriarch Joseph Smith before he d 1 woo baptized Into the Church and has realized the blessing lie was tt mom her of the choir In Klrtlandled byMnr 111 C Davis He anlsted In building the Temple at Klrtlnnd and received a blessing under the hands of thelroph ct Joseph for existing In that work i After the Temple was finished Joseph Appointed a time for all who had helped In labor or means to come together to-gether and receive a formal blessing nnd when all In the house had been blesed under the hands of Joseph and Hyrum the Prophet Fold There Is somebody that fin not been blesed lnt bo ZI r cle turning to Hyrum salif wont you go to the door and see If you can find any other that Is I entitled to n bleitlng Ilrrum looked among the crowd about the door and asked Ilen Jamln If he had done something to he Ip build the Temple The boy I replied re-plied Only a little and added that he had only given a gun and did n little lit-tle workupon whlchHj rum called him In and he received his blessing as youngest of all who were laborers upon up-on that Temple When the great apostasy occurred and many had to hlol from then en taten to void vexatious lawsuits ha helped In ovary way ha could to gt thom away to Missouri The faithful Saints then were dubbedllckBklllets i by the apostates Joseph Hyrum nnd n few others selected for first vengeance started out to Missouri In the winter of 1837 nnd In the spring ot 1838 the poor who could not gt awn to MIourl of themselves were helped by Saints who had means and u large company of seventy wagons was thus started under un-der the lend of Joseph Young Kilns Smith Jonathan hale and others Th young man Benjamin was very useful and active In hell Ins oft that company and had entire care of tho sick during the Journey to Par West Missouri At times and fur many nights In sucesslon he did not close his eyes to sleep and when the Irk needed comforts that were not In the rpm 1 r he avid everything h e could I par of his nun together with thing ontrlbuted by others to procure what van desired Of that Punt my provided j I company many wore sick and a sum her died upon the wuy It Is said by hose who were members of that first great Mormon co lop that the history of Its Journey has never ytt been writ follies out lthetoro e they tho art lied fit Far few I West and cave advice to portions of the company about locating and what to do when settled To Benjamin hold h-old I want you to go direct to i Ulnhman for there you are needed and there you will do the mot good Th troubles that ended In the cxpul aloe of the Saints 1 from the state were then jut commencing and this young Man U or 20 years old erevieed his Inheritance by lot and drew the lot ipon which stood Adams altar but could not Improve It as he entered right Into the spirit of the times In defense of the poor against the mob vho soon began to drive the brethren from their farms rb and burn their louses drive off their horses cattle md hogs nnd with their crops destroyed royed and left to waste they were In Dlahmon soon rlllc almost to starvation Many people were forced to leave all behind and nee to the town white In a few days prang lip almost a city of wagons tents rail pens und brush wlrklttps In which people toed until the evacuation of the place amid rain hall arrow and roil That was n sad time Necessity Neces-sity was an excuse for rctnlUtUc reprisals In which our young Benjamin Benja-min played a conspicuous part Th events of that lime Inducted him too lessons to-o experience that created pages of history In his life When tho Missouri troubles culminated culmi-nated In the surrender of weapons of car by the Mormons Benjamin laid down probably the most valuable rifle tuntd by a Mormon at that time lle Ides being a true shooting Run It had sixty pieces of gold and silver Inlaid upon stock and barrel This Incident I relate as an Index to the man not J hW found him from boyhood to old age On the day he wan 79 years old we met at the house of Doctor lIber J Richards In Provo and I noticed In mall matters tram which I rod volumes concerning men and women tllllt he wn the same In characteristics now that he to I Paled Uncle nn as when I knew him In Irthn1 as the boy lien At our 1S97At last meeting on July 20 1S97 as I Ironed his hand I noticed II massive gold ring and a cane upon which he genII leaned of peculiar excellence I looked Into those soft broun eyes shaded with very lung black lashes I admired I loved the old man even lOur than the boy With some mu thru > Is I a tumbledo appearance u bout their I hon fence gates woodpile house Inside and out rind even to their cloths and rule on their head The reverse arrangement tB alit nya visible In everything that belongs to this gentleman Returning to lohmn after laying down our i arms we were placed under n very strong guard and thug left for the ret of the day to the gaze anti curiosity of every lobocrat that had n Pplte to spit out to any one for fnn cled or real wrongs During tho whole afternoon we wr pulled and handled and overhauled by different niobbcra und at Intervals Rom little cxiltlne re eno would break the terror of the 0 asian IIl1d give a Prospect of something some-thing more terrible Among these iplsodes a man called to Col Baihal Wood of Hewitt historic r fame who OIIl11e and 1l1Ftoned to the complaint of one Mr Tiylor who charged our fr lend lien with great misdemeanor during the few wicks he sad been In the lountrv The colonel lucked I I at liojlsh oung man rind asked In a way that ndlcatel unbelief In Talora charge Did you do that The ounlf IlIOn sol < l yee sir nn Inno I cintl nsi child when asked If i his father won at home The colonel I drew his sword and with a alight nourish pointed to Gen Wilson quarters and said l march The boy I Inarrhl ohs Indicated and wa fol 1lit 1 wed to the generals Quortr wi linre I IK woe plucid under guard and where for tin ila > s he had for a scat nod n I bed a little uunch of haul brush I Ionl coveting trom luln und no At m taro cirok kindly uave him spire crumbs for his food Ills guards sera InutfH who boasted of their crimes at Ilium Mill One of the guards by the mane of IWKrs showed rePented ly 1 a lorncutter stained with blood und said that he chopped up old man Melildf nlth that and that bynnd by hi nnulil utcn l h matter t pieces III the ame any Day nnd night those ml erahle fiends would compel that prison to go out 111111 pnetc wood tn keep fire while they guOled him toy t the light and hat thereof fr ouentiy taunting him with the terrors of his approaching end During the ten days of his Imprison merit he appeared before a justice of tie pence bj the name of Adam flack to answer to some charge but never answered because two military officials with Dr Carr of Gullatln volunteered to defend him nnd they claimed the right of trlul by court martial mack got angry urd said no military nlllcer could rule his court and i thus he transferred the cue to Gen vll > on who with a thou rand at tM militia was camped In the forest Just below hlahman on Grand river As the dreary time passed kin I guard became more Insolent and lIul lie was lit one time required to bring wood and make a larger guard lire He started with a hajonet close behind him to obey orders Taking Tak-ing up n heavy green maple load on his shoulders and struggling In the deep snow to return the guard behind him said with a bitter oath walk faster or Ill stick the bayonet Into you Hut the guard was surprised 1 when the stick of wood was thrown to the ground und the boy wn transformed trans-formed Into a fierce lion He hurried defiance at his guard and told him he had carried his last stick of wood adding If I I had n sword Id split you through The prisoner spoke In u loud voice which attracted the attention atten-tion of the colonel mho came up 1 and Inquired the cause of uh loud talk Th prisoner told the olllr that he had been reeiulred to pack wood for the guard to keep tires and hi had com to the conclusion that he would do It no longer and had bn tlllng the guard bo The colonel said he wa right and then ordered the guard to cut and carry their own wood and be sure to treat that young man as a prisoner In the future During the time of his connnemnt not one friend had been permitted to speak to him and every appearance Indicated that he would be tied to a tree and Pilot as a relief to his sufferings suf-ferings This ho confidently expected One day as his guard cent n little indifferent In-different to his charge William Hun tlngtou my brother coma wo II close companion of and the same age as the prisoner com Into camp It I poa slble to nee and get a word with his friend The prisoner saw him standing stand-ing not tar away and asked the guard If he might speak to that young man Consent wo given and William op preached to nilhln II feW tt to him when thy con reed In n careless manner su OIl not to attract especial attention Wllilom I and out a little of their treatment and the prospects before him and the n told him that some of the leoll feared he would turn traitor to gcl released from file sufferings To tAut he mad no answer an-swer only Why dnt thy pray for n07 Wllllom n nt freight hone and told mother and 7lna his titter what lie had seen and hud Mothe and 1 Gina Immdlot ty I called upon two or three other Ioro and oil joined n fasting Anti Pr > rr tvhleh lasted all I night and Into tti next day Before relating th manner of hli rclehse I must slum the tactics played upon him by Dr Carr the colonel referred re-ferred to nnd a law r from ht Louis who was also n m ejol They ncled the part 6f friend to the young prim Once and laid Uefor him several In I ducement a to put th blame upon somebody else 1 and thus fri himself I They asked him who his laptnln was who was with him In the retaliating xpdlllon and so on lie told them that he had been In ho country only a few weeks rind h as mostly it everybody stronger to him tht the nptnln wu alwas Iokn of 0 olpculd tn u Captain Cornelius Iot and thus hit IInwr Incrhnlnt1 o one In nrA tlcular Th < Aim w not to punish or Inflict severities upun him alone but tu get some clue bj which they could 1 seize upon some men of prominence JI Ur thPmtnThe yoSne i and persecutq them The young nail understood their I 1 game and resolved It Ira S II ol I die he must to the aloneand vthen on bis lath birthday l he related the statement state-ment made by William of peoples fear and his answer why dont they pray for me he said with tears running run-ning down his cheeks I would rather have been tied to every tree In the wool and shot than to hove for felted my Integrity to my brethren Th fast on1 prayers of those fls term did not close until the object of their ollellllllono tood before them What believer In prayer can doubt that their prayers and stings led 1 to his Immediate release by General Wilson Wil-son 7 In the afternoon ot the iliy utter Brother Williams Visit to the prisoner and the prayer meeting at night General Wilson ordered the prisoner brought to his tent and the guard to be for the present dlemleeed 1 Ile then told the prisoner that he felt a strange Indescribable Interest ana love for him wonted to know where ho wag born how he came to be theme where his relatives wr and many more such Items offered to adopt him and make him one of the richest mn In Missouri It he would 1 accept n past and an escort to Ills own ham or residence denc llenjamln told the general that he had rather mother brothers and sisters and would rather go to them than anywhere IO on earth The rnrlJn ht J blame h1 general did not I him for that hut seemed to love him all the mar for his affection and love of home sold he would fix a way by which he could get home but he must do Just as he told him for the soldiers must not know where he was or what had become be-come of him This filled the prisoner with apprehensions appre-hensions tor the safety of life It I any soldier should find him The general then called hie alddomp and ordered or-dered him to write a pas tor the young man to go where the plod and then Instructed the old to conduct con-duct him ortly to any place In town he ranted to go with a caution that ne soldier should see them and that he must leave the town before night My fathers house was Just out ot sight ot other houses In the woods and there the aide left him Ills story wan Boon told what he had don and must 10 Immediately He hurriedly partook of rood Mother found him II few matches and filth n little corn bread he started through the woods to Far West distant 25 miles No blanket or extra article of clothing was to be had In the same suit of clothes In which he had sat day rind night for ten cold stormy outsJust before Nnemhr days hi palllcd out Just be tore i night to go as far and fast OIl be could from those that would kill him on Bight At ten or eleven oclock that night he com to 11 hUB knocked and the door was opened by u mon who Inquired In-quired friar he wanted Ho said he wanted a place to lie down and sleep and resthe was cold and tired The man pushed the dour wide 1 open anti told him to look In Ho saw too place on the floor where he could evco stand iery toot ot space was covered will mn women land 1 children In bt clothing and shape t to pas the night pilgrims fleeing from their homes by order ot Governor Iloggn and seeking seek-ing a home beyond the Mississippi The man said thor was another house In the same timber n mile or gu rll h Nj r so further on mhero there t would be plenty of room The boy sadly and slowlj wandered In the now and cold unlll he am to a hou find on collIn loll In oun < 1 It to h the aln on h Ill Tile had left un hour or two before The man who kept fire while the others i slept was mOld with pity for the young wanderer 01 showed him the way TO the next house where ho was made welcome hut wn too cold tired andhungrj tosleep much At dawn h mut morch on folng II avntrnnnih severe wlnel la keel avn from the ruoIners the hlllk prairies Sfost of the day he traveled backward helOt ul1bl to face so Verve n wind In his light clothing Once in the night he had tried to moles a die without success suc-cess arid used up all his matches and now In the day time the wind grew mar fierce and with only a mull piece of corn bread the whole day he revv faint rind a little 1 after noon he iegan to feel that he must perish the cold wan so Intense the wind so severe and the snow wi deep He came to a very low place In the prairie where there wa a niece of ver tall grass ae It It were it swampy place In summer i mr lie Ished for a match to met that gross on fire BO he could worm himself With the wish he Intuitively Intuitive-ly I put his finger In his pocket to feel for ft match without a + hope to find one but to his suiprlpe there was one with which he started a lire on the glass nnd thus got warmed to life and hope and to this day he believes that match moved his mIn m-In all that day he traveled only twelve miles but reached Far Went where he found friends and relatives Hut he must not stop lone there must get beyond Missouri so he and Arthur Mlllkn who wun OUIIIINI ut Crooked Creek und wa also tinder the loan port their fortunes and nl Ufoi tunes together togeth-er and started for Fort Ien lenworth Indian Territory which they reached In safety afoot avoiding all roads and settlements In 1839 while mi father and all his family were silk In Nnuvoo Benjamin came to our house arid became our nurse for a short time But there were so many sick In tho settlement that he went from house tu house helping tho IIIOBt needy and nffikled t I In the mldt of his good labors among the sick lie wu prostrated with 1 chili and fever He hail suffered with that disease fur a lime when he received re-ceived a letter from some of his amIty am-Ity at Springfield III olllng that his mother mss Very sick und advising him to com as soon as possible os her recovery was doubtful His mother was the Joy and stay of the family find Benjamin was ready to undertake almost an Impostlblllty to see his dearly dear-ly I beloved parent once more hla love for her his faith Find his will power 00 tar overcome the disease that he prepared hastily for the journey of over 100 mile on horseback and at the last farewell he went to the Prophet with a ten dollar bill all the money he had from which he asked him to take one dollar for his tithing Joseph I mall the change and laid In 1ls hand nine doliarslnstnnU he air ek the hand upward and scattered the money UVIr the floor That was ono of his acts of cherfulne whIch lie often Indulged In with those he was familiar with Instead of going after the money DenJamlnJust like another boy Jumped right at Joseph for n retail utlng scullle forgetful of his weak condition About tho second exertion of his strength he nearly fainted wased which reminded him that he was a little more than a boy In tho hands of that might man for Joseph wa a IlOwerflll man physically as well as mentally When nlljamln left the house Joseph went with him no far ns the gate where they stoppid for a formal parting nt which Joseph placing his hands upon his head poured out his soul In i blessings upon him One Item can tint One I forgotten said that God should send with him nn angel that should keep him from destruction and should never leave him It Is I sufllcle for rne to add without going Into details de-tails that on to occasions upon i that Journey he wa oav1 from death In a manner that visa 18 loll relit oteteltpraa ene and n losltlon ot thot angel rrolll isa ii wa Ion to anti II half years on nn Eatrn mlsln and on hi return settled it namu s or Macedonia and there bclLm legal agent and t the Prophet Joseph SmIth und as trustee undr him for Maetdonll > to use his fit nrm1 In deeds bonds ado business transactions In general 1I0nJllmin wo a member of the council of fifty orgnnlred by the Prophet Proph-et pho married Iwo at his slaters on Ills plural vvlves After the death of the Prophet Joseph ho was called hy resident Brigham Young to take dmrge of the llonlon House hotel uhleh ho did until tho vacating of Nauvuo by the Saints In 1810 Ile received re-ceived Ills endowments In the Temple III NOIIoo he came to Utah In 1818 In willird Illchnrdsi company Oct tI1 In the Sixteenth ward Suit TAR City was II member ot the provisional government and of the first Leglela latur nmhled In Utah an replen tatlve from Halt Lnk county wo ellptlln of the fIst organized awl unl forme mllltla c < > m any In the Telll tory lie holds a lull sized sheep skin with Jude ICinneys name Attached as chief justice of Utah entitling him to plead law In any court In the Territory Ter-ritory but lie preferred the life of the bloomer rind colonist In all that the term implies Find his horn Is I now In Mesa City Arloona O IJ HUNTINOTON |
