Show biography of brigham young and history of the mormon church by M R WERNER reprinted by permission from the ladies home journal continued from last week geeki general lucas decided not to snoot shoot his prisoners and they were marched into liberty clay county tor fair trial and confined meanwhile in tho the liberty jail brigham young was the only important leader of the church to escape arrest ile he seemed all his life to have an uncanny ability to avoid capture when the council of the twelve apostles was organized at kirtland ile he had been appointed tho the third apostle and the succession to the he presidency of that body was lu numerical rotation the two men ahead of him were david W patten who had been killed during the battles batties arid and thomao thoma B marsh who was president of the twelve apostles and leader of tile the saints in Alls missouri but marahs marshs wife had a quarrel with another sister marsh defended ills his wife and when the church councils decided against her marsh declared that he be would sustain the character af i his wife apostatized and testified against his former br ethern brigham young automatically topped stepped into the important position left ett vacant by marshs marahs apostasy smith and the other leaders were er I 1 in jail so it was brigham youngs job to 0 superintend the removal of the saints from missouri in illinois the exodus was attended with much misery valuable farms were traded for old wagons horses or yokes ot at oxen and it is said that many Alor cormons mormons mons were compelled to convey their land at the point of a rifle muzzle about three thousand of them under the leadership of brigham young made their way to illinois where there was a small settlement of the saints T the he people of ct quincy illinois moved by the stories of their prosecutions in Alis missouri offered the mormons cormons sympathy and aid from his cell in liberty jail the prophet wrote epistles to his people in n which he said that their tuner unes an and his were but signs of the times imes and proof positive that the of the revelations and predictions concerning the destree tion ion ot of the wicked would be carried out presently after a week end in jail the prisoners were tried on a composite charge of murder theft treason arson and several rol mi crimes they were granted a change of venue on april 15 1839 and were taken under guard to doane boone county smith bought whisky and honey tor for the guard and succeeded in getting them drunk the prisoners escaped on horses making their way 0 illinois and their followers the prophet had been in jail tor for six months the mormons cormons were received in illinois with that pity and sympathy accorded to all suffering buffering peoples on their heir arrival in a country which has icard heard many sorrowful tales of their hardships the refugees were not in but their reputation tor for thrift was productive 01 and land was sold to them in owa and illinois on both banks ot of the he mississippi a the east bank of the mississippi was as a town called commerce consisting of five huts a wo frame houses and two block louses with plenty of 0 surrounding farming arming land and a beautiful over the river dut but the place was considered unhealthful tul and the mormons cormons were able toi td purchase the whole town and its adjoining land or little money As soon as they took possession the name ot of the town was as changed to nauvoo which ac cording bording to joseph smith meant beautiful the new city prospered rapidly ind and in what seemed a miraculously short time the new farms were crops and tho the city had bauld the neighbors were amazed it at the display of energy but the mor mons attributed everything to the inspiration of 0 god soon after his family was settled in tile the new city briehan Bri Dri ghan young accompanied by heber bieber kimball kimba 1 l belt or a missionary trip to england Ii oseph joseph smith had recella il a icv elation from froin god that it was their duty to preach the gospel in brigham young was very ill at the time tm the prophets heal ing ng powers had not been entirely successful in his case he ha had to be to the terry ferry from his big home ind and as tile the wagon carried him and heber kimball out of sight right of their choir weeping families kimball suggested that they should give a cheer propping himself up brigham young shouted hurrah hurrah hurrah tov for israel on march 7 1840 brigham young and several of the apostles sailed as steerage passengers la in the patrick jenry henry paying eighteen dollars each or their fare in addition to this they hey supplied their own food but brigham young did not spend much money on food tor for it is recorded that hat he was seasick every day of the wenty twenty seven day trip from new york to liverpool A faithful english convert gave brigham young three hundred and fifty pounds with which he be secured the anglish Hn glish copyright of the book of mormon and printed several thousand copies of it the mill anial star was started under the editorship of parley P pratt so BO that tho the english saints might know tho the news of their american br ethern meetings were hold daily in various parts ol of england during tho the year which they spent pout there brigham young and his associates 1 established branches of mormonism in most of the large towns and cities converted eight than thousand sand people sending a thousand of them t to 0 N nauvoo a and published five thousand as bild lild coples copies of the book ot of mormon morman three thousand hymn books and fifty thousand tracts they also established a shipping agency tor for the convenience ot of converts who wished to emigrate to the new zion hoped to 0 o convert the queen while carrying on oil all this work tor for the cause they managed somehow to get food and lodging tor for them themselves pelves they were particularly successful among the poverty stricken manufacturing population of 0 english cities where their offer of 0 a real promised land with farming possibilities proved irresistibly attractive missionaries had preceded brigham young and his party to rug eng energy of familiarity necessary to widespread success brigham young himself had great influence luence in persuading converts not 0 only y to devote themselves but also t to devote their money to the n new ow I 1 cause tor for all the operations of his financed successful missionary trips were financed by the converts he made in tile the course of them ile he accomplished this not by asking them tor for their money but by bringing them to the point of realization that it was their duty to give it to him the missionary foundation which was laid in england by brigham young has always been tho the most extensive source of converts to mormonism such was the magnitude 0 at the early success and that country that a few years later joseph smith had bad hopes of converting queen victoria and prince albert lie ile ordered elder lorenzo snow to send copies of the dook book of mormon to both ot at them and the Alor cormons mormons mons seemed to entertain hopes that their majesties would eventually see the light join the only true church lend their great influence to the cause and finally make a pilgrimage to nauvoo illinois dut but queen victoria did not grasp the opportunity the mormons cormons never heard from her when the mormons cormons arrived in illinois the whigs and the democrats were laere fighting tor for control of the state arid and it was a distinct advantage tor for either party to capture the entire vote ot of the mormons cormons Mor mons As the election of 0 1840 drew near politicians crowded about joseph smith offering him premises it if he would deliver the mormon vote to their parties the prophet proved himself a shrewd politician tor for he promised nothing definitely until he was offered definite privileges what smith demanded tor lor the mormon vote which his influence enabled him to deliver in a body was h a charter for the city ot of nauvoo IL a charter tor for the nauvoo legion his melfia organization and a charter for a university to be established at nauvoo the whig party promised these concessions and the mormons cormons all voted tor for the whig candidates cutting the democratic majority in the tate tale down to the lowest it had ever reached at the next meeting of 0 the state legislature the charters were promptly granted plural mari aiges the first open expression ot of opposition to the cormons mormons in illinois came at a mass meeting in juno june 1841 it was pointed out by the speakers that the mormons cormons were rapidly increasing in numbers and yet vot ng power that their church controlled their votes and that before long the entire county would be subject 0 a beligio political despotism despo tUm we have already noted the rumors that the mormons cormons believed in having more wives than one before they left ohio and they themselves have since admitted that the prophet joseph smith asserted that he had first heard of polygamy from cod sometime in although he was not yet permitted to make the doctrine public yet he spoke of it to several of his bis most faithful followers many years later brigham young described hla his emotions on learning hat polygamy was necessary to salvation some of 0 these my brethren know what my feelings were at the time joseph smith revealed the doctrine I 1 was not desirous of shrinking any duty nor of tailing failing in the least to do as I 1 was commanded but it was the first time in my life that I 1 desired the grave and I 1 could hardly get over it ifor for a long time and when I 1 saw a funeral I 1 felt to envy the corpse its situation and to regret that I 1 was riot not in the coffin k knowing ow the toil and labor that n my body would have to undergo and I 1 have had to examine myself from that day to this and watch my faith and carefully meditate lest I 1 should be found desiring tile the grave more than I 1 ought to do from rom journal of discourses vol ill III p agg however these thoughts of the grave did not prevent brigham young from doing ills his duty he married seventeen women while he be remained in nauvoo and in later years as wo we shall see ace he did not shirk the responsibilities which god had so urgently enjoined continued |