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Appendix: Report of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 4 March 1840

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-[SENATE.]-
-[247]-
26th Congress,
1st Session.
 
IN SENATE OF THE .
March 4, 1840.
Submitted, laid on the table, and ordered to be printed. (Seal)
Mr. [Garret D.] Wall made the following
REPORT:
The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the memorial of a delegation of the , commonly called Mormons, report:
The petition of the memorialists sets forth, in substance, that a portion of their sect commenced a settlement in the county of , in the State of , in the summer of 1831: that they bought lands, built houses, erected churches, and established their homes, and engaged in all the various occupations of life: that they were expelled from that in 1833, by a mob, under circumstances of great outrage, cruelty, and oppression, and against all law, and without any offence committed on their part, and to the destruction of property to the amount of $120,000: that the society thus expelled amounted to about 1,200 souls: that no compensation was ever made for the destruction of their property in : that after their expulsion from , they settled in , on the opposite side of the , where they purchased lands, and entered others at the land office, where they resided peaceably for three years, engaged in cultivation and other useful and active employments, when the mob again threatened their peace, lives, and property and they became alarmed, and finally made a treaty with the citizens of that they should purchase their lands, and the Mormons should remove; which was complied with on their part, and the Mormons removed to the county of , where they took up their abode, and re-established their settlement, not without heavy pecuniary losses and other inconveniences: that the citizens of never paid them for their lands, except for a small part. They remained in from 1836 until the fall of 1838, and during that time had acquired, by purchase from the Government, the settlers, and pre-emptioners, almost all the lands in the county of , and a portion of the lands in and Carroll counties; the former county being almost entirely settled by the Mormons, and they were rapidly filling up the two latter counties. Those counties, when the Mormons first commenced their settlement, were, for the most part, wild and uncultivated, and they had converted them into large and well-improved farms, well stocked. Lands had risen in value to $10 and even $25 per acre, and those counties were rapidly advancing in cultivation and wealth: that in August, 1838, a riot commenced, growing out of an attempt of a Mormon to vote, which resulted in creating great excite [p. [1]]
-[SENATE.]-
-[247]-
26th Congress,
1st Session.
 
IN SENATE OF THE .
March 4, 1840.
Submitted, laid on the table, and ordered to be printed. (Seal)
Mr. [Garret D.] Wall made the following
REPORT:
The Committee on the Judiciary, to whom was referred the memorial of a delegation of the , commonly called Mormons, report:
The petition of the memorialists sets forth, in substance, that a portion of their sect commenced a settlement in the county of , in the State of , in the summer of 1831: that they bought lands, built houses, erected churches, and established their homes, and engaged in all the various occupations of life: that they were expelled from that in 1833, by a mob, under circumstances of great outrage, cruelty, and oppression, and against all law, and without any offence committed on their part, and to the destruction of property to the amount of $120,000: that the society thus expelled amounted to about 1,200 souls: that no compensation was ever made for the destruction of their property in : that after their expulsion from , they settled in , on the opposite side of the , where they purchased lands, and entered others at the land office, where they resided peaceably for three years, engaged in cultivation and other useful and active employments, when the mob again threatened their peace, lives, and property and they became alarmed, and finally made a treaty with the citizens of that they should purchase their lands, and the Mormons should remove; which was complied with on their part, and the Mormons removed to the county of , where they took up their abode, and re-established their settlement, not without heavy pecuniary losses and other inconveniences: that the citizens of never paid them for their lands, except for a small part. They remained in from 1836 until the fall of 1838, and during that time had acquired, by purchase from the Government, the settlers, and pre-emptioners, almost all the lands in the county of , and a portion of the lands in and Carroll counties; the former county being almost entirely settled by the Mormons, and they were rapidly filling up the two latter counties. Those counties, when the Mormons first commenced their settlement, were, for the most part, wild and uncultivated, and they had converted them into large and well-improved farms, well stocked. Lands had risen in value to $10 and even $25 per acre, and those counties were rapidly advancing in cultivation and wealth: that in August, 1838, a riot commenced, growing out of an attempt of a Mormon to vote, which resulted in creating great excite [p. [1]]
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