Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, 28 November 1843

The Memorial of the undersigned Inhabitants of in the State of respectfully sheweth:

That they belong to the Society of Latter Day Saints, commonly called Mormons, that a portion of our people commenced settling in Missouri, in the Summer of 1831, where they purchased Lands and settled upon them with the intention and expectation of becoming permanent Citizens in Common with others.

From a very early period after the Settlement began, a very unfriendly feeling was manifested by the neighboring people; and as the Society increased, this unfriendly Spirit also increased until it— degenerated into a cruel and unrelenting persecution and the Society was at last compelled to leave the . An Account of these unprovoked persecutions has been published to the world, yet we deem it not improper to embody a few of the most prominent items in this memorial and lay them before your honorable body.

On the 20th. of July 1833 a mob collected at , a deputation or Committee from which, called upon a few members of our Church there, and stated to them that the , , and all Mechanic Shops belonging to our people must be closed forthwith, and the Society leave the immediately. These Conditions were so unexpected and so hard, that a short time was asked for [to] consider on the subject before an Answer could be given, which was refused, and when some of our men answered that they could not consent to comply with such propositions, the work of destruction— commenced. The , a valuable two story brick building, was destroyed by the Mob, and with it much valuable property; they next went to the for the same purpose, but one of the Owners thereof, agreeing to close it, they abandoned their design. A series of outrages was then commenced by the mob upon individual members of our Society; was dragged from his house and family, where he was first partially stripped of his clothes and then tarred and feathered from head to foot. A man by the name of was also tarred at the same time. Three days afterwards the Mob assembled in great numbers, bearing a red flag, and proclaiming that, unless the Society would leave “en masse,” every man of them should be killed. Being in a defenceless situation, to avoid a general massacre, a treaty was entered into and ratified, by which it was agreed that one half of the Society should leave the by the first of January, and the remainder by the first of April following. In October, while our people were gathering their crops and otherwise preparing to fulfil their part of the treaty, the mob again collected without any provocation, shot at some of our people, whipped others, threw down their houses, and committed many other depredations; the Members of the Society were for some time harassed, both day and night, their houses assailed and broken open, and their Women and Children insulted and abused. The of & Co. was broken open, ransacked, and some of the goods strewed in the Streets. These repeated assaults so aroused the indignant feelings of our people that a small party thereof on one occasion, when wantonly abused, resisted the mob, a conflict ensued, in which one of our people [p. 1]

Memorial of inhabitants of in Illinois, praying redress for injuries to th[eir] persons & property by [the] lawless proceedings of citizens of .

1844 April 5 referred to [the] com: on the Judiciary.

Mr Temple. [p. 1a]

After the Society had left , their buildings amounting to about two hundred, were either burned or otherwise destroyed, with a great portion of their crops, as well as furniture, stock &c for which they have not as yet received any remuneration. The Society remained in , nearly three years, when in compliance with the demands of the Citizens there, it was determined to remove to that Section of Country, known afterwards as . In order to secure our people from molestation, the members of the Society bought out most of the former Inhabitants of what is now , and also entered much of the wild land, then belonging to the in that Section of Country, fondly hoping that as we were American Citizens, obeying the laws, and assisting to support the government, we would be protected in the use of homes which we had honestly purchased from the general government and fully paid for. Here we were permitted to enjoy peace for a Season, but as our Society increased in numbers, and settlements were made in and Carrol Counties, unfounded jealousies sprung up among our neighbors, and the spirit of the Mob was soon manifested again. The people of our Church who had located themselves at , were compelled by the Mob to leave the place,— notwithstanding the Militia were called out for their protection. From the mob went to , and while on their way took some of our people prisoners and greatly abused and mistreated them. Our people had been driven by force from ; they had been compelled to leave and sell their lands there, for which they have never been paid; they had finally settled in where they had purchased and paid for nearly all the Government land within its limits, in order to secure homes where they could live and worship in peace, but even here they were soon followed by the Mob. The Society remained in from 1836 until the fall of 1838, and during that time had acquired, by purchase from the Government, the Settlers, and preemptions, almost all the lands in the County of , and a portion of those in and Carrol Counties. Those Counties when our people first commenced their Settlements 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 from ten to 25 dollars per acre, and those Counties were rapidly advancing in Cultivation and wealth. In August 1838 a riot commenced growing out of the attempt of a member of the Society to vote, which resulted in creating great— excitement and many scenes of lawless outrage. A large mob under the conduct of came into the vicinity of , drive off our Stock and abused our people, another party came into , took away our horses and cattle, burnt our houses, and ordered the inhabitants to leave their homes immediately.

By orders of and a company of about 60 men went to disperse this mob under the command of . A conflict ensued in which and two of his men were killed and others wounded. A mob party from two to three hundred in number, many of whom are supposed to have come from , fell on our people and notwithstanding they begged for quarters [p. 2]

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They were finally compelled to fly from those Counties; and on the 11th. of October 1838, they sought safety by that means, with their families, leaving many of their effects behind; that they had previously applied to the constituted authorities of for protection but in vain. The Society were pursued by the Mob, Conflicts ensued, deaths occurred on each side, and finally a force was organized under the authority of the of the State of , with orders to drive us from the , or exterminate us. Abandoned and attacked by those to whom we had looked for protection, we determined to make no further resistance but submit to the authorities of the , and yield to our fate however hard it might be. Several members of the Society were arrested and imprisoned on a charge of treason against the ; and the rest amounting to above 14,000 Souls, fled into the other states, principally into , where they now reside.

Your memorialists would further state, that they have heretofore petitioned your Honorable Body praying redress for the injuries set forth in this memorial but the Committee to whom our petition was referred, reported, in substance, that the general government had no power in the case; and that we must look for relief to the Courts and the Legislature of . In reply, your Memorialists would beg leave to state that they have repeatedly applied to the authorities of in vain, that though they are American Citizens, at all times ready to obey the laws and support the institutions of the Country, none of us would dare enter for any such purpose, or for any purpose whatever. Our property was seized by the Mob, or lawlessly confiscated by the , and we were forced at the point of the Bayonet to sign Deeds of Trust relinquishing our property but the exterminating order of the of is still in force and we dare not return to claim our just rights— the Widows and Orphans of those slain, who could legally sign no deeds of Trust, dare not return to claim the Inheritance left them by their Murdered Parents.

It is true the Constitution of the gives to us in Common with all other native or adopted Citizens, the right to enter and settle in , but an executive order has been issued to exterminate us if we enter the , and that part of the Constitution becomes a nullity so far as we are concerned.

Had any foreign State or power committed a similar outrage upon us, we cannot for a moment doubt that the strong arm of the general government would have been stretched out to redress our <​wrongs, and we flatter ourselves that the same power will either redress redress our​> grievances or shield us from harm in our efforts to regain our lost property, which we fairly purchased from the general government.

Finally your Memorialists, pray your Honorable Body to take their wrongs into consideration, receive testimony in the case, and grant such relief as by the Constitution and Laws you may have power to give.

And your Memorialists will every pray &c

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