The Story of the Mormons, from the Date of Their Origin to the Year 1901
CONTENTS
ILLUSTRATIONS
No chapter of American history has remained so long unwritten as that which tells the story of the Mormons. There are many books on the subject, histories written under the auspices of the Mormon church, which are hopelessly biased as well as incomplete; more trustworthy works which cover only certain periods; and books in the nature of exposures by former members of the church, which the Mormons attack as untruthful, and which rest, in the minds of the general reader, under a suspicion of personal bias. Mormonism, therefore, to-day suggests to most persons only one doctrine—polygamy—and only one leader—Brigham Young, who made his name familiar to the present generations. Joseph Smith, Jr., is known, where known at all, only in the most general way as the founder of the sect, while the real originator of the whole scheme for a new church and of its doctrines and government, Sidney Rigdon, is known to few persons even by name.
The object of the present work is to present a consecutive history of the Mormons, from the day of their origin to the present writing, and as a secular, not as a religious, narrative. The search has been for facts, not for moral deductions, except as these present themselves in the course of the story. Since the usual weapon which the heads of the Mormon church use to meet anything unfavorable regarding their organization or leaders is a general denial, this narrative has been made to rest largely on Mormon sources of information. It has been possible to follow this plan a long way because many of the original Mormons left sketches that have been preserved. Thus we have Mother Smith's picture of her family and of the early days of the church; the Prophet's own account of the revelation to him of the golden plates, of his followers' early experiences, and of his own doings, almost day by day, to the date of his death, written with an egotist's appreciation of his own part in the play; other autobiographies, like Parley P. Pratt's and Lorenzo Snow's; and, finally, the periodicals which the church issued in Ohio, in Missouri, in Illinois, and in England, and the official reports of the discourses preached in Utah,—all showing up, as in a mirror, the character of the persons who gave this Church of Latter Day Saints its being and its growth.
William Alexander Linn
THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
FROM THE DATE OF THEIR ORIGIN TO THE YEAR 1901
PREFACE
DETAILED CONTENTS
THE STORY OF THE MORMONS
BOOK I. — THE MORMON ORIGIN
CHAPTER I. — FACILITY OF HUMAN BELIEF
CHAPTER II. — THE SMITH FAMILY
CHAPTER III. — HOW JOSEPH SMITH BECAME A MONEY-DIGGER
CHAPTER IV. — FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE GOLDEN BIBLE
CHAPTER V. — THE DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS OF THE REVELATION OF THE BIBLE
CHAPTER VI. — TRANSLATION AND PUBLICATION OF THE BIBLE
CHAPTER VII. — THE SPAULDING MANUSCRIPT
CHAPTER VIII. — SIDNEY RIGDON
CHAPTER IX. — "THE EVERLASTING GOSPEL"
CHAPTER X. — THE WITNESSES TO THE PLATES
CHAPTER XI. — THE MORMON BIBLE
CHAPTER XII. — ORGANIZATION OF THE CHURCH
BOOK II. — IN OHIO
CHAPTER I. — THE FIRST CONVERTS AT KIRTLAND
CHAPTER II. — WILD VAGARIES OF THE CONVERTS
CHAPTER III. — GROWTH OF THE CHURCH
CHAPTER IV. — GIFTS OF TONGUES AND MIRACLES
CHAPTER V. — SMITH'S OHIO BUSINESS ENTERPRISES
CHAPTER VI. — LAST DAYS AT KIRTLAND
BOOK III. — IN MISSOURI
CHAPTER I. — THE DIRECTIONS TO THE SAINTS ABOUT THEIR ZION
CHAPTER IV. — FRUITLESS NEGOTIATIONS WITH THE JACKSON COUNTY PEOPLE
CHAPTER V. — IN CLAY, CALDWELL, AND DAVIESS COUNTIES
CHAPTER VII. — BEGINNING OF ACTIVE HOSTILITIES
CHAPTER VIII. — A STATE OF CIVIL WAR
CHAPTER IX. — THE FINAL EXPULSION FROM THE STATE
BOOK IV. — IN ILLINOIS
CHAPTER I. — THE RECEPTION OF THE MORMONS
CHAPTER II. — THE SETTLEMENT OF NAUVOO
CHAPTER III. — THE BUILDING UP OF THE CITY—FOREIGN PROSELYTING
CHAPTER VI. — SMITH A CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
CHAPTER VII. — SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN NAUVOO
CHAPTER VIII. — SMITH'S PICTURE OF HIMSELF AS AUTOCRAT
CHAPTER IX. — SMITH'S FALLING OUT WITH BENNETT AND HIGBEE
CHAPTER X. — THE INSTITUTION OF POLYGAMY
CHAPTER XI. — PUBLIC ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DOCTRINE OF POLYGAMY
CHAPTER XII. — THE SUPPRESSION OF THE EXPOSITOR
CHAPTER XIII. — UPRISING OF THE NON-MORMONS—SMITH'S ARREST
CHAPTER XIV. — THE MURDER OF THE PROPHET—HIS CHARACTER
CHAPTER XV. — AFTER SMITH'S DEATH—RIGDON'S LAST DAYS
CHAPTER XVI. — RIVALRIES OVER THE SUCCESSION
CHAPTER XVII. — BRIGHAM YOUNG
CHAPTER XIX. — THE EXPULSION OF THE MORMONS
CHAPTER XX. — THE EVACUATION OF NAUVOO—"THE LAST MORMON WAR"
CHAPTER XXI. — NAUVOO AFTER THE EXODUS
BOOK V. — THE MIGRATION TO UTAH
CHAPTER I. — PREPARATIONS FOR THE LONG MARCH
CHAPTER II. — FROM THE MISSISSIPPI TO THE MISSOURI
CHAPTER III. — THE MORMON BATTALION
CHAPTER IV. — THE CAMPS ON THE MISSOURI
CHAPTER V. — THE PIONEER TRIP ACROSS THE PLAINS
CHAPTER VI. — FROM THE ROCKIES TO SALT LAKE VALLEY
BOOK VI. — IN UTAH
CHAPTER I. — THE FOUNDING OF SALT LAKE CITY
CHAPTER II. — PROGRESS OF THE SETTLEMENT
CHAPTER III. — THE FOREIGN IMMIGRATION TO UTAH
CHAPTER IV. — THE HAND-CART TRAGEDY
CHAPTER V. — EARLY POLITICAL HISTORY
CHAPTER VI. — BRIGHAM YOUNG'S DESPOTISM
CHAPTER VII. — THE "REFORMATION"
CHAPTER VIII. — SOME CHURCH-INSPIRED MURDERS
CHAPTER IX. — BLOOD ATONEMENT
CHAPTER XI. — MORMON TREATMENT OF FEDERAL OFFICERS
CHAPTER XII. — THE MORMON "WAR"
CHAPTER XIII. — THE MORMON PURPOSE
CHAPTER XIV. — COLONEL KANE'S MISSION
CHAPTER XV. — THE PEACE COMMISSION
CHAPTER XVI. — THE MOUNTAIN MEADOWS MASSACRE
CHAPTER XVII. — AFTER THE "WAR"
CHAPTER XX. — GENTILE IRRUPTION AND MORMON SCHISM
CHAPTER XXI. — THE LAST YEARS OF BRIGHAM YOUNG
CHAPTER XXII. — BRIGHAM YOUNG'S DEATH—HIS CHARACTER
CHAPTER XXIII. — SOCIAL ASPECTS OF POLYGAMY
CHAPTER XXIV. — THE FIGHT AGAINST POLYGAMY—STATEHOOD
CHAPTER XXV. — THE MORMONISM OF TO-DAY
