[Taken in presence of two witnesses.]
| "United States of America, Territory of Utah. |
| ss. |
"——, of said Territory, being duly sworn, says:—
"I have resided in the Territory of Utah about eight years. Some time in the fall of 1855, two men, one of them named Frank Keene, rented a house on East Weber, in Weber County, in this Territory. They rented of a Mr. Cox, and paid the rent up to the last day of March ensuing. Some time in February Cox
endeavored to take possession of the house. The tenants remonstrated, and the matter was referred to the Teacher of the district. Cox was a Mormon; the tenants were not. The Teacher decided they should remain until the lease expired. Cox appealed to the Bishop of the Ward, Abiah Wadsworth. Wadsworth heard the case. The Bishop at first confirmed the decision of the Teacher; but immediately afterward, he said, as the tenants were gentiles, they must leave; and turning round to his clerk, directed him to write a notice to them to leave within a week. There were two or three feet of snow on the ground. Frank Keene was destitute of means. They both left as ordered. Nearly a month remained of the time for which rent was paid, and there was no pretence that the lease had been broken. It was a very severe winter, and a famine was prevailing.
"The next winter, a man by the name of Jones was denounced, and his life threatened, in a church meeting. The cause was this: He had loaned Lorenzo Snow, in England, one hundred pounds sterling, to print the 'Book of Mormon' in the Italian language. Upon arriving in the Territory, Jones tried to get payment of the money, but could not. It was because he insisted upon having his money, that he was denounced.
"The meeting was held at Centreville; and so much excitement was raised against Jones, and so many threats made against him, that he fled for his life. At the same time, the order was given, that no one should feed or entertain him, but he should be left to perish. Stoddard, one of the High-Priests, told me that the Bishop was so angry that he came down from the stand to kill Jones, in the meeting, but he fled. I saw Jones some weeks afterward. He corroborated these statements, and said the Bishop tried to kill him.
"I have often heard the doctrine of cutting the throats of apostates preached from the pulpit, particularly during the year 1856, when, for several months, I scarcely attended meeting without hearing such preaching. They would say, 'If you find a man with his throat cut, pay no attention to it.'
"At one time, my life was threatened by a Danite, and his intention to take my life was sanctioned at a meeting, by the Bishop and authorities. No cause was alleged, except a trivial remark made by my wife, reflecting slightly on one of the First Presidents. The remark had been exaggerated and attributed to me, and
although it was fully explained, I was followed and threatened for over a year. At that time my wife and myself were members of the Mormon Church, in good standing.