"They then turned him upon his side, and with a chair-post dealt him many severe blows upon the thigh, which were heard at a distance of one hundred and twenty rods. Next they tore off his coat and shirt, and proceeded to whip him with their gun-sticks. I had been by my husband during this whole affray, and one of the mob seeing me, cried out: 'Take that woman in the house, or she will overpower every devil of you!' Four of them presented their guns to my breast, and jumping off the ground with rage, uttering the most tremendous oaths, they commanded me to go into the house. This order I did not obey, but hastened to my husband's assistance, taking stick after stick from them, till I must have thrown away twenty.
"By this time my husband felt that he could hold out no longer, and raising his hands toward heaven, asking the Lord to receive his spirit, he fell to the ground, helpless. Every hand was stayed, and I asked a sister who was in the house to assist me to carry him in doors.
"We carried him in, and after washing his face and making him as comfortable as possible, I went forth into the mob, and reasoned with them, telling them that my husband had never harmed one of them, nor raised his arm in defence against them. They then went calmly away, but next day circulated a report that they had killed one Mormon.
"After the mob had gone, I sent for the elder, and he, with two or three of the brethren, came and administered to my husband, and he was instantly healed. The gashes on his head grew together without leaving a scar, and he went to bed comfortable. In the morning I combed the coagulated blood out of his hair, and he was so well that he went with me to meeting that same day.
"The mob immediately held a meeting and informed us that we were to have only three days to leave in, and if we were not off by that time the whole party would be massacred. We accordingly prepared to leave, and by the time appointed were on our way to Clay county. Soon after our arrival in Clay county, the 'Camp of Zion' came, and located about twenty miles from us. The cholera broke out in the camp, and many died. Three of the party started to where we lived, but two died on the way, leaving Mr. Martin Harris to accomplish the journey alone. The first thing, when he saw me, he exclaimed: 'Sister Leonard, I came to your house to save my life.' For eight days my husband and I worked with him before he began to show signs of recovery, scarcely lying down to take our rest. While Mr. Harris was lying sick, the prophet Joseph Smith came, with eleven others, to visit him. This was the first time I had ever seen the prophet.
"The prophet advised us to scatter out over the county, and not congregate too much together, so that the people would have no cause for alarm.
"While we were yet living in this place, the ague came upon my family, and my husband lay sick for five months, and the children for three. During the whole time I procured my own wood, and never asked any one for assistance. On the recovery of my husband he bought a beautiful little farm near by, where we lived long enough to raise one crop, when the mob again came against us, and we were compelled to move into Caldwell county.
"When we arrived there we moved into a log cabin, without door, window, or fireplace, where my husband left the children and me, and returned to Clay county, for some of the brethren who were left behind. During his absence a heavy snowstorm came, and we were without wood or fire. My little boy and I, by turns, cut wood enough to keep us warm till my husband returned.
"Here my husband entered eighty acres of land, and subsequently bought an additional twenty acres. Here, too, we stayed long enough to raise one crop, and then moved to Nauvoo, Hancock county, Illinois.
"As soon as we were located, we were all seized with sickness, and scarcely had I recovered, when there came into our midst some brethren from England, who were homeless, and our people took them in with their own families. One of the families we took to live with us. The woman was sick, and we sent for the elders to heal her, but their endeavors were not successful, and I told the husband of the sick woman that but one thing was left to be done, which was to send for the sisters. The sisters came, washed, anointed, and administered to her. The patient's extremities were cold, her eyes set, a spot in the back apparently mortified, and every indication that death was upon her. But before the sisters had ceased to administer, the blood went coursing through her system, and to her extremities, and she was sensibly better. Before night her appetite returned, and became almost insatiable, so much so at least that, after I had given her to eat all I dared, she became quite angry because I would not give her more. In three days she sat up and had her hair combed, and soon recovered."