Dedication day.—Fourth of July.—Gratitude and thanksgiving.—More than two thousand had suffered loss.—In six months the Factory is rebuilt.—Great rejoicing.—Dedicatory prayer.—Address.—Speeches.—Brigham City M. and M. Association.—A raid.—Railroad contract.—How a village sprang up.—An onslaught.—Confusion ensues.—The Grand Jury issues indictments.—Men drove to jail in a herd.—Great excitement.—Superintendent Dunn speaks.—John Merrill in custody.—Handcuffed.—Chained in jail.—Telegrams from the United States President.—How the Judge received them.—More about Merrill.—Left unguarded and unacquitted.—About the mill.—Dishonesty of Jurors.—Financial loss.
On the fourth of July, 1878, just six months after the calamitous conflagration, the Box Elder people, by their united efforts, indomitable energy and enterprise, had erected another factory building—48x80 feet, two stories high, and nearly fireproof and more substantial and commodious than its predecessor. They also had purchased and put in running order an improved set of machinery. Our national day, the fourth of July, was chosen for the dedication, and the entire day, from early dawn, was, by men, women and children, devoted to gayety, mirth, congratulations and expressions of gratitude and thankfulness to Him who overrules the destinies of nations, and whose watchful care is ever extended to His people.
More than two thousand of those people were sufferers in the loss of their factory, and on this day a feeling of recompense and remuneration warmed and cheered the most desponding heart. It is utterly impossible for any disinterested person to appreciate the satisfaction of the good people of Brigham City and vicinity on this occasion. The reproduction of one of the most remunerative and important branches, which constituted their independence, was calculated to inspire every heart with gratitude to the Giver of all good, for the marvelous success with which He thus far had crowned their efforts in overcoming difficulties which at first seemed insurmountable.
We shall not attempt a description of the general exercises of the day—the mammoth procession, the huge floating flags and waving banners, and the brilliant, profuse decorations; suffice it to say the dedicatory services were performed in the factory building, which was filled to overflowing. Lorenzo Snow, president of the association, offered the dedicatory prayer, delivered the opening address, and was followed by others, all interspersed with singing by the Brigham City choir, and music by the bands. The assembly was dismissed by prayer.
So rapidly had the Brigham City Mercantile and Manufacturing Association increased in wealth, influence and popularity, that a strong feeling of envy, jealousy and avarice, the outgrowth of political aims and financial cupidity in the hearts of Gentile officials and unscrupulous apostates, broke out in one of the most flagrant raids ever concocted.
After the heavy loss the association suffered by the burning of their woolen factory, estimated at thirty thousand dollars in cash, being in great need of funds to liquidate cash indebtedness, incurred in rebuilding their factory, purchasing new machinery, etc., they took a large contract on the Utah Northern Railroad, then in progress of construction through Idaho, to furnish supplies of timber, ties, shingles and lumber, to meet demands. It was a gigantic contract, and they immediately shaped their plans to meet emergencies. They purchased a saw mill and shingle mill in Marsh Valley, Idaho, and moved to that place their steam saw mill from Box Elder County. They employed about one hundred men in the various departments of labor, also a number of women, who assisted as cooks.
The arrangements were so made with Mr. Dunn, the construction superintendent of the railroad, that the furnishing contract might be extended to an indefinite length, or as long as the furnishing party wished; in view of this, it was requisite that the laborers employed should be made comfortable as practicable, so as to continue work during the winter months. Accordingly, log and frame houses were erected—shanties, sheds, stables, stack-yards and corrals were built; and the location presented the appearance of a village formed for comfort, of no inconsiderable dimensions, and not entirely devoid of taste.
There the association kept a small store, from which the employees supplied their wants. In fact, the entire concern was so complete in its organization, and so systematically conducted, that everything moved like clockwork, honorably representative of the institution by which it was inaugurated. Superintendent Dunn was highly pleased with the promptitude with which his bills were filled and his calls answered. He was furnished from twelve thousand to fifteen thousand feet of lumber or timber per day, besides a large quantity of ties.
For several months this satisfactory order of things continued, much to the advantage of the railroad as well as to the prospects of the co-operative establishment, when, suddenly, without any premonition, like a tremendous avalanche, a mobocratic raid, instituted by the grand jury and sustained by an unprincipled judge, a Methodist minister, Hollister by name, changed the scene, and an indescribable pell-mell and confusion ensued.
In October, 1878, the grand jury, composed mostly of apostates from the Church of Latter-day Saints, sat in Malad City, and conniving against the interests of the co-operative efforts of the Saints, got up indictments against the laborers at the mills for unlawfully cutting timber. Fifty-three of the men were simultaneously arrested and driven, like a herd of cattle, fifteen miles to Malad City, and the mills were ordered to be shut down.