An Englishwoman in Utah: The Story of a Life's Experience in Mormonism

by Mrs. T. B. H. Stenhouse

It is beyond a doubt that, notwithstanding all the social changes and improvements of late years, the secret police of Salt Lake City are in matters of crime, as well as in fact, though not perhaps nominally, the successors of the original “death society;”—many of its members are known to have committed grievous crimes and to have repeatedly dyed their hands in blood. The shocking deeds that every now and then are divulged to the world are all of their doing, and no resident of Salt Lake City, whether Mormon or Gentile, although he might prudently decline to state his opinions, would in his mind question the fact that it is fear of consequences, and only because the Saints are “on their good behaviour” in the sight of the Federal Government, that the hands of these wretches are withheld from a continuance of their old enormities.

As might be supposed, the establishment of a secret band of men professedly ready at a moment to steal, to shed blood, or commit any crime at the command of their leaders, created great excitement in the whole State of Missouri, and especially in the vicinity of the Mormon Settlements.

Like the Ishmaelites of old, the hands of the Saints were against every man, and every man’s hand was against them. They were taught that they were “a chosen nation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people”—the “Sword of the Lord and of Gideon” was to be theirs; they were to go forth conquering and to conquer; and the Gentiles were to be trodden down beneath their feet.

As might be expected, trouble immediately arose; the people of Missouri outraged the Mormons, and the Mormons in return outraged them. Murders, thefts, and the most shameful atrocities were of daily occurrence, and the history of those terrible doings would fill a good-sized volume. Suffice it to say, that the excitement continued and increased, reprisals being made on both sides; finally the mob was triumphant, and after committing many fearful excesses it was organized into a militia—the leading men in authority declaring that the Mormons must either leave the State or else they must be extirpated by the sword.

Notwithstanding all this, the Mormons, at all times an industrious people, were in one sense successful and prosperous; the morality, however, of some of their leading men was to say the least very questionable. It was openly argued that the silver and gold were the Lord’s, and so were the cattle on a thousand hills. The Scripture says that God has given His people all things richly to enjoy. The Saints were the people of God:—He had given them all the wealth and substance of the earth, and therefore it was no sin for them to help themselves; they were but taking their own. To overreach or defraud their enemies was facetiously called by the Mormons “milking the Gentiles.”

Their city called Nauvoo—The Beautiful,—a name given by the Prophet Joseph and supposed to be of celestial origin, was well laid out and well built, a costly Temple was nearly complete, and the leaders, at least, began to show signs of wealth and prosperity. This however was but a lull before the storm. Writs upon various charges against Joseph and the leading Elders had always been floating about, and the serving of some of the later ones had only been prevented by technical difficulties or the personal fears of the Sheriff. To enter Nauvoo for the purpose of arresting the Prophet was like bearding the lion in his den; for by this time a splendidly equipped and drilled militia regiments under the name of Nauvoo Legion had been organized, and Joseph had been elected Lieutenant-General. The regiment consisted solely of well-tried Mormons who were devotedly attached to their leader; besides which, the whole of the population of the city was at his call at a moment’s notice.

Into the city of the Saints, as far as was possible to prevent it, no Gentile was allowed to intrude. It was at risk of life and property that any one ventured. One oddly original mode of driving out the devoted stranger is worthy of mention—it was called “whittling a man out of the town!” Opposite the victim’s door a number of men and overgrown boys would take up their quarters, each armed with a stout stick of wood and a huge knife. No sooner did the Gentile appear than the whole horde gathered in a circle round him. Not a word was uttered, but each man grasping firmly his stick in his left hand, pointed its other end to within a few inches of the victim’s face, while with the knife in his right hand he sliced a shaving out of the wood in such a way as to bring the point of the knife almost against the face of the unfortunate man. Wherever he turned they attended him, always preserving the strictest silence, and never actually touching him. The intolerable sensation caused by the “whittling” of this strange body-guard, who were in attendance day and night, and the unpleasantness of seeing half a score of sharp knives flashing perpetually within an inch of his nose, generally subdued the strongest-minded Gentile;—few could endure it for more than a day or so at the utmost: they were glad to leave—“Whittled out of the town!”

The evil day, however, at last came. The Prophet, fearing arrest, fled, but was persuaded to return and deliver himself up. The charge against him was one for which reasonable bail could be taken; bail was offered, accepted, and the prisoners discharged. Before leaving court, however, the Prophet and his brother Hyrum, the Patriarch, were arrested upon a trumped-up charge of treason, a charge for which it was impossible that bail should be taken; they were therefore committed to custody in Carthage jail, under solemn promise from Governor Ford of Illinois that the State should be answerable for their personal protection. The same day, however, a mob of over one hundred men, assisted, it is said, by the militia who were left in charge, burst into the jail and assassinated the Prophet and his brother.

As might be supposed, this outrage by no means weakened the Mormon cause; their Prophet was now a martyr, and his name became more powerful after death than it could possibly have been had he lived. It was, however, clearer than ever that nothing could now reconcile the people of Illinois to the Mormons, and the latter seriously began to think of leaving that State in a body as they had formerly left Missouri.