No sooner was this done than the most awful scene took place. The mob did not give up a gun, but bands of them roamed over the country searching for the Saints. Houses were torn down and burned, men were tied up and whipped, women and children were driven out into the fields and forests. Many of the county's leading men took part in these crimes, and even ministers, preachers of the gospel as they called themselves, were seen leading mobs from place to place.
The cold winter was now coming on, it being the month of November. At one place a company of one hundred and ninety—all being women and children excepting three old men—was driven thirty miles across a burnt prairie, the ground being coated with sleet. Their trail could be easily followed by the blood which flowed from their feet.
You will see by the map that Clay county lies north of Jackson, just across the Missouri river. As the Saints were driven from their homes, most of them made their way to Clay county whose people received them kindly. Soon the shores of the river were lined with men, women and children, goods, boxes, wagons, etc; The ferrymen were kept busy taking them over the river. At night the place had a strange appearance. Hundreds of people could be seen in every direction; some in tents and some in the open air around the fires. The rain descended in torrents. Husbands were asking for their wives and wives for their husbands, parents for children and children for parents. Some had managed to escape with a little provisions; many had lost all their goods.
There were at this time about twelve hundred Saints in Jackson county, so it took many days for them all to get away. Some of the poorest of the Saints who could not get away at first were driven out during the cold storms of that winter.
Early next spring when nearly all the Saints had left, the mob set fire to the deserted homes. One of the brethren reported that two hundred and three dwellings and one grist mill were destroyed.
Topics.—1. Contrast between present conditions and past. 2. Mobbing continued. 3. Saints driven from Jackson county.
Map of Missouri and Illinois
Questions and Review.—1. What experiences did the Latter-day Saint boys and girls of Jackson county pass through? (Read the story, "Grandmother's Rocking Chair," in the Contributor, Vol. 11, page 242.) 2. What happened in November, 1833? 3. What is the state militia? 4. Why was the Jackson county militia raised? 5. What happened after the brethren had given up their arms? 6. Tell about the scene on the banks of the Missouri river. 7. Where is Clay county? 8. What happened in the spring of 1834?