The Mormon puzzle, and how to solve it

by R. W. Beers

And if we can look at this part of their history calmly and impartially, can we fail to see that Missouri’s treatment of the Mormons was inhuman, unlawful, and impolitic?

A Mormon historian of these persecutions tells how twenty of the Mormons in the flight to Illinois, sleeping in a log cabin by the wayside, were shot dead through the crevices; and after the massacre was over, a boy who had been concealed was dragged out from his hiding-place under a forge and shot, while his murderers danced around him. This historian further writes, after relating a number of such instances Of Gentile cruelty: “We may forgive; BUT TO FORGET—NEVER.” And no wonder. Their treatment was barbaric, and to-day it is looked back to by the Mormons with just rage, and is used by them to awaken in the minds of their children the same spirit of hatred against a Government which has persecuted them from their very beginning.

When to-day it is said that the Mormons would not be molested if they would give up polygamy, they answer that those early persecutions took place before they adopted this doctrine. The fact is, that the mobs which attacked the first Mormons were made up in great part of the same low element that mobs the Salvation Army—a coarse rabble that, like a bull-dog, is ready to attack anything new. And as one nowadays hears a Mormon tell the story how the fathers of his people were driven out from their homes and forced to endure hardships untold and establish new homes elsewhere, if the hearer is not beguiled into sympathizing with the sufferers, he sees how the truly romantic story of those early days can fire the Mormon heart. He can then realize how many a young man who, for its own sake, would care nothing for his Mormon creed, will be ready to fight desperately for it in his indignation at the persecutions heaped upon his fathers. Thus, the remembrance of the persecutions through which their early leaders passed in Missouri operates as a strong power to support the zeal of the Mormons to-day.

After such trying and tragic events, their property lost and their health greatly shattered, one might suppose that the Mormons would have been ready to abandon their faith; but no, they were too strong in their belief for that. Their endurance was, indeed, marvellous. They clung to each other with great tenacity, and much pity was awakened in their behalf, because it was generally believed at the time that they had been treated with great injustice. Soon Smith was presented with a large tract of land in Hancock County, Ill., and immediately he had a “revelation” that this was the “centre spot,” and he commanded the Saints to assemble there to build a city and a temple. The angel told him to call the city Nauvoo, which he said meant “The Beautiful.”

It was located on the east bank of the Mississippi River, forty miles above Quincy, Ill., and twenty miles west of Burlington, Ia. It was situated at a bend of the river on rising ground, which commanded a magnificent view of the Mississippi for many miles. The land given to Joseph was divided into lots and sold to the Mormons, by which he realized over one million of dollars.

The Saints from all quarters responded to the call to hasten to the new city, and it immediately grew in importance. The Legislature granted it a charter with extraordinary privileges, including the authorization of a military body, afterward known as the “Nauvoo Legion,” a corps to which all the male Mormons capable of bearing arms belonged. Nauvoo became the capital of the world to the Mormons, and attracted general attention. It was changed from a desert into an abode of plenty and luxury. Gardens sprang up as if by magic, fragrant with the most beautiful flowers of the New and the Old World, whose seeds had been brought from distant lands as souvenirs to the New Zion; broad streets were laid out, houses erected, and the busy hum of industries was heard in the marts of commerce. Steamboats unloaded their stores, and passengers came and departed for fresh supplies of merchandise; fields waved with golden harvests, and cattle dotted the neighboring hills.

As might be expected, some adventurers, robbers, and people of a generally disreputable character joined the community to cloak their villainous deeds in mystery and religion. Speculators, too, came and bought property with the hope of large remuneration. These two classes of persons became the source of much strife among the Mormons themselves, and between the Mormons and Gentiles.

But, marvellous to relate, within three years after their expulsion from Missouri the Mormons had a prosperous city of 10,000 people, while near the city were at least 20,000 more, and in the whole United States and elsewhere they numbered about 150,000, not much less than their present number.

Soon after the city of Nauvoo had been laid out, the selection was made for a remarkable temple which should be the crowning triumph of the wealth and perseverance of the Saints, all of whom were called to contribute to its erection by time and money. The foundation was laid with military ceremonies April 6th, 1841.

This unique building was made of finely-polished white limestone, and stood in the centre of a four-acre lot. It was 120 feet long by 83 feet in width and 60 feet in height. There were two stories in the clear and two in the recesses over the arches, making four tiers of windows—two Gothic and two round. There was a carved marble font resting on twelve life-sized oxen in marble in the basement for baptism. In structure the temple resembled no other church edifice, but was remarkably unique and graceful in its proportions, particularly the front of it, with its six fluted columns, its carved Corinthian caps and broad piazza. The walls were of massive thickness. The architectural ornaments of the interior were “holy emblems,” and the spire upon the tower, which was 100 feet in height, was tipped with a gilt angel and his Gospel trump. Barnum, it is said, had this gilt angel in his New York Museum for years after the destruction of the temple.