--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Duffin, James G. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 8 number: 12 published: 1905-10 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'James G. Duffin, "Retribution—Order No. 11," *Improvement Era* 8, no. 12 (October 1905): 918–926.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0812unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera0812unse start_page: 918 end_page: 926 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1905-10) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0812unse publication_year: 1905 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1905, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Retribution—Order No. 11 RETRIBUTION— ORDER NO. 11. BY PRESIDENT JAMES G. DUFFIN, OF THE SOUTH-WESTERN STATES MISSION. When men are retaliating upon others, they are reckless of the future, and do not hesitate to annul those common laws of humanity to which every individual trusts for his own hope of deliverance, should he ever be overtaken by calamity; they forget that in their own hour of need they will look for them in vain. Thucydides. While the Prophet Joseph and his brethren were lying in Lib- erty jail, he addressed a letter to the Saints, from which I excerpt the following: Those who have sought by unbelief and wickedness, and by the principles of mobocracy, to destroy us and the people of God, by killing them and scattering them abroad, and wilfully and maliciously deliver- ing us into the hands of murderers, desiring us to be put to death, there- by having us dragged about in chains and cast into prison, and for what cause? It is because we were honest men, and were determined to save the lives of the Saints at the expense of our own. I say unto you, that those who have treated us thus vilely, like Haman shall be hanged on their own gallows; or, in other words, shall fall into their own gin and snare, and ditch and trap, which they have prepared for us, and shall go backward and stumble and fall, and their names shall be blotted out, and God shall reward them for all their abominations. Prophetic words! In all the works of God, the eternal law of retributive justice finds expression. He that breaks law must bear the consequences of his transgression. Upon one condition this may be avoided— that of repentance. This aside, the law of com- pensations must be satisfied. "Mercy cannot rob justice;" each must claim her own. RETRIBUTION— ORDER NO. 11. 919 During the year 1831, in obedience to the word of the Lord given through the Prophet, the Saints began to gather into Mis- souri. Locating first in Jackson county, they purchased lands and began to build upon them, with every assurance that they had at last found a resting place — the Zion of the Lord. Could they have foreseen the trying events of the succeeding years, many, no doubt, would have lacked the faith and courage to come up to the favored land. But God, in his wisdom, withheld this from them. The mi- gration continued to Jackson cpunty, and, on April 6, 1833, the third annual conference of the Church was held on the banks of the Big Blue river. Many members of the Church were in attend- ance, among whom were eighty holding the priesthood. The rapid increase of the Saints in the county began to excite the enmity of the border element, the clergy, and scheming pol- iticians, and, in April, 1833, the first organized mob, about three hundred in number, met at Independence with the avowed purpose of having the Saints removed from the county, or destroyed. But, after an unavailing effort to decide upon a plan for the accomplish- ment of their infamous designs, the mob, becoming intoxicated, broke up in a row. Pacific measures were pursued by the Faints, but all in vain. Their destruction or expulsion was determined upon, and nothing but that would satisfy their enemies. The his- torian of Jackson county says: "Although the 'Mormons' had not so violated law as to enable the people to proceed against them by legal process, the prospect, from the facts already stated, was so extraordinary as to warrant extraordinary measures. Their safety, it appeared to them, depended upon the expulsion of the 'Mor- mons' from the county by force, and at once began preparations to that end." How cruelly this resolution was carried into effect is a matter of history. Incited by sectarian ministers and politi- cians, during the summer and fall of 1833, bands of lawless men fell upon the Saints, whipped men, violated women, burned houses, killed stock, destroyed growing crops and other property belong- ing to them. The able-bodied, the aged, and the helpless, the widow and the orphan, all suffered alike from the fury of the mob. Writing of the events of the early part of November, of that year, the Prophet says: — — 920 IMPROVEMENT ERA. One party of about one hundred and fifty women and children fled to the prairie, where theywandered for about ten days with only six men to protect them. Other parties fled to the Missouri river and took shelter for the night where they could find it. During this dispersion of the women and children, parties of the mob were hunting the men, firing upon some, tying up and whipping others, and pursuing others for several miles. November 7th. —The shores of the Missouri river began to be lined on both sides with men, women and children; goods, wagons, boxes, chests, provisions, while the ferrymen * * * wer9 busily employed in crossing them over. Hundreds of people were seen in every direction; some in tents, and some in the open air, around their fires, while the rain descended in torrents. Husbands were inquiring for their wives, and women for their husbands; parents for their children, and children for their parents. Some had the good fortune to escape with their families, household goods, and some provisions, while others knew not the fate of their friends, and had lost all their effects. Millennial Star, Vol. 14, p. 582. Some of the Saints were still scattered over the county; of them the historian of Jackson county, after relating the treachery of Col. Pitcher says: "Following this event, small parties of citi- zens went over the county warning the 'Mormons' away wherever found, and not infrequently using violence with the men, whenever caught. This was continued by the infuriated citizens until the 'Mormons' had all fled the county ." History Jackson County, p. 257. Thus was accomplished the first great crime of Missouri, in permitting a large and peaceful body of her citizens to be plund- ered and driven from their homes. But surely, when sufficient time had elapsed for heated passion to cool, when men could look upon those awful scenes with calm judgment, redress for at least the loss of property will be made? Let us see. In a petition to Congress, presented by Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon and Elias Smith, in 1839, representing the Latter- day Saints, and setting forth the wrongs they had suffered, and praying for relief, I find the following: What then, we would respectfully ask, is the remedy of the "Mor- mons?" Shall they apply to the legislature of the state of Missouri for redress? They have done so. They have petitioned, and these petitions have been treated with silence and contempt. Shall they apply to the federal courts? They were, at the time of the injury, citizens of the — RETRIBUTION— ORDER NO. 11. 921 state of Missouri. Shall they apply to the courts of the state of Mis- souri? Whom shall they sue? The order for their destruction, their ex- termination, was granted by the executive of the State of Missouri. Is not this a plea of justification for the loss of individuals, done in pursu- ance of that order? If not, before whom shall the "Mormons" institute a trial? Shall they summons a jury who composed the mob? An appeal to them were in vain. They dare not go to Missouri to institute a suit; their lives would be in danger. For ourselves, we see no redress, unless it is awarded by the Congress of the United States. Millennial Star, Vol. 17, p. 440. If redress has ever been made by those instrumental in driv- ing the Saints from their homes, or by the State, history is utterly silent regarding it. Can there, then, be set up any just claim of exemption from the decree of Jehovah? Verily not. But God does not take delight in the sufferings of his children; he, there- fore, gives sufficient time for repentance. But mercy rejected, in- exorable justice claims her own. Years had come and gone; the Saints had found a resting place in the mountain vales of the west, but the fiat of Omnipo- tence had not been forgotten. On the morning of April 12, 1861, Fort Sumter was fired upon, and the country was in the throes of civil strife. The opening of the civil war precipitated the conflict between the sympathizers of the North and South in Jackson county. The spirit that expelled the "Mormon" people, in 1833, had borne fruit, and there were many ready to make war the pretext for giving For some years, free rein to the lawlessness in their natures. there had been trouble with the border element, this, however, had been measurably under control. But for the next few years, Jack- son county was to be the scene of crime and suffering such as has few parallels in the history of our country. "Where," slightly paraphrasing the eloquent words of W. H. Wallace, delivered at a reunion of the old settlers of Jackson county, July 4, 1872,— "brother was to array himself against brother, father against son, and son against father, and, casting aside the purest love of earth for the bitterest hate of hell, plunge into the din and smoke of the contest, and, amidst expiring groans and demoniacal yells, revel, of ttimes hand to hand, in the bloody work of death. Where 922 IMPROVEMENT ERA. the sweet once was heard the merry prattling o£ the child, or widow's cry and the orphan's wail music of a mother's voice, the were to rend the air. Where our fair land, accustomed only to the light tread of the sons of peace, was to tremble beneath the heavy tramp of mustering squadrons, and its luxuriant verdure, hitherto bedecked with the white hoar frost of morning, or the silvery dew of evening, was to be dyed with the crimson tinge of human gore, and fire, sword, rapine, death, were to go on with their terrible work, until thousands of homeless fugitives, as they crossed the borders of their beautiful land, should look back upon itand behold a wilderness where, on many a chimney, should sit the solitary owl, and screech out the shrill moan of a departed glory." In 1861, the fine property of Col. Henry Younger, father of Cole Younger, county judge for eight years, and member of the legislature two terms, was swept away by Jennison and his Kansas volunteers. July 20, of the following year, he was waylaid and assassinated. Mrs. Younger, the next year after her husband's death, though stripped of husband and children, was forced at the point of the bayonet, to apply the torch to her own hou;-e. John Fristoe, suspected of giving aid to the guerrillas, had his fine country mansion burned and his stock driven off, by reason of which he became a bankrupt and died a broken-hearted man a few years later. Dr. Lee, a large land owner, had much of his prop, erty destroyed, and finally was shot in cold blood. Squire Hink and many of his neighbors had their houses burned. A Sunday morning in 1863, was destined to be long remembered by the fam- ily of John Hagan. He, his wife, and three children, were going on a visit to his brother. On the way thev met a band of federal soldiers, who, it seems, had been much exasperated by the cutting of the telegraph wires the day before. They took Mr. Hagan into the woods, and the next day he was found shot through the head. August 5, 1863, the bushwhackers robbed the house of Christo- pher Mann, turned his family out, then burned the house to the ground, after which one of his assailants struck him on the mouth with a gun and knocked two of his teeth out. These are but a few instances of lawlessness illustrating a condition that prevailed throughout Jackson and neighboring — RETRIBUTION -ORDER NO. 11. 923 counties, during that awful period from 1860 to 1866. Of that time the historian says: "Ah, how sad must the helpless have felt when there was no assurance that their loved ones would ever re- turn again. The mother with her little ones did not know how much to fear or how much to dare. Perhaps her stay and pro- tector would be met by the redlegs or the guerrillas, the Federals or the Confederates, and be murdered or hung like a dug. Some citizens of Jackson county disappeared during those times, under circumstances like the above, and have not been seen or heard of since,' * * he was mortally wounded and burned to death in his neighbor's dwelling, or hung in the midst of a lone and desolate forest, where none would visit hire." "It seems," he says, "that if all the furies of infernal hell had let loose in Jack- son county, there would not have been more agencies bent on the destruction of human life." How completely the spirit of vengeance possessed the peo- ple of this distracted country will be seen from the following: Should the unqualified outrages committed by all persons, of what- ever name or sympathies, be traced to the guilty hand, and it be made to feel the vengeance of a violated law? Were such the case, many of the best and most respectable citizens of the county, and surrounding country, would be made to tremble; many or our best and most religious mothers, who are now instilling the strictest piety into their growing up children, would be shown to have wished, anxiously brooding over the shrine, that death and destruction might sweep over the homes of their next door neighbors. Were they culpable? perhaps will be the debat- able question, in a few generations to oorae. If so, the guilty could un- doubtedly have been found in every regiment and army in the field: in every cast of party, and, to a qualified extent, every home found in the thickest of the troubles. History Jackson County, pp. 275-6. "Were there no laws, no officers, no courts?" the reader will ask. "Was there no protection for the innocent nor punishment for the guilty? Was the great state of Missouri so powerless, even though she was in the midst of internecine strife, that her citizens could be murdered, robbed, their homes pillaged and burned, their animals be killed or driven off before their eyes, and there be no means of redress?" Again we will let the historian answer: "Where was the county sheriff or the county marshal when so much outlawry and committance of crime was going on? You might as well ask where the parson was, for one would — ; 924 IMPROVEMENT ERA. have done about as much good as the other. That was the trouble there was no law; the law was set aside, for the time being, and every man was a law unto himself. No doubt there were county officers, plenty of them, but they were mere figureheads."—History Jackson County, p. 273. Again he writes: "It is well to notice and record the burning shame upon our history, that many crimes, individual crimes, were committed, but, perhaps, not one in a score was brought before the courts." Law, and yet no law; officers, and yet no officers; courts, and yet no courts "mere figureheads." History of 1833 repeated! Crime on every hand, but no law to protect the helpless or punish the guilty. Ah! Jackson county, once the home of the pure, the good, the brave; thy sins hath ascended unto heaven, the day of thy judgment hath come, thou art found worthy to be the den of every foul thing? The culmination of the troubles of Jackson and neighboring counties, however, was yet to come. God had said: "They shall fall into their own gin and snare, and ditch and trap, which they have prepared for his people." Their citizens had not only abused, robbed and murdered his people — men, women and children, but they had driven them from their homes without cause, this debt was now to be paid, the measure was to be filled, "pressed down and running over." Quantrell, the guerrilla chieftain, and his desperate band were given protection and support, by the people living in the counties bordering on Kansas, and south of the Missouri river. To deprive him of these advantages, General Ewing issued his famous "Order No. 11," of which the following is a copy: Headquarters, District op the Border, Kansas City, Mo., August 25, 1863. 1. All persons living in Jackson, Cass and Bates counties, Missouri, and in that part of Vernon included in this district, except those living within one mile of the limits of Independence, Hickman's Mills, Pleasant Hill and Harrisville, and except those in that part of Kaw township, Jackson county, north of Brush Creek and west of the Big Blue military RETRIBUTION— ORDER NO. 11. 925 stations, are hereby ordered to remove from their present places of res- idence within fifteen days from the date hereof. Those who within that time establish their loyalty to the satisfac- tion of the commanding officers of the military station nearest their present places of residence, will receive from him certificates stating the fact of their loyalty and the names of the witnesses by whom it can be shown. All who receive such certificates will be permitted to remove to any military station in the district, or to any part of the State of Kansas, except the counties on the eastern border of the state. All others shall remove out of the district. Officers commanding companies or detachments serving in the counties named, will see that this para- graph is promptly obeyed. II. All grain or hay in the field or under shelter, in the districts from which the inhabitants are required to remove, within reach of mili- tary stations, after the 9th day of September next, will be taken to such station and turned over to the proper officers there; and report of the amount so turned over be made to District Headquarters, specify- ing the name of all loyal owners, and the amount of such produce taken from them. All grain and hay found in such district after the 9th of September next, not convenient to such stations, will be destroyed. III. The provisions of General Order No. 10 from these head- quarters will be at once vigorously executed by officers commanding in the district, and at the stations not subject to the operations of Para- graph 1 of this Order — and especially in the towns of Independence, Westport, and Kansas City. IV. Paragraph 3, General Order No. 10, is revoked as to all who have borne arms against the government in this district since the 20th day of August, 1863. By Order Brig. Gen'l Ewing. H. Hannahs, Adjutant. The provisions of the order were vigorously enforced, and those who offered resistance were driven from their homes at the point of the bayonet. Life and property were held in light esteem, a result of which was the commission of much crime. Many are the stories told of crime and suffering during the execu- tion of the order. The following will serve to illustrate: John Hunter, an aged citizen of Jackson county, on the day he was ex- pelled from his home, Sept. 6, 1865, had to assist in burying with his own hands, his two only sons, grandson, son-in-law, and two near neighbors, who had the same day met a violent death at the 926 IMPROVEMENT ERA. hands of armed men. One man stood in his doorway and counted seventeen of his neighbors' homes in flames, at the same time. Pandemonium seemed to be let loose to afflict this already suffering people. Men, women, and children, of all ages and conditions of life, were forced to abandon their homes, and were subjected to the grossest indignities. In a letter to the Missouri Democrat, written five months after Order No. 11 was issued, Col. Thomas S. Chase, referring to it, says: His (General E wing's) measures have been harsh, it cannot be de- nied, but when we recall the history of the past in Jackson and Cass counties, the almost universal adherence to the rebel cause among the people, the harboring of bushwhackers, the persecution of Union men, as long as any remained to be persecuted, the impossibility of obtaining in- formation in regard to the movements of the guerrillas amongst them, the certainty of the heralding to the enemy of any" movements of the federal troops, the determined and repeated acts of duplicity and treach- ery by almost the whole population, men, women and children, when all these things are considered and the result of General Ewing's course as- certained, none but copperheads and traitors find any objection to it, while all loyal and true hearted men applaud it. It will be remembered that by Order No. 1 1 these counties were depopulated. The entire popula- tion was ordered to remove. Such as could take the oath of allegiance, and could prove that they had never harbored bushwhackers, were per- mitted to remain at the various military stations in the district. All others were compelled to remove from the district altogether. "By the principles of mobocracy'' , almost every crime had been committed against the Latter-day Saints in their poverty and weakness, by the citizens of the State of Missouri, and their wrongs had never been redressed. Mercy had been rejected by the wrong doers. Outraged law must now be satisfied. Justice had waited, not slumbered. The wrong-dorrs had now answered to her. They had destroyed the fruits of the toiler, their own fields were laid waste; they had burned the homes of a peaceful people, the torch had been applied to their own dwellings; they had mur- dered the innocent, death was dealt out to them without mercy; they had violated virtuous womanhood, their own wives and daugh- ters were made the victims of brutal lust; they had driven a God- fearing and happy people from their homes, at the point of the