1854 – 1 July, p. 3 – An Immoral Religion. In a tract distributed by the Mormon preachers, the following question and answer occur: “What shall be the reward of those who have forsaken their wives for righteousness’ sake?” “A hundredfold of wives here and wives hereafter.”

1855 – 21 July, p. 4 – Ruthin. The following is an extract of a letter from a respectable man residing at St. Louis, Missouri, America, a native of Ruthin. It is hoped it will have the effect of cautioning others from being entrapped by the devices and snares of a hypocritical and deceiving set of pretenders who, from the tenor of this letter, add robbery and peculation to deceit and falsehood:

St. Louis 6^th June, 1855. Dear Mother—I have a man and his wife just arrived here with the Mormons from Abergele; his name is Richard Morgan Stevens. They are cousins to Mr. Prichard, late gardener at Llanbedr Hall, near Ruthin. They came here in a very destitute condition. They had all their things taken from them by the Mormon ministers. There are hundreds of them about here in the same condition, and many dying for want of food and lodgings. They are acquainted with Edward Roberts’s two sons, of Borthy. They wish the truth of their condition to be made public in Wales, to prevent others from being deceived.”

1855 – 18 August, p. 3 – The Mormons in the valley of the Great Salt Lake are anticipating a famine. All the crops were being devoured by insects, and flour was very scarce at the price of 6 dollars per 100 lbs.

1855 – 6 October, p. 2 – Revolt of the Mormon Wives. While the Government troops were at the holy city of the Great Salt Lake, these soldiers appropriated every opportunity to take the wives and daughters of the saints out walking and riding—especially sleigh-driving—and the havoc which they thus made among the beauties of the principality may be partly conjectured from the announcement that they carried off with them an indefinite number of the Mormon fair ones, “for better or for worse,” – “sink or swim, survive or perish,” – en route for California. This is momentous news, and very significant withal. It shows that the Mormon women are ripe for rebellion, and that a detachment of the regular army is a greater terror to the patriarchs of the Mormon Jerusalem than Indians, or drought, or grasshoppers. It indicates the way, too, for the extinction of the peculiar institutions of Utah. The astounding results of the expedition of Colonel Steptoe in this view do most distinctly suggest the future policy of the Government touching this next of Mormons. It is to send out to the Great Salt Lake a fresh detachment of young and good-looking soldiers, and at the end of two or three months order them off to California, and replace them by a new detachment at Salt Lake City, and so on, till those Turks of the desert are reduced by feminine desertions to the standard Christian regulation of one wife apiece. New York Herald.

1856 – 5 April, p. 3 – The Mormons. A fine ship, the Enoch Train having been chartered to convey a cargo of Mormons to the United States, en route to their settlement in Utah territory, 300 men and women and boys and girls left Birmingham for the purpose on the 19^th ult., to join the rest of the contingent at Liverpool. There are altogether 900 on board the Enoch Train, which sailed on Monday.

1856 – 17 May, p. 2 – A correspondent of the Bristol Times states that on his withdrawal from the Mormon body he was publicly anathematized in the following language: “May his eyes sink in their sockets; his flesh rot and fall from his bones; may he wish to die, but not be able; may his right arm wither; may he beg his bread, but none be given him.

1856 – 14 June, p. 2 – Mormon Emigration from Preston. The emigration of the inhabitants of our town, under the auspices of the Mormonites, is more extensive than we were led to imagine. We find it is not unusual for husbands to return home at night and find wife, daughter, and children fled, the house stripped and a pretty long list of debts incurred on the eve of departure, left unpaid. Tradesmen, too, in seeking after debtors, are astonished to find those who promised to pay, off to the land of promise. A hard case has recently come under our notice. A laboring man took his wages home on the Saturday evening, returned to his work, which detained him until a late hour. When he had finished his labor he again returned home, but found his wife and family had fled, and his home stripped. Subsequently he ascertained that, instead of applying his wages to their proper use, they had run greatly in debt, and allowed their money to accumulate, to assist them in their flight. They sailed from Liverpool on the 23^rd ult., with a large number of others from various places, in the Horizon, bound for Boston. – Preston Guardian.

1856 – 21 June, p. 3 – The Mormons at Preston are busy in making converts of the wives and daughters of laboring men. This emigration of the weaker, but not better, halves is said to be unprecedented. A shipload sailed from Liverpool a short time since.

1856 – 12 July, p. 2 – The Mormons in America. James J. Strang, commonly called King Strang, the leader and prophet of the Mormons located on Beaver Islands, has been shot by two of his followers, and received injuries from which he was not likely to recover. Strang was the ruling spirit among the Mormons, a large number of whom are Welsh, who are located on and have control of the six islands in the northern part and near the outlet of Lake Michigan, called Beaver Islands, and since 1853, he has represented Newago county, which is composed of those islands, in the lower branch of the Michigan legislature. He has been the means, in times past, of causing considerable disturbance in the regions adjacent to where he resides; and robbery, murder, and piracy are crimes which have been freely attributed to him and his followers. His residence is at St. James, a considerable town, located on the largest of the islands, and his principal business was supplying the lake steamers with wood.

1856 – 12 July, p. 3 – Polygamy in Mormondom. The following is a copy of a letter from a Mormon elder who has just escaped from the Mormon territory. The elder in question escaped over the mountains to California, disgusted at the state of things at the Salt Lake. Writing to his wife, he says: “I have detailed to you in previous letters the debased condition of the women of Utah. The Mormons, after their passions (or, as they call it, their holy desires to people the earth) are gratified, seldom pretend to support their numerous wives. Brigham Young declared, last conference, that he did not know how many wives he had. “Tell the Gentiles,” said he, “I do not know half of them when I see them.” The majority of these poor women are compelled to work for their daily bread, and many are in such a destitute condition that they are forced to seek charity of strangers. It is an actual fact that one of the wives of the chief of the apostles gains her livelihood by washing for the boarders of a public house in town. Indeed, it is not uncommon for these “lords of creation” to send their wives out into the canyons for wood, and any day you can see women chopping logs and driving cattle to the mountains. Subjected to a slavery worse than can be realized in the south, turned into prostitutes and concubines against their wills, denied even woman’s chief prerogative, the use of the tongue, there are now hundreds of females who only want the opportunity to abandon forever a life that so ill befits the proud spirit of American womanhood. It was yesterday that a widow with her daughters called upon me, and after asking me to lock the door of my room, for fear she should be surprised in the house of a Gentile, unfolded her story of bitter wrongs and sufferings. The bishop of her ward had demanded her whole family, including herself, in marriage. She had given up all she had for tithes and others taxes, and was now in the dilemma of starving, or being compelled to share an incestuous bed with the daughters of her own body. With tears in her eyes she prayed me to afford her the means of going to California in the spring. These cases occur every day—indeed the spirit of dissatisfaction is universal. I have never conversed with a woman who was not discontented with her situation and prospects. This speaks more than all the ingenious arguments in favor of polygamy, and demonstrates that the practical working of the plurality system is averse to domestic love and happiness. Here would be a great field for your strong-minded women. If a few Bloomers and fast young ladies would come out to Utah, and raise the cry of “virtue and independence” in the valleys of the mountains, the whole Mormon female community would rise in a mass and shake off the shackles that bind them. But there is no one here to lead them on. The fear of being cut off from the church, and of being “sent to eternal hell across lots,” as Brigham classically expresses it, deters them from such a course, and the desert plains that hem them in on every side prevent them from slipping secretly away to California or the State.

1856 – 26 July, p. 3 – An Irish Mormon. Among the many thousands of Mormons who come to this country, we do not believe there has been anyone who belonged to Ireland. The elders do not obtain any converts among the Irish, nor do their doctrines find favor. A well-known Irish gentleman in New York has in vain tried to detect an Irish man or woman among the Mormons who have entered Castle Garden. On Saturday last 700 Mormons were landed at the depot from the ship Thornton, most of them having been sent out at the expense of the Mormon Emigrant Fund. He saw among them English, Scotch, Welsh, Jerseymen, Danes, and Swedes in great numbers, and at last he thought he detected a solitary Paddy. Walking up to him he asked him his name. “John Daly, sir,” he replied. “Are you an Irishman?” “Truth, I am the same, yer honor.” Assuming a tone of rebuke, he continued, “Are you a Mormon, too?” With an air of exquisite drollery he whispered, “Faith, I am not; but you see, I wanted me passage.” “Have you any money?” “Nivir a hap’ny.” “Then you had better go with them to the West, to St. Louis, and leave them there.” “Indade, sir, I’ve been wid ’em too long already, and I’m thinking I’ll lave ’em and be off at wanst.” New York Paper.

1856 – 9 August, p. 2 – The Mormons. John Strong, a blacksmith, of long standing, in Allhallows’ Lane, Kendal, with his wife and a numerous family, left Kendal for Utah, on the Salt Lake, in the spring of last year, at which place of abomination his eldest son, brought up to the same business as his father, had been settled a few years. Intelligence has arrived at Kendal, that Strong has been shot for refusing to give his wife and daughter up to the embraces of the high priest! Strong was a leader and priest of the Mormon connection in Kendal for some years previous to his departure therefrom, and no advice or admonition could break his faith in the detestable infatuation. – Carlisle Patriot.

1856 – 30 August, p. 2 – Mormonism is making much progress in Denmark. Jutland is the great hotbed of Mormon proselytism; and, as they eventually make up caravans or parties of four or five hundred together, to emigrate to America, in order to settle on the banks of the Great Salt Lake, the result will have the effect of ultimately depopulating the province to a great degree, and depriving its agriculture of many industrious hands. It is especially to this point that a petition to the King, just sent in from the town of Aalborg, and signed by upwards of two hundred of the principal inhabitants, lays much stress, and calls the attention of the government.

1856 – 20 September, p. 2 – The Mormons of the great Salt Lake City are threatened with famine. Their crops have been destroyed by drought, grasshoppers and worms.

1856 – 20 September, p. 3 – The Mormons. On Tuesday night, before a somewhat numerous audience, at the Manchester Mechanics’ Institution, Mr. Hawthornthwaite, late an elder amongst the Latter-day Saints, in this neighborhood, gave an account of his adventures in connection with them for the last eight years. Mr. Hawthornthwaite, who was educated by a clergyman at Bury, commenced by relating how he was led to join the Latter-day Saints; he then detailed the steps of his promotion as a priest and an elder. A large portion of the discourse was then directed to the discoveries he made of the immoral conduct of Elder Wheelock, who, he alleged, has now several wives at the Salt Lake. He lived for some time in the lecturer’s house in Manchester; whilst there, he was visited by a young woman from Newport. She was sickly at Nights, and he (Elder Wheelock) occupied the same bedroom for a fortnight. He took her to the Theatre Royal five nights in one week, and on the sixth night, on his return to Mr. Hawthornthwaite’s house from Cook’s Circus (then in Fountain Street), Mrs. Wheelock had unexpectedly arrived from Birmingham, and a scene occurred which showed that bigamy was not a very pleasant affair. The elder was accused and tried for adultery; but it was found that he was too high in authority to be judged in England, and the case was passed over with a reprimand. He was next accused with wasting the brethren’s money by extravagance, but, on account of his great influence, nothing came of it. It was held to be a duty to obey the elders implicitly. He had heard a man state at the conference held some time ago in that lecture theatre, “If I were ordered to kill a man, I should go and do it.” Another remarked at the same time, “I should like to have an opportunity of showing my loyalty in that way.” Some remarks were next made respecting the doing of a German count, Orsina Count de Holen, who borrowed of “the saints” in Manchester, Ashton, and the neighborhood, sums amounting to £50, and ordered a carriage from a firm in Oxford Street, giving the name (without his authority) of a well-to-do saint as a reference. This gentleman proved to be a complete swindler; and was even too shrewd for the “discerner of spirits, Elder Wheelock.” He borrowed 10s. from the elder, under pretense of proceeding to Liverpool, and holding a council with him at a certain hotel there. Instead of going to Liverpool, however, the count hired a pony for a young lady, and had a ride with her; the elder being greatly annoyed at being duped. The speaker occupied the attention of the audience for more than two hours; his observations being of a kind not likely to induce many people to become Mormons. In a second lecture, the reasons for renouncing the degrading system are to be expounded. The chair was occupied by Mr. Joseph Johnson.

1856 – 18 October, p. 2 – The Mormons and the Law of the States. The beginning of the difficulties that will prove the destruction of the Mormon community has appeared; the Supreme Court of Utah has decided that the organic act extends the common law over the territory, and the act being of the nature of a constitution the common-law overrides all the statutes of the Mormon legislature. The decision renders polygamy as illegal in the territory as it is in the States, and invalidates all the laws made by order of Brigham Young. As soon as his community, now possessing the license of isolation, comes into contact with the advancing population of the States, the theocracy is doomed; it will have to be extinguished, as a social even more than a political necessity—perhaps in blood. Two systems of law cannot exist side-by-side, and that which violates the principles on which all the civilized society of the world is founded must disappear. Separation from the “Gentiles” cannot be kept up by men who are Gentile in race, and saints only by self-declaration, time will bring the ordinary world to the Salt Lake, and then questions will arise which will demand either obedience to the common law of the United States, or resistance to it; and the latter will produce the history of the first Mormon settlement over again, only on a larger scale, with greater violence, and less choice of a desert to fly to. Times New York Correspondent.

1856 – 8 November, p. 3 – The Mormons and the “Gentiles.” Brigham Young has turned up once more in a troublesome way in Utah. Brigham dislikes the presence of the Gentiles in his settlement. I am afraid, from all I see and hear, that these wicked barbarians find more favor in the harems of Utah than suits the sanctified notions of the Mormon leaders. They have had a great convocation in the temple to denounce the infidels, and have followed up their denunciations by watching the federal mails, to prevent egress or ingress of suspicious persons. I have not yet had time to learn from Washington whether the interference is serious. There is trouble ahead with this community. Mr. Marcy wisely sent a regiment there a year ago, and quartered them there a winter. The experiment was not palatable to the elders, who denounced these children of the Evil One in unmeasured terms, and ordered the people, should they ever be quartered there again, to let them starve rather than supply them with the necessaries of life. It seems now, if we can credit the correspondents of the press, that persons are not to be permitted freely to come in and go out of the holy precinct.

1857 – 28 February, p. 3 – Mormons Perishing on the Plains. A correspondent of the Missouri Republican gives the following account of fatal privations amongst the Mormons on their way to Salt Lake: On their way in, near Bean river, they (mail train) met the third handcart train of Mormons going west. This was one of Brigham Young’s favorite methods of travel, and the successful arrival of the first and second train induced the citizens of Salt Lake City to hold a public meeting, passing resolutions expressive of their thanks, etc., to the governor. In reply, he stated that it was not Brigham Young’s measure or suggestion, but that of the spirit of the Lord, and that when he undertook the work, nothing could retard their progress. The fourth and fifth trains were met at the three crossings of Sweet Water, in a very different condition from those in advance. They were suffering beyond measure from the want of provisions, and on account of the cold. They were very badly clothed, and in consequence of the hardships many of them were dying; in one camp they buried fifteen in one day. The mode of burial, since they cannot dig the frozen ground, is to lay the bodies in heaps, and pile over them willows and heaps of stones. Governor Brigham Young, learning something of their condition dispatched some men and provisions to their relief; but these were met by the mail party returning to the city again, having been turned back by the violence of the storms they encountered. What the poor creatures will do, or what will become of them, is “hard to tell.”

1857 – 11 April, p. 2 – The Mormons are greatly incensed at the prospect of having a large military force stationed in Utah, and, according to the tenor of the latest advices, were prepared to show a forcible resistance to the federal troops.

1857 – 11 April, p. 3 – We have no doubt that there is positive information in this city that Brigham Young and his crew have burned the United States archives, court records, etc., in Utah territory; that they have demanded the appointment of one or two schedules of federal officers, both headed by Brigham Young for governor, with the avowal of the purpose of driving any other out of the territory by force of arms. The truth is, the Mormons are already practically in a state of rebellion.

1857 – 18 April, p. 2 – The Governorship of Utah. It begins to be understood that one of the important duties which may complicate the position of the new administration, will be the appointment of a governor of Utah, in place of Brigham, whose term of office expired long ago, but who has managed, as the news just arrived from California shows, to retain a quasi-politico-hierarchical power, of a most infamous character, in Salt Lake City, up to the present hour. We may venture to say that, although the subject has excited less apprehension and attention than it deserves, it will prove sufficiently vexatious, and call for nearly as great amount of discretion and firmness as any that will come under the consideration of the government. The Mormons are an active, enterprising people, and are more closely to be watched on that account. When they shall have established themselves in the most desirable parts of the territory of Utah, they will be masters of a region, extending from the thirty-seventh degree of north latitude, and from the eastern base of Sierra Nevada to the summits of the Rocky Mountains—a domain more extensive than California, and as healthy and well adapted to the physical development of the human race as any in the world. The importance of the question, therefore, whether they are to be permitted to grow in strength, under new Mahomets, until they are able to wage a war of independence against this country, or whether a wise, discreet, national and patriotic governor shall be chosen, who will seek to neutralize present evils by promoting Christian immigration, and purge out, with wise caution, the crime, immorality, and treason that now exist, cannot be exaggerated. The temporal dominion of the head of the Mormon church, whether his power be used directly or indirectly, should be brought to a speedy test, by the appointment of a civil governor, who will correct past abuses, and faithfully execute the laws of the United States. If necessary, he should be backed by a sufficient military force to make his authority respected, and to prevent any fatal outbreak from fanatical audacity. By prompt action, the vast territory of Utah may be rescued from worse than anarchy, a better class of population may be attracted to its fertile fields, and a source of annoyance for years to come, if not bloodshed, may be averted. New York Times.

1857 – 2 May, p. 3 – The Mormons in Utah. The anomalous condition of affairs in Utah is, next to the slavery question, the most perplexing domestic subject now before the government and people of the United States. Since the day the Mormons made themselves a power in the politics of Illinois, no administration has possessed the courage to oppose them. Mr. Buchanan and his Cabinet, however, are about to attempt a solution among the Latter-day Saints. It is proposed to send to Utah a military force of 2,000 men, officered by persons of character, and who have families; and judges and executive officers of worth and high standing, who have families, are to be appointed in place of Brigham Young and his satellites. The measure will, it is believed, afford ample protection to the territorial functionaries, and at the same time impart an enlightened and purer tone to the morals of the community. The orders recently issued from the War Department, withdrawing General Harney from the conduct in the Indian war in Florida, and entreating him to repair to Fort Leavenworth, there to await special instructions, may perhaps have something to do with the contemplated coup d’etat of the administration.

1857 – 16 May, p. 4 – Mormonism. The apostles of Mormonism are again busy seeking to make converts of the Rhos colliers and are exhorting them to emigrate to that delightful spot, the Salt Lake Valley. What their success has been we do not know; but those who are capable of being thus deluded we can very well spare.

1857 – 6 June, p. 2 – The Mormon Iniquity. The last accounts from the Great Salt Lake represent matters in that quarter as being most unsettled, and contain a narrative of startling facts, showing that unmitigated treason, murder, arson, robbery, and forcible debauch are every day incidents of Mormon life, and that not an effort is made to check the perpetration of any of these terrible crimes. Brigham Young was at Great Salt Lake City, organizing a secret expedition to somewhere in the north, for some purpose unknown to the Gentile world. This fact is corroborated by a dispatch from St. Louis. His negotiations with the chief Pah-Utah for his cooperation in the plans of the expedition, fully explain the statement that he had been treating with the Indians for safe conduct out of the country. Women are becoming scarce in the territory, and the Mormons consequently are resorting to more children to replenish their harems; while the most fiendish oppression is resorted to for the purpose of forcing reluctant females to become the “spirituals” of Mormon Turks.

1857 – 20 June, p. 2 – A Mormon preacher at Southampton said in his sermon a Sunday or two ago: “Shall I tell you, my brethren, when the comet shall come and strike the earth? When Brigham Young chooses to say the word, then will the comet come and strike the earth.”

1857 – 1 August, p. 2 – Since the 1^st of January last there have arrived in the United States by different vessels upwards of two thousand one hundred emigrants who had espoused the Mormon faith in the old country, and were en route to Utah Territory, in the Great Salt Lake basin. These Mormons were composed mostly of Welsh and English, with a sprinkling of Danes and Norwegians, and a few Germans.

1857 – 8 August, p. 2 – Item #1 – The Mormons in Sweden. A Stockholm journal says: “The Mormons who are somewhat numerous in the district of Vestra Sallerup, near Malmoe, in Sweden, have built in the village of the former name a house and chapel. On the 25^th June they assembled in the chapel for some grand ceremony of their form of worship, and when they were so engaged a band of peasants, armed with thick sticks, some of them with guns also, marched on the chapel and summoned them to disperse. The Mormons refused, on which the peasants expelled them by force, and drove them from the village. As some of the Mormons were armed with guns, and made use of them, several of the combatants on both sides were wounded. The peasants having driven the Mormons to a tan pit, dipped several of them in it, and then let them go. At Burlof, the local authorities have decided that any person who may lend his house to the Mormons for the meetings, or may take any of that sect into his service, or even receive them into his house, shall be fined 25 rixdollars. Several inhabitants of the district who had embraced Mormonism have abandoned it to return to the Lutheran religion.

1857 – 8 August, p. 2 – Item #2 – A Birmingham mob attacked a Mormon congregation on Sunday evening, maltreating both women and men, and destroying property in the interior of the chapel. The mob had been excited by a lecture against Mormonism delivered on the Sunday by Dr. Brindley.

1857 – 12 September, p. 2 – The Bund says: It is positively stated that an extensive baptism of Mormons lately took place at night in the lake of Zurich. The police did not interfere to prevent the ceremony, but the people who had assembled in crowds attacked the new converts, and drove them away with blows from sticks. The Mormon priest, it is said, was particularly ill-treated.

1857 – 3 October, p. 2 – The Mormons are greatly incensed at the prospect of having a large military force stationed in Utah, and, according to the tenor of the latest advices, were prepared to show a forcible resistance to the federal troops.

1857 – 14 November, p. 2 – Narrow Escape from the Mormon Murderers at Salt Lake. The following narrative, says the Leeds Mercury, is from the pen of John Davies, a young Welshman, who emigrated to Salt Lake, with his family, about two years ago, from Maesteg, South Wales. It is taken from a private letter, dated Council Bluffs City, Iowa, June 29.

“I guess you are anxious to know the reasons why I left Salt Lake. I shall try, in the first place, to inform you what a man must do to be a Mormon. He must give himself, his family, and all his possessions over to Brigham Young, and then he’ll have to give a the tenth of all his income—the tenth day’s work—and he must keep from two to ten wives. If he don’t agree to these things, he had better quit; but by doing so he is in danger of losing his life every minute, for they would rather kill him than let him be the means of letting the world know how things are in their midst. Many have been shot down in trying to escape. I have seen dozens shot down in the street; and three days before I left, I saw three persons killed, merely because they intended to escape—they were shot down in a place called Springfield, while they were preparing their trunks to leave. This took place about eight o’clock on a Sunday morning, within fifty yards of the gates of the city. The first was a young man called William Parish: he received seven balls in his body. The second was his father, and the third was a man called Potter, whose body received as many as fifteen balls. The old man was pierced in the back, and his throat cut in three different places. I saw them lying down, and I could name the persons who killed them. Brigham Young has got men for this purpose. Their number is four hundred. They are called the ‘Destroying Angels.’ Their captain’s name is William Hickman, and the second in command is Porter Rockwell. The walls around the city are fifteen feet high, and they are surrounded by a deep and wide moat. The city is entered by four gates, which are watched in the nighttime. The gates are so narrow that only one vehicle can pass through at once. The ‘Destroying Angels’ go out on the plains in the spring, in order to intercept those who may escape from the city. Many left on foot last January. They sleep by day and travel by night. I know of men and women who have traveled this way—the men dressed as women and the women as men. I cam across some who were very short of food; the little they had they gave to the women, and the men were principally sustained by the women’s milk! I left Salt Lake City on the 17^th of April, in company with two Welshmen and an African. The few Mormons who knew of our intentions said that we would never reach the States alive, but I told them that I was determined to try, whatever would occur. On Saturday (the day after we left) we had traveled thirty miles from the city, when we saw three men following us. They were sent by the authorities of the city to catch us. The name of one was Patrick Linch, an Irishman by birth, and secretary to Brigham Young. This man fired his revolver at me, but the ball went by without hurting me. They then came near us on the horses, and inquired our names, and when we refused to tell them, they swore that they would blow ‘our damned brains out.’ With that, one of them raised his revolver as if he was going to use it—he had one on each side of the saddle. I then took out my revolver, and told him to fire if he liked. I had six revolvers with me, and a rifle, containing in all thirty-seven balls. Another ball was then fired at me, which whistled by my left cheek. I then fired at him, and one ball hit him on the leg and another on the shoulder. (My friends by this time had run in the woods, and I was left to fight it out myself.) I then lost my footing, and one of the men run at me with a knife, and cut my belt and took four of my revolvers. I had the other two hid in my boots. I got hold of one of them and fired, and succeeded in keeping them off for some time, till I had a chance to run to the woods, where I got the assistance of my friends. We continued to travel that day and the following night, and succeeded in reaching a place called Fort Bridger, which is 113 miles from the Valley. The number of our pursuers had now increased to twenty, and we had to put to the woods again. We traveled till night, and were so fortunate as to meet a host of friendly Indians, who gave us buffalo meat to eat. The next day we overtook a number of wagons, known as Mrs. Babbit’s train, in number twenty-eight. I was hired to drive one wagon, which was drawn by six mules. We had some trouble with a lot of Indians called the ‘Crow tribe.’ They were well armed, and about 1,000 strong. About 600 shots came into our tent. We killed about thirty Indians, and they killed five of our men.

1857 – 26 December, p. 2 – More Trouble with the Mormons. A communication dated St. Louis, 8^th Dec. says: An express passed through this city yesterday for Washington, with dispatches from Colonel Johnston. The Republican received letters this morning from the army to Nov. 3. The Mormons had run off six hundred cattle in sight of Colonel Alexander’s camp, near Ham’s Fork, Green River. At the date of the letter it was supposed that Colonel Johnston had concentrated his force with Alexander’s, and that in a fortnight from that time Colonel Cook’s command would be with them. They expected to winter on Henry’s Fort, Green River. There was a good deal of suffering for want of provisions and clothing, and the horses were giving out for want of forage. Governor Cumming and the other territorial officers were determined to get into Salt Lake City if possible. The Mormons were determined on resistance to either the military of civil officers. A skirmish had taken place between Colonel Alexander’s troops and the Mormons and three or four of the latter were captured. Colonel Hoffman, from Fort Laramie, last of October, arrived here on Sunday night, but he brings no news of the Utah expedition. The Democrat learns that news has been received at Fort Leavenworth from Major’s and Russell’s trains, that the government animals were dying in great numbers on the plains.

1858 – 9 January, p. 2 – The Mormon Hegira. It appears to be the opinion in the United States that the Mormons are preparing for another Hegira, if we may judge, from numbers of the Deseret News which have lately reached us. The expedition against them has failed, indeed, this time simply because it started late in the year, or rather delayed too long in Kansas. In consequence of this procrastination, the year had advanced too far, the snow fell, the grass failed; with the failure of the grass the mules dropped off. The consequence is that Colonel Alexander, with 1,000 bayonets and two field batteries is now encamped in winter quarters on Ham’s Fork, 143 miles from the Salt Lake City, waiting for spring. Colonel Johnston and Colonel Cooke, with 600 more men, have probably before now joined him. But, though the expedition has failed this time, it is obvious that 1,600 men, reinforced by double or treble their number, in spring, must overwhelm the Mormons. The leaders see this well enough, and area beginning to look about them and prepare their followers for another movement. The spirit of prophecy is coming upon them, and Mr. Brigham Young predicts an “almighty stride of Mormonism into influence and power.” “I know it,” says the prophet, “as well as I shall 5 years hence” – which is probably true. Wake up, says Mr. Heber C. Kimball, ye saints of the Most High, and prepare for any emergency that the Lord our God may bring forth. We never shall leave these valleys till we get ready – no, never, never! That is a safe prophecy. The region marked out by American opinion for a new Mormonite emigration is not Jackson County, but Sonora, the most northwest province of Mexico. The description of this region is attractive and makes the choice sound not unlikely, the Mormonites being good judges of advantageous places for settlement. Its climate is warm and agreeable, and its products comprise gold, silver, pearls, cotton, wine, European grain, and livestock. Here they will be out of the power of a United States army, and will be subjects of another government. But whatever the choice may be, another Hegira seems to be determined on. Further emigration to Utah is prohibited, the missionary establishments in the United States are broken up, California is abandoned, and a new great step is evidently contemplated.

1858 – 6 February, p. 3 – The telegraph and the news brought by the Star of the West from the Great Salt Lake indicate that the Mormons contemplate removing to the British possessions in the spring. Doubt is thrown upon the story, and it is possible that the wish on the part of their assailant may have been father to the thought. But there are reasons why the rumor may be true. It is known that for some time past Brigham Young has been having a very thorough survey made of the country lying to the north of Utah, especially the banks of the River Columbia. We hear that latterly he has dispatched orders to scattered disciples in California and in the southern parts of the territory of Utah to join him at Salt Lake City without delay; and that, accordingly, notwithstanding the season, trains were en route for the Mormon headquarters from the south and the southwest. The country along the Columbia is admirably adapted for settlement and cultivation, much more so than any other which is open to the Mormons on the Pacific. It might be supposed that the English, who express so much horror of Mormonism, would be as ready to oppose their arrival in their territory as we should be glad to see them leave ours. But it is to be remembered that the British territory along the Columbia, where the Mormons would settle if they went north, forms part of the dominion of Hudson’s Bay Company, and the British and Canadian governments have very little right to meddle with it. Of course, the domestic arrangements of steady, industrious settlers would be of no consequence to the officers of the Hudson’s Bay Company. So long as their land was tilled, large crops grown, and good rents paid, they would never ask whether their farmers kept on or twenty wives. In point of fact, as is very well known, polygamy is already an institution so well recognized in that region that a factor or commander of a post who has but two wives is regarded as unusually moderate in his desires, and not altogether mindful of the responsibility of his station. The Indian traders would be of one mind with the Mormons on that point. On the whole, though ultimately Great Britain would be likely to make a strenuous effort to rid herself of the unwelcome intruders, the chances at present seem very much in favor of the supposed northern hegira. It seems not at all improbably that Brigham Young may contemplate, as it is said, a movement upon the Columbia with all his troops, wives, children, cattle, elders, donkeys, sheep, and worldly and spiritual possessions. Whether he start on this hegira before the troops attack him in the spring or only afterward cannot be foreseen; though his common sense and prudence may well justify the apprehension that he will adopt the safer and discreter course. New York Herald.

1858 – 1 May, p. 3 – Private letters from officers of the army at Walla, Columbia River, say that the Mormon settlements are being broke up in that region, and the Mormons leaving for Salt Lake.”

1858 – 5 June, p. 1 – [This announcement also appears on page 1 of the 12 June and the 19 June issues.]

Music-Hall, Wrexham.

Dr. Brindley, of Leamington, has accepted an invitation from a Committee of Gentlemen in Wrexham to deliver

Two Lectures,

In the Music Hall, Wrexham, as under:

Monday, June 21^st, “Mormonism,” its Follies, its Frauds, and its Vices, with a detailed account of doings at the Salt Lake, as related by those who have escaped therefrom.

Tuesday, June 22^nd, illustrated by a very large Map and Water-color Drawings, produced expressly for this Lecture – The Travels of St. Paul, with an account of the Countries and People amongst whom he traveled.

Questions may be asked or Discussion entered into at the close of each Lecture.

Admission, Front Seats 1s, Back Do. 6d. To commence at half-past 7 o’clock each evening.

1858 – 12 June, p. 3 – End of the Mormon War. The Utah war is ended. We believe there is no longer reason to doubt the fact that Governor Cumming peaceable entered the Salt Lake City on the 1^st ult., and that a considerable portion of the Mormons had already left, or were leaving for some point on the South-West. We may fairly presume that Brigham Young and his chief counselors were in the advance of this movement, and that neither marshal nor troops will be able to arrest them. We shall be disappointed if the Mormons do not make their way out of the territories of the Union, and found a new “Zion,” either in Sonora, Lower California, or in some of the isles of the Pacific. If such be their purpose, we trust they will be allowed to consummate it without further molestation on the part of our Government. This is the third distinct settlement within our national boundaries from which the Mormons have been driven by force. If they are now willing to leave the country why should they be obstructed or harassed? If they are willing to leave, let them depart in peace. We trust orders will forthwith be dispatched from Washington by telegraph to arrest the dispatch of provision trains from Fort Leavenworth westward. The corn, the cattle, the horses, etc., collected near that for the Utah army, present and prospective, are all needed, and will do good service in Kansas and Nebraska. The contractors and forwarders have made their fortunes. Now, let whatever is not needed be fairly sold in small lots to the highest bidder so that the settlers may have a chance of benefit. It would be absurd to send forward another man, or ox, or bushel of grain, if this news is to be credited. We trust, too, that the Volunteer Regiments Act will be held in abeyance by the President. He has no shadow of need of those regiments now, while his Secretary of the Treasury will inform him, if applied to, that the public coffers can ill spare the three or four millions per annum which they must cost, if created. We trust it will not be necessary to repeal the Act—let that stand for use in an emergency; but no such emergency now exists, while the Treasury is in a galloping consumption. It should be favored so far as possible. When the full truth becomes known we believe it will be found that great credit is due to Colonel Thomas L. Kane for this auspicious termination of the Mormon broil. He went out to Utah with the consent, indeed, of the President, but prompted by his own generous heart, animated by an earnest desire to prevent a needless, and therefore a highly culpable, effusion of human blood. By his past services to and experiences with the Mormons he had won the confidence of their leaders, while his knowledge of the purposes and preparations of the Government enabled him to convince those leaders that resistance on their part was hopeless. We wish he had gone to Utah some months earlier; but his bold and self-sacrificing mission has doubtless been undertaken in season to save millions to the Treasury and avert from our nation the stain of a fruitless slaughter of thousands and the devastation of their home. “Blessed are the peacemakers.”

1858 – 12 June, p. 2 – The widow of Joe Smith, the Mormon, still resides at Nauvoo, but she cares nothing for the saints and has married a tavern keeper who things all prophets humbugs. Young Joe, who should by right have been the head of the Mormons, is a stout gawky of 22, who hates Brigham Young and curses the Salt Lakers. Nauvoo was once a place of 20,000 inhabitants, but is now a place of ruins. Washington Union.

1858 – 26 June, p. 4 – Lecture on Mormonism. Dr. Brindley, of Leamington, delivered a lecture on the above subject, in the Music Hall, on Monday evening last. On the motion of Mr. Roberts, confectioner, seconded by Mr. Edisbury, auctioneer, the Rev. Joseph Jones was called to the chair. The lecturer was received with loud cheers, and in an able and eloquent discourse, advanced a great deal of new and interesting information in connection with Mormonism. He gave a rapid but clear exposition of its follies, frauds, and vices, with a detailed account of the doings at Salt Lake, as related to the lecturer himself by persons escaped therefrom. He said it was a subject which could not be expected to attract much public attention, but he deemed that, as it had nearly 78,000 adherents, it became one which at least demanded some inquiry into, if it was only from philanthropic considerations apart from religious duty, that the unwary might be put on their guard against its monstrosities. The lecturer showed in a very lucid manner that the book of Mormon, or revelation of the brass plates, and the book of revelations, that its principles were utterly baseless, false, spurious, and would not stand the test of fair examination and truth. The books in themselves contained palpable contradictions, and the pretended interpretation of the long lost plates, which were never again to be lost, but have been lost—contained whole verses and chapters extracted from our English Bibles, word for word, and line for line, which it was said Joe Smith interpreted from the plates, the whole being evident according to the laws of interpretation, a barefaced falsehood. The lecturer had had a conversation with a man named Davies, who had with difficulty made his escape from the Salt Lake, and whose name had been affixed to the book of Mormon, as one of the witnesses who had seen these plates. This man told him (Dr. Brindley) that Joe Smith had prevailed upon him to sign his name, but that he had not seen any plates whatever. Joe Smith showed him a box in which he said the plates were contained, and that was all; and he believed the plates never had been seen, nor ever would. The lecturer also explained how the abominable practice of bigamy was established amongst them by the atrocious monster Brigham Young, which was quite in opposition to their own law on the subject. This law was very expressive, and allowed only one wife, but Brigham In order to gratify his wicked lust had transgressed, and being exposed so repeatedly, but without any salutary effect, he determined at last to put a stop to it, so he informed his followers that he had received a fresh revelation, and that he was to have as many wives as he chose. The lecturer explained how cruelly these poor deluded creatures were treated, and the general mode in which the different classes of Mormons lived, their food being such that our poorest mechanics would despise to eat, and their dress hardly fit to be worn. He gave the audience a specimen of the miracles with which their leaders sought to dupe the people, which excited a good deal of laughter. He gave the statistics of the number of their converts before he exposed and opposed them, showing that they had considerably decreased since then. He gave a striking outline of the dangers, privations, and difficulties they had to pass through in going to the Salt Lake. Out of the last batch which went out (2,000) only 230 arrived at their journey’s end alive. The American soldiers would soon displace them from the Salt Lake, and Brigham Young had not yet decided upon another spot. He had left his deluded followers to take their chance, and promised that he would inform them where they were next to settle down after he had received a revelation to that effect. The lecturer was loudly cheered throughout, and concluded a very instructive though somewhat melancholy lecture, amid great applause. We are sorry to add there were not many present.

1858 – 10 July, p. 4 – A Dreadful Prospect. There is something fearfully suggestive of famine, disease, and death in the latest intelligence of the general flight southward of the Mormons from the Salt Lake Settlement. The whole moveable camp, it appears, had joined in the stampede. Forty thousand souls were already on the wing, including numerous, almost destitute families, with large numbers of women and children, many of the latter walking barefooted on the desert sands, upon a desert journey of 600 miles, and to a destination of which they appear utterly ignorant. The chances, as between life and death, are fearfully against them. We should not be surprised if 5,000, or even 10,000 of this moving column of 40,000 souls were to perish before reaching the junction of the Gila and the Colorado. With the news of the intentions of the government last summer, the Saints from California, Oregon, and the eastern plains were summoned to the central camp of the faithful in Salt Lake Valley. Thus large additions were made to their consumers, while their stock of provisions has never been superabundant. Their calculations were to hold the United States army at bay till the saints had gathered in this year’s harvest, but the sudden appearance of Governor Cumming at Salt Lake City, and the advancing army behind him on the Plains for the relief of Camp Scott, are the contingencies which appear to have deranged all the estimates of the Prophet, and which seems to have started his people in a hurried retreat, as from the terrors of an avenging enemy. We do not wonder that Governor Cumming regarded this stampede with pain and apprehension, nor that his first concern was to arrest it, if possible. The distance from the Salt Lake Valley, even to the Gila River, the first available resting place for a season of so large a body of people, as this moving Mormon community, is over 500 miles. They cannot stop short of this point in leaving their Utah settlements. Over the whole intermediate space they have nothing but deserts and desert mountains before them and around them. Already, too, we hear that the hungry desert Indians are hanging upon their flanks. In this view of the matter, therefore, we think that the attention of the administration should now be directed in a spirit of humanity towards these miserable people. If they perish in the deserts it will be the result of their own folly, we know; but it will scarcely be regarded as a creditable calamity to our Government should the result of our well-intended policy be left recorded in the bones of five or ten thousand Mormon women and children bleaching upon the desert sands of Utah and New Mexico.

1859 – 4 June, p. 2 – Reinforcement of Mormons. On Friday the ship William Tapscott arrived at New York, bringing seven hundred and twenty-six Mormon immigrants, including women and children. One half of them are from England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales; the other half from Norway, Sweden, Denmark. On Saturday about five hundred of them left for the West by the Albany steamer. President Brigham Young had sent positive instructions to his agents to push all emigrants forward towards Utah as rapidly as possible, and in thirty hours from the time they landed at Castle Garden, the main body were in motion up the Hudson. Verily, the Mormons have energy. The company had altogether 50,000 lbs. baggage. It is said that not one person tarried behind who had the means to pursue his journey westward, but on the other hand, great numbers went on with the certainty that they must suffer toil and privation by reason of their poverty. Boston Courier.

1859 – 17 September, p. 3 – A Visit to Brigham Young.Mr. Horace Greeley, the editor of the New York Tribune gives an account in his paper of a visit he paid to Brigham Young, and of the conversation he held with him on the doctrines of the Mormons. When Brigham Young stated that none of the ministers or bishops received salaries, Mr. Greeley asked – “How then, do your ministers live?” Brigham Young replied – “By the labor of their own hands, like the first apostles. Every bishop, every elder, may be daily seen at work in the field or the shop, like his neighbors; every minister of the church has his proper calling, by which he earns the bread for his family; he who cannot or will not do the Church’s work for nothing is not wanted in her service; even our lawyers (pointing to General Ferguson and another present, who are the regular lawyers of the Church) are paid nothing for their services; I am the only person in the Church who has not a regular calling apart from the Church’s service and I never received one farthing from her treasury; if I obtained anything from the tithing house I am charged with and pay for it, just as anyone else would; the clerks in the tithing store are paid like other clerks, but no one is ever paid for any service pertaining to the ministry. We think a man who cannot make his living aside from the ministry of Christ unsuited to that office. I am called rich, and consider myself worth 250,000 dollars; but no dollar of it was paid me by the Church, or for any service as a minister of the everlasting Gospel.”

After reporting other questions and answers, Mr. Greeley says: “As President Young is the first minister of the Mormon Church, and bore the principal part in the conversation, I have reported his answers alone to my questions and observations. The others appeared uniformly to defer to his views, and to acquiesce in his responses and explanations which he spoke readily, not always with grammatical accuracy, but with no appearance of hesitation or reserve, and with no apparent desire to conceal anything; nor did he repel any of my questions as impertinent. He was very plainly dressed in thin summer clothing, and with no air of sanctimony or fanaticism. In appearance he is a portly, frank, good-natured, rather thick-set man of 55, seeming to enjoy life, and he is in no particular hurry to get to heaven. His associates are plain men, evidently born and reared to a life of labor, and looking as little like crafty hypocrites or swindlers as any body of men I ever met. The absence of cant and snuffle from their manner was marked and general, yet I think it may fairly say that their Mormonism has not impoverished them – that they were generally poor men when they embraced it, and are now in very comfortable circumstances – as men averaging three or four wives apiece certainly need to be.

“If I hazard any criticism on Mormonism generally, I reserve them to a separate letter, being determined to make this a fair and full exposé of the doctrine and polity, in the very words of its prophet, so far as I can recall them. I do not believe President Young himself could present them in terms calculated to render them less obnoxious to the Gentil world than the above. But I have a right to add here, because I said it to the assembled chiefs at the close of the above colloquy, that the degradation (or, if you please, the restriction) of women to the single office of child-bearing and its accessories, is an inevitable consequence of the system here paramount. I have not observed a sign in the streets, an advertisement in the journals of this Mormon metropolis, whereby a woman proposes to do anything whatever. No Mormon has ever cited to me his wife’s or any woman’s opinion on any subject; no Mormon woman has been introduced or has spoken to me; and, though I have been asked to visit Mormons in their houses, no one has spoken of his wife (or wives) desiring to see me, or his desiring me to make her (or their) acquaintance, or voluntarily indicated the existence of such a being or beings. I will not attempt to report our talk on this subject, because, unlike what I have above given, it assumed somewhat the character of a disputation, and I could hardly give it impartially; but one remark made by President Young I think I can give accurately, and it may serve as a sample of all that was offered on that side. It was in these words, I think, exactly – ‘If I did not consider myself competent to transact a certain business without taking my wife’s or any woman’s counsel with regard to it, I think I ought to let that business alone.’ The spirit with regard to women, of the entire Mormon, as of all other polygamic systems, is fairly displayed in this avowal. Let any such system become established and prevalent, and women will soon be confined to the harem, and her appearance in the street with unveiled face will be accounted immodest.”