| 253 I left home February 1, and met Bro. J. T. Kinneman at the depot in Stewartsville, on his way to conference of Far West District. I accompanied him and near the place of my nativity I met the Saints, among whom I found Uncle William. It was with peculiar feelings that I joined in the business of the conference; and these feelings were intensified when I was called upon to speak, and subsequently to baptize in the immediate neighborhood of my birthplace, whence forty years ago, my father and mother were driven by mob violence. I could not help thinking that God in his own time and way was preparing for the return from exile those who are faithful, to their land of promise, and my heart was soft, my trust strengthened in the work.-The Saints' Herald, vol. 26, p. 89.
March 19, the Bluff Creek Branch was organized in Jackson County, Mississippi, by Elder Heman C. Smith and Priest James Falk. This was a new place, the faith of the church having first been presented in the place by these ministers five weeks previous to the organization. The branch was composed of twelve members; R. M. King presiding priest, Simeon Cochrane teacher.
On March 30,1879, a mass meeting was held on the Temple Lot at Far West, Missouri. The meeting was addressed by Elder William B. Smith, and some preambles and resolutions adopted. 2
2 Whereas, The Church of Jesus Christ of latter Day Saints was expelled from the state of Missouri in 1838-39, by executive authority under mob rule; and, Whereas, The church of the Saints having entered many thousand acres of land for which they paid their money in silver and gold, in this county of Caldwell; and, Whereas, The Saints after having expended hundreds of thousands of dollars in the purchase of lands, making improvements, building houses, and devoting much labor in opening new farms among strangers, and in a strange land; and, Whereas, According to the sacred order of our church government, we, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, assembled here to-day en masse, do most sincerely regret our losses, and the great sacrifice of life and property, that fell to the lot of the Church that we are here to-day to represent; and, Whereas, We, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, esteem this spot of earth sacred; this Temple Lot where lies this corner-stone, that was laid with honors due to the sacredness of those church rights and ordinances, wherein the worship and name of God are revered; not only in temples built with human hands, but honored and revered in the hearts of all men who are true believers in the gospel of Jesus Christ; and, Whereas, This corner-stone was laid here on this Temple Lot, over forty years ago, and consecrated to God by solemn prayer; and at a time when the blood of the Saints was made to drench this Missouri soil, in a land of boasted freedom, and yet by mob rule the Church of Christ was driven to seek an asylum in a more congenial clime; and, Whereas, The principal causes that led to this expulsion of the Saints from this county, of Caldwell and state of Missouri, have ceased to exist, since the emancipation of slaves, from the State; and, Whereas, A more civilized spirit has taken possession of the masses of the people of the state Of Missouri; therefore,
Resolved, That this meeting of the citizens of Caldwell County and Church of Jesus
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