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Source: Church History Vol. 2 Chapter 17 Page: 340 (~1839)

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340 there were many distressing scenes. Having been banished from the State, they concluded to settle in Illinois, on the upper Mississippi, and eventually selected Hancock County, on the Mississippi, opposite the southeastern part of Iowa, as their future home.

"In the midst of an inclement winter, in December, 1838, and in January, 1839, many of the Mormon men, women, and children, the sick and the aged as well as the young and strong, were turned out of their homes in this county and Daviess, into the prairies and forests, without food or sufficient protection from the weather. In some instances in Daviess their houses were burnt before their eyes and they turned out into the deep snow. Only a few cabins in the southwestern part of Caldwell were burned at this time.

"Numerous families set out at once for Illinois, making the entire distance in midwinter, on foot. A large majority, however, remained until spring, as under the terms of the treaty they were allowed to remain in the county until that time. All through the winter and early spring those who remained prepared to leave. They offered their lands for sale at very small figures. In fact, many bartered their farms for teams and wagons to get away on. Some traded for any sort of property. Charles Ross, of Black Oak, bought forty acres of good land, north of Breckenridge, for a blind mare and a clock. Some tracts of good land north of Shoal Creek, in Kidder Township, brought only fifty cents an acre. Many of the Mormons had not yet secured the patents to their lands, and though they had regularly entered them, they could not sell them; the Gentiles would not buy unless they could receive the government's deeds, as well as the grantor's. These kinds of lands were abandoned altogether, in most instances, and afterward settled upon by Gentiles, who secured titles by keeping the taxes paid."-History of Caldwell and Livingston Counties, Missouri, pp. 141, 142.

The Democratic Association of Quincy, Illinois, on February 28, 1839, after inviting other citizens to meet with them, passed appropriate resolutions, which were signed

(page 340)

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