| 418 time, and will crown the faithful with joy and with rejoicing. Behold I am Jesus Christ the Son of God, and I will lift them up at the last day; even so. Amen.
TO THE HONORABLE, THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF PENNSYLVANIA, IN LEGISLATIVE CAPACITY ASSEMBLED.
Your memoralist, [memorialist] a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and now an exile in the state of Illinois, begs leave, most respectfully to represent to your honorable body, that he was born in the state of Pennsylvania, on the 19th of February, A. D. 1793, in Alleghany [Allegheny] county, and township of St. Clair, that he continued his permanent residence in said state until the year 1826, when he moved to the state of Ohio. In 1831, he went into the state of Missouri, and in connexion [connection] with other members of said Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, became the owner of real estate in the county of Jackson, in said state: but by reason of the violence of a formidable mob, and the unwillingness of the authorities of Missouri to protect your memorialist, and those connected with him, in the possession of their rights, they were forbidden the privilege of enjoying their property, or receiving any benefit therefrom; that in the month of April, 1838, your memorialist moved with his family into the state of Missouri, into Caldwell county, and became owner of real estate in the said county of Caldwell, without however being privileged to enjoy the benefit of his lands in Jackson county. All the lands owned by your memorialist and his brethren, in Jackson county, were purchased from the United States, for which payment had been made in full; the benefits of which payment the United States now enjoy, and has ever since the purchase. There had large numbers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints settled in Caldwell county, at the time your memorialist went into that county, as also in Davies county, in said state. We commenced building houses, and improving our lands; building mills and other machinery, for our mutual benefit; quietly and peaceably enjoying our new homes, and using much industry and economy, to render the desolate waste, whither we had been driven, a pleasant habitation for man. The toils of the day, were followed by the sound of the hammer, the noise of the plane, and the hum of the wheel, at night. Day and night all was bustle, all was stir; every hour of the day, and many of the night, brought forth the fruits of industry, for the benefit of the settlers, and added additional improvement, beauty and comfort to our new homes. Our social circles, however, were not unfrequently [infrequently] disturbed by the tears and sobbings of some disconsolate widow, or the weeping of some bereaved orphan, bewailing the loss of a husband or a father, who had fallen a victim to the violence of the Jackson and Clay county mobs. Jackson county was the place of our choice, and nothing but violence could have caused our people to leave it. Their hearts were set upon it, and all their feelings associated with that place, as the future home of themselves and their posterity. The location in Caldwell and Davies counties, was only made by our people, by reason of violence and lawless outrages committed upon them. It was always received by us as a place of exile, and not of choice, and in dispite [spite] of all our efforts at cheerfulness, at times, the mind would be almost overwhelmed with melancholy, and we would say in our hearts, and often with our lips, 'what availeth us that our ancestors bled. and our fathers fought for liberty, while we are as captives in a strange land?' and like Israel along the streams of Babylon, we would be almost ready to hang our harps on the willows, and refuse to sing the song of Zion. O where is the patrimony our fathers bequeathed to us? Where is the liberty they purchased with their blood? Fled! alas fled!! but we hope not forever.
But the wants of our families would dissipate our feelings; we would engage in the labors of the day, and the toils of the night, with untiring perseverance, and struggle with all the powers of both mind and body, to render our families comfortable, and make our homes pleasant. But alas! this privilege was not allowed us. Our quiet industry, and untiring perseverance soon awakened the jealousy of our enemies, and the cry went forth, that if the Mormons (as they called us) were let alone, Caldwell county would, in five years, be the most wealthy and populous county in the state. This our enemies could not endure; and a regular system of mobocracy, of violence, and plunder, was formed to check us in our course to wealth and greatness, as our enemies supposed: and, indeed, they had some reason to think so; for an extent of improvement had been made in this remote and wild region, in the space of a few months, which had no parlallel [parallel] in the history of our western settlements, and I strongly doubt whether any where else.
This banditti of marauders increased in numbers and violence, until by device and stratagem, duplicity and falsehood, they got the authorities of the state to interfere, and aid them in their diabolical purposes; and the then Governor
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