Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1868-08-14
Where Mornonism Started.

WneTt 4uOrnOnlsm started.
Augusta Moore " writes from Mddletos,.
l Vt, to the n. Y. Ereniag Post, as follows =
Niddletown has the responsibility Of having
started slormonism. There can hardly be a
doubt Of this. A proud, head-strong, power
loving man named Wood, because he could not
RUE the church, run, or was turned, out Of it,
and set up for himself He soon concluded to
70 MAKE improvements in his religion-improve-
ihehts that Would suit himself-and he framed,
before he got it finished, the scheme which Jo
Smith afterwards adopted.
\ man named Winchell, a counterfeiter and
fugitive from Justice, making Mr.. Woods &C
lualntance, discovered that he was in the right
frame Oi mind TO be made use of as a tool for his
eNll purposes, and he forthwith set to work upon
HIM Winchell was an expert He understood
human nature He humorei the wild religion.
notions of Wood, and obtained great influence
over him. Through Mr.. Woods influence with
the large number Of his followers Winchell soon
ruled over them and by the magic Of witch
hazel Wands, and the hope Of vast treasures Of
gold hidden in the earth, for which he kent
them digging, he juggei out of them all the
silver and gold they possessed. and made them
subserve all his villanous schemes
Mr. Wood, supposing himself prophet, set a
night for terrible earthquake to take place and
destroy the Gentiles, as he called his enemies.
lhere had been so many dark threats and pre-
dctions made AZ 10 what was to befsll all who
had opposed themselves to President Wood, that.
as the night set for the catastrophe drew near.
the villagers became very much alarmed lest
steps should be taken to cause the predictions to
come true. They had no fear Of any other
/ destroying angels than some Of Woods half
crazy followers. The town militia were hastily
collected. sentries and patrols we're stationed
4 W IL. 11.,,r
not give a satisfactory account of himself, or
who looked in the least like DESTROYING an
gel"
Great excitement. martial law and open eTes
prevailed all that night, but there WAS no eartf
quake The Wood family moved from Middle
town soon after their earthquake scheme, and
Jo. smiths tather, who was one Of the leading
Wood men, man named Cowdry, and the vii
lain Nmchell, not long subsequently were all
living in Palmyra, y. Y. They still kept up
the money-ligging, and As soon As Jo. smith
and Oliver Cowdry were large enough they were
seen trudging about the country, holding on 10
the two forks ON the witch-hazel wand. When
10. Smith grew up he adopted the ways Mr.
Wool had originated Of deserving the people by
pretended revelations &c; and thus, although
the Woods never had anything to do with Nor
moni>m after II known 10 the world as
such, they may have the credit or discrelit Of
starting it.
'' THE NrcE GIRL As with her male con- |
gener, locality, TO some extent, changes her |
characteristics In Boston, for instance. nice |
guhl is one whose appearance and actions are |
marked by the superior intelligence which per- |
wales the air of that favored town who is pale.
trail, and generally fowerlike and interesting |
who dances intellectually and not any better |
than nice guhl ought who iirts As if it were |
a moral duty, who almires Mr. Emerson.
THINKS hathrlna sweet poem, belongs to one
Of the best families. and lives in a swell front /
on Beacon street. IL j. her peculiaritv that she /
may wear -pcc;aclcs or not without at all Affect 1
ing her uiceness. her nose having Just the bridge |
curve OF beauty which suggests and explains /
my0pa-a perfect DOHs spectacui0rum. Indeed |
she often adopts the articles without at all need
ing them, simply for the sake Of their intellec- /
tual arr but -he commonly combines intelligence /
ami coquetry by wearing nip-nose glasses. The 1
Pml"iepha nice gurl Is more difficult To des-
cribe, because she leaves on the mi nd Of the 1
heh1lder no particular impression but one Of ex-
treme niceness and evident gurlishness She I
ought 20 have had grandfather. however. so A.
to talk about her family and some relative in
the Loyal League 4 nice gyurl in Baltimore is 4
extremely pretty and bewitchinglv di-oval /
aiores Harry Gilmore and the sunny south
sings Maryland, Ny Maryland" in a way to
rlyi-h sll ex-Confe,lerates. and takes every ou-
portunlty Of conhding TO You, in the prettiest
way Imaginable, her sorrow that YOU Yankees
were not exterminatei, and that Druid Park IS
several thousand acres larger and several thou
sand degrees handsomer than Central Park In
Washington there ara no nice gyerls the in
~tant they develop they are either married or de-
part of their own accord. We have left New
York ior the last, because, ofc0urse. a New York
nice rehl is the incest of MI girls, and is known
hy being pre,tier. more graceful and more ac-
epmpLshgl, and by doing everything that is TO
Bee ione better than any other girl in the world
-R0auf Table
TUE C,ruE PL,GrE-The following letter.
published by order OF the Governor of Illinois.
contains news Of the greatest Importance to the
a-mer- of New York:
T,RINA, ILL.,. July ~. 1868.
r. HIS Erceiisnry, G0rsrAor Oyles5v.
] take the liberty 20 write you to inform YOU
of the dreadful cattle plague that has broken out
iu our midst, which has proved fatal As to
tlii.e all the efforts 10 save a single animal
There has not one recovered that has been At
tackled The total loss up TO this date is from
forty 90 fifty valuable milk cows and fat steers
tire. now have twenty left, and they continue
60 die az the rate II ive or ten per d,y. II is
rapidly spreading over our prairirs and there
are iew in tins neghhorhood that are not Affect
e-i. 1t has taken the all from many poor fam
ily. and if We cannot discover some remedy il
will surely sweep our country Of a good deal Of
valuable stock. | have been informed that there
had been q committee II scientific men appointed
by YOU 10 examine some cases Of the kind in
Sau-imon County if so, you will confer a great
favor on Us, and We believe the county, to have
the matter examined. and see if the dreadful
scourge cannot be stayed 1t is believed bv
many TO have brought here by Texas stock. that
We're with ours month ago 1t Is certainly con-
tagion Of some kind, and increasing in violence
rapidly.
Z. RICHARDSON"
BLAIR ASD The FENIASs.-In 1866, the Fe-
mans held a meeting in St. Louis and sent for
Frank Blair to make speech to them. Blair,