The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1875-08-19

Among the tragical incidents which
Mrs. Young herself remembers, is that
of an emigrant train which had passed
through and was joined by three apostate
women, who took refugein the train from
Mormonism. They were followed up by
party of Mormous for five days and ulti-
mately overtaken. The Mormon leader
came up with the captain of the train
and told him that he had three women
that they (the Mormons) wanted. The
captain of the train hesitated. Said the
Mormon leader, "You outnumber us
now, but within twenty-four hours we
can have enough to outnumber your en-
tire train" This argument prevailed.
The women were delivered up. Three
emigrant wagons were plundered by the
Mormons as they left, and their captives
were afterwards killed, as Mrs Young
No. 10 was informed by one of the party
while in Sacramento last fall.
Mrs. Young No. 10 claims that Brigham
Young has an organized secret band,
whose sole duty is to rid the world of all
offensive and dangerous persons. They
are known, she says, as the "Danites." " or
destroying Angels" }" and then she goes
on to relate this incident as an example
of their method and operations: Henry
Jones and his mother lived in a house
near where l lived when girl. We were
startled from our sleep one night by loud
cries and pistol shots. No one took any
notice of them, but in the morning a
wagon was driven through the street of
the city containing the dead bodies of
mother and son, with placard attached
containing these words; "ApOStateS Be-
Wdrep
This was done as an example to terror
ize the people, Another and more nota-
bic instance of the same sanguinary
spirit was the "Morrisite massacre" One
Morris undertook, with others, to start
an offshoot of the church. He alleged
that Brigham was a false prophet, and
he the only true one. He went with his
followers about thirty miles to the north
of Salt Lake City and encamped there in
tents. Brigham Young quickly dis
patched the Mormon militia to root them
all out, under command of Daniel
H. Wiles, Lieutenant General, and they
were all massacred.
Mrs. Young No. 10, at the time Of the
cruel and enormously wicked Mountain
Meadow massacre, was living in Payson,
and she remembered well the suppressed
whisperings which passed from mouth to
mouth concerning the fatal train. She
claims, however, that the majority of the
Mormon people were innocent of their
blood. Only a few, she says, were in the
confidence of the leaders of this diaboli-
cal scheme, and she thinks there is much
excuse to be made for them otherwise,
for they are taught in the church and
from the pulpit that lying, stealing and
killing in the interests of the church
were not sins. Thus when it was whis-
pered around that John D.. Lee and his
men had murdered these emigrants,
many of the people honestly refused to
believe it, and even when proof was con-
elusive, they tried to disbelieve it. Mrs.
No. 10 says that just before the massacre
Mr.. Young caused great excitement by
issuing proclamation forbidding the
passage through or entry into the Terri
tory of all emigrant trains.
Religious zeal, made blind by the long
and persistent misrepresentation of the
priesthood. was undoubtedly main mo-
tive. Without that fanaticism which
marked the fearful transaction in all its
phases. it could never have been written
in history at all. Joseph Smith left the
Mormon Church heritage of divine as
sumption such as never characterizedany
theocracy since the time when, led on
by cloud Of smoke and pillar of fire,
the Israelites journeyed down Canaan as
the favored people of Jehovah. The
outer world was Babylon and its inhab-
itants were Gentiles. Was it wonderful,
then, asks Mrs. Young, No. 10, that, be-
lieving themselves the Israelites of the
nineteenth century, the Mormons were
ready to believe also in their right to
take lives of their own and Gods enc
mics at the same timer She has heard
it on good authority, she says, that John
d. Lee (who has now revealed his share
in the infamous business), after the last
poor victim had been dispatched, waved
his sword over his head and exclaimed
exultinglv, "This day has the name of
Israel's God been glorifedP
The chief exciting cause, however, ac-
cording to the opinion of Mrs. Young
No. 10, was that the army of Albert Sid
ney Johnson was entering Mormon ter
ritory, and the Saints were preparing to
make an armed defense of Utah. They
had been driven with their accursed in
stitution of polygamy, from the East into
the wilderness; in the wilderness they
proposed to make stand. The Nauvoo
Legion was drilling day and night to re-
sist the United States invasion; the stars
and stripes was regarded as the flag of
hostile country; in point of fact, the Nor
mon territory was in state of rebellion.
Some of their leaders attributed to the
emigrants threats of assisting in that sec
tinn the work which Inhnsnn nrns hnnin.