Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1889-11-22
MORMON DESLOYALTY
Damaging Disclosures on the Witness
stand.
Gray-IIaired Ien Reveal the IniquiN
OF the Endowment House.

oaths taken by Mormons in the Endowment
House, and the attitude of the church
toward the United States government. On
the 10th of February next there will be a
municipal election in Salt Lake City, when
the first real contest for supremacy between
the Mormons and the Gentiles for the con
troll Of local affairs will take place Both
sides are active, and the Mormons have
brought forward many applicants for nat
uralization To these objection has been
raised on the ground that Mormons who
pass through the Endowment House are
obliged TO take oaths such as unfit them for
citizenship. In course of the testimony
taken ON this point several apostate Nor
mons have made under oath terrible accu
sations against the church, This evidence
all came from gray haired men, and its
| characteristic feature was the earnest and
emphatic manner in which it was given
John Bond told how he went through the
Endowment House in January, 1868 He
testified that the penalty for violating the
oaths then taken, or divulging them, was
death by cutting the throat from ear TO ear
cutting out the heart and tongue, and dis
embowelment In the Endowment House
he soemnly swore that he would avenge
the blood Of Joseph Smith the first presi
dent and prophet of the Mormon church,
and that he would preach this TO his chill
dren and his chldrens children that he
would thenceforth and forever begin and
carry out hostilities against the nation,
keeping his purpose a profound secret.
| Fifty men and women went through the
marriage ceremony on the same day that
Bond did, and Wilford Woodruff, the pres
ent president of the Mormon church. offici-
ated Bond did not want to go through |
the House and applied to the bishop of his |
ward to marry him The bishop told him |
Brigham Young had given strict instruc
tions that no one could be married outside |
the Endowment House In going through |
he obligated himself to sustain the doctrine |
Of polygamy, and all the women agreed |
that they would not oppose their husbands |
should they desire to take unto themselves |
more wives.
The next witness was Martin d. Wad |
dell, who is 81 years old and Joined the |
church at Pittsburg, Penn, in 1S47 He |
came to Utah IL years later, and in 1863 |
went through the Endowment House, where |
all the secret rites of the church are per
formed He went through again year
after, and on both occasions took an oath to
avenge the deaths of the prophets, Joseph |
tion from the President down TO the last
man in the country In another room he
took an oath not to divulge the penalty of
disemboW elment I'm that way, witness
said, they had the lock on US" The wit
ness refused to take the oath to obey the
priesthood in all things Being asked to
whether he ever saw the penalty inflicted
for violating the oath, he swore that he
saw a man named Green, who had aposta
tzed, have his throat cut from ear to ear
He gave full details of the crime and the
names of some of the men who participat
ed IN that murder, and who are still living
When witness and others demonstrated,
they were told they would be served in the
same way if they did not keep still W
H Dame who was the leader of the band,
said after the crime He apostatized once
and now he has apostatized and gone to
hell. ~ Witness testified that Green's prop
erty, consisting of $4,000 in cash and a
wagon load of merchandise, was taken to
the chief tthing yard of the city. Dame
was one of the principals in the Mountain
Meadow massacre.
Bishop Cahoon stated under oath that he
joined the Mormon church in 1888 at Kirts-
land, Ohio. was a member of the church
40 years and during that time he had been
Mormon bishop IS years. He went
ago. He told substantially the same story
as the other witnesses concerning the oaths
and penalties and the necessities of obey
ing the priesthood. and that apostacy was
punishable with death. One of the doc
trines was that it was not wrong to steal
from the enemies of the church. Witness
was frequently instructed that it would be
pleasing to the church to have a certain
man put out of the way, and he knew lots
of men who had been secretly murdered.
By order Of the court he gave the names of
several men who had been so murdered.
Another doctrine of the church was that
if a man violated any of his Endowment
House oaths the only way he could be saved
for eternity was to shed his blood here.
This doctrine was taught publicly and in
print.
James McGuffy told of the Mountain
Meadow massacre and connected it with .
the oaths taken in the Endowment House.
He is man IS years of age. He took an
oath in 1886 to uproot and destroy the |
American government He also took an .
oath to obey the priesthood in all things |
| spiritual and temporal. There were three |
organized bands of church murderers in |
those days called Danites, Blood Atoners |
and Avenging Angels. They had the work
| apportioned to them by Brigham Young, |
sensation was caused when Charles |
| Gilmore was called to the stand He asked |
1 to be excused from testifying, on the ground |
/ that, if he divulged the Endowment House |
oaths, his life would stand forfeited to the |
! church, and, while he cared not for him
self. he did care for his wife and family. |
The court thought the government was
abundantly able to protect him, and he was
required to testify. He related how he had
been bathed and anointed on going through |
the Endowment House, described the pc
culiar garments which Mormoms were
! compelled to put on there told how an old
cavalry sabre was exhibited under pecul
lar light, so as TO make a ghastly sight when
the oath was taken, and described the oaths
and penalties in detail.
Other apostate Mormoms testified to facts
equally startling, and equally damaging to
the Mormon church. One of them de
scribed the garment worn in the Endow-
ment House-a tight-fi fitting undergarment
with slit over the heart, one over the alb
domen and one over each knee. The slit
across the heart is TO remind the wearer
that if he divulges any of the oaths or Sc
crets, or apostatizes, he is to have his heart
cut out, and the cash across the abdomen
| is "A reminder that disembOwelment will
follow divulRencs
by Brigham Young and other leaders in
which the doctrine of implicit and unques
tioning obedience to the church in every
matter, small or great, spiritual or tempo
ral is taught, and blood atonement is bold
ly promulgated. On this latter point Brig
ham said in one of his sermons 81 have
known a great many men who have left
this church for whom there is no chance
whatever for exaltation, but if their blood
had been spilled it would have been better
for them. This is loving our neighbor as
ourselves. If he needs help, help him, and
if he wants salvation aud it is necessary TO
spill his blood ON the earth in order that he
may be saved, spill it. That is the way to
love mankind
Some of the Mormon elders were put ON
the witness stand 10 rebut this evidence.
They professed great loyalty and patriotism,
but when pressed on cross examination in
regard TO the oaths above referred to they
refused to answer, and the impression made
for the Mormon side was a damaging one.
Great local excitement has been caused
by these revelations, and il is believed by
many that the result will be TO disfranchise
not only Mormon poygamists, but all Nor
mons who have taken dislOyal oaths.
Edwin ArnoId's Visit 10 WhiIIier.
The venerable singer lives in a comforta-
BILE and characteristic dwelling, surrounded
by a small park, left much as nature made
it, and as the pre- adamite glaciers chiseed
out its dells aud hillocks, which are shaded
/ by large oak, elm, maple and magnolia
trees, amid the boughs of which the Amer