Posted by:
randyj
(
)
Date: March 07, 2014 10:57PM
...dealing with crimes that Mormons were engaged in which sped their removal from Illinois.
http://www.utlm.org/booklist/titles/earlymormonoriginscounterfeitingnetworks_xb346.htmHere's part of an old post of mine from alt.religion.mormon in which I quoted an eyewitness of the period, Edward Bonney, who had been a member of Joseph Smith's secret "Council of Fifty":
"While the Mormons were rapidly increasing in numbers and daily increasing
their power and wealth, the country around was suffering from a succession of
robberies almost without parallel in the annals of crime. Stock of every
description and goods of all kinds were constantly taken, and all in the
vicinity trembled lest they, like their neighbors, might be stripped of their
all without a hope of restoration or revenge.
"The offenders were frequently tracked in the direction of Nauvoo, and
sometimes, though rarely, the property was recovered, but in no case could the
perpetrators of the crime be arrested and brought to justice. In case of an
arrest at Nauvoo the accused were immediately released by the city authorities,
and the cry of 'persecution against the Saints' raised, effectually drowning
the pleas for justice of the injured, and the officer forced to return and tell
the tale of defeat. This done, the fugitive found a safe shelter under the
widespread wings of the Mormon leaders, and laughed at pursuit."
("The Banditti of the Prairies," Edward Bonney, U. of Oklahoma Press, pp.
15-16.)
Joseph Smith used the Nauvoo City Charter as a kangaroo court to prevent the
prosecution of any Mormons suspected of crimes (including himself, in the case
of the attempted murder of Governor Boggs), and that practice was a prime cause
of Smith's death. Leading Mormons were also heavily engaged in counterfeiting
of money. In December of 1845, Brigham Young, Willard Richards, John Taylor,
Parley P. Pratt and Orson Hyde were indicted on federal counterfeiting charges,
which hastened their exodus from Illinois:
"Warrants pending for the arrest of Brigham Young and other leaders on charges
of counterfeiting were among the reasons for the early departure of the Saints
from the 'city of Joseph' in February rather than in the spring as originally
proposed." (Kenneth W. Godfrey, BYU Studies, Winter 1968, p. 215.)
Thus we see that the "Brighamites" weren't expelled from Illinois because of
"religious persecution" any more than they had been from Missouri. Rather,
Young and his followers left Nauvoo even earlier than planned because he and
other leaders were fleeing federal counterfeiting charges.