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by Mister IT is trying to Liahona outta here on January 5th, 2010

Mister IT is trying to Liahona outta here

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Help answer this question below.

How many Mormons were killed due to Missouri Governor Lilburn W. Boggs' 1838 Order of Extermination, (Missouri Executive Order Number 44)?

For your reference here is the full text of that extermination order:

Headquarters of the Militia,
City of Jefferson, Oct. 27, 1838.

General John B. Clark:

Sir Since the order of this morning to you, directing you to cause four hundred mounted men to be raised within your division, I have received by Amos Reese, Esq., of Ray county, and Wiley C. Williams, Esq., one of my aids, information of the most appalling character, which entirely changes the face of things, and places the Mormons in the attitude of an open and avowed defiance of the laws, and of having made war upon the people of this state. Your orders are, therefore, to hasten your operation with all possible speed. The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the state if necessary for the public peace--their outrages are beyond all description. If you can increase your force, you are authorized to do so to any extent you may consider necessary. I have just issued orders to Maj. Gen. Willock, of Marion county, to raise five hundred men, and to march them to the northern part of Daviess, and there unite with Gen. Doniphan, of Clay, who has been ordered with five hundred men to proceed to the same point for the purpose of intercepting the retreat of the Mormons to the north. They have been directed to communicate with you by express, you can also communicate with them if you find it necessary. Instead therefore of proceeding as at first directed to reinstate the citizens of Daviess in their homes, you will proceed immediately to Richmond and then operate against the Mormons. Brig. Gen. Parks of Ray, has been ordered to have four hundred of his brigade in readiness to join you at Richmond. The whole force will be placed under your command.

I am very respectfully,
your ob't serv't,

L. W. Boggs,
Commander-in-Chief

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Extermination_Order_%28Mormonism%29

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Answers. 1 helpful answer below.

  • by k on July 3rd, 2010
    voted: 0 (zero)

    k

    Asker's Pick

    Selected by the asker, Mister IT is trying to Liahona outta here. (What's this?)

    As far as I can find, not one person was killed as a direct result of the order of extermination. Not even lds.org says that anyone was killed as a result of the extermination order., and I would expect that if any deaths had occured as a result of the order, they would mention it. http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=5bbba41f6cc20110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=198bf4b13819d110VgnVCM1000003a94610aRCRD

    Some people claim that the Haun's mill massacre was a result of the order (the massacre having happened on October the 30, 1838 and the order of extermination being issued on October the 27, 1838), but it has been shown that the order was not received by the militia until October the 31. 1838. This means that the Haun's mill massacre was a result not of the unheard order, but of previously existing anger and fear. ("The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri," Stephen LeSeuer, U. of Missouri Press, pp.163-164)

    And this is substantiated by mormonwiki.com

    "The Mormon War entailed "shooting, house burning, pillaging of crops and livestock, and a skirmish called the Battle of Crooked River on 24 October in which a handful lost their lives, and the Haun's Mill Massacre on 30 October [probably before the news of the Extermination Order had reached Missourians] in which some seventeen innocent Mormons were brutally shot to death and fourteen others wounded by more than two hundred Missouri vigilantes" (Hartley, p. 6)."

    It is interesting to note that Joseph Smith himself condemned the mormons who chose to stay at Haun's mill rather than heed his advice to flee to Far West or Adam-ondi-Ahman.

    Years later the Prophet Joseph Smith said, “At Hauns’ Mill the brethren went contrary to my counsel; if they had not, their lives would have been spared” (History of the Church, 5:137).
    http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=5bbba41f6cc20110VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=198bf4b13819d110VgnVCM1000003a94610aRCRD

    While there were deaths on both the mormon and non-mormon sides during the Mormon war (August 6 to November 1, 1838), they happened as a result of anger swelling between the two groups of people, and that is ultimately what caused the order of extermination to be written. By that point the damage was done. The war ended 4 days after the order was issued. Joseph Smith ordered terms of surrender to be sought during the seige of Far West.

    Surrounded by the state militia, the mood in besieged Far West was uneasy. Joseph Smith ordered Colonel George M. Hinkle, the head of the Mormon militia in Caldwell County, to ride out and meet with General Lucas to seek terms. According to Hinkle, Smith wanted a treaty with the Missourians "on any terms short of battle" (Journal History, p. 13:449). Other Latter Day Saint witnesses remembered that Smith said to "beg like a dog for peace" (Corril, p. 41 and Peck, p. 24).http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_War_(1838)

    The mormons complied with the terms of surrender that were laid out by General Samuel Lucas of the Missouri state milita. The terms were:

    1.The Mormon leaders were to surrender immediately to stand trial.
    2.Mormon property would be seized and used to pay for damages.
    3.The Mormons would leave the state immediately.
    4.The Mormons would turn over all of their weapons.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extermination_order

    As a result of compliance, the mormons were left without weapons and without property. Brigham Young, among others, claimed that their livestock was slaughtered and either stolen or left to rot, as well, claims were made that many women were violently raped, some even until death. This last assertion has been discredited though, by Moromon historian Stephen C. LeSuer:

    “Nearly all reports of rape are based on hearsay and rumors. In addition, the reports are generally vague and often exaggerated—Brigham Young, for example, said that several Mormon women were “ravished to death.” But it cannot be expected that the victims would readily reveal details of these incidents. Parley P. Pratt said one of the victims verified that she had been raped but “delicacy at present forbids my mentioning the names” (HC 3:428, 434, affidavits of Parley P. Pratt and Brigham Young, 1 July 1843). Charles Morehead, the representative to the state legislature from Ray County, said during a debate that “he was in Far West when one of these reports [of rape] was started, and he assisted in attempting to ascertain the truth, and the Mormons themselves admitted that it was false” (Missouri Republican, 24 December 1838).”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extermination_order

    In complying with the terms of the surrender, 60 prisoners were taken by the militia. Of those 60, all were released except for Joseph Smith, Sydney Rigdon, Lymen Wright, Caleb Baldwin, Hyram Smith and Alexander McRae who were held in the Liberty jail in Liberty, Clay County. They were charged with murder, arson, robbery, larceny, burglary and treason against the state. These men were held in jail until the spring of 1939 when, during a transfer, their escape was arranged and executed. In the spring of 1839, the mormons left Missiouri and resettled in Illinois, where Joseph Smith joined them.

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