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A Profile of Mormon Missouri 1834-1839

Clark V. Johnson

In May 1839, a few months after he was forced to leave Missouri, Asahel Lathrop wrote that James Weldon, a neighbor, and W. P. Thompson, a justice of the peace, had warned him "to leave his home immediately or suffer Death." At this time, Asahel's wife was apparently recovering from a recent childbirth and was still weak. Shortly after he left, his home "was thronged" by 14 or 15 "armed men" who abused his family. These men moved into the house, took what they wanted, and forced Asahel's wife to cook, and wait on them. While he was away from home, he camped on the prairie out of sight but near his farm so he could watch over his family, and he appealed to local government leaders for help. During his absence his baby died and was "buried by the Mob" and his wife was not even["all[owed] to pay the last respects to her child."

After being gone nearly two weeks, he finally dared to return home. When he entered his house, he found his family "in a soriful situation not one of the remaining ones able to wait uppon the other." Once again he was warned to take his family and leave. Asahel moved his family about 60 miles where his wife died and his two remaining children died a "short time" later. When Asahel crossed the Mississippi River into Illinois, he had buried all of his family along the way.

Asahel Lathrop along with 12,000 to 15,000 other Mormons fled from Missouri after Governor Lilburn W. Boggs issued the now infamous Extermination Order. Lathrop's affidavit is representative of at least 800 documents. Most of these are petitions by Latter-day Saints sworn before government officials illustrating some of the most violent stories ever told concerning religious persecution on the US frontier. These recorded documents provide a detailed account of Mormon persecution in Missouri. In addition they also give detailed information about land ownership, wealth, personal property, and migration of the Saints who were present on the Missouri frontier in the 1830s.

The Saints Settle in Missouri

Under the Prophet Joseph Smith's direction, the Saints began settling Jackson County in western Missouri in 1831. Joseph dedicated several sites in Jackson County for the future use of Church members (D&C 52:2-5). As early as April 1832, troubles arose between the Mormons and their Missouri neighbors and in 1833 mobs drove the Saints from Jackson County. Most of the exiles settled in Clay County, but some moved north and east into the counties of Ray, Clinton, LaFayette, Carroll, Chariton, Randolph, and Monroe and into areas that later came to be known as Daviess and Caldwell Counties. Here the Mormons settled long enough to build homes and plant crops. This brief respite lasted only a few months, and then in 1836, mobs again gathered in response to continual Mormon migration from the eastern states and to agitation by Jackson County residents.