Commenting
on the Hawn’s Mill massacre, Taylor Halverson wrote:
When the people at Hawn’s Mill sent Jacob
Hawn to inquire of the Prophet what they should do—stay or flee to safety—Joseph
Smith clearly told Jacob Hawn that the Saints at the mill should go to Far West
for their own protection. Hawn feared losing his entire labor force, so he
misrepresented Joseph Smith’s counsel and told the Saints that the Prophet
wanted them to stay if they could. When Joseph Smith heard of the massacre the
next day—October 31—he was mortified that Jacob Hawn had not told the Saints
that he wanted them to leave Hawn’s Mill and go to Far West. The Prophet wrote,
“Up to this day God had given me wisdom to save the people who took counsel.
None had ever been killed who abode by my counsel.” He added that innocent
lives could have been preserved at Hawn’s Mill had his counsel been received
and followed. So it wasn’t the fault of the Saints who didn’t hearken to the
counsel of Joseph Smith—they never GOT the counsel of Joseph Smith because Hawn
didn’t want them to leave. (Taylor Halverson, The New Testament: Scriptural Insights and Commentary [American
Fork, Utah: Covenant Communications, 2018], 134 n. 30)
While not
presented as being divine revelation, Joseph Smith’s warning to Jacob Hawn does
show that counsel and advice by a prophet, as with prophecies they give, are
contingent and not statements of what will happen, no ifs, ands, or buts about
it. Sadly, Hawn not heeding Joseph’s advice had disastrous results.
For those
wishing to read up on the Haun's (alt. Hawn's) Mill Massacre, see
