Sunday, May 29, 2022

The Devastation of Jackson County

 Under the section "PROPHECIES OF JOSEPH SMITH WHICH WERE FULFILLED (?)" critic Richard Packham offered the following example of a prophecy of Joseph Smith he believes was fulfilled:

 

JACKSON COUNTY WILL BE DEVASTATED: ca. 1839. Unrecorded prophecy, reported in Morris, PJS p 180. Joseph Smith advised General Doniphan not to own property in Jackson County, Missouri, because "God's wrath hangs over Jackson county. God's people have been ruthlessly driven from it, and you will live to see the day when it will be visited by fire and sword. The Lord of Hosts will sweep it with the besom of destruction. The fields and farms and houses will be destroyed, and only the chimneys will be left to mark the desolation."

 

FULFILLED?: In 1863 Union troops were ordered to burn all houses and crops in Jackson County because of the anti-Union guerrilla warfare of the residents. It was considered one of the worst atrocities of the war. (Richard Packham, Joseph Smith as a Prophet)

 

The following fuller discussion comes from Nephi Lowell Morris, The Prophecies of Joseph Smith and Their Fulfillment (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1920), 187-90:

 

I had the pleasure, in the early part of this year [1902] to meet Hon. Leonidas M. Lawson, of New York City, formerly a resident of Clay County, Missouri. Mr. Lawson is a brother-in-law of General Doniphan, and, one night, in the beautiful University Club, a night I shall long remember, he recounted to me many parts of the story here related. He said that his father had told him in his youth of the inhumanity of the Missourians' treatment of the "Mormon" people, and then he told me of his own visit to General Doniphan, in 1863; of their riding over Jackson County together, and of the incidents related in the following letter, which I requested him to write. Mr. Lawson is a man standing high in his profession, a lawyer of great ability, an orator known in Missouri, New York, and London, a man of world-wide travel and information, whose observations upon affairs and men are of recognized weight and value in the cosmopolitan circle of his acquaintance. It was a pleasure to hear him, without prejudice for or against the "Mormons," narrate eloquently the circumstances which he has so briefly, but pointedly, set down in this communication:

 

"New York City, February 7, 1902.

 

"Mr. Junius F. Wells, New York.

 

"My Dear Sir:—Responding to your request for a statement concerning the devastation of Jackson County, Mo., permit me to say:

 

"I am preparing a biographical sketch of General Alexander W. Doniphan. It will be remembered that General Doniphan commanded the famous expedition, which during the Mexican War, marched from Fort Leavenworth to Santa Fe, and thence to Chihuahua, fighting en route the Battle of Bracito and the Battle of Sacramento; in this latter engagement his little army of 1000 Missourians was opposed by a Mexican army 4000 strong. In the biography occurs the following interesting passage:

 

"In the year 1863, I visited General A. W. Doniphan at his home in Jackson County, Mo. This was soon after the devastation of Jackson County, Mo., under what is known as "Order No. 11." This devastation was complete. Farms were everywhere destroyed, and the farm houses were burned. During this visit General Doniphan related the following historical facts and personal incidents:

 

"'About the year 1831-2, the Mormons settled in Jackson County, Mo., under the leadership of Joseph Smith. The people of Jackson County became dissatisfied with their presence, and forced them to leave; and they crossed the Missouri River and settled in the counties of DeKalb, Caldwell, and Ray. They founded the town of Far West, and began to prepare the foundation of a Temple. It was here that the trouble arose which culminated in the expulsion of the Mormons from the State of Missouri, according to the command of Governor Lilburn W. Boggs. This was known in Missouri annals as the Mormon War. There were many among those who obeyed the order of the Governor, in the State Militia, who believed that the movement against the Mormons was unjust and cruel, and that the excitement was kept up by those who coveted the homes, the barns and the fields of the Mormon people. The latter, during their residence in the State of Missouri, paid, in entry fees for the land they claimed, to the U. S. Government Land Office, more than $300,000.00, which for that period represented a tremendous interest. During their sojourn in Missouri the Mormons did not practice or teach polygamy, so that question did not enter into it.

 

"'Following the early excitement, Joseph Smith was indicted for treason against the State of Missouri, and General Doniphan was one of the counsel employed to defend him, he having shown a friendly interest in Smith, whom he considered very badly treated. Joseph Smith was placed in prison in Liberty, Missouri, to await his trial. This place was the residence of General Doniphan. His partner in the practice of law was James H. Baldwin.

 

"'On one occasion General Doniphan caused the sheriff of the county to bring Joseph Smith from the prison to his law office, for the purpose of consultation about his defense. During Smith's presence in the office, a resident of Jackson County, Missouri, came in for the purpose of paying a fee which was due by him to the firm of Doniphan and Baldwin, and offered in payment a tract of land in Jackson County.

 

"'Doniphan told him that his parner, Mr. Baldwin, was almost at the moment, but as soon as he had an opportunity he would consult him and decide about the matter. When the Jackson County man retired, Joseph Smith, who had overheard the conversation, addressed General Doniphan about as follows:

 

"'Doniphan, I advise you not to take that Jackson County land in payment of the debt. God's wrath hangs over Jackson County. God's people have been ruthlessly driven from it, and you will live to see the day when it will be visited by fire and sword. The Lord of Hosts will sweep it with the besom of destruction. The fields and farms and houses will be destroyed, and only the chimneys will be left to mark the desolation.'

 

"General Doniphan said to me that the devastation of Jackson County forcibly reminded him of this remarkable prediction of the Mormon prophet.

 

"Yours sincerely,

 

"L. M. Lawson."

 

There is a prediction of the Prophet Joseph, not before put into print, and history has recorded its complete fulfillment.

 

As a remarkable evidence of its literal and exact fulfillment, I add the following self-explanatory and interesting letter from Judge A. Saxey, written in reply to a request for information upon the subject, and call attention to his use of the almost exact words of Joseph's prophecy, though so far as I know, he has not even heard that such a prediction was ever made:

 

"Spanish Fork, Utah, August 25, 1902."

 

"Mr. Junius F. Wells, Salt Lake City, Utah,

 

"Dear Sir:—Yours of August 22nd received. I hardly know how to write in a letter concerning the subject you inquire about. However, I will give you a little of what I know, and if you can use it, all right.

 

"I enlisted in a Kansas regiment in 1861. During the winter of 1861 and '62, my regiment was stationed at Kansas City, and we were around in Jackson County a great deal during the winter. Quantrill was operating in that locality, and we were trying to catch him. At one time, we surrounded Independence, and arrested everyone in the town. I can testify that Jackson County contained more contemptible, mean, devilish rebels than any I came across in an experience of four years. I had quite a talk with a man I arrested who lived on the Blue River, and who was there when the Saints were driven out, but that, I suppose, would be somewhat foreign to your inquiry.

 

"In the spring of 1862, my regiment went south, and it was during that time that "Order No. 11" was issued, but I was back there again in 1864, during the Price raid, and saw the condition of the country. The duty of executing the order was committed to Col. W. R. Penick's regiment, and there is no doubt but that he carried it into effect, from the howl the Copperhead papers made at the time. I went down the Blue River. We found houses, barns, outbuildings, nearly all burned down, and nothing left standing but the chimneys, which had, according to the fashion of the time, been built on the outside of the buildings. I remember very well that the county looked a veritable desolation.

 

"I do not know that what I have written will do you any good, if it will, you are welcome. Of course, I could tell a great deal more than I can write in a letter.

 

"Respectfully,

 

"A. Saxey."

 

While it is late and second hand, the fact that non-LDS (Leonidas M. Lawson) would attribute a prophecy to Joseph Smith that they believe was fulfilled strongly hints that there might be something to it as reflecting an authentic prediction of Joseph Smith.

 

It should also be noted that Packham is wrong in his conclusion that there are only “Five prophecies fulfilled” by Joseph Smith. There are many that have been fulfilled. For more, see:

 

Resources on Joseph Smith's Prophecies