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
