The story has long been told in the family that when the children of
the family who had joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints left
Newry in 1836, that John and Hannah had joined them in the move. That story flies in the face of facts that
are known today.
After Hannah said
her good-byes to her kids as they left Newry, she and John continued to live on
the family farm for two more years. John
paid taxes in Newry through the year 1838.
In fact, he held elected office in Newry during this time. It is interesting that between the time of
Hannah’s baptism in 1834 and March of 1834 John held no elected or appointed
office. Could it be that there was some
level of prejudice against the Mormons and their families in Newry? Even though John had not joined surely his
status in the community was tainted by the several Carters who had joined. Once they left in 1836, John’s favor in the
community must have risen. On 7 Mar 1836
he, Elijah Powers and Alex Eames were chosen as Fence Viewers in Newry. I imagine this position required them to tour
the community and inspect fences so that poor fences would be repaired. On 15 Mar 1838 John and 9 others became
Highwaymen. No this doesn’t mean he
became a thief as we would use that name today.
In those days a Highwayman helped maintain the highways. On that same day he was also elected as the
Constable and Tax Collector. The
position of Constable and Tax Collector was probably the second most prestigious
position in the community only surpassed by the Selectmen who actually ran the
community government. There is a
notation in the town records that on 10 Sep 1838 that John called the meeting
that month and was paid $1.50 calling meetings that year. This is the last mention of John while he
lived in Newry.
So what transpired
in the Carter home between 1836 and 1838?
No doubt Hannah probably wanted to join the Saints in Ohio and be with
their older children, but John was most likely strongly opposed to this. He had already experienced some anti-Mormon
feeling in Newry and had to be aware of the problems the Church members were
having in both Kirtland and Missouri where they were congregating for their own
safety. There wasn’t instant news like
we have today but newspapers and letters would have kept the family in Maine
informed about developments in Ohio and Missouri.
Exactly what was
it that was transpiring where the Saints were congregated? To explain this the best source that gives a
relatively short answer is found in the article “Kirtland, Ohio” in The Encyclopedia of Mormonism found
online at http://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Kirtland,_Ohio. The following paragraphs are quotes from this
article:
During most of the
1830s there were two gathering places for Latter-day Saints, one in western
Missouri and the other in northeastern Ohio. Although more members gathered to
the Missouri frontier, Kirtland, Ohio, was the principal administrative
headquarters of the Church and the major base for directing missionary work
from 1831 until early 1838…. The major growth of the LDS population in Kirtland
began in 1833. The number rose from approximately 100 in that year to 2,000 in
1838.
Describing
conditions in the Kirtland community in the mid-1830s, one contemporary wrote,
"They came, men, women, and children, in every conceivable manner, some
with horses, oxen, and vehicles rough and rude, while others had walked all or
part of the distance. The future "City of the Saints' appeared like one
besieged. Every available house, shop, hut, or barn was filled to its utmost
capacity. Even boxes were roughly extemporized and used for shelter until
something more permanent could be secured" (History of Geauga and Lake
Counties, Ohio, p. 248).
The sudden influx of
Latter-day Saints to Kirtland had a major impact on the community. One of the
visible changes was the increase of small temporary dwellings. Although log and
small frame houses dotted the landscape during the first two decades of
colonization, larger and more permanent frame and brick structures were erected
before 1830. Squatters or renters, comprising half of the population in 1830, lived
in small frame houses. As Mormon immigration increased, however, clusters of
small unadorned cabins, a throwback to the dwellings of the earliest settlers,
appeared primarily in the northwestern section of the township.
Most Latter-day
Saints were poorer than the older settlers, partly because the Mormons were
recent immigrants. Prior to joining the Church, most members were not
transients, nor were they from the lowest economic classes in the East. Many,
however, lost economic ground by migrating to Kirtland. Some sold farms in New
York or New England for less than the market value, and many left equipment in
the East because of the expense of transporting it. All spent a portion of the
money derived from such sales on moving their families and supplies westward.
 |
| Kirtland Temple 1846 Lithograph |
After arriving in
Kirtland, Latter-day Saints fell further behind economically as a result of
contributing labor and scarce resources to Church projects. The Church erected
a variety of buildings in Kirtland between the east branch of the Chagrin River
and the eastern portion of a plateau that overlooked the river. The principal
structure was the Kirtland Temple. For almost three years, between the summer
of 1833 and the spring of 1836, nearly all members united in building the
three-story "House of the Lord" to be used as a meetinghouse and
school.
Some of the
non-Mormon residents considered the intrusion of Latter-day Saints into the
community a threat to their traditional pattern of living. Some complained that
the Mormon practice of living in harmony with revelations recorded by a prophet
was hostile to the American spirit of democracy. Residents not only rejected
LDS beliefs regarding visions, revelations, and the restoration but also
claimed that the Latter-day Saints had increased the poverty of the community
and were a political and economic threat. The political competition reached a
peak in 1837 when Latter-day Saints were elected to all local township offices
except for the office of constable. Prior to that year, only four Latter-day
Saints had been elected to a major office, and there had been a tendency for
the citizens to reelect the earliest settlers. In addition to gaining control
of the local government, Latter-day Saints transformed the township's voting
pattern from Whig to Democratic. Since Kirtland was located in a Whig section
of Ohio and all townships in Geauga County in the mid-1830s, except Kirtland,
supported that party, Whigs in northeastern Ohio united in opposition to the
Mormons. Complaints and charges escalated into threats and mob action.
 |
| Kirtland Safety Society Bank banknote |
Early in 1838, amid
intensifying pressures from outside the Church and apostasy within, accentuated
by the demise of the Kirtland Safety Society and the Panic of 1837 (see
Kirtland Economy), the exodus of Latter-day Saints from Kirtland and vicinity
began. Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and other leaders fled from mobs in
January. Other members gradually followed.
With family living
in Kirtland, John and Hannah probably were kept informed of developments in
Kirtland on a regular basis. The difficult
living conditions, the rise of apostasy and by 1837 the financial problems
caused by the collapse of the Kirtland Safety Society would all be negatives in
John’s eye. For a period he appears to
have been able to keep Hannah in Maine.
The situation changed rapidly in early 1838. Returning to The Encyclopedia of Mormonism we
read: “In most instances small groups of less than fifty traveled westward. On
July 5, 1838, however, more than 500 members left in a stream of fifty-nine
wagons-with twenty-seven tents, ninety-seven horses, twenty-two oxen,
sixty-nine cows, and one bull. As this long wagon train, known as Kirtland
Camp, moved across the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri,
spectators gathered to watch the sight. Some gave encouragement, while others
jeered and threatened violence. Because of financial problems, many in this
group were asked by the leaders to leave the camp, so that only a portion of
them reached the Missouri frontier… By mid-July 1838, more than 1,600
Latter-day Saints in the Kirtland area had reluctantly left the temple, vacated
their homes, and headed westward.”
 |
| Route of the Kirtland Camp |
 |
| Kirtland Camp in Mansfield, Ohio (facing persecution by local inhabitants) |
 |
| Historical Marker for Kirtland Camp |
One can only
imagine the gloom Hannah would have felt when she learned that her children had left (Dominicus, William, John, and Eliza) Kirtland headed for the edge of civilization in western Missouri. In February 1838 William and Sarah accompanied by his sister Eliza Ann and her new husband James C. Snow left on their own. Later in July 1838 as part of the Kirtland Company, Dominicus and John Jr and families left. The Kirtland Company eventually caught up with William and Eliza Ann in Indiana and they joined with the Company for the rest of the trip. At this point it can be imagined that Hannah
redoubled her efforts to persuade John to move where she could be closer to her
children. It appears that they
eventually came to a compromise in the later part of 1838.
On 25 October 1838
we read that Andrew N Stowe was chosen in Newry as collector of taxes to fill
the vacancy of John Carter. At the same
time Stephen E Frost was chosen to take John’s place as highwayman and
surveyor. Since John was in attendance
at the meeting of 10 Sep 1838 we can narrow the date that John and Hannah left
Newry to between mid-September to late October 1838. Since the rest of the family had left
Kirtland on July 5 of that year, they had a large head start but were making
very slow time. The Kirtland Camp groups
were financially strapped and had trouble obtaining supplies and therefore had
to stop to work to earn money to buy supplies.
Their progress was extremely slow and they would not reach their
destination at Far West, Missouri until October 2nd.
(The next episode will detail John and Hannah’s trip to Missouri and
where they finally settle.)
No comments:
Post a Comment