Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow: One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsSnow, Eliza R. (Eliza Roxey)
Religion
Biography and Family Record of Lorenzo Snow: One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Snow, Eliza R. (Eliza Roxey)
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; Snow family; Snow, Lorenzo, 1814-1901
After this brief but impressive experience in the labors and dangers in
traveling on this celebrated river, we concluded to abandon our boat
and proceed on foot. In carrying out this programme, the first night
after leaving the river, we called at a gentleman's house and asked
for a night's lodging, without making ourselves known as "Mormons."
We were very kindly entertained by our host, whom we soon discovered
was a bitter mobocrat, and had acted the part of leader of a mob in
raiding one of our settlements. He was very wealthy, and had with him,
as guest, a rich southern planter, who told us that he, as neutral,
accompanied his friend, the captain of the mob above mentioned, and he
narrated the particulars of the fight, and its termination. He said
that the two parties met and fought with desperation. He sheltered
himself behind a large tree which was struck by "Mormon" bullets,
several times. At length a parley was held, and a council between
the leaders of the parties, in which the "Mormons" agreed to abandon
their location. Our host and his friend said they justified the manner
in which they were expelling the "Mormons," only on the ground that
they were mostly Yankees, and opposed to slavery, and they feared
that by settling in the State, the interest of the inhabitants, as
slave-holders, would be infringed upon. We all listened with respectful
attention, but those gentlemen little thought who composed their
audience, and they knew not our thoughts and the feelings of our hearts.
The next day we parted with our brethren who came down the river
with us, Brother Butterfield and I traveling together and holding
neighborhood meetings. We made the acquaintance of a Campbellite
preacher, who became so much interested with the principles we taught,
that he invited us to attend his conference, and I had a very enjoyable
time in preaching to his congregation. But opportunities for preaching,
in that time of excitement and belligerent feeling toward our people,
did not often come when unsought, and very frequently not then. The
many false reports in circulation against us were so exasperating the
feelings of the people in that section, that the spirit of mobocracy
was everywhere manifesting itself; in many instances it really assumed
the appearance of a species of insanity. Our main object was, by
giving correct information, to disabuse the minds of those we gained
access to, and allay the feverish sentiment of bitterness. Whenever
we succeeded in securing the attention of people, to listen to our
testimonies, we were pretty sure of their confidence. We held meetings
in several places where we were threatened, and in one instance
preached to a congregation in which were those who had come expressly
to mob us, but on seeing and hearing us, had changed their minds, and
at the close of the meeting, came and made their acknowledgments.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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