The campaigners began work at once. Lorenzo Snow, to whom the state of Ohio was allotted, went to Kirtland, where he had several thousand pamphlets printed, setting forth the prophet's views and plans, and he then travelled around in a buggy, distributing the pamphlets and making addresses in Smith's behalf. "To many persons," he confesses, "who knew nothing of Joseph but through the ludicrous reports in circulation, the movement seemed a species of insanity."* John D. Lee was a most devout Mormon, but his judgment revolted against this movement. "I would a thousand times rather have been shut up in jail," he says. He began his canvassing while on the boat bound for, St. Louis. "I told them," he relates, "the prophet would lead both candidates. There was a large crowd on the boat, and an election was proposed. The prophet received a majority of 75 out of 125 votes polled. This created a tremendous laugh."** * "Biography of Lorenzo Snow." ** "Mormonism Unveiled," p.149. We have an account of one state convention called to consider Smith's candidacy, and this was held in the Melodeon in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 1, 1844, the news of Smith's death not yet having reached that city. A party of young rowdies practically took possession of the hall as soon as the business of the convention began, and so disturbed the proceedings that the police were sent for, and they were able to clear the galleries only after a determined fight. The convention then adjourned to Bunker Hill, but nothing further is heard of its proceedings. The press of the city condemned the action of the disturbers as a disgrace. Mention is made in the Times and Seasons of July 1, 1844, of a conference of elders held in Dresden, Tennessee, on the 25th of May previous, at which Smith's name was presented as a presidential candidate. The meeting was broken up by a mob, which the sheriff confessed himself powerless to overcome, but it met later and voted to print three thousand copies of Smith's views. The prophet's death, which occurred so soon after the announcement of his candidacy, rendered it impossible to learn how serious a cause of political disturbance that candidacy might have been in neighborhoods where the Mormons had a following. CHAPTER VII. -- SOCIAL CONDITIONS IN NAUVOO Having followed Smith's political operations to their close, it is now necessary to retrace our steps, and examine the social conditions which prevailed in and around Nauvoo during the years of his reign--conditions which had quite as much to do in causing the expulsion of the Mormons from the state as did his political mistakes.