"then went to
Winchester in Randolph County, Indiana and stopped at the county seat, on the
head waters of the White River. We saw there a school master and introduced the
Gospel to him. He was so well pleased with the message that he spread the news
as fast as possible and called a meeting...This was in the fore part of July.
We continued to preach here in the region and around about, until we had raised
a large branch of the Church. We were sent forth from the Ward township. We
went there and in a short time we had in both places about one hundred members.
Among them, was a man by the name of Jones and his wife. He told me that he
went through the Revolutionary War, that he was a life guard once for General
Washington. He told me many things about the war, which was very interesting. I
told him my message and we discussed the Gospel for some time. Then he asked
for baptism and I baptized him. Afterwards, he said he had something for me. He
had saved a watermelon on purpose for me, so he now went and picked it.
He was so grateful to
me, it appeared to do him good to see me enjoying the watermelon, as if he were
feeding an angel. He was so thankful to be baptized and felt the spirit of the
Lord with him. I had no Elder with me at this time.
Soon after this, we
thought we should leave here, as we had done all we could in Winchester...It is
now the month of August that I made this last account. Mr. Jones showed me his
cornfield and cut down one stalk that measured one rod (17 ft). It was the
tallest corn I had ever seen. I think there was none in the field any longer.
This was on a branch, he says, of the head waters of the Wabash." [Salt Lake City. Bookcraft, 1969, pp. 46-104; Levi Hancock Autobiography Book of Abraham Project, Hugh W. Nibley]
Levi Hancock's "man named Jones," who served during the Revolutionary War, who lived
in the area near Winchester, Randolph County, Indiana in 1831 was baptized into the Church of the Latter Day Saints in the
summer of that year. Read together with the letter, it is clear that Levi Hancock is talking about the same Stephen Jones.
1833-1839 JACKSON, CLAY & CALDWELL COUNTIES, MISSOURI
Stephen Jones left Indiana
to join the Mormon community in Missouri. The facts presented here relating
to the Mormon enterprise in Missouri between 1831 and 1839 provide historical
context to Stephen Jones' experiences while he lived in the area of Jackson,
Clay, and Caldwell counties, Missouri.
In October of 1830
Mormon missionaries left Ohio and undertook a mission to western Missouri to preach
the Book of Mormon to the descendants of the Lamanites (Native Americans); in
January 1831 three missionaries crossed the state boundary into Indian
Territory; on their return, the missionaries stayed and preached to white
settlers in Jackson County, Missouri. This mission ultimately brought Joseph
Smith to Jackson County. In June of 1833 Joseph Smith sent a plan for the
building up of "Zion" in Jackson County. (Sometime later Smith is
reported to have told Brigham Young that Jackson County, Missouri had been the
location of the Garden of Eden [Joseph Smith, Doctrines & Covenant 57], and he named Adam-ondi-Ahman, an area in
Daviess County, was the area where Adam and Eve lived after being expelled from
Eden. [Joseph Smith, Doctrines & Covenant 116]) Mormons then began settling in Jackson, Clay, and Daviess counties,
claiming land through preemption rights.
Joseph Smith, writing in Times
and Seasons, indicated that Stephen Jones had settled near Independence, Jackson
County, Missouri sometime before 24 Dec 1833.
Earlier settlers looked on the Mormons as 'clannish' and 'fanatics.' In April
of 1833 three thousand original settlers of Jackson County met to plan the
removal of the Mormons. On 26 October 1833 a mob attacked a number of Mormon
families recently arrived from Indiana; on 31 October mobs destroyed homes and
drove women and children into the wilderness. Attacks continued around
Independence on November 1st, culminating on November 4th, with a confrontation between
Mormons and a mob that ended in several deaths. Between November 6th and 13th,
groups of Mormons fled from the mobs in Jackson into Clay County, Missouri. The
mobs then warned away any Mormons remaining in Jackson County.
[Joseph Smith Papers p.119]
Joseph Smith wrote in Times and Seasons (pages 960, 961): "On the night of
the 24th of December, four aged families living near the village of
Independence, whose penury and infirmities incident to old age forbade a speedy
removal, were driven from their houses by a party of the mob, who tore down
their chimneys, broke down their doors and windows, and hurled large rocks into
their houses, by which the life of old Mr. Miller, in particular, was greatly
endangered. Mr. Miller is aged sixty-five years, being the youngest man in the four
families. Some of these men have toiled and bled in the defense of their
country; and old Mr. Jones, one of the sufferers, served as lifeguard
to General George Washington, in the Revolution. Well may the sol-dier
of Seventy-Six contemplate with horror the scenes which surround him at this
day in Jackson County, where liberty, law, and equal rights are trodden under
foot.” [History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints 1805-1835;
written and compiled by President Joseph Smith and Apostle Herman C. Smith of
the Reorganized Church; Vol. 1, 9th Edition; Lamoni, Iowa 1917; pg. 393;
www.google.com/ Google Books] (church leader Newel Knight reports this event as having taken
place in 'midwinter' 1838/39, and the families having fled to Clay County,
Missouri.) ["Newel Knight's Journal," Classic Experiences and
Adventures (Salt Lake City. Bookcraft, 1969), pp. 46-104; Book of Abraham
Project; Hugh W. Nibley]
(One will recall that the anecdotal story of Stephen Jones serving as
lifeguard to George Washington has been previously noted by both Levi W.
Hancock in his journal, and also by Stephen Jones, himself, in his testimony
given at his pension hearing. This clearly places Stephen Jones living near
Independence, Jackson County, Missouri before 24 Dec 1833, Joseph Smith's
recounting being more contemporary than Newel Knight's.)
It soon became clear that Mormons and non-Mormons would not be able to co-exist
peacefully in Missouri. In response to a separate-but-equal proposal, the
Missouri legislature established Caldwell County in 1836 as a "Mormon
Reservation," however, mass emigration soon resulted in the Mormon
population continuing to spill over into neighboring counties. [Smith; A LookAt How Viglante Justice Shaped Missouri]
On 30 Sep 1837 in a deposition at Terre Haute, Indiana, Walter Dickerson
identified "Stephen Jones Sr. of Clinton County, Mo., aged about 75
years." [Revolutionary War Pension Files Roll: 1445 Image: M804 File S15,903; Heritage Quest]
It is a matter of record that on 4 Dec 1837 Stephen Jones appeared in the
court convened in Caldwell County, Missouri, and made a statement of his
Revolutionary War service. On the same date Levi W. Hancock and Alfred Lee
appeared in court as witnesses for Stephen Jones. The deposition of Dickerson was entered into Caldwell County Court Records at this time.
 |
Stephen Jones' 1838 letter p.1
|
On 1 May 1838 Stephen Jones wrote a letter from "State of Missouri,
Caldwell County, Far West." describing his trip to the Wabash on a
borrowed mare, to obtain the deposition of Walter Dickerson in the matter of
his pension petition. Later in the letter, Stephen Jones stated he had sold his
'improvement' for fifty dollars, and was settling about 5 miles north of Far
West. Stephen also stated he had applied for a pension the previous December,
but had not yet had an answer from Washington. [Letter of Stephen Jones dated 1 May 1838]
By 1838 some six thousand Saints had settled in western Missouri. The troubles which began for the Mormons in 1833 in Jackson County did not relent, and what became known in Missouri as the "Mormon War" broke out in the summer of 1838. Then, in response when a Mormon group attacked a duly sworn militia, on 27 Oct 1838 Governor Lilburn W.
 |
Stephen Jones' 1838 Letter p.2
|
Boggs of Missouri issued an Extermination Order, which read in part "The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the state if necessary for the public peace." [Missouri Digital Heritage: The Missouri Mormon War, Missouri Office of the Secretary of State; c.2010]
The phrase 'extermination order' was understood at that time to be policy of
expulsion, and had been in use by the Federal Government against groups of
Native Americans, and even in several Missouri counties against the Mormons;
Boggs’ order was reiterating a policy already being enforced by Missouri
counties. On the issue of the order, the Missouri troops surrounded Far West.
Militia leaders used the order to impose four terms upon the conquered Mormons:
take their leaders into custody for trial and punishment; give over their
personal property to repay costs incurred in the 'war;' surrender all arms; and
leave the state immediately under militia escort. The Mormons now recognized
the need to seek safety outside Missouri. Due to their willingness to comply
with the order, and due to early snows, the order was modified to allow the
Mormons remain until spring, but they were warned not to plant any crops.
[Richard L. Anderson, "Clarification of Boggs' 'Order' and Joseph Smith's
Constitutionalism," Regional Studies in Latter-day Saint History:
Missouri, Arnold K. Garr and Clark V. Johnson, eds. (Provo, Utah: Department of
Church History and Doctrine, Brigham Young University, 19894), 27-83; William G. Hartley: Missouri’s 1838 Extermination Order]
The need to leave became pressing and church members who had resources chose to leave via riverboat down the Missouri to St. Louis and Quincy, Illinois.
Those without resources remained in Missouri, suffering without adequate shelter, with their property surrendered, and no crops, had little or no food. Many
decided not wait for spring, but set out during a short-lived mild turn in the
winter weather. William G. Hartley: Missouri’s 1838 Extermination Order]
 |
The Frozen Mississippi, c. 1905
|
"While most Latter-day Saints evacuated individually, using their own
resources, many lacked wagons, teams, resources, and needed assistance."
[William G. Hartley: Missouri's" 1838 Extermination Order and the Mormon's
Forced Removal to Illinois; Mormon Historic Studies; 2001]. By January, the
first wave of Mormons had made the 200-mile trek across Missouri, and were camped at the Mississippi
River in bitter weather, while the wagons returned to Caldwell County to remove
more of the brethren. All told, over 6,000 Latter Day Saints were welcomed at Quincy, and the area around Keokuk, Iowa. [Nelson; Untold difficulties of Quincy and the Mormons in 1839]
As a final note to Stephen Jones' time in Missouri, on 29 Jan 1839 he signed
a resolution, which had been introduced by Brigham Young, to help remove the
poor from the state. The agreement read in part "We, whose names are
here-under written, do each for ourselves individually hereby covenant to stand
by and assist each other, to the utmost of our abilities, in removing from the
State in compliance with the authority of the State...for providing means for
the removing of the poor and destitute...Far West, Missouri, Jan. 29th,
1839," and was signed by both Alfred Lee and Stephen Jones, among others.
[Latter Day Saints Millennial Star No. 46 Vol XVI Saturday, November 18, 1854,
pp. 730-732; Google Books].
As the resolution was signed in Far West, it appears that Stephen Jones
probably left Caldwell County mid-winter of 1839, traveling eastward across,
and crossing the Mississippi River to Quincy, Illinois with the main body of
the Saints. By February most of the emigrants had crossed the Mississippi and arrived at Quincy, where they were offered aid and refuge.
In an undated petition to the Commissioner of Pensions, Stephen Jones
requests a change of address to pick up his pension payment from St. Louis,
Missouri to Quincy, Illinois, due the fact that he is "one of those People
who have been lately compelled to leave the State of Missouri in conformity to
an Order made by Governor Boggs, and is now a resident, in the City of Quincy,
State of Illinois and has been at considerable trouble, loss of time, and much
expense, by being obliged to go from Quincy to St. Louis to receive his last
payment, in the Month of September last." [Revolutionary War Pension Files Roll: 1445 Image: M804 File S15,903; Heritage Quest]
1839-1842
QUINCY, ILLINOIS
Stephen Jones was
among 6,000 Latter Day Saints who found refuge in Quincy, Illinois after their
expulsion from Missouri. The Saints arrived homeless and without means of
support. Quincy residents expressed indignation at the treatment of the
Mormons, welcoming them and offering protection. At one point refugees
outnumbered residents 3 to 1; still, many Quincy residents took refugees into
their homes, while other refugees camped in makeshift tents in Quincy's
Washington Park. [Quincy: City of
Refuge; Susan Easton Black,
Mormon Historical Studies]
Below is an ad that appeared in a February 1839 edition of the Quincy Daily
Whig.
| 1839 Quincy handbill and a roughly contemporary view of Quincy painted by Henry Lewis |
|
|
Coincidentally, Quincy, Illinois was the city where Stephen's son, Moses, had purchased a lot and house; Moses and his family had been Quincy residents since before 1835. It is a probable assumption that Stephen would have been taken in by his son upon arriving in Quincy. Moses was the only child of Stephen to have joined the Latter-Day Saints church, probably within the year after his father's arrival in Quincy.
Joseph Smith had been jailed in Clay County during the Missouri Mormon War. From jail he instructed the Saints to compile affidavits concerning their losses, which were assembled into petitions seeking to recover damages incurred during the war. On 8 May 1839 at Quincy Stephen Jones filed an affidavit claiming his losses, which was included in the first petition. It reads as follows:
"Jones, Stephen
Quincy, Ill. May 8th 1839
A Charge of damages sustained by Stephen Jones in Consequence of being driven
at different times by mobs in the state of Missouri the whole amount sumed
[sic] together two hundred and fifteen Dollars $215.00
I certify the above account to Be Just and true according to the Best of my
Knole[dge]
Quincy, Ill May 8th 1839 Stephen Jones
{sworn to before C.M. Woods, C.C.C., Adams Co., IL, 15 May 1839}"
[FHL
US/CAN 6003720 Mormon Redress Petitions]
Stephen Jones' charge of damages at $215.00 would be valued at $5927.39 in today's money, still a small amount in consideration of a lifetime of work.
---------------------------------------------
In October 1840 Stephen Jones was appointed to the Presidency of the newly
organized Quincy stake. In the earliest record yet found,
Addenda notes [October -- November 1840, November 1841 in the handwriting of Willard Richards, recording from Joseph Smith's journal: [1840 Oct]
"25 Sunday 25. The Committee organized a stake at Quincey. The President & council were Daniel Stanton, Stephen Jones, & Bro. Benson. Bishop & council, B. Crouse Crouse [Bruce], Azariah Dustin & B. Stoddard." <The Joseph Smith Papers; records and writings of Joseph Smith , including records by other early LDS Church leaders]
The record was later re-recorded on 18 Oct 1854 by LDS Church Historian Geo. A. Smith: [18 Oct] 25 Sunday. The Committee organized a Stake at Quincy. Presidency were, Daniel Stanton, Stephen Jones and Ezra T. Benson (who was ordained a High Priest); also Bishop and Council, George W. Crouse, Azariah Dusten and >Sylvester< B. Stoddard." [Smith; History, 1838-1856, Volume C-1 Addenda; 1854; also cited by Roberts in History of the church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints, Part 1, Volume 4 pg. 233; Church of Jesus Christ of latter-day saints, ; Deseret News, 1908]
There has been confusion regarding the identity
of the individual who was appointed to the council with Daniel Stanton and
Ezra Benson.
In his autobiography written in 1846, Ezra Benson wrote "The next day Bro.
Hyrum [Smith, brother of Joseph]...organized the stake by
appointing Daniel Stanton, president, and Father Moses Jones, who was about
seventy years old, his first counsellor [sic]; he also ordained me a High Priest and
appointed me his second counselor, and remarked to the Saints, 'You may think a
little strange of my appointment, but Bro. Jones is an old man and experienced
in the Church, and Bro. Benson, is young and wants to learn.'" [Autobiography of
Ezra T. Benson (1811-1869); Book of Abraham Project, Early Saints]
Jeffrey O'Driscoll, author of Hyrum Smith: A Life of Integrity, in
his devotional address at Brigham Young University/Hawaii on 26 January 2010
entitled "Hyrum Smith: An Example of Faithfulness" seemingly paraphrases Benson's autobiography, "When
[Hyrum] reorganized a stake presidency in 1840, he called Daniel Stanton as
stake president, with an elderly Moses Jones as first counselor and
twenty-nine-year-old Ezra T. Benson as second counselor. 'You may think a
little strange of my appointment,' he explained, 'but Bro. Jones is an old man
and experienced in the Church, and Bro. Benson, is young and wants to
learn.'" ["Hyrum
Smith: An Example of Faithfulness"; Jeffrey O'Driscoll, 2010]
Moses Jones, whose name is recorded along with that of his spouse, Eliza, in
the Quincy Stake records, would have been about 40 years old, and so the age
and description of "Bro. Jones" does not match the son, but does
match the father, Stephen, whose name also appears in those records. It is my
opinion that Ezra Benson misremembered which 'Jones' was appointed counselor, as he was likely to have been acquainted with both, and would have a longer acquaintance with the son, Moses, who journeyed to Utah, where he settled in Utah County. [Mormon Pioneer Overland Travel Database, 1847-1868; 1856 Utah Statehood Census Index Provo, Utah County p. 984]
Joseph Smith first spoke of of the doctrine of vicarious work for the dead in 1838. It was two years later when the work was put into practice. "The first public affirmation of the ordinance of baptism for the dead
in the Church was in a funeral sermon given by Joseph Smith in Nauvoo in August
1840. The first baptisms for the dead were performed in the Mississippi River
near Nauvoo." [Light Planet:
Baptisms for the Dead; LightPlanet.com; 2010] Included among the earliest records for Baptisms for the Dead are Stephen
Jones for Jefferson, Thos & P.U.S. [President,
United States], friend; Lafayette, Genl Marquis De, friend, and
Washington, Geo & P.U.S., friend. In the same volume, Moses
Jones was baptized for Kissiah Jones, mother. [FHL US/CAN
183376 Baptisms for the Dead 1840-1845 Vol. A, pgs 81, 82, 100, 176] In April
of 1844 Moses performed baptisms for additional deceased family members Hiram
Jones (brother), Lydia Clark (aunt), Haldah Grant (aunt), and Hannah Harris
(aunt).
----------------------------------------
The 1841 Census of Pensioners (Second Ward of Quincy City, Adams County,
Illinois) records a pensioner named Stephen Jones, age 77, residing with Moses
Jones, the head of the household as of 1 Jun 1840. [1841 Census of Pensioners
for Revolutionary or Military Services; Washington, USA; Blair and Rives, 1841]
Moses' household was enumerated on 1 Jun 1840 in the 2nd Ward of Quincy. His
household included 1 male under 5, 1 male between 40 and 50, 1 male between 70
and 80, 2 females under 5, 1 female between 5 and 10, 1 female between 10 and
15, 1 female between 30 and 40, and 1 female between 70 and 80. [1840 U.S.
Federal Census, Quincy, Adams County, Illinois, pg. 7] The male between 70 and
80 is clearly Moses' father, Stephen Jones. It is unclear whether the female
between 70 and 80 was related to Moses or Eliza.
----------------------------------------
On 26(27) Jan 1842 Stephen Jones took his last breath. His
death at Quincy was acknowledged by the Quincy Stake, and he was buried in the
"Potters Field" in Woodlawn Cemetery in Quincy. (Second Quincy
Cemetery, now Madison Park, Pottersfield section, corner Maine and 24th
Streets, Quincy, Adams County, Illinois). The cemetery records
show that there were three distinct sections in the burial ground. The first is
identified simply by lot number and north or south. The second area is called
"Pottersfield," probably used for indigent burials. The third section
is called "Strangers Ground." [Ward, Maurine; Mormon Historical Studies,
Volume 2: The Early Quincy Cemetery and Mormon Burials; 2001; p.
149, 150, 152, 159; ]
A digital image and my
transcription of Stephen Jones' obituary from the Quincy Whig are shown below:
 |
| Quincy Whig; 5 Feb 1842; p.3 c.2 |
"A SOLDIER OF THE
REVOLUTION
Died in this city, on the 27th of Jan. 1842, Stephen JONES, aged 79 years. The
deceased was a soldier of the Revolution, and served his country with credit
and honor in those dark days of trouble. He was buried with military honors by
the volunteer companies of the city-the 'Grays' and 'Guards'. Thus has another
of those tried patriots faded from earth - death is fast thinning their ranks -
but a little time, and there will not be one left of that patriot band. Their
glorious deeds, however, will live forever in the minds of their
countrymen." [Quincy Whig; 5
Feb 1842 p.3 c.2]
