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rRSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 1968Hancock Native's F Great-Granddad W Died in Massacre , ’Thiby I tyIda Blum maAllOvSt«InStorInterest in the Haun’s Mill Massacre of 1838, published re-cently, has traveled across the; Par western prair-^s and the Rocky. Mountains to Lancaster, Calif., , bringing another version of that c 8event in the history of the mid- 1west.Byron Lloyd Benner, Lancas- an( ter, Calif., native of Sonora Township, Hancock County, j ®rawrote: My mother’s people, the 'Boltons came from England in a.nthe 1840’s and settled in Sonora j as did my father’s people theBradleys and Goldens. Abram Golden was very prominent in | Sonora Township during the| pioneer days. My folks moved| to Lee County. Iowa, in 1910. TrBenner continued “In the thagi Kingston, Mo„ courthouse yard day.is a large plaque. A part of the oinscription reads ‘A massacre the occurred in Caldwell County in wini which 17 men of the Mormon or Buri Latter Day Saints faith were 726 killed.’ ’’ He added that his great, grandfather was killed in this; encounter during the afternoon j of Tuesday. Oct. 30. 1838, during the Mormon War in Mis- j sourl.Excerpts from an article writ-j ten by Burr Joy in the Globe- j Democrat many years ago read:!The massacre was perpetuated; on the very day that the militia arrived in Far West, with orders from Gov. Boggs to expel the Mormons from the state or exterminate them. At Haun’s Mill, near Breckenridge, about 20 Mormon families had collected. Haun was a Mormon. He had a very good mill and clustered around it was a blacksmith shop, also half a dozen small houses.Alarm Sounded The alarm that troops were moving against them had sent nearly all the Mormons in Caldwell county to Far West for safety. A dozen or more living in the vicinity returned to Haun’s mill located 20 miles east of Far West. As there were not enough houses at Haun’s mill, some were living in tents and temporary shelters. About four families had come in on the eve of the 29th from Ohio and were in their emigrant wag ons.“When word came they were to be attacked, about 25 men and boys, indifferently armed, organized at the mill. North of the mill was timber half a mile wide, beyond was prairie. The mob of about 200 men set outj October 30 for the doomed ham- j let at Haun’s mill. The Gentiles! were mounted, they went j through the timber right up to' the border of the settlement, j and speedily began the attack.1 The air was filled with shot and | shouts—the battle was on! Thej Mormons huddled together in j the blacksmith shop and were! easily killed or wounded. The women and children ran to the timber for shelter.“The door of the shop was thrown open and some tried to run to other shelter and were easily shot. Capt. Evans was so excited ne ran seven miles to Mud Creek with his gun loaded, not having used it. At least three wounded men were hacked to death with corn knives, or finished with rifle bullets. Charles Merrick, a small boy, hid under the bellow’s and when he ran out received a load of buckshot and a rifle ball. Thom-! as McBride, 70. a soldier with Washington in the Revolution, j was shot and lay helpless. A man named Rogers is said to have killed him and hacked his body. The Gentiles lost not one man but three were wounded.17 Mormons Rilled The Mormons Killed numbered 17, among them being Elias Benner, great grandfather of Byron Lloyd Benner. The widows and orphans came from their hiding places, the wailing and grief and the terror were pitiful. All that night they were alone with their dead and wounded. The next day the dead were placed in an old well, some hay was thrown on the ghasMy pile and dirt was thrown on the hay.The following affidavit was made by Mrs. A. Smith whose husband and son had been killed in the massacre The next day the mob returned. They told us we must leave the state or be killed. It was bad weather and they took most of our teams and clothing; our men were either killed or wounded; I started in the cold weather for Illinois with my children. It was mob all the way, I drove the team and we slept out of doors. We suffered greatly from cold, hunger and fatigue and for what?For our religion. In this boasted land of liberty. Deny your faith or die was the cry. By the last of April all the Mormons had left Missouri.
Newspaper Details
Carthage Hancock County Journal
Carthage, Illinois, US
Thu, Oct 31, 1968
Page 6
Full Page
Clipped by
Genealogical F.
OR, USA 26 May 2024
Other Publications Near Carthage, Illinois
Carthage Hancock County Journal
