JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Thirty years after rescinding the infamous 1838 Extermination Order issued by Gov. Lilburn W. Boggs against the Mormon people in Missouri, former Missouri Gov. Christopher Bond declared, "You bet I would do it again, if I found something like that besmirching our honor!"
The remark came during the opening ceremony of "The Missouri Mormon Experience: A Conference of History and Commemoration," held Sept. 8-9 at the Missouri State Capitol. The conference was co-sponsored by the Missouri State Archives (a division of the Missouri Secretary of State's office) and the Columbia Missouri Stake of the Church.
On Oct. 27, 1838, at the height of hostilities by mobs in Missouri against Joseph Smith and the Latter-day Saints, Gov. Boggs issued the executive order mandating that the Mormons "must be exterminated, or driven from the state, if necessary." What followed was the forced exodus of the body of the Church from Missouri into Illinois, where the headquarters city, Nauvoo, was founded the next year.
The Extermination Order remained a part of Missouri law until 1976, when Gov. Bond issued an executive order rescinding it. The act was publicized as a memorable event that year when the United States celebrated its Bicentennial. Later, Gov. Bond would go on to represent his state in the U.S. Senate.
Before a crowd of more than 400 on the steps of the capitol, Sen. Bond asserted: "Treatment of the people of the Mormon Church in Missouri during the late 1830s and beyond was barbaric. Women were raped and tortured. Men were killed by mobs or driven out of the state. Their property was stolen. The lucky ones were the ones who were left alive with nothing and were forced to make their way into a more hospitable state.
"What makes it so difficult to understand is that this barbarism was state-sanctioned and even state-ordered. Gov. Lilburn Boggs issued the extermination order making it legal to kill anyone who belonged to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The governor claimed that his action was 'necessary' to curb Mormon outrages and keep the public peace."
Sen. Bond said it seems impossible today that such events could happen in a nation founded on religious freedom. Drawing chuckles from the audience, he said, "What surprised me was that as late as 1976, the law was still on the books, though, thankfully, not enforced for many years."
He noted that Missouri is now home to some 56,000 Church members, adding, "As we celebrate the 170th anniversary of the establishment of the Church in Missouri and look back on its history, we do so with a brighter future and much higher hopes ahead."
The conference, he said, would encourage a move towards a more sympathetic understanding of Mormons and those of other faiths.
"God bless you in achieving the goals that we all seek of religious tolerance and freedom and celebration of our life as a multi-faceted free country and a free state."
Prior to the senator's remarks, Elder Maury Schooff, an Area Seventy, presented him with a replica of the original order issued by Gov. Boggs and a copy of the 1976 recision order.
In remarks to the audience, Elder Schooff said he cannot help but wonder if events in 1838 would have been different had the people enjoyed the means of communication that are available today. Events such as the conference give opportunity for people to come to a better understanding of common beliefs and an appreciation for the freedom "to worship our God as we understand Him to be," he said.
Of the Church members now living in Missouri, he said, " We're here to stay. The promised day is here. You see that in the buildings that dot your communities throughout the state of Missouri. You see that in the beautiful temple in St. Louis. You see that in the visitors center and other facilities in the Independence and Liberty area. The Church recognizes this area as a significant part of the history of the Church, an opportunity for those early saints to sacrifice in a special way."
President Michael Reall of the Columbia Missouri Stake suggested that in 1831, when the Church came to the Missouri area, "there was so little of what we now enjoy as freedoms."
The Bill of Rights portion of the U.S. Constitution had existed for only 40 years and was generally viewed as a federal mandate and only enforced at the federal level. "It wasn't until the mid-1840s that we began to have religious toleration as you and I understand it," he said.
Thus, much of the history of Missouri "is the history of our nation," he said. "We've watched as religious toleration has been provided for many people."
President Reall said, "We look at this conference as being one of healing," adding that it is "an opportunity to look at people as people." He spoke of the goodness of the people of Lexington, Mo., in helping the Mormon immigrants bound for Salt Lake City who were victims of the explosion of the steamboat Saluda on the Missouri River in 1852.
Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, whose office includes the Missouri State Archives, spoke of the volunteer work of Church members in helping the state preserve and make accessible historical documents.
A Web site launched in April makes accessible on the Internet death certificates for some 2 million Missourians who died between 1910 and 1955. "And we had tremendous help from folks at the Columbia Missouri Stake of the Church in doing that, in preserving and preparing these certificates," Secretary Carnahan said.
She added that the archives is working closely with the Church in digitizing records relating to the 1830s Missouri Mormon experience, records that will be put on line as well. "That Web site will include not just digital copies of Gov. Boggs' 1838 Extermination Order, but also Gov. Bond's recision order and lots of other documents I know will be of great interest," she said. — R. Scott Lloyd
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