History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

AFFAIRS IN MISSOURI. 113
When the day arrived great numbers convened from
the different churches in the country. They spent
the day in fasting and prayer, and in washing and
perfuming their bodies; they also washed their feet,
and anointed their heads with what they called holy
oil, and pronounced blessings. In the evening they
met for the endowment. The fast was then broken."
Midsummer of 1837 saw Parley P. Pratt in New
York city, where he printed the first edition of his Voice
of Warning* and where he labored with great earnestness,
at first under many discouragements, later with
signal success. After that he went once more to
Missouri. Others were going in the same direction
from Kirtland and elsewhere during the entire period
between 1831 and 1838. The Messenger and Advocate
having been discontinued, the Elders Journal was
started by Joseph Smith in Kirtland in October
1837.
After the emeutes which occurred in Jackson county
in the autumn of 1833, as before related, the saints
escaped as best they were able to Clay county, where
they were kindly received. Some took up their abode
in Lafayette and Van Buren counties, and a few in
Ray and Clinton counties. 5 For their lands, stock,
furniture, buildings, and other property destroyed in
Jackson county, they received little or no compensation;
on the contrary, some who went back for their
effects were caught and beaten. 6
Nevertheless, there
4 It consisted of 4,000 copies. The author states that • it has since been
published and republished in America and Europe, till some 40,000 or 50,000
copies have not been sufficient to supply the demand.' Pratt's Aulobioyraphy,
184.
5 Most of these fled into Clay co., where they were received with some
degree of kindness, and encamped on the banks of the Missouri. Those who
went into Van Buren and Lafayette counties were soon expelled, and had to
move. Pratt's Persecution, 51; Mac/cay's Mormons, 78; Times and Seasons,
vi. 913. The Missouri River bends to the east as it enters the state, and runs
in a generally east direction through the western counties. Jackson co. ia
immediately south of Clay—the river being the dividing line—and Van
Buren lies next south of Jackson. All west of the state line was Indian territory,
as I have said. See map, p. 121 this vol.
6 The Jackson co. exiles being in a destitute condition, a conference was