History of Utah, 1540-1886 - Brigham Young University

126 THE STORY OF MORMONISM.
It is the opinion of some that the Danite band, or
Destroying Angels as again they are called, was organized
at the recommendation of the governor of Missouri
as a means of self-defence against persecutions
in that state. 25 Thomas B. Marsh, late president of
the twelve apostles, and president of the church at
Far West, but now a dissenter, having "abandoned
the faith of the Mormons from a conviction of their
immorality and impiety," testifies that in October,
1838, they "had a meeting at Far West, at which they
appointed a company of twelve, by the name of the
Destruction Company, for the purpose of burning and
destroying." 26
The apostate Bennett gives a number of names by
which the same society, or divisions of it, were known,
such as Daughter of Zion, Big Fan, 27 "inasmuch as it
fanned out the chaff from the wheat," Brother of
Gideon, Destructive, Flying Angel. The explanation
of Joseph, the prophet, was that one Doctor
Sampson Arvard, who after being a short time in the
church, in order to add to his importance and influence
secretly initiated the order of Danites, and held meet-
a pretext; it accurately described their intentions, and they called themselves
the Daughters of Zion. Some ridicule was made at these bearded and bloody
daughters, and the name did not sit easily. Destroying Angels came next;
the Big Fan of the thresher that should thoroughly purge the floor was tried
and dropped. Genesis, xlix. 17, furnished the name that they finally assumed.
The verse is quite significant: " Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in
the path, that biteth the horse's heels, so that his rider shall fall backward."
The sons of Dan was the style they adopted; and many have been the times
that they have been adders in the path, and many a man has fallen backward,
and has been seen no more.'
23 See Smucker's Hist. Mor., 108.
26 'The members of this order were placed under the most sacred obligations
that language could invent. . .to stand by each other unto death, . . .to
sustain, protect, defend, and obey the leaders of the church under any and
all circumstances unto death.' To divulge a Danite secret was death. There
were signs and tokens, the refusal to respect which was death. 'This sign
or token of distress is made by placing the right hand on the right side of the
face, with the points of the fingers upwards, shoving the hand upwards until
the ear is snug up between the thumb and forefinger.' Lee's Mormonism, 57-8.
27 'The society was instituted for the purpose of driving out from the
holy land, their earthly paradise, in Missouri, all apostates or dissenters. . .
They make no scruple whatever to commib perjury, when deemed requisite
for the welfare of their church. . .The number of Danites is now, 1842, about
2,000 or 2,500. From the elite of the Danites, or Daughters of Zion, twelve
men are selected, who are called Destructives, or Destroying Angels, or Flying
Angels.' Mormonism Exposed, 265-9.