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| Haun's Mill Historic Site |
Haun's
Mill
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| The Haun's Mill stone is now in Breckenridge, Missouri |
Missouri Militia
The
militia involved in the massacre was led by Colonel
William Jennings, Sheriff of Livingston County.
At the time of the attack it consisted of 240 men from Daviess, Livingston, Ray, Carroll, and Chariton counties and included
prominent men such as Charles Ashby of the Missouri state legislature and Thomas O. Byron, Clerk of Livingston County.[4]
Although
the massacre took place a few days
after Missouri's governor, Lilburn Boggs, issued his infamous Extermination Order, most historians have now concluded
that the militia unit had neither the time nor the opportunity to have received
news of the order.[5]
Truce
The threat
posed by the growing strength and animosity of the Missouri militia caused
considerable concern among the Mormon settlers at Haun's Mill. They held a
council on Sunday, October 28, and decided to organize a defensive force. 28
men were armed and held in readiness against an attack. That same evening, one
of the militia groups sent a representative who negotiated a truce with the
settlers. Monday the 29th and most of Tuesday the 30th passed without incident.[4]
Massacre
On October
30 at approximately 4 p.m., the militia rode into the community. David Evans, a
leader in the community, ran towards the militia, waving his hat and calling
for peace. Alerted to the militia's approach, most of the Latter-day Saint
women and children fled into the woods to the south, while most of the men
headed to the blacksmith shop. Unfortunately, the building was a particularly
vulnerable structure as the widely spaced logs made it easy for the attackers
to fire inside. The shop became a deathtrap, since the militia gave no quarter,
firing about one hundred rifle and musket shots into the building.
After the
initial attack, several of those who had been wounded or had surrendered were
shot dead. Members of the militia entered the shop and found ten-year-old
Sardius Smith, eight-year old Alma Smith, and nine-year-old Charles Merrick
hiding under the blacksmith's bellows. Alma and Charles were shot (Charles
later died), and William Reynolds put his musket against Sardius's skull and
blew off the top of his head, killing him.[6] Reynolds later
explained, "Nits will make lice, and if he had lived he would have become
a Mormon."[7] Seventy-eight-year-old
Thomas McBride surrendered his musket to militiaman Jacob Rogers, who then shot
McBride and hacked his body apart with a corn knife. Several other bodies were
mutilated or clothing stolen, while many women were assaulted. Houses were
robbed, wagons, tents and clothing were stolen, and horses and livestock were
driven off, leaving the surviving women and children destitute.
By the end
of the massacre at least seventeen Mormons were dead: Hiram Abbott, Elias
Benner, John Byers, Alexander Campbell, Simon Cox, Josiah Fuller, Austin
Hammer, John Lee, Benjamin Lewis, Thomas McBride (78), Charley Merrick (9),
Levi Merrick, William Napier, George S. Richards, Sardius Smith (10), Warren
Smith (44), and John York. Thirteen more had been injured, including a woman
and nine-year-old child. A non-Mormon sympathizer was also killed. Three of the
250 militiamen were wounded, but none fatally. After the massacre, the dead
were placed in an unfinished well and covered with dirt and straw. The
survivors and their wounded gathered at Far
West for protection.[4]
Aftermath
After the
massacre, Philo Dibble stated that "Brother Joseph had sent word by Haun,
who owned the mill, to inform the brethren who were living there to leave and
come to Far West, but Mr. Haun did not deliver the message." Of the
matter, Joseph Smith recorded, "Up to
this day God had given me wisdom to save the people who took counsel. None had
ever been killed who abode by my counsel." Then he recorded that innocent
lives could have been saved at Haun’s Mill had his counsel been received and
followed.[8][9] It appears that Haun
had received the direction to relocate to Far West from Joseph Smith and did
not convey this direction to any of the others at Haun's Mill.[10]
Although
participants in the massacre boasted of their acts for years, none of the
Missouri attackers were ever brought to trial,[4] and the Latter Day Saints' efforts at
receiving justice in the Missouri courts failed.
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The site of the Haun's Mill well is unknown. This marker designates the approximately 32 acres owned by Jacob Haun in the settlement.
**In 1887, Josiah Fuller's son visited the site of Haun’s Mill to locate his father's resting-place. With Charles Ross' assistance, Fuller moved a red millstone fragment from the old mill onto the well to commemorate those who died. The stone was partially buried edgeways. In 1888, LDS members Andrew Jenson, Edward Stevenson and Joseph Smith Black visited the site from Utah. They readily located the well by means of the red stone.
The red stone apparently remained in place at the well site until 1941 when area resident Glen E. Setzer cast a concrete marker near the entry road. Perhaps unaware of the meaning of the red sandstone standing over the well site, Setzer moved it to the new marker site. The location of the well has been uncertain ever since.
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Through
2012, the grounds of the massacre are maintained as a historic site by the Community
of Christ.
In May 2012 it was announced that the The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints had acquired the
property from the Community of Christ. The church had also acquired the Far
West burying ground from the Community of Christ.[11]
Side Note: A BYU Early Church History
professor who did considerable research on the Haun’s Mill period, said that
contrary to popular opinion Jacob Haun, whose real name was spelled Hawn was
likely not a member of the church and never delivered the message to the saints
to retreat from Haun’s Mill.
