Mormon conference to honor Sen. Bond, who in 1976 apologized for Missouri's expulsion of the Mormons
On Oct. 27, 1838, Missouri Gov. Lilburn W. Boggs issued Executive Order 44 -- what Mormons now refer to as the "Extermination Order" -- in effect running members of that church out of the state.
For Boggs, the issue was the so-called Mormon Wars -- a decade of conflict between Missouri settlers and members of the fledgling religion.
In his orders to Maj. Gen. John Clark, who was to lead the expulsion, Boggs said Mormons were "in the attitude of an open and armed defiance of the laws and having made war on the people of this state . . . their outrages are beyond all description." Mormons, he concluded, "must be exterminated or driven from the state."
Clark called out several thousand members of the Missouri Militia, and hundreds of Mormons, including women and children, were said to have been killed. At least 12,000 Mormons fled to the Illinois city of Nauvoo.
Almost 140 years later, in 1976, another Missouri governor, Christopher "Kit" Bond, rescinded the order and apologized to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "expressing on behalf of all Missourians our deep regret for the injustice and undue suffering which was caused by the 1838 order."
On Friday, Mormons will thank and honor Bond, now Missouri's senior U.S. senator, for his actions of 30 years ago. They will go on to hold the first-ever conference on Mormon history in Missouri.
Called the "Missouri Mormon Experience: A Conference of History and Commemoration," the conference is co-sponsored by the church and the Missouri State Archives. It will include opening ceremonies at the state Capitol in Jefferson City on Friday and an all-day academic conference in the House chamber of the Missouri State Capitol on Saturday.
The Missouri State Archives is a division of the secretary of state's office. Stacie Temple, a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, said Carnahan will be at the opening ceremonies but that the conference involved no state funding. "This is a partnership based on historical preservation," Temple said.
More than a dozen historians from around the country will present such topics as "Mormons and Missourians: Conflicting Views of Authority," and "The State of Missouri vs Joseph Smith Jr.: An Overview of the 1838 Mormon War Criminal Cases." More information can be found on the conference website, momormonhistory.org.
Read entire article at St. Louis Post-Dispatch
For Boggs, the issue was the so-called Mormon Wars -- a decade of conflict between Missouri settlers and members of the fledgling religion.
In his orders to Maj. Gen. John Clark, who was to lead the expulsion, Boggs said Mormons were "in the attitude of an open and armed defiance of the laws and having made war on the people of this state . . . their outrages are beyond all description." Mormons, he concluded, "must be exterminated or driven from the state."
Clark called out several thousand members of the Missouri Militia, and hundreds of Mormons, including women and children, were said to have been killed. At least 12,000 Mormons fled to the Illinois city of Nauvoo.
Almost 140 years later, in 1976, another Missouri governor, Christopher "Kit" Bond, rescinded the order and apologized to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "expressing on behalf of all Missourians our deep regret for the injustice and undue suffering which was caused by the 1838 order."
On Friday, Mormons will thank and honor Bond, now Missouri's senior U.S. senator, for his actions of 30 years ago. They will go on to hold the first-ever conference on Mormon history in Missouri.
Called the "Missouri Mormon Experience: A Conference of History and Commemoration," the conference is co-sponsored by the church and the Missouri State Archives. It will include opening ceremonies at the state Capitol in Jefferson City on Friday and an all-day academic conference in the House chamber of the Missouri State Capitol on Saturday.
The Missouri State Archives is a division of the secretary of state's office. Stacie Temple, a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Robin Carnahan, said Carnahan will be at the opening ceremonies but that the conference involved no state funding. "This is a partnership based on historical preservation," Temple said.
More than a dozen historians from around the country will present such topics as "Mormons and Missourians: Conflicting Views of Authority," and "The State of Missouri vs Joseph Smith Jr.: An Overview of the 1838 Mormon War Criminal Cases." More information can be found on the conference website, momormonhistory.org.