MISSOURI MORMON

FRONTIER FOUNDATION

NEWSLETTER

Number3 Jackson County, Missouri Summer 1994

Visiting Historian Series, VIIl

Larry Porter Saturday 16 April 1994

Norfleet Chapel 3609 Norfleet, KC

Topic: Colesville Branch

Joseph Smith made about 68 converts at Colesville, New York with the Knight family as the core. Many of the Colesville group moved to Kirtland but some stayed behind. Lany Porter described their trip to Ohio. They rendezvoused at Ithica, New York as the ice was breaking up. They went by steamboat, then on smaller boats on the Erie Canal to Buffalo where they had to wait for ice sheets piled up to 20 feet high to break up before they finally reached their destination at Madison, Ohio, 15 miles west of Kirtland.

In March of 1831 they tried to convert the Shakers there. They settled on the Copley farm. In May others came and there were serious divisions over property. Leman's rebellion confused the whole church. The Colesville Branch was then instructed to leave Ohio and go to Missouri.

Newell Knight was to lead the entire Colesville Branch to Jackson County, Missouri. Not all left Ohio for Missouri.

Joseph Smith walked from St. Louis to Independence to arrive ahead of the rest of the group who had to wait for a few days for the steamboat, Chieftain. On 25 July 1831 they arrived at Independence landing ( east of the future Wayne City Landing). The next leg of the journey was by flat boats to the mouth of the Big Blue to Barry landing and then overland to the Kaw township site.

The first log was ceremoniously put in place for a school and church about 100 yards northe�t of a spring at what is now Troost and 31st Street.

The next day, 3 Aug 1831, Joseph Smith dedicated the Temple site west of Independence. The following day the first Conference in Jackson County was held.

The new settlers went about building houses.

Meanwhile, ten families lived in one block cabin. They had no tents or farm implements. It was a four day trip to St. Louis to get tools and other supplies. Joseph Knight got mill stones to build the first mill.

More land was purchased. A financial and land ownership system was set up. Trips were made to St. Louis for goods to sell at the Bishop's Storehouse at a cut rate. Cattle were allowed to feed on the open prairie. Enemies were made with the settlers from the south.

On July 20, 1833 the printing shop was destroyed. In November and December 1833 the Mormons were in the bottoms to cross the river to Clay County. They stayed in tents, wagons and old cabins. They built a chapel on the bottoms. Joseph Knight operated the mill into December and built again in Clay County.

The Colesville Branch lost its identity as a distinct group among the Mormons in Clay County. Strong leadership was the guiding strength of the Colesville Branch. When the church was a democracy in the first few years, converts from separate areas kept their community identity. When the church developed a strong central government, that community identity tended to disappear.

A book is forthcoming.

�� >��

Queen City Rendezvous Memorial Day Weekend

_Independence SquareMMFF participated in the annual Independence

Queen City Rendezvous sponsored by the Independence Square Association on Memorial Day weekend. Horse drawn surrey rides driven by Mr. Browning provided the drawing card. The new Independence tour guide and the MMFF Tee Shirts were also sold.

Many thanks are due Alta Short for organizing the event.

MISSOURI MORMON FRONTIER FOUNDATION

MISSOURI MORMON FRONTIER FOUNDATION

is a duly organized GENERAL NOT FOR PROFIT CORPORATION

under the Laws of Missouri The Missouri Mormon Frontier Foundation is a

nonsectarian organization dedicated to collecting and preserving information related to the Mormon experience in western Missouri during the 1830's.

The purposes of MMFF are stated in the By-Laws as follows: 1. To promote the research, documentation,

verification, renovation and restoration of events andsites associated with the Missouri Mormon Frontier.

2. To preserve documents, photographs, artifacts, sitesand other historical memorabilia associated with thatperiod.

3. To facilitate the gathering and preservation ofgenealogical information from the affectedgeographical area.

All meetings, including Board meetings, are open. You are invited to bring other interested people to any of our meetings.

President-Ronald G. Putz Vice President -Ronald E. Romig Secretary- William J. Curtis Treasurer - Drew Henson Board Members - Annette Curtis

Alta Short Henry Inouye Jesse E. Ehlers

Jesse Ehlers has resigned as treasurer due to his wife's health problems. Drew Henson is assuming those responsibilities.

The Charter Member Roster is on pages 7 and 8. NEWSLETTER Please send news and articles for the newsletter to Annette Curtis at 714 North Main, Independence MO

64050. To give them to her in person, Annette can be found in the Genealogy and Local History Department of Mid-Continent Public Library, North Independence Branch almost any Monday through Friday from 9 am-to 5 pm except during lunch which is more often late than at noon_ Work phone: 252-0950

Newsletter editor: Annette W. Curtis

Number 3, Summer 1994 Page 2

MMFF NEWS from RON ROMIG

Board members Henry Inouye and Ron Romig traveled to Park City, Utah, in May to participate in Mormon History Association (MHA) meetings_ Artist Henry and Archivist Ron took part in a session on the visual images of early Latter Day Saint church leaders. Wives Helen and Anne, also members ofMMFF, were along too and did a great job operating two slide projectors during the session.

One evening during the meetings, Henry and Helen had an opportunity to become friends with leonard Arrington and his wife. Leonard is one of the early founders of MHA and a highly respected historian and church author. Henry was not content to just become friends with Leonard and his wife, he took the opportunity to tell them about MMFF. In less time than it takes for most of us to comfortably say "Missouri Mormon Frontier Foundation." Henry gave them a copy of the most current MMFF Newsletter and a volume of our recently published Independence walking tour guidebook.

The Arringtons seemed genuinely pleased and interested to learn about MMFF and its various historical activities, and happy to receive the material from Henry. Leonard said he knows the next LDS Independence, Missouri, Mission President, and promised to tell him all about l\1MFF before he comes to Independence.

Souveniers, books, etc. cannot be sold in the Mormon Visitors Center. In order to reach tourists who stop there with our new Early Independence, Missouri

"Mormon" History Tour Guide, they must be available without charge. If you would like to make that happen by "buying" some of the books for free distribution at the Mormon Visitors Center, please contact Ron Putz or Ron Romig. Phone numbers and addresses are on the roster. If you prefer using a form, see page 9.

MISSOURI MORMON FRONTIER FOUNDATION Number 3, Summer 1994 Page 3

MARTIN HARRIS' VISIT TO JACKSON COUNTY

by Ronald E. Romig

When I first began my research, I found very little documentation that Martin Harris ever really visited Jackson County, Missouri. Some sources incorrectly cite his presence during the story days of the 1833 expulsion. [see James H. Hunt, Mormonism; Embracing the Origin. Rise, and Progress . . . (St. Louis: Ustick & Davies, 1844)]. However, I find no other evidence to corroborate this. As a result of this lack of documentation, for a long time I was inclined to believe that Martin Harris' brief appearance in Jackson County was of little significance. But, he really was in Jackson County. Recent sources, such as William E. McLellin's 1831 journal, help broaden the picture.

· · When McLellin firstarrived in Independence,

retained the impression that Harris had received a deed for church properties in Jackson County, perhaps in exchange for his initial c�nsecration. "I wonder if Martin still has the deed to that [Temple] lot," McLellin fragment, RLDS Library-Archives, P l 3, f2287. McLellin also wrote, "I want to know if Martin's deed was ever recorded in Jackson Co." [William McLellin to Our very dear friends, Brownsville, Mo., July 12, 1869, RLDS Library­Archives, PB, f l85] A letter from Martin Harris, Jr., citing Martin Harris' obituary, "Death of Martin Harris," The Adventure, Volume 1, No. 40, contains the following: "He was one who assisted in purchasing land in Missouri for the gathering of

the Saints, he, having paid Bishop Partridge the sum

on 18 August 1831, thefirst two Mormons he met were David Whitmer and Martin Harris. They accompanied McLellin

Martin Harris . . . really was in .

Jackson County.

of $1,200. He was present at the dedication and witnessed the powerful manifestations of God on that memorable occasion. He figured conspicuously along his route west to

meet others staying at the temporary location of the newly arrived Colesville members, near the Joshua Lewis home in Kaw Township. [William E.McLellin Journal, 18 July 1831-20 November 1831, page 5-6, LDS Archives.]

During Martin's brief stay in Jackson County, plans were set into motion to provide an economic impetus for the church colonization experiment in Jackson County. One aspect of the plan called for Martin Harris to set an example for other members by making a consecration of $1200.00 to Partridge for land purchases. According to RLDS tradition, Harris consecrated $1200.00. [F. Henry Edwards, "A Commentary on the Doctrine and Covenants" (Independence, Mo: Herald Publishing House, revised 1967), 203] Also, Orson Pratt observed, "Martin Harris was the first man that the Lord called by name to consecrate his money and lay the same at the feet of the bishop in Jackson County, Missouri, according to the order of consecration. He willingly did it." [Orson Pratt in Journal of Discourses, 18:1601 William McLellin also

in nearly all of the early movements of the Church, and was one who never withheld his substance or means when it was required to establish and forward the interests of the Church." [Martin Harris, Jr., Miscellaneous Letter and Papers, P13, f228 l, RLDS Library-Archives.

Therefore it is clear that Martin Harris did play a significant, but little known, role in the development of the application of the law of Consecration in the early church colonization activities in Jackson County.

After this first brief, but meaningful, visit with the saints, Martin Harris returned to the east, in company with Hyrum Smith, David Whitmer, William McLellin, Harvey Whitlock, and Simeon Carter, on 25 August. [McLellin Journal, 25 August 1831, page 6, LDS Archives.]

I know of no other source indicating that Martin �arris ever returned to Jackson County again during the remainder of his life.

MISSOURI MORMON FRONTIER FOUNDATION Number 3, Summer 1994 Page 4

FRONTIER TIMES ON THE BORDER

by Annette W. Curtis

One of the objectives of the Missouri Mormon Frontier Foundation is to learn more about how life was lived by Mormon and non-Mormons especially in the 1830's and 1840's in western Missouri. People were busy living, making money, or just surviving and little written evidence is left of how they lived and did their daily chores, or what the people of various cultures thought about issues. One big question for us is what made the Mormons different, besides religious belief. In reading on other subjects some insights appear.

Jay Monaghan in Civil War on the Western Border, 1854-1865 discusses the issues of slave versus free stater, southerner verses New Englander.

The contest between the sections stopped · temporarily during the cold winter of 1854-1855 .... settlers at Lawrence finished their houses during the bitter months .... Shivering Missourians watched and wondered at these ingenious Yankees, their patent apple peelers, their books, their queer houses -- no chimney on the outside -- their church services in tents with a boy feeding chips into a sheet-iron stove while the wind whistled against the canvas. Most noticeable of all was their insistence on schools -- a continual insult to the proslavery culture around them. "If their object is not to offend," one Southerner wrote, "why did they not wait until they had more. leisure before they busied themselves about schoolhouses?"1

This tells us a little about how the southerners who lived in Independence might have viewed the Mormon church meeting and school building endeavors in the even earlier days over thirty years previous.

For all the history that was made in early Independence, Missouri, very little has been written down about life here in the 1830's. You may wonder

1 Monaghan, page 15.

what something in a Baptist church history would have to do with the Latter Day Saints in Independence. Read on and you will see. The following was published in Centennial History, 1845 - 1945, The First Baptist Church of Independence,Missouri by Mary Prewitt Mitchell, 1945. A handwritten manuscript version copied by Mrs. W. L. Webb, Historian, Independence Chapter UDC isin the Jackson County Historical Society Archives,A174-1F12, Box 66. Paragraphing was added andsome words were spelled out in the publishedversion but the substance is the same. Footnotecomments are by Annette W. Curtis.

THE LIFE OF FANNIE FRISTOE TWYMAN (Written about 1909 by herself at about the age

of 80 years. The· letter came into the hands of the author some years ago in a box of material and books given her by Mrs. Cattle from Mrs. W. L. Webb's belongings, to be disposed of as she saw fit.)2

It follows: "I was born in Jackson County, Missouri, two

and one-half miles southeast �f Independence, Missouri, April 20, 1829. My father, Richard

Fristoe, moved to Independence in 1832 or 1833. I was raised in a two-story brick house which stood on the lot where the Knox house now stands at the comer of Pleasant and Lexington Streets.3 It was the last house west of the court house at that time, and was one of the nicest and largest houses in Independence. All the land west of this was owned by my father and was used by him as a pasture and a

2 Mrs. William Larkin Webb's husband was a local historian. They lived in the house now designated as the historic Lewis-Webb house in the 300 block of West Mill Street, Independence, Missouri. Mercedes (nee Brown) Cattle grew up in that house. The "author" is Mary Prewitt Mitchell of the First Baptist Church, Independence.

3 Present parking lot for the Presbyterian Westminster Hall on the southeast corner of Pleasant and Lexington streets.

MISSOURI MORMON FRONTIER FOUNDATION

cornfield, as far west as the Temple Lot. I remember visiting the temple4 when I was quite young, and have a faint recollection of how it looked. There were three or four underground rooms, walled up with brick; a floor over this. The pulpit or altar was built on the east side of this floor. The preacher, or prophet, preached from this altar. The temple was never finished. The temple was built a little east of where the frame church now stands on River Boulevard at Lexington Street.5 It was always a

. conjecture with me, what the underground rooms6

were for.

I was raised and educated in Independence, but never graduated beyond the Blue­back spelling book. The first teacher I had was a lady, Mrs. Fuller.7 She taught in one of -· my father's houses, a brick one- ·:-.:.-. .. , story. The next school I went to was taught by Mr. Hogue. The house stood just east of where Mrs. Swope's house now stands, on South Pleasant, south of Walnut Street. At that time it was the home of Governor Boggs. It was a log house with wooden chimney well daubed with mud; rock hearth, a log

4 · Her "temple" references are to the brick church

which some references say was tom down before the tum of the century. In fact the above ground portion was moved to Walnut Street east of Noland Road in Independence. For many years when the Stotz family lived there, "old timers" would stop in front and point out that that was the building in which Joseph the Prophet preached. It was razed by the city of Independence in the l 980's. The same soft handmade brick that was in that building was in evidence on the original site indicated by the Stotz family on the south side of Lexington just west of Union street when that area was excavated for the RLDS Temple parking lot.

5 Temple Lot Church.

6 "Rooms" is replaced by "apartments" in the copied manuscript version.

1 Mrs. iuH.on ralher than 'Puller in the hanclwr1tten

version.

Number 3, Summer 1994 Page 5

sawed out on the south side for a window; this window extended across the side of the house. Holes were bored in the log underneath this hole in the wall and pegs driven in and on these pegs a wide plank was laid. This was our writing desk. There were rude benches without backs for our seats. We had to be in school from sunrise until sundown, with plenty of switches in sight. Fifteen minutes recess in forenoon, the same in afternoon, one hour for dinner. We spent the time riding stick horses in Mrs . Parker's pasture, the girls riding sideways, the boys

in boy-fashion.

The next school I went to was taught by Mr. Tolbert, the

log school house was built on the same plan. It was located some place near where the cider mill now stands. We got drinking water from the

big spring nearby .8 The grapes, persimmons and

H hazelnuts were all around the school house, and plenty of blackhaws--oh, we did

have a glorious time at recess! It was eat, eat, until our stomachs could hold no more.9

The only difference in our teachers was one used the rod, this one used a cat-o-nine tails. This was a leather strap, the end of which was cut in nine strips, so with every lick you would have nine red marks. it came down on my shoulder once and oh, my, how it hurt! I never dared to whisper in school after that.

The next school I went to was taught by Mrs.

Ralph. The old house is still standing. It was used

8This spring is probably Boggs Spring. It was directly north of the National Frontier Trails Center and north of the railroad track. The Public Spring was where the police building is now.

9 Reading between the lines, this could imply that school was just held in the fall. She is talking about fall fruits and nuts and fails to mention anything about snow. According to other accounts of schools in early Jackson

County they were often only hi sesston tor a few weeks,

or months at best, before the weather got too cold.

MISSOURI MORMON FRONTIER FOUNDATION

as a church by the Campbellites (as they were then called). Brother Palmer0 was the pastor--he was a good man. I often went to hear him preach. The church was always crowded. 11 In those days menand women occupied different parts of the church.

Mrs. Ralph was a fine teacher. I only know of one of my old schoolmates .that is living, Lou

Caldwell Stone. She lives in Kansas City.

The next school I went to was taught by George Buchanan. It was in the northern part of town. I think the house he taught in was a Cumberland Presbyterian Church. This ended by school days.

In 1848 I was married to Dr. L. W. Twyman,

who was then practicing medicine in Pleasant Hill. God gave us seven children. Dr. spent most of his life in the practice of medicine in Six Mile. He had the confidence and love of his patrons. He practiced there for 50 years. He joined the Baptist church

· several years before his death, which occurredAugust 5, 1902. There ended the life of a good man.

I was converted and joined the Baptist church in 1845. We had no church at the time in Independence. Brother A. P. Williams was holding a series of meeting in the Court House. I joined at this meeting and was immersed by A. P. Williams.

I was always proud to say I was baptized by this noble man.

·to Br. Parmer in the copied manuscript version.Franklin Palmer is listed in the 1850 census as a Christian minister.

·11 In the copied manuscript version but not in the

published version: ''Never will I forget one Sunday I was there. It was a very hot day. Br. Parmer ["l" inserted between r and m] was preaching, one lady in the congregation fainted. The ladies got busy, some fanning her, some bathing her face with water. Br Parlmer leaned over the pulpit and said in a loud voice, "Cut the Corset strings". Some man came over with his knife open in his hand. The corset string was cut. You could

hear it pop a\\ over the church when it was cut, the girl

te\J\\Jeo.."

Number 3, Summer 1994 Page 6

I never attended Sunday School in my yoW1g days, simply because we had none. Women were kept in the background--no Endeavor society, no Women's Missionary organizations, no ladies' societies of any kind. I never heard a lady pray in public until after I was married. No wonder the women have advanced ideas in this day and generation--they have had every advantage, from every standpoint. The first time I was called upon to pray in public, I actually thought I would die for the want of breath. I was scared so bad, but I said to myself 'God helping me, I will do the best I can.'12

I lived through the ordeal. God is always ready to hear the prayers of the weak and humble at heart--we are not heard for our many words or fluent language. God knows the heart.

In looking back on the path I have trodden for ahnost 80 years, I coW1t it a privilege to have known intimately some of the strong men and women who left such an imprint on the history of the time in which they lived. I count it no less a privilege to have lived to see the dawning of other bright and glorious lives who take up the same fight their fathers laid down. The battle of life is a fight that faces all. May the coming generation sometimes pause and pay a tribute to the brave and noble women who have not the many advantages of a modem civilization, but to whom they may look asexamples of perseverance, integrity and honor. 13

Francis Fristoe Twyman"

Fannie Fristoe names five teachers. She does not say that she had any one of them for more than one term. If she began her schooling at the age of 8 or 10 that would be about 1837 - 1839 and put the end of her schooling at about 1845. See Martin Rice's reminiscences in the last issue for an accoW1t of an l 830's Jackson CoWity school.

12 "(Rev. J.B. Jackson preacher)" is added betweenlines in the copied manuscript. A note at the end adds: "The Rev. J. B. Jackson interlined, the minister who asked her to pray, was the father of Mrs. Dr. Wood, the [UDC] Chapter's present President."

13 This could very easily be a part of the prayerful objectives of the peop\e of a\\ religious persuasions involved in Missouri Mormon Frontier Foundation.

MISSOURI MORMON FRONTIER FOUNDATION Number 3, Summer 1994 Page 7

MISSOURI CHARTER

MORMON. MEMBER

FRONTIER ROSTER

FOUNDATION February 1994

Anderson, A. Gary Belscamper, Alice Berrett, LaMar C. Billings, Elda Mae Black,Susan Bowen, Rebecca E. Bowen. WalterD. Boyd, Theo E. Burt, Susan A Cannon, Donald Q.

Carr, Dr. Mark L. Cathcart, Alan M

Cathcart, Rene R Cline, Christine Curtis, Annette

Curtis, William

Dahl, Lany E. Davis, John A

Day, Robert & Linda Dorrance, Bill Durham Jr., Reed C.

Ehlers, Jesse E.

Evans, Dorothy F.

President - Ronald G. Putz Vice Prsident - Ronald E. Romig

Secretary - William J. Curtis Treasurer - Jesse E. Ehlers

Board Members Annette Curtis

Alta Short Henry Inouye Drew Henson

MISSOURI MORMON FRONTIER FOUNDATION

Frame, Mildred Freeman, Peter H.

Number 31

Summer 1994 Page 8

Garlick, Dr. Leonard Garr, Arnold K. Garrett, H. Dean Graceland College, Hajacek, John Hartley, William G. Hanis, Iris F. Hartshorn, LeonR. Herald Publishing House, Dick Fortman, Henderson, Karen Henson, DrewW. Hoisington, John P. Holzapfel, Richard Neitzel Inouye, Henry Inouye, Helen Johnson, Clark V. .Karns, Kennit B. KC Pub. Library MacKay, Anina Marquardt, Betty Miller, Robert L. Misselt, Lois R Morgan, Mr. E. L. Parks, Marilyn R Porter, Larry C. Preston, Donna Putz, Ronald G. Romig, Ronald Rozsa, Elder Allen C. Runkle, Wilma I. Runkle, Jeny C. Sarver, Tony Short, AltaM. Short, Kenneth Stuart, J.C. Torres, Albert Torres, Barbara Van Orden, Bruce A White, Karla J. White, C. Max Zenk, Robert Two people asked that their names and addresses not be published.

MISSOURI MORMON FRONTIER FOUNDATION Number 3, Summer 1994 Page 9

NOW AVAILABLE!

Early Independence, Missouri "Mormon" History Tour Guide

By Ronald E. Romig and illustrated by Henry Inouye. Independence, Missouri: Missouri Mormon Frontier Foundation, 1994. Order from MMFF, 2904 Bedford Court, Blue Springs, Missouri 64015. 45 pages. Illustrations. Maps. Sources. 8½ x 11 inches. Paperback.

The 16 sites include the Temple Lot, Jones H. Flournoy house, Gilbert and Whitney Store, Evening and Morning Star Printing Office, 1827 Log Courthouse and other sites in the Temple Lot and uptown Independence area. While designed as a walking tour, the book includes well documented historical information on the area as well as the sites.

MISSOURI MORMON FRONTIER FOUNDATION

DONORS WANTED

MMFF is looking for donors to "buy" the new Independence tour guide so that it can be distributed

free in the LDS Visitors Center. Call Ron Romig or Ron Putz if you would like

more information.

COMMEMORATION The 150th anniversary of the death of Joseph Smith, the Prophet on June 27th 1844 was commemorated at Carthage, Illinois on June 26th and shown on nationwide cable television by the LOS Church on the 27th.

Number 3, Summer 1994 Page 10

1994 Membership Dues

Memberships for the 1994 calendar year are welcomed.

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Interested people are invited to attend MMFF functions including board meetings. Call Ron Putz for more information.

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LOOK FOR COMING EVENTS

.. Near the end of July Richard Holzapfal will be in Independence. His expertise is in Kirtland and Missouri and visual images.

.. Tentative date for camping at Wallace State Park with tours of the nearby Mormon Sites is September 16, 17 and 18, 1994. For information or to help contact Alta Short.

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