[After traveling from Ohio an extended time] we proceeded on our journey, and met with no further difficulty until we arrived at Far West.
    We moved into a small log house, having but one room, a very inconvenient place for so large a family. Joseph saw how uncomfortably we were situated, and proposed that we should take a large tavern house, which he had recently purchased of Brother Gilbert. We took the tavern, and moved into it. Samuel, previous to this, had moved to a place called Marrowbone. William had moved thirty miles in another direction. We were all now quite comfortable.
    But this state of affairs was of short duration, for it was not long before our peace was again disturbed by the mob. An election took place at Gallatin, the county-seat of Daviess County; the brethren went to the polls, as usual, but, on attempting to vote, they were forbidden by the mob. They, however, paid no attention to this, but proceeded to vote; upon which one of the mob struck Brother John Butler a heavy blow, which was returned by the latter, with a force that brought his antagonist to the ground. Four others came to the assistance of the fallen man, and shared the same fate. The mob saw the discomfiture of their champions with shame and disappointment, and not choosing to render them any present help, they waited till evening, when, procuring the assistance of the judge of the election, they wrote letters to all the adjoining counties, begging their assistance against the "Mormons." They stated that Joseph Smith had, himself, killed seven men, at the election the day previous, and that the inhabitants had every reason to expect that he would collect his people together, as soon as possible, and murder all that did not belong to his church. These letters were extensively circulated, and as widely believed. A few days subsequent to this, Joseph was at our house writing a letter. While he was thus engaged, I stepped to the door, and looking toward the prairie, I beheld a large company of armed men advancing towards the city, but, as I supposed it to be training day, said nothing about it.
    Presently the main body came to a halt. The officers dismounting, eight of them came into the house. Thinking that they had come for some refreshments, I offered them chairs, but they refund to be seated, and, placing themselves in a line across the floor, continued standing. I again requested them to sit, but they replied, "We do not choose to sit down; we have come here to kill Joe Smith and all the Mormons."
    "Ah," said I, "what has Joseph Smith done, that you should want to kill him?"
    "He has killed seven men in Daviess County," replied the foremost, "and we have come to kill him, and all his church." "He has not been in Daviess County," I answered, "consequently the report must be false. Furthermore, if you should see him, you would not want to kill him."
    "There is no doubt but that the report is perfectly correct," rejoined the officer; "it came straight to us, and I believe it; and we were sent to kill the prophet and all who believe in him, and I'll be d--d if I don't execute my orders."
    "I suppose," said I, "you intend to kill me, with the rest?" "Yes, we do," returned the officer. "Very well," I continued, "I want you to act the gentlemen about it, and do the job quick. Just shoot me down at once, then I shall be at rest; but I should not like to be murdered by inches."
    "There it is again," said he. "You tell a Mormon that you will kill him, and they will always tell you, 'That is nothing--if you kill us, we shall be happy.'" Joseph, just at this moment, finished his letter, and, seeing that he was at liberty, I said, "Gentlemen, suffer me to make you acquainted with Joseph Smith, the prophet." They stared at him as if he were a spectre. He smiled, and, stepping towards them, gave each of them his hand, in a manner which convinced them that he was neither a guilty criminal nor yet a hypocrite.
    Joseph then sat down, and explained to them the views, feelings, etc., of the church, and what their course had been; besides the treatment which they had received from their enemies since the first. He also argued that if any of the brethren had broken the law they ought to be tried by the law, before any one else was molested. After talking with them some time in this way, he said,
    "Mother, I believe I will go home now--Emma will be expecting me." At this two of the men sprang to their feet, and declared that he should not go alone, as it would be unsafe--that they would go with him, in order to protect him. Accordingly, the three left together, and, during their absence, I overheard the following conversation among the officers, who remained at the door:
    First Officer: "Did you not feel strangely when Smith took you by the hand ? I never felt so in my life."
    Second Officer: "I could not move. I would not harm a hair of that man's head for the whole world."
    Third Officer: "This is the last time you will catch me coming to kill Joe Smith, or the Mormons either."
    First Officer: "I guess this is about my last expedition against this place. I never saw a more harmless, innocent appearing man, than that Mormon prophet."
    Second Officer: "That story about his killing them men is a d--d lie, there is no doubt of it; and we have had all this trouble for nothing; but they will never fool me in this way again, I'll warrant them."
    The men who went home with my son promised to disband the militia under them, and go home, which they accordingly did, and we supposed that peace was again restored. After they were gone, Joseph and Hyrum went to Dayless County, and, receiving the strongest assurance from the civil officers of that county, that equal rights should be administered to all parties, they returned, hoping that all would be well.
    About this time we heard that William and his wife were very sick. Samuel, who was then at Far West, set out with a carriage to bring them to our house, and, in a few days, returned with them. They were very low when they arrived; however, by great care and close attention, they soon began to recover.
    Soon after Samuel brought William and Caroline to our house, there was born unto Samuel a son, whom he called by his own name. When the child was three days old, his father was compelled to leave, and, on the fourth day of its existence, his mother was informed that she must leave home forthwith, and take a journey of thirty miles to Far West. One of the neighbors offered to furnish her a team, and a small boy to drive it, if she would start immediately. To this she agreed. A lumber wagon was brought, and she, with her bed, her children, and very little clothing either for them or herself, was put into it, and sent to Far West, under the care of a boy of eleven years of age.
    The day following, Samuel started home from Far West, although the rain was falling fast, and had been all the night previous. He had proceeded but ten miles when he met his wife and children, exposed to the inclemency of the weather, and dripping with wet. He returned with them to Far West, where they arrived in about thirty-six hours after they left Marrowbone, without having taken any nourishment from the time they left home. She was entirely speechless and stiff with the cold. We laid her on a bed, and my husband and sons administered to her by the laying on of hands. We then changed her clothing, and put her into warm blankets, and, after pouring a little wine and water into her mouth, she was administered to again. This time she opened her eyes, and seemed to revive a little. I continued to employ every means that lay in my power for her recovery, and in this I was much assisted by Emma and my daughters.
    My children soon began to mend, and I felt to rejoice at the prospect of returning health.
    When William began to sit up a little, he told me that he had a vision during his sickness, in which he saw a tremendous army of men coming into Far West, and that it was his impression that the time would not be long before he should see it fulfilled. I was soon convinced, by the circumstances which afterwards transpired, that he was not mistaken in his opinion.

    [Chapter 49 Hyrum Smith, Testimony Before the Nauvoo Municipal Court, 1 July 1843]

    Chapter 50
    Removal of the Smith Family to Illinois

    At the time when Joseph went into the enemy's camp, Mr. Smith and myself stood in the door of the house in which we were then living, and could distinctly hear their horrid yellings. Not knowing the cause, we supposed they were murdering him. Soon after the screaming commenced, five or six guns were discharged. At this, Mr. Smith, folding his arms tightly across his heart, cried out, "Oh, my God! my God! they have killed my son! they have murdered him! and I must die, for I can not live without him!" I had no word of consolation to give him, for my heart was broken within me--my agony was unutterable. I assisted him to the bed, and he fell back upon it as helpless as a child, for he had not strength to stand upon his feet. The shrieking continued; no tongue can describe the sound which was conveyed to our ears; no heart can imagine the sensations of our breasts, as we listened to those awful screams. Had the army been composed of so many bloodhounds, wolves, and panthers, they could not have made a sound more terrible.
    My husband was immediately taken sick, and never afterwards entirely recovered, yet he lived about two years, and was occasionally quite comfortable, and able to attend meetings. It will be seen by the testimony of Hyrum, that he was taken by the officers the next day after he arrived at the camp, and that he was seated with Joseph on a log, which was placed there for the purpose before he was taken. The soldiers crowded around them, and swearing that they would shoot them, snapped several guns at them, before any one interfered for their protection. At length Captain Martin ordered his men to surround the prisoners with drawn swords and loaded muskets, "And now," continued he, (drawing his own sword,) "I swear by God, that if any man attempts to harm a hair of their heads, I'll cut his d--d head off the minute he does it. Do you (speaking to his men) protect them, and if any man attempts to lift his gun to his face to shoot those prisoners, cut him down instantly, for they are innocent men, I know they are innocent--look at them, they show it plainly in their very countenances."
    This man was but a captain, yet he assumed the responsibility of protecting my sons. And for two nights and a day, he stood constantly on guard, keeping his men to their posts; he neither slept himself, nor suffered his company to rest, until Joseph and Hyrum were removed from the place.
    When they were about starting from Far West, a messenger came and told us, that if we ever would see our sons alive, we must go immediately to them, for they were in a wagon that would start in a few minutes for Independence, and in all probability they would never return alive. Receiving this intimation, Lucy and myself set out directly for the place. On coming within about four hundred yards of the wagon, we were compelled to stop, for we could press no further through the crowd. I therefore appealed to those around me, exclaiming, "I am the mother of the prophet--is there not a gentleman here, who will assist me to that wagon, that I may take a last look at my children, and speak to them once more before I die?" Upon this, one individual volunteered to make a pathway through the army, and we passed on, threatened with death at every step, till at length we arrived at the wagon. The man who led us through the crowd spoke to Hyrum, who was sitting in front, and, telling him that his mother had come to see him, requested that he should reach his hand to me. He did so, but I was not allowed to see him; the cover was of strong cloth, and nailed down so close, that he could barely get his hand through. We had merely shaken hands with him, when we were ordered away by the mob, who forbade any conversation between us, and, threatening to shoot us, they ordered the teamster to drive over us. Our friend then conducted us to the back part of the wagon, where Joseph sat, and said, "Mr. Smith, your mother and sister are here, and wish to shake hands with you." Joseph crowded his hand through between the cover and the wagon, and we caught hold of it; but he spoke not to either of us, until I said, "Joseph, do speak to your poor mother once more--I can not bear to go till I hear your voice."
    "God bless you, mother!" he sobbed out.
    Then a cry was raised, and the wagon dashed off, tearing him from us just as Lucy was pressing his hand to her lips, to bestow upon it a sister's last kiss--for he was then sentenced to be shot. For some time our house was filled with mourning, lamentation, and woe; but, in the midst of my grief, I found consolation that surpassed all earthly comfort. I was filled with the Spirit of God, and received the following by the gift of prophecy: "Let your heart be comforted concerning your children; they shall not be harmed by their enemies; and, in less than four years, Joseph shall speak before the judges and great men of the land, for his voice shall be heard in their councils. And in five years from this time he will have power over all his enemies." This relieved my mind, and I was prepared to comfort my children. I told them what had been revealed to me, which greatly consoled them.
    As soon as William was able to stir about a little he besought his father to move to Illinois, but Mr. Smith would not consent to this, for he was in hopes that our sons would be liberated, and peace again be restored. William continued to expostulate with him, but to no effect, as Mr. Smith declared that he would not leave Far West, except by revelation. William said that he had revelation; that he himself knew that we would have to leave Far West. Mr. Smith finally said that the family might get ready to move, and then if we were obliged to go, there would be nothing to hinder us. Our business in Far West had been trading in corn and wheat, as well as keeping a boarding-house. When the mob came in, we had considerable grain on hand, but very little flour or meal, therefore we sent a man who was living with us to mill with fourteen sacks of grain; but the miller considered it unsafe to allow the brethren to remain about his premises, as the mob was near at hand, and he was afraid they would burn his buildings. Consequently, the young man returned without his grain, and, for breadstuff, we were for a long time obliged to pound corn in a samp-mortar. Many subsisted altogether upon parched corn for some length of time.
    The brethren were all driven in from the country. There was an acre of ground in front of our house, completely covered with beds, lying in the open sun, where families were compelled to sleep, exposed to all kinds of weather; these were the last who came into the city, and, as the houses were all full, they could not find a shelter. It was enough to make the heart ache to see the children, sick with colds, and crying around their mothers for food, whilst their parents were destitute of the means of making them comfortable.
    It may be said that, if Joseph Smith had been a prophet, he would have foreseen the evil, and pro- vided against it. To this I reply, he did all that was in his power to prevail upon his brethren to move into Far West, before the difficulty commenced, and at a meeting, three weeks previous, he urged the brethren to make all possible haste in moving both their houses and their provisions into the city. But this counsel appeared to them unreasonable and inconsistent, therefore they did not heed it. If the brethren at Haun's Mill had hearkened to counsel, it would, without doubt, have saved their lives; but, as the consequences of their negligence are already published, and as my mind is loath to dwell upon these days of sorrow, I shall only give those facts which have not been published.
    While the mob was in the city, William went out one day to feed his horse, but the horse was gone. It was not long, however, before a soldier, who had been absent with a dispatch, rode him into the yard. William took the horse by the bridle, and ordered the soldier to dismount, which he did, and left the horse in William's hands again.
    Soon after this the brethren were compelled to lay down their arms, and sign away their property. This was done quite near our house, so that I could distinctly hear General Clark's notable speech on this occasion; and, without any great degree of alarm, I heard him declare, concerning Joseph and Hyrum, that "their die was cast, their doom was fixed, and their fate was sealed." Not long after Hyrum left home, Joseph, his youngest son, was born. This was Mary's first child. She never saw her husband but once after she became a mother, before leaving the State. She suffered beyond description in her sickness, but, in all her afflictions, her sister, Mrs. Thompson, stood by her to nurse and comfort her, and, by the best of attention, she gained sufficient strength to accompany Emma to the prison once before she left the State.
    At this time, my husband sent to Joseph to know if it was the will of the Lord that we should leave the State. Whereupon Joseph sent him a revelation which he had received while in prison, which satisfied my husband's mind, and he was willing to remove to Illinois as soon as possible. After this, William took his own family, without further delay, to Quincy, thence to Plymouth, where he settled himself, and afterwards sent back the team for his father's family.
    Just as we got our goods into the wagon, a man came to us and said, that Sidney Rigdon's family were ready to start, and must have the wagon immediately. Accordingly, our goods were taken out, and we were compelled to wait until the team could come after us again. We put our goods into the wagon a second time, but the wagon was wanted for Emma and her family, so our goods were again taken out. However, we succeeded after a long time, in getting one single wagon to convey beds, clothing, and provisions for our family, Salisbury's family, and Mr. McCleary's family, besides considerable luggage for Don Carlos, who, with his family and the remainder of his baggage, was crowded into a buggy and went in the same company with us.
    For the want of teams, we were compelled to leave most of our provisions and furniture. Another inconvenience which we suffered was, the horses were windbroken, consequently we were obliged to walk much of the way, especially up all the hills, which was very tiresome work.
    The first day we arrived at a place called Tinney's Grove, where we lodged over night in an old log house, which was very uncomfortable. Half of the succeeding day I traveled on foot. That night we stayed at the house of one Mr. Thomas, who was then a member of the church. On the third day, in the afternoon, it began to rain. At night we stopped at a house and asked permission to stay till morning. The man to whom we applied showed us a miserable outhouse, which was filthy enough to sicken the stomach, and told us if we would clean this place, and haul our own wood and water, we might lodge there. To this we agreed, and with much trouble, we succeeded in making a place for our beds. For the use of this loathsome hovel, he charged us seventy-five cents. We traveled all the next day in a pouring rain. We asked for shelter at many places, but were refused. At last we came to a place quite like the one where we spent the previous night. Here we spent the night without fire. On the fifth day, just before arriving at Palmyra, in Missouri, Don Carlos called to Mr. Smith, and said, "Father, this exposure is too bad, and I will not bear it any longer; the first place that I come to that looks comfortable, I shall drive up and go into the house, and do you follow me."
    We soon came to a farmhouse, surrounded with every appearance of plenty. The house was but a short distance from the road, having in front of it a large gate. Through this Don Carlos drove, without hesitating to ask the privilege, and, after assisting us through, he started to the house, and, meeting the landlord, he said, "I do not know but that I am trespassing, but I have with me an aged father, who is sick, besides my mother, and a number of women, with small children. We have traveled two days and a half in this rain, and if we are compelled to go much further, we shall all of us die. If you will allow us t,o stay with you over night, we will pay you almost any price for our accommodation." "Why, what do you mean sir?" said the gentleman, "Do you not consider us human beings? Do you think that we would turn anything that is flesh and blood from our door, in such a time as this! Drive up to the house and help your wife and children out; I'll attend to your father and mother and the rest of them." The landlord then assisted Mr. Smith and myself into the room in which his lady was sitting, but as she was rather ill, and he feared that the dampness of our clothing would cause her to take cold, he ordered a black servant to make a fire for her in another room. He then assisted each of our family into the house, and hung up our cloaks and shawls to dry.
    At this house we had everything which could conduce to comfort. The gentleman, who was Esquire Mann, brought us milk for our children, hauled us water to wash with, and furnished us good beds to sleep in.
    In the evening, he remarked that he was sent by his county, the year before, to the House of Representatives, where he met one Mr. Carroll, who was sent from the county in which the "Mormons" resided; "and if ever," said Esquire Mann, "I felt like fighting any man, it was him. 'He never once raised his voice, nor even his hand, in behalf of that abused people, once while the House was in session. I was never a member of the House before, and had not sufficient confidence to take a stand upon the floor in their behalf, as I should have done, had I been a man of a little more experience."
    After spending the night with this good man, we proceeded on our journey, although it continued raining, for we were obliged to travel through mud and rain to avoid being detained by high water. When we came within six miles of the Mississippi River, the weather grew colder, and, in the place of rain, we had snow and hail; and the ground between us and the river was so low and swampy, that a person on foot would sink in over his ankles at every step, yet we were all of us forced to walk, or rather wade, the whole six miles.
    On reaching the Mississippi, we found that we could not cross that night, nor yet find a shelter, for many Saints were there before us, waiting to go over into Quincy. The snow was now six inches deep, and still falling. We made our beds upon it, and went to rest with what comfort we might under such circumstances. The next morning our beds were covered with snow, and much of the bedding under which we lay was frozen. We arose and tried to light a fire, but, finding it impossible, we resigned ourselves to our comfortless situation.
    Soon after this, Samuel came over from Quincy, and he, with the assistance of Seymour Brunson, obtained permission of the ferryman for us to cross that day. About sunset, we landed in Quincy. Here Samuel had hired a house, and we moved into it, with four other families.
    [ http://www.helpingmormons.org/Lucy_Smith.htm]