Dark History Chapter Five A Band of Destroying Angels

A BAND OF DESTROYING ANGELS

“ Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies that I might destroy them that hate me…Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the street.” Psalms 18 Verses 40, 42 KJV

After the Saints were banishment from Jackson County, Missouri they found refuge in Clay County until they wore out their welcome. The Clay County settlers had tolerated the Mormons for three years but by 1836 they were demanding their removal. Mormon histories claim that it was the Saints’ aversion to slavery, which precipitated the conflict between them and their Gentile neighbors in the County.  The truth is that the Saints were never opposed to the ownership of African-American slaves in any of the regions where they settled. They would even introduce the practice into the territory of Utah where it had not existed before.  The real issue for wanting to rid the county of Mormons was that the Gentiles opposed living under religious authoritarianism. 

The Missouri legislature, wishing to avoid another conflict such as occurred in Jackson County, established Caldwell County specifically for the Latter-day Saints.  The Saints on the whole part were happy to leave Clay County and remove to Caldwell County where they were in the majority.

In the newly created Caldwell County, the Saints established a county seat called Far West, which also became the ecclesiastical center of the Saints in Missouri. William W. Phelps and John Whitmer, as trustees for the church in Missouri, secured title to the land surrounding the county seat after Joseph Smith, realizing the futility of reclaiming Independence, supported Caldwell County as the new “Zion”.

Joseph Smith claimed that while Jackson County had been the original Garden of Eden, Caldwell County was sacred land also having been the land Adam and Eve had been expelled to after the fall. Smith even declared that “father of mankind” had given his final blessing to all his posterity at a site in neighboring Daviess County; at a holy place he called  “Adam Ondi Ahmen.” (1)

The Latter Day Saints’ collective labor prospered the church in Caldwell County as new arrivals poured into the new Zion. At the end of 1837 the Mormons were in the majority in the county with prosperous farms and a thriving village of Far West. Even in the surrounding counties the Saints were also becoming numerous. 

While Joseph Smith was struggling with the collapse of his Kirtland church headquarters, Saints in Far West were becoming increasingly disillusioned by reports of Joseph Smith’s fiscal mismanagement in Kirtland and rumors of an adulterous affair with his domestic help, rumors which were being circulated in Far West by newly arrived Saints from Ohio. Among the more prominent dissenters in Far West were witnesses to the Book of Mormon, Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, and John Whitmer, as well as Thomas B. Marsh, President of the Twelve Mormon Apostles, William W. Phelps, editor of the Millennial Star, and Mormon Apostle Orson Hyde.

A deeply troubling matter to these men was the changes Smith had made to the Book of Commandments that reflected Smith’s increasing concentration of ecclesiastical power in his own hands.  These Missouri dissidents were also concerned about a revelation contained in the 1835 edition of the Book of Commandments, which enclosed a troublesome revelation denouncing polygamy. The revelation read “Inasmuch as this Church of Christ has been reproached with the crime of fornication, and polygamy: we declare that we believe, that one man should have one wife; and one woman, but one husband, except in the case of death, when either is at liberty to marry again.” (2) Many in Far West were wondering was why was a revelation on polygamy necessary unless some church members were practicing it. 

For nearly three years, from 1833 to 1836, Joseph Smith carried on a secretive extramarital relationship with a 14-year-old domestic servant in his household named Fanny Alger. (3) Joseph Smith, who was 28 years old at the beginning of the affair kept the affair quiet until “there was some trouble with Oliver Cowdery.” 

Evidently Oliver Cowdery and Warren Parrish discovered Smith in the act of  sexual intercourse with Alger after having “spied upon and found [them] together.” (4) That the affair was known among the inner circle is indicated by Dr. William McLellin asserted that Joseph Smith's wife, Emma knew about it. McLellin wrote; “I heard that one night she missed Joseph and Fanny Alger. She went to the barn and saw him and Fanny in the barn together alone. She looked through a crack and saw the transaction!!!” (5)

Emma Smith kept a blind eye to her husband’s philandering, until after having discovered that Fanny Alger was pregnant by her husband, became “furious and drove the girl, who was unable to conceal the consequences of her celestial relation with the prophet, out of the house.” (6) Mormon histories conveniently explain away Joseph Smith’s adulterous relationship with the teenage girl by stating that Fanny Alger was Smith’s first plural wife “even though he deserted this ‘wife’ and his bastard child when he fled to Missouri.” 

Oliver Cowdery, as one of the “Three Witnesses to the Book of Mormon”, and a “bosom friend,” of Joseph Smith, was first to breach the subject of Smith’s adulterous liaison with Algar. Sources say it was only after Cowdery became bitter over Smith’s “double-standard condemnation of Cowdery's own evils". In the summer of 1837, Cowdery was sought out by Apostle David W. Patten who was concerned about the rumors of the Smith and Alger affair. In the company of another Mormon Apostle, Thomas B. Marsh, Patten asked Cowdery about the affair Cowdery “cocked up his eye very knowingly” yet hesitated to answer the question. He only said that he did not know as if “he was bound to answer the question- yet conveyed the idea that it was true.”

Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Smith became estranged and later in the fall of 1837, Cowdery fled Ohio to Far West, under his own cloud of disgrace.(7) Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon accused Cowdery of leaving Kirtland because he was about to be indicted for counterfeiting which Cowdery denied as "conscious lies. 

Safe from the dangers of staying in Kirtland, in Missouri Cowdery countered Smith’s disparagement by gossiping about the prophet’s own sex scandal.  When Joseph Smith visited Missouri in November, he confronted Cowdery about the rumors he had been spreading. On 7 November 1837 at the home of George W. Harris, Smith called upon Cowdery to attend a church meeting to discuss his conduct.  According to Harris, a “heated conversation erupted between Smith and Cowdery,” where then Cowdery “seemed to insinuate that Joseph Smith Jr. was guilty of adultery.”  Cowdery’s “insinuations” was also meant to be a warning for Harris to watch his own household. In fact while staying with George Harris, Smith was seducing Harris’ wife, Lucinda Harris. Lucinda Harris, widow of William Morgan who death was the cause of much anti-Masonic sentiment in upper state New York in 1823, was one of Smith’s earliest paramours. (8)

The breach between Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Smith widened after this November meeting.  Smith left Missouri and returned to Ohio where the financial crisis there would send him fleeing back to Missouri in early 1838. Cowdery threw caustion to the wind when in a letter dated 21 January 1838, Cowderyhe wrote to his brother of Smith’s illicit affair:  “When he [Joseph Smith] was there we had some conversation in which in every instance I did not fail to affirm that what I had said was strictly true. A dirty, nasty, filthy affair of his and Fanny Alger’s was talked over in which I strictly declared that I had never deviated from the truth in the matter, and as I supposed was admitted by him self.” (9)

In 1837, most of Joseph Smith’s earliest confidants were deserting him, however faithful Sidney Rigdon was still by his side as he had been through out most of Smith’s career as a prophet. Few Church members today are taught of the power that Rigdon welded between 1831 and 1839 or of his contributions to the development of Mormon theology leaving Joseph Smith to receive revelations and be a land speculator. Indeed it was Rigdon who influenced Joseph Smith in 1838 to rename his sect from the “Church of Latter Day Saints” to the “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” 

During the stormy career Sidney Rigdon had with Joseph Smith, he was consumed by the belief of an immediate advent of Jesus Christ. In the 1820s Sidney Rigdon had been a fiery young minister in Disciples of Christ movement and had converted nearly 1,000 to the new church movement. No sooner had he adopted the teaching of theologian, Alexander Campbell, did Rigdon switched to Joseph Smith. Rigdon quickly became Smith's principal advisor and spokesman; serving loyally during the 1830’s for the next decade.

Sidney Rigdon as a religious innovator also suffered from manic-depression, which caused “his personality to swing from one end of the spectrum to the other.” After the violent attack on Smith and himself in the spring of 1832, Rigdon became increasingly manic and militaristic. When Kirtland, apostates threatened to attack the First Presidency, Rigdon and Smith realized the need of an internal security force to protect them and to maintain power. They chose a convert named Brigham Young as their principal lieutenant who provided such service and “carried weapons as ad hoc bodyguard for Smith until dissenters forced Young to flee Kirtland for his life.” (10)

In January of 1838 the Latter Day Saints’ First Presidency absconded from Ohio rather than face arrest for fraud and conspiracy to murder Grandison Newell. The fugitive clergymen fled back to Far West, Missouri were they found the Saints in a state of discord and disaffection. The Kirtland apostates’ attack had almost destroyed Smith and Rigdon and in Far West they were determined not to let the Kirtland Apostasy repeat itself there.

Upon arriving in Far War, Smith and Rigdon found several prominent Mormon leaders accusing Smith of being a “fallen prophet”. Immediately Joseph Smith set about to reestablish his authority in Missouri by force. A paramilitary unit, known as the Sons of Dan or Danites was established whose sole purpose was to support and protect the First Presidency.  Mormon scholars conveniently lay the creation of the Danites, as protectors of the First Presidency, either at Sidney Rigdon’s feet or Dr. Sampson Avard’s, however they could never have done so without Smith’s implicit approval. (11)

A schism had broken out in Far West over Joseph Smith changing the wording of several revelations recorded in the Book of Covenants and secondly over Joseph Smith’s illicit sexual affair with Fanny Alger. Oliver Cowdery, joined by the Whitmer brothers, David and John, were the main dissidents who criticized the First Presidency’s ambitions.  Joseph Smith and his counselor in turn denounced these dissidents as liars, thieves, counterfeiters, and “everything else vile”. It became increasingly evident to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon in the spring of 1838 that it was time to purge the Book of Mormon witnesses from the church’s rolls.

Joseph Smith called for a church council and “after due consideration, the High Council decided on a course of action aimed to remove these undesirables.” (12) William W. Phelps and John Whitmer, acting as Trustees for the Missouri church, were called upon to turn over control of church property to Joseph Smith, and when they refused charges were filed against them for misuse of church funds and both men were excommunicated. Oliver Cowdery’s disclosures of Joseph Smith’s sexual indiscretions made him a serious threat to Smith’s image as a prophet, therefore his head was next to fall. Cowdery was accused of  “urging vexatious law suits against the brethren, falsely insinuating that Joseph was guilty of adultery, and being involved in the bogus business.” (13) On April 12, 1838 the Missouri High Court Council excommunicated Cowdery who bitterly complained that Smith’s attempts to gain control “of Cowdery's property in Far West” was the real reason for his excommunication. The following day, David Whitmer, who had been President over the church in Missouri, was excommunicated for unchristian-like conduct. Thus Cowdery and Whitmer joined previously excommunicated Martin Harris (14) in completing the ridding the church of “those who had seen the angel and heard the testimony about ‘the plates’, and their translation into English.”(15)

At the 1^st of May, the Church of Latter Day Saints (16) in Far West was now very much like an armed encampment under the firm control of Smith and Sidney Rigdon. Mormon historian Harold Schindler noted this observable change and wrote, “The resolute manner in which the purge (at Far West) was carried out, reflected a change in the attitude of a majority of Saints.  They were becoming acutely aware of the advantage in the strategic use of force. “(17) However contrary to Schindler’s opinion it is doubtful that the strategic use of force used in the purge of April 1838 was reflective of the views of the  “majority of Saints”.  Clearly the First Presidency’s hierarchy had implemented that strategy down through its subordinate quorums.

Excommunicating prominent dissidents from his church was one thing but removing them from Far West was proving more difficult for Joseph Smith. Rather then letting the dissidents run them off, as did the Kirtland Saints, Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon devised a plan for a new and secret organization formulated to deal with their enemies. “About this time the mysterious and much dreaded band that finally took the name of Danites or Sons of Dan, concerning which so much has been said while little is known, some of the Mormons even denying its existence, was organized.” (18) In early June 1838, Sidney Rigdon directed the male members of the Saints in Missouri to meet and discuss ways to deal with dissenters. On that occasion a clandestine order was established commonly known as the “Danites or Sons of Dan”, through which deadly blood oaths, insured fealty to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon.

While the term "Sons of Dan is often confused with the Mormon militia forces of the Caldwell County, known as the "Armies of Israel", historical sources clearly reveal that a band of Mormon assassins did exist, separate and apart, from the militia. While many Mormon priesthood holders belonged to both groups, the Danite organization was a more secretive group with a stated purpose to protect the First Presidency and also to rob and terrorize the Gentile occupants of the lands that the Saints wished to possess.

Mormon Apostle Lyman Wight officially led the Mormon Militia of Caldwell County, and while the secretive Sons of Dan were led by Mormon Apostle David W. Patten with Dr. Sampson Avard serving as the front man. Under the command of the Patten, whose Danite secret name was Captain Fearnaught, the Mormon assassins became “a name of fear in the Mississippi Valley.” (19) The Sons of Dan soon in the minds of the frightened Gentiles, became associated with the terror of “night riding demons”.

Mormon historian, John Hyde, Jr. wrote that the Mormon secret organization was “a death society” and went by numerous appellations until settling on the “Sons of Dan”.  “Micah Chapter four verse thirteen, furnished the first name: ’Arise and thresh O Daughters of Zion; for I will make thy horn iron and thy hoofs brass and thou shat beat in pieces many people, and I will consecrate their gain unto the Lord.’  This accurately described the secret Mormon organization’s  intentions and at first they called themselves the Daughters of Zion. Some ridiculed these bearded and bloody ‘Daughters’ and the name did not easily fit. The appendage “Destroying Angels” came next but the final name Sons of Dan came from Genesis 49:17 according to Hyde. “Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path, that biteth the horse heels, so that his rider shall fall backward”. (20)

To bind the members of the Danite Society to the will of the First Presidency a blood oath was administered to each man which in part stated: “In the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, I now promise and swear, truly, faithfully, and without reserve, that I will serve the Lord with a perfect heart and a willing mind, dedicating myself, wholly, and unreservedly, in my person and effects, to the up building of His kingdom on earth according to His revealed will. I furthermore promise and swear that I will regard the First President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, as the Supreme God, in all written revelations given under the solemnities of a “Thus saith the Lord, “and that I will always uphold the Presidency, right or wrong.  I further promise and Swear that I will never touch a daughter of Adam, unless she is given me of the Lord. I furthermore promise and swear that no Gentile shall ever be admitted to the secrets of this holy institution or participate in its blessings. I furthermore promise and swear that I will assist the Daughters of Zion in the utter destruction of apostates, and that I will assist in setting up the kingdom of Daniel in these last days, by the power and the sword of His might. I further more promise and swear that I will never communicate the secrets of this degree to any other person in the known world, except it be to a true and lawful brother, binding myself under no less a penalty than that of having my blood shed.  So help me God and keep me faithful.” (21)

Latter Day Saint Reed Peck, a 24 year old reluctant “adjutant” of the Sons of Dan, also reported that the oaths were so binding that “The Blood of my best friend must flow by my own hands if I would be a faithful Danite should the prophet command it.“   Peck reported that he over heard the Danite Alexander McRae ay, “If Joseph should tell me to kill Van Buren in his presidential chair I would immediately start and do my best to assassinate him let the consequences be as they would.” (22)

Dr. Sampson Avard, the supposed head of the Danites, described in more detail the purpose of the Sons of Dan in an address given to his companies in June 1838. He stated, “My brethren as you have been chosen to be our leading men, our captains to rule over this last Kingdom of Jesus Christ, who have been organized after the ancient order, I have called upon you here to-day to teach you and instruct you in the things that pertain to your duty and to show you what your privileges are, and what they soon will be. Know ye not, brethren, that it soon will be your privilege to take your respective companies and go out on a scout on the borders of the settlements, and take to yourself spoils of the ungodly Gentiles?  For it is written, ‘The riches of the Gentile shall be consecrated to my people, the house of Israel; and thus waste away the Gentiles by robbing and plundering them of their property; and in this way we will build up the Kingdom of God, and roll forth the little stone that Daniel saw cut out of the mountain without hands until it shall fill the whole earth. For this is the very way that God destines to build up his Kingdom in the last days. If any of us should be recognized, who can harm us?  For we will stand by each other and defend one another in all things. If our enemies swear against us, we can swear also. Why do you started at this, brethren?  As the Lord liveth, I would swear a lie to clear any of you; and if this would not do, I would put them or him under the sand as Moses did the Egyptian, and in this way we will consecrate much unto the Lord, and build up his Kingdom; and who can stand against us? And if any of us transgress we will deal with him amongst ourselves. And if any of this Danite Society reveals any of these things, I will put him where the dogs cannot bite him” (23)

Reed Peck, while attending several of these surreptitious assemblies, recorded that the Mormon leaders conspired to murder dissenters. “A proposition was made and supported by some, as being the best policy, to kill these men that they would not be capable of injuring the church.  All their [the conspirators] measures were strenuously opposed by John Corrill and T. B. Marsh, one of the twelve apostles of the church and in consequence nothing could be effected until the matter was taken up publicly by the presidency the Sunday following (June 17) in the presence of a large congregation…” (24)

Reed Peck,  also wrote:  “Ignorant of the nature of these meetings attend[ed] one about the last of June and heared a full disclosure of its subject-Jared carter, Geo. W. Robinson, and Sampson Avard, under the instruction of the presidency, had formed a secret military society, called the “daughters of Zion” and were holding secret meetings to initiate members.  The principles taught by Sampson A[v]ard as spokesman, were that: as the Lord had raised up a prophet in these last days like unto Moses, it shall be the duty of this band to obey him in all things, and whatever he requires you shall perform being ready to give up life and property for the advancement of The Cause. When Any thing is to be performed no member shall have the privilege of judging whether it would be right or wrong but shall engage in its accomplishment and trust God for the result….It is not our business or place to know what is required by God, but he will inform us by means of the prophet and we must perform…If any of you see a member of the band in difficulty in the surrounding country contending for instance with the enemy, you shall extricate him even if in the wrong if you have too do with his adversary as Moses did with the Egyptian put him under the sand and both pack off to Far West and we will take care of the matter ourselves.  No person shall be suffered to speak evil or disrespectfully of the presidency. The secret signs and purposes of the Society are not to be revealed on pain of death. (25)

William Swartzell, who as a young man had walked from Pekin, Ohio to Missouri where he joined the Latter Day Saints also became a Danite. Joseph Smith had used Swartzell to record the land plats for Adam Ondi Ahmen because he was a man with an education and Swartzell, as an eyewitness, stated that Joseph Smith attending at least one Danite meeting. Swartzell recorded that while Smith was attending a meeting, he preached a sermon entitled “A Man of God and a Son of Thunder”. According to Swartzell, Smith charged the Saints wwho were there,  “to prove faithful in whatever I commit to your trust, come life or come death…If one should run away and betray the trust committed to you, though he should be five thousand miles distant, the Destroying Angels will pursue him and take his life-have him shot privately so that it may not be found out or known of men.” (26)

Dr. Sampson Avard, who later swore that Joseph Smith was the ”prime mover and organizer of this Danite Band also claims to have heard Smith say,” It is necessary this band should be bound together by a covenant, that those who reveal the secrets of the society shall be put to death”  (27)

That the blood oaths of the secret society should have a resemblance to Freemasonry’s secret penalty oaths, which were accompanied with signs, handclasps, and tokens, is not coincidental. While Joseph Smith resided in Far West he lived much of the time at the home of George W. Harris. Smith’s interest in Harris was twofold; his knowledge of Masonic secrets as a “Worshipful Master Mason” and Harris’ wife. Smith’s fascination with Harris was that he had been personally acquainted with William Morgan. Morgan was the infamous Mason murdered in the 1820’s for revealing Masonic secrets.  Morgan’s death in fact was the catalyst for a national anti-Masonic movement, of which some have suggested, semblances of which found their way into the Book of Mormon’s condemnation of secret combinations.

Joseph Smith was as much fascinated with Lucinda Harris, who before marrying Harris was William Morgan’s widow. Lucinda Pendleton, the former wife of the William Morgan, was seduced by the charismatic lady’s man and willingly became a member of his celestial harem. Lucinda Harris was one of the earliest paramours of Joseph Smith and is listed as a “spiritual wife”. Smith no doubt gleaned valuable information about Masonic rites within this household either through Harris or through his wife, Lucinda. Smith may have even patterned the Danite oath from the supposed blood oaths of the Masons that he learned from Harris. By the penalties which were probably pattern after Masonic rituals, the Mormons were bound by oaths to support each other and the leaders of the Church.   

William Swartzell wrote in his journal some of the signs and passwords of the Sons of Dan and they agree in detail with John D. Lee’s accounts which he recorded in his Memoirs. (28) Swartzell stated that the Mormon Apostle Lyman Wight: “informed us that he would give us a sign ‘whereby ye shall know each other anywhere either by day or night, and if a brother be in distress.  It is thus: To clap the right hand to the right thigh, and then raise it quick to the right temple, the thumb extended behind the ear.’  He then gave us the pass-word—which was to be spoken at the moment of giving the hand of fellowship-‘Who be you?’ Answer—‘Anama’. This word, anama, he further informed us, is, by interpretation, a friend. This then is the sign to distinguish ourselves from all other people under heaven.” (29)  

While some “faith promoting” histories of the Latter Day Saints firmly disavow the existence of a secret organization known as the Sons of Dan, however this denial is blatantly false. The official Mormon position is that the society was formed only to protect Mormon life and property in Missouri from adversarial attacks. This stance also maintains that the origins of this band of Mormon assassins were conceived by a rogue alliance of Mormons directed by the “diabolical” (30) Dr. Sampson Avard. (31) If indeed this was a rogue secret fraternity of Mormon priesthood holders, many of the most distinguished members of the Mormon Church were thus out of association with the rest of the church.

It is beyond credibility to believe that Dr. Sampson Avard, a virtual lackeys in the Mormon hierarchy of power, could have operated such a far-reaching organization, without the authority and approval of the church’s First Presidency.  It simply was not possible for Dr. Avard to command the absolute loyalty of the number of Latter Day Saints who were members without these men implicitly knowing that Joseph Smith approved of their actions; to believe otherwise is ludicrous as well as self-serving. The objectives of this organization was identical to the objectives of Joseph Smith and his counselor Sidney Rigdon, which was to rid the Mormon Kingdom of God of its enemies from within and without.

That Avard was “unquestionably believed by the Mormons to be in the confidence of the heads of the Church,” is further demonstrated by the fact that Mormon assassin, Orrin Porter Rockwell was a member of this band. Harold Schindler, author of a comprehensive, yet extremely biased biography of the notorious Danite Orrin Porter Rockwell, admitted: “One of the great controversies surrounding the Sons of Dan concerns the question of whether or not Joseph knew and approved of its existence prior to the society’s public exposure in November 1838. The point is relevant because if his denials of such knowledge are true, it marked the only occasion in Orrin Porter Rockwell’s life when he strayed from the dictates of the church by entering into an unauthorized doctrinal venture. His close relationship with and devoted obedience to the prophet makes it inconceivable that he would have failed to inform Joseph of the Danites.” (32)

Joseph Smith’s own denials, that neither he nor his church ever sanctioned such an organization, is the basis for the claims that he had any personal involvement with the formation of the Sons of Dan. Joseph Smith, it must be remembered, also lied and said that he was not polygamous; therefore his veracity on this subject must also be challenged. If Smith had not so vehemently denied that he was practicing polygamy at this same time, when his adulterous affairs with married and unmarried women were numerous, then his words might carry more weight. But Joseph Smith was a genius at the art of “plausible deniability” and a masterful manipulator. Smith told the truth when it suited his ambitions and fabricated it when he was felt it was necessary. Smith’s notorious falsifications make his word unreliable; especially when dealing with personal finances, fidelity, or foul play.  (33)

Even Joseph Smith, however, admitted the existence of the Danites saying “a certain Dr. Avard” did plan the formation of such a band, but the self-serving prophet asserted, “when a knowledge of Avard’s rascality came to the Presidency of the Church, he was cut off.” At the time the Sons of Dan were being formed in June 1838, Avard was “in full fellowship” and Joseph Smith even took the doctor with him and Lyman Wight to the house of Adam Black, the Justice of the Peace of Daviess County, knowing that Avard’s being there would intimidate the judge.  Although Smith suggested that as soon as Dr. Avard’s “rascality” came to his attention he was “cut off” the facts are that there was no formal censure of Dr. Avard until after his turning state witness in April 1839 after the failed Mormon insurrection.  Only after betraying his own blood oaths, was Dr. Avard vilified.  He became the castigated scapegoat because he repudiated Mormonism after the Missouri Militia captured him.

Sworn affidavits by those who held leading offices in the church in 1838, agreed that Joseph Smith and other leading heads of the Mormon Church knew and even approved of the Sons of Dan, contrary to Smith’s denials of such knowledge. Mormon witnesses under oath testified that Joseph Smith addressed a meeting of the Danite Society at least once of its meetings. Bishop John Corrill, who was a prominent Saint during the Jackson County persecutions, described a gathering of the Sons of Dan at which the entire First Presidency was introduced to officers of the order and ”pronounced blessings on each of them.” Corrill added that at this meeting Joseph Smith ”made some general remarks…relating [to] the e oppressions [members] had suffered and [said] they wanted to be prepared for further events. (34) 

John Cleminson, who remained a faithful Mormon and moved with the church to  Nauvoo, Illinois supported Bishop Corill’s testimony,  “Dr. Avard called on Joseph Smith, Jr., who gave them a pledge, that if they [the First Presidency] led them into difficulty he would give them his head for a football and that it was the will of God that these things should be so. The teacher and active agent of the society was Dr. Avard and his teachings were approved by the presidency.” (35)

 Dr. Samson Avard testified before Missouri officials and confessed his part in forming a criminal band of religious fanatics. He stated: "A band called the Daughters of Zion was organized by the members of the Mormon Church. I considered Joseph Smith as the prime mover and organizer of this Danite Band. The officers of the band were brought before him at a schoolhouse, together with Hyrum Smith and Sidney Rigdon, the First Presidency of the Church. Joseph Smith blessed them and prophesied over them said it was necessary for the band to be bound together by covenant and those who revealed the secrets of the society should be put to death." (36) Avard’s testimony affirms Bishop Corrills recollections of Joseph Smith blessing the organization.

Additionally Justus Morse, (37) an early Mormon convert and later High Priest in the Reorganized Church of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, testified that he saw the entire first presidency at a Danite meeting.  He also confirmed that purpose of the Sons of Dan was to rob and kill Gentiles:  "In the year 1838 at Far West, Caldwell County, Missouri, I was made a Danite in an organized meeting held for that purpose. Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon and Hyrum Smith were present frequently at our meetings; Brother Avard had charge of organizing the band. We held our secret meeting in a deep ravine, in the year 1838. We were instructed by Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon and Hyrum Smith that the church could not advance without means, we must get money and means, right or wrong, honest or dishonest, that the church should suck the milk of the Gentiles. To take from Gentiles was no sin."  (38)

Footnotes:

1. Hubert Howe Bancroft,  History of Utah. San Francisco, Ca. 1890 p 118 (Various spellings Adam On Diahman Adam on di Ahmen Doctrine and Covenants Section 104, until 1876 edition, when it was removed.)
2. 1835 Book of Commandments Section 101:4 forbids the practice of polygamy
3. Frances Alger was the daughter of Samuel Alger and Clarissa Hancock born 30 Sept 1819, Rehoboth, Bristol County, Massachusetts. In 1836 she married Gentile Solomon Custer, and removed to Dublin, Indiana. LDS Genealogical sources state that he was born 1814 and had nine children, however census records show that she was born in 1819. She never had any contact with Mormonism after the affair with Smith however. Fanny Alger died after 1885.  Fanny Alger’s relatives became prominent Utah pioneers.  Her maternal uncles were Joseph and Levi Hancock Her mother Clarrissa Hancock Alger emigrated with the LDS Church to Utah where she died 22 July 1870. On page 11 of 1850 Federal Census of Wayne County, Indiana, the Custer family was listed as living in Dublin, Jackson Township. Solomon lists his age as 32 (1818) and a laborer born in Ohio. His wife is listed as “Frances” Custer, age 31 (1819) and gives her birthplace as New York. Their children were Mary C. Custer age 10, Lewis A. Custer age 6, Sophrona Custer age 2, and Benjamin W. Custer age one.  All of these children were born in Indiana. Solomon Custer was living next to the family of Paul and Mary Custer whose ages suggest that they were his parents. They were natives of North Carolina and may have been Quakers.  
4. Unpublished letter written to George S. Gibbs in 1903 by Benjamin F. Johnson. 
5. Richard S. Van Wagoner, Mormon Polygamy: A History, 1986, p 6
6. Linda King Newell and Valeen Tippets Avery, Mormon Enigma: Emma Hale Smith, University of Illinois Press 1994
7. D. Michael Quinn, The Mormon Hierarchy: Extensions of Power, Signature Books, SLC UT 1997 pp 627-628
8. In 1830 Morgan's widow, Lucinda Pendleton, born 1800, married George W. Harris of Batavia, New York, a silversmith who was 20 years older than she. After they moved to the Midwest, they became Mormons. By 1837, some historians believe that Pendleton Morgan Harris had become one of the plural wives of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. She continued to live with her older husband, George Harris until about 1850. After Smith was murdered in 1844, she was "sealed" to him for eternity in a rite of the church. Members of Freemasonry criticized the Mormons for their alleged adoption of Masonic rituals and  regalia. In 1841 the Mormons announced their official baptism of William Morgan after his death as one of the first under their new rite to posthumously take people into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for eternity. (sources-Compton, Todd (1997), In Sacred Loneliness: The Plural Wives of Joseph Smith, Salt Lake City: Signature Books, p.44, 52. Thompson, John E.; "The Mormon Baptism of William Morgan", The Philalethes, February, 1985; 38(1): p. 8)
9. Jerald and Sandra Tanner, The Mormon Kingdom, Vol. 1, Utah Lighthouse Ministry, SLC UT 1969  p 27 Letter written by Oliver Cowdery and recorded by his brother Warren Cowdery
10. Quinn Hierarchy p 471 footnote 
11. Harold Schindler, Orrin Porter Rockwell: Man of God, Son of Thunder. University of Utah Press, SLC UT 1993 p 25
12. Joseph Smith, History of the Church, Vol. III pp 16-17
13. Oliver Cowdery’s trial record in the Kirtland Council Minute Book, LDS Archives.
14. Quinn. Hierarchy. P 627 (Book of Mormon Witness, Martin Harris was excommunicated during the last week of December 1837 in Kirtland for refusing to join the Church-sponsored Kirtland Safety Society, which was issuing paper money.)
15. Bancroft, pg. 118)
16. As a side note, the purge of 1838 prompted the third change of name for Joseph Smith’s church in eight years. Two weeks after the excommunication of his cousin Oliver Cowdery who had helped him initially form his religious entity, Joseph Smith altered the name of his church to “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” When first organized his sect was simply called the “Church of Christ” but by 1834 Joseph Smith changed the name to “The Church of Latter Day Saints” as not to be associated with the growing Campbellite church, which was also calling themselves “The Churches of Christ”. Quinn. Hierarchy p 628 Many early Mormons apostatized after Smith dropped the name of Jesus from his church, which was now restored.
17. Schindler, p 25
18. Bancroft, p 124
19. Richard F Burton, City of the Saints and Across the Rocky Mountains to California. New York Harper and Brothers 1862 p 359
20. John Hyde, Mormonism: It’s Leaders and Designs. NYC, W. P. Fetridge, 1857 pg 204)  
21. Achilles, The Destroying Angels of Mormonism, or a Sketch of the life of Orrin Porter Rockwell, the Late Danite Chief. 1878 San Francisco pp 8-9 (A similar version of the same oath was: “In the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, I do solemnly obligate myself ever to regard the prophet and first presidency of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, as supreme head of the church on earth, and to obey them in all things, as the Supreme God; that I will stand by my brethren in danger and difficulty, and will uphold the presidency, right or wrong; and that I will ever conceal, and never reveal, the secret purpose of this society, called the Daughters of Zion. Should I ever do the same, I hold my life as the forfeiture in a caldron of boiling oil.”  John C. Bennett, Mormonism Exposed, pg 267
22. Reed Peck,. Mormons So Called. Quincy, Adams County, Ill September 18, 1839 MS Peck. pp 41-42
23. Thomas B. Stenhouse, History of Rocky Mountain Saints. P 92)
24. Peck,  pp 22-23.  (This manuscript, a narrative written in faded, but entirely legible, ink in journal of 152 numbered pages, was intended, according to its author, “as a correct statement of the difficulties of that [Mormon] people in Jackson county.” The manuscript was copied verbatim in November 1943 by Dale L. Morgan from the original then in the possession of Fawn M. Brodie, who had previously purchased it from two granddaughters of Reed Peck living in Bainbridge, N.Y.)
25. Ibid pp 41-42)
26. William Swartzell, Mormonism Exposed 1840  (Harold Schindler used the name of this sermon by Joseph Smith as the title of his biography of Orrin Porter Rockwell, a life long Danite. Schindler, a staunch defender of “Joseph” or the “Prophet” did not accept any of the sources that Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon were the primer movers behind the secret society. He merely suggests that if may have been likely since the faithful Porter was a member.)
27. Documents Containing the Correspondence, Orders, &c In Relation to the Disturbances With the Mormons. Fayette, Mo. 1841 Testimony of Dr. Sampson Avard pg 97
28. John D. Lee. Mormonism Unveiled; Including the Remarkable Life and Confessions of the Late Mormon Bishop John D. Lee 1877 St. Louis pp 57-58
29. Swartzell. pp 22-23
30. Schindler p. 36. (In typical Mormon style Schindler calls the “apostate” Dr. Avard “satanic” while whitewashing “faithful” members)
31. Dr. Samuel Avard was a Campbellite preacher of Freedom Pennsylvania. He was converted by Orson Pratt (Latter Day Saints Messenger and Advocate Vo.II 2 Nov 1835 pp 223-24) and excommunicated 17 March 1839 four months after the trial the of Joseph Smith for treason.)
32. Schindler. pg. 33 fn 23. Schindler hides in his footnotes the issue of how much Joseph Smith must have been involved in the creation of the Danites. Nineteenth century Mormon historian, Thomas B. H. Stenhouse suggested the same argument as Schindler; that Joseph Smith must have had full knowledge of the existence of the band of assassins. He wrote: (Any]) Mormon who realizes, as indeed nearly all of them must, the strict surveillance which ‘the authorities’ exercise over the actions of individuals, will have difficulty in believing that Dr. Avard was alone in the organization of the Danite Band. TBH Stenhouse, Rocky Mountain Saints, pg. 91)
33. Dallin H. Oaks, "Gospel Teachings About Lying", Clark Memorandum BYU (Spring 1994 pg. 16-17). In this talk Oaks acknowledges that 'Lying for the Lord' by early Mormon leaders occurred. He stated that Joseph Smith lied about many of his activities and this overwhelming historical evidence forced Oaks to admit to the lies. Among Mormons and former Mormons it has become known as "Lying for the Lord".)
34. Documents Containing the Correspondence, Orders, &c In Relation to the Disturbances With the Mormons. Fayette, Mo. 1841 Testimony of John Corrill Pg 111
35. Ibid Testimony of John Cleminson pg.114
36. Ibid Testimony of Dr. Sampson Avard p 97
37. Justus aka Justice Morse was 29 years old when he was initiated into the Danites. He was the brother-in-law to Jefferson Hunt who went to Utah with the Brighamnites)
38. Charles W. Shook, True Origin of Mormonism, 1914 pp 108-171 (While Utah Mormons may dismiss Justice Morse as an apostate, his comments on milking the Gentiles are similar to the views of LDS Apostle Orson Hyde who told Mormon Bishop John Bennion, “that a man may steal and be influenced by the Spirit of the Lord to do it,” and said “that he never would institute a trial against a brother for stealing from the Gentiles, but stealing from his brother, he was down on it.” 13 October 1860 Diary of Bishop John Bennion 1850-1875. Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, BYU. Provo, Utah))