--of which Joseph F. Smith
the nephew of the prophet and son of Hiram the patriarch is now
the president--found their belief in the divine character of their
peculiar institution upon alleged revelations direct from God to
the founder of the Church. The statement of Governor Ford, written
nearly sixty years ago, sheds some light upon this controversy:

"A doctrine was now revealed that no woman could get to heaven
except as the wife of a Mormon elder. The elders were allowed
to have as many of these wives as they could maintain; and it was
a doctrine of the Church that any female could be 'sealed up to
eternal life' by uniting herself as wife to the elder of her choice.
This doctrine was maintained by appeal to the Old Testament scriptures
and by the example of Abraham and Jacob and Daniel and Solomon,
the favorites of God in a former age of the world."

As the necessary result of the causes mentioned, the followers
of the prophet soon found themselves bitterly antagonized by almost
the whole anti-Mormon population of the "Military Tract." Charges
and counter-charges were made, the arrest of the leaders of the
opposing parties followed in rapid succession, and outrages and
riots were of daily occurrence. Public meetings were held; all
the crimes known to the calendar were charged against the Mormons,
and resolutions passed demanding their immediate expulsion from the
State. What is known in Illinois history as the "Mormon war"
followed closely in the wake of the events just mentioned. Innocent
persons were, in many instances, the victims of the folly and of
the crimes of unprincipled and brutal leaders.

The events of this period constitute a dark chapter in the history
of the State--one that can be recalled only with feelings of horror.
The great body of citizens, it is needless to say, favored the
rigid maintenance of order and the protection of life and property;
but it was the very heyday for the lawless and vicious element
of all parties.

That this condition of affairs could not long continue was manifest.
The bloody termination, however, came in a manner unexpected to
all. Two of the Mormon leaders, William and Wilson Law, were,
at the time mentioned, in open revolt against the newly-assumed
powers and the alleged practices of the prophet. To strengthen
their opposition they procured a printing-press and equipment, and
issued from their office in Nauvoo one number of a small weekly,
"The Expositor."