The United Order

 

Sketch of the settlement at Orderville, Utah

We hear of Orderville, Utah and the order that was established in this southern Utah town, however, there were other orders. How many orders were established in the Church at its peak?

a.      Less than 100

b.      More than 100

c.       More than 200

d.      Less than 50

Yesterday’s answer:

(D)   The tar bucket and lantern used at the time of the tarring and feathering of the Prophet Joseph Smith

While on a mission in the Northern States, and laboring in the city of Grand Rapids, Michigan, on March 24, 1902, I, in company with Lorenzo Sorenson of Smithfield, Utah, were tracting from house to house and called at the home of a Mr. Silas Raymond who was in possession of two relics in the shape of a tar bucket and a dark lantern used the night of the horrible mobbing of the Prophet Joseph which occurred on March 25, 1832. Mr. Raymond answered the door and when we introduced ourselves as Mormon missionaries, he uttered an oath “_____ _____ you Mormons, come in. I want to show you something.” He excused himself and returned in a few minutes with a tar bucket which was made from a block of wood 8 inches in diameter and 10 or 12 inches in height, chiseled out to make a bucket, a hole bored through each side at the top and a piece of rope knotted at each end to make the handle. It was a very crude affair. It was covered with hard tar both inside and out and had never been used for anything after the mobbing. The lantern was called a dark lantern; and was about the size of a one gallon can. It had a pointed top on it to shed rain and a wire handle attached, with a little door cut in the side, through which a candle was put into the can and lighted. There were perforations-diamond shape, heart shape, and crescent shape, also decorations were used to let the light flicker out.

     Upon returning with these relics he uttered another oath: and placed them before us saying:-“Pick ‘em up; handle ‘em; look ‘em over,” and stated that they were used on the night of the mobbing of the Prophet Joseph Smith at Hiram, Ohio, while at the home of Brother Johnson.

     He stated that this bucket filled with liquid tar was poured which had been ripped open and was rolled into the feathers.

     Mr. Raymond stated that his father was one of the leaders of the mob and that from the time of this mobbing something seemed to have come upon his father that he was never well again; was finally confined to his bed where slow death came upon him, mortification setting in at his toes and he died by inches as mortification worked its way upward. Before dying he called his family together and talked with them regarding the mobbing and their future course in life, stating that his days were numbered, but he wanted to tell them that so far as he was concerned they would please themselves which religious denomination they affiliated themselves with, but for his part he was convinced that Joe Smith was all that he ever claimed to be-a prophet of God.

     After viewing these relics, and returning to our rooms, we thought a great deal about them and wrote to President Joseph F. Smith, President of the Church, asking if he thought such relics would be genuine. We received an answer to our letter stating that there was no question but what they were genuine and instructed us to buy the relics from Mr. Raymond if a reasonable price could be agreed on, so that they could be put in the Church museum. Mr. Raymond refused to sell them stating that they had been handed down from his father’s death to the oldest member of the family and they were to be kept in the family as long as they desired to have them. He said they were of no use to him, the Church should have them but it was his father’s request that they should be kept in the family.

     Two of this Mr. Raymond’s aunts joined the Church and moved West with the Saints.

N.B. Lundwall, The Fate of the Persecutor’s of the Prophet Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1952), 71-2.