In our final conversation with Dr. Alex Baugh, we’ll talk about the lessons to be learned from Hawn’s Mill. Who deserves blame in this escalation? What might have helped calm things down? Did Porter Rockwell
Seventeen Mormon men and boys were killed at Hawn’s Mill, Missouri on October 30, 1838. Dr. Alex Baugh describes the awful tragedy that includes mutilation of corpses, and gruesome injuries to a boy as young
The story of Hawn’s Mill, Missouri is a tragedy. You may have noticed I have been spelling the name H A W N, rather than the traditional spelling of H A U N. In our
On October 27, 1838, Governor Lilburn Boggs signed the Extermination Order, saying that Mormons were to be driven from the state. Did that mean it was legal to kill Mormons? BYU Church history professor, Dr.
Following the Kirtland Banking Crisis in 1836, Joseph Smith finally came to Missouri, but dissent against his leadership followed him. Early leaders including Oliver Cowdery, the Whitmers, and even W.W. Phelps were disillusioned with his
We’re continuing our conversation with Dr. Alex Baugh. We’ve already discussed some of the issues between Mormons and Missourians in Jackson County, but things were about to get worse. We’ll tackle why Bishop Edward Partridge
Joseph Smith had a revelation that Jackson County, Missouri was the promised land. It turns out that the Jackson Country residents weren’t on board with that revelation. It was a very tumultuous time when Mormons
Alexander L. Baugh is a professor and former chair of the Department of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University, where he has been a full-time faculty member since 1995. He received his BS from Utah State University and his MA and PhD degrees from Brigham Young University. He specializes in researching and writing about the Missouri period of early Church history (1831–39). He is the author, editor, or coeditor of twelve books, including three volumes of the Document series of The Joseph Smith Papers (Documents, volumes 4, 5, and 6). In addition, he has published more than eighty historical journal articles, essays, and book chapters. He is a member of the Mormon History Association and the John Whitmer Historical Association, having served as president of the latter organization in 2006–7. He is also the past editor of Mormon Historical Studies and past codirector of research for the BYU Religious Studies Center. He and his wife reside in Highland, Utah.
