Missouri's Extermination Order

THE EXTERMINATION ORDER Governor Lilburn W. Boggs Extermination Order Governor Boggs issued orders to General Clark, conferring upon him the most plenary authority for putting down the so-called Mormon insurrection following the receipt of several appeals from mob leaders and citizens in northern Missouri and pressured by advisors to act immediately. This document, now known as the "Extermination Order," was issued on 27 October 1838. Headquarters of the Militia City of Jefferson, October 27, 1838 Gen. John B. Clark. Sir:- Since the order of this morning to you, directing you to cause four hundred mounted men to be raised within your division, I have received by Amos Rees, Esq. of Ray county and Wiley C. Williams, Esq., one of my aids, information of the most appalling character, which entirely changes the face of things, and places the Mormons in the attitude of an open and avowed defiance of the laws, and of having made war upon the people of this State. Your orders are, therefore, to hasten your operations with all possible speed. The Mormons must be treated as enemies, and must be exterminated or driven from the State if necessary, for the public peace-their outrages are beyond all description. If you can increase your force, you are authorized to do so, to any extent you may consider necessary. I have just issued orders to Maj. Gen. Willock of Marion county, to raise five hundred men, and to march them to the northern part of Daviess, and there unite with General Doniphan, of Clay, who has been ordered with five hundred men to proceed to the same point for the purpose of intercepting the retreat of the Mormons to the north. They have been directed to communicate with you by express, you can also communicate with them if you find it necessary. Instead, therefore, of proceeding as at first directed to reinstate the citizens in their homes, you will proceed immediately to Richmond and then operate against the Mormons. Brig. Gen. Parks of Ray, has been ordered to have four hundred of his Brigade in readiness to join you at Richmond. The whole force will be placed under your command. I am very respectfully, Your Ob't Serv't, L. W. BOGGS, Commander-in-Chief.

THE EXTERMINATION ORDER RESCINDED Governor Bond's order reads as follows: WHEREAS, on October 27, 1838, the Governor of the State of Missouri, Lilburn W. Boggs, signed an order calling for the extermination or expulsion of Mormons from the State of Missouri; and WHEREAS, Governor Boggs' order clearly contravened the rights to life, liberty, property and religious freedom as guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States, as well as the Constitution of the State of Missouri; and WHEREAS, in this bicentennial year as we reflect on our nation's heritage, the exercise of religious freedom is without question one of the basic tenets of our free democratic republic; Now, THEREFORE, I, CHRISTOPHER S. BOND, Governor of the State of Missouri, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Constitution and the laws of the State of Missouri, do hereby order as follows: Expressing on behalf of all Missourians our deep regret for the injustice and undue suffering which was caused by the 1838 order, I hereby rescind Executive Order Number 44, dated October 27, 1838, issued by Governor W. Boggs. In witness I have hereunto set my hand and caused to be affixed the great seal of the State of Missouri, in the city of Jefferson, on this 25 day of June, 1976. (Signed) Christopher S. Bond, Governor. [Richard Neitzel Holzapfel and T. Jeffery Cottle, Old Mormon Kirtland and Missouri (Santa Anna, CA: Fieldbrook Productions, Inc., 1991), 283-285, 306].

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First Edited: 14 January 2005 Last Edited: 14 January 2005 - by Wendell