"We, the undersigned, citizens of Jackson county, believing that an important crisis is at hand, as regards our civil society, in consequence of a pretended religious sect of people, that have settled and are still settling in our county, styling themselves Mormons, and intending, as we do to rid our society 'peaceably if we can, forcibly if we must,' and believing as we do, that the arm of the civil law does not afford us a guarantee, or at least a sufficient one against the evils which are not inflicted upon us, and seem to be increasing by the said religious sect, deem it expedient, and of the highest importance to form ourselves into a company for the better and easier accomplishment of our purpose, a purpose which we deem it almost superfluous to say, is justified as well by the law of nature, as by the law of self preservation.

It is more than two years since the first fanatics, or knaves, (for one or the other they undoubtedly are,) made their first appearance amongst us, and pretending as they did, and now do to hold personal communion and converse face to face with the most high God, to receive communications and revelations direct from heaven; to heal the sick by laying on hands, and in short, to perform all the wonder working miracles wrought by the inspired apostles and prophets of old.

We believed them deluded fanatics or weak and designing knaves, and that they and their pretentions would soon pass away; but in this we were deceived. The arts of a few designing leaders amongst them have thus far succeeded in holding them together as a society, and since the arrival of the first of them they have been daily increasing in numbers, and if they had been respectable citizens in society, and thus deluded they would have been entitled to our pity rather than to our contempt and hatred: but from their appearance, from their manners, and from their conduct, since their coming among us, we have every reason to fear, that with but very few exceptions, they were of the very dregs of that society from which they came, lazy, idle vicious. This we conceive is not idle assertion, but a fact susceptible of proof, for with these few exceptions above named, they brought into our county little or no property with them, and left less behind them, and we infer, that those only, yoked themselves to the Mormon car, who had nothing earthly or heavenly, to lose by the change; and we fear that if some of the leaders amongst them, had paid the forfeit due to crime, instead of being chosen embassadors of the most High, they would have been inmates of solitary cells. But their conduct here stamps their characters in their true colors. More than a year since, it was ascertained that they had been tampering with our slaves, and endeavoring to sow dissentions and raise seditions amongst them. Of this their mormon leaders were informed, and they said they would deal with any of their members who should again, in like case offend, but how specious are appearances, in a late number of the Star, published in Independence by the leaders of the sect, there is an article inviting free negroes and mulattoes from other States to become mormons and remove and settle among us, this exhibits them in still more odious colors. It manifests a desire on the part of their society, to inflict on our society an injury that they know would be to us entirely insupportable, and one of the surest means of driving us from the county; for it would require none of the supernatural gifts that they pretend to, to see that the introduction of such a cast amongst us, would corrupt our blacks and instigate them to bloodsheds.

They openly blaspheme the most high God, and cast contempt on his holy religion, by pretending to receive revelations direct from heaven, by pretending to speak unknown tongues; by direct inspiration, and by diverse pretences derogatory of God and religion, and to the utter subversion of human reason:

They declare openly that their God hath given them this county of land, and that sooner or later they must and will have possession of our lands for an inheritance, and in fine they have conducted themselves on many other occasions in such a manner, that we believe it a duty we owe ourselves, to our wives and children, to the cause of public morals, to remove them from among us, as we are not prepared to give up our pleasant places, and goodly possessions to them, or to receive into the bosom of our families, as fit companions for our wives and daughters the degraded and corrupted free negroes and mulattoes, that are now invited to settle among us.

Under such a state of things, even our beautiful county would cease to be desirable residence, and our situation intolerable! We, therefore, agree, that after timely warning, and receiving an adequate compensation for what little property they cannot take with them, they refuse to leave us in peace, as they found us, we agree to use such means as may be sufficient to remove them, and to that end we each pledge to each other our bodily powers, our lives, fortunes, and sacred honors.

We will meet at the court house at the town of Independence, on Saturday next, 20 Inst. to consult ulterior movements."