“Having killed all the brethren they could find, the mob next proceeded to pillage the village and rob the dead of their boots, clothing and valuables.” — The Historical Record, Vol VII¹

In late 1835, Jacob Hawn (Haun) settled in what would become Caldwell County, Missouri, eventually establishing a mill. Members of the Church settled in the area and established a branch by 1838.² On October 30, 1838, as the Saints went about their daily activities, a mob of armed men from the militia attacked the settlement without warning. Amanda Barnes Smith and her family were passing through Hawn’s Mill at the time. Her husband Warren with two of their sons, Sardius and Alma, sought protection in the blacksmith shop with other Saints. Despite calls for peace, the mob ruthlessly fired upon the Saints, killing seventeen people, including Warren and 10-year-old Sardius, and wounding more than a dozen others.³ This attack is known as the Hawn’s Mill Massacre.⁴

1. Andrew Jenson, The Historical Record, 676, archive.org

2. “Hawn’s Mill Missouri,” josephsmithpapers.org

3. Saints, Volume 1, Chapter 30, 347-355

4. Hawn’s Mill Massacre, churchofjesuschrist.org