THORNTON, Oliver RIN #24391
Personal account of Oliver Thornton found in the records of the 24th Quorum
of Seventy at the L.D.S. Church Historians Library. Found in both of the following:
WR f Pt. 4 p. 18
WR f Pt. 11 p. 18
Genealogy of Oliver Thornton, son or Joseph and Lucretia Thornton was born in
the Township of Pickering, U.C. September 6th, 1806, was baptized into the Church
or Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in June 1837 by Eld. John Taylor and stood
a private member or the same until I was ordained into the Twenty-fourth quorum
of the Seventy on the 9th day of April 1845. My occupation has been farming
from my youth up. I removed to Kirtland in 1838 and the same year went up to
Far West in the great camp or the Saints and arrived in time to suffer with
the Saints the persecution of a ruthless mob and was banished from the ·state
or Missouri the following winter into the state of Illinois where I now reside
in the beautiful City of Joseph.
City or Joseph
May 5th ,1845 s/Oliver Thornton
[it's not clear when or by whom the following
footnote was added. It certainly wasn't part of Oliver's original statement]
*With the Prophet and other leaders in ·Far West, the presidents of seventies, finding many poor saints in Kirtland, unable to move their belongings, proposed to organize a camp and go in a body to Missouri. Many agreed: "It would be the greatest thing ever accomplished by the church and maybe even since the exodus of Israel from Egypt."
By the forepart of July 1838, 600 persons with their wagons, teams, cattle & tents left the rejected town of Kirtland for Missouri. After three months of travel the Kirtland Camp arrived at Far West, Missouri, on October 2, 1838. Five miles from Far West they were met by the Prophet and his two counselors, Isaac Morely( the patriarch of Far West) and other leading brethern. The next day the Prophet counseled members of the camp to continue their journey north to Adam-ondi-Ahman. At about sunset on October 4 they reached their destination and were greeted by one of the saints residing there with the words "Brethren your long and tedious journey is ended, you are now on the public square of Adam-ondi-Ahman where Adam blessed his posterity, and they rose up and called him Michael, the Prince, the Archangel. "
(The Hauns Mill massacre took place October 30, 1838)