Lilburn Boggs | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 6thGovernor of Missouri | |
| In office September 30, 1836 – November 16, 1840 | |
| Lieutenant | Franklin Cannon |
| Preceded by | Daniel Dunklin |
| Succeeded by | Thomas Reynolds |
| 4thLieutenant Governor of Missouri | |
| In office November 19, 1832 – September 30, 1836 | |
| Governor | Daniel Dunklin |
| Preceded by | Daniel Dunklin |
| Succeeded by | Franklin Cannon |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Lilburn Williams Boggs (1796-12-14)December 14, 1796 Lexington, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Died | March 14, 1860(1860-03-14) (aged 63) Rancho Napa,California, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Relations | Joseph Boggs (uncle) |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Battles/wars | War of 1812 |
Lilburn Williams Boggs (December 14, 1796 – March 14, 1860)[1] was thesixth Governor of Missouri, from 1836 to 1840. He is now most widely remembered for his interactions withJoseph Smith andPorter Rockwell, andMissouri Executive Order 44, known as the "Extermination Order", issued in response to the ongoing conflict between church members and other settlers ofMissouri. Boggs was also a key player in theHoney War of 1837.
Boggs was born inLexington,Fayette County,Kentucky, on December 14, 1796, to John McKinley Boggs and Martha Oliver. Boggs served for 18 months with the Kentucky troops during theWar of 1812. He moved in 1816 from Lexington, Kentucky, toMissouri, which was then part of theLouisiana Territory. He was a member of theSmithton Company that would establish the Town of Smithton that would later grow intoColumbia, Missouri.[2]
InGreenup County, Kentucky, in 1817, Boggs married his first wife, Julia Ann Bent (1801–1820), a sister of the Bent brothers ofBent's Fort fame, and daughter ofSilas Bent, then a judge in theMissouri Supreme Court. She died on September 21, 1820, inSt Louis, Missouri. They had two children, Angus andHenry.[2]
In 1823, Boggs marriedPanthea Grant Boone (1801–1880), a granddaughter ofDaniel Boone, inCallaway County, Missouri. They spent most of the following twenty-three years inJackson County, Missouri, where all but two of their many children were born.[2]
Boggs started out as a clerk, then entered politics. He served as a Missouri state senator from 1825 to 1832; as lieutenant governor from 1832 to 1836; governor from 1836 to 1840; and again as state senator from 1842 to 1846. He was aDemocrat.[2]
While governor of Missouri, Boggs issuedMissouri Executive Order 44, a document known inLatter Day Saint history as the "Extermination Order". A response to the escalatingthreats and violence in what came to be known as the Missouri1838 Mormon War, thisexecutive order was issued on October 27, 1838, and called forLatter Day Saints to be driven from the state, because of what he termed their
...open and avowed defiance of the laws, and of having made war upon the people of this State ... 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.
The order was rescinded on June 25, 1976, after nearly 138 years, by Missouri GovernorKit Bond, who declared that the original order violated legal rights established by theU.S. Constitution. In rescinding the order, Bond offered his regrets on behalf of the state.[3]
Boggs, who was from Independence, moved to a house within the City of Zion plot in Independence after the Mormons were evicted from Missouri and after he left office. His home was three blocks east ofTemple Lot.[4] On the rainy evening of May 6, 1842, Boggs was shot by an unknown party who fired at him through a window as he read a newspaper in his study. Boggs was hit by largebuckshot in four places: two balls were lodged in his skull, another lodged in his neck, and a fourth entered his throat, whereupon Boggs swallowed it. Boggs was severely injured. Several doctors—including his brother—pronounced Boggs as good as dead; at least one newspaper ran anobituary. To everyone's great surprise, Boggs not only survived, but gradually improved.[5]
The crime was investigated bySheriff J.H. Reynolds, who discovered arevolver at the scene, still loaded with buckshot. He surmised that the suspect had fired upon Boggs and lost his firearm in the dark rainy night when the weapon recoiled due to its unusually large shot. The gun had been stolen from a local shopkeeper, who identified "that hired man of Ward's" as the "most likely culprit". Reynolds, then acting on the testimony of the storekeeper, determined that the man in question was Orrin Porter Rockwell, a close associate of Smith. Reynolds eventually caught Rockwell and held him for almost a year while he awaited trial. Reynolds could not produce any evidence that Rockwell was involved in any way and he was acquitted of all charges concerning Boggs, after prominent lawyerAlexander Doniphan agreed to defend him.[5]
A few people saw the assassination attempt positively: an anonymous contributor toThe Wasp, a pro-Mormon newspaper inNauvoo, Illinois, that was run by Joseph Smith's brother, William Smith, wrote on May 28 that "Boggs is undoubtedly killed according to report; but who did the noble deed remains to be found out".[6]
Rockwell denied involvement in oblique terms, stating that he had "done nothing criminal". Also at about this time,John C. Bennett reported that Smith had offered a cash reward to anyone who would assassinate Boggs, and that Smith had admitted to him that Rockwell had done the deed. He went on to say that Rockwell had made a veiled threat against Bennett's life if he publicized the story. Joseph Smith vehemently denied Bennett's account, speculating that Boggs — no longer governor, but campaigning for state senate — was attacked by an election opponent. Mormon writer Monte B. McLaws, in theMissouri Historical Review, supported Smith, averring that while there was no clear finger pointing to anyone, Governor Boggs was running for election against several violent men, all capable of the deed, and that there was no particular reason to suspect Rockwell of the crime. The following year Rockwell was arrested, tried, and acquitted of the attempted murder.[5]
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Boggs traveled overland toCalifornia in 1846 and is frequently mentioned among the notable emigrants of that year. His traveling companions widely believed that his move was rooted in his fear of the Mormons. When the train set out in early May, he campaigned to be elected its captain, but lost to William H. Russell; when Russell resigned on June 18, the group was thereafter led by Boggs. Among the Boggs Company were most of the emigrants who later separated from the group to form theDonner Party.[7]
Boggs was accompanied by his second wife, Panthea, and his younger children as well as his son, William, and William's bride, Sonora Hicklin. They arrived inSonoma, California, in November and were provided refuge byMariano Vallejo at hisPetaluma ranch house. There, on January 4, 1847, Mrs. William Boggs gave birth to a son, who was named Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo Boggs after their benefactor. Lilburn Boggs becamealcalde of the Sonoma district in 1847. During theCalifornia Gold Rush, Boggs owned a store and did quite well. On November 8, 1849, Boggs resigned as alcalde and became the town's postmaster.[8]
Boggs was elected to theCalifornia State Assembly from the Sonoma District in 1852.[9]
In 1855, he retired to live atRancho Napa inNapa County, California, where he died on March 14, 1860.[1] His widow Panthea died in Napa County, California, on September 23, 1880. They are buried inTulocay Cemetery,Napa, California.[10]
His son, Theodore Boggs, would later found the town ofBig Bug, Arizona, where he fought Apaches during a smallencounter at the Big Bug mine.[11]
Media related toLilburn Boggs at Wikimedia Commons
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Lieutenant Governor of Missouri 1832–1836 | Succeeded by |
| Governor of Missouri 1836–1840 | Succeeded by | |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Democratic nominee forGovernor of Missouri 1836 | Succeeded by |
