Haun’s Mill (Kingston, Missouri)

Haun’s Mill Massacre Site
North of Kingston, MO

Directions:
The road to the site of Jacob Haun’s Mill is a very difficult trip, even in the best of weather. Just north of Kingston, on Missouri Highway 13, the road crosses Shoal Creek, not far north of that is County Road U. Going east on U one continues until the intersection with Road K, continuing east, the road becomes gravel at this point, and deteriorates the further back you go. The way is decently marked, however, if you go while the signs are still up. (many are crude, and appeared to be made of cardboard) There are many mud holes in the road that exist even after weeks of dry weather. Very close to the creek, the road “T’s.” Take the right turn, if you take the left you will cross the creek. At the end of the road on the right, is a small parking area, and a path that leads through a small field to the sign marking the site (above).

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It’s a bit of a head-scratcher, but, believe it or not, once upon a time it was legal to kill Mormons in Missouri. In fact, Governor Lilburn W. Boggs issued an Extermination Order in 1838 which demanded that Latter-Day Saints leave the state or be killed. Why was the Governor so upset with the Mormons? Well, ever since the Mormons had been moving into Missouri there were rumors spreading that the Latter-Day Saints were planning to “despoil” the Missourians and take their land. So, you know, tensions grew and they came to a boil at Haun’s Mill in Northwestern Missouri on October 30, 1838. Some 200-250 militia attacked the mill and 17 Mormons and one friendly non-Mormon were killed; another 13 were wounded, including one woman and a seven year old boy. Certain deaths were particularly offensive to the Saints. Seventy-eight-year-old Thomas McBride surrendered his musket to militiaman Jacob Rogers, who shot him, then hacked his body with a corn knife. William Reynolds discovered ten-year-old Sardius Smith hiding under the bellows and blew the top of the child’s head off. While women cared for the wounded, the men remained in hiding during the night. The dead were thrown into an unfinished well and lightly covered with dirt and straw. A few Missourians returned the next day, took plunder, and warned the remaining Saints to leave Missouri. Now, don’t stories like that just make you proud to be an American?

So, Haun’s Mill – Site Of Infamy. I haven’t actually been to the site, but from what I hear there isn’t a lot of evidence of the Mill left. The stones have been removed and the site of the well where the bodies were buried has been overgrown and lost to the ages. The thrilling place is described by one visitor: “Haun’s Mill was not all that exciting. We drove on a bunch of dirt roads… Haun’s Mill is just a swamp by a river. There were tons of bugs. Even though it wasn’t that impressive, it was good to see an historical site that was totally untouched. ”

So, I guess if you’re one of those people who get chills down the spine just standing on the battlefields at Gettysburg, then you might find Haun’s Mill interesting… but if you need to see the bullet holes to be satisfied then this probably isn’t the place for you.

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Tony Jameson sent me the following information in June, 2010:

My name is Tony Jameson. I am a distant relative of Charles Jameson. Charles and his wife Mary Hedrick Jameson had joined the Latter-day Saint church and were baptized on April 6, 1834. They lived in Perry, Richland County, Ohio. When members of the church were compelled to move from Ohio to Missouri, Charles and Mary moved to Missouri with them. From my research it is not clear to me if Charles and Mary were among the 50 families who lived at Hauns’ Mill, or if they were just passing through the area on the way to Far West, Missouri. At any rate on October 30, 1838 they (and I suppose their many children) were there. Charles was shot four times. Once in the head (which was severe enough to expose his brain), once in the shoulder, and twice in the abdomen. Like all the people in the massacre he tried to escape into the woods. Reduced to crawling he was able to make it to the wood line when two of the militia soldiers came upon him. One of the the soldiers was going to shoot him and finish the deed. The other said something to the effect, “Don’t waste your ammunition upon him. Let him suffer longer; he’s already going to die”. With that they left him to bleed to death. However, Charles somehow survived.

Charles’ life was preserved despite his persecutions. Later the Mormons were forced to flee Illinois or face a similar fate as many of the Mormons faced at Hauns Mill. During the 1,500 mile trek to the safety of the Rock mountains Charle’s wife Mary died of Cholera. Charles later married Nancy Stanley. Nancy and Charles are my progenitors. I am here writing this E-mail to you today, because of a morbid twist of fate at Hauns’ Mill. Had the Missouri militia members come upon Charles Jameson and his brain was not exposed and his abdominal contents not partially eviscerated, they probably would have shot and killed him like they did the other men and small boys. But instead they wanted him to suffer longer. Consequently, they left him to die thus saving themselves a piece of lead they might use on some other defenseless man or child.

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Keith or Janet Cartwright (they didn’t specify who wrote the e-mail) visited Haun’s Mill, and sent me the following account:

I visited the site of Haun’s Mill on the 5th of May, 2002. Yes, It was a bit difficult to find, and yes it would have been near impossible to reach if it had rained within a few days before I arrived, but the visit was well worth my time.

There were a few signs posted on fence posts along the way with an arrow painted to show which direction to turn. This helped a great deal to find the place.

The weather was calm and there were no insects buzzing about. I found a very peaceful and tranquil setting. The stream moves very slow at this location and the trees are very tall. I saw nothing to indicate that anyone other than sightseers had ever been here. As I was leaving, I spotted a stone marker lying in the grass about 10 yards off from the road. This marker had also been vandalized but gave a description of the events of that day in October, 1838.

There is a piece of one of the millstones from Haun’s Mill on display at the LDS Visitor Center on Walnut Street at Independence, MO. It is with the pioneer artifacts on the basement level exhibits.

Thanks, Keith or Janet!

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Hans Brinker visited the site and shares the following:

I visited the site of Haun’s Mill in 1996. I can confirm the reports of rough roads and lots of bugs (the big kind that almost crack your windshield while trying to get to you). Something that was not mentioned on your site: There is a nice wood monument sign there on the approximate site of the well; it has a gold-colored metal plaque engraved with the names of those who died there.

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Nicole visited the site and reports the following:

I am a 19 Year old female who lives only about 30 miles west of Haun’s Mill and not far from Far West. My friends and I went to Haun’s Mill last night, October 30 and saw what there was to see. I believe that if you are out there and you are into what is going on then it can be a very spiritual visit. If everyone is quiet enough you can hear the events take place. You can hear the people scurrying around and you can hear people cry for help. The comment in your web site was untrue because yes you have to go down a lot of dirt roads but once you get there it is a very intense situation. I enjoyed Haun’s Mill and I will return there someday to visit again.There is a very neat grave stone that tells you all about the massacre. The stone lays under a tree that is probably over [a] century old and it said that the tree can’t be killed.

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Keith visited the site and reports the following:

I spent summers on a farm just outside Hamilton, Missouri and my parents took me to Haun’s mill all the time. I believe there were some expeditions to locate the actual well and exhume the bodies to give them a proper burial, but they could never find the well. My parents actually know where the well is and showed me. I believe its a few miles away. The mormons are not buried by Shoal creek. They’re buried in a now deserted field. There used to be a farm house in the field, which deteriorated and crumbled away. The part about getting tingles being there and nothing to see, but a sign, and a very small plaque in the weeds is definitely true.

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Laurette and Jim send the following:

This is a quote that I came across in the Joseph Brigham Keeler Family History book “Build Thee More Stately” by Daniel M Keeler.

“…a group of Saints traveling from Kirtland to Missouri in October 1838, had been brutally attacked by 240 armed men as they rested their animals at Haun’s Mill. Nineteen men and young boys were killed or fatally wounded. Among these were Levi Merrick and his nine-year-old son, Charles.
The wounded and dying were left without care.
Philinda Eldredge Merrick, Levi’s widow, and her surviving children were left with the other families to fend for themselves in the cold November weather. The mob took their wagons containing food, clothing and supplies and threatened to kill all survivors if they did not leave, even though their means of departure had been removed.(Joseph Smith 1948, 3:183-187, 323-326).

(Philinda married Daniel Hutchinson Keeler )

Their granddaughter Philinda Keeler Naegle proceeded with following account:

“Philinda Merrick witnessed in horror the murder of her husband in cold blood, and the mortal wounding of her eldest son, Charlie, as he lay almost hidden behind the bellows in the blacksmith shop…
The pillaging that followed the massacre, the mobsters took the Merrick team and , from Brother Merrick’s pocket, the proceeds from the sale of their former home, leaving Plilinda penniless(Ibed 5).
Phillinda nursed her wounded son until he died in late November and somehow cared for her other three children (Fanny, Newton and George) (Ibed., 4)

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mfciam sends the following:

I went with my school to Haun’s Mill for an archeological dig. << No well, just many nails, some pottery and a musketball.>> The church owns it, so it was kinda weird having scores of geriatric mormons showing up in a tour bus every couple of hours. The place has no remaining buildings – it’s just a field with a parking lot. The story was great, but the hours of trowel-scraping at the dirt were not as exciting. There’s an amazing tour guy who gives historical tours about Far West, but I’d suggest you have some background understanding of the importance of Far West or you end up getting very bored and taking pictures of monuments trying to get angles where the lord ends up saying things like < > I’m not sure if it’s a secular tour group. They didn’t really focus on any religion, so it could be taken as a purely historical tour. I’m sure if one were to talk nicely to *somebody* from that website they could end up with the proper connections to work on a dig over the summer.

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Scott sends the following:

My ancestors were at the Haun’s Mill Massacre and we recently found a few new details as told by Mellisa Norton.

Her father was David Norton who owned land East of Haun’s Mill on the south side of the creek and was close to the Austin Hammer family. In fact two of the Norton brothers married two of Austin Hammer’s daughters.

Here is her story related in Mellisa’s obituary.

‘Her father and family gathered to the mill for protection the night previous to the massacre. Father Norton had a premonition that trouble would occur and that if he remained he would be slain. His home being in a rather secluded place he returned with his family, consequently they escaped injury. The day after the massacre David Evans and others of the survivors, took refuge in a thicket on Brother Norton’s farm. To them, in company with her mother, Mellisa carried provisions until peace was restored….’

David Norton, (the father) later built his home right next to David Evans in the old fort at Lehi, Utah. To my knowledge, this detail of what happened after the massacre has never been reported.

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Do you disagree? Do you have pictures or stories to share about Haun’s Mill?
Please – by all means – WRITE ME!