Worst crime of all, the Mormons were Northerners who owned no slaves. Previous to their arrival the bulk of the immigrants had come from Kentucky and Tennessee, many with a retinue of Negroes. The population of Missouri in 1830 was over one-fifth slave. Early in 1832 the old settlers accused the Mormons of “endeavoring to sow dissensions and raise seditions” among their slaves, and the church elders promised to curb the offenders.
