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God, Family, and Country: Three Generations of Wisconsin Fighting Men
Written by Robert Lee Cunningham and Gregory Robert Cunningham - April 10, 2003
PART 1: John Cunningham: The Fight for Economic and Religious Freedoms
The Cunningham family made the decision to sell most of their possessions, their land, and leave family and friends back in Huntingdon, Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania, in their pursuit of a better life further west. Pursuing that better life meant they would have to travel by wagon train, leaving in March of 1842, down the National Road thru Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois with fellow travelers, the Stoner, Hugh and Deam families. Those in the covered wagon train that traveled westward in 1842 were: David Stoner, his wife Elizabeth Ann (Deam) Stoner, their two children John and Suzannah, John Cunningham, his new wife Susannah (Deam) Cunningham, their first born Michael H.B. Cunningham, and George and Ellen Deam (brother and sister to John, Elizabeth, and Susannah Deam). Also in the party were John Deam, Sr. and Elizabeth (Ayre) Deam (parents of all the Deam travelers) and newly weds John Deam and Elisabeth (Hughes) Deam. Rounding out the party were David Hughes (brother to Elizabeth Hughes) and his wife. The Stoner's, Deam's, Hughes, and the Cunningham's totaled fifteen in all. Most were following the calling of the Latter Day Saints Prophet Joseph Smith Jr., and were heading to his beautiful city called Nauvoo in Illinois along the Mississippi River.
In addition to detailing the life of John Cunningham, I will also detail the life of his brother-n-law, Henry H. Deam, because John Cunningham�s life will become closely intertwined in Deam�s endeavors. John Cunningham was born May 10, 1818 in Huntingdon County Pennsylvania. John�s future wife, Susannah Deam, was born March 14, 1822 in Bedford County Pennsylvania. We believe her parent�s were John Deam, Sr. and Elizabeth Ayres. John Deam, Sr. was a soldier in the Continental line in the War of the Revolution, and his wife Elizabeth did faithful service as a nurse in the military hospital at Valley Forge. Cunningham�s desire of obtaining something better for his family led him to take chances. Chances he would be willing to take with his brother-n-law Henry H. Deam who had already found the �promised land�, in the state of Illinois, in a city called Nauvoo. Deam had found a religion that promised salvation and a leader that would protect his flock. When Henry Deam invited his wife and family to join him in Nauvoo, to share in the freedoms he found, John Cunningham wanted the same for his family and joined in the trek west.
John Cunningham probably became involved with the Latter Day Saints sometime around 1836-1841 when he lived in Pennsylvania. A Latter Day Saint elder came and held meetings near where they lived. John's brother-n-law Henry H. Deam and his wife Elizabeth Eddleman started attending meetings regularly and were baptized shortly after their marriage on September 22, 1836 (see bio written by William Henry Deam, son to Henry H. Deam, History of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Volume 3, Chapter 38, pgs 732-734). Henry Harrison Deam was born in Bedford County, Pennsylvania, March 5, 1817 and was the son of John and Elizabeth (Ayre) Deam, Sr. The Deam family is of German descent, while the Ayre family is of French descent. His wife, Elizabeth Eddleman (often spelled Ettleman), was born September 11, 1815 in Bedford County and was the daughter of Valentine and Sarah (Regan) Eddleman. The Eddleman family is of German descent and the Regan family is of Welch descent. Her ancestors were known as Pennsylvania Dutch.
Henry Deam at first opposed the Latter Day Saints, while his wife defended them. She told him, �You will yet be a Mormon preacher yourself.� Shortly after their marriage they both entered the waters of baptism. As his wife prophesized, he was ordained an elder and soon went west, leaving his wife and two young children behind, to Illinois where he did missionary work. Henry�s son William Deam wrote, �Going without purse or scrip and leaving wife and young children in the care of God, my father left them without any visible means of support, except faith in the Lord that He would provide.� When one of the children complained that their mother was working to hard without her husbands help, she said, �Your father is doing what is right. Think how few there were when this work first started. I do not regret it. My rest will be hereafter.� Henry Deam traveled hundreds of miles preaching, while his wife was at home praying for his success with an abiding faith that God would not forsake her.
The Latter Day Saints had already been forcibly removed from their homes in Jackson County, Missouri in the winter of 1833-1834. They were forced over the Missouri River into neighboring Clay County where they were able to live peacefully until June 1836. The non-Mormon citizens of Clay County, who were appalled at the treatment the Mormons received in Jackson County, also began to view the huge influx as a threat to them politically and economically. In December 1836 the legislature chartered Caldwell and Davies counties as a �solution� to the Mormon problem. As an unwritten compact, the Mormons agreed to limit their major settlements to Caldwell County and non-Mormon Caldwell residents were encouraged to sell their properties and move to neighboring counties.
The failure of the Kirkland, Ohio economy in 1837 led to the collapse of this large Mormon community by the end of that year. This led to the flight of 700 families to Far West, Missouri including Joseph Smith, Latter Day Saint President, and Sidney Rigdon, Ohio spiritual leader of several groups and early convert who would become part of the First Presidency. The First Presidency was made up of Joseph Smith and his two counselors, Frederick Williams and Sidney Rigdon. A revelation in 1835 specified that the First Presidency was to consist of three high priests. The families settled in large numbers in surrounding counties. The �Gentile� residents feared that soon the Mormons would dominate the economic and political life of the whole area (The Church Through the Years, by Richard Howard, and Our Legacy of Faith by Paul Edwards were used heavily for the background information).
Alienation between the Mormon and non-Mormons grew all through 1838 and persecution against the Saints in Davies, Carroll, and Caldwell counties of northern Missouri increased. Attacks and counterattacks increased in fury into October 1838. The Battle of Crooked River on October 25 and Haun�s Mill Massacre on October 30 took the lives of many Saints including the deaths of Apostle David Patten and Gideon Carter. Missouri Governor Lilburn Boggs called out the militia on October 27 and ordered General John Clark to �drive the Mormons from Missouri�. General Lucas was placed in command of the state militia and was approaching Far West, Missouri on October 31, 1838. Joseph Smith and other Mormon leaders came out to talk to the approaching column of militia. Instead of discussion they were taken into custody and General Lucas conducted a court-martial on November 1 and sentenced the group to death. General Lucas ordered General Alexander Doniphan to carry out the order, but he refused. In mid-November Joseph Smith, Lyman Wight, Alexander McRae and Sidney Ridgon were instead transferred to the jail at Liberty, Clay County to await trial for treason, murder, arson, burglary, robbery, larceny and perjury.
The militia continued to harass the LDS settlements in Caldwell and Davies counties. Through November and December 1838, members of the Council of Twelve Apostles (�special witnesses� who were to preside over the church where they were), together with other leaders, began to organize the Saints for an exodus from Missouri. Henry Deam arrived in late 1838 from Illinois where he was doing mission work, and suffered in their final tribulations before the Saints� were forced to leave Missouri. On one occasion Elder Henry Deam was driving through a town in Missouri with a team of oxen, his wife and children being in the wagon. William Deam wrote, �A mob rushed out with pistols and knives and demanded to know if he was a Mormon. Deam told them no. They then asked him if he was a saint. He evaded their last question by saying he did not know whether he was a saint or a sinner.� Some in the mob said, �They ain�t Mormons. Let them go.�
Elder Deam was made a member of the churches seventies in 1839 and helped the transfer of families north. The Quorum of Seventy is made up of selectmen who form �traveling quorums, to go into all the earth, whithersoever the Twelve Apostles shall call them� (see D. Michael Quinn, �The Evolution of the Presiding Quorums of the LDS Church�, Journal of Mormon History 1 (1974): 34). This is reminiscent of Moses and Christ appointing seventy men for ecclesiastical purposes. From January through most of March 1839, the exodus took them north into Illinois. They found temporary haven around Quincy, Illinois. The Saints came from Missouri 5,000 strong.
Joseph Smith and the other imprisoned leaders escaped their captives in April. Smith made his way to Quincy, Illinois on April 22, 1839 and went right to work organizing. Large tracks of land were purchased in Commerce, Illinois, using twenty-year loans and were subdivided into blocks and lots. By selling the lots Smith hoped to retire the debt and enable orderly settlement. Smith renamed Commerce to Nauvoo in April 1840, which he explained meant �Beautiful Place� in Hebrew. The land lay in a swampy area and an epidemic of malaria would take many lives those first three summers (1839 - 1841). The Nauvoo city charter granted by the Illinois legislature in December 1840 allowed Nauvoo to become almost a sovereign political realm. Joseph Smith became the Chief Magistrate of the city�s municipal court and mayor in the spring of 1842.
By 1842 the Nauvoo settlement was becoming stabilized and developed, so Henry Deam sent for his family back in Pennsylvania. This brought the wagon train west bearing the Deam, Cunningham, Stoner and Hughes families to the settlements being established in and around Nauvoo, Illinois. The Cunningham family first settled near Lima, Adams County, Illinois or two and half miles north over the border into Hancock County in the little town of Yelrome (called Morley Settlement by the Mormons) with the Ettleman's (family friends and cousins) in 1842. The Deam�s settled further north in Nauvoo.
The Mormon leadership continued to petition Missouri officials, and the United States government for redress of the losses they endured in there forced exoduses. Another petition forwarded to the United States Senate and House of Representatives dated November 28, 1843 from Nauvoo, Illinois, stated: �The Memorial of the undersigned inhabitants of Hancock County in the State of Illinois respectfully sheweth: � after the Society had forcibly left Jackson County, Missouri, their buildings amounting to about two hundred, were either burned or otherwise destroyed, with a great portion of their crops, as well as furniture, and stock which they have not as yet received any remuneration. The Society remained in Clay County, nearly three years, when in compliance with the demands of the Citizens there, it was determined to remove us to Caldwell County. In August 1838 a riot commenced growing out of a member of the Society to vote, which resulted in creating great excitement and many scenes of lawless outrage. A large mob under the conduct of Cornelius Gilliam came into the vicinity of Far West, drove off our stock and abused our people, another party came into Caldwell County took away our horses and cattle, burnt our houses, and ordered the inhabitants to leave their homes immediately.�
The petition goes on and continues to describe losses of the Society (Mormons) at the hands of the Missouri mobs, but ends with the following comment, �Your Memorialists would further state, that they have heretofore petitioned your Honorable Body praying redress for the injuries set forth in this memorial, but the Committee to whom our petition was referred, reported, in substance, that the general government had no power in the case; and that we must look for relief to the courts and the legislature of Missouri. In reply, your Memorialists would beg leave to state that they repeatedly applied to the authorities of Missouri in vain. That though we are American citizens, at all times ready to obey the laws and support the institutions of the country, none of us would dare enter Missouri for any purpose. Our property was seized by the mob, or lawlessly confiscated by the State, the exterminating order of the Governor of Missouri is still in force and we dare not return to claim our just rights.�
The petitions final comment proclaims, �Had any foreign State or power committed a similar outrage upon us, we cannot for a moment doubt that the strong arm of the general government would have stretched out to redress our wrongs, and we flatter ourselves that the same power will either redress our grievances or shield us from harm in our efforts to regain our lost property, which we fairly purchased from the general government. Finally, your Memorialists, pray your Honorable Body to take their wrongs into consideration, receive testimony in the case, and grant such relief as the Constitution and Laws you have the power to give.� This petition was signed by Mayor Joseph Smith, Counselor Hyrum Smith, Counselor Brigham Young, and hundreds of petitioners including: Henry H. Deam, Elizabeth (Eddleman) Deam, their children including Sarah E., Catherine A. and Isaac M. Deam, Henry and Christina Eddleman, Henry J., Samuel, Marian, and Phillip Eddleman, and John and Elisabeth (Hughes) Deam (Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Chapter 7, page565-614).
After a year of peaceful co-existence, the �promised land� was being tarnished by the growing hatred from the local population. Again, the non-Mormon population became threatened by their prospering neighbors and began lashing out violently. John Cunningham and his family were right in the middle of this anti-Mormon movement. By June of 1844, the Morley settlement was under attack and would soon be destroyed.
An affidavit written by John Cunningham and Hiram Mount that appeared in Smith�s History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Vol. 6, p. 509 shows just how dangerous these times were. They testified that on Saturday, 15 June 1844, five men came to them at Morley Settlement, Adams County, Illinois, and �demanded their arms.� When it was revealed that the Mormon�s had none, the men required of them to make a choice. Either they must bear arms that the men would supply and go up to Nauvoo to take Joseph Smith or they must evacuate their homes at Morley Settlement and go join in Smith�s �fate�. The mob planned to draw upon two thousand men from Missouri and Illinois and kill any men, women, and children who would not align against Smith. Joseph Smith, the president and prophet of the Mormons �fate� was sealed; he would be killed June 27, 1844 by a mob in the prison he was being held.
The Morley settlement was burnt to the ground and the Cunningham's and other Mormon's in Adam's county were forced to escape further north to the city of Nauvoo, Hancock, Illinois. As before, they were safe for a while and protected by the Nauvoo Legion (Mormon militia). For the next three and a half years the Cunningham�s continued to live about 15 miles outside of Nauvoo (T6R6 section 9) and were probably farmers. John Cunningham worked in an iron furnace back in Pennsylvania, so in addition to farming he probably put his other skills to work. John Cunningham stayed active in the Church of Later Day Saints, becoming a Seventy when he received his endowments in the Nauvoo Temple on February 2, 1846. He would later play a pivotal role in the foundation of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints church (RLDS).
It was required by state law for Illinois counties to maintain a military unit as part of the state militia. The Nauvoo charter provided the city a militia largely independent from the statewide system. The �Nauvoo Legion� commanded by Lieutenant General Joseph Smith would have 4,000 uniformed men, between the ages of 18 and 45, by 1844. The Legion provided colorful social events in Nauvoo with its weekly parade. John Cunningham, who was 27 years of age in 1844, was more than likely an active participant in the Nauvoo Militia�s activities and maneuvers.
In 1844 Joseph Smith would ordain Henry Deam a high priest. A High Priest was a priest of the Melchizedek order and a chief proponent of the churches doctrine. He has the authority to officiate in all the lesser offices, holds the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the church, and has the privilege of receiving the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.
In March 1844 Joseph Smith created a secret council that became known as the Council of Fifty. One purpose of the council was to petition the U.S. Congress for recovery of the Saints� losses through the many persecutions. They also looked into alternative settlement sites for the Saints. They knew the �Gentile� citizens would react strongly to a political kingdom on earth headed by Joseph Smith, so the council would work behind the scenes.
In 1844, the secret reality of polygamy in the upper levels of the church leadership became public knowledge (pages 293-295, The Church Through the Years, by Richard Howard). The outcry was swift and sustained. Illinois newspapers editorialized and satirized on the theme. In early spring 1844 disaffected members united under William Law to try to reverse the direction the church leaders were taking. Law resigned earlier from the church�s First Presidency over the polygamy issue and other points of difference. In May 1844 Law�s group issued notice of publishing the Nauvoo Expositor to expose the wrongs of church leaders. It�s first and only issue appeared on June 7, 1844, accusing Joseph Smith and church leaders of setting up a royal government and held Smith responsible for introducing the plural marriage doctrine into the church. At the strong urging of Mayor Joseph Smith, the city council ordered the destruction of the rebel press. The city marshal and its forces executed the order and destroyed the press on June 10, 1844.
Seventeen days later, on June 27, 1844, Joseph and his brother Hyrum Smith would be killed by a mob at the Carthage, Illinois jail. They were being held there awaiting a hearing on charges of riot for their part in crushing the Expositor. Thousands of mourners in a solemn procession viewed the bodies of the slain leaders at the Mansion House (Smith�s home in Nauvoo).
After the death of LDS President Joseph Smith in June 1844, church members differed on who should lead the church. The Illinois state legislature revoked Nauvoo�s charter on January 24, 1845 and did not provide them with an alternative plan of governance. Joseph Smith had suggested various possibilities for prophetic succession over the past ten years and even designated his eldest son Joseph Smith III as his successor, but being only 11 at the time of his father�s death he was not a viable candidate. Under these conditions, the Council of Twelve, under the leadership of Brigham Young, directed the church and did their best to preserve community order. They doubled their efforts to complete the Temple, which was sanctioned in Doctrine and Covenants 107:10f-11s. It proclaimed,� I command you, all ye my Saints, to build a house unto me: and I grant unto you a sufficient time to build a house unto me, and during this time your baptisms shall be acceptable unto me. But, behold, at the end of this appointment, your baptisms for the dead shall not be acceptable unto me; and if you do not these things at the end of the appointment, ye shall be rejected as a church with your dead, saith the Lord your God.� Before they could do anything, stay and fight or flee again, they had to finish the temple.
About 5,000 Saints were able to receive their temple endowments during the months prior to the decided departure westward (Utah movement). John and Susan Cunningham received their washing, anointing and endowments in the Temple on February 2, 1846. John Cunningham was listed as a member of the Seventy. Henry and Elizabeth Deam received their endowments in the Temple on December 22, 1845. Henry Deam was listed as being a High Priest. Mormon leaders dedicated the Temple on April 30 and May 1, 1846. The Temple was not completed fully, but merely sufficiently completed to allow them to flee Nauvoo. Two thirds of all Mormons decided to follow Brigham Young to Utah to establish a new church under his leadership. Brigham Young left Nauvoo on February 15, 1846, but he continued to control what went on in the Temple. Some went with Moses Smith to Voree, Wisconsin and later migrated to Michigan with James Strang. Others followed Lyman Wight and George Miller to Texas. Many stayed in the area, including the Cunningham and Deam families, who all moved to Potosi, Grant County, Wisconsin.
After the murder of Joseph Smith in Carthage, Illinois, John Cunningham�s brother-n-law, Henry Deam, would join up with James Strang. Henry Deam moved to Potosi, Wisconsin and did mission work on his behalf. Many Illinois Mormons came north to the Mormon Potosi diggings to acquire capital. The Potosi lead mines, also known as Snake Hollow, was a significant Mormon preaching ground, by at least 1841. Strang had produced a letter that he claimed was written by Joseph Smith, which declared that James Strang would become the successor of Joseph Smith and leader of the church in case of his death. Deam would become treasurer of his own branch of Saints in Potosi, Wisconsin in 1848.
The Nauvoo Temple was abandoned before it could be completely finished in 1846 due to growing opposition from neighboring settlers and the planned migration of Brigham Young westward. The Cunningham and Deam families decided not to follow Brigham Young during this exodus and moved to Grant County, Wisconsin to the Mormon lead mines. William Deam would write, �My father was raised on a farm, but subsequently learned the coopers trade after coming west. In later years he followed milling at intervals.� Henry Deam was one of sixteen Saints who established a church in Potosi. He became the church treasurer in 1848. John Cunningham moved his family to Potosi in 1846 and took a job as a lead smelter. The 1850 Grant County Census also listed his occupation as Smelter. I would not be surprised if John Cunningham learned the smelting trade back in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania where there are several important iron furnaces in the area including one named Cunningham Furnace. They would live in the Potosi area for the next five years. Since John Cunningham shared his brother-n-laws faith, he more than likely worshiped in the same church that Henry Deam helped establish.
The June 1846 Grant County Census showed John Cunningham with 25 members in his household. They were most probably fellow Mormons who were also forced to leave Nauvoo, Illinois. They came to work in the lead mines to acquire capital. The poorer Mormons who could not make the westward movement stayed in the area making enough money to make the trek later. Many ended up staying and settling the area. After five years of hard work in Potosi, John Cunningham would move his family to Wingville (present day Montfort) in 1851 where he continued working as a lead smelter for eighteen months. John Cunningham�s future death from agonizing stomach cancer may be related to these primitive living and working conditions.
The Cunningham�s and Deam�s continued with their faith even after the death of Joseph Smith. They were persecuted in Missouri and Illinois, but stayed faithful to their religion. They worked and lived in Nauvoo even after the death of Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1844 and only left in 1846 when the mass exodus began. They received their temple endowments under Brigham Young, but much debate continued to fracture what was once a cohesive group. Henry H. Deam at first lent his support to James Strang who produced a letter that showed Joseph Smith declared him the successor in case of his death. Deam showed this support in a letter he wrote to Benjamin Wright. Wright was ordained a high priest under James Strang in 1846 and was appointed president in 1847 over the western district of Wisconsin in Voree (present day Burlington, Wisconsin). The letter Deam wrote said in part, "I long to be in Voree, and be heart and hand with you. The saints all send their love to you, as also to our beloved prophet�. This letter was written March 3, 1848 from Potosi, Wisconsin, and published in the Gospel Herald, volume 2, on page 259. The Gospel Herald was the newspaper published by James Strang. Printed in the same Gospel Herald publication on February 7, 1848 was a notice that said, �Samuel Blair and Henry Deam reported preaching to crowds of visitors in their Potosi branch, and having a shortage of hymnbooks.�
John Cunningham did not have any direct association with James Strang, unless it was through his brother-n-law Henry Deam. Both John Cunningham and Henry Deam would later become known as a �Josephites�. This was a belief that the �seed� of Joseph Smith, Jr. would come forward to lead the church. That would come later, but in 1848, it was James Strang who was considered by many as the new prophet and successor to Joseph Smith. This Potosi group of Latter Day Saints would later join up with the Yellowstone Branch (located in present day Blanchardville, Wisconsin) led by Zenos Gurley, and other area groups, in creating an organization called the Reorganized Latter Day Saints. The next few paragraphs will give an introduction to this new organization or Re-organization and the profound impact it had on both John Cunningham and Henry Deam.
John Cunningham first met Zenos Gurley while the latter was preaching at Wingville, Wisconsin and he was convinced to unite with him in his Yellowstone branch (The Messenger, vol. 2, p. 17). Cunningham would move his family, to what is present day Blanchardville, Wisconsin, but then was called Zarahemla (�city of God�) by the Saints, in 1853. John Cunningham would buy forty acres of farming land and became very active in the new organization.
Zenos Gurley was one of the most prominent leaders of the Reorganized Latter Day Saints, but had an earlier start under Joseph Smith. Gurley heard James Blakeslee preach near Ontario, Canada in 1837 and was very impressed. The preaching was so much like John the Baptist that Gurley asked to be baptized by Blakeslee (description of Zenos Gurley is given by his son E.H. Gurley in Church History, Volume 3, Chapter 38, pages 742-745). E.H. Gurley wrote, �In 1838 my father left Ontario with a team and traveled to Missouri, arriving at Far West just in time to be driven out. They took refuge in Illinois, settling in Commerce, afterwards known as Nauvoo. In June 1838 James Blakeslee named Gurley an elder. While at Far West he was ordained to the office of seventy. Gurley was called to go do mission work. At the April 1841 General Conference held in Nauvoo Gurley was appointed as one of eight to travel and collect the means for building the Nauvoo Temple. After the death of Joseph Smith in 1846 Gurley investigated the claims of the various leaders, and finally accepted those of James J. Strang as being the most reasonable. Gurley returned to Canada to do mission work on behalf of Strang. At the June 1850 conference held at Voree, Wisconsin �Gurley was sent to the northeastern parts of Wisconsin, on the presentation of President Strang� (see conference minutes). It was probably while on this mission that Gurley raised up the Yellowstone branch.�
Elder Zenos Gurley was visiting the Fretwell family near present day Blanchardville in 1850 and administered a funeral for the Wildermuth's who had two children die earlier. He was convinced to stay and he soon converted and baptized the Wildermuth's into the Mormon faith in the nearby Yellowstone River. Neighboring families, the Newkirk�s and Cline's (family friends and blood relatives) joined them in the faith. By the winter of 1851-52, Gurley had succeeded in building up a congregation of 24 members. Other area Mormon groups knew this group as the Yellowstone Branch. They were called Strangites, or followers of James Strang, until a man named Jason Briggs would lead them all into a new direction.
Jason Briggs, who later became the interim president of the Reorganized LDS in 1853, also got his Mormon initiation in Potosi. He united with the Mormon Church in Potosi on June 6, 1841. He was ordained an elder in 1842 and worked in the church consistently in the Beloit, Wisconsin area from 1842 to the mid-1850s. He established branches of the church at Waukesha and Beloit, presiding over the latter for several years. Briggs and his Beloit Branch remained tied to the church led by Brigham Young and the Council of Twelve until about two years after the death of Joseph Smith. They then cast their lot with the James Strang faction, which Briggs served as an active minister until early 1850. He would leave Strang in 1850 over his autocratic leadership style and his support of polygamy. He then supported William Smith�s group (younger brother of Joseph Smith), which supported lineal successorship (a son of Joseph would lead) in church presidency. Briggs confidence in him faded after a year, because on October 6, 1851 Smith declared sole rights of prophetic successorship and he publicly opted for polygamy.
Briggs became disillusioned after this October 6, 1851 meeting with William Smith and went home to think. He stood on his farmland near Beloit, Wisconsin on November 18, 1851 and was pondering the future when he received the following revelation, ��let the elders whom I have ordained by the hand of my servant Joseph, or by the hand of those ordained by him, resist not his authority, nor faint in the discharge of duty, which is to preach my gospel as revealed in the record of the Jews, the Book of Mormon, and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants; and cry repentance and remission of sins through obedience to the gospel, and I will sustain them, and give them my Spirit; and in mine own due time will I call upon the seed of Joseph Smith, and he shall preside over the high priesthood of my Church, and then shall the quorums assemble, and the pure in heart shall gather, and Zion shall be re-inhabited. �Write the revelation and send it unto the Saints, and whomsoever will humble themselves before me, and ask of me, shall receive of my Spirit a testimony that these words are of me.�
Henry H. Deam had become an influential member of the Yellowstone Branch when he moved to the area in 1850 and settled near the Wildermuth farm and Zenos Gurley. He heard of Jason Briggs and his revelation, which made declarations against James Strang, Brigham Young accusing them of supporting polygamy. He wrote a letter of inquiry asking for more information. Jason Briggs was familiar with Henry Deam from their earlier association in Potosi, Wisconsin and decided to send Brother David Powell to the Yellowstone Branch. Here is what was reported back to Jason Briggs: (see The True Latter Day Saints� Herald, Volume 2, January, 1876) �When I found Brother Deam, he did not fight your letter or revelation, as he was evidently tired of Strang�s rule. We counseled on what was the best way to save Brother Gurley and the branch he presided over from the evils of Strangism. Knowing he had great influence in the branch, we thought proper to labor with him privately, and on February 23, 1852 we went to see him and laid the matter before him as plain as we could; but he could not see it as we did. We went to work digging (Gurley worked with Br. Newkirk in mining) close by, and saw him almost every day for two weeks; still he did not yield the point. At length I became impatient, and went to Br. Gurley and told him if he did not go to preaching and expose Strangism, I will do it. His reply was, �if you do, I will give you an all-to-pieces whipping.� I said, �My shoulders are broad and I had rather take your whipping than go away and not warn the people.� Gurley promised to get his Doctrine and Covenants and pray on the subject.�
Br. Powell agreed to wait for his answer. Powell said, �On this condition I left Gurley and went to Wingville, where he found Br. John Cunningham. And from there to Potosi and British Hollow, in Grant County, where I found Br. Samuel Blair, and Br. Ethan Griffith. The result was, they all came into the Reorganized LDS Church; and I returned to Yellowstone about the first of June (1852). Br. Gurley received confirmation of your revelation and turned the whole branch. He did not lose a member and there was great rejoicing in the branch, to think that God was going to call upon one of the seed of Joseph Smith.� Br. Gurley wrote to Jason Briggs saying, �We have received evidence of your revelation�. According to Gurley, during a group prayer meeting the Holy Spirit declared, �The successor of Joseph Smith is Joseph Smith, the son of Joseph Smith the Prophet. It is his right by lineage, saith the Lord your God.�
Members of the Yellowstone Branch published a declaration in the Mineral Point Tribune declaring that the Yellowstone Branch of the Church of the Latter Day Saints protested against the practice of polygamy and other abominations that were practiced by Strang, Brigham Young and their followers. They withdrew their fellowship with their groups. David Wildermuth, Cyrus Newkirk, William Cline, and Henry H. Deam signed this published document (see The Story of the Church, by Inez Smith Davis, pg 401).
The Cunningham family became intertwined with all these early pioneer families and leaders of the �Reorganization�. For example, the youngest daughter of William and Elizabeth (Wildermuth) Cline married John Cunningham�s oldest son Michael H. B. Cunningham on March 26, 1865. Her name was Hannah Cline. John and Susan Cunningham's relationship with the Cline's is long and friendly. They even named one of their son's William Monroe Cline Cunningham when he was born in Blanchardville on January 3, 1854. Michael's second wife was the cousin of his first wife. Her name was Laura Luella (Newkirk) Lieurance and they married on April 14, 1878. Her parents were Noble and Elizabeth Jane (Newkirk) Lieurance. The daughter of Samuel and Celia Gates Cline, Charlotte, married Michael's brother, Henry H. Cunningham, on May 23, 1880.
Gurley had a vision (confirming Jason Briggs revelation) in which he was told to leave the teachings of Prophet Strang and support the son of slain leader Joseph Smith, Jr. Jason Briggs sent a call for a meeting and the different branches settled to meet in conference on the 12th of June 1852 at the Newark Branch, in the town of Beloit, Wisconsin. A general survey of the condition of things relative to the Church, and the numerous false shepherds that had arisen were discussed. Zenus Gurley, S.H Briggs, A. White, David Powell and Jason Briggs addressed the conference. Eight resolutions were offered, and unanimously adopted. The resolutions rejected the assumption of power by Brigham Young, James Strang, James Brewster, and William Smith and set down that the seed of Joseph Smith (Joseph Smith, III) will lead the Church. At the close of the conference they adjourned and voted to meet again at the Yellowstone Branch of the Church, in Lafayette County, Wisconsin, on the 6th of October.
The group had their first General Conference of the Reorganized Church of the Latter Day Saints at the Newkirk�s gristmill (in present day Blanchardville) on October 6, 1852. Elder Briggs presided over the conference. They discussed ways of encouraging the younger Smith to take his �rightful� place. They presented and voted on a resolution for a temporary presiding officer. "Resolved, the one holding the highest priesthood in the Church is to preside, and represent the rightful heir to the presidency of the high priesthood, in a presiding capacity."-Church Record, page 7. Much discussion was made on �who� was the �highest� amongst them. The bands renounced all would-be leaders, and were waiting in confidence for promised light and wisdom. Two representatives were sent to meet with Joseph Smith, III in Nauvoo to present a letter from Jason Briggs encouraging him to take his rightful place as leader of the church. Joseph Smith, III refused to come forward to lead the church, because he did not receive any revelation that this was his future. He would not receive confirmation of his destiny until 1860.
On March 20, 1853 a group of elders came together to pray and fast for instructions from God on �who� should be the presiding president of the church. Henry H. Deam received the following revelation: (see The true Latter Day Saints� Herald, Volume 2, April, 1876)�Verily, thus saith the Lord, as I said unto my servant Moses, see thou do all things according to the pattern, so say I unto you. Behold the pattern is before you. It is my will that you respect authority in my church; therefore let the greatest among you preside at your conference. Let three men be appointed by the conference to select seven men from among you, who shall compose a majority of the twelve apostles; for it is my will that that quorum should not be filled up at the present. Let the president of the conference, assisted by two others, ordain them, (the senior of them shall preside); let them select twelve men from among you and ordain them to compose my high council. Behold, ye understand the order of the Bishopric, the Seventy, the Elders, the Priests, Teachers and Deacons. These organize according to the pattern. Behold I will be with you unto the end. Even so. Amen.�
The new Reorganized Church of LDS again met on the 6th of April 1853 where the group planned to completely cut themselves off from the established Mormon Church and Brigham Young. This was a bold and probably frightening step. At this meeting Elder Gurley said, "I have been a member of the church for twenty-three years, and in the course of my ministry have witnessed the manifestation of the Spirit in many of the branches, but never had witnessed what I did that evening. God was truly with us, and many felt to say with the poet, 'Angels are now hovering o'er us� (The Story of the Church, by Inez Smith Davis, pg 408)."
At the opening session, the revelation of March 20th was presented to the conference, and was accepted as such by unanimous voice vote. They named Jason W. Briggs to serve as acting President High Priest. Henry H. Deam was named Clerk of the Conference. Ethan Griffiths, William Cline, and Cyrus Newkirk were chosen to select seven men for ordination to the office of apostle. Apostleship was the second highest office in the church. They were charged with preaching, converting the �gentiles� to the faith, and representing the church wherever they went. They selected Zenos Gurley, Henry H. Deam, Jason Briggs, Daniel Rasey, John Cunningham, George White, and Reuben Newkirk. These men were chosen as the first seven to be ordained into the Quorum of Twelve Apostles. Others present were ordained seventies. The seven apostles met to choose a president of the Quorum. After Zenos Gurley and then Henry Deam declined, Jason Briggs was voted President. He would serve until the "rightful" leader Joseph Smith III would step forward. Even though Joseph Smith III declined an earlier invitation to take his rightful place, the Reorganization decided to be patient and wait for his coming. The first stake for the Reorganized Latter Day Saints was established in Argyle, Lafayette County, Wisconsin. William Cline was elected stake President and would serve in that position for the next eighteen years.
Numbers of new converts were added to the church during the summer and autumn, throughout the branches. The Reorganized Latter Day Saints met again on October 6 - 8, 1853 at Zarahemla (present day Blanchardville), Lafayette County, Wisconsin. The seven apostles were again sustained in their offices. Jason Briggs was authorized to publish a pamphlet titled �The Voice of the Captives Assembled at Zarahemla to Their Brethren Scattered Abroad�. Members were given jurisdictions to spread the gospel. Henry Deam, George White and John Cunningham were sustained to do mission duties in the jurisdiction of Green Prairie.
Henry Deam was growing impatient, since Joseph Smith III did not immediately accept the leadership of the RLDS church. By January 1854 Deam conceived the idea that the expected son of Joseph had neglected to comply with the will of God, and had forfeited the right. It was their duty to go forward and fully organize. Henry Deam met with Jason Briggs at Beloit, Wisconsin. The consultation lasted two days, during which he urged his views at length. Late on the second night Henry Deam proposed that Jason Briggs make himself the legitimate president. Henry Deam said, "Let this position be taken and we will carry to whole church except Brother Gurley and a few personal friends, and they will soon fall in too." See Church History Volume 3, Chapter 10 for full details. Jason Briggs answered that Elder Deam should not teach, or take any step looking to any change in the organization, only in concert with the brethren of the Quorum of the Twelve. This was urged by Jason Briggs and agreed to by Elder Deam and he returned to Zarahemla.
Those who followed Deam's feelings became known as the "Deam Party". At the April 6, 1854 Annual Conference it was resolved, after some discussion, that manifestations of the Spirit, in anything relating to the church as a body, should be written and submitted to a body of high priests before circulating or teaching them to the church, and only then on their approval. This later became known in church history as Resolution 15 and it outlined the penalty for any such future transgressions. It stated, �If any member of the church assumes to teach as law or doctrine, any revelation or manifestation before being presented to this council, shall be considered a transgression of the law and proceeded against as such.� This resolution was put forward in response to Deam's earlier efforts to change the leadership roles. It would be used against Henry Deam and his supporters later on in October to force him out of the church. Jason Briggs was sustained in the Office of President of the twelve and Legal Representative of the Rightful Heir. The apostles and seventies were also sustained during the April 1854 conference.
In July 1854, Aaron Smith, the first convert to James Strang, and one of his chief witnesses and counselor, came to Zarahemla and united with the Reorganized LDS Church by baptism. At this time the question of re-baptism was first prominently brought forward. Elders Henry H. Deam, John Cunningham, Ethan Griffith, Aaron Smith and other members believed that all should be re-baptized as a test of faith. Others, including Zenos Gurley and Jason Briggs, felt that rebaptism should be required only of those who did not have any evidence of a legal baptism. The later group established the church�s final position on the matter. A degree of harmony followed this conference and the elders did considerable labor and many additions were made to the church.
Before the October 6, 1854 Semi-Annual Conference Henry Deam, John Cunningham and others held a conference separate from the main RLDS conference. Their two differences with the main body were over rebaptism and a �perfect organization� of the first presidency, or the triumvirate, which leads the church. The attendees of this separate conference called Henry Deam as president and Aaron Smith as first counselor, apparently founding a new church.
Meanwhile, the main RLDS conference met on October 6, 1854. A motion was put forward by Zenas Gurley and seconded by William Cline to cut off Henry Deam and John Cunningham from the Church. The motion was sustained and all members of this �Deam Party� were disfellowshipped. This is recorded in church history as Resolution 18, and it also states, �That this conference suspends from the exercise of their priesthood all holding the same, and also disfellowship all such as have departed from the faith and from the jurisdiction of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at Zarahemla, until they return and make satisfaction.� Henry Deam and John Cunningham were expelled from the Quorum of the Twelve for "apostasy and an assumption of authority" (History of the Church, Volume 3, Chapter 10, pg 230). The process was probably painful for both groups, because the Cunningham, Deam, Cline, and Newkirk families became very close through marriage and friendship.
In 1890, in an editorial in the Expositor, H.P. Brown had this to say about Henry Deam and his expulsion from the RLDS, �We lived at Zarahemla in 1853 and was a neighbor of Brother H.H. Deam. We knew him intimately; have traveled, and preached, and prayed, and administered to the sick, and suffered poverty and reproach for the sake of Christ and the gospel together, but never did any man see or know of a dishonorable thing of Henry Deam. He was one of the purest of men we ever saw. He was kind, gentle, obliging, full of sympathy, and well and intelligently posted in the gospel of the Son of God. We loved him dearly, and he only of all the saints at Zarahemla, when we left there in December 1853, followed us with his letters until his last sickness in 1860, and death claimed him. The fact that he became to some extent disaffected with some things in the Reorganization, we are well aware, and so did a great many more; but they looked for the coming of Joseph Smith, III just the same, and we believe if Brother Deam had attended the Amboy Conference in 1860, he would have been solid in the work. When Brother Deam left earth�s service, the saints and church parted with a good, a wise, and discreet counselor, and an honest man. He was no fanatic, but a cool, clear-headed, intelligent Latter Day Saint. May his memory ever be cherished by all the good and pure.�
John Cunningham decided to ask for reinstatement to the main body of the RLDS church at the October 6, 1855 Conference. Zenas Gurley, Samuel Gurley, and Cyrus Newkirk spoke in favor of receiving Brother John Cunningham. The conference decided that he could rejoin only if he was re-baptized. John must have seen this as rather ironic, because the �Deam Party� had asked everyone to be re-baptized as a test of faith and were over ruled by the leadership. The leadership established that �proof of original baptism� would be acceptable and that re-baptism should be done voluntarily. John Cunningham never acted on being re-baptized and was disfellowshipped again as a brother at the 1857 Conference.
As a final aside on the subject of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints I would like to share part of a letter I wrote to the Church headquarters in Independence, Missouri on February 6, 2001. Near the end of the letter I wrote, �My final question is this: Is there a way that I can have my great-great-great grandparents endowed in the church again? From the information I have, I really believe John and Susan Cunningham wanted to be with your church. They followed Joseph Smith out to Nauvoo, Illinois in 1842. John put his life on the line for the movement (see the information on Hancock County, Illinois). John Cunningham was endowed a seventy on February 2, 1846 at the Nauvoo Temple. He became active in the Reorganized LDS in 1852 and was named an apostle. He was expelled in 1854, but petitioned to be reinstated in 1855. I believe this showed his true desires. I am a Roman Catholic myself, but I respect their wishes and understand their inspiration. John Cunningham�s death in 1861 did not give complete closure in his life. If there is a way for them to be reinstated in good standing, please let me know?�
I received this response, dated February 16, 2001, from A. Bruce Lindgren, For The First Presidency, Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, �We do not have a procedure for complying with your request, but we do not feel that God is bound by what is or is not in our records. We believe that God will judge and bless them according to his grace and in keeping with their desires and intentions. I am sorry that we cannot do what you wish, but the material you have provided to our archives is very helpful in our understanding of their commitment and faith. We consider them to be a brother and sister in Christ, and we are grateful to you for bringing this matter to the attention of the church.�
John Cunningham followed agricultural pursuits until his death on April 28, 1861. It is believed he is buried in a Mormon cemetery near Blanchardville, Wisconsin. Being the eldest child Michael took over the support of the family when his father became ill with stomach cancer. Michael continued to work in the lead mines and on the family farm. During the last three years of his father's life and after his father died the support of the other eight children rested on his shoulders. Partly out of patriotic duty, but also as a way to help support the family Michael would soon be in the midst of the Civil War as a Union soldier.
Michael Cunningham�s mother would later remarry becoming first Susannah Steele in 1861 and later Susannah Wages (Wagers). She remarried some time before the marriage of her son William Monroe Cline Cunningham who was married on March 14, 1880. She is listed as Susannah Wages on the marriage certificate, but she is listed as Susannah Wagers on her death certificate. She lived a full life until her passing in the spring of 1893. She is buried in the Cunningham plot, Rockbridge Cemetery, Richland County. This information was submitted by: [Greg R Cunningham] and for that we thank him.
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