C.C.A. Christensen (1831-1912),
Leaving Missouri, c.1878, tempera on muslin, 78 1/8 x 114 1/8 inches. Brigham Young University Museum of Art, gift of the grandchildren of C.C.A. Christensen.
On this day in 1833, a mob in Jackson County, Missouri, violently destroyed the printing press belonging to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which was being used to print
The Evening and Morning Star, a periodical newspaper, as well as the first pages of the Book of Commandments. Two young girls, Mary and Caroline Robbins, saved a few of the pages of the Book of Commandments by grabbing them in the confusion of the mob and hiding in a cornfield for hours. Future President of the Church, John Taylor also saved a few pages in the melee. The mob's destruction of the printing press triggered many acts of violence against the members of the Church in Jackson County, eventually forcing the Saints to flee to the friendlier Clay County. Today's Artwork of the Day by C.C.A. Christensen, himself an early convert who traveled from his native Denmark to cross the American plains with a handcart company, painted this scene of the Saints leaving Missouri.