John Lowe Butler and Caroline Skeen- Part 1

Once, my parents, siblings and I were driving during a family reunion and we were all communicating with the different cars using walkie talkies. (This was before cell phones were common). We were playing a game called, "Things You Would Never Hear," or something like that. From another car my Uncle Chris said, "The one thing you will never hear a Stapley say...is that I don't have an opinion."  He was right.

You see, we Stapley's are quite opinionated and stubborn. I blame both sides of my family. It's in our DNA.

Two family members who exemplified those traits were John Lowe Butler and his wife Caroline Skeen. There is a whole book about them, so I'll just give you the rundown. They were from Kentucky and Tennessee. As a child and into his young adult life, John suffered from severe rheumatics.  On February 3, 1831, John Lowe Butler married Caroline Farozine Skeen, the daughter of Jesse and Keziah Taylor Skeen, the daughter of Robert Taylor and Ann or Nancy Herring.

On the day they married, Caroline's father gave them some slaves so that Caroline could continue to live life as a proper lady. But John Lowe Butler's family had never had slaves; they did not believe in slavery, and neither did John. Caroline sided with her new husband, and she gave her slaves their freedom on the very day of her wedding.

John wrote that,  "From that day forward she took over all those duties her slaves had for­merly performed, and she measured up one hundred percent. She not only took care of her own requirements but cared for her family and others, too."

They had two children, a son and a daughter. Life was good. But like so many others, John and Caroline were searching for a religion to follow. He attended numerous churches, but he always felt that he had not found the true church. His Mother wondered when he would find it. He recalled that it was like the refiners fire.

Then one day, he met the Mormons. He recalled, "They preached about the order of the kingdom and I had never heard anything so plain in all my life before; a child could understand it all. It was just the thing that I had been hankering after and now I felt to rejoice and was perfectly satisfied they were sent of God as the saints of old. I went home, thanking my Heavenly Father for the blessings that he had bestowed upon me from time to time and I felt to go forth and obey his commandments. I asked my wife what she thought of the Mormon elders. She said she thought they were men of God, and that it was the only true church of God and the only way to be saved."

 On the 9th day of March, 1835, about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, John and Caroline were baptized. Caroline's sister, Charity who was deaf  and dumb was also baptized. Their Father was not pleased. He told John he was going to shoot him (multiple times) and John, being John, replied that he had a rifle of his own and that his Father in Law had permission to try. By then they had another daughter.

 It was no longer safe for them in Kentucky so they went to Missouri to be with the rest of the members of the LDS Faith. However, life was difficult for them there. They were barred from voting, because people were afraid the Mormons would all vote together. John, however, was determined to vote.

This is the part where the stubbornness came in. John remembered, "When myself and Brother Gee got there, there was a large crowd of folks. Soon after the election commenced it was rumored around that the Mormons should not vote and that drew the brethren together. They commenced talking about how there had been a man going around among us finding out who the Mormons were going to vote for and when they heard it made them mad. They said that the Mormons should not vote because the Mormons did not vote to suit them; they must not vote at all. Now this the Saints did not like to be deprived of, their liberty and rights, so some were determined to go and put in their vote. Now for my part, I felt like backing everyone for it was our right.

 I was about the last one and the brother that was on ahead got knocked down and then Brother Riley Stuart interfered for him and one of the mob rushed at him with a knife. Riley turned and ran when he saw the man draw his knife. I then ran after the ruffian and as it happened, I saw an oak stick lying in the road; it was split, one of those sticks that they have to build chimneys with and just as the fellow struck Stuart, I struck him and as I struck him there had been another fellow running after me with a loaded horsewhip and struck me right between the shoulders, but it did not seem to hurt me much only I felt that I could take them all if they would come along. Just as the fellow struck me, I turned around and struck an underhanded lick and just fetched it under his chin and broke his jaw in two places and down he came; we had no more trouble with him.

There was so much excitement after that, that I could hardly tell what did transpire, but one of the brethren had a large cotton handkerchief full of earthenware and some fellow broke some of them with a stick, and he then made a weapon of them and commenced breaking the rest of them over their heads. I know that I knocked them right and left, every one that came in my reach and I know that there were over eight or ten. There was one fellow commenced bawling when he saw one of his companions lie motionless on the sod. He said that they had killed poor (Dick Wilkdin) Bill, and a brother hearing the poor fellow wailing for his companion thought that he would give him something else to cry for, it was Washington Vorus. He came up with a rock and threw at him and struck him right in the mouth. He boohooed and cried out what d--nd hard licks those d--nd Mormons do hit. They then commenced carrying off the men that had been knocked down and some killed and some were standing up against the fence and against the house with the blood running from their heads and faces, and I expect that some of them were from the effects of the teacups and saucers. However, they looked pitiful objects indeed, and when it was all over, Brother Vorus looked at the crockery ware and there was not a piece left the size of an inch and the handkerchief and all was covered with blood."

Needless to say- it did not go over well. John, Caroline and their family left the next morning for Far West, Missouri.  The mobs forced them out and they walked to Nauvoo, Illinois.