They believe the to have as few such as any other association religious or political. Within the above period the Mormons continued to increase in wealth and in numbers, until in the Fall of the Year 1838 they numbered as near as they can estimate about 15000 souls.

They purchased of the Government or of the Citizen almost or held by Preemption almost all the lands in the County of , and a portion of the lands of & Carrol[l]. The County of was settled almost entirely by Mormons, and mormons were rapidly filling up the Counties of and ,— When they first commenced settling in more Counties, there were but few settlements made there, the lands were wild and uncultivated In the fall of 1838 large farms had been made, and well improved and stocked— Lands had risen in value and sold for from $10 to $25 The improvement and settlement had been such that it was a Common remark that the County of would soon be the wealthiest in the — Thus stood their affairs in the Fall of 1838. when the storm [p. 12]