Dec 27
The Leonidas Hamlin Kennard Story Chapter Two.
John S Gleason as a younger man
John S Gleason was stricken with grief, a grief that only his faith in God could heal. On the 17th of November 1845 his sister Esther died of a terrible sickness. In some correspondence with his brother, John doesn’t name the disease that acted as the Killer of their beloved sister, but does say that he had a child who died of something he called “the Canker” which is likely a form of scarlet fever with ulcerations or putrid sore throat.
Physician and educator William Andrus Alcott described the condition as “a very troublesome disease,” not infrequently fatal. “Physicians dread it almost as much as they do the small-pox.” Symptoms included chills, fever, sore throat, and a skin rash. Treatment included bed rest, “cooling drinks given freely,” “abstinence from animal food,” or a cold compress. Given his closeness with Esther, I’m sure she contracted this plague, but none of the available treatments could alleviates Esther’s suffering.
In just four short days of incredible misery, Esther was so prepared to give up the ghost that she did so without even a death rattle. From Wednesday to Friday her state declined and even the best Doctors available to her and John could do nothing but thank God for the end of her suffering.
In remembrance of her, John says to his brother Alvirus “Her death was greatly lamented by the whole circle of her acquaintance. She had gained the esteem of all who knew her and to me as a sister she was doubly endeared in consequence of her having borne me company in a land of strangers as a near and a dear friend in whom I could place the utmost confidence and who tenderly felt for my welfare in times of my deepest afflictions, neither did she ever forget her aged father, her brothers and sisters of whom she frequently spoke in terms of the warmest affection. She always had a great desire to see you all once more, but she has been deprived of that privilege.”
John S Gleason’s Nauvoo house.
In January of 1846, the thriving town of Nauvoo Illinois, formerly Commerce, was suffering and John Streator Gleason suffered right along with it. eight years before, John was a tall muscular and kindly man who, like me experienced a great deal of Anxiety over those he loved. I can emphatically say that anxiety manifested itself in sleepless nights and thoughtful letters that came forward anytime John became aware of a pain or hardship his loved ones were suffering.
Just a few years before the suffering of Nauvoo and the Gleason clan started In the spring of 1844 Johns first child was born, a boy named for his father. That same time the town became a thriving center for human experience, with a population nearing 12,000 which is said to have rivaled Chicago’s population at the time. In June of that year Joseph Smith Junior and his brother Hyrum, the leaders of the town, and the leaders of the faith which built that town out of the swamp and held up its society and bounty, were killed by a mob of angry locals. A. few short months later John Jr. died in infancy.
The description given of him matches me so perfectly that as one of his descendants I can say John was inclined to put the feelings of others well before his own. He was inclined to indulgences before he converted to Mormonism. He was likely popular with the ladies and had a vibrant social life. John met a prominent Mormon named Isaac Chase and sometime after being converted to Chases faith, John Married his daughter Desdemona.
After their marriage Desdemona remained on her father’s estate and John went to preach his newfound gospel to anyone who would hear, traveling through the Eastern united states and parts of Canada. Time and effort and circumstance brought John back to the City Nauvoo. A thriving metropolis of its time built out of the swamps of the Mississippi river. It was there that he joined the Nauvoo legion, and it was there he proved his loyalty to the man he held as prophet, Brother Joseph. John was imprisoned carrying out the prophets’ orders to destroy the Nauvoo expositor, and he was prepared to die for the cause he thought to be the lords. But that was not what God asked of him. some days after the printing press was destroyed, but before Joseph smith and his brother Hyrum were murdered in cartage jail, John was freed from prison and went to be with his family in terrible time for their faith.
scene depicting the murder of Joseph Smith Jr.
In a lengthy letter to his brother, John says, “the scenes through which I have been called to pass since I arrived at this place from the east has almost alienated me from my country, almost one continual round of mobocracy by night and by day.”
“When I contemplate the scenes, it almost makes me shudder and my blood run cold in my veins. I have been an eyewitness to almost the whole thing. My life has been exposed and threatened from time to time by the mob. I once went into their camp when they were filled with wrath and came at me to destroy me. But I was saved by God’s hand. On that day the mob did not lay their hands on us but took every course they could to terrify us. But I reckon they did not make out much, for when they showed their bowie knives to us, I showed them my pistols and what other arms I was able to secret away that we had with us.”
“If I could see you, I could tell you all about it, but cannot now commit to paper suffice it to say that I was liberated. this was about a week before the assassination of the prophets Joseph and Hyrum Smith, who were arrested and marched to jail by a band of the desperados and the brothers could not even lay there in peace.”
John S Gleason
Before the long arduous journey to the Salt Lake valley, that many Mormons would take to escape the Mob violence that plagued them. John wrote the letter we have been referring too. He wrote it to the brother he thought most likely to receive it. In it he expresses some deep feelings
“I am left alone without a brother or a sister with me to rejoice at my prosperity or lament and sorrow at my adversity. I feel that I am quite alone singled out of my father’s family. I wish that you or Oliver or both of you was here to go. The anxiety I have about you all is indescribable. There are Alvira and Betsey and Angeline and Armenia and our aged father, though mentioned last, he is not least in the feelings I have for home. He has nourished me and in the days of my infancy dangled me on his knee. Oh dear, my bosom beats with anxiety about you while I write. I could say like the prophet of old, does my father yet live, shall I see him again in the flesh, our father who must if alive be bowed down with age.”
I do not know if John got to see his father again, but I know he became a father to many. his life does not erase the sorrow and grief of his lost sister, or murdered friend. but he did find companionship, peace, and love. in spite of his pain.
In time John joined the company that lead Mormons into the Utah valley with Brigham young and began to lay provisions for his family before returning for them the following spring. He helped settle various parts of Salt Lake before settling for some time in Farmington Utah. Just three years after Utah became a territory of the United States. It was at this time that Joanna Louisa was born. The woman who would later Join Leonidas in Marriage, although Lon was just now starting to notice the fancy new desks at his school in Ohio.
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