I came to Utah when I was two years old and have lived here for eighty-three years, and I have been through the mill.

I knew John D. Lee very well and many a time I have stayed at his home. I was on the jury that convicted him, and I was the last man to give in to have him executed. President Young furnished the evidence and the witnesses that convicted John D. Lee. Do you believe it? It is true nevertheless. I know for I was there at the court at the time of the trial. It was the same as Nephi killing Laban. Better for one man to die than for a whole nation to dwindle in unbelief.

John D. Lee was the sacrifice. He paid the penalty, but just the same he was a good man. They never published that thing correctly. I know John D. Lee was not altogether to blame. He was caught in the snare. I couldn’t give in with the jury. Granger took me to one side and talked and reasoned with me, but I felt miserable, just as though the devil had some power over me. Finally S. S. Barton, a juror, told me a dream he had. ‘We, the jury, were all in a field harvesting, and had our rifles with us. A flock of blackbirds rose up from everywhere and scattered away.’ These blackbirds represented the apostates and the mob. They wanted Brigham Young, and John D. Lee knew it. It meant that some one must be the white goose. As in the dream, a flock of white geese flew by and we shot at them, killing one. Then the great flock of blackbirds rose. Lee was the white goose.

I still disliked very much to give in to the jury for I know that Lee was not the only one responsible for the dead, and some one had to be sacrificed, so at last I gave in, and immediately I felt so relieved and happy that I gave in and the evil influence left me. Lee was as much a sacrifice for the Church as any man had ever been. The Lord did the best He could at all times with the people He had to work with. The Lord has been merciful to me and has shown me the Gospel and I am grateful to him for doing so.