Hawn’s Mill Millstone Monument

In 1836, many Saints relocated from Clay County to Caldwell County, Missouri. Jacob Hawn, who settled the area, owned a mill and employed some of the Saints. On October 30, 1838, an armed mob of vigilantes from a neighboring county attacked the Latter-day Saints at Hawn’s Mill. A large group of Saints visiting Hawn’s Mill that week increased the number of Saints in the area. The attackers killed 14 men and 3 young boys and wounded 14 more people. The dead were hastily buried or put into a mass grave in a dry well as the Latter-day Saints were forced to leave the area, and eventually the state of Missouri that winter.

In 1907, photographer George Edward Anderson visited the site of the Hawn’s Mill Massacre. There he found a millstone and painted an inscription on it: “In Memory of Victims of Hauns Mill Massacre Oct 30th 1838.” Sometime between 1907 and 1941, someone removed the millstone from the massacre site and moved it to the town of Breckenridge, about seven miles away. Though the town of Breckenridge didn’t exist in 1838, the armed men who carried out the attack organized themselves and began their approach on property about 1.5 miles east of the town. To honor those killed in the massacre, the town created a small memorial incorporating the millstone.

What to Expect

The Hawn’s Mill Millstone Monument sits on the north side of a local park in Breckenridge, Missouri. The park is free and open to the public. The town of Breckenridge owns and maintains the monument. The monument includes the names of all those killed in the massacre and the women who survived.