Thomas McBride Shot Multiple Times at Haun's Mill Massacre

On October 30, 1838, at Haun's Mill in Missouri, the mob attacked the mill with overwhelming violence. Thomas McBride, James McBride's father, who was sixty-three years old and had recently recovered from severe illness, took up a rifle to defend the women and children. He had shaved himself in his usual style and appeared to be in good spirits and health as he went to join the guard at the mill. When the attack came, Thomas McBride was hit by multiple gunshots. Despite being shot several times, he was taken prisoner by the mob after the initial assault. The exact circumstances of his death are disputed, but accounts indicate he was either mortally wounded during the battle or executed as a prisoner. His son James, only twenty years old at the time and sick with ague, was prevented from taking his father's place that day—an event that likely saved his life. The loss of his father at Haun's Mill marked one of the most tragic moments in James McBride's life and in the history of the Church in Missouri.