History Draft [6 August 1838–30 December 1839]

Source Note

History draft; handwriting of
Willard Richards
24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...
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; 71 pages; CHL. This manuscript covers the period from 6 August 1838 to 30 December 1839.
Historical Introduction

See Introduction to History Drafts, 1844–1856.

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<24 <25>> started to face the Superior Judges, <& get writs of Habaes corpus>, & rode <after rid[i]ng> hundreds of miles to effect their obje[c]t; but to could <which they> not suceed, and retund [returned] to about the 2[nd] <4[th]> of april <during their absence I continu[e]d my Epistle as follows to the as follows.— We continued (0) .>.

4 April 1839 • Thursday

<April ◊ <2> <April— 4>> They called on who was mad at their having reported the case to the . & said he <he> could have done all the business for you p[r]operly if they <you> had gone <come> to him <me>, & <I> would have sign[e]d the petiti[o]ns for all execpt [except] Joe [Joseph Smith Jr.]. & he was <is> not fit to live. I told <bid> Bro s. & to be of good cheer. for we shall be deliv[e]red, but no arm but God can deliver us now. Told the breth[re]n to be of good cheer & get them away as fast as possible. The brethn left on their retu[r]n to ,— where they arrived

5 April 1839 • Friday

<50. men swore to kill Jo.> <5> <4> Friday 5th Thursday the 5th <4th>. <Friday— 5— & arriv[e]d at .> This day a company of about 50 men in swore that they “would never eat or drink until they had murder[e]d Jo Smith.” Their Capt Wm Bowman Swore in the pres[e]nce of , swore that he “would never eat or drink, after he had seen Jo Smith, until he had murdered him.”— Also 8 men, , who was county Judg[e], Dr. Loffity <θ> (Turly 3.) <men>.

<committee.> “The committee met April 5, (F. 6) Land.”

6 April 1839 • Saturday

<6> Saturday 6th. of April, evdintly [evidently] fearing a change of venue, or some movement on our part to escape his unhallowed persecution; (and most probably that expecting that we would be murder[e]d on the way) hurried myself & fellow prisoners off to , under a guard of about 10 men comma[n]ded by Samuel Tillery, Deputy Jailor of .— We were promised that we should go through , which was dire[c]tly on our route, which our fri[e]nds at that place knew, & were expect[i]ng us, but instead of fulfilli[n]g their promise they took us round the & out of the direct course 18 miles. far f[r]om habitations. where every oppo[r]tunity presented for a general massacre.

7 April 1839 • Sunday

<7> Sunday. 7 we continu[e]d our Travels across the prairie. while the brethren at anxious for our welfare, gave a man $30 to convey to us a letter, <to us from <at> > & retu[r]n an answer, from —

8 April 1839 • Monday

<8> Monday 8[th]. after a tedious jou[r]ney we arrived at in . for our long confinement, had enfeebled our bodily powers, we arriv[e]d at [p. 49]

25 started to face the Superior Judges, & get writs of Habaes corpus, & after riding hundreds of miles to effect their object; retund [returned] to about the 4[th] of april during their absence I continued my Epistle to the as follows.— We continued (0) ..

4 April 1839 • Thursday

April— 4 They called on who was mad at their having reported the case to the . & said he could have done all the business for you properly if you had come to me, & I would have signed the petitions for all execpt [except] Joe [Joseph Smith Jr.]. & he is not fit to live. I bid Bro s. & to be of good cheer. for we shall be delivered, but no arm but God can deliver us now. Told the brethren to be of good cheer & get them away as fast as possible. The brethn left on their return to ,—

5 April 1839 • Friday

50. men swore to kill Jo. 5 . Friday— 5— & arrived at . This day a company of about 50 men in swore that they “would never eat or drink until they had murdered Jo Smith.” Their Capt Wm Bowman Swore in the presence of , that he “would never eat or drink, after he had seen Jo Smith, until he had murdered him.”— Also 8 men, , who was county Judge, Dr. Loffity θ (Turly 3.) men.

committee. “The committee met April 5, (F. 6) Land.”

6 April 1839 • Saturday

6 Saturday 6th. of April, evdintly [evidently] fearing a change of venue, or some movement on our part to escape his unhallowed persecution; (and most probably expecting that we would be murdered on the way) hurried myself & fellow prisoners off to , under a guard of about 10 men commanded by Samuel Tillery, Deputy Jailor of .— We were promised that we should go through , which was directly on our route, which our friends at that place knew, & were expecting us, but instead of fulfilling their promise they took us round the & out of the direct course 18 miles. far from habitations. where every opportunity presented for a general massacre.

This evening the committee met in council, prayer by . X. (F. 6) present.

7 April 1839 • Sunday

7 Sunday. 7 we continued our Travels across the prairie. while the brethren at anxious for our welfare, gave a man $30 to convey a letter, to us at & return an answer, —

8 April 1839 • Monday

8 Monday 8[th]. after a tedious journey for our long confinement, had enfeebled our bodily powers, we arrived [p. 49]

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Document Information
Editorial Title
History Draft [6 August 1838–30 December 1839]
ID #
8472
Total Pages
74
Handwriting on This Page
- Willard Richards
Footnotes
1. 171
  See 4 Apr. 1839 entry in JS History, vol. C-1, pp. 907–912.
2. 172
  See 5 Apr. 1839 entry in JS History, vol. C-1, pp. 912–913.
3. 173
  See 6 Apr. 1839 entry in JS History, vol. C-1, pp. 913–914.
4. 174
  See 7 Apr. 1839 entry in JS History, vol. C-1, p. 914.
5. 175
  See 8 Apr. 1839 entry in JS History, vol. C-1, p. 914.

History Draft [6 August 1838–30 December 1839]

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