“Extract, from the Private Journal of Joseph Smith Jr.,” July 1839
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Source Note
JS, “Extract, from the Private Journal of Joseph Smith Jr.,” in Times and Seasons (Commerce, IL), July 1839, vol. 1, no. 1, pp. 2–9; edited by and ; includes typeset signature. The copy used for transcription is currently part of a bound volume held at CHL.The eight-page article is the second item in the first number of the Times and Seasons. This issue comprises eight leaves, making sixteen pages that measure 8⅝ x 5¼ inches (22 x 13 cm). The text on each page is set in two columns. It is unknown how long this copy of this issue of the Times and Seasons has been in church custody.
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Historical Introduction
The historical account contained in “Extract, from the Private Journal of Joseph Smith Jr.” was composed in the aftermath of the 1838 armed conflict between the Latter-day Saints and other Missourians, a struggle that culminated in the incarceration of JS and the expulsion of the Saints from the . On 20 March 1839, from the in , Missouri, JS wrote to the Saints instructing them to document “all the facts and suffering and abuses put upon them by the people of this state and also of all the property and amount of damages which they have sustained.” A month later, on 16 April, JS escaped from the custody of Missouri lawmen, and on 22 April he was reunited with the Mormon exiles in , Illinois. Within days he arranged extensive land purchases for Mormon settlement at nearby , Illinois, and across the in . JS himself was among the initial Latter-day Saints to relocate to Commerce in May 1839. On 4 June 1839, during a visit to Quincy, JS created a record of his own Missouri losses, titled “Bill of Damages against the state of Missouri.” Written in the handwriting of JS’s recently appointed clerk, , the bill of damages was created as a petition to the federal government for redress, and it became the basis of “Extract, from the Private Journal of Joseph Smith Jr.,” published in July 1839. The reference to a “private journal” in the title notwithstanding, the article was not in fact based on a journal source; JS’s bill of damages is the only known manuscript source. The manuscript is much more than a simple bill of damages, however, and the historical narrative it contains bridges the chronological gap between JS’s last Missouri journal and his first journal.After an introduction stating that JS encountered enmity from the moment of his arrival in in March 1838, “Extract, from the Private Journal” covers most of the significant episodes in the Missouri conflict. The first specific historical event is the siege of the Mormon settlement at in Carroll County. The article then narrates the subsequent conflict around in Daviess County, the battle at with militia from , and the siege at in Caldwell County. Also recounted are JS’s capture, imprisonment, and indictment, as well as the exodus of the Latter-day Saints to . The narrative draws to a close with JS’s escape and his flight from Missouri. Where the bill of damages ends with a list of losses and sufferings for which remuneration is sought, the “Extract” concludes with an address to the American people at large, appealing to the principles of liberty and justice.“Extract, from the Private Journal of Joseph Smith Jr.” was published in the first issue of the church newspaper Times and Seasons. The prospectus published at the end of the issue declared that the newspaper would provide “a history of the unparallelled persecution, which we, as a people, received in ”; the lead article in the issue, an “Address” from the editors, similarly announced that the newspaper’s mission included publication of “a detailed history of the persecution and suffering” experienced in Missouri. “Extract, from the Private Journal” directly follows, taking up half of the issue’s sixteen pages. Times and Seasons editors and printed only about two hundred copies of the July 1839 issue before a malaria epidemic left them debilitated. Months later they published a reprint of the first issue, including JS’s “Extract,” under a November 1839 date. JS’s account of Missouri sufferings constituted part of a new genre of Mormon historical writing, and in the next issue, the Times and Seasons began publishing an eleven-part series on the Saints’ Missouri persecutions.JS’s bill of damages was revised for publication as the “Extract” sometime between 4 June 1839, when the bill of damages was composed, and 12 July, when recorded “looking over the proof sheet of the first number of the Times & seasons.” JS returned to from on 5 June and remained in the area until 12 July, except for a 15–26 June journey through western . Therefore, JS’s narrative of persecutions was likely revised in Commerce between 5 and 14 June or between 27 June and 12 July. The first issue of the Times and Seasons was probably published within a few days of 12 July, the day Wilford Woodruff helped check the proof sheet.The first two-thirds of the “Extract” was based closely on “Bill of Damages,” with only minor editorial changes. The changes softened some of the manuscript’s more strident rhetoric, omitted particulars regarding JS’s personal losses, and added details to emphasize the suffering of the Saints. Significant differences between the two documents are explained in footnotes herein. The final section of the article, which did not come from the bill of damages, may have been dictated or written by JS, perhaps with help from clerical assistants , , and . The published “Extract” was disseminated to Saints throughout the nation via the newspaper, and the document shaped their memory of the persecution in and their pattern for rehearsing it. JS clearly intended to reach not only the Latter-day Saints subscribing to the church newspaper but also the greater American public. As part of JS’s effort to gain sympathy in the court of public opinion, this document became part of the broadening agenda of gaining redress for grievances suffered in Missouri.
Footnotes
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1
JS et al., Liberty, MO, to the church members and Edward Partridge, Quincy, IL, 20 Mar. 1839, in Revelations Collection, CHL [D&C 123:1–2]. In a letter to the church written three months earlier, JS had reflected on some of the causes leading to the expulsion. (JS, Liberty, MO, to “the church,” Caldwell Co., MO, 16 Dec. 1838, JS Collection, CHL.)
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2
JS, “Bill of Damages against the State of Missouri[:] An Account of the Sufferings and Losses Sustained Therein,” Quincy, IL, 4 June 1839, JS Collection, CHL; see also JS, Journal, 27 May–8 June 1839.
Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL. MS 155.
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3
The last entry in JS’s September–October 1838 journal is 5 October 1838. On that day, JS left Far West, Missouri, with a detachment of Mormon men to reinforce the besieged Saints in De Witt, Missouri; after an introductory overview, JS’s “Bill of Damages” begins with the De Witt conflict. The bill ends with JS’s escape from his captors on 16 April 1839 and his arrival in Quincy, Illinois, on 22 April 1839; the first two entries in JS’s 1839 journal resume JS’s journal keeping precisely at this point.
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4
“Prospectus of the Times and Seasons,” Times and Seasons, July 1839, 1:16; Ebenezer Robinson and Don Carlos Smith, “Address,” Times and Seasons, July 1839, 1:1.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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5
“To the Patrons of the Times and Seasons,” Times and Seasons, Nov. 1839, 1:15–16; Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” The Return, May 1890, 257–258.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.
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6
It appears that there were three printings of the first issue of the Times and Seasons: the first in July; the second in November, from the same typesetting; and a third sometime thereafter, from a new setting of the text. The third printing, perhaps issued to satisfy increasing demand for the newspaper, retained the November 1839 date. Although minor spelling and punctuation changes appear in the later printings of the “Extract,” no changes were made to the wording. (See Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:94–95.)
Crawley, Peter. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. 3 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997–2012.
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7
See “A History, of the Persecution,” Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839–Oct. 1840.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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8
Woodruff, Journal, 12 July 1839.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
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9
JS’s journal records that he was “dictating History” 10–14 June and 3–5 July 1839, which may have included the historical narrative in the “bill of damages” along with his ongoing work on a complete history of the church. (JS, Journal, 10–14 June and 3–5 July 1839.)
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1
Document Transcript
Footnotes
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1
JS’s bill of damages notes that expenditures for the journey amounted to “about two hundred dollars.” JS later recounted that tavern keepers in Paris, Illinois, had combined to deny the Latter-day Saints lodging, which JS and others secured for their families only after threatening the use of force. (JS, Journal, 29 Dec. 1842; see also JS, Journal, 29 Mar. 1838.)
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2
The previous sentence does not appear in JS’s bill of damages. On the conditions attending JS’s departure from Ohio, see Historical Introduction to Journal, Mar.–Sept. 1838.
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3
In the bill of damages, this sentence ends at “intended for my destruction.”
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5
Missouri’s fifth judicial circuit covered the western counties north of the Missouri River. (History of Ray County, Mo., 260–261.)
History of Ray County, Missouri, Written and Compiled from the Most Authentic Official and Private Sources. . . . St. Louis, MO: Missouri Historical Co., 1881.
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6
JS’s bill of damages notes here that he was subjected to “vexatious law suits.”
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7
Both Missouri’s constitution and the Constitution of the United States included religious protection clauses. (Missouri Constitution of 1820, art. 13, sec. 4–5; U.S. Constitution, amend. 1.)
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8
See Psalm 109:3, 4.
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9
The bill of damages does not include the remainder of this paragraph.
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10
TEXT: In this and other instances where one or two characters are supplied in the transcript, the characters were not set or did not get inked in the original; text is supplied based on the reprint of this article in Times and Seasons, Nov. 1839, 1:2–9.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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11
Tensions between the Latter-day Saints and other Missourians stretched back over several years. (See LeSueur, 1838 Mormon War in Missouri, chap. 2; Baugh, “Call to Arms,” chap. 2; and Anderson, “Clarifications of Boggs’s Order,” 30–36.)
LeSueur, Stephen C. The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1987.
Baugh, Alexander L. “A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1996. Also available as A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2000).
Anderson, Richard Lloyd. “Clarifications of Boggs’s ‘Order’ and Joseph Smith’s Constitutionalism.” In Regional Studies in Latter-day Saint Church History: Missouri, edited by Arnold K. Garr and Clark V. Johnson, 27–83. Provo, UT: Department of Church History and Doctrine, Brigham Young University, 1994.
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12
The bill of damages does not specify that JS journeyed with others.
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13
The remainder of this paragraph is not found in JS’s bill of damages.
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14
Church leaders purchased 134 of De Witt’s 304 lots in June 1838, and by October there were seventy to eighty Mormon families living there. As early as July, however, the Saints in De Witt were confronted with ultimatums to leave Carroll County. When the Missouri militia disbanded anti-Mormon vigilantes gathered in Daviess County, many regrouped in Carroll County, where they laid siege to the Saints in De Witt. (Murdock, Journal, 23 June 1838; see also LeSueur, 1838 Mormon War in Missouri, 101–107; and Baugh, “Call to Arms,” chap. 6.)
Murdock, John. Journal, ca. 1830–1859. John Murdock, Journal and Autobiography, ca. 1830–1867. CHL. MS 1194, fd. 2.
LeSueur, Stephen C. The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1987.
Baugh, Alexander L. “A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1996. Also available as A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2000).
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15
The remainder of this sentence was modified from the bill of damages, which continues as follows: “if not to make arrangements with those individuals of whom we had made purchases and to whom I was responsible and holden for part of the purchase money.”
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16
JS apparently returned to Far West to raise a relief force. Albert Rockwood recorded that word of the siege at De Witt arrived on 4 October. Soon thereafter, Seymour Brunson and JS led groups of men to De Witt. (Rockwood, Journal, 14 Oct. 1838; see also Reed Peck, Quincy, IL, to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839, p. 73, Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.)
Rockwood, Albert Perry. Journal Entries, Oct. 1838–Jan. 1839. Photocopy. CHL. MS 2606.
Peck, Reed. Letter, Quincy, IL, to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
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17
For “about the first of October” the bill of damages reads “on the [blank] day.” As JS was still in Far West around ten o’clock on the morning of 5 October, he could not have arrived in De Witt, over fifty miles to the east, before 6 October. In 1845, Thomas Bullock wrote in JS’s history that JS arrived in De Witt on 6 October. (JS, Journal, 5 Oct. 1838; JS History, vol. B-1, 833.)
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
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18
This description of JS’s journey to De Witt is not found in the bill of damages.
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19
JS’s bill of damages does not note the Mormon settlers’ numerical disadvantage. Brigadier General Hiram Parks estimated two or three hundred militiamen under arms against the Latter-day Saints. He noted that the anti-Mormon forces hoped to number five hundred within a few days but surmised that even with those numbers the Mormons would probably win out if there were a battle. In fact, the number of Saints under arms was about one hundred thirty. Their commander, George M. Hinkle, may have inflated their numbers in representing them to outsiders. (Hiram Parks, “five miles from De Witt,” MO, to David R. Atchison, [Boonville, MO], 7 Oct. 1838, Mormon War Papers, MSA; Baugh, “Call to Arms,” 173; see also Samuel D. Lucas, Boonville, MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, 4 Oct. 1838, Mormon War Papers.)
Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.
Baugh, Alexander L. “A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1996. Also available as A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2000).
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20
The previous sentence does not appear in JS’s bill of damages.
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21
Longtime Missouri citizen A. L. Caldwell had departed De Witt about 2 or 3 October (prior to JS’s arrival), appealed to Governor Lilburn W. Boggs, and returned with this report on 9 or 10 October. (John Murdock, Affidavit, Adams Co., IL, 10 Jan. 1840, photocopy, Material Relating to Mormon Expulsion from Missouri, 1839–1843, CHL; JS History, vol. B-1, 834–835.)
Material Relating to Mormon Expulsion from Missouri, 1839–1843. Photocopy. CHL. MS 2145.
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
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22
JS’s bill of damages specifies that the Saints petitioned circuit judge Austin A. King. They may also have petitioned the Carroll County judges: William Crockett, Thomas Arnold, and John Standley. (History of Carroll County, Missouri, 387.)
History of Carroll County, Missouri, Carefully Written and Compiled from the Most Authentic Official and Private Sources. . . . St. Louis: Missouri Historical Company, 1881.
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23
Attempting to defuse the confrontation at De Witt, Major General David R. Atchison ordered Brigadier General Hiram Parks to disperse both Mormon and anti-Mormon vigilantes who had come to De Witt from other counties and to suggest that local Mormons sell out to local anti-Mormons. Atchison also wrote to Governor Boggs suggesting he come personally to De Witt to restore peace there. In a report to Atchison, Parks neglected to mention Bogart’s actions. Bogart later complained to Governor Boggs that Parks had not allowed Bogart and his men to intercept Mormon reinforcements arriving from Caldwell County. (David R. Atchison, Boonville, MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, [St. Louis, MO], 9 Oct. 1838; Hiram Parks, “five miles from De Witt,” MO, to David R. Atchison, [Boonville, MO], 7 Oct. 1838; Samuel Bogart, Elk Horn, MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, 13 Oct. 1838, Mormon War Papers, MSA.)
Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.
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24
The previous sentence does not appear in JS’s bill of damages.
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25
JS’s bill of damages does not specifically note starvation as a cause of death among the De Witt Saints, nor does it include the sentiments expressed here following “the spirit of persecution.”
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26
The evacuation from De Witt began on 11 October 1838. (John Murdock, Affidavit, Adams Co., IL, 10 Jan. 1840, photocopy, Material Relating to Mormon Expulsion from Missouri, 1839–1843, CHL; Baugh, “Call to Arms,” 179–181.)
Material Relating to Mormon Expulsion from Missouri, 1839–1843. Photocopy. CHL. MS 2145.
Baugh, Alexander L. “A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1996. Also available as A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2000).
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27
Other eyewitnesses reported deaths that occurred during the evacuation of De Witt. (See Judd, Autobiography of Zadoc Knapp Judd, 9; Tarlton Lewis, Statement, 20 May 1879, p. 1, Historian’s Office, History of the Persecutions, 1879–1880, CHL; and Arza Judd Jr., Petition, 6 Jan. 1840, photocopy, Material Relating to Mormon Expulsion from Missouri, 1839–1843, CHL.)
Judd, Zadoc Knapp. Autobiography of Zadoc Knapp Judd (1827–1909). [Provo, UT]: Brigham Young University Library, 1954. Copy at CHL. MS 4545.
Historian’s Office. History of Persecutions, 1879–1880. CHL. CR 100 96.
Material Relating to Mormon Expulsion from Missouri, 1839–1843. Photocopy. CHL. MS 2145.
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28
JS’s bill of damages does not call the company “mobbers.”
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29
JS was evidently already aware that anti-Mormon forces were on their way to Daviess County, as he had called for an armed expedition to Daviess on 14 October, the day before Brigadier General Alexander Doniphan arrived at Far West. Doniphan may have confirmed rumors of the vigilante detachment or apprised JS of the size of the force. (See Corrill, Brief History, 36–37; and [Rigdon], Appeal to the American People, 41.)
Corrill, John. A Brief History of the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints, (Commonly Called Mormons;) Including an Account of Their Doctrine and Discipline; with the Reasons of the Author for Leaving the Church. St. Louis: By the author, 1839.
[Rigdon, Sidney]. An Appeal to the American People: Being an Account of the Persecutions of the Church of Latter Day Saints; and of the Barbarities Inflicted on Them by the Inhabitants of the State of Missouri. Cincinnati: Glezen and Shepard, 1840.
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30
Lyman Wight spearheaded settlement of Adam-ondi-Ahman, the principal Latter-day Saint community in Daviess County.a Wight was also the leader of the Adam-ondi-Ahman contingent of the Danite society, a private Mormon militia.b
(aJS, Journal, 18 May–1 June and 4–5 June 1838; Berrett, Sacred Places, 4:399–402, 416, 438–444.bJS, Journal, 7–9 Aug. 1838; Swartzell, Mormonism Exposed, 17, 20–23, 32; “History of Lyman Wight,” 5, Historian’s Office, Histories of the Twelve, ca. 1858–1880, CHL.)Berrett, LaMar C., ed. Sacred Places: A Comprehensive Guide to Early LDS Historical Sites. 6 vols. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1999–2007.
Swartzell, William. Mormonism Exposed, Being a Journal of a Residence in Missouri from the 28th of May to the 20th of August, 1838, Together with an Appendix, Containing the Revelation concerning the Golden Bible, with Numerous Extracts from the ‘Book of Covenants,’ &c., &c. Pekin, OH: By the author, 1840.
Historian’s Office. Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861. CHL. CR 100 93.
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31
While Brigadier General Alexander Doniphan had authority to issue orders for Caldwell and Daviess counties, Sidney Rigdon recounted that Doniphan “advised” and “recommended” that Latter-day Saints from Caldwell County help defend their fellow Saints in Daviess County. ([Rigdon], Appeal to the American People, 42.)
[Rigdon, Sidney]. An Appeal to the American People: Being an Account of the Persecutions of the Church of Latter Day Saints; and of the Barbarities Inflicted on Them by the Inhabitants of the State of Missouri. Cincinnati: Glezen and Shepard, 1840.
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32
JS’s bill of damages notes that the company numbered sixty. This was apparently the company of Missouri militia commanded by Colonel William Dunn of Clay County that Brigadier General Hiram Parks had sent to Daviess County. Dunn’s company encamped near Far West awaiting Brigadier General Doniphan’s arrival. Doniphan, however, ordered Dunn to dismiss his troops. (Hiram Parks, Richmond, MO, to David R. Atchison, 21 Oct. 1838, Mormon War Papers, MSA.)
Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.
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33
Approximately one hundred fifty to three hundred men from Caldwell County arrived in Daviess County on 16 October. (John Smith, Journal, 16 Oct. 1838; Corrill, Brief History, 37; Foote, Autobiography, 21 Oct. 1838.)
Smith, John (1781-1854). Journal, 1833–1841. John Smith, Papers, 1833-1854. CHL. MS 1326, box 1, fd. 1.
Corrill, John. A Brief History of the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints, (Commonly Called Mormons;) Including an Account of Their Doctrine and Discipline; with the Reasons of the Author for Leaving the Church. St. Louis: By the author, 1839.
Foote, Warren. Autobiography, not before 1903. Warren Foote, Papers, 1837–1941. CHL. MS 1123, fd. 1.
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34
JS remained in Daviess County over the next few days to oversee Mormon operations there. (LeSueur, 1838 Mormon War in Missouri, 112–128; Baugh, “Call to Arms,” 185–210.)
LeSueur, Stephen C. The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1987.
Baugh, Alexander L. “A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1996. Also available as A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2000).
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35
Mormon victims of these vigilante depredations included Agnes Coolbrith Smith, wife of JS’s brother Don Carlos. Her husband was away from home on a church mission. ([Rigdon], Appeal to the American People, 43; Hyrum Smith, Testimony, Nauvoo, IL, 1 July 1843, p. 6, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)
[Rigdon, Sidney]. An Appeal to the American People: Being an Account of the Persecutions of the Church of Latter Day Saints; and of the Barbarities Inflicted on Them by the Inhabitants of the State of Missouri. Cincinnati: Glezen and Shepard, 1840.
Nauvoo, IL. Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.
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36
Brigadier General Hiram Parks arrived 18 October. (Hiram Parks, Richmond, MO, to David R. Atchison, 21 Oct. 1838, Mormon War Papers, MSA.)
Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.
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37
Wight had been commissioned as the colonel of the Caldwell County regiment of the state militia when he resided there, prior to moving to Daviess County. William Peniston, an antagonist to the Mormons, held the office of colonel in Daviess County.a Wight directed Mormon forces at Adam-ondi-Ahman as leader of the church’s private militia there.b
(a“History of Lyman Wight,” 5, Historian’s Office, Histories of the Twelve, ca. 1858–1880, CHL; see also William Peniston, Daviess Co., MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, 21 Oct. 1838, Mormon War Papers, MSA.bJS, Journal, 7–9 Aug. 1838; Sampson Avard, Testimony, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, in State of Missouri, “Evidence”; Swartzell, Mormonism Exposed, 17, 20–23, 32; Baugh, “Call to Arms,” 385.)Historian’s Office. Histories of the Twelve, 1856–1858, 1861. CHL. CR 100 93.
Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.
Missouri, State of. “Evidence.” Hearing Record, Richmond, MO, 12–29 Nov. 1838, State of Missouri v. Joseph Smith et al. for Treason and Other Crimes (Mo. 5th Cir. Ct. 1838). Eugene Morrow Violette Collection, 1806–1921, Western Historical Manuscript Collection. University of Missouri and State Historical Society of Missouri, Ellis Library, University of Missouri, Columbia.
Swartzell, William. Mormonism Exposed, Being a Journal of a Residence in Missouri from the 28th of May to the 20th of August, 1838, Together with an Appendix, Containing the Revelation concerning the Golden Bible, with Numerous Extracts from the ‘Book of Covenants,’ &c., &c. Pekin, OH: By the author, 1840.
Baugh, Alexander L. “A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1996. Also available as A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2000).
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38
JS’s bill of damages does not include “or die in the attempt.”
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39
According to Parks, the Latter-day Saints began their attack before he arrived. (Hiram Parks, Richmond, MO, to David R. Atchison, 21 Oct. 1838, Mormon War Papers, MSA.)
Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.
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40
Several Mormons later stated that non-Mormons burned their own homes and then blamed the Mormons in order to provoke state action against them. Other accounts added that non-Mormons burned their own homes after selling their property to the Mormons. In many instances, however, the Mormons did burn non-Mormon homes, as well as some stores. Soon not only the vigilantes but most of the non-Mormon population of Daviess fled the county. ([Rigdon], Appeal to the American People, 44; Hyrum Smith, Testimony, Nauvoo, IL, 1 July 1843, p. 7, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; Pulsipher, “Zerah Pu[l]siphers History,” 8; LeSueur, 1838 Mormon War in Missouri, 117–124; Baugh, “Call to Arms,” chap. 7.)
[Rigdon, Sidney]. An Appeal to the American People: Being an Account of the Persecutions of the Church of Latter Day Saints; and of the Barbarities Inflicted on Them by the Inhabitants of the State of Missouri. Cincinnati: Glezen and Shepard, 1840.
Nauvoo, IL. Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.
Pulsipher, Zerah. “Zerah Pu[l]siphers History,” no date. In Zerah Pulsipher, Record Book, ca. 1858–1878. Zerah Pulsipher, Papers, ca. 1848–1878. CHL. MS 753, fd. 1.
LeSueur, Stephen C. The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1987.
Baugh, Alexander L. “A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1996. Also available as A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2000).
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41
Responding to rumors of Mormon intentions to raid Ray County, Captain Samuel Bogart of the Ray County militia mobilized a company, including militiamen and volunteers, to patrol the border area between Ray County and Caldwell County and to guard against potential attacks. He then wrote to David R. Atchison, a major general in the state militia, for authorization. Atchison not only granted Bogart’s request for permission to “range the line between Caldwell & Ray County” but also charged him “to enquire into the state of things in Daviess County.” On 24 October, Bogart’s rangers began harassing Saints living on both sides of the Ray-Caldwell border and took three prisoners: Addison Green, Nathan Pinkham Jr., and William Seely. Green, and possibly Pinkham, belonged to a group of Mormon scouts reconnoitering the border. Sidney Rigdon later testified that a messenger reported Bogart’s men burned one house. (Samuel Bogart, Elk Horn, MO, to David R. Atchison, 23 Oct. 1838, Mormon War Papers, MSA; Samuel Bogart, Testimony, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, in State of Missouri, “Evidence”; Rockwood, Journal, 25 Oct. 1838; Sidney Rigdon, Testimony, Nauvoo, IL, 1 July 1843, p. [12], photocopy, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; see also Baugh, “Call to Arms,” 219–225.)
Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.
Missouri, State of. “Evidence.” Hearing Record, Richmond, MO, 12–29 Nov. 1838, State of Missouri v. Joseph Smith et al. for Treason and Other Crimes (Mo. 5th Cir. Ct. 1838). Eugene Morrow Violette Collection, 1806–1921, Western Historical Manuscript Collection. University of Missouri and State Historical Society of Missouri, Ellis Library, University of Missouri, Columbia.
Rockwood, Albert Perry. Journal Entries, Oct. 1838–Jan. 1839. Photocopy. CHL. MS 2606.
Nauvoo, IL. Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.
Baugh, Alexander L. “A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1996. Also available as A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2000).
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42
JS’s bill of damages also notes that “about day light next morning,” Hinkle “came up with them.” Parley P. Pratt, a participant in the expedition, recounted that “Captain [John] Killian (to whom Col. Hincle had committed the command of the troops in Far West, when he himself was not present) sent out a detachment.… This company, consisting of about sixty men, was sent to see what the matter was on the lines; and who was committing depredations, and if necessary, to protect or move in the families and property; and if possible, effect the release of the prisoners.”a Although the company’s commission may have included all the elements listed by JS and Pratt, other accounts focus on the mission of rescuing the men taken prisoner.b In an effort to free the Mormon prisoners held by Bogart, the company crossed over the Caldwell County line early on the morning of 25 October and attacked Bogart at his camp on Crooked River in the noncounty area attached to Ray County.c
(aPratt, History of the Late Persecution, 33.bSee, for example, Charles C. Rich, Statement, ca. Feb. 1845, Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, ca. 1839–1856, CHL; and Greene, Facts Relative to the Expulsion, 21.cBerrett, Sacred Places, 4:267–268.)Pratt, Parley P. History of the Late Persecution Inflicted by the State of Missouri Upon the Mormons, In Which Ten Thousand American Citizens were Robbed, Plundered, and Driven From the State, and Many Others Imprisoned, Martyred, &c. For Their Religion, and All This by Military Force, by Order of the Executive. By P. P. Pratt, Minister of the Gospel. Written During Eight Months Imprisonment in that State. Detroit: Dawson and Bates, 1839.
Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Documents, 1839–1860. CHL. CR 100 396.
Greene, John P. Facts Relative to the Expulsion of the Mormons or Latter Day Saints, from the State of Missouri, under the “Exterminating Order.” By John P. Greene, an Authorized Representative of the Mormons. Cincinnati: R. P. Brooks, 1839.
Berrett, LaMar C., ed. Sacred Places: A Comprehensive Guide to Early LDS Historical Sites. 6 vols. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1999–2007.
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43
Moses Rowland was killed in the encounter, and at least six others of the Ray County militia were wounded. (Wyatt Cravens, Testimony, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, in State of Missouri, “Evidence”.)
Missouri, State of. “Evidence.” Hearing Record, Richmond, MO, 12–29 Nov. 1838, State of Missouri v. Joseph Smith et al. for Treason and Other Crimes (Mo. 5th Cir. Ct. 1838). Eugene Morrow Violette Collection, 1806–1921, Western Historical Manuscript Collection. University of Missouri and State Historical Society of Missouri, Ellis Library, University of Missouri, Columbia.
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44
In his bill of damages, JS states before Patten died, he “sent for me to pray for him, which request I complied with.”
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45
Besides Patten, Gideon Carter was killed in battlea and Patrick (or Patterson) Obanion was fatally wounded.b Seven other Mormons were wounded.c
(aRockwood, Journal, 28 Oct. 1838; [Rigdon], Appeal to the American People, 45.bYoung, “Lorenzo Dow Young’s Narrative,” 51; John P. Greene, Affidavit, Quincy, IL, 17 Mar. 1840, Mormon Redress Petitions, 1839–1845, CHL; John L. Lockhart, Testimony, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, in State of Missouri, “Evidence.”cBaugh, “Call to Arms,” 238–240.)Rockwood, Albert Perry. Journal Entries, Oct. 1838–Jan. 1839. Photocopy. CHL. MS 2606.
[Rigdon, Sidney]. An Appeal to the American People: Being an Account of the Persecutions of the Church of Latter Day Saints; and of the Barbarities Inflicted on Them by the Inhabitants of the State of Missouri. Cincinnati: Glezen and Shepard, 1840.
Young, Lorenzo Dow. “Lorenzo Dow Young’s Narrative.” In Fragments of Experience, Faith-Promoting Series 6, pp. 22–54. Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1882.
Mormon Redress Petitions, 1839–1845. CHL. MS 2703.
Missouri, State of. “Evidence.” Hearing Record, Richmond, MO, 12–29 Nov. 1838, State of Missouri v. Joseph Smith et al. for Treason and Other Crimes (Mo. 5th Cir. Ct. 1838). Eugene Morrow Violette Collection, 1806–1921, Western Historical Manuscript Collection. University of Missouri and State Historical Society of Missouri, Ellis Library, University of Missouri, Columbia.
Baugh, Alexander L. “A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1996. Also available as A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2000).
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46
JS’s bill of damages notes that “amongst the cattle driven off were Two cows of mine.”
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47
Eighteen hundred militiamen under the command of Samuel D. Lucas arrived at Goose Creek, one mile south of Far West, on 30 October. (Samuel D. Lucas, “near Far West,” MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, 2 Nov. 1838, Mormon War Papers, MSA.)
Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.
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48
The following three sentences do not appear in the bill of damages, which resumes with “The next day I was waited upon by Colonel Hinckle.” The soldiers encamped on Goose Creek. (Berrett, Sacred Places, 4:300–301.)
Berrett, LaMar C., ed. Sacred Places: A Comprehensive Guide to Early LDS Historical Sites. 6 vols. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1999–2007.
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49
The “designing men from Daviess” were later identified as William Morgan, Samuel Bogart (actually from Ray County), William Peniston, Samuel Venable, Jonathan J. Dryden, James Stone, and Thomas J. Martin. (JS History, vol. B-1, 837; see also William Morgan, Affidavit, 21 Oct. 1838; William Peniston, Daviess Co., MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, 21 Oct. 1838; Samuel Venable, Affidavit, 22 Oct. 1838; Jonathan J. Dryden, Affidavit, 22 Oct. 1838; James Stone, Affidavit, 22 Oct. 1838; and Thomas J. Martin, Affidavit, 22 Oct. 1838, Mormon War Papers, MSA.)
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.
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50
Acting as commander in chief of the Missouri state militia, Governor Lilburn W. Boggs issued orders on 27 October 1838 that “the Mormons must be treated as enemies and must be exterminated or driven from the state if necessary for the public peace.” Reed Peck, who parleyed with the militia on behalf of the Saints, wrote that the order did not arrive until “an hour or so before Sun Set.” However, Major General Lucas reported to Governor Boggs that he had received a copy of the order on the previous day, 30 October, at the Log Creek crossing on the road to Far West, and that he postponed meeting with Hinkle and the Mormon party on 31 October until two o’clock in the afternoon because he was preoccupied with “receiving & encamping of fresh troops, who were hourly coming in.” (Lilburn W. Boggs, Jefferson City, MO, to John B. Clark, Fayette, MO, 27 Oct. 1838, Mormon War Papers, MSA; Reed Peck, Quincy, IL, to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1838, p. 109, Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA; Samuel D. Lucas, “near Far West,” MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, 2 Nov. 1838, Mormon War Papers, MSA.)
Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.
Peck, Reed. Letter, Quincy, IL, to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
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51
Reed Peck wrote that Brigadier General Alexander Doniphan named him along with John Cleminson, John Corrill, and William W. Phelps to meet with Doniphan and other members of the militia delegation and that JS added Seymour Brunson and George M. Hinkle to the number. Corrill wrote that the delegation consisted of only himself, Peck, and Hinkle. According to Corrill, JS had instructed him to “beg like a dog for peace.” (Reed Peck, Quincy, IL, to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839, pp. 108–109, Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA; Corrill, Brief History, 40–41.)
Peck, Reed. Letter, Quincy, IL, to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
Corrill, John. A Brief History of the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints, (Commonly Called Mormons;) Including an Account of Their Doctrine and Discipline; with the Reasons of the Author for Leaving the Church. St. Louis: By the author, 1839.
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52
The Mormon emissaries reported back to JS the conditions under which General Samuel D. Lucas would forgo extermination. As summarized by Corrill, they were to surrender certain church leaders, surrender their arms, give up their property as reparations for damages, and leave the state. Church leaders surrendered as prisoners would be allowed to decide whether to abide by those terms and remain prisoners or return to Far West to fight. General Lucas’s report to Governor Boggs specified that the Mormon prisoners were to be held as hostages to guarantee compliance with the conditions of surrender.a Corrill recounted that JS “said he had rather go to States-prison for twenty years, or had rather die himself than have the people exterminated.”b Colonel George M. Hinkle later maintained that he left to JS the decision whether to surrender and that JS sent word the following morning to agree to the terms.c
(aCorrill, Brief History, 41–42; S. Lucas to L. Boggs, 2 Nov. 1838.bCorrill, Brief History, 41.cGeorge M. Hinkle, Buffalo, Iowa Territory, to William W. Phelps, Nauvoo, IL, 14 Aug. 1844, The Ensign, Aug. 1844, 30–32.)Corrill, John. A Brief History of the Church of Christ of Latter Day Saints, (Commonly Called Mormons;) Including an Account of Their Doctrine and Discipline; with the Reasons of the Author for Leaving the Church. St. Louis: By the author, 1839.
Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.
The Ensign. Independence, MO. 1844–1845.
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53
JS was taken prisoner on Wednesday, 31 October 1838. (S. Lucas to L. Boggs, 2 Nov. 1838.)
Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.
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54
The previous sentence is not in JS’s bill of damages.
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55
The phrase “who were only kept back by the power of God from depriving us of life” is not found in JS’s bill of damages.
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56
A plan to execute JS was prevented by the intervention of Brigadier General Alexander Doniphan, who was also one of JS’s attorneys. (Burnett, Recollections and Opinions, 63; see also Maynard, “Alexander William Doniphan, Man of Justice,” 462–472; and Launius, “Alexander William Doniphan and the 1838 Mormon War,” 67, 90–93.)
Burnett, Peter H. Recollections and Opinions of an Old Pioneer. New York: D. Appleton, 1880.
Maynard, Gregory P. “Alexander William Doniphan, Man of Justice.” BYU Studies 13 (Summer 1973): 462–472.
Launius, Roger D. “Alexander William Doniphan and the 1838 Mormon War.” The John Whitmer Historical Association Journal 18 (1998): 63–110.
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57
Major General Lucas committed JS and the other prisoners to the charge of Brigadier General Wilson. (S. Lucas to L. Boggs, 2 Nov. 1838.)
Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.
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58
The bill of damages here identifies JS as “a Democrat.”
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59
According to the bill of damages, this was done “under sanction of general Clark.” Major General John B. Clark, to whom Governor Boggs had assigned overall command of the expedition against the Mormons, did not arrive at Far West until 4 November, after General Moses Wilson had left for Independence with JS and other Mormon prisoners as directed by Major General Lucas. (John B. Clark, Richmond, MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, 10 Nov. 1838; Samuel D. Lucas, Independence, MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, 5 Nov. 1838, Mormon War Papers, MSA.)
Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.
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60
JS’s bill of damages lists stolen horses, harnesses, cattle, hogs, books, and store goods. Mormon exiles from Missouri later reported tremendous losses in plundered property. (See redress petitions in Material Relating to Mormon Expulsion from Missouri, 1839–1843, CHL and in Mormon Redress Petitions, 1839–1845, CHL.)
Material Relating to Mormon Expulsion from Missouri, 1839–1843. Photocopy. CHL. MS 2145.
Mormon Redress Petitions, 1839–1845. CHL. MS 2703.
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61
JS’s mother, Lucy Mack Smith, later recalled that when JS was taken prisoner she and Joseph Smith Sr. heard several gunshots and concluded that JS had been murdered. (Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845, bk. 16, [2].)
Smith, Lucy Mack. History, 1844–1845. 18 books. CHL. MS 2049. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
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62
The description of JS bidding farewell to his family was expanded from the bill of damages. The three sentences that follow are also an expansion of the bill’s text, which reads only, “We were then removed to Jackson County.”
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63
On 2 November Clark sent orders to Lucas to hold the seven prisoners until Clark arrived at Far West. Lucas apparently did not receive those orders before departing with the prisoners for Independence. Clark then sent orders on 3 November for Lucas to take the prisoners to Richmond. Lucas explained to Governor Boggs that he refused to comply with Clark’s 3 November order because Clark, being junior to Lucas in appointment as a major general in the Missouri militia, was not entitled to issue such a command to Lucas. By returning from the field of operations to his division headquarters in Independence and bringing the prisoners with him, Lucas maintained jurisdictional control over the situation. He reported to Boggs that he “march[ed] them to my head Quarters at Independence to await your further Orders.” (John B. Clark, Jefferson City, MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, 29 Nov. 1838; Samuel D. Lucas, Independence, MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, 5 Nov. 1838, Mormon War Papers, MSA; see also JS, Independence, MO, to Emma Smith, Far West, MO, 4 Nov. 1838, JS, Materials, CCLA.)
Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.
Smith, Joseph. Materials, 1832–1844, 1883. CCLA.
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64
Parley P. Pratt recalled that the prisoners were initially kept in a vacant house and then moved to a hotel. (Pratt, History of the Late Persecution, 46–47.)
Pratt, Parley P. History of the Late Persecution Inflicted by the State of Missouri Upon the Mormons, In Which Ten Thousand American Citizens were Robbed, Plundered, and Driven From the State, and Many Others Imprisoned, Martyred, &c. For Their Religion, and All This by Military Force, by Order of the Executive. By P. P. Pratt, Minister of the Gospel. Written During Eight Months Imprisonment in that State. Detroit: Dawson and Bates, 1839.
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65
According to JS’s bill of damages, “While we were in Jackson, General Clark with his troops arrived in Caldwell and sent an order for our return—holding out the inducement that we were to be reinstated to our former priviledges: but instead of being taken to Caldwell we were taken to Richmond.” Before arriving at Far West, Clark twice sent orders to Lucas to incarcerate the prisoners in the jail at Richmond. There is no indication in Clark’s correspondence that he ordered them returned to Far West. The prisoners were kept in Independence 4–8 November 1838. They were moved from Independence to Richmond 8–9 November. (John B. Clark, Jefferson City, MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, 29 Nov. 1838, Mormon War Papers, MSA; [Rigdon], Appeal to the American People, 62–65.)
Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.
[Rigdon, Sidney]. An Appeal to the American People: Being an Account of the Persecutions of the Church of Latter Day Saints; and of the Barbarities Inflicted on Them by the Inhabitants of the State of Missouri. Cincinnati: Glezen and Shepard, 1840.
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66
Lieutenant Colonel Price served in Brigadier General Robert Wilson’s second brigade in Major General John B. Clark’s first division of the state militia. (See John B. Clark, Richmond, MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, 10 Nov. 1838; and Robert Wilson, Adam-ondi-Ahman, MO, to John B. Clark, 12 Nov. 1838, Mormon War Papers, MSA.)
Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.
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67
Austin A. King, judge of Missouri’s fifth judicial circuit, presided over a preliminary court of inquiry for sixty-four Latter-day Saint defendants at Richmond on 12–29 November 1838. (Madsen, “Joseph Smith and the Missouri Court of Inquiry,” 97–98; see also State of Missouri, “Evidence.”)
Madsen, Gordon A. “Joseph Smith and the Missouri Court of Inquiry: Austin A. King’s Quest for Hostages.” BYU Studies 43, no. 4 (2004): 93–136.
Missouri, State of. “Evidence.” Hearing Record, Richmond, MO, 12–29 Nov. 1838, State of Missouri v. Joseph Smith et al. for Treason and Other Crimes (Mo. 5th Cir. Ct. 1838). Eugene Morrow Violette Collection, 1806–1921, Western Historical Manuscript Collection. University of Missouri and State Historical Society of Missouri, Ellis Library, University of Missouri, Columbia.
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68
Thomas C. Burch. ([Rigdon], Appeal to the American People, 29, 66; JS History, vol. C-1, 858.)
[Rigdon, Sidney]. An Appeal to the American People: Being an Account of the Persecutions of the Church of Latter Day Saints; and of the Barbarities Inflicted on Them by the Inhabitants of the State of Missouri. Cincinnati: Glezen and Shepard, 1840.
JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.
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69
Sidney Rigdon claimed that some of the witnesses for JS and his codefendants were intimidated and fled the county before the hearing began, while those who did attend the hearing “were sworn at bayonet point.” Rigdon’s account of the hearing also claimed that Judge Austin A. King never allowed the defense attorneys to cross-examine the witnesses for the prosecution. King charged JS with “overt acts of Treason in Daviess county” and charged several other Latter-day Saints with treason, murder, larceny, and other crimes. ([Rigdon], Appeal to the American People, 66–67; Document Containing the Correspondence, 150; see also Madsen, “Joseph Smith and the Missouri Court of Inquiry,” 98–101.)
[Rigdon, Sidney]. An Appeal to the American People: Being an Account of the Persecutions of the Church of Latter Day Saints; and of the Barbarities Inflicted on Them by the Inhabitants of the State of Missouri. Cincinnati: Glezen and Shepard, 1840.
Document Containing the Correspondence, Orders, &c., in Relation to the Disturbances with the Mormons; and the Evidence Given before the Hon. Austin A. King, Judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit of the State of Missouri, at the Court-House in Richmond, in a Criminal Court of Inquiry, Begun November 12, 1838, on the Trial of Joseph Smith, Jr., and Others, for High Treason and Other Crimes against the State. Fayette, MO: Boon’s Lick Democrat, 1841.
Madsen, Gordon A. “Joseph Smith and the Missouri Court of Inquiry: Austin A. King’s Quest for Hostages.” BYU Studies 43, no. 4 (2004): 93–136.
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70
JS was transported from Richmond, Daviess County, to Liberty, Clay County, on 30 November and 1 December, along with Sidney Rigdon, Hyrum Smith, Lyman Wight, Alexander McRae, and Caleb Baldwin. Some Mormon prisoners were transferred to other facilities. (Mittimus, 29 Nov. 1838, State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Treason [Daviess Co. Cir. Ct. 1839], copy, JS Collection, CHL; Hyrum Smith, Diary, [9]; see also Jessee, “Prison Experience,” 24–25.)
Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL. MS 155.
Smith, Hyrum. Diary, Mar.–Apr. 1839, Oct. 1840. CHL. MS 2945.
Jessee, Dean C. “‘Walls, Grates and Screeking Iron Doors’: The Prison Experiences of Mormon Leaders in Missouri, 1838–1839.” In New Views of Mormon History: A Collection of Essays in Honor of Leonard J. Arrington, edited by Davis Bitton and Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, 19–42. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1987.
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71
The Clay County jailer was Sheriff Samuel Hadley. (State of Missouri, Mittimus, 29 Nov. 1838, State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Treason [Daviess Co. Cir. Ct. 1839], copy, JS Collection, CHL.)
Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL. MS 155.
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72
JS’s bill of damages also states, “We likewise petitioned to Judge King and to the Judges of the supreme Court but they utterly refused.”
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73
Alexander Doniphan and Peter Burnett represented the prisoners at the 25 January 1839 habeas corpus hearing in Clay County. No record of the proceedings has been found. Burnett later recounted that Doniphan made a spirited defense of the prisoners at this time. Judge Turnham released Rigdon, finding insufficient proof of his culpability in the record of the November 1838 court of inquiry over which Judge Austin A. King presided. (Fearing for his safety, Rigdon remained in the prison until 5 February.) JS and the other prisoners were returned to jail pending a hearing before a Daviess County grand jury, scheduled for April 1839. (Jessee, “Prison Experience,” 29; Burnett, Recollections and Opinions, 53–55; Sidney Rigdon, Testimony, Nauvoo, IL, 1 July 1843, pp. [23]–[24], Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)
Jessee, Dean C. “‘Walls, Grates and Screeking Iron Doors’: The Prison Experiences of Mormon Leaders in Missouri, 1838–1839.” In New Views of Mormon History: A Collection of Essays in Honor of Leonard J. Arrington, edited by Davis Bitton and Maureen Ursenbach Beecher, 19–42. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1987.
Burnett, Peter H. Recollections and Opinions of an Old Pioneer. New York: D. Appleton, 1880.
Nauvoo, IL. Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.
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74
JS and his fellow prisoners were moved 6–8 April 1839. (Hyrum Smith, Diary, [12], [21]–[22]; Baugh, “We Took Our Change of Venue,” 61–62.)
Smith, Hyrum. Diary, Mar.–Apr. 1839, Oct. 1840. CHL. MS 2945.
Baugh, Alexander L. “‘We Took Our Change of Venue to the State of Illinois’: The Gallatin Hearing and the Escape of Joseph Smith and the Mormon Prisoners from Missouri, April 1839.” Mormon Historical Studies 2, no. 1 (2001): 59–82.
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75
The hearing before the grand jury was held 9–11 April at Gallatin, Daviess County, Missouri. JS was indicted for treason, riot, arson, larceny, and receiving stolen goods. (See the indictments issued during the April 1839 term of the Daviess County, Missouri, Circuit Court in the following cases: State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Treason, photocopy, Max H. Parkin, Collected Missouri Court Documents, CHL; State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Riot; State of Missouri v. Caleb Baldwin et al. for Arson; State of Missouri v. Jacob Gates et al. for Arson, Historical Department, Nineteenth-Century Legal Documents Collection, CHL; State of Missouri v. James Worthington et al. for Larceny, Daviess Co., MO, Courthouse, Gallatin, MO; and State of Missouri v. JS for Receiving Stolen Goods, photocopy, Max H. Parkin, Collected Missouri Court Documents, CHL; see also Baugh, “We Took Our Change of Venue,” 63–65.)
Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Documents, 1839–1860. CHL. CR 100 396.
Indictment, Apr. 1839, State of Missouri v. James Worthington et al. for Larceny [Daviess Co. Cir. Ct. 1840]. Daviess Co., MO, Courthouse, Gallatin, MO.
Baugh, Alexander L. “‘We Took Our Change of Venue to the State of Illinois’: The Gallatin Hearing and the Escape of Joseph Smith and the Mormon Prisoners from Missouri, April 1839.” Mormon Historical Studies 2, no. 1 (2001): 59–82.
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76
Defense counsel initially sought a change of venue based on a newly enacted statute that allowed such a request to be supported by affidavits from the requesting parties. Judge Thomas Burch denied this request. A second motion to change venue was then made based on another Missouri statute that precluded an interested party from serving as a judge in the case. Because Judge Burch served as prosecuting attorney at the 12–19 November court of inquiry at Richmond, this statute specifically required disqualification. Burch granted this motion and the case was transferred to Boone County. (An Act to Amend an Act concerning Criminal Proceedings [13 Feb. 1839], Laws of the State of Missouri [1838–1839], 98; Daviess Co., MO, Circuit Court Record, Apr. 1839, vol. A, pp. 66–70, Daviess Co., Courthouse, Gallatin, MO; Snow, Journal, 1838–1841, 47–49.)
Laws of the State of Missouri, Passed at the First Session of the Tenth General Assembly, Begun and Held at the City of Jefferson, on Monday, the Nineteenth Day of November, in the Year of Our Lord, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Eight. Jefferson, MO: Calvin Gunn, 1838.
Daviess County, Missouri. Circuit Court Record, vol. A, July 1837–Oct. 1843. Daviess County Courthouse, Gallatin, MO.
Snow, Erastus. Journals, 1835–1851; 1856–1857. CHL. MS 1329, box 1, fds. 1–3.
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77
William Morgan, sheriff of Daviess County, summoned William Bowman, Wilson McKinney, John Brassfield, and John Pogue as his guard to escort the prisoners. (William Morgan, Certificate, 1 July 1839; “Preamble,” William Morgan, Papers, CHL.)
Morgan, William. Papers, 1838–1839. CHL. MS 19757.
“Preamble.” William Morgan. Papers, 1838–1839. CHL. MS 19757.
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78
The next several lines are additions not found in JS’s bill of damages, which resumes at “Accordingly we took the advantage.”
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79
On 30 October, Livingston County colonel Thomas Jennings led two to three hundred men in an attack on the small Latter-day Saint settlement of Hawn’s Mill. The attackers shot at men, women, and children. Seventeen were killed, including Charles Merrick (age nine) and Sardius Smith (age ten). At least fourteen were wounded. (See Baugh, “Call to Arms,” chap. 9; and “A History, of the Persecution,” Times and Seasons, Aug. 1840, 1:145–150.)
Baugh, Alexander L. “A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1996. Also available as A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2000).
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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80
JS and his fellow prisoners escaped 16 April 1839 while at Yellow Creek in Chariton County. The prisoners departed Gallatin on 12 April, four days earlier, but did not leave the confines of Daviess County—the county in which they had been charged—until 15 April. Hyrum Smith later testified that Daviess County sheriff William Morgan informed the prisoners that Judge Burch had privately instructed him not to escort the prisoners as far as Boone County. One of the guards sold two horses to the prisoners for their escape, and he later collected payment in Nauvoo. (JS, Journal, 16 Apr. 1839; Lyman Wight, Testimony, Nauvoo, IL, 1 July 1843, p. 32, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; Baugh, “We Took Our Change of Venue,” 65–71; Hyrum Smith, Testimony, Nauvoo, IL, 1 July 1843, pp. 25–26, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; JS to John Brassfield, Promissory note, 16 Apr. 1839, JS Collection, CHL.)
Nauvoo, IL. Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.
Baugh, Alexander L. “‘We Took Our Change of Venue to the State of Illinois’: The Gallatin Hearing and the Escape of Joseph Smith and the Mormon Prisoners from Missouri, April 1839.” Mormon Historical Studies 2, no. 1 (2001): 59–82.
Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL. MS 155.
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81
JS arrived at Quincy, Illinois, 22 April. (JS, Journal, 16 and 22–23 Apr. 1839.)
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82
The remainder of the text is not based on JS’s bill of damages, which here terminates with a paragraph listing JS’s claims against Missouri for losses sustained in Jackson, Daviess, and Caldwell counties for “Lands: Houses Horses: Harness Cattle Hogs & Books & store Goods Expences while in Bonds: of moneys paid out expences of moving out of the State & damages sustained by False imprisonment threatnings: intimidation Exposure &c &c &c &c &c.” JS calculated the total value lost at $100,000.
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83
Gilliam led one of the vigilante groups that harassed and plundered the Saints. (LeSueur, 1838 Mormon War in Missouri, 128–129, 192; Baugh, “Call to Arms,” 300–302.)
LeSueur, Stephen C. The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1987.
Baugh, Alexander L. “A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1996. Also available as A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2000).
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84
As noted previously, Alexander Doniphan intervened to prevent JS’s execution shortly after he was taken prisoner. JS’s brother Hyrum Smith later testified that Jedediah M. Grant, a Latter-day Saint, overheard a conversation between General Clark and militiamen at Richmond that indicated Clark’s intention to have JS and fellow prisoners executed on 12 November. According to Smith, Clark abandoned that plan after learning that military law made no provision for a court-martial for civilians. (Hyrum Smith, Testimony, Nauvoo, IL, 1 July 1843, p. 17, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)
Nauvoo, IL. Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.
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85
See Exodus 2:22.
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86
See 1 Kings 19:12; Acts 23:11; and Book of Mormon, 1837 ed., 49 [1 Nephi 17:45].
The Book of Mormon: an account written by the hand of Mormon, upon plates taken from the plates of Nephi . . . Translated by Joseph Smith, Jr. Kirtland, OH: Printed by O. Cowdery and Co., for P. P. Pratt and J. Goodson, 1837.
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87
See Psalm 2:1; and Acts 4:25.
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88
See Psalm 46:7, 11.
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89
See Psalms 50:15; 103:1.
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90
See 2 Corinthians 4:8–9.
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91
Quoted inexactly from Hannah More (1745–1833), “The True Heroes: or, The Noble Army of Martyrs.” The original lines are “Short tho’ bitter were their woes / Everlasting is their joy.” (Works of Hannah More,1:187.)
The Works of Hannah More, with a Sketch of Her Life. Complete in Two Volumes. Boston: S. G. Goodrich, 1827.
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92
See 1 Thessalonians 4:13–14.
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93
See Romans 8:28; see also JS et al., Liberty, MO, to the church members and Edward Partridge, Quincy, IL, 20 Mar. 1839, in Revelations Collection, CHL [D&C 122:7].
Revelations Collection, 1831–ca. 1844, 1847, 1861, ca. 1876. CHL. MS 4583.
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94
See Revelation 7:14.
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95
See John 15:20.
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96
See Revelation, 25 Nov. 1834, in Doctrine and Covenants 99:2, 1835 ed. [D&C 106:4]; compare 2 Peter 3:10.
Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of the Latter Day Saints: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God. Compiled by Joseph Smith, Oliver Cowdery, Sidney Rigdon, and Frederick G. Williams. Kirtland, OH: F. G. Williams, 1835. Also available in Robin Scott Jensen, Richard E. Turley Jr., Riley M. Lorimer, eds., Revelations and Translations, Volume 2: Published Revelations. Vol. 2 of the Revelations and Translations series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Dean C. Jessee, Ronald K. Esplin, and Richard Lyman Bushman (Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2011).
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97
See Revelation 6:9–11.
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98
Phrase taken from Thomas Campbell (1777–1844), “Ye Mariners of England: A Naval Ode.”