“Extract, from the Private Journal of Joseph Smith Jr.,” July 1839

  • Source Note
  • Historical Introduction

Document Transcript

Extract,
from the private journal of
JOSEPH SMITH JR.
 
On the fourteenth day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and thirty eight, I with my family, arrived in , Caldwell county Missouri, after a journey of more than one thousand miles, in the winter season, and being about eight weeks on our Journey; during which we suffered great affliction, and met with considerable persecution on the road. However, the prospect of meeting my friends in the west, and anticipating the pleasure of dwelling in peace, and enjoying the blessings thereof, buoyed me up under the difficulties and trials which I had then to endure. However, I had not been there long before I was given to understand that plots were laid, by wicked and designing men, for my destruction, who sought every opportunity to take my life; and that a company on the Grindstone forks of , in the county of , had offered the sum of one thousand dollars for my scalp: persons of whom I had no knowledge whatever, and who, I suppose, were entire strangers to me; and in order to accomplish their wicked design, I was frequently waylaid &c.; consequently, my life was continually in jeopardy.
I could hardly have given credit to such statements, had they not been corroborated by testimony, the most strong and convincing; as shortly after my arrival at , while watering my horse in , I distinctly heard three or four guns snap, which were undoubtedly intended for my destruction; however, I was mercifully preserved from those who sought to destroy me, by their lurking in the woods and hiding places, for this purpose
My enemies were not confined alone, to the ignorant and obscure, but men in office, and holding situations under the of the , proclaimed themselves my enemies, and gave encouragement to others to destroy me; amongst whom, was , of the fifth Judicial circuit, who has frequently been heard to say, that I ought to be beheaded on account of my religion[.] Expressions such as these, from individuals holding such important offices as ’s, could not fail to produce, and encourage persecution against me, and the people with whom I was connected. And in consequence of the prejudice which existed in the mind of this , which he did not endeavor to keep secret, but made it as public as he could, the people took every advantage they possibly could, in abusing me, and threatening my life; regardless of the laws, which [p. 2] promise protection to every religious society, without distinction.
During this state of things, I do not recollect that either myself, or the people with whom I was associated, had done any thing to deserve such treatment, but felt a desire to live at peace, and on friendly terms, with the citizens of that, and the adjoining counties, as well as with all men; and I can truly say, “for my love they were my enemies,” and “sought to slay me without any cause,” or the least shadow of a pretext.
My family was kept in a continual state of alarm, not knowing, when I went from home, that I should ever return again; or what would befall me from day to day. But notwithstanding these manifestations of enmity, I hoped that the citizens would eventually cease from their abusive and murderous purposes, and would reflect with sorrow upon their conduct in endeavoring to destroy me, whose only crime was in worshiping the God of heaven, and keeping his commandments; and that they would soon desist from harrassing a people, who were as good citizens as the majority of this vast republic— who labored almost night and day, to cultivate the ground; and whose industry, during the time they were in tha[t] neighborhood, was proverbial.
In the latter part of September, A. D. 1838, I took a journey, in company with some others, to the lower part of the county of , for the purpose of selecting a location for a Town. While on my journey, I was met by one of our brethren from , in Carroll county, who stated that our people, who had settled in that place, were, and had been for some time, surrounded by a mob, who had threatened their lives, and had shot at them several times; and that he was on his way to , to inform the brethren there, of the facts. I was surprised on receiving this intelligence, although there had, previous to this time, been some manifestations of mobs, but I had hoped that the good sense of the ma[j]ority of the people, and their respect for the constitution, would have put down any spirit of persecution, which might have been manifested in that neighborhood.
Immediately on receiving this intelligence, I made preparations to go to that place, and endeavor, if possible, to allay the feelings of the citizens, and save the lives of my brethren who were thus exposed to their wrath. I arrived at , about the first of October, and found that the accounts of the situation of that place, were correct; for it was with much difficulty, and by travelling unfrequented roads, that I was able to get there; all the principal roads being strongly guarded by the mob, who refused all ingress as well as egress. I found my brethren, (who were only a handfull, in comparison to the mob, by which they were surrounded,) in this situation, and their provisions nearly exhausted, and no prospect of obtaining any more.
We thought it necessary to send immediately to the , to inform him of the circumstances; hoping, from the , to receive the protection which we needed, and which was guaranteed to us, in common with other citizens. Several Gentlemen of standing and respectability, who lived in the immediate vicinity, (who were not in any wise connected with the church of Latter Day Saints,) who had witnessed the proceedings of our enemies; came forward and made affidavits to the treatment we had received, and concerning our perilous situation; and offered their services to go and present the case to the themselves. A messenger was accordingly despatched to his , who made known to him our situation. But instead of receiving any aid whatever, or even sympathy from his , we were told that “the quarrel was between the Mormons and the mob,” and that “we might fight it out.” In the mean time, we had petitioned the Judges to protect us. They sent out about one hundred of the militia, under the command of ; but almost immediately on their arrival, informed us that the greater part of his men under had mutinied, and that he should be obliged to draw them off from the place, for fear they would [j]oin the mob; consequently he could afford us no assistance. [p. 3]
We had now, no hopes whatever, of successfully resisting the mob, who kept constantly increasing: our provisions were entirely exhausted and we being wearied out, by continually standing on guard, and watching the movements of our enemies; who, during the time I was there, fired at us a great many times. Some of the brethren died, for want of the common necessaries of life, and perished from starvation; and for once in my life, I had the pain of beholding some of my fellow creatures fall victims to the spirit of persecution, which did then, and has since prevailed to such an extent in Upper —men too, who were virtuous, and against whom, no legal process could for one moment, be sustained; but who, in consequence of their love to God—attachment to his cause—and their determination to keep the faith, were thus brought to an untimely grave.
Many houses, belonging to my brethren, were burned; their cattle d[r]iven away, and a great quantity of their property destroyed by the mob. Seeing no prospect of relief, the having turned a deaf ear to our entreaties, the militia having mutinied, and the greater part of them ready to join the mob; the brethren came to the conclusion to leave that place, and seek a shelter elsewhere; they consequently took their departure, with about seventy waggons, with the remnant of the property they had been able to save from their matchless foes, and proceeded to . During our journey, we were continually harrassed and threatened by the mob, who shot at us several times; whilst several of our brethren died from the fatigue and privations which they had to endure, and we had to inter them by the wayside, without a coffin, and under circumstances the most distressing.
On my arrival in I was informed by of , that a company of mobbers eight hundred strong, were marching towards a settlement of our people’s in . He ordered out one of the officers to raise a force and march immediately to what he called ’s town and defend our people from the attacks of the mob, until he should raise the militia in his, and the adjoining counties to put them down. A small company of militia who were on their rout to , and who had passed through , he ordered back again, stating that they were not to be depended upon, as many of them were disposed to join the mob; and to use his own expression, were “damned rotten hearted.” According to orders marched with a number of our people to to afford what assistance they could to their brethren. Having some property in that and having a house building there, I went up at the same time. While I was there a number of houses belonging to our people were burned by the mob, who committed many other depredations, such as driving off horses, sheep, cattle, hogs &c. A number, whose houses were burned down as well as those who lived in scattered and lonely situations, fled into the town for safety, and for shelter from the inclemency of the weather, as a considerable snow storm had taken place just about that time; women and children, some in the most delicate situations were thus obliged to leave their homes, and travel several miles in order to effect their escape. My feelings were such as I cannot describe when I saw them flock into the village, almost entirely destitu[t]e of clothes, and only escaping with their lives. During this state of affairs arrived at , and was at the house of Colonel , when the intelligence was brought, that the mob were burning houses; and also when women and children were fleeing for safety. who held a commission in the 59th regiment under his () command, asked what was to be done. He told him that he must immediately, call out his men and go and put them down. Accordingly, a force was immediately raised for the purpose of quelling the mob, and in a short time were on their march with a determination to drive the mob, or die in the attempt; as they could bear such treatment no longer. The mob having learned the orders of , and likewise being aware of the determination of the oppressed, they broke up their encampments and fled. The mob seeing that they could not succeed by force, now [p. 4] resorted to str[a]tagem; and after removing their property out of their houses, which were nothing but log cabins, they actually set fire to their own houses, and then reported to the authorities of the state that the Mormons were burning and destroying all before them.
On the retreat of the mob from , I returned to , hoping to have some respite from our enemies, at least for a short time; but upon my arrival there, I was informed that a mob had commenced hostilities on the borders of that county, adjoining to and that they had taken some of our brethren prisoners, burned some houses, and had committed depredations on the peaceable inhabitants. A company under the command of , was ordered out by to go against them, and stop their depredations, and drive them out of the county. Upon the approach of our people, the mob fired upon them, and after discharging their pieces, fled with great precipitation, with the loss of one killed and several wounded. In the engagement , (a man beloved by all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance,) was wounded and died shortly after. Two others were likewise killed and several wounded. Great excitement now prevailed, and mobs were heard of in every direction who seemed determined on our destruction. They burned the houses in the country and took off all the cattle they could find. They destroyed cornfields, took many prisoners, and threatened death to all the Mormons. On the 28th of Oct. a large company of armed soldiery were seen approaching , They came up near to the town and then drew back about a mile and encamped for the night. We were informed that they were Militia, ordered out by the for the purpose of stopping our proceedings; it having been represented to his , by wicked and designing men from , that we were the aggressors, and had committed outrages in &c. They had not yet got the s orders of extermination, which I believe did not arrive until the next day. On the following morning, a flag was sent, which was met by several of our people, and it was hoped that matters would be satisfactorily arranged after the officers had heard a true statement of all the circumstances. Towards evening, I was waited upon by , who stated that the officers of the Militia desired to have an interview with me, and some others, hoping that the difficulties might be settled without having occasion to carry into effect the exterminating orders, which they had received from the . I immediately complied with the request, and in company with elders and , , and , went into the camp of the militia. But judge of my surprise, when instead of being treated with that respect which is due from one citizen to another, we were taken, as prisoners of war, and were treated with the utmost contempt. The officers would not converse with us, and the soldiers, almost to a man, insulted us as much as they felt disposed, breathing out threats against me and my companions. I cannot begin to tell the scene which I there witnessed. The loud cries and yells of more than one thousand voices, which rent the air and could be heard for miles; and the horrid and blasphemous threats and curses which were poured upon us in torrents, were enough to appal the stoutest heart. In the evening we had to lie down on the cold ground surrounded by a strong guard, who were only kept back by the power of God from depriving us of life. We petitioned the officers to know why we were thus treated, but they utterly refused to give us any answer, or to converse with us. The next day they held a court martial, and sentenced us to be shot, on Friday morning, on the puplic square, as an ensample to the Mormons. However notwithstanding their sentence, and determination, they were not permitted to carry their murderous sentence into .
Having an opportunity of speaking to , I inquired of him the cause why I was thus treated, I told him I was not sensible of having done any thing worthy of such treatment; that I had always been a supporter of the constitution and of Democracy. His answer was “I know it, and that is the reason why I want to kill you, or have you killled.” The militia then went into the town and without any restraint whatever, plunderd the [p. 5] houses, and abused the innocent and unoffending inhabitants. They went to my house and drove my family out of doors. They carried away most of my property and left many destitute.— We were taken to the town, into the public square; and before our departure from , we, after much entreaties, were suffered to see our families, being attended all the while with a strong guard; I found my and children in tears, who expected we were shot by those who had sworn to take our lives, and that they should see me no more. When I entered my house, they clung to my garments, their eyes streaming with tears, while mingled emotions of joy and sorrow were manifest in their countenances. I requested to have a private interview with them a few minutes, but this privilege was denied me, I was then obliged to take my departure, but who can realize my feelings which I experienced at that time; to be torn from my , and leaving her surrounded with monsters in the shape of men, and my children too, not knowing how their wants would be supplied; to be taken far from them in order that my enemies might destroy me when they thought proper to do so. My wept, my children clung to me and were only thrust from me by the swords of the guard who guarded me. I felt overwhelmed while I witnessed the scene, and could only reccomend them to the care of that God, whose kindness had followed me to the present time; and who alone could protect them, and deliver me from the hands of my enemies and restore me to my family
I was then taken back to the camp and then I with the rest of my brethren, viz: , , , , , and , were removed to , Jackson county. They did not make known what their intention or designs were in taking us there; but knowing that some of our most bitter enemies resided in that , we came to the conclusion that their design was to shoot us, which from the testimony of others. I do think was a correct conclusion. While there, we were under the care of Generals and , we had to find our own board, and had to sleep on the floor with nothing but a mantle for our covering, and a stick of wood for our pillow. After remaining there a few days we were ordered by General to return; we were accordingly taken back as far as , and there we were thrust into prison and our feet bound with fetters. While in , we were under the charge of from , who suffered all manner of abuse to be heaped upon us. During this time my afflictions were great, and our situation was truly painful. After remaining there a few days we were taken before the court of inquiry, but were not prepared with witnesses, in consequence of the eruelty [cruelty] of the mob, who threatend destruction to all who had any thing to say in our favor: but notwithstanding their threats there were a few who did not think their lives dear so that they might testify to the truth, and in our behalf, knowing we were unlawfully confined; but the court who was prejudiced against us, would not suffer them to be examined according to law, but suffered the State’s Attorney to abuse them as he thought proper. We were then removed to in Clay county, and there kept in close confinement in that place for more than four months. while there, we petitioned for a writ of , but on account of the prejudice of the jailor all communication was cut off; at length however, we succeeded iin getting a petition conveyed to him, but for fourteen days we received no answer. We likewise petitioned the other Judges but with no success. After the expiration of fourteen days ordered us to appear before him, we went and took a number of witnesses, which caused us considerable expense and trouble; but he altogether refused to hear any of our witnesses. The lawyers which we had employed refused to act; being afraid of the people. This being the case, we of course could not succeed, and were consequently [re]manded back to our prison house.— We were sometimes visited by our friends whose kindness and attention, [I] shall ever remember with feelings of [li]vely gratitude, but frequently we were not sufiered to have that privilege. Our vituals were of the coarsest [p. 6] kind, and served up in a manner which was disgusting. We continued in this situation, bearing up under the injuries and cruelties we suffered as well as we could, until we were removed to , where we were taken in order to be tried for the crimes with which we had been charged. The grand jury (who were mostly intoxicated,) indibted [indicted] us for treason, etc. etc.—
While there, we got a change of venue to , and were conducted on our way to that place by a strong guard. The second evening after our departure the guard got intoxicated[,] we thought it a favorable opportunity to make our escape; knowing that the only object of our enemies was our destruction; and likewise knowing that a number of our brethren had been massacred by them on , amongst whom were two children; and that they sought every opportunity to abuse others who were left in that state; and that they were never brought to an account for their barbarious proceedings, but were wincked at, and encouraged, by those in authority. We thought that it was necessary for us, inasmuch as we loved our lives, and did not wish to die by the hand of murderers and assasins; and inasmuch, as we loved our families and friends, to deliver ourselves from our enemies, and from that land of tyrany and oppression, and again take our stand amongst a people in whose bosoms dwell those feelings of republicanism and liberty which gave rise to our nation:— Feelings which the inhabitants of the state of were strangers to. Accordingly we took the advantage of the situation of our guard and took our departure, and that night we travelled a cons[i]derable distance. We continued on our journey both by night and by day, and after suffering much fatigue and hunger, I arrived in Illinois, amidst the congratulations of my friends and the embraces of my family.
I have now resided in this neighborhood for several weeks as it is known to thousands of the citizens of , as well as of the State of , but the authorities of , knowing that they had no justice in their crusade against me, and the people with whom I was associated, have not yet to my knowledge, taken the first step towards having me arrested.
Amongst those who have been the chief instruments, and leading characters, in the unparallelled persecutions against the church of Latter Day Saints; the following stand conspicuous, viz: Generals , , and , , and . also, whose zeal in the cause of oppression and injustlce, was unequalled, and whose delight has been to rob, murder, and spread devastation amongst the Saints. He stole a valuable horse, saddle and bridle from me; which cost two hundred dollars, and then sold the same to . On understanding this I applied to for the horse, who assured me, upon the honor of a gentleman, and an officer, that I should have the horse returned to me; but this promise has not been fulfilled.
All the threats, murders, and robberies which these officers have been guilty of, are entirely looked over by the of the ; who, to hide his own iniquity, must of course shield and protect those whom he employed, to carry into effect his murderous purposes.
I was in their hands as a prisoner about six months, but notwtihstanding their determination to destroy me, with the rest of my brethren who were with me; and although at three different times (as I was informed) we were sentenced to be shot, without the least shadow of law, (as we were not military men,) and had the time, and place apointed for that purpose; yet, through the mercy of God, in answer to the prayers of the saints, I have been preserved, and delivered out of their hands, and can again enjoy the society of my friends and brethren, whom I love; and to whom I feel united in bonds that are stronger than death: and in a state where I believe the laws are respected, and whose citizens, are humane and charitable.
During the time I was in the hands of my enemies; I must say, that although I felt great anxiety, respecting my family and friends, who were so inhumanly treated and abused; and who had to mourn the loss of their husbands and children, who had been slain; and after having been robbed of [p. 7] nearly all that they possessed be driven from their homes, and forced to wander as strangers in a strange country, in order, that they might save themselves and their little ones, from the destructions they were threatened with in : yet, as far as I was concerned, I felt perfectly calm, and resigned to the will of my heavenly Father. I knew my innocency, as well as that of the saints; and that we had done nothing to deserve such treatment from the hands of our oppressors: consequently, I could look to that God, who has the hearts of all men in his hands, and who had saved me frequently from the gates of death, for deliverance: and notwithstanding that every avenue of escape seemed to be entirely closed, and death stared me in the face, and that my destruction was determined upon, as far as man was concerned; yet, from my first entrance into the camp, I felt an assurance, that I with my brethren and our families should be delivered. Yes, that still small voice, which has so often whispered consolation to my soul, in the depth of sorrow and distress, bade me be of good cheer, and promised deliverance, which gave me great comfort: and although the heathen raged, and the people imagined vain things, yet the Lord of hosts, the God of Jacob, was my refuge; and when I cried unto him in the day of trouble, he delivered me; for which I call upon my soul, and and all that is within me, to bless and praise his holy name: For although I was “troubled on every side, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.”
The conduct of the saints under their accumulated wrongs and sufferings, has been praise-worthy; their courage, in defending their brethren from the ravages of mobs; their attachment to the cause of truth, under circumstances the most trying and distressing, which humanity can possibly endure; their love to each other; their readiness to afford assistance to me, and my brethren who were confined in a dungeon; their sacrifices in leaving the state of , and assisting the poor widows and orphans, and securing them houses in a more hospitable land; all conspire to raise them in the estimation of all good and virtuous men; and has secured them the favor and approbation of Jehovah; and a name, as imperishable as eternity. And their virtuous deeds, and heroic actions, while in defence of truth and their brethren: will be fresh and blooming; when the names of their oppressors shall either be entirely forgotten, or only remembered, for their barbarity and cruelty. Their attention and affection to me, while in prison, will ever be remembered by me; and when I have seen them thrust away, and abused by the jailor and guard, when they came to do any kind offices, and to cheer our minds while we were in the gloomy prison house, gave me feellings, which I cannot describe, while those who wished to insult and abuse us, by their threats and blasphemous language, were applauded and had every encouragement given them.
However, thank God, we have been deliverd; and although, some of our beloved brethren, have had to seal their testimony with their blood; and have died martyrs to the cause of truth; yet,
 
Short, though bitter was their pain;
Everlasting is their joy.
 
Let us not sorrow as “those without hope,” the time is fast approaching, when we shall see them again; and rejoice together, without being affraid of wicked men: Yes, those who have slept in Christ, shall he bring with him, when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and admired by all those who believe: but to take vengeance upon his enemies, and all those who obey not the gospel. At that time, the hearts of the widow and fatherless shall be comforted; and every tear shall be wiped from off their faces.
The trials they have had to pass through, shall work together for their good, and prepare them for the society of those, who have come up out of great tribulation; and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Marvel not then, if you are persecuted, but remember the words of the Savior, “The servant is not above his Lord, if they have persecuted me, they will persecute you also;” and that all the afflictions through which the saints have to pass, are in fulfillment of the words of [p. 8] the prophets, which have spoken since the world began. We shall therefore do well to discern the signs of the times, as we pass along, that the day of the Lord may not “overtake us as a thief in the night.” Afflictions, persecutions, imprisonments and deaths, we must expect according to the scriptures, which tell us, that the blood of those whose souls were under the altar, could not be avenged on them that dwell on the earth, until their brethren should be slain, as they were.
If these transactions had taken place among barbarians, under the authority of a despot; or in a nation, where a certain religion is established according to law, and all others proscribed; then there might have been some shadow of defence offered. But can we realize, that in a land which is the cradle of Liberty and equal rights; and where the voice of the conquerors, who had vanquished our foes, had scarcely died away upon our ears, where we frequently mingled with those who had stood amidst the “battle and the breeze;” and whose arms have been nerved in the defence of their country and liberty: whose institutions are the theme of philosophers and poets, and held up to the admiration of the whole civilized world. In the midst of all these scenes, with which we were surrounded, a persecution, the most unwarrantable, was commenced; and a tragedy, the most dreadful, was enacted, by a large portion of the inhabitants, of one of those free and independent States, which comprise this vast republic; and a deadly blow was struck at the institutions, for which our Fathers had fought many a hard battle, and for which, many a Patriot had shed his blood; and suddenly, was heard, amidst the voice of joy and gratitude for our national liberty, the voice of mourning, lamentation and woe. Yes, in this land, a mob, regardless of those laws, for which so much blood had been spilled, dead to every feeling of virtue and patriotism, which animate the bosom of freemen; fell upon a people whose religious faith was different from their own; and not only destroyed their homes, drove them away, and carried off their property, but murderd many a free born son of . A tragedy, which has no parrallel in modern, and hardly in ancient times; even the face of the Red man would be ready to turn pale at the recital of it.
It would have been some consolation, if the authorities of the had been innocent in this affair, but they are involved in the guilt thereof; and the blood of innocence, even of children, cry for vengeance upon them. I ask the citizens of this vast republic, whether such a state of things is to be suffered to pass unnoticed, and the hearts of widows, orphans and patriots, to be broken, and their wrongs left without redress? No! I invoke the genius of our constitution, I appeal to the patriotism of Americans, to stop this unlawful and unholy proceedure; and pray that God may defend this nation from the dreadful effects of such outrages. Is there not virtue in the body politic? Will not the people rise up in their majesty, and with that promptitude and zeal, which is so characteristic of them, discountenance such proceedings, by bringing the offenders to that purnishment which they so richly deserve; and save the nation from that disgrace and ultimate ruin, which otherwise must inevitably fall upon it?
JOSEPH SMITH JR. [p. 9]

Footnotes

  1. 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.)  

  2. 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.  

  3. 3

    In the bill of damages, this sentence ends at “intended for my destruction.”  

  4. 4

    Lilburn W. Boggs.  

  5. 5

    Missouri’s fifth judicial circuit covered the western counties north of the Missouri River. (History of Ray County, Mo., 260–261.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    History of Ray County, Missouri, Written and Compiled from the Most Authentic Official and Private Sources. . . . St. Louis, MO: Missouri Historical Co., 1881.

  6. 6

    JS’s bill of damages notes here that he was subjected to “vexatious law suits.”  

  7. 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.)  

  8. 8

    See Psalm 109:3, 4.  

  9. 9

    The bill of damages does not include the remainder of this paragraph.  

  10. 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.  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  11. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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.

  12. 12

    The bill of damages does not specify that JS journeyed with others.  

  13. 13

    The remainder of this paragraph is not found in JS’s bill of damages.  

  14. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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).

  15. 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.”  

  16. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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.

  17. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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.

  18. 18

    This description of JS’s journey to De Witt is not found in the bill of damages.  

  19. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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).

  20. 20

    The previous sentence does not appear in JS’s bill of damages.  

  21. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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.

  22. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    History of Carroll County, Missouri, Carefully Written and Compiled from the Most Authentic Official and Private Sources. . . . St. Louis: Missouri Historical Company, 1881.

  23. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

  24. 24

    The previous sentence does not appear in JS’s bill of damages.  

  25. 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.”  

  26. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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).

  27. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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.

  28. 28

    JS’s bill of damages does not call the company “mobbers.”  

  29. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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.

  30. 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  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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.

    (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.)
  31. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    [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.

  32. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

  33. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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.

  34. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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).

  35. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    [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.

  36. 36

    Brigadier General Hiram Parks arrived 18 October. (Hiram Parks, Richmond, MO, to David R. Atchison, 21 Oct. 1838, Mormon War Papers, MSA.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

  37. 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  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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).

    (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.)
  38. 38

    JS’s bill of damages does not include “or die in the attempt.”  

  39. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

  40. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    [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).

  41. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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).

  42. 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  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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.

    (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.)
  43. 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”.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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.

  44. 44

    In his bill of damages, JS states before Patten died, he “sent for me to pray for him, which request I complied with.”  

  45. 45

    Besides Patten, Gideon Carter was killed in battlea and Patrick (or Patterson) Obanion was fatally wounded.b Seven other Mormons were wounded.c  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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).

    (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.)
  46. 46

    JS’s bill of damages notes that “amongst the cattle driven off were Two cows of mine.”  

  47. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

  48. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Berrett, LaMar C., ed. Sacred Places: A Comprehensive Guide to Early LDS Historical Sites. 6 vols. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1999–2007.

  49. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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.

  50. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

    Peck, Reed. Letter, Quincy, IL, to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.

  51. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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.

  52. 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  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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.

    (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.)
  53. 53

    JS was taken prisoner on Wednesday, 31 October 1838. (S. Lucas to L. Boggs, 2 Nov. 1838.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

  54. 54

    The previous sentence is not in JS’s bill of damages.  

  55. 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.  

  56. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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.

  57. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

  58. 58

    The bill of damages here identifies JS as “a Democrat.”  

  59. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

  60. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Material Relating to Mormon Expulsion from Missouri, 1839–1843. Photocopy. CHL. MS 2145.

    Mormon Redress Petitions, 1839–1845. CHL. MS 2703.

  61. 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].)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Smith, Lucy Mack. History, 1844–1845. 18 books. CHL. MS 2049. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.

  62. 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.”  

  63. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

    Smith, Joseph. Materials, 1832–1844, 1883. CCLA.

  64. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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.

  65. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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.

  66. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

  67. 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.”)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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.

  68. 68

    Thomas C. Burch. ([Rigdon], Appeal to the American People, 29, 66; JS History, vol. C-1, 858.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    [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.

  69. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    [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.

  70. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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.

  71. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL. MS 155.

  72. 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.”  

  73. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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.

  74. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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.

  75. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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.

  76. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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.

  77. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Morgan, William. Papers, 1838–1839. CHL. MS 19757.

    “Preamble.” William Morgan. Papers, 1838–1839. CHL. MS 19757.

  78. 78

    The next several lines are additions not found in JS’s bill of damages, which resumes at “Accordingly we took the advantage.”  

  79. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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.

  80. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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.

  81. 81

    JS arrived at Quincy, Illinois, 22 April. (JS, Journal, 16 and 22–23 Apr. 1839.)  

  82. 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.  

  83. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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).

  84. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Nauvoo, IL. Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.

  85. 85

    See Exodus 2:22.  

  86. 86

    See 1 Kings 19:12; Acts 23:11; and Book of Mormon, 1837 ed., 49 [1 Nephi 17:45].  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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.

  87. 87

    See Psalm 2:1; and Acts 4:25.  

  88. 88

    See Psalm 46:7, 11.  

  89. 89

    See Psalms 50:15; 103:1.  

  90. 90

    See 2 Corinthians 4:8–9.  

  91. 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.)  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    The Works of Hannah More, with a Sketch of Her Life. Complete in Two Volumes. Boston: S. G. Goodrich, 1827.

  92. 92

    See 1 Thessalonians 4:13–14.  

  93. 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].  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    Revelations Collection, 1831–ca. 1844, 1847, 1861, ca. 1876. CHL. MS 4583.

  94. 94

    See Revelation 7:14.  

  95. 95

    See John 15:20.  

  96. 96

    See Revelation, 25 Nov. 1834, in Doctrine and Covenants 99:2, 1835 ed. [D&C 106:4]; compare 2 Peter 3:10.  

    Comprehensive Works Cited

    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).

  97. 97

    See Revelation 6:9–11.  

  98. 98

    Phrase taken from Thomas Campbell (1777–1844), “Ye Mariners of England: A Naval Ode.”  

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