[], 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; 1–84 pp.; Cincinnati, OH: Glezen and Shepard, stereotypers and printers, 1840. The copy used herein is held at Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Historical Introduction
While incarcerated at , Missouri, in March 1839, JS addressed a letter to the church “at Illinois and scattered abroad and to in particular,” instructing the Saints to gather up “a knoledge of all the facts and sufferings and abuses put upon them by the people of this .” Edward Partridge responded with an account that became the three opening installments of “A History, of the Persecution, of the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter Day Saints in Missouri,” an eleven-part series published in the church’s newspaper, Times and Seasons, between December 1839 and October 1840. “A History, of the Persecution” receives comprehensive treatment in volume 2 of the Histories series of The Joseph Smith Papers and is available on this website.
may have intended to tell the entire story himself, but he fell ill shortly after publication of “A History, of the Persecution” began and died on 27 May 1840. Prompted by Partridge’s illness and subsequent death, the editors of the Times and Seasons, and , sought elsewhere for source materials to continue the series. It is probable that they composed the fourth installment to provide a brief transition from Partridge’s account, which ends in 1836, and the conflicts in and adjoining counties in 1838. The fifth and seventh installments reprinted passages from ’s History of the Late Persecutions Inflicted by the State of Missouri upon the Mormons (Detroit: Dawson and Bates, 1839). In May 1840, the sixth installment reprinted passages from ’s eighty-four page pamphlet, 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: Glezan and Shepard, 1840). More of Rigdon’s work was reprinted in the eighth through tenth installments, published from July to September 1840. The series concluded with an eleventh installment in the October 1840 issue, featuring General ’s callous speech to the Saints after their surrender at , Missouri, in November 1838.
A manuscript version of ’s Appeal to the American People, referred to as the “petition draft” titled “To the Publick” and endorsed by JS, Rigdon, and , was read to a conference of Saints in , Illinois, on 1 November 1839. The conference voted to approve its publication in the name of the church. and then collaborated to arrange for publication of the text in late 1839 and early 1840. Though no author is named on the title page, Rigdon was acknowledged as author when the pamphlet was advertised in the Times and Seasons in 1840 and 1841. JS and Elias Higbee had some expectation that funds from the sale of the publication would help defray costs of their trip to in late 1839. In July 1840, a second edition was printed by Shepard & Stearns in to raise funds for Orson Hyde and ’s mission to .
Although many of the events reported in ’s pamphlet can be corroborated from other sources, his chronology is often inaccurate. (Consult the annotation in Histories, Volume 2 for correction to portions published as part of “A History, of the Persecutions.”) However, his account contains the text of several significant documents. Among these are JS’s 5 September 1838 affidavit concerning the 7 August 1838 visit to and those of and and regarding the massacre. Consequently, though in many respects Rigdon’s document is more advocacy than history, it offers access to some material not readily found elsewhere.
of this said ’s maneuvres during the electioneering campaign. He was, at the time, the Colonel of the Militia in , and had been the leader in the first mob which had been raised to prevent the saints from making settlements in , in the first instance, of which mention has been made. When the electioneering campaign had fairly commenced, great exertions were made by the different candidates and their friends, to obtain the votes of the saints; each man, in his turn, making application. , like the rest, made application also. , who was a man of influence among the saints, was the one to whom said made overtures. , knowing that had always been an enemy to the saints, took the liberty to ask about his former hostilities, and his previous attempt to drive them from their homes; as well as many abusive things which he had said. declared that the never had any intention of driving them from their homes; he only tried to scare them, and if he could not, he intended to let them alone: and as to the many abusive things which he had said; he said “they were very wrong; he had been deceived by false reports, without being acquainted with the people; and, since he had become acquainted with them, he found that they were first rate citizens.” And by many such sayings, he attempted to gain votes: but the saints, all the time knowing that he was corrupt man, and every way disqualified for the office after which he was struggling, would not be induced to vote for him at all. This he fully understood before the election, and made his arrangements accordingly: having his satellites at the election, to aid him in executing his purpose, in preventing the saints from voting. In the early part of the day, at the election, made a speech; the object of which was, to excite the indignation of the people, to such a degree, that he could get a sufficient number to join the mob, to keep the saints from voting, if they attempted it. In this speech, he used the most abusive language that he was the master of; denouncing the saints in round terms, in a most ridiculous manner. Having his party ready, at the end of the speech, they began to throw out the their threats, that none of the G—d d—d Mor [p. 18]