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27468
Journal, March–September 1838
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known him to give a misrepresentation of any part, He is a merchant and I suppose doing a moderate
buisness[.] his place is now, onley laid out about a year since a
beautifull sight to the river, and a first rate landing And Sir permit me to say to you, if you could make it
convenient or for your advan tage to settle in this County, I would let you have part of my land[.] There is yet to enter adjoining my land, as good land is in the world, I
have no doubt you can do as weell here in forming a settlement and prob aly better than any place in the state
The facilities of the river will be of great ser vise to in settling this uper
country besid[e]s some of the knowing ones have aimed to uproot you,
but here you can break them down in turn,42
I will join you in the specula tion if necessary and if possible the
church[.] I will have after paying for 1600 acres of land $4,000, If they pay me in Far West, enou gh give my respects to Mrs Smith &
accep t for yourself
One of longest rivers in North America, in excess of 3,000 miles. From headwaters in Montana to confluence with Mississippi near Saint Louis, Missouri river drains 580,000 square miles (about one-sixth of continental U.S.). Explored by Lewis and Clark, 1804...
More InfoOne of longest rivers in North America, in excess of 3,000 miles. From headwaters in Montana to confluence with Mississippi near Saint Louis, Missouri river drains 580,000 square miles (about one-sixth of continental U.S.). Explored by Lewis and Clark, 1804...
More InfoLocated at the confluence of the Grand and Missouri rivers,
De Witt was a strategic site for facilitating Mormon participation in regional commerce. The Saints were
able to haul agricultural products from Far West by wagon to Adam-ondi-Ahman and then ship them on the Grand
River to De Witt landing, and from there on the Missouri River to other markets. (Riggs, “Economic Impact of Fort Leavenworth,” 130.)
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Riggs, Michael S. “The Economic Impact of Fort Leavenworth on Northwestern Missouri, 1827–1838. Yet Another Reason for the Mormon War?” In Restoration Studies IV: A Collection of Essays about the History, Beliefs, and Practices of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, edited by Marjorie B. Troeh and Eileen M. Terril, 124–133. Independence, MO: Herald Publishing House, 1988.
Originally called Shoal Creek. Located fifty-five miles northeast of Independence. Surveyed 1823; first settled by whites, 1831. Site purchased, 8 Aug. 1836, before Caldwell Co. was organized for Latter-day Saints in Missouri. William W. Phelps and John Whitmer...
More Info10 July 1804–30 Apr. 1879. Scribe, editor, boardinghouse operator, clothier. Born at Willingborough Township (later in Harmony), Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania. Daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis. Member of Methodist church at Harmony (later in Oakland...
View Full Bioa friends respect
David Thomas
12 May 1797–25 Apr. 1845. Born at Flat Rock District, Bourbon Co., Kentucky. Son of Richard Thomas and Elizabeth Bowles. Married Martha Parker, 17 Mar. 1816. Migrated to Carrollton, Carroll Co., Missouri, 1833. With Henry Root, landowner at De Witt, Carroll...
View Full BioElder Joseph Smith Jr
N.B. P.S. Further I own a section of land in Monroe [County] near the forks of Salt river, and if necessary sell or make a settlement there I know of
no man in the world I would rath er entertain than yourself I would be glad if you would find whether my debt is
secure in that place, and let me know Please to help me if you can do so without being oppressive to your
feelings or interest these I do not wish you [to?] violate for me Mr
Root is my confidential friend anything [you?] may say to him is safe,
if you cannot come [p. 27]
Area settled, 1820. Organized from Ralls Co., 6 Jan. 1831. County seat, Paris. Population in 1836 about 6,200. Population in 1840 about 9,500. JS and Camp of Israel volunteers from Ohio and Michigan Territory joined up at Allred settlement in county, June...
More Info14 June 1813–9 Apr. 1895. Auctioneer, merchant, banker. Born at Clinton, Upper Canada. Son of Henry Ruth and Marie Overholt. Purchased interest in town of De Witt (first called Eldersport), Carroll Co., Missouri, 1837. Sold lots to Latter-day Saints. Moved...
View Full BioFollowing the climactic events they experienced in the House of the Lord in spring 1836, JS
and church members renewed their efforts on three fronts: proselytizing, raising funds to purchase land in
Missouri on which to settle increasing numbers of Latter-day Saints, and building a larger and stronger
Latter-day Saint community in Kirtland, Ohio. But in neither Missouri nor Ohio did events unfold as
expected. Success in gathering converts to Missouri provoked renewed external opposition, again forcing
church members in that state to relocate. Meanwhile, conflicts engulfed JS in Kirtland.
JS revelation of Jan. 1831 directed Latter-day Saints to migrate to Ohio, where they would “be endowed with power from on high.” JS Revelation of Dec. 1832 directed Saints to “establish . . . an house of God.” JS Revelation of 1 June 1833 chastened Saints...
More InfoArea acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...
More InfoLocated ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and 1,000 others; in 1838 about 2,000 Saints and 1,200 others; in 1839 about 100 Saints and 1,500 others. Mormon missionaries visited township...
More InfoFrench explored area, 1669. British took possession following French and Indian War, 1763. Ceded to U.S., 1783. First permanent white settlement established, 1788. Partitioned from Northwest Territory and admitted as state, 1803. Bordered by Lake Erie on ...
More InfoRevelations directed Latter-day Saint elders to proselytize throughout the world after being
empowered in the House of the Lord. A modest beginning during the remainder of 1836 crescendoed the
following year with missionary service throughout the United States and Canada and the successful launching
of a ministry in England. Their mission was not only to preach and make converts but also to gather the
descendants of the biblical house of Israel, now scattered throughout the world. Converts were encouraged to
move to designated locations in Missouri and Ohio. The Mormon quest to establish Zion in Missouri,
temporarily abandoned after the Saints’ expulsion from Jackson County, was thereby reinvigorated.
JS revelation of Jan. 1831 directed Latter-day Saints to migrate to Ohio, where they would “be endowed with power from on high.” JS Revelation of Dec. 1832 directed Saints to “establish . . . an house of God.” JS Revelation of 1 June 1833 chastened Saints...
More InfoNorth American constitutional republic. Constitution ratified, 17 Sept. 1787. Population in 1805 about 6,000,000; in 1830 about 13,000,000; and in 1844 about 20,000,000. Louisiana Purchase, 1803, doubled size of U.S. Consisted of seventeen states at time ...
More InfoIn late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Canada referred to British colonies of Upper Canada and Lower Canada. Divided into Upper Canada and Lower Canada, 1791; reunited 10 Feb. 1841. Boundaries corresponded roughly to present-day Ontario (Upper...
More InfoArea acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...
More InfoFrench explored area, 1669. British took possession following French and Indian War, 1763. Ceded to U.S., 1783. First permanent white settlement established, 1788. Partitioned from Northwest Territory and admitted as state, 1803. Bordered by Lake Erie on ...
More InfoSettled at Fort Osage, 1808. County created, 16 Feb. 1825; organized 1826. Named after U.S. President Andrew Jackson. Featured fertile lands along Missouri River and was Santa Fe Trail departure point, which attracted immigrants to area. Area of county reduced...
More InfoBeginning in April 1836, JS and his associates engaged in an aggressive fund-raising campaign
for land purchases in Missouri.1
Meanwhile, converts flocked to Clay County, Missouri, to join the Latter-day Saints who had
been expelled from Jackson County in 1833. The rapid growth of the Mormon population eroded the tolerance of
other Clay County residents, who concluded in late June 1836 that the Saints must leave. By then threats of
violence and the intimidation of incoming Mormons made the once welcoming community much less so.2
Returning to Jackson County was also an unrealistic option.
Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...
More InfoMinute Book 1, 2 Apr. 1836; JS, Journal, 2 Apr.
1836.
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Minute Book 1 / “Conference A,” 1832–1837. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
Settled ca. 1800. Organized from Ray Co., 1822. Original size diminished when land was taken to create several surrounding counties. Liberty designated county seat, 1822. Population in 1830 about 5,000; in 1836 about 8,500; and in 1840 about 8,300. Refuge...
More InfoSettled at Fort Osage, 1808. County created, 16 Feb. 1825; organized 1826. Named after U.S. President Andrew Jackson. Featured fertile lands along Missouri River and was Santa Fe Trail departure point, which attracted immigrants to area. Area of county reduced...
More Info“Public Meeting,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Aug. 1836, 2:353–355; Stokes, “Wilson Letters,” 504–509.
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Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
Stokes, Durward T., ed. “The Wilson Letters, 1835–1849.” Missouri Historical Review 60, no. 4 (July 1966): 495–517.
Attempting to prevent future hostilities—and probably to divert Mormon immigration away from
more coveted lands—on 29 December 1836, the Missouri legislature created Caldwell County, northeast of Clay
County, exclusively for Mormon settlement.3
That
act gave rise to conflicting expectations. Many Missourians believed the Latter-day Saints were thereafter
to confine their settlement to Caldwell County.4
The Saints willingly left Clay County and established headquarters at Far West in Caldwell County, but they
made no formal commitment to limit their settlement to one county. Indeed, they anticipated establishing
numerous additional stakes of Zion elsewhere in northwestern Missouri. Tension over future Mormon expansion
was inherent in the arrangement.
Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...
More InfoLocated in northwest Missouri. Settled by whites, by 1831. Described as being “one-third timber and two-thirds prairie” in 1836. Created specifically for Latter-day Saints by Missouri state legislature, 29 Dec. 1836, in attempt to solve “Mormon problem.” ...
More InfoSettled ca. 1800. Organized from Ray Co., 1822. Original size diminished when land was taken to create several surrounding counties. Liberty designated county seat, 1822. Population in 1830 about 5,000; in 1836 about 8,500; and in 1840 about 8,300. Refuge...
More InfoAn Act to Organize the Counties of Caldwell and Daviess [29 Dec. 1836], Laws of the State of Missouri [1836], 46–47; History of Caldwell and Livingston Counties, 103–105; Riggs, “Economic Impact of Fort Leavenworth,” 129.
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An Act to Organize the Counties of Caldwell and Daviess [29 Dec. 1836], Laws of the State of Missouri [1836], 46–47
History of Caldwell and Livingston Counties, Missouri, Written and Compiled from the Most Authentic Official and Private Sources. . . . St. Louis: National Historical Co., 1886.
Riggs, Michael S. “The Economic Impact of Fort Leavenworth on Northwestern Missouri, 1827–1838. Yet Another Reason for the Mormon War?” In Restoration Studies IV: A Collection of Essays about the History, Beliefs, and Practices of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, edited by Marjorie B. Troeh and Eileen M. Terril, 124–133. Independence, MO: Herald Publishing House, 1988.
“The Mormons in Carroll County,” Missouri Republican, 18 Aug. 1838, [2], daily edition; “Mormonism,” Kansas City Daily Journal, 12 June 1881, 1; Willard Snow, Petition for redress, no date, Library of Congress Collection, National Archives, Washington DC.
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Missouri Republican. St. Louis. 1822–1919.
Kansas City Daily Journal. Kansas City, MO. 1878–1891.
Library of Congress Collection. National Archives, Washington DC. Redress petitions from this collection are also available in Clark V. Johnson, ed., Mormon Redress Petitions: Documents of the 1833–1838 Missouri Conflict, Religious Studies Center Monograph Series 16 (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1992).
Originally called Shoal Creek. Located fifty-five miles northeast of Independence. Surveyed 1823; first settled by whites, 1831. Site purchased, 8 Aug. 1836, before Caldwell Co. was organized for Latter-day Saints in Missouri. William W. Phelps and John Whitmer...
More InfoConflict also increased at church headquarters in Kirtland. In seeking to establish a sacral
society directed by prophetic leadership, JS crossed conventional boundaries between religious and secular
affairs. For him, God’s commandments made no distinction between the spiritual and the temporal.5
Subjecting oneself to a religious leader’s direction in
temporal matters clashed with American ideals of unfettered individual freedom. As the Mormon population of
Kirtland continued to grow, JS and his associates conceived expansive plans for that community. A pivotal
element was a bank, which could help provide capital for development. Though they were unable to obtain a
state charter—an ultimately fatal flaw—they nevertheless established a financial institution in January
1837. The “Kirtland Safety Society” faltered early, due in part to negative publicity, the refusal of many
area banks to accept Safety Society notes, and the predatory actions of outsiders who systematically
acquired its notes and quickly demanded payment in specie, thus depleting its reserves. The Safety Society
suspended such payments in late January, then failed several months later during the recession that gripped
the United States.6
Stresses related to the bank failure,
mounting personal debt of Kirtland Mormons, and church indebtedness due to construction of the House of the
Lord caused some to question the scope and legitimacy of JS’s prophetic leadership. Some of JS’s closest
associates became disaffected. Prominent among the dissenters were JS’s former secretary Warren Parrish,
several apostles, a number of the members of the Quorum of the Seventy, and the Three Witnesses to the Book
of Mormon plates. Their discontent escalated from dismay with JS’s financial leadership to rejection of his
religious leadership.7
Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and 1,000 others; in 1838 about 2,000 Saints and 1,200 others; in 1839 about 100 Saints and 1,500 others. Mormon missionaries visited township...
More InfoRevelation, Sept. 1830–A, in Doctrine and Covenants 10:9, 1835 ed. [D&C 29:34–35].
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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).
North American constitutional republic. Constitution ratified, 17 Sept. 1787. Population in 1805 about 6,000,000; in 1830 about 13,000,000; and in 1844 about 20,000,000. Louisiana Purchase, 1803, doubled size of U.S. Consisted of seventeen states at time ...
More InfoAdams, “Chartering the Kirtland Bank,” 467–482; Backman, Heavens Resound, 314–321; “James Thompson’s Statement,” in Naked Truths about Mormonism, Apr. 1888, 3.
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Adams, Dale W. “Chartering the Kirtland Bank.” BYU Studies 23 (Fall 1983): 467–482.
Backman, Milton V., Jr. The Heavens Resound: A History of the Latter-day Saints in Ohio, 1830–1838. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1983.
Naked Truths about Mormonism: Also a Journal for Important, Newly Apprehended Truths, and Miscellany. Oakland, CA. Jan. and Apr. 1888.
JS revelation of Jan. 1831 directed Latter-day Saints to migrate to Ohio, where they would “be endowed with power from on high.” JS Revelation of Dec. 1832 directed Saints to “establish . . . an house of God.” JS Revelation of 1 June 1833 chastened Saints...
More Info10 Jan. 1803–3 Jan. 1877. Clergyman, gardener. Born in New York. Son of John Parrish and Ruth Farr. Married first Elizabeth (Betsey) Patten of Westmoreland Co., New Hampshire, ca. 1822. Lived at Alexandria, Jefferson Co., New York, 1830. Purchased land at...
View Full BioEsplin, “Emergence of Brigham Young,” chaps.
5–6.
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Esplin, Ronald K. “The Emergence of Brigham Young and the Twelve to Mormon Leadership, 1830–1841.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1981. Also available as The Emergence of Brigham Young and the Twelve to Mormon Leadership, 1830–1841, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2006).
Such views eventually spread to nearly one-third of the church’s general leadership and over
ten percent of the local church membership in Ohio. Declaring JS a fallen prophet, Parrish and others
attempted to establish a church of their own and to take control of the House of the Lord.8
Oliver Cowdery, saddled with
crushing personal financial losses, privately disparaged JS.9
Some dissidents sought to replace JS
with David Whitmer as church president.10
Frederick G. Williams clashed with JS over the Safety Society.11
Compounding JS’s problems was the antipathy of
numerous non-Mormon residents of Kirtland and vicinity, some of whom used both the legal system and threats
of violence to harass him and other Latter-day Saints.12
French explored area, 1669. British took possession following French and Indian War, 1763. Ceded to U.S., 1783. First permanent white settlement established, 1788. Partitioned from Northwest Territory and admitted as state, 1803. Bordered by Lake Erie on ...
More Info10 Jan. 1803–3 Jan. 1877. Clergyman, gardener. Born in New York. Son of John Parrish and Ruth Farr. Married first Elizabeth (Betsey) Patten of Westmoreland Co., New Hampshire, ca. 1822. Lived at Alexandria, Jefferson Co., New York, 1830. Purchased land at...
View Full BioJS revelation of Jan. 1831 directed Latter-day Saints to migrate to Ohio, where they would “be endowed with power from on high.” JS Revelation of Dec. 1832 directed Saints to “establish . . . an house of God.” JS Revelation of 1 June 1833 chastened Saints...
More InfoBackman, Heavens Resound, 323–329, 437n68.
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Backman, Milton V., Jr. The Heavens Resound: A History of the Latter-day Saints in Ohio, 1830–1838. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1983.
3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
View Full BioMinute Book 2, 12 Apr. 1838;
Oliver Cowdery, Far West, MO, to Warren Cowdery, [Kirtland, OH], 21 Jan. 1838, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 80–83.
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Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
7 Jan. 1805–25 Jan. 1888. Farmer, livery keeper. Born near Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Raised Presbyterian. Moved to Ontario Co., New York, shortly after birth. Attended German Reformed Church. Arranged...
View Full BioHistorian’s Office, “History of Brigham Young,” 15.
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Historian’s Office. “History of Brigham Young.” In Manuscript History of Brigham Young, ca. 1856–1860, vol. 1, pp. 1–104. CHL.
28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full BioWilliams, “Frederick Granger Williams,” 254–256.
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Williams, Frederick G. “Frederick Granger Williams of the First Presidency of the Church.” BYU Studies 12 (Spring 1972): 243–261.
Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and 1,000 others; in 1838 about 2,000 Saints and 1,200 others; in 1839 about 100 Saints and 1,500 others. Mormon missionaries visited township...
More InfoAdams, “Grandison Newell’s Obsession” 168–188.
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Adams, Dale W. “Grandison Newell’s Obsession.” Journal of Mormon History 30 (Spring 2004): 159–188.
In fall 1837, JS moved vigorously to reassert his authority as church president. At a
conference in September, he and church leaders loyal to him disciplined dissidents in Ohio—including three
apostles and a number of members of the Kirtland high council. Meanwhile, problems developed among church
leaders in Missouri, where the high council, the bishopric, and apostles Thomas B. Marsh and David W. Patten
decried unilateral actions by the Missouri presidency. Concern focused particularly on the management by
counselors John Whitmer and William W. Phelps of the proceeds from the sale of property in Far West.13
When Marsh traveled to Kirtland in summer 1837, he
probably informed JS of these Missouri leadership issues. To underscore the importance of unity and to
prepare the way for changes in Missouri leadership if they should be required, JS sent minutes of the
September Kirtland conference to Missouri, along with a revelation, additional written counsel, and verbal
instructions conveyed by Marsh and JS’s brother Hyrum Smith, an assistant counselor in the presidency. Soon
after, JS and his loyal first counselor, Sidney Rigdon, traveled to Caldwell County, Missouri, where with
Hyrum Smith they met with local church leaders in early November and reached what seemed to be a
satisfactory resolution of most of the outstanding issues. At a conference the following day, the local
presidency were retained after they made confessions in response to objections raised against them. However,
the First Presidency underwent major changes. Frederick G. Williams, JS’s second counselor, was removed from
office after considerable discussion and replaced with Hyrum Smith. The name of Oliver Cowdery, who earlier
was placed next to JS in the presidency, was not even presented for approval on this occasion; thus he was
silently displaced.14
After JS’s
return to Kirtland, it became evident that unresolved issues in Missouri required further attention.
French explored area, 1669. British took possession following French and Indian War, 1763. Ceded to U.S., 1783. First permanent white settlement established, 1788. Partitioned from Northwest Territory and admitted as state, 1803. Bordered by Lake Erie on ...
More InfoLocated ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and 1,000 others; in 1838 about 2,000 Saints and 1,200 others; in 1839 about 100 Saints and 1,500 others. Mormon missionaries visited township...
More InfoArea acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...
More Info1 Nov. 1800–Jan. 1866. Farmer, hotel worker, waiter, horse groom, grocer, type foundry worker, teacher. Born at Acton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of James Marsh and Molly Law. Married first Elizabeth Godkin, 1 Nov. 1820, at New York City. Moved to ...
View Full Bio14 Nov. 1799–25 Oct. 1838. Farmer. Born in Vermont. Son of Benoni Patten and Edith Cole. Moved to Theresa, Oneida Co., New York, as a young child. Moved to Dundee, Monroe Co., Michigan Territory, as a youth. Married Phoebe Ann Babcock, 1828, in Dundee. Affiliated...
View Full Bio27 Aug. 1802–11 July 1878. Farmer, stock raiser, newspaper editor. Born in Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Member of German Reformed Church, Fayette, Seneca Co., New York. Baptized by Oliver Cowdery, June 1829, most likely in Seneca...
View Full Bio17 Feb. 1792–7 Mar. 1872. Writer, teacher, printer, newspaper editor, publisher, postmaster, lawyer. Born at Hanover, Morris Co., New Jersey. Son of Enon Phelps and Mehitabel Goldsmith. Moved to Homer, Cortland Co., New York, 1800. Married Sally Waterman,...
View Full BioOriginally called Shoal Creek. Located fifty-five miles northeast of Independence. Surveyed 1823; first settled by whites, 1831. Site purchased, 8 Aug. 1836, before Caldwell Co. was organized for Latter-day Saints in Missouri. William W. Phelps and John Whitmer...
More InfoMinute Book 2, 3 and 5–7 Apr. 1837; Thomas B. Marsh, [Far West, MO], to Wilford Woodruff, [Vinalhaven, ME], 1838, Elders’ Journal, July 1838, 37–38. Missouri church president David Whitmer
spent most of 1836 and 1837 in Kirtland.
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Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Kirtland, OH, Oct.–Nov. 1837; Far West, MO, July–Aug. 1838.
9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co., by...
View Full Bio19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...
View Full BioLocated in northwest Missouri. Settled by whites, by 1831. Described as being “one-third timber and two-thirds prairie” in 1836. Created specifically for Latter-day Saints by Missouri state legislature, 29 Dec. 1836, in attempt to solve “Mormon problem.” ...
More Info28 Oct. 1787–10 Oct. 1842. Ship’s pilot, teacher, physician, justice of the peace. Born at Suffield, Hartford Co., Connecticut. Son of William Wheeler Williams and Ruth Granger. Moved to Newburg, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, 1799. Practiced Thomsonian botanical system...
View Full Bio3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
View Full BioMinute Book 2, 6 and 7 Nov. 1837.
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Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
An 1831 revelation had signaled that Kirtland would eventually yield to Missouri as the major
gathering center for the Latter-day Saints.15
When arrangements
were completed in late 1836 for Mormon settlement in Caldwell County, renewed large-scale migration of
Mormons to Missouri became feasible. JS and the presidency had anticipated moving there earlier in 1836 to
direct the resettlement of incoming converts, but the delay in establishing a permanent Missouri location
and the entanglements of Kirtland kept them in Ohio. By late 1837, JS was planning to move as soon as
possible.16
Threatened by dissidents and
pursued by creditors, he learned in January 1838 of his impending arrest on a charge of illegal
banking—quite likely a ruse devised by his opponents to drive him from Ohio.17
JS and Rigdon had already been found guilty of such a charge in October 1837, had been fined
$1,000 each, and had an appeal pending.18
On 12 January, a new revelation directed that JS and the presidency were
to terminate their work in Kirtland “as soon as it is practicable” and move to Missouri.19
JS and Rigdon left within a few hours and were joined soon afterward by their
families.
Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and 1,000 others; in 1838 about 2,000 Saints and 1,200 others; in 1839 about 100 Saints and 1,500 others. Mormon missionaries visited township...
More InfoArea acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...
More InfoRevelation, 11 Sept. 1831, in Doctrine and Covenants 21:4, 1835 ed. [D&C 64:21–22].
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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).
Located in northwest Missouri. Settled by whites, by 1831. Described as being “one-third timber and two-thirds prairie” in 1836. Created specifically for Latter-day Saints by Missouri state legislature, 29 Dec. 1836, in attempt to solve “Mormon problem.” ...
More InfoFrench explored area, 1669. British took possession following French and Indian War, 1763. Ceded to U.S., 1783. First permanent white settlement established, 1788. Partitioned from Northwest Territory and admitted as state, 1803. Bordered by Lake Erie on ...
More Info[JS], Editorial, Elders’ Journal, Nov. 1837, 28.
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Elders’ Journal of the Church of Latter Day Saints. Kirtland, OH, Oct.–Nov. 1837; Far West, MO, July–Aug. 1838.
Adams, “Grandison Newell’s Obsession”; Historian’s Office, “History of Luke Johnson,” 6, Histories of the Twelve, ca. 1858–1880, CHL.
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Adams, Dale W. “Grandison Newell’s Obsession.” Journal of Mormon History 30 (Spring 2004): 159–188.
Historian’s Office. Histories of the Twelve, ca. 1858–1880. CHL.
19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...
View Full BioFirmage and Mangrum, Zion in the Courts, 56–57.
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Firmage, Edwin Brown, and Richard Collin Mangrum. Zion in the Courts: A Legal History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1830–1890. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1988.
Revelation, 12 Jan. 1838–C, in Revelations Collection, CHL; see also JS, Journal, 8 July 1838.
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Revelations Collection, 1831–ca. 1844, 1847, 1861, ca. 1876. CHL.
While JS was en route to Far West, his supporters there were working to root out dissent
among local church leadership. Senior apostle Thomas B. Marsh and members of the Missouri high council
conducted, in each of five settlements, meetings of church members in which the conduct of the Missouri
presidency was reviewed. Marsh indicated that the meetings were conducted according to instructions from JS.
The outcome of each meeting was that the leadership of the presidency—consisting of David Whitmer, William
W. Phelps, and John Whitmer—was rejected. The Missouri high council and bishopric replaced the presidency
with an interim presidency of Marsh and apostle David W. Patten, and soon afterward the high council
excommunicated Phelps and John Whitmer.20
The
reassertion of authority in Missouri under JS and those loyal to him was well under way when JS reached Far
West on 14 March 1838.
Originally called Shoal Creek. Located fifty-five miles northeast of Independence. Surveyed 1823; first settled by whites, 1831. Site purchased, 8 Aug. 1836, before Caldwell Co. was organized for Latter-day Saints in Missouri. William W. Phelps and John Whitmer...
More Info1 Nov. 1800–Jan. 1866. Farmer, hotel worker, waiter, horse groom, grocer, type foundry worker, teacher. Born at Acton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of James Marsh and Molly Law. Married first Elizabeth Godkin, 1 Nov. 1820, at New York City. Moved to ...
View Full BioArea acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...
More Info7 Jan. 1805–25 Jan. 1888. Farmer, livery keeper. Born near Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Raised Presbyterian. Moved to Ontario Co., New York, shortly after birth. Attended German Reformed Church. Arranged...
View Full Bio17 Feb. 1792–7 Mar. 1872. Writer, teacher, printer, newspaper editor, publisher, postmaster, lawyer. Born at Hanover, Morris Co., New Jersey. Son of Enon Phelps and Mehitabel Goldsmith. Moved to Homer, Cortland Co., New York, 1800. Married Sally Waterman,...
View Full Bio27 Aug. 1802–11 July 1878. Farmer, stock raiser, newspaper editor. Born in Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Member of German Reformed Church, Fayette, Seneca Co., New York. Baptized by Oliver Cowdery, June 1829, most likely in Seneca...
View Full Bio14 Nov. 1799–25 Oct. 1838. Farmer. Born in Vermont. Son of Benoni Patten and Edith Cole. Moved to Theresa, Oneida Co., New York, as a young child. Moved to Dundee, Monroe Co., Michigan Territory, as a youth. Married Phoebe Ann Babcock, 1828, in Dundee. Affiliated...
View Full BioMinute Book 2, 5–10 Feb. and 10 Mar. 1838.
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Minute Book 2 / “The Conference Minutes and Record Book of Christ’s Church of Latter Day Saints,” 1838, 1842, 1844. CHL. Also available at josephsmithpapers.org.
George W. Robinson, who was appointed the church’s general clerk and recorder in Ohio in
September 1837, arrived in Far West on 28 March 1838, two weeks after JS, and was immediately pressed into
service. Within a day or two of arriving, he began writing what would become the present journal. Robinson
made his initial inscriptions in a general church record book that already included a roster of Latter-day
Saints living in Caldwell County. He began writing on the first blank page following the previously
inscribed roster.The sentence that begins on line 6 should end with the word “roster”; deleted the rest of the sentence. Comment: The names that are apparently revealed on the multispectral image of page 15 of the Mar.–Sept. 1838 Journal were, in fact, never originally inscribed on that page, and the statement that the page was washed is incorrect. Rather, the names were inscribed one leaf earlier, on page 13. The ink transferred from the verso of the previous leaf (page 13) to the recto of the following leaf (page 14) and then bled through to the verso of that leaf (page 15). The multispectral image was erroneously interpreted by the Smith Papers staff. The journal Robinson kept for JS documents critical developments in
the struggle of JS and the presidency to maintain leadership of the church and to fulfill ambitious plans
for Zion in Missouri. It records their efforts to found settlements outside their headquarters and gathering
center in Caldwell County during spring and summer 1838, as well as the first signs of the deterioration of
that effort. The journal is primarily a documentary record. Several key developments are depicted only by
documents copied into the record without narrative ligatures.
14 May 1814–10 Feb. 1878. Clerk, postmaster, merchant, clothier, banker. Born at Pawlet, Rutland Co., Vermont. Baptized into LDS church and moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, by 1836. Clerk and recorder for Kirtland high council, beginning Jan. 1836. Married...
View Full BioFrench explored area, 1669. British took possession following French and Indian War, 1763. Ceded to U.S., 1783. First permanent white settlement established, 1788. Partitioned from Northwest Territory and admitted as state, 1803. Bordered by Lake Erie on ...
More InfoOriginally called Shoal Creek. Located fifty-five miles northeast of Independence. Surveyed 1823; first settled by whites, 1831. Site purchased, 8 Aug. 1836, before Caldwell Co. was organized for Latter-day Saints in Missouri. William W. Phelps and John Whitmer...
More InfoLocated in northwest Missouri. Settled by whites, by 1831. Described as being “one-third timber and two-thirds prairie” in 1836. Created specifically for Latter-day Saints by Missouri state legislature, 29 Dec. 1836, in attempt to solve “Mormon problem.” ...
More InfoArea acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...
More InfoThe journal entries only occasionally provide insights into intentions, perceptions,
evaluations, and feelings. When they do so, Robinson’s perspective is usually represented. In the journal
entries, Robinson refers to JS in the third person and to himself in the first. Thus references to “I” or
“myself” in the journal entries usually indicate Robinson rather than JS.
14 May 1814–10 Feb. 1878. Clerk, postmaster, merchant, clothier, banker. Born at Pawlet, Rutland Co., Vermont. Baptized into LDS church and moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, by 1836. Clerk and recorder for Kirtland high council, beginning Jan. 1836. Married...
View Full BioThe journal opens with a brief retrospective account, apparently dictated by JS, of his
arrival in Far West on 14 March 1838. Then follows a copy of a motto recently composed by JS and signed by
JS, Robinson, and a half-dozen prominent Latter-day Saints. The motto reflected JS’s experiences with
dissent and persecution in Kirtland and signaled his determination to vigorously assert the Latter-day
Saints’ right to establish themselves in Missouri and to pursue their goals without harassment. JS’s letter
of 29 March 1838, copied on pages 23–26 of the journal, indicates that the motto was already inscribed in
the journal by that date.
Originally called Shoal Creek. Located fifty-five miles northeast of Independence. Surveyed 1823; first settled by whites, 1831. Site purchased, 8 Aug. 1836, before Caldwell Co. was organized for Latter-day Saints in Missouri. William W. Phelps and John Whitmer...
More Info14 May 1814–10 Feb. 1878. Clerk, postmaster, merchant, clothier, banker. Born at Pawlet, Rutland Co., Vermont. Baptized into LDS church and moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, by 1836. Clerk and recorder for Kirtland high council, beginning Jan. 1836. Married...
View Full BioLocated ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and 1,000 others; in 1838 about 2,000 Saints and 1,200 others; in 1839 about 100 Saints and 1,500 others. Mormon missionaries visited township...
More InfoArea acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...
More InfoFollowing the motto are two sets of questions and answers about the book of Isaiah. A series
of transcripts or summaries of eight documents follows. These materials relate to a seven-month series of
events that culminated in the 12–13 April 1838 excommunications of Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer. As
indicated by the date on the title page of the journal, 12 April 1838, Robinson apparently began
transcribing these documents and entries on the same day that Cowdery was excommunicated. Cowdery’s trial
seems to have been the motivating factor for transcribing this set of documents and creating an ongoing
record with its own identity. These documents include minutes, instructions, and revelations originally
written in Ohio as early as 3 September 1837; minutes of a conference in which Brigham Young joined Thomas
B. Marsh and David W. Patten as “Presidents Pro. Tem” of the church in Missouri; and terse synopses of the
excommunication proceedings. In stark contrast to the frank evaluations of key leaders that JS dictated for
his earliest journal, the present journal’s businesslike documentary treatment yields little insight into
the interpersonal dynamics of their estrangement or the impact that severing ties to former close associates
had on JS. Robinson also copied a letter from a Missouri landholder offering property at De Witt, Carroll
County, to JS as a strategic site for control of commerce in the region. A purchase was eventually
consummated, and Latter-day Saints settled there, angering those Missourians who objected to Mormon
settlement outside Caldwell County.
3 Oct. 1806–3 Mar. 1850. Clerk, teacher, justice of the peace, lawyer, newspaper editor. Born at Wells, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of William Cowdery and Rebecca Fuller. Raised Congregationalist. Moved to western New York and clerked at a store, ca. 1825–1828...
View Full Bio7 Jan. 1805–25 Jan. 1888. Farmer, livery keeper. Born near Harrisburg, Dauphin Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Peter Whitmer Sr. and Mary Musselman. Raised Presbyterian. Moved to Ontario Co., New York, shortly after birth. Attended German Reformed Church. Arranged...
View Full Bio14 May 1814–10 Feb. 1878. Clerk, postmaster, merchant, clothier, banker. Born at Pawlet, Rutland Co., Vermont. Baptized into LDS church and moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, by 1836. Clerk and recorder for Kirtland high council, beginning Jan. 1836. Married...
View Full BioFrench explored area, 1669. British took possession following French and Indian War, 1763. Ceded to U.S., 1783. First permanent white settlement established, 1788. Partitioned from Northwest Territory and admitted as state, 1803. Bordered by Lake Erie on ...
More Info1 June 1801–29 Aug. 1877. Carpenter, painter, glazier, colonizer. Born at Whitingham, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of John Young and Abigail (Nabby) Howe. Brought up in Methodist household; later joined Methodist church. Moved to Sherburne, Chenango Co., New...
View Full Bio1 Nov. 1800–Jan. 1866. Farmer, hotel worker, waiter, horse groom, grocer, type foundry worker, teacher. Born at Acton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of James Marsh and Molly Law. Married first Elizabeth Godkin, 1 Nov. 1820, at New York City. Moved to ...
View Full Bio14 Nov. 1799–25 Oct. 1838. Farmer. Born in Vermont. Son of Benoni Patten and Edith Cole. Moved to Theresa, Oneida Co., New York, as a young child. Moved to Dundee, Monroe Co., Michigan Territory, as a youth. Married Phoebe Ann Babcock, 1828, in Dundee. Affiliated...
View Full BioArea acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...
More InfoLocated on bluffs north of Missouri River, about six miles above mouth of Grand River. Permanently settled, by 1826. Laid out, 1836. First called Elderport; name changed to De Witt, 1837, when town acquired by speculators David Thomas and Henry Root, who ...
More InfoLocated in northwest Missouri. Settled by whites, by 1831. Described as being “one-third timber and two-thirds prairie” in 1836. Created specifically for Latter-day Saints by Missouri state legislature, 29 Dec. 1836, in attempt to solve “Mormon problem.” ...
More InfoFollowing copies of brief personal revelations that JS dictated for apostles David W. Patten
and Brigham Young in mid-April 1838, Robinson recorded JS’s 26 April 1838 revelation mandating the continued
growth of Far West, the construction of a temple there, and the establishment of Latter-day Saint
settlements in that vicinity. The revelation sanctioned the name for the church that JS and others had
recently begun to use: the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.
14 Nov. 1799–25 Oct. 1838. Farmer. Born in Vermont. Son of Benoni Patten and Edith Cole. Moved to Theresa, Oneida Co., New York, as a young child. Moved to Dundee, Monroe Co., Michigan Territory, as a youth. Married Phoebe Ann Babcock, 1828, in Dundee. Affiliated...
View Full Bio1 June 1801–29 Aug. 1877. Carpenter, painter, glazier, colonizer. Born at Whitingham, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of John Young and Abigail (Nabby) Howe. Brought up in Methodist household; later joined Methodist church. Moved to Sherburne, Chenango Co., New...
View Full Bio14 May 1814–10 Feb. 1878. Clerk, postmaster, merchant, clothier, banker. Born at Pawlet, Rutland Co., Vermont. Baptized into LDS church and moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, by 1836. Clerk and recorder for Kirtland high council, beginning Jan. 1836. Married...
View Full BioOriginally called Shoal Creek. Located fifty-five miles northeast of Independence. Surveyed 1823; first settled by whites, 1831. Site purchased, 8 Aug. 1836, before Caldwell Co. was organized for Latter-day Saints in Missouri. William W. Phelps and John Whitmer...
More InfoPlans for Far West included temple on central block. Latter-day Saints in Caldwell Co. made preparations for construction and commenced excavating for foundation, 3 July 1837. However, while visiting Latter-day Saints in Far West, 6 Nov. 1837, JS gave instructions...
More InfoAfter inscribing this substantial body of recapitulations and copied documents, Robinson
recorded daily journal entries, beginning with an entry for 27 April 1838. By this point, Robinson was
serving as a scribe to the First Presidency, and the journal focused not only on JS but also on Sidney
Rigdon (Robinson’s father-in-law) and Hyrum Smith, both counselors in the church presidency. Frequently, but
not consistently, the scribe accompanied JS and the presidency on trips away from Far West. However, since
the record book was large, Robinson likely did not carry it with him on every occasion, and a number of
entries may not have been recorded until several days later.
14 May 1814–10 Feb. 1878. Clerk, postmaster, merchant, clothier, banker. Born at Pawlet, Rutland Co., Vermont. Baptized into LDS church and moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, by 1836. Clerk and recorder for Kirtland high council, beginning Jan. 1836. Married...
View Full Bio19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...
View Full Bio9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co., by...
View Full BioOriginally called Shoal Creek. Located fifty-five miles northeast of Independence. Surveyed 1823; first settled by whites, 1831. Site purchased, 8 Aug. 1836, before Caldwell Co. was organized for Latter-day Saints in Missouri. William W. Phelps and John Whitmer...
More InfoThe first day of Robinson’s regular journal entries, 27 April, was the same day JS, Rigdon,
and Robinson started JS’s history. Thus a promising record-keeping routine began to be established, which
lasted for six weeks. Entries for the first three weeks document a brief interlude of settled existence in
Far West, with JS and his counselors collaborating on the history, studying grammar, and attending meetings,
and JS working his garden. However, the presidency was soon on the move again. After receiving word of a
sizable migration of Latter-day Saints to Missouri, they left Far West for Daviess County in mid-May to
select and survey lands for future arrivals. JS’s labors in the north were punctuated by brief visits home,
during one of which Emma Smith gave birth to their son Alexander.
14 May 1814–10 Feb. 1878. Clerk, postmaster, merchant, clothier, banker. Born at Pawlet, Rutland Co., Vermont. Baptized into LDS church and moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, by 1836. Clerk and recorder for Kirtland high council, beginning Jan. 1836. Married...
View Full Bio19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...
View Full BioOriginally called Shoal Creek. Located fifty-five miles northeast of Independence. Surveyed 1823; first settled by whites, 1831. Site purchased, 8 Aug. 1836, before Caldwell Co. was organized for Latter-day Saints in Missouri. William W. Phelps and John Whitmer...
More InfoArea acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...
More InfoArea in northwest Missouri settled by European Americans, 1830. Sparsely inhabited until 1838. Created from Ray Co., Dec. 1836, in attempt to resolve conflicts related to Mormon settlement in that region. County is transected diagonally from northwest to ...
More Info10 July 1804–30 Apr. 1879. Scribe, editor, boardinghouse operator, clothier. Born at Willingborough Township (later in Harmony), Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania. Daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis. Member of Methodist church at Harmony (later in Oakland...
View Full Bio2 June 1838–12 Aug. 1909. Photographer, carpenter, postmaster, minister. Born at Far West, Caldwell Co., Missouri. Son of JS and Emma Hale. Moved to Commerce (later Nauvoo), Hancock Co., Illinois, 1839. Married Elizabeth Agnes Kendall, 23 June 1861, at Nauvoo...
View Full BioSettling in sparsely settled Daviess County offered incoming Latter-day Saints, many of whom
were poor, a place to live while neither buying nor renting. As squatters on United States government land,
heads of households could apply for preemption rights (first right of purchase) on up to 160 acres of land
that they occupied, pending completion of official government land surveys. Applicants were not required—or
even allowed—to pay the government for the land until after the surveys were completed. Then, to acquire
title to the property, they were to pay the relatively low price of $1.25 per acre prior to an announced
date, after which their property would otherwise be offered for sale to the general public, along with the
unclaimed land in the surveyed area. The selection and private surveying of Daviess County land by JS and
his colleagues provided the basis for orderly and relatively compact settlement coordinated by church
officials.21
Settling in
Caldwell County, by contrast, involved more conventional purchases. Government surveys were already
completed for that county, and government land was already being sold.
Area in northwest Missouri settled by European Americans, 1830. Sparsely inhabited until 1838. Created from Ray Co., Dec. 1836, in attempt to resolve conflicts related to Mormon settlement in that region. County is transected diagonally from northwest to ...
More InfoNorth American constitutional republic. Constitution ratified, 17 Sept. 1787. Population in 1805 about 6,000,000; in 1830 about 13,000,000; and in 1844 about 20,000,000. Louisiana Purchase, 1803, doubled size of U.S. Consisted of seventeen states at time ...
More InfoWalker, “Mormon Land Rights.”
Comprehensive Works Cited
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Walker, Jeffrey N. “Mormon Land Rights in Caldwell and Daviess Counties and the Mormon Conflict of 1838: New Findings and New Understandings.” Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Mormon History Association, Salt Lake City, 24–27 May 2007.
Located in northwest Missouri. Settled by whites, by 1831. Described as being “one-third timber and two-thirds prairie” in 1836. Created specifically for Latter-day Saints by Missouri state legislature, 29 Dec. 1836, in attempt to solve “Mormon problem.” ...
More InfoThe pattern of record keeping became more varied after the presidency and their scribe
traveled to Daviess County in early June. Robinson’s daily entries lapsed as the Mormons laid out a city
plot for a Latter-day Saint settlement at Adam-ondi-Ahman, began building homes, and organized a stake. They
persisted in creating the new settlement despite their Missouri neighbors’ earlier attempt to frighten the
area’s first Mormon settlers into leaving Daviess County.22
Area in northwest Missouri settled by European Americans, 1830. Sparsely inhabited until 1838. Created from Ray Co., Dec. 1836, in attempt to resolve conflicts related to Mormon settlement in that region. County is transected diagonally from northwest to ...
More Info14 May 1814–10 Feb. 1878. Clerk, postmaster, merchant, clothier, banker. Born at Pawlet, Rutland Co., Vermont. Baptized into LDS church and moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, by 1836. Clerk and recorder for Kirtland high council, beginning Jan. 1836. Married...
View Full BioTown located in northwest Missouri. JS revelations designated area as place where Adam blessed his posterity after leaving Garden of Eden and where Adam will return prior to Second Coming. While seeking new areas in Daviess Co. for settlement, JS and others...
More InfoArea acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...
More InfoGentry, “Latter-day Saints in Northern Missouri,” 153–156; Baugh, “Call to Arms,” 106.
Comprehensive Works Cited
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History of Madison County, Illinois. Illustrated. With Biographical Sketches of many Prominent Men and Pioneers. Edwardsville, IL: W. R. Brink & Co., 1882. Gentry, Leland Homer. “A History of the Latter-day Saints in Northern Missouri from 1836 to 1839.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1965. Also available as A History of the Latter-day Saints in Northern Missouri from 1836 to 1839, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2000).
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).
Meanwhile, tensions continued between JS and the majority who supported him on the one hand
and prominent excommunicants who remained in Caldwell County after being expelled from the church on the
other. JS and Rigdon came to feel that peace and harmony among the Latter-day Saints—essential if they were
to succeed in establishing Zion in Missouri—was impossible as long as these individuals remained among them.
After Rigdon denounced these former leaders in a sermon in mid-June,23
they were threatened with violence, and
several of them left the county. Active in compelling their departure was a new volunteer paramilitary
organization of Mormon men called the Danites, of which Robinson was an officer. The Danites sought to rid
the church of dissent, to ensure the fulfillment of church leaders’ directives, and later to help combat
external threats against the Saints.
Located in northwest Missouri. Settled by whites, by 1831. Described as being “one-third timber and two-thirds prairie” in 1836. Created specifically for Latter-day Saints by Missouri state legislature, 29 Dec. 1836, in attempt to solve “Mormon problem.” ...
More Info19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...
View Full BioArea acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...
More InfoReed Peck, Quincy, IL, to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839, pp. 23–25, Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA; Corrill, Brief History, 30.
Comprehensive Works Cited
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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.
14 May 1814–10 Feb. 1878. Clerk, postmaster, merchant, clothier, banker. Born at Pawlet, Rutland Co., Vermont. Baptized into LDS church and moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, by 1836. Clerk and recorder for Kirtland high council, beginning Jan. 1836. Married...
View Full BioAlthough Robinson’s journal keeping for JS lapsed for most of June and July, he did note
significant developments in three early July entries consisting primarily of copied correspondence and
revelations. He wrote an entry for 4 July, when Sidney Rigdon’s oration at the Mormons’ celebration of
Independence Day at Far West signaled their intentions to expand beyond the confines of Caldwell County and
warned that they would not countenance persecution.24
The entry for 6 July is a copy of a letter received that
day from Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde, en route to Far West after completion of their mission to the
British Isles. It is followed by Robinson’s transcription of a letter from JS’s brother Don Carlos Smith
reporting the circumstances of members of the extended Smith family moving together from Kirtland to Far
West. At least six of the eight revelations recorded at that point in the journal were read to a church
congregation at Far West on 8 July. Three dated 12 January 1838, the day that JS left Kirtland for Far West,
focused on the church presidency, reinforcing their authority, establishing stringent requirements for any
attempts to discipline them, and directing them to leave Kirtland and move to Missouri as soon as possible.
Five more revelations, all dated 8 July, provided directions for the reorganization of the Quorum of Twelve
and a proselytizing mission that they were to undertake in Europe, called for tithing to be instituted in
the church, and gave instructions for several church leaders and former leaders. Between the January
revelations and the July revelations, Robinson recorded a brief synopsis, from a millenarian perspective, of
contemporary developments affecting the church in Missouri, including consequences of the expulsion of
dissidents in June and the influx of numerous Latter-day Saint settlers to northwestern Missouri.
14 May 1814–10 Feb. 1878. Clerk, postmaster, merchant, clothier, banker. Born at Pawlet, Rutland Co., Vermont. Baptized into LDS church and moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, by 1836. Clerk and recorder for Kirtland high council, beginning Jan. 1836. Married...
View Full Bio19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...
View Full BioOriginally called Shoal Creek. Located fifty-five miles northeast of Independence. Surveyed 1823; first settled by whites, 1831. Site purchased, 8 Aug. 1836, before Caldwell Co. was organized for Latter-day Saints in Missouri. William W. Phelps and John Whitmer...
More InfoLocated in northwest Missouri. Settled by whites, by 1831. Described as being “one-third timber and two-thirds prairie” in 1836. Created specifically for Latter-day Saints by Missouri state legislature, 29 Dec. 1836, in attempt to solve “Mormon problem.” ...
More InfoOration Delivered by Mr. S. Rigdon, 12.
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Oration Delivered by Mr. S. Rigdon, on the 4th of July, 1838. Far West, MO: Journal Office, 1838. Also available in Peter Crawley, “Two Rare Missouri Documents,” BYU Studies 14 (Summer 1974): 502–527.
14 June 1801–22 June 1868. Blacksmith, potter. Born at Sheldon, Franklin Co., Vermont. Son of Solomon Farnham Kimball and Anna Spaulding. Married Vilate Murray, 22 Nov. 1822, at Mendon, Monroe Co., New York. Member of Baptist church at Mendon, 1831. Baptized...
View Full Bio8 Jan. 1805–28 Nov. 1878. Laborer, clerk, storekeeper, teacher, editor, businessman, lawyer, judge. Born at Oxford, New Haven Co., Connecticut. Son of Nathan Hyde and Sally Thorpe. Moved to Derby, New Haven Co., 1812. Moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, ...
View Full Bio25 Mar. 1816–7 Aug. 1841. Farmer, printer, editor. Born at Norwich, Windsor Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Palmyra, Ontario Co., New York, 1816–Jan. 1817. Moved to Manchester, Ontario Co., 1825. Baptized into LDS church by David...
View Full BioLocated ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and 1,000 others; in 1838 about 2,000 Saints and 1,200 others; in 1839 about 100 Saints and 1,500 others. Mormon missionaries visited township...
More InfoArea acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...
More InfoRobinson did not resume regular journal entries until 26 July. From that point, his journal
keeping was relatively consistent through 10 September, when the journal ends. These entries show that
expansion beyond Caldwell County—an integral part of Mormon plans—came at a price. Mormon immigrants from
Canada were assigned to settle in Daviess County during summer 1838, and on 6 July, “Kirtland Camp,” the
largest single group of Saints to leave Kirtland for Missouri, began their laborious trek.25
Their arrival made it evident to the Mormons’ neighbors in
Daviess County that within a few months the Mormons would outnumber other citizens. Meanwhile, in late July,
Carroll County residents pressed the Saints to leave De Witt. Further growth of Mormon numbers and influence
was unthinkable for many residents of northwestern Missouri.
14 May 1814–10 Feb. 1878. Clerk, postmaster, merchant, clothier, banker. Born at Pawlet, Rutland Co., Vermont. Baptized into LDS church and moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, by 1836. Clerk and recorder for Kirtland high council, beginning Jan. 1836. Married...
View Full BioLocated in northwest Missouri. Settled by whites, by 1831. Described as being “one-third timber and two-thirds prairie” in 1836. Created specifically for Latter-day Saints by Missouri state legislature, 29 Dec. 1836, in attempt to solve “Mormon problem.” ...
More InfoIn late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Canada referred to British colonies of Upper Canada and Lower Canada. Divided into Upper Canada and Lower Canada, 1791; reunited 10 Feb. 1841. Boundaries corresponded roughly to present-day Ontario (Upper...
More InfoArea in northwest Missouri settled by European Americans, 1830. Sparsely inhabited until 1838. Created from Ray Co., Dec. 1836, in attempt to resolve conflicts related to Mormon settlement in that region. County is transected diagonally from northwest to ...
More InfoLocated ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and 1,000 others; in 1838 about 2,000 Saints and 1,200 others; in 1839 about 100 Saints and 1,500 others. Mormon missionaries visited township...
More InfoArea acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...
More InfoTyler, “Daily Journal,” 6 July 1838.
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Tyler, Samuel D. “A Daily Journal of the Travelling of the Camp of Latter Day Saints Which Went Out from Kirtland for Zion, July 6th, 1838.” CHL.
Located on bluffs north of Missouri River, about six miles above mouth of Grand River. Permanently settled, by 1826. Laid out, 1836. First called Elderport; name changed to De Witt, 1837, when town acquired by speculators David Thomas and Henry Root, who ...
More InfoOn election day, 6 August, William Peniston, a candidate for the state legislature, mounted a
whiskey barrel at the village square at Gallatin, Daviess County, to persuade a crowd of men to prevent the
Latter-day Saints from voting. A brawl ensued, and at Far West, JS heard from an otherwise credible
non-Mormon source that the corpses of Latter-day Saint casualties were being withheld from church members in
Daviess County, a report later proved false.26
JS accompanied a body of armed men to Daviess County to recover the bodies for
burial but learned at Adam-ondi-Ahman that, despite multiple injuries, there were no fatalities on either
side. There they also heard a rumor that local justice of the peace Adam Black was raising a mob to avenge
blows the Mormons had landed in the Gallatin fracas. JS and his associates, now including prominent
Adam-ondi-Ahman resident Lyman Wight, visited the home of Black, who a year earlier had warned Latter-day
Saints to leave the county. The Mormons found no mob but obtained a signed commitment from Black that the
rights of Latter-day Saints would be protected. The following day, a delegation of prominent Daviess County
citizens met with JS, Wight, and other Latter-day Saints at Adam-ondi-Ahman, where both sides exchanged
pledges to avoid injuring the other and to settle any disputes through legal channels.27
Ca. 1811–10 Nov. 1850. Sheriff, military colonel, clerk, hotelier. Born at Jessamine Co., Kentucky. Son of Robert Peniston and Nancy Nuttle. Moved to Ray Co., Missouri, ca. 1831. A founder of Millport, in what became Daviess Co., Missouri, where family built...
View Full BioFounded and laid out, 1837. Unofficial county seat, beginning 1837. Officially named county seat, 1841. Several Latter-day Saints attempted to vote at Gallatin, 6 Aug. 1838, but were attacked by local residents. After Mormon-Missouri conflict erupted, Saints...
More InfoOriginally called Shoal Creek. Located fifty-five miles northeast of Independence. Surveyed 1823; first settled by whites, 1831. Site purchased, 8 Aug. 1836, before Caldwell Co. was organized for Latter-day Saints in Missouri. William W. Phelps and John Whitmer...
More InfoArea in northwest Missouri settled by European Americans, 1830. Sparsely inhabited until 1838. Created from Ray Co., Dec. 1836, in attempt to resolve conflicts related to Mormon settlement in that region. County is transected diagonally from northwest to ...
More InfoHartley, My Best for the Kingdom,
chap. 6.
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Hartley, William G. My Best for the Kingdom: History and Autobiography of John Lowe Butler, a Mormon Frontiersman. Salt Lake City: Aspen Books, 1993.
Town located in northwest Missouri. JS revelations designated area as place where Adam blessed his posterity after leaving Garden of Eden and where Adam will return prior to Second Coming. While seeking new areas in Daviess Co. for settlement, JS and others...
More Info11 Sept. 1801–14 July 1890. Farmer, sheriff, justice of the peace, judge. Born at Henderson Co., Kentucky. Son of William Black and Jane Wilson. Moved near Booneville, Copper Co., Missouri Territory, and then to Ray Co., Missouri Territory, 1819. Elected ...
View Full Bio9 May 1796–31 Mar. 1858. Farmer. Born at Fairfield, Herkimer Co., New York. Son of Levi Wight Jr. and Sarah Corbin. Served in War of 1812. Married Harriet Benton, 5 Jan. 1823, at Henrietta, Monroe Co., New York. Moved to Warrensville, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, ...
View Full BioBaugh, “Call to Arms,” 103–111.
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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).
In violation of these commitments, Black and Peniston used an embellished account of the
encounter at Black’s home to mobilize both legal and vigilante action against the Mormons. Peniston traveled
with others to Richmond, Ray County, to recruit volunteers to help protect the old settlers of Daviess
County. While there, Peniston showed local citizens an affidavit from Black claiming that the Mormon party
that visited his house had threatened him with immediate death if he refused to sign their agreement.28
Peniston filed a complaint
with Austin A. King, judge of the Fifth Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri. King’s jurisdiction included
both Caldwell and Daviess counties, as well as Ray, Clay, Carroll, Clinton, and Livingston counties. King
issued a warrant for the arrest of JS and Lyman Wight.29
Then Black, Peniston, and
their allies fanned out to recruit volunteers from additional counties. After Black’s visit to Livingston
County, Missouri newspapers spread claims that Mormons had threatened additional Daviess County settlers,
destroyed crops, and perhaps even murdered Peniston and other prominent residents.30
Some counties, such as Ray and Chariton, responded by
sending investigative committees.31
When JS and Wight were
not arrested as anticipated, Peniston and other members of a Daviess County “Committee of Vigilance” again
agitated throughout northwestern Missouri for volunteers to gather to Daviess County—this time to drive the
Latter-day Saints out of the county.32
11 Sept. 1801–14 July 1890. Farmer, sheriff, justice of the peace, judge. Born at Henderson Co., Kentucky. Son of William Black and Jane Wilson. Moved near Booneville, Copper Co., Missouri Territory, and then to Ray Co., Missouri Territory, 1819. Elected ...
View Full BioCa. 1811–10 Nov. 1850. Sheriff, military colonel, clerk, hotelier. Born at Jessamine Co., Kentucky. Son of Robert Peniston and Nancy Nuttle. Moved to Ray Co., Missouri, ca. 1831. A founder of Millport, in what became Daviess Co., Missouri, where family built...
View Full BioArea settled, ca. 1814. Officially platted as Ray Co. seat, 1827. Population in 1840 about 500. Seat of Fifth Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri; also location of courthouse and jails. JS and about sixty other Mormon men were incarcerated here while awaiting...
More InfoArea in northwest Missouri settled by European Americans, 1830. Sparsely inhabited until 1838. Created from Ray Co., Dec. 1836, in attempt to resolve conflicts related to Mormon settlement in that region. County is transected diagonally from northwest to ...
More Info“Public Meeting,” Missouri Republican, 8 Sept. 1838, [1], “for the country” edition.
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Missouri Republican. St. Louis. 1822–1919.
21 Sept. 1802–22 Apr. 1870. Attorney, judge, politician, farmer. Born at Sullivan Co., Tennessee. Son of Walter King and Nancy Sevier. Married first Nancy Harris Roberts, 13 May 1828, at Jackson, Madison Co., Tennessee. In 1830, moved to Missouri, where he...
View Full BioArea acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...
More InfoLocated in northwest Missouri. Settled by whites, by 1831. Described as being “one-third timber and two-thirds prairie” in 1836. Created specifically for Latter-day Saints by Missouri state legislature, 29 Dec. 1836, in attempt to solve “Mormon problem.” ...
More InfoLocated in northwestern Missouri. Area settled, 1815. Created from Howard Co., 1820. Initially included all state land north of Missouri River and west of Grand River. Population in 1830 about 2,700; in 1836 about 6,600; and in 1840 about 6,600. Latter-day...
More InfoSettled ca. 1800. Organized from Ray Co., 1822. Original size diminished when land was taken to create several surrounding counties. Liberty designated county seat, 1822. Population in 1830 about 5,000; in 1836 about 8,500; and in 1840 about 8,300. Refuge...
More InfoOrganized 1837. Population in 1840 about 4,300. Hawn’s Mill Massacre planned by mob in eastern part of county.
More Info9 May 1796–31 Mar. 1858. Farmer. Born at Fairfield, Herkimer Co., New York. Son of Levi Wight Jr. and Sarah Corbin. Served in War of 1812. Married Harriet Benton, 5 Jan. 1823, at Henrietta, Monroe Co., New York. Moved to Warrensville, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, ...
View Full BioWilliam Peniston, Affidavit, Ray Co., MO, 10 Aug. 1838, private possession, copy in CHL; State of Missouri, Warrant for JS and Lyman Wight, Ray Co., MO, 10 Aug. 1838, private possession, copy in CHL.
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Peniston, William. Affidavit, Ray Co., MO, 10 Aug. 1838. Private possession. Copy in CHL.
Missouri, State of. Warrant for Joseph Smith and Lyman Wight, Ray Co., MO, 10 Aug. 1838. Private possession. Copy in CHL.
See, for example, “The Mormons,” Missouri Argus, 6 Sept. 1838, [1].
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Missouri Argus. St. Louis. 1835–1841.
Established 16 Nov. 1820. Village of Chariton named county seat, 1820. Keytesville named county seat, 1833. Population in 1830 about 1,800. Population in 1836 about 3,500. In Aug. 1831, while en route from Independence to Kirtland, JS met ten other elders...
More InfoJS, Journal, 11 Aug. 1838; “The Mormon Difficulties,” Niles’ National Register, 13 Oct. 1838, 103.
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Niles’ National Register. Washington DC. 1837–1849.
“Mormons Once More,” Hannibal Commercial Advertiser, 25 Sept. 1838, [1].
Comprehensive Works Cited
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Holbrook, Joseph. Autobiography, ca. 1860. Typescript. CHL. Hannibal Commercial Advertiser. Hannibal, MO. 1837–1839.
Black’s assertion that JS and other Latter-day Saints had threatened his life, coupled with a
new claim that JS and Wight were resisting arrest, confirmed Missourians’ fears that the Latter-day Saints
considered themselves above the law. Many Missourians concluded that they should take the law into their own
hands.33
The vigilantes called for men from other counties to come armed to Daviess County on 7
September in preparation for an 8 September offensive against the Mormons.
11 Sept. 1801–14 July 1890. Farmer, sheriff, justice of the peace, judge. Born at Henderson Co., Kentucky. Son of William Black and Jane Wilson. Moved near Booneville, Copper Co., Missouri Territory, and then to Ray Co., Missouri Territory, 1819. Elected ...
View Full Bio9 May 1796–31 Mar. 1858. Farmer. Born at Fairfield, Herkimer Co., New York. Son of Levi Wight Jr. and Sarah Corbin. Served in War of 1812. Married Harriet Benton, 5 Jan. 1823, at Henrietta, Monroe Co., New York. Moved to Warrensville, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, ...
View Full BioLeSueur, 1838 Mormon War in Missouri, 70.
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LeSueur, Stephen C. The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1987.
Area in northwest Missouri settled by European Americans, 1830. Sparsely inhabited until 1838. Created from Ray Co., Dec. 1836, in attempt to resolve conflicts related to Mormon settlement in that region. County is transected diagonally from northwest to ...
More InfoIn hopes of heading off confrontation and to counter the notion that they would not be
subject to the law, JS and Wight submitted to arrest and attended a preliminary hearing on a charge of riot.
On 7 September 1838, when JS appeared at the hearing, he was greeted by the anti-Mormons who had gathered in
Daviess County. Judge King heard testimony and bound JS and Wight over for trial, but the anti-Mormon
vigilantes were not pacified.34
The assault originally scheduled to begin on 8 September was merely postponed for two
days while the vigilantes arranged with sympathizers in Ray County to deliver a stockpile of rifles on 9
September. As the present journal was coming to a close, Mormon companies of Caldwell County militia headed
for Daviess County to protect the Latter-day Saints residing there. Another Mormon militia unit intercepted
the shipment of weapons from Ray County, foiling plans for the offensive. After the vigilantes’ plan was
thwarted, they confined their efforts for a time to terrorizing outlying Mormon homes; in response,
Latter-day Saint militia from Far West entered Daviess County. In mid-September, state militia intervened.
Mormon and non-Mormon groups from outside Daviess County were sent home, and crisis, for the moment, was
averted.35
9 May 1796–31 Mar. 1858. Farmer. Born at Fairfield, Herkimer Co., New York. Son of Levi Wight Jr. and Sarah Corbin. Served in War of 1812. Married Harriet Benton, 5 Jan. 1823, at Henrietta, Monroe Co., New York. Moved to Warrensville, Cuyahoga Co., Ohio, ...
View Full BioArea in northwest Missouri settled by European Americans, 1830. Sparsely inhabited until 1838. Created from Ray Co., Dec. 1836, in attempt to resolve conflicts related to Mormon settlement in that region. County is transected diagonally from northwest to ...
More Info21 Sept. 1802–22 Apr. 1870. Attorney, judge, politician, farmer. Born at Sullivan Co., Tennessee. Son of Walter King and Nancy Sevier. Married first Nancy Harris Roberts, 13 May 1828, at Jackson, Madison Co., Tennessee. In 1830, moved to Missouri, where he...
View Full BioLeSueur, 1838 Mormon War in Missouri,
77–83.
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LeSueur, Stephen C. The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1987.
Located in northwestern Missouri. Area settled, 1815. Created from Howard Co., 1820. Initially included all state land north of Missouri River and west of Grand River. Population in 1830 about 2,700; in 1836 about 6,600; and in 1840 about 6,600. Latter-day...
More InfoLocated in northwest Missouri. Settled by whites, by 1831. Described as being “one-third timber and two-thirds prairie” in 1836. Created specifically for Latter-day Saints by Missouri state legislature, 29 Dec. 1836, in attempt to solve “Mormon problem.” ...
More InfoOriginally called Shoal Creek. Located fifty-five miles northeast of Independence. Surveyed 1823; first settled by whites, 1831. Site purchased, 8 Aug. 1836, before Caldwell Co. was organized for Latter-day Saints in Missouri. William W. Phelps and John Whitmer...
More InfoDavid R. Atchison, Grand River, MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, Jefferson City, MO, 17 Sept. 1838, Mormon War Papers, MSA; LeSueur, 1838 Mormon War in Missouri, 87–89, 96–97.
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Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.
LeSueur, Stephen C. The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1987.
JS, “The Scriptory Book—of Joseph Smith Jr.—President of The Church of
Jesus Christ, of Latterday Saints In all the World,” Journal,
Mar.–Sept. 1838; handwriting of George W. Robinson and James Mulholland; sixty-nine pages; in “General,”
Record Book, 1838, verso of Patriarchal Blessings, vol. 5, CHL. Includes redactions and archival
marking.
14 May 1814–10 Feb. 1878. Clerk, postmaster, merchant, clothier, banker. Born at Pawlet, Rutland Co., Vermont. Baptized into LDS church and moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, by 1836. Clerk and recorder for Kirtland high council, beginning Jan. 1836. Married...
View Full Bio1804–3 Nov. 1839. Born in Ireland. Baptized into LDS church. Married Sarah Scott, 8 Feb. 1838, at Far West, Caldwell Co., Missouri. Engaged in clerical work for JS, 1838, at Far West. Ordained a seventy, 28 Dec. 1838. After expulsion from Missouri, lived ...
View Full BioJS’s “Scriptory Book” is recorded on pages 15 to 83 of a large record book
entitled “General” that also includes a list of church members in Caldwell County, Missouri
(pages 2–14), a copy of JS’s 16 December 1838 letter from the jail in Liberty, Missouri (pages
101–108), and an aborted record partially entitled “Recor” in unidentified handwriting (page
110). The book, which measures 13 x 8¼ x 1¾ inches (33 x 21 x 4 cm), has 182 leaves of ledger
paper sized 12½ x 7¾ inches (32 x 20 cm) with thirty-seven lines in blue ink per page. There are
eighteen gatherings of various sizes, each of about a dozen leaves. The text block is sewn all
along over three vellum tapes. The heavy pink endpapers each consist of a pastedown and two
flyleaves pasted together. The text block edges are stained green. The volume has a hardbound
ledger-style binding with a hollow-back spine and glued-on blue-striped cloth headbands. It is
bound in brown split-calfskin leather with blind-tooled decoration around the outside border and
along the turned-in edges of the leather on the inside covers. At some point the letter “G” was
hand printed in ink on the front cover. The original leather cover over the spine—which appears
to have been intentionally removed—may have borne a title or filing notation.
Located in northwest Missouri. Settled by whites, by 1831. Described as being “one-third timber and two-thirds prairie” in 1836. Created specifically for Latter-day Saints by Missouri state legislature, 29 Dec. 1836, in attempt to solve “Mormon problem.” ...
More InfoLocated in western Missouri, thirteen miles north of Independence. Settled 1820. Clay Co. seat, 1822. Incorporated as town, May 1829. Following expulsion from Jackson Co., 1833, many Latter-day Saints found refuge in Clay Co., with church leaders and other...
More InfoThe journal is inscribed in black ink that later turned brown and is almost
entirely in the handwriting of George W. Robinson. James Mulholland’s handwriting appears in a
copy of the 23 July 1837 revelation for Thomas B. Marsh (D&C 112) on pages 72–74.
Running heads added by Robinson throughout the journal indicate the months of the entries on the
page. The volume was later used in Nauvoo, Illinois, as a source for JS’s multivolume manuscript
history of the church. During the preparation of the history, redactions and use marks were made
in graphite pencil. Redactions in graphite and ink may have been made at other times as well. In
1845, the book was turned over so that the back cover became the front and the last page became
the first. This side of the book was used to record patriarchal blessings. The original spine
may have been removed at this time. The spine is now labeled with a number “5”, designating its
volume number in a series of books of patriarchal blessings.
14 May 1814–10 Feb. 1878. Clerk, postmaster, merchant, clothier, banker. Born at Pawlet, Rutland Co., Vermont. Baptized into LDS church and moved to Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, by 1836. Clerk and recorder for Kirtland high council, beginning Jan. 1836. Married...
View Full Bio1804–3 Nov. 1839. Born in Ireland. Baptized into LDS church. Married Sarah Scott, 8 Feb. 1838, at Far West, Caldwell Co., Missouri. Engaged in clerical work for JS, 1838, at Far West. Ordained a seventy, 28 Dec. 1838. After expulsion from Missouri, lived ...
View Full Bio1 Nov. 1800–Jan. 1866. Farmer, hotel worker, waiter, horse groom, grocer, type foundry worker, teacher. Born at Acton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of James Marsh and Molly Law. Married first Elizabeth Godkin, 1 Nov. 1820, at New York City. Moved to ...
View Full BioPrincipal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, LDS church purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas. Served as church headquarters, 1839...
More InfoThe volume is listed in Nauvoo and early Utah inventories of church records,
indicating continuous custody.1
At some point, the leaf containing pages 54 and 55 was torn from the journal.
This removed leaf—which is transcribed herein and contains, among other writings, the earliest
extant text of an 8 July 1838 revelation for the Quorum of the Twelve (D&C 118)—was for
a time kept in Revelation Book 2.2
It is now part of the Revelations Collection at the Church History
Library.
Historian’s Office, “Schedule of Church Records”; “Historian’s Office Catalogue,” [2];
Historian’s Office, “Index of Records and Journals,” [12], Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL; JS, Journal, Mar.–Sept. 1838, microfilm, JS Collection, CHL.
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Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL.
Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL.
Best, “Register of the Revelations Collection,” 19.
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Best, Christy. “Register of the Revelations Collection in the Church Archives, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” July 1983. CHL.
