, Letter, , to JS, [, Hancock Co., IL?], 22 Feb. 1840. Featured version copied [between Apr. and June 1840] in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 111–115; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 2.
Historical Introduction
On 22 February 1840, wrote a letter to JS from , the fourth in a series of seven extant letters written to inform JS of the proceedings of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, which was considering the ’s memorial. In this letter, Higbee continued to recount the testimonies given to the committee by Senator and Representative of (both of whom had also testified on 21 February), as well as that of a Mr. Corwin, whom Higbee described in this letter as a former newspaper editor from . Higbee responded to Linn’s and Jameson’s respective testimonies—which depicted church members and JS negatively—and suggested that the church prepare several men to travel to Washington as witnesses if the committee decided that the church’s memorial should be considered in an additional investigation.
presumably sent this letter by post to , Illinois, and JS presumably received it after he returned to Commerce by 29 February 1840. The original letter is not extant. copied the version featured here into JS Letterbook 2 sometime between April and June 1840.
then went on to relate what it contained, and that it was written by . I flatly denied it flatly saying that no such ever existed, nor was thought of among the Mormons; And I could bring all the Mormons, both men, women & children; besides myself that would swear before all the world, no such thing ever existed among the mormons. He then related some things which he said had told him at the Legislature, in ; which were to the effect, that the Mormons had burnt a number of houses in , and that for himself, if he could not get to Heaven by being an honest man, he would never go there; then, I, speaking of some of the— dissenters told him, was anxious to get in the again; and that it was the fact in— regard to damages having been done, after we had been driven from & , relating the Scrape, and calling of the militia, and the mob’s marching to , and saying they would drive the Mormons from there to , then to hell; their burning our houses; that small parties on both sides were on the alert, and probably done some damages; though I was not personally knowing to as I was not there. I told him Joseph <Smith held no> no office in the country, neither was he a military man, and did not take gun in hand in the affair to my knowledge— I then stated that ’s affidavit, which contained some important facts was before them, which facts, I forgot to mention yesterday, importing that he () was convinced we would get no redress in , (he being a member of the Legislature ought to know) I saw the chairman of the committee not long since, who informed me the committee had not come to a final conclusion on this matter as yet. I saw on the walk, who said the first things the committee would do, was to decide whether they would take it up and consider it or not, and if they do [p. 113]
This sentence refers to the constitution of the Society of the Daughter of Zion (later called Danites), which was a group that sought to support the First Presidency, to defend the church against persecution, and to remove dissenting church members from the Saints’ communities. It is unclear who authored the Danite constitution or how aware church leaders were of the document’s existence. There is no indication that Rigdon authored the constitution. (Introduction to Part 2: 8 July–29 Oct. 1838; Constitution of the “Society of the Daughter of Zion,” in Sampson Avard, Testimony, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, pp. [10]–[12], in State of Missouri, “Evidence.”)
Higbee was a prominent member of the Danites, serving as captain general within the group. However, he joined the group’s leadership after its constitution was likely drafted and may not have been aware of the document’s existence. (Constitution of the “Society of the Daughter of Zion,” in Sampson Avard, Testimony, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, pp. [10]–[12], in State of Missouri, “Evidence”; Reed Peck, Quincy, IL, to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839, p. 48, Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.)
Peck, Reed. Letter, Quincy, IL, to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.
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).
Higbee’s precise whereabouts during the late-October 1838 conflict in Daviess County are unknown, but he was presumably in Caldwell County at the time. (See Baugh, “Call to Arms,” 226–227.)
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).
Even though Corrill had separated himself from the church by this date, he submitted an affidavit to Congress that urged the restoration of church members’ citizenship rights in Missouri and remuneration for their lost and damaged property there. (John Corrill, Petition, Quincy, IL, 9 Jan. 1840, Record Group 233, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, National Archives, Washington DC.)
Record Group 233, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives / Petitions and Memorials, Resolutions of State Legislatures, and Related Documents Which Were Referred to the Committee on Judiciary during the 27th Congress. Committee on the Judiciary, Petitions and Memorials, 1813–1968. Record Group 233, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1789–2015. National Archives, Washington DC. The LDS records cited herein are housed in National Archives boxes 40 and 41 of Library of Congress boxes 139–144 in HR27A-G10.1.
Corrill served one term in the Missouri House of Representatives, having been elected to represent Caldwell County in 1838. (Journal, of the House of Representatives, of the State of Missouri, 2; Historical Introduction to Corrill, Brief History.)
Journal, of the House of Representatives, of the State of Missouri, at the First Session of the Tenth General Assembly, Begun and Held at the City of Jefferson, on Monday, the Nineteenth Day of November, in the Year of Our Lord, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Eight. Jefferson City, MO: Calvin Gunn, 1839.
Senator Garret D. Wall. (Journal of the Senate of the United States, 26th Cong., 1st Sess., 16 Dec. 1839, 11.)
Journal of the Senate of the United States of America, Being the First Session of the Twenty-Sixth Congress, Begun and Held at the City of Washington, December 2, 1839, and in the Sixty-Fourth Year of the Independence of the Said United States. Washington DC: Blair and Rives, 1839.