[], An Appeal to the American People: Being an Account of the Persecutions of the Church of Latter Day Saints; and of the Barbarities Inflicted on Them by the Inhabitants of the State of Missouri, second edition; i-vi, 7–60 pp.; Cincinnati, OH: Shepard and Stearns, 1840. The copy used herein is held at CHL.
A manuscript draft of this pamphlet, simply titled “To the Publick” was presented to a conference of church members at , Illinois, on 1 November 1839. The conference voted to approve the manuscript and authorized its publication on behalf of the church. The pamphlet, when published, carried the endorsement of JS, , and as “Presidents of said Church.”
and collaborated on the publication of the text, which was available in print by May 1840. Though no author is named on the title page, was acknowledged as author in an 1840 Times and Seasons newspaper article, and when the pamphlet was advertised in that church periodical in 1841. JS and held some expectation that funds from the sale of An Appeal would eventually help defray costs of their late-1839 trip to .
By July 1840, and had been authorized to produce a second, revised edition to be published by Shepard & Stearns in . Page related some of the circumstances surrounding its publication and circulation in a letter sent to JS, “. . . at [Ohio] we parted for a few days . . . Elder Hyde went to Cincinnati where in my absince he published a second Edition of the ‘Apeal to the American people’ (2000 copies)[.] when I arrived the work was about completed[.] after disposing of as many of them as posible and suplying the market about cincinnati and the adjacient country he left me with some fourteen or fifteen hundred on hand, to dispose of” (John E. Page, Philadelphia, PA, to JS et al., Nauvoo, IL, 1 Sept. 1841, JS Collection, CHL). Funds from this printing were to be for the express purpose of subsidizing Hyde and Page’s imminent mission to in Palestine.
The second edition was essentially a lightly edited reprint of the first, with a four-page “Publisher’s Preface” added. In the preface, and noted the purpose of the publication, explained the severe hardships imposed by the persecutions upon Page’s own family, provided a detailed account of a vision experienced by Hyde, and expressed enthusiasm about the prospects of the mission. The preface also contained a copy of an official letter of appointment and commendation for Hyde and Page from an April 1840 church conference at , Illinois, signed by JS, and a letter of reference from , governor of .
Although many of the events reported in both editions of ’s pamphlet can be corroborated from other sources, his chronology of events is often inaccurate. However, Rigdon’s account does contain the texts of several significant documents. Among these are JS’s September 1838 affidavit concerning the 7 August 1838 visit to and those of and regarding the massacre. Consequently, though in many respects Rigdon’s document from a historical perspective is more advocacy than history, it offers access to some important material not readily found elsewhere.
pany with a , of , we were taked [taken] prisoners by a company of armed men, numbering from 15 to 25, varying at times. They had with them a cannon which they said they were going to take to , and were going to commence a war of extermination with the Mormons, and in case the inhabitants of interfered they should share the same fate.
The name of the captain of the company was W. B. Henderson, who said he had once been called out to go to , and had acted as a lieutenant in the militia, but he was now going on a different hook, because he was free from military law. The witness was detained by said company four days, during which time he heard many threats against the Mormons. They said they intended to exterminate the Mormons and take their improvements and wives to themselves. Some of the company were for having the prisoners executed, as an offset against some of their men, whom they supposed had been taken prisoners by the Mormons; but on hearing they had not been taken, our lives were spared. They said they were going to be assisted by men from , , , Carroll, and other counties, also from the Platt county. There were some in the company from Linn county. The witness, in company with , who was a prisoner also, was taken to a Mr. White’s in , (the place where the cannon was said to be found by the Mormons,) and discharged. This was before the burning in . About the time of our arrival at , a report came into the place stating that a mob was about collecting at Bunkham [Buncombe] for the purpose of burning if they had sufficient strength; and if not, to commence depredations on the outskirts of the Mormon settlements by driving them off and burning their houses. It was therefore thought best to send out a spy company to that vicinity to watch the movements of the mobs if there should be any, and report to . Accordingly, a company of ten men was raised of which I had the command. We were instructed to range the southern line of , and watch the movements of armed bodies of men, if any were there, and in case they should commit any depredations upon the citizens of , we were to report to immediately. We were to act entirely on the defensive, and not injure any people in person or property, except an attack should be made upon us in our own , or upon some of the families of some of our people. The deponent further saith that he has been personally acquainted with Joseph Smith, Jr., , and , for a number of years, and their teachings concerning the laws of the land have uniformly been to have them observed in every particular, and further this deponent saith not.