Sidney Rigdon, JS, et al., Petition Draft (“To the Publick”), circa 1838–1839
Source Note
, JS, et al., Petition Draft (“To the Publick”), ca. Sept. 1838–ca. Oct. 1839; handwriting of , , , , and two unidentified scribes; 112 inscribed pages with eight inserted slips of paper; JS Collection, CHL.
Historical Introduction
While incarcerated at , Missouri, in March 1839, JS addressed a letter to the church “at Illinois and scattered abroad and to in particular,” instructing the Saints to gather up “a knoledge of all the facts and sufferings and abuses put upon them by the people of this state.” Edward Partridge responded with an account that became the three opening installments of “A History, of the Persecution, of the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter Day Saints in Missouri,” an eleven-part series published in the church’s newspaper, Times and Seasons, between December 1839 and October 1840. “A History, of the Persecution” receives comprehensive treatment in volume 2 of the Histories series of The Joseph Smith Papers and is available on this website.
may have intended to tell the entire story himself, but he fell ill shortly after publication of “A History, of the Persecution” began and died on 27 May 1840. Prompted by Partridge’s illness and subsequent death, the editors of the Times and Seasons, and , sought elsewhere for source materials to continue the series. It is probable that they composed the fourth installment to provide a brief transition from Partridge’s account, which ends in 1836, and the conflicts in and adjoining counties beginning in 1838. The fifth and seventh installments reprinted passages from ’s History of the Late Persecution Inflicted by the State of Missouri upon the Mormons (Detroit: Dawson and Bates, 1839). In May 1840, the sixth installment drew upon ’s eighty-four page pamphlet, An Appeal to the American People: Being an Account of the Persecutions of the Church of Latter Day Saints; and the Barbarities Inflicted on Them by the Inhabitants of the State of Missouri (Cincinnati: Glezan and Shepard, 1840), a draft of which is presented here. Though no author is named on the title page of the pamphlet, Rigdon was acknowledged as responsible for that publication when it was advertised in the Times and Seasons in 1840 and 1841. Also, much of this draft is in Rigdon’s hand. More of Rigdon’s work was reprinted in the eighth through tenth installments published from July to September 1840. The series concluded with an eleventh installment in the October 1840 issue, featuring General ’s callous speech to the Saints after their surrender at , Missouri, in November 1838.
The manuscript version of ’s Appeal to the American People presented here is referred to as the “petition draft” titled “To the Publick”. On 1 November 1839, Rigdon’s recently completed petition draft, endorsed by JS, Rigdon, and , was read to a conference of Saints in , Illinois, who then voted to approve its publication in the name of the church. and then collaborated to arrange for publication of the text in late 1839 and early 1840.
Although many of the events reported in ’s draft and pamphlet can be corroborated from other sources, his chronology is often inaccurate. (Consult the annotation in Histories,Volume 2 for corrections to portions published as part of “A History, of the Persecutions.”) However, his account contains the text of several significant documents. Among these are JS’s 5 September 1838 affidavit concerning his 7 August 1838 visit to and those of and and regarding the massacre. Consequently, though in many respects Rigdon’s document is more advocacy than history, it offers access to some material not readily found elsewhere.
. This they refused to do, untill he gave the strongest assurences to and company, that if they would, they should be protected, and return home in peace, and none should disturb them. After these assurences were given, they gave up their arms. But now reader for the sequel.
Did these high minded, and honorable men, comply with their covenent? no indeed, but some thing very different. they seized on the guns and other arms as a prey <and kept them as plunder till this day,> and having the saints disarmed, they carried ther violence to all kind of shamefull lengths. Men, women, and children, were driven from ther houses in the night, barefooted and nearly naked. This was about the middle of November. The men were whipped and abused beyond all discription. A man by the name of Benjamin Putnam was whipped to death, his body was taken up a day or two afterwards and buried. Others were whipped, untill they had to tie hankercheifs round them to kemp [keep?] their bowels from falling out. A man, by the name of , was knocked down in his house with a chair, and was beat on the head with a char and other parts of the body, untill the blood was run[n]ing from him on the floor. His wife fearing, lest they should kill him, ran and through [threw] herself on them him, begging for his life; but the brutal monsters, instead of regarding her tears and suplications, beat her, with the same weapon with which they were beating her . And they barely escaped with their lives.
The women fled in all directions into the prairies, or woods, and a greater part barefooted, and with but little clothing, being driven out in the night; many of them torn from their beds. In a short time, you could track them by the blood which ran from their feet. Wives were weeping and wailing not knowing but their husbands were dead murdered. Their children with their lacarated laserated and bleeding feet, were mourning and crying, as asking for food, but could get none. In this deplorable situation <condition>, they had to travel and [p. [3[b]]]