Home >
Documents, Volume 13, Part 2 Introduction: September 1843

Part 2: September 1843

In September 1843, JS attended to civic and ecclesiastical responsibilities. He participated in and dealt with various courts and legal matters. At the beginning of the month, he and his wife served as witnesses in the trial of , who had been charged with adultery, breach of covenant, lying, and slander. Near the end of the month, JS answered a complaint regarding payments for land in Nauvoo, Illinois. As lieutenant general of the , he participated in a legion drill, inspection, and parade.

In addition to performing these duties, JS interacted with and ministered to his own family as well as other members of the . On 4 September, JS, , and their children observed feats of horsemanship and strength at the traveling Mabie and Howes Circus, which had stopped in for two nights. Emma fell ill a few days later, and JS remained at home to care for her. JS also continued to guide church members throughout the month. In early September, he counseled with other Latter-day Saint leaders and gave instruction on undisclosed “future things.” After listening to a sermon preached by a visiting Unitarian minister in mid-September, JS delivered a discourse to assembled church members on persecution as well as the use and abuse of medicine. JS and the Latter-day Saints had experienced harassment and physical expulsion a number of times over the previous decade, and he thus refuted the notion that “persecution causes a good work to prosper.”

The documentary record for September indicates that JS was especially concerned with protecting church members from external threats. He remained worried that Missourians were plotting to have him or other Latter-day Saints extradited from to to stand trial for alleged crimes committed during the 1838 conflict between church members and their opponents in that state. JS’s correspondence with Illinois governor about this lingering fear continued in September with a letter from Ford to JS expressing doubts that Missourians would attack but declaring that he would “prevent the invasion of this State.”

The growing hostility toward the Latter-day Saints in only added to JS’s concerns. In mid-August 1843, a group of Hancock County citizens organized a “Great Meeting of Anti-Mormons” in , and a committee appointed by the conference later drafted resolutions condemning and threatening the Saints. In early September, the Anti-Mormon Convention reconvened and adopted the measures. The convention’s resolutions were of the “strongest kind” and specifically charged JS with “a most shameless disregard for all the forms and restraints of Law.” Newspaper reports indicated that the disgruntled Hancock County residents declared that “if would not surrender Joe Smith on the requisition of the of —which he had refused to do from political considerations—that they would call in aid from other counties and other States to assist them in delivering him up.” The Anti-Mormon Convention participants further stated that they believed their lives were threatened by the Latter-day Saints and resolved to “avenge any blood that might be shed” by inflicting violence upon them.

The resolutions of this group, which the Latter-day Saints characterized as the “ Mob,” arrived in on 15 September—the same day that JS raised the sign for the , the commodious new hotel where he and his family had moved at the end of August. Citing the Carthage resolutions, JS wrote again to , reiterating his concern that residents might conspire with Missourians to capture him. The resolutions also startled land creditor , whom JS owed money for most of the Nauvoo property where the Saints lived. Hotchkiss read the resolutions in a newspaper in and asked JS for more information. Amid this rising tension, JS’s concern for his safety and the protection of his people continued to grow.

Part 2 features eleven documents created in September 1843, including letters, a discourse, and a legal document.

1
JS, Journal, 4–6, 18, and 26 Sept. 1843.
2
JS, Journal, 1 Sept. 1843. Adams was ultimately “discharged without reprooff or censure.”
3
Answer, between 29 Sept. and 4 Oct. 1843. Other documents in part 2 relating to land issues are Letter from John Mills, 1 Sept. 1843; and Letter from Chauncey Robison, 20 Sept. 1843.
4
JS, Journal, 8 and 15–16 Sept. 1843. For other Nauvoo Legion business in which JS was involved in September, see Military Exemption from Robert D. Foster for John Murdock, 7 Sept. 1843.
5
JS, Journal, 4 Sept. 1843; “Circus Performance,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 23 Aug. 1843, [3].
Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.
6
JS, Journal, 8–9 and 11 Sept. 1843; Clayton, Journal, 8 Sept. 1843; Letter from William Smith, 28 Oct. 1843.
Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.
7
JS, Journal, 3 Sept. 1843.
8
Discourse, 17 Sept. 1843.
9
See “Joseph Smith Documents from August through December 1843.”
10
Letter from Thomas Ford, 13 Sept. 1843.
11
JS, Journal, 19 Aug. 1843; “Great Meeting of Anti-Mormons!,” Warsaw (IL) Message, 13 Sept. 1843, [1]–[2]; “Joe Smith in Danger,” New York Herald (New York City), 27 Sept. 1843, [2].
Warsaw Message. Warsaw, IL. 1843–1844.
New York Herald. New York City. 1835–1924.
12
“The Mormons,” New York Herald (New York City), 23 Sept. 1843, [1]; “Great Meeting of Anti-Mormons!,” Warsaw (IL) Message, 13 Sept. 1843, [1]–[2].
New York Herald. New York City. 1835–1924.
Warsaw Message. Warsaw, IL. 1843–1844.
13
“The Mormons,” New York Herald (New York City), 23 Sept. 1843, [1]; “Great Meeting of Anti-Mormons!,” Warsaw (IL) Message, 13 Sept. 1843, [1]–[2]; see also “Joe Smith in Danger,” New York Herald, 27 Sept. 1843, [2].
New York Herald. New York City. 1835–1924.
Warsaw Message. Warsaw, IL. 1843–1844.
14
JS, Journal, 15 Sept. 1843.
15
Letter to Thomas Ford, ca. 20 Sept. 1843.
16
Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 27 Sept. 1843.

Part 2: September 1843

Request for Documents