Almon Babbitt made similar claims at the 1 March 1845 council meeting. (Council of Fifty, “Record,” 1 Mar. 1845.)
It is unclear whether Rigdon’s Latter Day Saint’s Messenger and Advocate was sent to every governor and legislature in the United States as John Smith stated. However, Rigdon’s charges of polygamy and other accusations made in the paper were picked up by the national press and published across the country. (See, for example, “Sydney Rigdon,” Daily National Intelligencer [Washington DC], 14 Feb. 1845, [4]; “Mormonism—Shocking Disclosures,” Cleveland Herald, 19 Feb. 1845, [3]; and “Sydney Rigdon,” Greenville [SC] Mountaineer, 7 Mar. 1845, [3].)
Daily National Intelligencer. Washington DC. 1800–1869.
Cleveland Herald. Cleveland. 1843–1853.