By this time, church leaders and members had petitioned state and national leaders several times in an unsuccessful effort to receive compensation for property losses stemming from vigilante violence against church members in Missouri during 1833 and 1838–1839. (See, for example, “To His Excellency, Daniel Dunkin,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Dec. 1833, 114–115; Sidney Gilbert et al., Liberty, MO, to Andrew Jackson, Washington DC, 10 Apr. 1834, William W. Phelps, Collection of Missouri Documents, CHL; Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840; and Elias Higbee et al., Memorial to Congress, 10 Jan. 1842, photocopy, Material relating to Mormon Expulsion from Missouri, CHL.)

The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

Phelps, William W. Collection of Missouri Documents, 1833–1837. CHL. MS 657.

Material Relating to Mormon Expulsion from Missouri, 1839–1843. Photocopy. CHL. MS 2145.

In 1839, JS met with United States president Martin Van Buren to seek support for the church’s memorial to Congress asking for redress of losses incurred in the 1838 Missouri conflict. Van Buren reportedly responded, “What can I do? I can do nothing for you,— if I do any thing, I shall come in contact with the whole State of Missouri.” (Letter to Hyrum Smith and Nauvoo High Council, 5 Dec. 1839; see also McBride, “When Joseph Smith Met Martin Van Buren,” 150–158.)

McBride, Spencer W. Pulpit and Nation: Clergymen and the Politics of Revolutionary America. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2017.

On 11 March 1843, JS reported having a dream in which a man came to him, stating that a “mob force” was going to attack him and requesting JS’s protection. JS asked for documentation that the mob was the aggressor and promised to “raise a force sufficent for his protection.” (JS, Journal, 11 Mar. and 2 Apr. 1843.)