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Letter from Elias Higbee, 20 February 1840–A

Source Note

, Letter, , to JS, [, Hancock Co., IL?], 20 Feb. 1840. Featured version copied [between Apr. and June 1840] in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 97–100; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 2.

Historical Introduction

While in on 20 February 1840, wrote two letters to JS. This first letter of the day commenced a series of seven extant letters written over the course of several weeks apprising JS of the actions of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, which was considering the ’s memorial to Congress. Higbee was the only member of the church’s delegation to the federal government present in Washington DC at this time and was the sole representative of the church before the committee. On 28 January, Senator of presented the church’s memorial to the Senate. The Senate then tabled the memorial until 12 February, when it was sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee for further consideration. In this letter, Higbee provided a detailed account of his testimony at a special meeting of the committee that he had requested, at which he explained that many of the difficulties in occurred because of church members’ religious beliefs. Based on Senate records, on Higbee’s account of the hearing, and on the report the committee created in response to the memorial, it appears that the committee was supposed to first determine whether the case fell under the jurisdiction of Congress before judging the memorial’s merits.
presumably sent this letter by post to , Illinois, where JS would have received it after he returned from on or before 29 February 1840. The concluding line of the letter suggests that Higbee expected JS to share the letter’s contents with the Saints in Commerce and . The original letter is not extant. copied the version featured here into JS Letterbook 2 sometime between April and June 1840.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS left the capital for Illinois shortly after the church’s memorial was presented to the Senate on 28 January 1840. Sidney Rigdon was ill in Philadelphia when Higbee wrote this letter and remained there until he left for New Jersey on 5 March 1840. (Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 14 Jan. 1840, 2; Letter from Elias Higbee, 9 Mar. 1840.)

  2. [2]

    Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840; Journal of the Senate of the United States, 26th Cong., 1st Sess., 28 Jan. and 12 Feb. 1840, 138, 173; Congressional Globe, 26th Cong., 1st Sess., p. 149 (1840).

    Journal of the Senate of the United States of America, Being the First Session of the Twenty-Sixth Congress, Begun and Held at the City of Washington, December 2, 1839, and in the Sixty-Fourth Year of the Independence of the Said United States. Washington DC: Blair and Rives, 1839.

    The Congressional Globe, Containing Sketches of the Debates and Proceedings of the Twenty-Sixth Congress. Vol. 8. Washington DC: Blair and Rives, 1840.

  3. [3]

    Letter from Elias Higbee, 22 Feb. 1840; Historical Introduction to Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840; Report of the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 4 Mar. 1840.

  4. [4]

    John Smith, Journal, 1836–1840, 29 Feb. 1840, [58].

    Smith, John (1781-1854). Journal, 1833–1841. John Smith, Papers, 1833-1854. CHL. MS 1326, box 1, fd. 1.

  5. [5]

    Coray, Autobiographical Sketch, 17, 19.

    Coray, Howard. Autobiographical Sketch, after 1883. Howard Coray, Papers, ca. 1840–1941. Photocopy. CHL. MS 2043, fd. 1.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter from Elias Higbee, 20 February 1840–A Letterbook 2 History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 99

this— making statements was one thing and proving them was another. then said he wished me to answer one thing. Viz. If the Legislature of did not refuse to investigate the subject of our difficulties, solely on account of the trials then pending— In reply I assured him that I knew they had refused us an investigation; but as to that being the cause I did not know— but told him, they might have done it, when those trials were discharged— He seemed to think it injustice for Congress to take it up before the Legislature had acted on it— I occupied all but a few minutes of the time when the Senate was to go into session, so they adjourned untill the morrow at 10 o’clock; when the Missourians are to reply. observed, that there was a gentleman, whom he would have before the Committee on the morrow; who lived in the upper part of , that knew everything relative to the affair— I presume he is to put in his gab. I suppose I must attend the committee as I am solicited by the chairman— but I would rather take a flogging; because I must sit still, and hear a volubility of lies concerning myself and Bretheren— Lies I say for they have nothing save Lies to a tell that will in the least degree justify their conduct in . said he has written to to get all the evidence taken before . So, that if the thing must come up he would be prepared to have a full investigation of the matter. And that the committee should have power to send for persons, papers &c &c. In my remarks I stated that an article of the constitution was violated in not granting compulsory process for witnesses in behalf of the prisoners— and that the main evidence adduced, upon which they were committed (as I understood) was from ; who once belonged to our society, and was compelled to swear as suited them best in order to save his life; that I knew him to be a man whose character was the worst, I ever [p. 99]
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Page 99

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Elias Higbee, 20 February 1840–A
ID #
515
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D7:180–185
Handwriting on This Page
  • Howard Coray

Footnotes

  1. [16]

    This passage likely refers to the pending trials of three groups of church members imprisoned in 1838. The first group was incarcerated in Liberty, Missouri; the second was incarcerated in Richmond, Missouri; and the third had been released on bail. (Historical Introduction to Letter to Emma Smith, 1 Dec. 1838; Historical Introduction to Petition to George Tompkins, between 9 and 15 Mar. 1839.)

  2. [17]

    Senator Garret D. Wall. (Journal of the Senate of the United States, 26th Cong., 1st Sess., 16 Dec. 1839, 11.)

    Journal of the Senate of the United States of America, Being the First Session of the Twenty-Sixth Congress, Begun and Held at the City of Washington, December 2, 1839, and in the Sixty-Fourth Year of the Independence of the Said United States. Washington DC: Blair and Rives, 1839.

  3. [18]

    King presided over a November 1838 court of inquiry in Richmond, Missouri, in which several church members were tried on a variety of charges, including treason, riot, and murder. Thirty-nine individuals testified for the prosecution and seven testified for the defense. (Document Containing the Correspondence, 149–151; LeSueur, 1838 Mormon War in Missouri, chap. 12; Historical Introduction to Letter to Emma Smith, 1 Dec. 1838.)

    LeSueur, Stephen C. The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1987.

  4. [19]

    Two groups of church members were imprisoned in Missouri in 1838. One group, which included JS, was incarcerated in Liberty on charges that included treason and riot. Another group, which included Parley P. Pratt, was incarcerated in Richmond on charges that included murder. The Compulsory Process Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees individuals accused of crimes the right to obtain witnesses in their favor. The prisoners in both groups claimed that the witnesses they called were either intimidated or not allowed to testify. (Petition to George Tompkins, between 9 and 15 Mar. 1839; Pratt, Autobiography, 233; U.S. Constitution, amend. VI.)

    Pratt, Parley P. The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry and Travels, with Extracts, in Prose and Verse, from His Miscellaneous Writings. Edited by Parley P. Pratt Jr. New York: Russell Brothers, 1874.

  5. [20]

    Avard was a church member who had been a prominent leader of the Danites, a militant organization of church members devoted to supporting the First Presidency and defending the church with violence, if necessary. Following the 1838 Missouri conflict, Avard testified against JS and other church leaders, which helped lead to their arrest and imprisonment. He was excommunicated on 17 March 1839. (Introduction to Part 2: 8 July–29 Oct. 1838; Sampson Avard, Testimony, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, pp. [2]–[23], State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Treason and Other Crimes [Mo. 5th Jud. Cir. 1838], in State of Missouri, “Evidence”; “Extracts of the Minutes of Conferences,” Times and Seasons, Nov. 1839, 1:15; see also LeSueur, 1838 Mormon War in Missouri, 40–44, 199–201, 220–222; and Baugh, “Call to Arms,” 79–101.)

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

    LeSueur, Stephen C. The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1987.

    Baugh, Alexander L. “A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1996. Also available as A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2000).

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