Footnotes
See Historical Introduction to Letter from Elias Higbee, 20 Feb. 1840–A.
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.
Coray, Autobiographical Sketch, 17, 19.
Coray, Howard. Autobiographical Sketch, after 1883. Howard Coray, Papers, ca. 1840–1941. Photocopy. CHL. MS 2043, fd. 1.
Rigdon was sick during the entire journey to the eastern United States, which delayed the delegation’s travel and caused JS and Higbee to continue to Washington DC ahead of Rigdon, Robert D. Foster, and Orrin Porter Rockwell. After Rigdon joined JS and Higbee in Philadelphia, he was apparently still unwell and did not return to Washington with JS and Higbee; he was still in Philadelphia at this time. This letter from Rigdon is apparently not extant. (Historical Introduction to Letter of Introduction from Sidney Rigdon, 9 Nov. 1839; Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 14 and 27 Jan. 1840, 2.)
It is unclear where Babbitt was at the time Higbee wrote this letter. According to Benjamin Johnson, Babbitt and his wife, Julia Johnson Babbitt, had left to serve a mission to the eastern United States in late 1839. Benjamin Winchester reported that Babbitt was preaching in Philadelphia by April 1840. (Johnson, “A Life Review,” 58, 62; “Important Church News,” Times and Seasons, May 1840, 1:109.)
Johnson, Benjamin Franklin. “A Life Review,” after 1893. Benjamin Franklin Johnson, Papers, 1852–1911. CHL. MS 1289 box 1, fd. 1.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Parley P. Pratt had been in Washington DC for a few weeks to help JS and Higbee muster popular support for the church’s efforts to petition the federal government for redress and reparations. Pratt then returned to New York City, where he and his family were living, for several months before he traveled with the other apostles to England. (Higbee and Pratt, Address by Judge Higbee and Parley P. Pratt, 4; Letter from Elias Higbee, 9 Mar. 1840; [Parley P. Pratt], “Sketches of Travels in America, and Voyage to England,” LDS Millennial Star, July 1840, 1:50–51.)
Pratt, Parley P., and Elias Higbee. An Address by Judge Higbee and Parley P. Pratt, Ministers of the Gospel, of the Church of Jesus Christ of “Latter-day Saints,” to the Citizens of Washington, and to the Public in General. N.p., 1840.
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
Upon arriving in Washington DC, JS and Higbee wrote home asking for additional money to cover their expenses. They also made arrangements with Young to draw money from his Washington bank accounts. Church leaders could then repay these loans by depositing money into Young’s bank accounts in Illinois. (Letter to Hyrum Smith and Nauvoo High Council, 5 Dec. 1839; Letter from Hyrum Smith, 2 Jan. 1840.)
Higbee’s wife, Sarah Ward Higbee, was apparently living in the vicinity of Carthage, Illinois, at this time. (Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 29 Oct. 1839, 66.)
This sentence likely refers to the collection of documents the delegation intended to publish and publicly distribute, including their memorial to Congress and the affidavits they submitted to accompany it. (See Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840; and Letter from Elias Higbee, 24 Mar. 1840.)