The Papers
Browse the PapersDocumentsJournalsAdministrative RecordsRevelations and TranslationsHistoriesLegal RecordsFinancial RecordsOther Contemporary Papers
Reference
PeoplePlacesEventsGlossaryLegal GlossaryFinancial GlossaryCalendar of DocumentsWorks CitedFeatured TopicsLesson PlansRelated Publications
Media
VideosPhotographsIllustrationsChartsMapsPodcasts
News
Current NewsArchiveNewsletterSubscribeJSP Conferences
About
About the ProjectJoseph Smith and His PapersFAQAwardsEndorsementsReviewsEditorial MethodNote on TranscriptionsNote on Images of People and PlacesReferencing the ProjectCiting This WebsiteProject TeamContact Us
Published Volumes
  1. Home > 
  2. The Papers > 

Letter from Elias Higbee, 22 February 1840

Source Note

, Letter, , to JS, [, Hancock Co., IL?], 22 Feb. 1840. Featured version copied [between Apr. and June 1840] in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 111–115; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 2.

Historical Introduction

On 22 February 1840, wrote a letter to JS from , the fourth in a series of seven extant letters written to inform JS of the proceedings of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, which was considering the ’s memorial. In this letter, Higbee continued to recount the testimonies given to the committee by Senator and Representative of (both of whom had also testified on 21 February), as well as that of a Mr. Corwin, whom Higbee described in this letter as a former newspaper editor from . Higbee responded to Linn’s and Jameson’s respective testimonies—which depicted church members and JS negatively—and suggested that the church prepare several men to travel to Washington as witnesses if the committee decided that the church’s memorial should be considered in an additional investigation.
presumably sent this letter by post to , Illinois, and JS presumably received it after he returned to Commerce by 29 February 1840. The original letter is not extant. copied the version featured here into JS Letterbook 2 sometime between April and June 1840.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Historical Introduction to Letter from Elias Higbee, 20 Feb. 1840–A.

  2. [2]

    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.

  3. [3]

    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, 22 February 1840 Letterbook 2 History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 114

take it up according to request, the committee will Senate will grant the committee power to send for persons & papers. The committee made some enquiries, respecting our religion, and I answered them, as a matter of course as well as I could. They enquired very particularly, concerning how much land we had entered there, and how much of it, yet remained unsold; when Mr.— Corwin observed that we had never entered much Land there, but were squatters. I then described the size of & Counties, giving an explanation on these matters. I suppose, perhaps on monday or tuesday we shall know something relative to this matter; whether power be given them to send for persons & papers. You may see where they depend to rally their forces, viz, by endeavouring to make us treasonable characters, by the constitution, Sd. to govern us, and that every thing both civil & Political, among us is done by revelation. These points I desire to blow to the four winds, and that you will select a number of firm Bretheren, possessing good understanding; who will tell the truth, and willingly send me their names, when they know they are wanted. Send plenty of them, They will get two dollars per day, and ten cents a mile to and from, expence money. Do not send them untill their subpena’s get there, for they will not draw expence money only for going home
I will suggest af few names—
, — , as, they know concerning the scrape, also send others , & others. You will know whom to send better than myself. If the Missourians should send for you, I would say consult God about going
.
P. S. stated to me this evening, if the Mormons could make it appear that they had been wronged; They would use their influence in having them redressed, so the shame should not fall on the whole , but on that which had been guilty. I [p. 114]
View entire transcript

|

Cite this page

Source Note

Document Transcript

Page 114

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Elias Higbee, 22 February 1840
ID #
517
Total Pages
5
Print Volume Location
JSP, D7:193–198
Handwriting on This Page
  • Howard Coray

Footnotes

  1. [20]

    Though the precise acreage is unknown, church members had purchased large quantities of land in Caldwell County and had settled on a vast amount of property in Daviess County in order to claim preemption rights when the federal government made that land available for public sale. (See Walker, “Mormon Land Rights,” 4–55; Gentry, “Land Question at Adam-ondi-Ahman,” 45–56; and Baugh, “Call to Arms,” 31–34; see also LeSueur, 1838 Mormon War in Missouri, 237–239.)

    Walker, Jeffrey N. “Mormon Land Rights in Caldwell and Daviess Counties and the Mormon Conflict of 1838: New Findings and New Understandings.” BYU Studies 47, no. 1 (2008): 4–55.

    Gentry, Leland H. “The Land Question at Adam-ondi-Ahman.” BYU Studies 26, no. 2 (Spring 1986): 45–56.

    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).

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

  2. [21]

    24 or 25 February 1840.

  3. [22]

    Lyman witnessed the immediate aftermath of the October 1838 siege of De Witt as a spy charged with reporting on the growth and movements of the vigilantes throughout the region. Ripley and Higbee were both members of the church militia that was active in Daviess and Caldwell counties during the 1838 conflict and may have been among the group of men who traveled to De Witt with JS to help protect the Saints there. Follett also may have been part of the group that traveled to De Witt with JS. (“Amasa Lyman’s History,” Deseret News [Salt Lake City], 15 Sept. 1858, 121; Baugh, “Call to Arms,” appendix E; Corrill, Brief History, 35.)

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

    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).

  4. [23]

    As members of the church militia, Rich and Brunson were involved in several events related to the Missouri conflict. (Charles C. Rich, Statement, ca. Feb. 1845, Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, ca. 1839–1860, CHL; Reed Peck, Quincy, IL, to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839, p. 87, Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.)

    Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Documents, 1839–1860. CHL. CR 100 396.

    Peck, Reed. Letter, Quincy, IL, to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.

  5. [24]

    This sentence apparently refers to the possibility that Linn and Jameson might subpoena JS to appear as a witness should the church’s memorial be considered further by a Senate committee.

© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of UseUpdated 2021-04-13Privacy NoticeUpdated 2021-04-06