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Footnotes
JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].
Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.
Email, 5 June 2017, copy in editors’ possession.
Footnotes
Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 1 Sept. 1842; Letter to James Arlington Bennet, 8 Sept. 1842; James Arlington Bennet, Arlington House, Long Island, NY, to Willard Richards, Nauvoo, IL, 24 Oct. 1842; Willard Richards, Nauvoo, IL, to James Arlington Bennet, 20 Nov. and 22 Dec. 1842, draft; JS, Journal, 21–22 Dec. 1842; Richards, Journal, 21–22 Dec. 1842.
Richards, Willard. Journals and Papers, 1821–1854. CHL.
“The Mormans,” New York Herald (New York City), 23 Oct. 1842, [2]; “The Mormon Expose,” New York Herald, 4 Nov. 1842, [2].
New York Herald. New York City. 1835–1924.
John C. Bennett published The History of the Saints in mid-October 1842. (“Gen. Bennet’s Mormon Disclosures,” Daily Atlas [Boston], 15 Oct. 1842, [2].)
Boston Daily Atlas. Boston. 1844–1857.
JS, Journal, 15 and 17 Mar. 1843; JS, Nauvoo, IL, to James Arlington Bennet, Arlington House, Long Island, NY, 17 Mar. 1843, Simon Gratz Autograph Collection, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.
At the time John C. Bennett first communicated with JS, Bennett was the quartermaster general of the Illinois state militia. He played an integral role in the formation of the Nauvoo Legion and served as the legion’s major general, second-in-command under JS, until he was cashiered from the legion around 30 June 1842. (Letter from John C. Bennett, 25 July 1840; Minutes, 4 Feb. 1841; JS, Journal, 30 June 1842.)
In ancient Roman religion, the “manes” were the “ancestral spirits of the dead,” so this phrase referred to honoring the souls of the departed. Phrases like “peace to his manes” were commonly used in letters, poetry, and literature during the nineteenth century. (“Manes,” in Oxford English Dictionary, 6:114; see also Salzman, “Religious Koine and Religious Dissent,” 115; [John Wilson], “Noctes Ambrosianae. No. LVI,” Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, Apr. 1831, 712; and Gellett, Varieties, 224.)
Oxford English Dictionary. Compact ed. 2 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971.
Salzman, Michele Renee. “Religious Koine and Religious Dissent in the Fourth Century.” In A Companion to Roman Religion, edited by Jörg Rüpke, 109–125. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2007.
[Wilson, John]. “Noctes Ambrosianae. No. LVI.” Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine 29, no. 179 (Apr. 1831): 688–720.
Gellett, Henry. Varieties: Consisting of Select and Interesting Anecdotes, Historical, Personal, and Literary. To Which Are Added Notes, Containing a Dutch Translation of the Most Difficult Words and Phrases. Designed for the Use of Students of the English Language, and as an Aid in Translating English into Dutch. 3rd ed. Rotterdam, Netherlands: Mrs. A. H. Krap, 1843.
Reactions to The History of the Saints were mixed. The editors of both the New York Herald and the Boston Post were unimpressed with Bennett’s book, seeing it as a “heap of monstrosities.” Other newspaper editors saw the book as an important contribution and predicted it would sell well. It is unclear how well the book sold and what profits Bennett garnered from it. However, the book went through three printings, and Bennett reportedly lived on the royalties of the book and his lecture fees for two years. (Smith, Saintly Scoundrel, 126–127.)
Smith, Andrew F. The Saintly Scoundrel: The Life and Times of Dr. John Cook Bennett. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997.
When he first learned of John C. Bennett’s plans to publish a book, James Arlington Bennet wrote to JS and encouraged him not to be concerned: “You will recieve no injury whatever from any thing that any man or set of men may Lay against you.” He told him that he believed that “the whole of this muss is only extending you[r] fame & will increase your numbers ten fold.” (Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 16 Aug. 1842, underlining in original.)
John C. Bennett gave a highly embellished and exaggerated account of plural marriage in Nauvoo. He stated that some of Nauvoo’s women were “set apart and consecrated to the use and benefit of particular individuals, as secret, spiritual wives.” Bennett described a three-tiered harem of spiritual wives and concubines available to different ranks of priesthood officers. (Bennett, History of the Saints, 223, italics in original.)
Bennett, John C. The History of the Saints; or, an Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism. Boston: Leland and Whiting, 1842.
New York Herald editor James Gordon Bennett occasionally lampooned JS and the Latter-day Saints in his newspaper. (See “Joe Smith in Town,” New York Herald [New York City], 12 Nov. 1842, [2]; and “Joe Smith in Trouble,” New York Herald, 16 Jan. 1843, [2].)
New York Herald. New York City. 1835–1924.
In April 1842, the University of the City of Nauvoo conferred the “honorary degree of L. L. D.” upon James Gordon Bennett, and the Nauvoo City Council approved a resolution granting him and other notable individuals “the FREEDOM OF THE CITY.” A month later, Bennett was commissioned as a brigadier general in the Nauvoo Legion. (“Honorary Degree,” Wasp, 28 May 1842, [3]; “Freedom of the City,” Wasp, 30 Apr. 1842, [3], emphasis in original; James Gordon Bennett, “Rising in the World,” New York Herald [New York City], 13 Aug. 1842, [2].)
The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.
New York Herald. New York City. 1835–1924.
In August 1842, Wilson Law was elected major general in the Nauvoo Legion, filling the place of John C. Bennett, who had been cashiered from the post. James Gordon Bennett’s earlier commission had appointed him as the aide-de-camp to the major general. (Nauvoo Legion, “Election for Major General,” 13 Aug. 1842, Nauvoo Legion Records, CHL; James Gordon Bennett, “Rising in the World,” New York Herald [New York City], 13 Aug. 1842, [2].)
Nauvoo Legion Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 3430.
New York Herald. New York City. 1835–1924.
In August 1842, James Arlington Bennet wrote to JS stating that John C. Bennett had “proposed to me to aid him . . . in arranging materials for publishing ‘an exposition of Mormon Secrets & practices.’” James Arlington Bennet stated that he had “preemptorily refused” the offer, following which John C. Bennett made a similar offer to James Gordon Bennett, who agreed to “publish conjointly with J. C. B. on half profit the exposition” against JS and the Latter-day Saints. (Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 16 Aug. 1842.)