Footnotes
Parmenter, History of Pelham, Mass., 413.
Parmenter, Charles Oscar. History of Pelham, Mass., from 1738 to 1898, Including the Early History of Prescott. . . . Amherst, MA: Carpenter and Morehouse, 1898.
JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:718.
Jenson, Andrew. Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 4 vols. Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History Co., 1901–1936.
Email, 5 June 2017, copy in editors’ possession.
Footnotes
Richards left Nauvoo on 1 July 1842 to move his family from Massachusetts to Nauvoo and to conduct church business in the eastern United States. When he traveled through New York City in August, he called on James Arlington Bennet and discussed several matters of concern to the church, which apparently included the efforts of John C. Bennett to publish his book. (Richards, Journal, 1 July and 4–6 Aug. 1842; JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 16 Aug. 1842; Letter to James Arlington Bennet, 8 Sept. 1842.)
Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.
In the Illinois gubernatorial election held on 1 August 1842, Democratic candidate Thomas Ford defeated Whig candidate Joseph Duncan. Church members voted overwhelmingly for Ford. Shortly after his inauguration on 8 December 1842, he met with Hyrum Smith, Willard Richards, and William Clayton, who requested that he rescind former governor Thomas Carlin’s requisition. Ford declined their request on grounds that he was unsure if he could legally rescind the order of his predecessor. He instead assured JS that he would protect him from illegal violence if he submitted to the law. (“O Yes! O Yes!,” Wasp, 16 July 1842, [2]; Letter from Thomas Ford, 17 Dec. 1842.)
The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.
In a letter dated 16 August 1842, James Arlington Bennet informed JS that while he had declined to publish John C. Bennett’s book, he believed that James Gordon Bennett would. It is unclear what images John C. Bennett had originally proposed as illustrations. When his book was eventually published, it contained a total of six images, including portraits of JS and John C. Bennett, a map of Nauvoo, and depictions of several alleged Latter-day Saint organizations and ceremonies that Bennett claimed to have witnessed. (Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 16 Aug. 1842; Bennett, History of the Saints, frontispiece, 56–57, 188, 263, 269, 273.)
Bennett, John C. The History of the Saints; or, an Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism. Boston: Leland and Whiting, 1842.
The “Wasp” refers to the Nauvoo newspaper Wasp, and the “Lyon of the Herald” refers to James Gordon Bennett. This phrase may be a variation on the idiom “beard the lion in his den,” which, alluding to the biblical story of David hunting and killing a lion or bear that had stolen a lamb, meant to confront risk or danger head on. (See Maxwell, Run through the United States, 1:290; and 1 Samuel 17:34–35.)
Maxwell, Archibald M. A Run through the United States, during the Autumn of 1840. 2 vols. London: Henry Colburn, 1841.
In the 10 September 1842 issue of the Wasp, the editors reprinted criticism of John C. Bennett’s character from a Zanesville, Illinois, newspaper and followed it with criticism of James Gordon Bennett for allegedly supporting John C. Bennett. (Editorial, Wasp, 10 Sept. 1842, [2].)
The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.
At least one newspaper article on John C. Bennett’s lectures in Boston reported a mixed reception of his claims by his audience. In Boston, Bennett also found a publisher for his book. (“Mormonism—Gen. Bennett, &c.,” Times and Seasons, 15 Oct. 1842, 3:955–956; John C. Bennett, The History of the Saints; or, An Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism [Boston: Leland and Whiting, 1842].)
Bennett, John C. The History of the Saints; or, an Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism. Boston: Leland and Whiting, 1842.