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Letter from John Whitmer, 29 July 1833

Source Note

, Letter with postscript by , , Jackson Co., MO, to and JS, , Kirtland Township, Geauga Co., OH, 29 July 1833. Retained copy, [ca. summer 1839], in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 52–56; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 2.

Historical Introduction

In this 29 July 1833 letter, and provided details about events unfolding in , Missouri, to church leaders in , Ohio. In the July 1833 issue of The Evening and the Morning Star, William W. Phelps published an editorial titled “Free People of Color,” which warned free black members of the about the state laws that prohibited free blacks from coming to or settling in the state “under any pretext whatever.” Phelps further stated, “So long as we have no special rule in the church, as to people of color, let prudence guide; and while they, as well as we, are in the hands of a merciful God, we say: Shun every appearance of evil.” In the same issue of the Star, a letter to all of the of the Church of Christ reiterated the need to shun the appearance of evil and added, “As to slaves we have nothing to say. In connection with the wonderful events of this age, much is doing towards abolishing slavery, and colonizing the blacks, in Africa.” These articles angered many Jackson County citizens who saw Phelps’s words as an invitation for free blacks to come surreptitiously and settle in Missouri, even though Phelps later claimed to have said the opposite. On 16 July 1833, Phelps issued an extra of the Star in which he attempted to mitigate the misunderstanding of his earlier article. He wrote:
We often lament the situation of our sister states in the south, and we fear, lest, as has been the case, the blacks should rise and spill innocent blood: for they are ignorant, and a little may lead them to disturb the peace of society. To be short, we are opposed to have free people of color admitted into the state; and we say, that none will be admitted into the church, for we are determined to obey the laws and constitutions of our country, that we may have that protection which the sons of liberty inherit from the legacy of Washington, through the favorable auspices of a Jefferson, and Jackson.
The extra apparently did nothing to calm the church’s opponents.
By 18 July 1833, non-Mormon residents of circulated a document enumerating their grievances against members of the Church of Christ and stating their determination to eliminate them from the county by purchasing their properties or by “such means as may be sufficient to remove them.” Signed by some three hundred residents of Jackson County, the document, known later among members of the church as the “manifesto,” also called for a meeting to be held on 20 July to further discuss the perceived problems with the Mormons and how to remove the church members from the county. At the meeting, the assembled Missourians adopted resolutions listing specific actions to be taken against the Mormons and appointed a committee to present their agreed-upon demands to a group of church leaders. The committee presented their ultimatum that same day and gave church leaders only fifteen minutes to reply. The Mormons refused to comply, after which the committee returned to the , where those who had gathered voted to demolish the Mormons’ . After destroying the shop, they tarred and feathered and and gave notice that they would return on 23 July.
and other church leaders reported that on 23 July, “the mob again assembled to the number of about 500 . . . [and] proceeded to take some of the leading elders by force declaring it to be their intention to whip them from fifty to five hundred lashes apiece.” , , , , , and “offered themselves as a ransom [to the mob] for the church, willing to be scourged or die, if that will appease their anger toward the church,” but the mob declared that all church members must leave or die. The confrontation on 23 July 1833 led to the creation of another document, known as the “memorandum of the agreement.” In the agreement Mormon leaders pledged that most of the leaders of the church and half of the members would leave the county by the first of January 1834 and the remainder would leave by the first of April 1834.
Probably in the day or two after the 23 July agreement, left to inform JS and other church leaders in of these developments. After arriving at Walnut Farm in , probably a two-day journey, Cowdery wrote back to , Missouri, requesting an update on events there and copies of the manifesto and memorandum of agreement. When Cowdery mailed the letter from Walnut Farm is unknown, but given normal mail conveyance time in that era, at least two days would have been required to transport the letter to Independence. The Missouri church leaders therefore probably received Cowdery’s letter no earlier than 27 July 1833.
The letter featured here, which includes copies of the manifesto and of the Mormons’ agreement to leave the county, indicates that the church leaders in had received ’s letter and was written in response to his request. In the 29 July letter, , the principal author, provided an update on recent developments in while added a note on both the anxiety and faithfulness of the Missouri church members. Phelps also included the text of two hymns that had recently been sung in Missouri. Though the body of the letter was largely directed to Cowdery, the postscript from Phelps appears to have been directed to JS. It is not known how or when this letter reached . copied it into JS’s letterbook in late 1839. JS’s 18 August letter to Whitmer, Phelps, and the other church leaders in Jackson County demonstrates familiarity with the contents of this letter, although JS’s letter also references information that Cowdery reported to JS in person.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    “Free People of Color,” The Evening and the Morning Star, July 1833, 109.

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

  2. [2]

    “The Elders Stationed in Zion to the Churches Abroad,” The Evening and the Morning Star, July 1833, 111.

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

  3. [3]

    The Evening and the Morning Star, Extra, 16 July 1833, [1].

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

  4. [4]

    “To His Excellency, Daniel Dunklin,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Dec. 1833, 114; Corrill, Brief History, 19; Whitmer, History, 42–44; [Edward Partridge], “A History, of the Persecution,” Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:17–18.

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

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

  5. [5]

    “To His Excellency, Daniel Dunklin,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Dec. 1833, 114.

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

  6. [6]

    Cowdery likely left Independence after the creation of the memorandum of agreement on 23 July but before 25 July. He likely did not leave before 23 July because had he been any appreciable distance from Independence on or shortly after 23 July, he probably would not have known of the memorandum’s creation. Further, a reminiscent account by William E. McLellin places Cowdery in Jackson County on 22 July. Cowdery likely left before 25 July because in the letter featured here, John Whitmer told Cowdery that on 25 July many “at the school received the gift of tongues”—something Cowdery would already have known about if he had been present at or near the school of the prophets at the time. (Memorandum of Agreement, 23 July 1833, CHL; Schaefer, William E. McLellin’s Lost Manuscript, 166.)

    Memorandum of Agreement, 23 July 1833. CHL.

    Schaefer, Mitchell K., ed. William E. McLellin’s Lost Manuscript. Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2012.

  7. [7]

    Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson Co., MO, 18 Aug. 1833.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter from John Whitmer, 29 July 1833 Letterbook 2

Page 55

as general agents to wind up the business of the society so long as necessity shall require, and said may sell out his goods now on hand, but is to make no new importations. The Star is not again to be published nor a press set up by any of the Society in this .
If the Said & move their families by the first of January as aforesaid that they themselves will be allowed to go and come in order to transact and wind up their business.
The Committee pledge themselves to use all their influence to prevent any violence being used so long as a compliance with the foregoing terms is observed by the parties concerned.
The resolutions adopted on Saturday the 20th I have not yet recieved but I think I can by applying to Mr Allen.
Nothing in particular has transpired has transpired since you left here save the gifts are breaking forth in a marvellous manner. I want you to remember me to Joseph in a special manner, and enquire of him respecting my clerkship you very well know what I mean & also my great desire of doing all things according to the mind of the Lord, We need the prayers of all the disciples of our Redeemer for it is a time of great anxiety to behold the cleansing of this & also the land from wickedness & abominations. We are waiting with inexpressible anxiety to hear the word of the Lord concerning , O that God may speed your journey & bring us intelligence which will be as balm to the wounded bosom, or as a smile of the Redeemer to a soul in distress, my heart is full and I say O my God will thou not deliver, yea wilt thou not come down that the mountains may flow down at thy presence &c— I am your unworthy brother in the Lord.
& Joseph Smith Junr &c
In our present situation I have nothing to write, I wait for the word of the Lord: For his will and not ours will be done, we have many beautiful Hymns sung in tongues: I transcribe a couple sung by Wilber.
High in the Heavins the throne of God is set
His Eye extends abroad oer all his works
He knows the inmost thoughts of all his hand hath made
Yea Earth, and the foundations which his power hath laid
All things are swallowed up in him
He comprehends all things, encircles all things round about [p. 55]
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Source Note

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Page 55

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from John Whitmer, 29 July 1833
ID #
1604
Total Pages
5
Print Volume Location
JSP, D3:186–198
Handwriting on This Page
  • James Mulholland

Footnotes

  1. [29]

    Missourian Alexander Majors recalled much later that the Star “was very distasteful to the members and leaders of other religious denominations.” (Ingraham, Alexander Majors’ Memoirs, 44.)

    Ingraham, Prentiss, ed. Seventy Years on the Frontier: Alexander Majors’ Memoirs of a Lifetime on the Border. Denver: Western Miner and Financier Publishers, 1893.

  2. [30]

    TEXT: “th” is double underlined.

  3. [31]

    Possibly James Allen, who, in Edward Partridge’s copy of the manifesto, was listed as a witness to the creation of the document. According to a petition that church leaders sent to Missouri governor Daniel Dunklin, about four to five hundred people met at the courthouse in Independence on 20 July 1833 to draft the following resolutions: “1. That no Mormon shall in future move and settle in this county. 2. That those now here, who shall give a definite pledge of their intention within a reasonable time to remove out of the county, shall be allowed to remain unmolested until they have sufficient time to sell their property and close their business without any material sacrifice. 3. That the editor of the ‘Star’ be required forthwith to close his office, and discontinue the business of printing in this county; and as to all other stores and shops belonging to the sect, their owners must in every case strictly comply with the terms of the second article of this declaration, and upon failure, prompt and efficient measures will be taken to close the same. 4. That the Mormon leaders here, are required to use their influence in preventing any further emigration of their distant brethren to this county, and to counsel and advise their brethren here to comply with the above requisitions. 5. That those who fail to comply with these requisitions, be referred to those of their brethren who have the gifts of divination, and of unknown tongues, to inform them of the lot that awaits them.” This group then resolved to destroy the Mormons’ printing establishment, which they did; they also engaged in other forms of mob violence. (“We the Undersigned Citizens of Jackson County,” [July 1833], Edward Partridge, Papers, CHL; “To His Excellency, Daniel Dunklin,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Dec. 1833, 114; “‘Regulating’ the Mormonites,” Missouri Republican [St. Louis], 9 Aug. 1833, [3].)

    Partridge, Edward. Papers, 1818–1839. CHL. MS 892.

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

    Daily Missouri Republican. St. Louis. 1822–1869.

  4. [32]

    “My clerkship” probably refers to John Whitmer’s appointment in 1831 “to Keep the Church Record & History continually.” In what may have been a response to Whitmer’s request here, Cowdery later instructed him on keeping the names of church members “upon the church Record,” especially emphasizing when to record the names of children. (Revelation, ca. 8 Mar. 1831–B [D&C 47:3]; Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, to John Whitmer, Missouri, 1 Jan. 1834, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 14; see also Letter to William W. Phelps, 27 Nov. 1832.)

    Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.

  5. [33]

    Cowdery and JS responded via letters in mid-August 1833. (Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson Co., MO, 10 Aug. 1833; Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson Co., MO, 18 Aug. 1833.)

  6. [34]

    See Isaiah 64:1.

  7. [35]

    At this point in the letter, William W. Phelps began writing a lengthy postscript.

  8. [36]

    It is not certain whether “Wilber” is the singer’s first or last name. Singing, as well as speaking, in tongues was not uncommon in the early church. Zebedee Coltrin, for instance, noted in his diary that at a midweek prayer meeting in November 1832, he saw “Joseph Smith and heard him Speak with Tongues and Sing in Tongues also.” On another occasion, the full text of a hymn “sang by the gift of Tongues & Translated” was recorded in Revelation Book 2. The first of the two hymns is transcribed in the following lines. Following the text of the first hymn, only the title and page number, set off by dashed lines, of the second hymn are given. (Hicks, Mormonism and Music, 35–38; Coltrin, Diary and Notebook, 14 Nov. 1832; Song, 27 Feb. 1833, in Revelation Book 2, p. 48; for other instances of singing in tongues, see Walter Scott, “Mormon Bible—No. V,” Evangelist, 1 June 1841, 134; and “Elizabeth Ann Whitney,” Woman’s Exponent, 15 Mar. 1882, 10:153–154.)

    Hicks, Michael. Mormonism and Music: A History. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989.

    Coltrin, Zebedee. Diary and Notebook, 1832–1833. Zebedee Coltrin, Diaries, 1832–1834. CHL. MS 1443, fd. 2.

    Evangelist. Carthage, OH. 1832–1844.

    Woman’s Exponent. Salt Lake City. 1872–1914.

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