These six men, along with Oliver Cowdery, served as leaders of the church in Missouri. According to JS’s history, their authority over church affairs in Missouri was confirmed during a council meeting held on 26 March 1833 in Jackson County. (JS History, vol. A-1, 282–283; see also Minute Book 2, 26 Mar. 1833.)

On 23 July 1833, Jackson County vigilantes threatened to physically harm all followers of JS then living in the county. As a result, Phelps, Whitmer, Partridge, Morley, Corrill, and Gilbert “offered themselves a ransom for the church, willing to be scourged or die, if that would appease their anger toward the church.” Partridge later remembered that “some few of the leading elders offered their lives, provided that would satisfy them, so as to let the rest of the society live, where they then lived, in peace; they would not agree to this, but said that every one should die for themselves, or leave the county.” (“To His Excellency, Daniel Dunklin,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Dec. 1833, 114; [Edward Partridge], “A History, of the Persecution,” Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:18.)

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.

See Revelation, 27 Feb. 1833 [D&C 89:21].

This sentence likely refers to the contemporary cholera epidemic, which Cowdery would have witnessed on his journey to Kirtland. In a 29 July 1833 letter to Cowdery, John Whitmer mentioned reports from nearby Lexington, Missouri, of two deaths and several cases of cholera and later remarked, “It is a time of great anxiety to behold the cleansing of . . . the land from wickedness & abominations.” (Letter from John Whitmer, 29 July 1833.)

Despite Cowdery’s frustration with the time it took to journey from Independence to Kirtland, he actually cut the normal travel time by nearly a week. For example, a 4 June 1833 letter from William W. Phelps in Independence took twenty-one days to arrive in Kirtland; a package sent from JS and others in Kirtland on 26 June 1833 reached Independence in thirty-three days; and a 9 July 1833 letter from Independence arrived in Kirtland in twenty-eight days. In late summer 1831, JS and a group of ten other church members traveled from Independence to Kirtland in eighteen days. A year later JS traveled from Hiram, Ohio, to Independence in twenty-two days. Cowdery traveled from Independence to Kirtland in no more than seventeen days, including a delay of at least three days. Therefore, a trip that normally took approximately three weeks took him no more than fourteen days to complete, possibly fewer. (Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson Co., MO, 25 June 1833; Letter from John Whitmer, 29 July 1833; Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson Co., MO, 6 Aug. 1833; JS History, vol. A-1, 142, 146, 209–210.)

A week after this letter was sent, JS modified this advice by directing church leaders in Missouri to create the impression that they were preparing to move from Jackson County in the hope that their evacuation would not actually be required: “Let those who are bound to leave the land make a show as if to do untill the Lord delivr.” He also stated “that not one foot of land perchased should be given to the enimies of God.” (Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson Co., MO, 18 Aug. 1833.)

See James 1:2; and Matthew 19:29. Frederick G. Williams offered similar advice concerning the calamity in Jackson County: “Remember that this is only for the trial of your faith and he that overcomes and endures to the end will be rewarded a hundred fold in this world and in the world to come eternal life.” (Frederick G. Williams, Kirtland, OH, to “Dear Brethren,” 10 Oct. 1833, in JS Letterbook 1, p. 57.)

Frederick G. Williams reported that “immediately after the arrival of bro Oliver we sat in council to know what should be done, the decission of the council was that measurs should be immediately taken to seek redress by the Laws of our country for your grievences.” (Frederick G. Williams, Kirtland, OH, to “Dear Brethren,” 10 Oct. 1833, in JS Letterbook 1, p. 56.)

According to the signed agreement of 23 July 1833, the Mormons were to leave the county “as soon as possible,” with at least half gone by January 1834, and the rest by April 1834. (Letter from John Whitmer, 29 July 1833.)

See Isaiah 53:1; John 12:38; and Revelation, 1 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 1:14].

See Jeremiah 23:19; 30:23; and Psalm 141:10.

TEXT: Two vertical lines, possibly meant to be a pilcrow, indicate a paragraph break here, though this and the previous line are run together in the original letter.

For more information on the rebellions of Missouri church leaders, see Revelation, 22–23 Sept. 1832 [D&C 84:76]; and Letter to Edward Partridge et al., 14 Jan. 1833.

In the 1830s, to “tattle” meant “to talk idly; to use many words with little meaning” and “to tell tales; to communicate secrets.” (“Tattle,” in American Dictionary; see also 1 Timothy 5:13.)

An American Dictionary of the English Language: Intended to Exhibit, I. the Origin, Affinities and Primary Signification of English Words, as far as They Have Been Ascertained. . . . Edited by Noah Webster. New York: S. Converse, 1828.

Although it is unknown exactly what the “false coloring” or “tatling” refers to, Cowdery may have been discussing instances when members of the church antagonized other citizens of Jackson County by talking about plans to establish Zion there. Reverend Benton Pixley, a resident of Jackson County, wrote in November 1833 that members of the church in Missouri maintained “that they inhabit ‘the Mount Zion spoken of in Scripture;’ that the present inhabitants would be driven off unless they sold to the Mormons and went off peaceably.” In 1881, a Kansas City newspaper reporter quoted David Whitmer saying that in summer 1833, “difficulties arose between the church and the citizens of the county. What first occasioned these difficulties I am unable to say, except that the church was composed principally of Eastern and Northern people who were opposed to slavery, and that there were among us a few ignorant and simple-minded persons who were continually making boasts to the Jackson county people that they intended to possess the entire county, erect a temple; etc. This of course occasioned hard feelings and excited the bitter jealousy of the other religious denominations.” (“Civil War in Missouri,” Cincinnati Journal, 20 Dec. 1833, 203; “Mormonism,” Kansas City Daily Journal, 5 June 1881, 1; see also Revelation, 6 June 1831 [D&C 52:42]; and “The Elders Stationed in Zion to the Churches Abroad,” The Evening and the Morning Star, July 1833, 110–111.)

Cincinnati Journal. Cincinnati, OH. 1833–1836.

Kansas City Daily Journal. Kansas City, MO. 1878–1891.

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

See Matthew 24:35; and Revelation, 1 Nov. 1831–B [D&C 1:38].