Emma visited JS on 11 and 13 August. (JS, Journal, 11 and 13 Aug. 1842.)

On the day JS wrote the letter featured here, he reflected on those who had stood by him during his trials and wrote of Emma, “Again she is here, even in the seventh trouble, undaunted, firm and unwavering, unchangeable, affectionate Emma.” (Reflections and Blessings, 16 and 23 Aug. 1842.)

Derby had been with JS since he went into hiding days before. On 16 August, the same day Derby delivered this letter to Emma, JS gave him a blessing in which he noted, “He rendered me consolation, in the lonely places of my retreat.” (JS, Journal, 11, 14, and 16 Aug. 1842; Reflections and Blessings, 16 and 23 Aug. 1842.)

These included reports that Adams County officers had threatened to search the entire city or burn it if they did not find JS, rumors of a militia marching on Nauvoo, and notices of strangers roaming around the city. (JS, Journal, 13 and 15 Aug. 1842; Letter from Wilson Law, 15 Aug. 1842; “Notice,” Times and Seasons, 15 Aug. 1842, 3:893.)

On 12 August, David Hollister, a Latter-day Saint living in Quincy, Illinois, wrote to Hyrum Smith in Nauvoo, noting that Quincy lawyers James H. Ralston and Calvin A. Warren had met with Carlin, who had reportedly told them he did not feel authorized to pursue extradition further. Hollister wondered, however, if this was part of a plan to cause JS to let down his guard. Ralston, a state senator, was helping JS with legal issues related to the extradition attempt. (David Hollister, Quincy, IL, to Hyrum Smith, Nauvoo, IL, 12 Aug. 1842, JS Office Papers, CHL; JS, Journal, 13 Aug. 1842; Pease, Illinois Election Returns, 334; Gregg, History of Hancock County, Illinois, 410; JS, Journal, 9 and 11 Aug. 1842.)

Pease, Theodore Calvin, ed. Illinois Election Returns, 1818–1848. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois State Historical Library, 1923.

Gregg, Thomas. History of Hancock County, Illinois, Together with an Outline History of the State, and a Digest of State Laws. Chicago: Charles C. Chapman, 1880.

In July, Emma Smith, Eliza R. Snow, and Amanda Barnes Smith had carried petitions, including one from the Female Relief Society, to Carlin in Quincy. The petitioners requested protection for JS and Nauvoo residents. Carlin received the women cordially and assured them of his protection, but a little over a week later he issued an arrest warrant for JS. (Minutes, 22 July 1842; Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 22 July 1842, 95–97; JS, Journal, 22 July 1842; Nauvoo Female Relief Society, Petition to Thomas Carlin, ca. 22 July 1842, in Derr et al., First Fifty Years of Relief Society, 139–141; Letter from Thomas Carlin, 27 July 1842; Letter from Aldrich & Chittenden, 28 July 1842; Petition to Nauvoo Municipal Court, 8 Aug. 1842.)

Derr, Jill Mulvay, Carol Cornwall Madsen, Kate Holbrook, and Matthew J. Grow, eds. The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in Latter-day Saint Women’s History. Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2016.

Emma Smith wrote to Carlin on 17 and 27 August 1842, imploring him not to allow JS to be taken to Missouri and insisting on the illegality of the extradition proceedings. (JS, Journal, Copied Correspondence, 30 June–17 Aug. 1842; Emma Smith, Nauvoo, IL, to Thomas Carlin, 27 Aug. 1842.)

Miller had been involved in recent discussions about the lumber operation in Wisconsin Territory. In fall 1842, he was called to travel to Wisconsin Territory to “make an effort . . . to extricate our establishment from debt, and make the lumber in sufficient quantities to keep the work progressing.” (JS, Journal, 26 June 1842; George Miller, St. James, MI, to “Dear Brother,” 26 June 1855, in Northern Islander [St. James, MI], 16 Aug. 1855, [4].)

Northern Islander. St. James, MI. 1850–1856.