At Buffalo, New York, on 1 November, JS and Rigdon separated from the Nickersons because the home of Freeman and Huldah Chapman Nickerson in Perrysburg, New York, lay inland to the south, while Kirtland, Ohio, where JS and Rigdon were traveling, was to the southwest and could be reached either by boat on Lake Erie or by a road that skirted the lake. One account reported that “it was decided that the Prophet and Elder Rigdon should return by crossing Lake Erie, Freeman giving them the money to do so.” (Gates, Lydia Knight’s History, 22.)

Gates, Susa Young [Homespun, pseud.]. Lydia Knight’s History. Noble Women’s Lives Series 1. Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1883.

By 29 December 1833, Sidney Rigdon had not yet written to Moses Nickerson. (See Moses Nickerson, Wendhom, Canada, to [Sidney Rigdon], 29 Dec. 1833, in The Evening and the Morning Star, Feb. 1834, 134.)

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

JS often noted shortcomings in his writing ability. In a letter written two months earlier, for instance, he addressed “a few though imperfect lines” to his uncle Silas Smith. (Letter to Silas Smith, 26 Sept. 1833; see also Letter to Emma Smith, 6 June 1832; and Letter to Noah C. Saxton, 4 Jan. 1833.)

On 12 October 1833, a week into his and Sidney Rigdon’s mission to Canada, JS dictated a revelation that reassured them that their families were in the Lord’s hands. After returning to Kirtland, JS wrote in his journal that he found his “family all well according to the promise of the Lord.” (Revelation, 12 Oct. 1833 [D&C 100:1]; JS, Journal, 1–4 Nov. 1833.)

Frederick G. Williams wrote that temple construction had ceased in JS’s absence, an event that would have been of some importance to JS. (Frederick G. Williams, Kirtland, OH, to “Dear Brethren,” 10 Oct. 1833, in JS Letterbook 1, pp. 56–60.)

The man who died was probably David Johnson. At age twenty-three, Johnson died on 31 October 1833 after being ill for five weeks. He had converted to the Church of Christ two years earlier. (Obituary for David Johnson, The Evening and the Morning Star, Dec. 1833, 117.)

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

In the December edition of The Evening and the Morning Star, editor Oliver Cowdery noted that church leaders in Kirtland had recently received “several communications from the elders abroad concerning the prosperity and spread of the gospel.” (Editorial, The Evening and the Morning Star, Dec. 1833, 120.)

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

See Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 212–213, 290 [Mosiah 27:14; Alma 23:15].

The week before JS wrote the letter featured here, Oliver Cowdery expressed similar concerns, stating, “We have received some letters from our brethren in Missouri but it is hard to draw from them anything decisive as to the probable length that those depredators will go in their acts of wickedness and barbarity.” JS may have been referring to letters that are no longer extant. It is also possible that he was referring to the 30 October letter sent to church leaders in Kirtland from Missouri that described the increasing threats from the mob to expel the Mormons from Jackson County, Missouri. The first written indication JS received of intentions to expel the Mormons from Jackson County was in a letter sent to Kirtland by John Whitmer in July 1833. The threatened expulsion occurred just two weeks before JS wrote the 19 November letter featured here, but given the typical three to four weeks required for mail to travel between Independence, Missouri, and Kirtland, Ohio, JS was likely not aware of the expulsion or of the week of violence that led to it when he penned this letter. (See Oliver Cowdery, Kirtland Mills, OH, to Samuel Bent, [Michigan Territory], 12 Nov. 1833, Cowdery, Letterbook, 10; Letter, 30 Oct. 1833; and Letter from John Whitmer, 29 July 1833.)

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

On 28 September 1833, church members in Missouri, including Edward Partridge, William W. Phelps, Isaac Morley, John Corrill, Sidney Gilbert, and John Whitmer, wrote to Governor Daniel Dunklin detailing the July hostilities against the Mormons and asking him for help. They concluded their letter with an appeal to the governor, “asking him by express proclamation, or otherwise, to raise a sufficient number of troops, who, with us, may be empowered to defend our rights, that we may sue for damages in the loss of property.” The petitioners expressed hope “that the law of the land may not be defied, nor nulified, but peace restored to our country.” (“To His Excellency, Daniel Dunklin,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Dec. 1833, 115, italics in original.)

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

In a letter dated 19 October 1833, Governor Dunklin told church leaders in Missouri, “I should think myself unworthy the confidence with which I have been honored by my fellow citizens did I not promptly employ all the means which the Constitution & laws have placed at my disposal to avert the calamity with which you are threatened.” After consulting with the state’s attorney general, the governor advised to Mormons “to make a trial of the efficacy of the laws” by taking their cases before the local circuit judge. If such a course failed, Dunklin wrote, “my duty will require me to take such steps as will enforce a faithful execution” of the law. (Daniel Dunklin, Jefferson City, MO, to Edward Partridge et al., 19 Oct. 1833, William W. Phelps, Collection of Missouri Documents, CHL.)

Phelps, William W. Collection of Missouri Documents, 1833–1837. CHL. MS 657.

See Historical Introduction to Letter, 30 Oct. 1833.