Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, circa 16 December 1843–12 February 1844, Draft
Source Note
, , , , , , , , , , , , , , JS, , and , Draft of Memorial, , Hancock Co., IL, to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, , 21 Dec. 1843; handwriting of , , and ; docket in handwriting of ; twenty-four pages; JS Office Papers, CHL.
our days in the enjoyment of all the rights and liberties bequethed to us by the sufferings and blood of our noble ancestors. But alas! Our expectations were vain Two years had scarsely passed <elapsed> before we were unlawfully and unconstitutionally assaulted by an organized mob consisting of the highest officers in the both civil and military who openly and boldly avowed their determinations in a written circular to drive us from said . As a specimen of <their> treasonable and cruel designs your honorable body are refered to said circular of which the following is but a short extract namely
“We the undersigned citizens of , bleiving that an important crisis is at hand as regards our civil society in consequence of a pretended religious sect of people that have settled and are still settling in our styling themselves Mormons and intending as we do to to red <rid> our society ‘peaceably if we can forcibly if we must' and believing as we do that the arm of the civil law does not afford us a guaranty or at least a sufficient one against the evils which are now inflicted upon us and seem to be increasing by the said religious sect deem it expedient and of the highest importance to form ourselves into a company for the better and easier accomplishment of our purpose”
This document was closed in the following words.
“We, therefore, agree, that after timely warning and receiving an adequate compensation for what little property they cannot take with them they refuse to leave us in peace as they found us we agree to use such means as may be sufficient to remove them and to that end we [p. 2]