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Letter to Hyrum Smith and Nauvoo High Council, 5 December 1839

Source Note

JS and
Elias Higbee

23 Oct. 1795–8 June 1843. Clerk, judge, surveyor. Born at Galloway, Gloucester Co., New Jersey. Son of Isaac Higbee and Sophia Somers. Moved to Clermont Co., Ohio, 1803. Married Sarah Elizabeth Ward, 10 Sept. 1818, in Tate Township, Clermont Co. Lived at ...

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, Letter,
Washington DC

Created as district for seat of U.S. federal government by act of Congress, 1790, and named Washington DC, 1791. Named in honor of George Washington. Headquarters of executive, legislative, and judicial branches of U.S. government relocated to Washington ...

More Info
, to
Hyrum Smith

9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...

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and Nauvoo high council, [
Commerce

Located near middle of western boundary of state, bordering Mississippi River. European Americans settled area, 1820s. From bank of river, several feet above high-water mark, ground described as nearly level for six or seven blocks before gradually sloping...

More Info
, Hancock Co., IL], 5 Dec. 1839. Featured version copied [between Apr. and June 1840] in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 85–88; handwriting of
Howard Coray

6 May 1817–16 Jan. 1908. Bookkeeper, clerk, teacher, farmer. Born in Dansville, Steuben Co., New York. Son of Silas Coray and Mary Stephens. Moved to Providence, Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania, ca. 1827; to Williams, Northampton Co., Pennsylvania, by 1830; and...

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; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 2.

Historical Introduction

On 5 December 1839, JS and
Elias Higbee

23 Oct. 1795–8 June 1843. Clerk, judge, surveyor. Born at Galloway, Gloucester Co., New Jersey. Son of Isaac Higbee and Sophia Somers. Moved to Clermont Co., Ohio, 1803. Married Sarah Elizabeth Ward, 10 Sept. 1818, in Tate Township, Clermont Co. Lived at ...

View Full Bio
wrote to
Hyrum Smith

9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...

View Full Bio
—the remaining member of the
First Presidency

The highest presiding body of the church. An 11 November 1831 revelation stated that the president of the high priesthood was to preside over the church. JS was ordained as president of the high priesthood on 25 January 1832. In March 1832, JS appointed two...

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in
Commerce

Located near middle of western boundary of state, bordering Mississippi River. European Americans settled area, 1820s. From bank of river, several feet above high-water mark, ground described as nearly level for six or seven blocks before gradually sloping...

More Info
, Illinois—and the
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
high council

A governing body of twelve high priests. The first high council was organized in Kirtland, Ohio, on 17 February 1834 “for the purpose of settling important difficulties which might arise in the church, which could not be settled by the church, or the bishop...

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to inform them of their safe arrival in
Washington DC

Created as district for seat of U.S. federal government by act of Congress, 1790, and named Washington DC, 1791. Named in honor of George Washington. Headquarters of executive, legislative, and judicial branches of U.S. government relocated to Washington ...

More Info
a week earlier. JS and Higbee apprised Smith and the high council of their recent efforts to obtain redress from the federal government for the persecutions
church

The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...

View Glossary
members experienced in
Missouri

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...

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and described their meeting with President
Martin Van Buren

5 Dec. 1782–24 July 1862. Lawyer, politician, diplomat, farmer. Born in Kinderhook, Columbia Co., New York. Son of Abraham Van Buren and Maria Hoes Van Alen. Member of Reformed Protestant Dutch Church. Worked as law clerk, 1800, in New York City. Returned...

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, in which the president declined to help the Saints.
1

An account of an April 1840 JS discourse states that JS met with Van Buren at the President’s House over two successive days, whereas according to this letter to Hyrum Smith—the earliest extant account of the meeting—and a March 1840 discourse, the parties met at the President’s House only once. All three of these accounts, however, reported the same sentiment in Van Buren’s response. (Discourse, 7 Apr. 1840; Discourse, 1 Mar. 1840.)


JS and
Higbee

23 Oct. 1795–8 June 1843. Clerk, judge, surveyor. Born at Galloway, Gloucester Co., New Jersey. Son of Isaac Higbee and Sophia Somers. Moved to Clermont Co., Ohio, 1803. Married Sarah Elizabeth Ward, 10 Sept. 1818, in Tate Township, Clermont Co. Lived at ...

View Full Bio
, accompanied by
Illinois

Became part of Northwest Territory of U.S., 1787. Admitted as state, 1818. Population in 1840 about 480,000. Population in 1845 about 660,000. Plentiful, inexpensive land attracted settlers from northern and southern states. Following expulsion from Missouri...

More Info
representative
John Reynolds

26 Feb. 1788–8 May 1865. Lawyer, politician. Born in Montgomery Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Robert Reynolds and Margaret Moore. Moved to Tennessee, 1788. Moved to what became Kaskaskia, Randolph Co., Illinois, 1800. Attended college and studied law in Knoxville...

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, went to the President’s House on 29 November seeking a meeting with
Van Buren

5 Dec. 1782–24 July 1862. Lawyer, politician, diplomat, farmer. Born in Kinderhook, Columbia Co., New York. Son of Abraham Van Buren and Maria Hoes Van Alen. Member of Reformed Protestant Dutch Church. Worked as law clerk, 1800, in New York City. Returned...

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. In the 1830s, visitors commonly arrived at the President’s House without an appointment. Many Americans, including legislators and office seekers, discussed their business with the president in social settings, and Van Buren frequently met with guests in the parlor outside his office for hours at a time.
2

See Allgor, Parlor Politics, 76–79, 232.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Allgor, Catherine. Parlor Politics: In Which the Ladies of Washington Help Build a City and a Government. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2000.

In this setting, JS and Higbee would have had to compete with other visitors for the president’s attention, which may explain why Reynolds introduced them.
3

Reynolds, My Own Times, 575. According to Lucy Mack Smith’s account of this meeting between JS, Higbee, and Van Buren, the parlor in which these men met was filled with several other visitors. (Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845, bk. 17, [12].)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Reynolds, John. My Own Times: Embracing Also, the History of My Life. Belleville, IL: B. H. Perryman and H. L. Davison, 1855.

It is unclear what JS and
Higbee

23 Oct. 1795–8 June 1843. Clerk, judge, surveyor. Born at Galloway, Gloucester Co., New Jersey. Son of Isaac Higbee and Sophia Somers. Moved to Clermont Co., Ohio, 1803. Married Sarah Elizabeth Ward, 10 Sept. 1818, in Tate Township, Clermont Co. Lived at ...

View Full Bio
asked
Van Buren

5 Dec. 1782–24 July 1862. Lawyer, politician, diplomat, farmer. Born in Kinderhook, Columbia Co., New York. Son of Abraham Van Buren and Maria Hoes Van Alen. Member of Reformed Protestant Dutch Church. Worked as law clerk, 1800, in New York City. Returned...

View Full Bio
to do to support their petitioning efforts. They may have requested an executive order that would result in redress and reparations for church members’ losses, but no documentary evidence exists to support this possibility. It is unlikely that Van Buren would have considered executive action to force
Missouri

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...

More Info
, a state led predominantly by Democrats, to restore the Saints’ property rights.
4

Presidents rarely issued executive orders during this period. Van Buren’s seven predecessors in office had issued a combined total of thirty executive orders over forty-three years. Van Buren issued ten executive orders during his term as president. (Peters and Woolley, “Executive Orders,” in American Presidency Project.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Peters, Gerhard, and John T. Woolley. “Executive Orders.” In The American Presidency Project, 1999–. Hosted by the University of California, Santa Barbara. Accessed 12 Apr. 2017. www.presidency.ucsb.edu/data/orders.php.

Van Buren was a staunch advocate of states’ rights and was at this time widely considered the architect of the Democratic Party, which had elected his predecessor, Andrew Jackson, to two consecutive presidential terms.
5

Silbey, Martin Van Buren and the Emergence of American Popular Politics, chaps. 3–4.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Silbey, Joel H. Martin Van Buren and the Emergence of American Popular Politics. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2002.

However, JS and Higbee possibly believed Van Buren was amenable to lending his political influence to the church’s memorial for redress to Congress. Evidence suggests they tried to enlist him to assist in their appeal.
6

A report of JS’s discourse at an April 1840 general conference of the church states that JS and Higbee were seeking Van Buren’s assistance with their plan to petition Congress and makes no mention of a possible executive order. (Discourse, 7 Apr. 1840.)


In their ongoing correspondence while in
Washington DC

Created as district for seat of U.S. federal government by act of Congress, 1790, and named Washington DC, 1791. Named in honor of George Washington. Headquarters of executive, legislative, and judicial branches of U.S. government relocated to Washington ...

More Info
, members of the church’s delegation indicated they were awaiting publication of the president’s annual message to Congress, hoping that Van Buren would therein urge Congress to act in the Saints’ behalf.
7

Letter to Seymour Brunson and Nauvoo High Council, 7 Dec. 1839; Letter from Robert D. Foster, 24 Dec. 1839. At this time, the president’s annual message to Congress (later known as the State of the Union address) was not delivered as a speech but instead was sent to Congress as a letter. (Congressional Globe, 26th Cong., 1st Sess., Appendix, 1–7.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

The Congressional Globe, Containing Sketches of the Debates and Proceedings of the Twenty-Sixth Congress. Vol. 8. Washington DC: Blair and Rives, 1840.

JS and
Higbee

23 Oct. 1795–8 June 1843. Clerk, judge, surveyor. Born at Galloway, Gloucester Co., New Jersey. Son of Isaac Higbee and Sophia Somers. Moved to Clermont Co., Ohio, 1803. Married Sarah Elizabeth Ward, 10 Sept. 1818, in Tate Township, Clermont Co. Lived at ...

View Full Bio
also described their plan to meet with all the
Illinois

Became part of Northwest Territory of U.S., 1787. Admitted as state, 1818. Population in 1840 about 480,000. Population in 1845 about 660,000. Plentiful, inexpensive land attracted settlers from northern and southern states. Following expulsion from Missouri...

More Info
congressional delegates the following day, mentioned the delayed travel of
Sidney Rigdon

19 Feb. 1793–14 July 1876. Tanner, farmer, minister. Born at St. Clair, Allegheny Co., Pennsylvania. Son of William Rigdon and Nancy Gallaher. Joined United Baptists, ca. 1818. Preached at Warren, Trumbull Co., Ohio, and vicinity, 1819–1821. Married Phebe...

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and
Robert D. Foster

14 Mar. 1811–1 Feb. 1878. Justice of the peace, physician, land speculator. Born in Braunston, Northamptonshire, England. Son of John Foster and Jane Knibb. Married Sarah Phinney, 18 July 1837, at Medina Co., Ohio. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of ...

View Full Bio
, and asked
Hyrum Smith

9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...

View Full Bio
and the high council to help expedite financial arrangements for the delegation.
8

According to this letter and others that JS, Rigdon, and Higbee wrote to Commerce during the ensuing months, the delegation was constantly concerned about insufficient funds during their travels. (Letter from Jacob W. Jenks, 31 Dec. 1839; Letter from Elias Higbee, 20 Feb. 1840–B; Letter from Sidney Rigdon, 3 Apr. 1840.)


They then requested that the Saints continue their efforts to encourage influential men in Illinois and
Iowa Territory

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803. First permanent white settlements established, ca. 1833. Organized as territory, 1838, containing all of present-day Iowa, much of present-day Minnesota, and parts of North and South Dakota. Population in...

More Info
to write letters to Congress in support of the church.
9

This campaign to have influential men write to Congress was apparently an extension of the petitioning plan Rigdon set forth in April 1839. (Letter from Sidney Rigdon, 10 Apr. 1839.)


After closing by asking that the letter be forwarded to their wives, JS and Higbee included a postscript that criticized the behavior of Congress and recounted more of their travels.
Hyrum Smith

9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...

View Full Bio
received the letter by 2 January 1840.
10

Letter from Hyrum Smith, 2 Jan. 1840.


The original letter is not extant. The version featured here was copied into JS Letterbook 2 by
Howard Coray

6 May 1817–16 Jan. 1908. Bookkeeper, clerk, teacher, farmer. Born in Dansville, Steuben Co., New York. Son of Silas Coray and Mary Stephens. Moved to Providence, Luzerne Co., Pennsylvania, ca. 1827; to Williams, Northampton Co., Pennsylvania, by 1830; and...

View Full Bio
between April and June 1840.
11

Coray, Autobiographical Sketch, 17, 19.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Coray, Howard. Autobiographical Sketch, after 1883. Howard Coray, Papers, ca. 1840–1941. Photocopy. CHL. MS 2043, fd. 1.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    An account of an April 1840 JS discourse states that JS met with Van Buren at the President’s House over two successive days, whereas according to this letter to Hyrum Smith—the earliest extant account of the meeting—and a March 1840 discourse, the parties met at the President’s House only once. All three of these accounts, however, reported the same sentiment in Van Buren’s response. (Discourse, 7 Apr. 1840; Discourse, 1 Mar. 1840.)

  2. [2]

    See Allgor, Parlor Politics, 76–79, 232.

    Allgor, Catherine. Parlor Politics: In Which the Ladies of Washington Help Build a City and a Government. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2000.

  3. [3]

    Reynolds, My Own Times, 575. According to Lucy Mack Smith’s account of this meeting between JS, Higbee, and Van Buren, the parlor in which these men met was filled with several other visitors. (Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845, bk. 17, [12].)

    Reynolds, John. My Own Times: Embracing Also, the History of My Life. Belleville, IL: B. H. Perryman and H. L. Davison, 1855.

  4. [4]

    Presidents rarely issued executive orders during this period. Van Buren’s seven predecessors in office had issued a combined total of thirty executive orders over forty-three years. Van Buren issued ten executive orders during his term as president. (Peters and Woolley, “Executive Orders,” in American Presidency Project.)

    Peters, Gerhard, and John T. Woolley. “Executive Orders.” In The American Presidency Project, 1999–. Hosted by the University of California, Santa Barbara. Accessed 12 Apr. 2017. www.presidency.ucsb.edu/data/orders.php.

  5. [5]

    Silbey, Martin Van Buren and the Emergence of American Popular Politics, chaps. 3–4.

    Silbey, Joel H. Martin Van Buren and the Emergence of American Popular Politics. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2002.

  6. [6]

    A report of JS’s discourse at an April 1840 general conference of the church states that JS and Higbee were seeking Van Buren’s assistance with their plan to petition Congress and makes no mention of a possible executive order. (Discourse, 7 Apr. 1840.)

  7. [7]

    Letter to Seymour Brunson and Nauvoo High Council, 7 Dec. 1839; Letter from Robert D. Foster, 24 Dec. 1839. At this time, the president’s annual message to Congress (later known as the State of the Union address) was not delivered as a speech but instead was sent to Congress as a letter. (Congressional Globe, 26th Cong., 1st Sess., Appendix, 1–7.)

    The Congressional Globe, Containing Sketches of the Debates and Proceedings of the Twenty-Sixth Congress. Vol. 8. Washington DC: Blair and Rives, 1840.

  8. [8]

    According to this letter and others that JS, Rigdon, and Higbee wrote to Commerce during the ensuing months, the delegation was constantly concerned about insufficient funds during their travels. (Letter from Jacob W. Jenks, 31 Dec. 1839; Letter from Elias Higbee, 20 Feb. 1840–B; Letter from Sidney Rigdon, 3 Apr. 1840.)

  9. [9]

    This campaign to have influential men write to Congress was apparently an extension of the petitioning plan Rigdon set forth in April 1839. (Letter from Sidney Rigdon, 10 Apr. 1839.)

  10. [10]

    Letter from Hyrum Smith, 2 Jan. 1840.

  11. [11]

    Coray, Autobiographical Sketch, 17, 19.

    Coray, Howard. Autobiographical Sketch, after 1883. Howard Coray, Papers, ca. 1840–1941. Photocopy. CHL. MS 2043, fd. 1.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Letter to Hyrum Smith and Nauvoo High Council, 5 December 1839
Letterbook 2 History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 85

Washington City

Created as district for seat of U.S. federal government by act of Congress, 1790, and named Washington DC, 1791. Named in honor of George Washington. Headquarters of executive, legislative, and judicial branches of U.S. government relocated to Washington ...

More Info
Corner of Missouri & 3d. Street,
1

JS and Higbee composed the letter at the boardinghouse in which they were staying on the corner of Missouri Avenue and Third Street in Washington DC, which was approximately four miles from the President’s House.


Dec 5th 1839.
Dear
Brother Hiram [Hyrum Smith]

9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...

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.
President

An organized body of leaders over priesthood quorums and other ecclesiastical organizations. A November 1831 revelation first described the office of president over the high priesthood and the church as a whole. By 1832, JS and two counselors constituted ...

View Glossary
and to the Honorable
High Council

A governing body of twelve high priests. The first high council was organized in Kirtland, Ohio, on 17 February 1834 “for the purpose of settling important difficulties which might arise in the church, which could not be settled by the church, or the bishop...

View Glossary
of the
Church of Jesus Christ, of latter day Saints

The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...

View Glossary
. To whom be fellowship, love and the peace of Almighty God extended and the prayer of faith
2

See James 5:15.


forever and <​ever​> Amen, Your fellow labourers, Joseph Smith Jr,
Elias Higbee

23 Oct. 1795–8 June 1843. Clerk, judge, surveyor. Born at Galloway, Gloucester Co., New Jersey. Son of Isaac Higbee and Sophia Somers. Moved to Clermont Co., Ohio, 1803. Married Sarah Elizabeth Ward, 10 Sept. 1818, in Tate Township, Clermont Co. Lived at ...

View Full Bio
and
Agents

A specific church office and, more generally, someone “entrusted with the business of another.” Agents in the church assisted other ecclesiastical officers, especially the bishop in his oversight of the church’s temporal affairs. A May 1831 revelation instructed...

View Glossary
, as well as the servants that are sent by you, to perform one of the most arduous and responsible duties, and also to labour in the most honorable cause that <​ever​> graced the pages of human existance; and respectfully show by these lines, that we have taken up our cross
3

See Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; 10:21; and Luke 9:23.


thus far— and that we arrived in this
City

Created as district for seat of U.S. federal government by act of Congress, 1790, and named Washington DC, 1791. Named in honor of George Washington. Headquarters of executive, legislative, and judicial branches of U.S. government relocated to Washington ...

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on the morning of the 28th. of November, and spent the most of that day in looking up a boarding house which we succeeded in in finding. We found as cheap boarding as can be had in this city.
On friday morning 29th we proceeded <​to​> the house of the
President

5 Dec. 1782–24 July 1862. Lawyer, politician, diplomat, farmer. Born in Kinderhook, Columbia Co., New York. Son of Abraham Van Buren and Maria Hoes Van Alen. Member of Reformed Protestant Dutch Church. Worked as law clerk, 1800, in New York City. Returned...

View Full Bio
— We found a very large and splendid palace, surrounded with a splendid enclosure decorated with all the fineries and elegancies of this world
4

Van Buren was criticized by several of his political rivals for the opulent way in which he remodeled and decorated the President’s House during the early part of his term in office. (Seale, President’s House, 214–215, 221–224.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Seale, William. The President’s House: A History. Vol. 1. 2nd ed. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008.

we went to the door and requested to see the
President

5 Dec. 1782–24 July 1862. Lawyer, politician, diplomat, farmer. Born in Kinderhook, Columbia Co., New York. Son of Abraham Van Buren and Maria Hoes Van Alen. Member of Reformed Protestant Dutch Church. Worked as law clerk, 1800, in New York City. Returned...

View Full Bio
; when we were immediately introduced into an upper apartment where we met the
President

5 Dec. 1782–24 July 1862. Lawyer, politician, diplomat, farmer. Born in Kinderhook, Columbia Co., New York. Son of Abraham Van Buren and Maria Hoes Van Alen. Member of Reformed Protestant Dutch Church. Worked as law clerk, 1800, in New York City. Returned...

View Full Bio
and were introduced into his parlor,
5

The meeting most likely occurred in an upper-floor room adjacent to the president’s office where the president regularly received large groups of visitors. According to architectural plans of the President’s House, that room was called the Audience Room at the time. (Phillips-Schrock, White House, 157–161.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Phillips-Schrock, Patrick. The White House: An Illustrated Architectural History. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2013.

where we presented him with our Letters of introductions;—
6

See Historical Introduction to Letter of Introduction from Sidney Rigdon, 9 Nov. 1839.


as soon as he had read one of them, he looked upon us with a kind of half frown and said, what can I do? I can do nothing for you,— if I do any thing, I shall come in contact with
7

“Come in contact with” was an idiom meaning to contradict or to disagree with. (See “Contact,” in Oxford English Dictionary, 2:889.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Oxford English Dictionary. Compact ed. 2 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971.

the whole State of
Missouri

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...

More Info
— But we were not to be intimidated, and demanded a hearing and constitutional rights— Before we left him he promised to reconsider what he had said, and observed that he felt to sympathise with us on account of our sufferings,— Now we shall endeavor to express our feelings and views concerning the
President

5 Dec. 1782–24 July 1862. Lawyer, politician, diplomat, farmer. Born in Kinderhook, Columbia Co., New York. Son of Abraham Van Buren and Maria Hoes Van Alen. Member of Reformed Protestant Dutch Church. Worked as law clerk, 1800, in New York City. Returned...

View Full Bio
, as we have been eye witnesses of his Majesty—
8

See 2 Peter 1:16.


He is a small man, sandy complexion, and ordinary features; with [p. 85]
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Source Note

Document Transcript

Page 85

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to Hyrum Smith and Nauvoo High Council, 5 December 1839
ID #
496
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D7:66–73
Handwriting on This Page
  • Howard Coray

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS and Higbee composed the letter at the boardinghouse in which they were staying on the corner of Missouri Avenue and Third Street in Washington DC, which was approximately four miles from the President’s House.

  2. [2]

    See James 5:15.

  3. [3]

    See Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; 10:21; and Luke 9:23.

  4. [4]

    Van Buren was criticized by several of his political rivals for the opulent way in which he remodeled and decorated the President’s House during the early part of his term in office. (Seale, President’s House, 214–215, 221–224.)

    Seale, William. The President’s House: A History. Vol. 1. 2nd ed. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2008.

  5. [5]

    The meeting most likely occurred in an upper-floor room adjacent to the president’s office where the president regularly received large groups of visitors. According to architectural plans of the President’s House, that room was called the Audience Room at the time. (Phillips-Schrock, White House, 157–161.)

    Phillips-Schrock, Patrick. The White House: An Illustrated Architectural History. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 2013.

  6. [6]

    See Historical Introduction to Letter of Introduction from Sidney Rigdon, 9 Nov. 1839.

  7. [7]

    “Come in contact with” was an idiom meaning to contradict or to disagree with. (See “Contact,” in Oxford English Dictionary, 2:889.)

    Oxford English Dictionary. Compact ed. 2 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971.

  8. [8]

    See 2 Peter 1:16.

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