[], An Appeal to the American People: Being an Account of the Persecutions of the Church of Latter Day Saints; and of the Barbarities Inflicted on Them by the Inhabitants of the State of Missouri, second edition; i-vi, 7–60 pp.; Cincinnati, OH: Shepard and Stearns, 1840. The copy used herein is held at CHL.
A manuscript draft of this pamphlet, simply titled “To the Publick” was presented to a conference of church members at , Illinois, on 1 November 1839. The conference voted to approve the manuscript and authorized its publication on behalf of the church. The pamphlet, when published, carried the endorsement of JS, , and as “Presidents of said Church.”
and collaborated on the publication of the text, which was available in print by May 1840. Though no author is named on the title page, was acknowledged as author in an 1840 Times and Seasons newspaper article, and when the pamphlet was advertised in that church periodical in 1841. JS and held some expectation that funds from the sale of An Appeal would eventually help defray costs of their late-1839 trip to .
By July 1840, and had been authorized to produce a second, revised edition to be published by Shepard & Stearns in . Page related some of the circumstances surrounding its publication and circulation in a letter sent to JS, “. . . at [Ohio] we parted for a few days . . . Elder Hyde went to Cincinnati where in my absince he published a second Edition of the ‘Apeal to the American people’ (2000 copies)[.] when I arrived the work was about completed[.] after disposing of as many of them as posible and suplying the market about cincinnati and the adjacient country he left me with some fourteen or fifteen hundred on hand, to dispose of” (John E. Page, Philadelphia, PA, to JS et al., Nauvoo, IL, 1 Sept. 1841, JS Collection, CHL). Funds from this printing were to be for the express purpose of subsidizing Hyde and Page’s imminent mission to in Palestine.
The second edition was essentially a lightly edited reprint of the first, with a four-page “Publisher’s Preface” added. In the preface, and noted the purpose of the publication, explained the severe hardships imposed by the persecutions upon Page’s own family, provided a detailed account of a vision experienced by Hyde, and expressed enthusiasm about the prospects of the mission. The preface also contained a copy of an official letter of appointment and commendation for Hyde and Page from an April 1840 church conference at , Illinois, signed by JS, and a letter of reference from , governor of .
Although many of the events reported in both editions of ’s pamphlet can be corroborated from other sources, his chronology of events is often inaccurate. However, Rigdon’s account does contain the texts of several significant documents. Among these are JS’s September 1838 affidavit concerning the 7 August 1838 visit to and those of and regarding the massacre. Consequently, though in many respects Rigdon’s document from a historical perspective is more advocacy than history, it offers access to some important material not readily found elsewhere.
friends in . The land sales (he said) were coming on, and if they could get the Mormons driven out, they could get all the lands entitled to pre-emptions, and that they must hasten to in order to accomplish their object; that if they would join and drive them out they could get all the lands back again, as well as all the pay they had received for them. He assured the mob that they had nothing to fear from the authorities in so doing, for they had now full proof that the authorities would not assist the Mormons, and that they might as well take their property from them as not. His request was complied with, and accordingly the whole banditti started, taking with them their cannon for . In the meantime was busily engaged in raising a mob in Platt and Clinton counties, to aid in his effort to drive peaceable citizens from their homes and take their property. After the mob had left Carroll county, there was ordered out a part of two brigades of militia to check their movements. Generals and were in command of them, as it was part of their brigades that were ordered out. The first knowledge that the people of or had of the mob coming against them was the arrival of a body of troops under the command of Col. Dun, of , in . As the people of had no knowledge of any troops designed to come into the place their appearance caused some excitement. Both the military and civil officers immediately met them, and enquired into the cause of their sudden appearance in the place, without giving previous notice. Their commander gave for answer, that “they had been ordered by , to repair to to operate against a mob, which was on its march from Carroll county to .” This was on the first day of the week. We have not the precise date, but it was in October. The evening following, which was Monday, arrived in . In consequence of these hostile movements on the part of the mob, the people of had asssembled together to take such measures as the emergency of the case might require.
After the arrival of the authorities made enquiry of him concerning the matter, and the operations of the mob. He stated that the mob had gone from Carroll county with their cannon, for the express purpose of driving the Saints from , and that he was going to operate against them; but he said his troops were so mutinous that there was but little reliance to be placed in them. He then advised the authorities of to send out two or three hundred men to to defend the people against the violence intended by the mob, until such time as effectual measures could be taken by the authorities to put a stop to their operations. And he also told them that was collecting a mob in Platt and other places for the purpose of attacking ; and said that it was absolutely necessary that there should be a strong guard kept at to defend the place. In accordance with his representation, the authorities of the had the militia regularly called out, and a number went to as he had recommended to await the movement and operations of the mob, and to act accordingly.
The troops that had been ordered out by went only about a mile and a half from , and there encamped until he should [p. 31]