[], 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.
Among those who attempted to escape was a man by the name of , a soldier and patriot of the revolution, and a justice of the peace. While making the best use of his tottering limbs and worn out frame for his escape, he was met in his retreat by a young man from , by the name of , who immediately demanded the old man’s gun, which was delivered up, and was then shot down by said . This not killing the old man, he lifted his hands in the attitude of supplication and begged for mercy, at the same time appealing to his silvery locks, as adding still more force and credit to his cries and tales of suffering, while in the defence of his country and the constitution thereof. But the young man, deaf to every thing but death and murder, regarded not the old man; but seizing an old corn cutter or piece of scythe, commenced first to hew off the old man’s fingers while holding them up for mercy, and next cutting his hands from his arms, and then severing his arms from his body, and last of all, laying open the skull and beheading the body of the poor sufferer who had fought and spilt his blood for the privileges enjoyed by his murderer.
There not being any men left, or not enough to bury the dead, the women were compelled to bury their own husbands, by throwing them into a well close to the blacksmith shop. The next day, after the massacre, a large company of them came back, blowing their bugle and firing their guns in an exulting manner. They carried off goods of all description, horses, wagons, and harnesses, stripping the horses and moving wagons of all the goods, furniture and clothing of any value, leaving the widows and orphans to suffer in that inclement season of the year. Cows, hogs, and horses were driven off in droves. They robbed the families of all their beds and bedding, and even took the widows’ cloaks—the dead men stripped of their clothing—also, another of the persons engaged in this horrid affair, was a man by the name of Stephen Bunnels [Reynolds], who made his boasts, at public places, that he was the man who killed one of the little boys. This boasting has been made in the presence of the authorities of the at , when innocent men were kept in chains for nothing but defending themselves, wives and children, from such savages as these.
After this bloody affray was ended, a young man who had crept from his hiding place and returned to the shop, was sent to to obtain assistance to bury the dead, (a distance of about twenty miles.) The young man arrived within two or three miles of , where he met a company of men: he was asked where he was from, and where he was going; and, answering them correctly, he was then asked if he knew where the militia were—he told them he did not know of any. They then told him to face about and go with them, and they would lead him where there were five or six thousand of them. He was then compelled to go to , and stopped at Samuel McCriston’s that night. In the morning they robbed him of a fine fur cap, and ordered him to take off his overcoat, telling him it is too fine for a Mormon to wear. They then concluded to shoot him, and disputed among themselves who should do it. And some hard words and threats were used among themselves who should have the fine horse the young man rode. However, they soon quit their [p. 43]