[], 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; 1–84 pp.; Cincinnati, OH: Glezen and Shepard, stereotypers and printers, 1840. The copy used herein is held at Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Historical Introduction
While incarcerated at , Missouri, in March 1839, JS addressed a letter to the church “at Illinois and scattered abroad and to in particular,” instructing the Saints to gather up “a knoledge of all the facts and sufferings and abuses put upon them by the people of this .” Edward Partridge responded with an account that became the three opening installments of “A History, of the Persecution, of the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter Day Saints in Missouri,” an eleven-part series published in the church’s newspaper, Times and Seasons, between December 1839 and October 1840. “A History, of the Persecution” receives comprehensive treatment in volume 2 of the Histories series of The Joseph Smith Papers and is available on this website.
may have intended to tell the entire story himself, but he fell ill shortly after publication of “A History, of the Persecution” began and died on 27 May 1840. Prompted by Partridge’s illness and subsequent death, the editors of the Times and Seasons, and , sought elsewhere for source materials to continue the series. It is probable that they composed the fourth installment to provide a brief transition from Partridge’s account, which ends in 1836, and the conflicts in and adjoining counties in 1838. The fifth and seventh installments reprinted passages from ’s History of the Late Persecutions Inflicted by the State of Missouri upon the Mormons (Detroit: Dawson and Bates, 1839). In May 1840, the sixth installment reprinted passages from ’s eighty-four page pamphlet, 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 (Cincinnati: Glezan and Shepard, 1840). More of Rigdon’s work was reprinted in the eighth through tenth installments, published from July to September 1840. The series concluded with an eleventh installment in the October 1840 issue, featuring General ’s callous speech to the Saints after their surrender at , Missouri, in November 1838.
A manuscript version of ’s Appeal to the American People, referred to as the “petition draft” titled “To the Publick” and endorsed by JS, Rigdon, and , was read to a conference of Saints in , Illinois, on 1 November 1839. The conference voted to approve its publication in the name of the church. and then collaborated to arrange for publication of the text in late 1839 and early 1840. Though no author is named on the title page, Rigdon was acknowledged as author when the pamphlet was advertised in the Times and Seasons in 1840 and 1841. JS and Elias Higbee had some expectation that funds from the sale of the publication would help defray costs of their trip to in late 1839. In July 1840, a second edition was printed by Shepard & Stearns in to raise funds for Orson Hyde and ’s mission to .
Although many of the events reported in ’s pamphlet can be corroborated from other sources, his chronology is often inaccurate. (Consult the annotation in Histories, Volume 2 for correction to portions published as part of “A History, of the Persecutions.”) However, his account contains the text of several significant documents. Among these are JS’s 5 September 1838 affidavit concerning the 7 August 1838 visit to and those of and and regarding the massacre. Consequently, though in many respects Rigdon’s document is more advocacy than history, it offers access to some material not readily found elsewhere.
town platt, and agreed with , from whom they purchased, to move there with their families as soon as they conveniently could, in order to commence building up the place. Accordingly in July following, they moved to . Soon after their arrival a settlement began to be made. The saints at the time, were immigrating into the country, in considerable numbers, and a portion of them stopt at . Some, purchased farms in the vicinity, others, bought property in the town, and by the middle of October there were as many as seventy families in the town, and the immediate neighborhood. They had bought and paid, for considerable property, and were making arrangements to erect buildings and other conveniences for their comfort.
Some short time after the settlement first began, there was a mob meeting called at Corrillton, the county seat of Corrill County, and resolutions passed, of a very treasonable character. The proceedings of this meeting, were published in the public papers. They there resolved to drive the saints out of the County, regardless of consequences. A committee was appointed to go and warn them of their danger; and to demand of them, that they leave the County forthwith. All these transactions were public, and perfectly known to the authorities of the country; but not the most distant attempt was made to bring any of them to justice. In consequence of the apathy of the government, the mob went on to holding meeting after meeting—passing resolution after resolution, and threatening the saints with death, unless they would leave their homes and property, and go out of the County. These proceedings were all public and notorious. This mob was led by two Presbyterian preachers; one by the name of , called ; the other by the name of Hancock. They did not attempt to charge the saints with crime, it was their religion, and their religion only, to which they took exception.
This banditti went and joined the mob, when they commenced their operations, after the election; and when they were turned into Militia by , , and ; and disbanded as troops regu [p. 37]