[], 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.
ations of the mob. He stated that the mob had gone from Corrill 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 porpose 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 arrive. After his arrival and giving the instruction he did, he went and ordered his troops home, instead of sending them to .
Immediately after his departure, of , arrived, and reported that he had sent on a number of troops to , from , for the express purpose of stopping the operations of the mob: “part of them,” he said, “were to be relied on, and part of them, were not.” All the officers said that and his company, which in all their expeditions, had formed a part of their army, were not to be depended on, for he was as lawless, if not more so, and as mabocratic, as the worst of the mob.
, on his arrival, expressed some disappointment, at not finding , there as he expected, and also at his having ordered his troops home. It commenced snowing and storming, vehemently; after which, also sent his troops home, and they returned; but [p. 42]