Sidney Rigdon, JS, et al., Petition Draft (“To the Publick”), circa 1838–1839
Source Note
, JS, et al., Petition Draft (“To the Publick”), ca. Sept. 1838–ca. Oct. 1839; handwriting of , , , , and two unidentified scribes; 112 inscribed pages with eight inserted slips of paper; JS Collection, CHL.
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 state.” 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 beginning in 1838. The fifth and seventh installments reprinted passages from ’s History of the Late Persecution Inflicted by the State of Missouri upon the Mormons (Detroit: Dawson and Bates, 1839). In May 1840, the sixth installment drew upon ’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 the Barbarities Inflicted on Them by the Inhabitants of the State of Missouri (Cincinnati: Glezan and Shepard, 1840), a draft of which is presented here. Though no author is named on the title page of the pamphlet, Rigdon was acknowledged as responsible for that publication when it was advertised in the Times and Seasons in 1840 and 1841. Also, much of this draft is in Rigdon’s hand. 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.
The manuscript version of ’s Appeal to the American People presented here is referred to as the “petition draft” titled “To the Publick”. On 1 November 1839, Rigdon’s recently completed petition draft, endorsed by JS, Rigdon, and , was read to a conference of Saints in , Illinois, who then 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.
Although many of the events reported in ’s draft and pamphlet can be corroborated from other sources, his chronology is often inaccurate. (Consult the annotation in Histories,Volume 2 for corrections 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 his 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.
them with great fury. Among the number was a Mrs Higbee, the wife of a John S Higbee, from , who was very sick with fever, and also had an infant at the breast. She was under the necessity of sleeping <spending> this night of storm exposed to all its violence, having nothing but the earth to sleep on. After spending the night in this distressed condition, early in the morning another Mrs [Keziah String] Higbee the wife of who was delivered of a babe without any bed but the earth, or covering but the heavens. of the number
There were many, sick out of the number who were thus inhumanly driven from <their houses> home and had to endure all this abuse and suffering, and seek homes where it could be fo[u]nd for them. The result was that a number being deprived of the comforts of life and the necessa[r]y attendance, died; many children were left orphans, wives widows, and husbands widowers.
The mob, after thus abusing the people, the hundredth part of which is not told here, took possession of the farms of those whom they had thus drven from their homes, and all their cattle, horses, hogs, sheep, &c which amounted to many thousands; together with all their household stuff of every kind, amounting to many thousand dollars worth, and <have> forbid under pain of death, any of the saints ret saintes <them> returning to get any of their property, and if any <any> of <them> did attempt it, if discovered, they were whipped and other wise abused, and one or two who attempted it, were nearly killed. They did come <escaped> forwith their lives and no more. What shews the the brutallity of that people, as much as any other thing is that the wives of these barbarians laughed, at and rjoiced, when they heard of their husbands attempting to violate the chastity of the females, and other wise ininsulted them insult them.
There were, in addition, to flock and herds, which the mob took from the saints, a large field fields of corn, to the amount of many hundred acres, I might say thousands, all ready to harvest, which they took as their own. There were also many hundred acres of wheat, which had been sown, that they also took possession of, and keep them all till this day.
After they had plundered the houses robbed the henroost and carried off all the goods, they [p. [4[b]]]