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“Church History,” 1 March 1842

Source Note

JS, “Church History,” in Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1842, vol. 3, no. 9, 706–710. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.

Historical Introduction

In the 1 March issue of the Times and Seasons, JS published a narrative history that included a description of his early visions, of the organization, growth, and migrations of the , and of the persecution the Latter-day Saints endured; it also included a succinct summary of Latter-day Saint beliefs. The document states that , proprietor and editor of the weekly Chicago Democrat, solicited the history on behalf of , a attorney. Barstow was then working on a history of New Hampshire and apparently sought information about JS and the Latter-day Saints for possible inclusion in the book. While it is unclear whether Wentworth or Barstow ever received the information included in this narrative history, JS published the material in the Times and Seasons, the church newspaper printed in , Illinois.
Opportunities to treat the church or its doctrines favorably in publications unaffiliated with the church were rare, and some previous attempts were not entirely successful. On 4 January 1833 JS wrote a letter to , editor of the newspaper American Revivalist, and Rochester Observer. JS told Saxton that he wrote the letter “by the commandment of God” and asked the editor to publish it in its entirety, but Saxton published only an excerpt. JS wrote again on 12 February 1833 asking that the whole of his previous letter be “laid before the public,” but Saxton did not republish it. In 1836, in a volume titled The Religious Creeds and Statistics of Every Christian Denomination in the United States, editor John Hayward included a summary of the Book of Mormon and short excerpts from the Doctrine and Covenants as well as a statement of beliefs that church member furnished, but these materials were bracketed by negative statements from (JS’s father-in-law) and from a skeptical Hayward. In 1839 the editor of the St. Louis Gazette asked church for an article about the church but then declined to print it. Taylor later published the history himself in a tract titled A Short Account of the Murders, Roberies, Burnings, Thefts, and Other Outrages Committed by the Mob and Militia of the State of Missouri, upon the Latter Day Saints.
Though JS had previously produced texts that chronicled the origins and history of the church, the featured historical sketch and statements of belief represent the first time he published that information. Succinctly titled “Church History,” the document was published in the 1 March 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons. No manuscript copy has been located, and it is not known how much of the text JS originally wrote or dictated. In several places the historical narrative parallels other accounts JS produced between 1832 and 1838 or echoes wording from ’s 1840 tract A[n] Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions. To produce his thirteen doctrinal statements, JS may have drawn upon several different texts, including the “Articles and Covenants,” drafted when the church was organized in 1830; ’s “broad principles,” published in the October 1834 issue of the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate; ’s “leading principles,” published in Hayward’s 1836 Religious Creeds; and Pratt’s Interesting Account, which drew upon a theological summary written by . In addition to consulting these texts, JS may have counseled with trusted associates to compose the document. Whatever his intellectual debt to Cowdery, Pratt, or others, JS took responsibility for “Church History” when it was published in the Times and Seasons. He introduced himself at the beginning of the article as “the founder,” and his name appears at the conclusion as the author. An editorial passage printed above his name further confirms his endorsement: “This paper commences my editorial career, I alone stand responsible for it, and shall do for all papers having my signature henceforward.”
In the featured text JS imparted what he characterized as a “sketch of the rise, progress, persecution, and faith of the Latter-Day Saints.” In this historical narrative, later referred to as the “Wentworth letter,” JS offered a synopsis of his first vision, the reception and production of the Book of Mormon, and the founding and expansion of the church. JS also used the featured text as a medium to describe “the injustice, the wrongs, the murders, the bloodshed, the theft, misery and woe” that Latter-day Saints endured in during the 1830s. Following his historical sketch, JS presented thirteen statements of belief that later became known as “The Articles of Faith.” As he had when he wrote nine years earlier, JS asked that “publish the account entire, ungarnished, and without misrepresentation.”
Following the historical narrative’s publication in the Times and Seasons, several other publications made brief, oblique references to it. The newspaper Quincy Whig noted JS’s historical sketch in conjunction with his new role as editor of the church’s periodical. In Mormonism and the Mormons, pastor Daniel Kidder remarked that JS’s 1842 autobiographical narratives were “nothing but the old story about the and the angel, with a few emendations to save appearances.”
JS’s overview of church history was reproduced in various publications in the succeeding decade. John Hayward incorporated excerpts from the sketch in his 1842 volume The Book of Religions, and church members and published a nearly verbatim copy of the text in an 1844 tract titled Correspondence between Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and Col. John Wentworth. Historian included an augmented version of “Church History”—published as “Latter Day Saints”—in his 1844 work He Pasa Ekklesia: An Original History of the Religious Denominations at Present Existing in the United States; it also appeared in the 1848 edition of the book, published by John Winebrenner and retitled History of All the Religious Denominations in the United States. Additionally, versions of JS’s thirteen doctrinal statements were featured in several missionary tracts or newspapers from 1844 to 1851, as well as in an 1851 history of the Latter-day Saints written by London journalist Henry Mayhew. While serving as president of the British mission in 1851, published the thirteen statements of belief, along with a few revelatory texts JS produced, in a collection titled The Pearl of Great Price—a revised version of which was canonized as church scripture in 1880.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    George Barstow, History of New Hampshire from Its Discovery, in 1614, to the Passage of the Toleration Act, in 1819 (Concord, NH: I. S. Boyd, 1842). Barstow’s initial interest in the church may have been prompted by recent Latter-day Saint missionary activity and church growth in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. (See Letter from Eli Maginn, 22 Mar. 1842; and Williams, “Missionary Movements of the LDS Church in New England,” 128–133, 147–156.)

    Williams, Richard Shelton. “The Missionary Movements of the LDS Church in New England, 1830–1850.” Master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1969.

  2. [2]

    “Mormonism,” American Revivalist, and Rochester (NY) Observer, 2 Feb. 1833, [2]; Letter to Noah C. Saxton, 4 Jan. 1833; Letter to Noah C. Saxton, 12 Feb. 1833.

    American Revivalist, and Rochester Observer. Rochester, NY. 1827–1833.

  3. [3]

    Hayward, Religious Creeds and Statistics, 130–142.

    Hayward, John. The Religious Creeds and Statistics of Every Christian Denomination in the United States and British Provinces. With Some Account of the Religious Sentiments of the Jews, American Indians, Deist, Mahometans, &c. Boston: By the author, 1836.

  4. [4]

    Taylor, Short Account of the Murders, 8.

    Taylor, John. A Short Account of the Murders, Roberies, Burnings, Thefts, and Other Outrages Committed by the Mob and Militia of the State of Missouri, Upon the Latter Day Saints. Springfield, IL: By the author, 1839.

  5. [5]

    See, for example, History, ca. Summer 1832; and JS History, vol. A-1, 1–61.

  6. [6]

    The issue was likely published after 2 March, when JS read the proof sheets. Wilford Woodruff, who worked in the printing office, recorded that he spent the day of 4 March “at the [printing] Office making up the Mails or prepairing papers for it.” (JS, Journal, 2 Mar. 1842; Woodruff, Journal, 4 Mar. 1842.)

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  7. [7]

    History, ca. Summer 1832; Conversations with Robert Matthews, 9–11 Nov. 1835; JS History, vol. A-1, 1–7. For a comparison between Pratt’s Interesting Account and the featured text, see Orson Pratt, A[n] Interesting Account of Several Remarkable Visions, 1840.

  8. [8]

    Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20:29–36]; Oliver Cowdery, “Address,” Messenger and Advocate, Oct. 1834, 1:1–2; Hayward, Religious Creeds and Statistics, 139–140; see also Pratt and Higbee, Address; compare Pratt, Late Persecution of the Church, iii–xiii.

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

    Hayward, John. The Religious Creeds and Statistics of Every Christian Denomination in the United States and British Provinces. With Some Account of the Religious Sentiments of the Jews, American Indians, Deist, Mahometans, &c. Boston: By the author, 1836.

    Pratt, Parley P., and Elias Higbee. An Address by Judge Higbee and Parley P. Pratt, Ministers of the Gospel, of the Church of Jesus Christ of “Latter-day Saints,” to the Citizens of Washington, and to the Public in General. N.p., 1840.

  9. [9]

    During this period, John Taylor reportedly assisted JS with producing content for the Times and Seasons. (Woodruff, Journal, 19 Feb. 1842.)

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  10. [10]

    Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1842, 3:710. When the history was updated and sent to Israel Daniel Rupp for publication, JS was again named as author of the text. (Rupp, He Pasa Ekklesia, 404.)

  11. [11]

    Church historian Brigham H. Roberts was among the first to refer to the featured text as the “Wentworth letter.” Given its lack of a date, salutation, and valediction, the featured text is not a letter, though portions of the text may have been derived from one. (History of the Church, 4:535.)

    History of the Church / Smith, Joseph, et al. History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Edited by B. H. Roberts. Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1902–1912 (vols. 1–6), 1932 (vol. 7).

  12. [12]

    From early 1839 onward JS and other church leaders encouraged the Latter-day Saints to gather up “knowledge of all the facts and suffering and abuses put upon them by the people of this state [Missouri].” In late 1839 JS, Sidney Rigdon, and others traveled to Washington DC to seek redress from the federal government by presenting a lengthy memorial that described the violence Missouri vigilantes perpetrated against church members. These experiences and the possibility of redress were never far from JS’s mind during this period and beyond. (Letter to Edward Partridge and the Church, ca. 22 Mar. 1839; Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840; Minutes and Discourse, 6 Mar. 1840; JS, Nauvoo, IL, to Henry Clay, 4 Nov. 1843, draft, JS Collection, CHL.)

  13. [13]

    From 1844 to 1851 these doctrinal statements appeared in various church-related tracts under different titles, including “Faith and Doctrine of the Latter Day Saints,” “L.D. Saints’ Faith,” “Latter Day Saint’s Faith,” and “Faith of the Latter-Day Saints.” The 1878 version of the Pearl of Great Price referred to the statements as “Articles of our Faith”; the 1902 version added numbers to the statements and referred to them as “The Articles of Faith Of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” ([Gooch], Death of the Prophets Joseph and Hyram Smith, 9–10; Flanigan, Reply to a Sheet, 7–8; Orson Hyde, “Latter Day Saint’s Faith,” Frontier Guardian [Kanesville, IA], 20 Feb. 1850, [1]; [Mayhew], Mormons, 46–47; Pearl of Great Price, 1878 ed., 63; Pearl of Great Price, 1902 ed., 102–103, emphasis in original.)

    Death of the Prophets Joseph and Hyram Smith, Who Were Murdered while in Prison at Carthage, on the 27th Day of June, A. D. 1844. Boston: John Gooch, 1844.

    Flanigan, J. H. Reply to a Sheet Entitled, “The Result of Two Meetings between the L.D. Saints and Primitive Methodists,” at Gravely, Cambridgshire. Bedford, England, 1849.

    Frontier Guardian. Kanesville, IA. 1849–1852.

    [Mayhew, Henry]. The Mormons; or, Latter-Day Saints. With Memoirs of the Life and Death of Joseph Smith, the “American Mahomet.” London: Office of the National Illustrated Library, [1851].

    The Pearl of Great Price: Being a Choice Selection from the Revelations, Translations and Narrations of Joseph Smith, First Prophet, Seer, and Revelator to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City: Latter-day Saints’ Printing and Publishing Establishment, 1878.

    The Pearl of Great Price: A Selection from the Revelations, Translation, and Narrations of Joseph Smith First Prophet, Seer and Revelator to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1902.

  14. [14]

    Editorial, Quincy (IL) Whig, 12 Mar. 1842, [2].

    Quincy Whig. Quincy, IL. 1838–1856.

  15. [15]

    Kidder, Mormonism and the Mormons, 334. Kidder may have been referring to both “Church History” and the more extensive “History of Joseph Smith” that JS began publishing serially in the 15 March 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons. (Times and Seasons, 15 Mar. 1842, 3:726.)

    Kidder, Daniel P. Mormonism and the Mormons: A Historical View of the Rise and Progress of the Sect Self-Styled Latter-Day Saints. New York: G. Lane and P. P. Sandford, 1842.

  16. [16]

    Hayward, Book of Religions, 260–266; Correspondence between Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and Col. John Wentworth, 3–6.

    Hayward, John. The Book of Religions; Comprising the Views Creeds, Sentiments, or Opinions, of All the Principal Religious Sects in the World, Particularly of All Christian Denominations in Europe and America; To Which Are Added Church and Missionary Statistics, Together with Biographical Sketches. Boston: John Hayward, 1842.

    Correspondence between Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and Col. John Wentworth, Editor of “The Chicago Democrat,” and Member of Congress from Illinois; Gen. James Arlington Bennet, of Arlington House, Long Island, and the Honorable John C. Calhoun, Senator from South Carolina. . . . New York: John E. Page and L. R. Foster, 1844.

  17. [17]

    Rupp, He Pasa Ekklesia, 404–410; Winebrenner, History of All the Religious Denominations in the United States, 344–349. In 1843, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, publisher Clyde, Williams & Co. requested that JS submit an article on the Latter-day Saints for inclusion in a book; with the aid of scribe William W. Phelps, JS later supplied them with an expanded version of the historical sketch and doctrinal statements. After receiving a copy of the book, JS offered to furnish Rupp with “further information, at a proper time.” (Clyde, Williams & Co., Harrisburg, PA, to JS and Sidney Rigdon, Nauvoo, IL, ca. 15 July 1843; JS per William W. Phelps, Nauvoo, IL, to Clyde, Williams & Co., Harrisburg, PA, 1 Aug. 1843, copy, JS Collection, CHL; William W. Phelps, Historical Article, Sept. 1843, CHL; JS, Nauvoo, IL, to Israel Daniel Rupp, Lancaster, PA, 5 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL.)

    Winebrenner, John, comp. History of All the Religious Denominations in the United States: Containing Authentic Accounts of the Rise and Progress, Faith and Practice, Localities and Statistics, of the Different Persuasions: Written Expressly for the Work, by Fifty-Three Eminent Authors, Belonging to the Respective Denominations. 2nd ed. Harrisburg, PA: John Winebrenner, 1848.

  18. [18]

    See, for example, [Gooch], Death of the Prophets Joseph and Hyram Smith, 9–10; The Latter-Day Saints’ Belief (n.p., [1851?]), copy at CHL; Flanigan, Reply to a Sheet, 7–8; “Latter Day Saint’s Faith,” Frontier Guardian (Kanesville, IA), 20 Feb. 1850, [1]; and [Mayhew], Mormons, 46–47.

    Death of the Prophets Joseph and Hyram Smith, Who Were Murdered while in Prison at Carthage, on the 27th Day of June, A. D. 1844. Boston: John Gooch, 1844.

    The Latter-Day Saints’ Belief. N.p., [1851?]. Copy at CHL.

    Flanigan, J. H. Reply to a Sheet Entitled, “The Result of Two Meetings between the L.D. Saints and Primitive Methodists,” at Gravely, Cambridgshire. Bedford, England, 1849.

    Frontier Guardian. Kanesville, IA. 1849–1852.

    [Mayhew, Henry]. The Mormons; or, Latter-Day Saints. With Memoirs of the Life and Death of Joseph Smith, the “American Mahomet.” London: Office of the National Illustrated Library, [1851].

  19. [19]

    Pearl of Great Price, 1851 ed., 55; Pearl of Great Price, 1878 ed., 63; “Fiftieth Semi-annual Conference,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 13 Oct. 1880, 588.

    The Pearl of Great Price: Being a Choice Selection from the Revelations, Translations, and Narrations of Joseph Smith, First Prophet, Seer, and Revelator to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Liverpool: F. D. Richards, 1851.

    The Pearl of Great Price: Being a Choice Selection from the Revelations, Translations and Narrations of Joseph Smith, First Prophet, Seer, and Revelator to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt Lake City: Latter-day Saints’ Printing and Publishing Establishment, 1878.

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. Additions to “Church History,” September 1843, Draft “Latter Day Saints,” 1844 *“Church History,” 1 March 1842 Times and Seasons, 1 March 1842 History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 708

same ordinances, gifts, powers, and blessing, as was enjoyed on the eastern continent, that the people were cut off in consequence of their transgressions, that the last of their prophets who existed among them was commanded to write an abridgement of their prophesies, history &c., and to hide it up in the earth, and that it should come forth and be united with the bible for the accomplishment of the purposes of God in the last days. For a more particular account I would refer to the Book of Mormon, which can be purchased at , or from any of our travelling .
As soon as the news of this discovery was made known, false reports, misrepresentation and slander flew as on the wings of the wind in every direction, the house was frequently beset by mobs, and evil designing persons, several times I was shot at, and very narrowly escaped, and every device was made use of to get the away from me, but the power and blessing of God attended me, and several began to believe my testimony.
On the 6th of April, 1830, the “,” was first organized in the town of , Ontario co., state of New York. Some few were called and by the spirit of revelation, and prophesy, and began to preach as the spirit gave them utterance, and though weak, yet were they strengthened by the power of God, and many were brought to repentance, were immersed in the water, and were filled with the Holy Ghost by the . They saw visions and prophesied, devils were cast out and the sick healed by the laying on of hands. From that time the work rolled forth with astonishing rapidity, and churches were soon formed in the states of , , , , and ; in the last named state a considerable settlement was formed in ; numbers joined the church and we were increasing rapidly; we made large purchases of land, our farms teemed with plenty, and peace and happiness was enjoyed in our domestic circle and throughout our neighborhood; but as we could not associate with our neighbors who were many of them of the basest of men and had fled from the face of civilized society, to the frontier country to escape the hand of justice, in their midnight revels, their sabbath breaking, horseracing, and gambling, they commenced at first ridicule, then to persecute, and finally an organized mob assembled and burned our houses, tarred, and feathered, and whipped many of our brethren and finally drove them from their habitations; who houseless, and homeless, contrary to law, justice and humanity, had to wander on the bleak prairies till the children left the tracks of their blood on the prairie, this took place in the month of November, and they had no other covering but the canopy of heaven, in this inclement season of the year; this proceeding was winked at by the government and although we had warrantee deeds for our land, and had violated no law we could obtain no redress.
There were many sick, who were thus inhumanly driven from their houses, and had to endure all this abuse and to seek homes where they could be found. The result was, that a great many of them being deprived of the comforts of life, and the necessary attendances, died; many children were left orphans; wives, widows; and husbands widowers.—Our farms were taken possession of by the mob, many thousands of cattle, sheep, horses, and hogs, were taken and our household goods, store goods, and printing press, and type were broken, taken, or otherwise destroyed.
Many of our brethren removed to where they continued until 1836, three years; there was no violence offered but there were threatnings of violence. But in the summer of 1836, these threatnings began to assume a more serious form; from threats, public meetings were called, resolutions were passed, vengeance and destruction were threatened, and affairs again assumed a fearful attitude, was a sufficient precedent, and as the authorities in that county did not interfere, they boasted that they would not in this, which on application to the authorities we found to be too true, and after much violence, privation and loss of property we were again driven from our homes.
We next settled in , and counties, where we made large and extensive settlements, thinking to free ourselves from the power of oppression, by settling in new counties, with very few inhabitants in them; but here we were not allowed to live in peace, but in 1838 we were again attacked by mobs [p. 708]
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“Church History,” 1 March 1842
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5
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Footnotes

  1. [13]

    The Book of Mormon was first published in Palmyra, New York, in 1830; it was later reprinted in Kirtland, Ohio, in 1837 and in Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1840. While proselytizing in England in 1841, apostles Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Parley P. Pratt also printed an edition of the book in Liverpool. The 15 January 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons lists the Book of Mormon (likely the third edition) among the publications available for purchase at the printing office in Nauvoo. (Book of Mormon [Palmyra, NY: E. B. Grandin, 1830]; Book of Mormon, 2nd ed. [Kirtland, OH: P. P. Pratt and J. Goodson, 1837]; Book of Mormon, 3rd ed. [Nauvoo, IL: Robinson and Smith, 1840]; Book of Mormon, 1st European ed. [Liverpool, England: J. Tompkins, 1841]; “Books and Stationery,” Times and Seasons, 15 Jan. 1842, 3:670.)

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  2. [14]

    For example, in September 1827 a group of ten or twelve men led by Willard Chase reportedly attempted to steal “Joe Smiths gold bible.” While carrying the plates through a wooded area, JS was apparently attacked several times. (Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845, bk. 5, pp. [8]–[12]; see also Knight, Reminiscences, 2.)

    Knight, Joseph, Sr. Reminiscences, no date. CHL. MS 3470.

  3. [15]

    JS organized the church in 1830 as the “Church of Christ”; an 1838 revelation established the full name of the church as used here. The earliest and some later sources place the meeting at Fayette, New York. Other later documents, including the present history, inaccurately locate the meeting at Manchester. The discrepancy may originate with William W. Phelps, who was not involved with the church at the time of its organization and therefore appears to have misidentified the location. While preparing the Book of Commandments for publication based on Revelation Book 1, the editors (who included Phelps) added “given in Manchester, NY” to a 6 April 1830 revelation in chapter 22. Records linked to Phelps or Orson Pratt (who was also not present at the church’s organizational meeting but who later spoke of Fayette as the correct location) state that the 6 April meeting took place in Manchester. Later printings of the Doctrine and Covenants and Pratt’s Interesting Account either omit references to Manchester as the site or revise the meeting place to Fayette. (Articles and Covenants, ca. Apr. 1830 [D&C 20:1]; Revelation, 26 Apr. 1838 [D&C 115:3–4]; Revelation, 6 Apr. 1830 [D&C 21]; JS History, vol. A-1, 37; Revelation, 6 Apr. 1830, in Book of Commandments 22 [D&C 21]; “Prospects of the Church,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Mar. 1833, [4]; Pratt, Interesting Account, 23–24; Orson Pratt, in Journal of Discourses, 7 Oct. 1869, 13:193; Revelation, 6 Apr. 1830, in Doctrine and Covenants 46, 1835 ed. [D&C 21]; Revelations, Apr. 1830–A through E, in Doctrine and Covenants 45, 1835 ed. [D&C 23]; Pratt, Remarkable Visions, 12.)

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

    Journal of Discourses. 26 vols. Liverpool: F. D. Richards, 1855–1886.

    Pratt, Orson. Remarkable Visions. By Orson Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Liverpool: R. James, 1848.

  4. [16]

    A 20 July 1831 revelation declared that Independence, Jackson County, Missouri, was to be the “centre place” at which the “City of Zion” would be built. By 1833 church leaders had purchased more than two thousand acres of land. (Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57:2–3]; “Joseph Smith Documents from February 1833 through March 1834.”)

  5. [17]

    In July 1833 Jackson County residents demanded that the Latter-day Saints leave the county. When church leaders demurred, a mob destroyed the church’s printing office and tarred and feathered Edward Partridge and Charles Allen. Violence directed at church members resumed in late October and early November, eventually forcing most Saints to flee north to Clay County. When several families returned to their homes in February 1834, they were reportedly threatened with guns and beaten with whips and sticks. By May, Phelps stated that mobs had burned “nearly all” of the Latter-day Saints’ buildings in the county. (“‘Regulating’ the Mormonites,” Missouri Republican [St. Louis], 9 Aug. 1833, [3]; “To His Excellency, Daniel Dunklin,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Dec. 1833, 114; “From Missouri,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Jan. 1834, 124–126; [Edward Partridge], “A History, of the Persecution,” Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:17–18; Abigail Calkins Leonard, Affidavit, 11 Mar. 1840, Mormon Redress Petitions, 1839–1845, CHL; Letter from William W. Phelps, 27 Feb. 1834; “The Outrage in Jackson County, Missouri,” The Evening and the Morning Star, May 1834, 160; see also Jennings, “Zion Is Fled,” chaps. 4–5; and “Joseph Smith Documents from February 1833 through March 1834.”)

    Missouri Republican. St. Louis. 1822–1919.

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

    Mormon Redress Petitions, 1839–1845. CHL. MS 2703.

    Jennings, Warren A. “Zion Is Fled: The Expulsion of the Mormons from Jackson County, Missouri.” PhD diss., University of Florida, 1962.

  6. [18]

    By summer 1836 hundreds of church members were living in Clay County, Missouri; over one hundred more families reportedly arrived that summer. (Partridge, Diary, 6 May–29 June 1836; Murdock, Journal, 27 July 1836, 86.)

    Partridge, Edward. Diaries, 1818 and 1835–1836. Edward Partridge, Papers, 1818–1839. CHL. MS 892, box 1, fds. 1–2.

    Murdock, John. Journal, ca. 1830–1859. John Murdock, Journal and Autobiography, ca. 1830–1867. CHL. MS 1194, fd. 2.

  7. [19]

    Although many of the original settlers of Clay County were determined to see the Latter-day Saints leave the county, the conditions surrounding the Saints’ departure were markedly less violent than the earlier episode in Jackson County. (See Parkin, “History of the Latter-day Saints in Clay County,” chap. 8; and “Joseph Smith Documents from October 1835 through January 1838.”)

    Parkin, Max H. “A History of the Latter-day Saints in Clay County, Missouri, from 1833 to 1837.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1976.

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