Discourse, 12 August 1838
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Source Note
JS, Discourse, , Daviess Co., MO, 12 Aug. 1838. Featured version published [ca. May 1840] in William Swartzell, Mormonism Exposed, pp. 32–33. For more complete source information, see the source note for Discourse, 29 July 1838.
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Historical Introduction
On 12 August 1838, JS delivered a discourse at a Sunday worship service held at , Daviess County, Missouri, regarding the troubles between the and other Missourians. The members of the stopped at Adam-ondi-Ahman on their way from , Caldwell County, Missouri, to the “” in , where they intended to counsel with a company of Canadian Saints who settled there instead of at Adam-ondi-Ahman, where they had been instructed to settle.This stop in occurred amid the increasing turmoil between the Saints and other residents of . On 30 July, non-Mormons held a public meeting at Carrollton, the seat of Carroll County, and passed resolutions calling for the Saints to leave the county. Those at the meeting also sent a committee to , a settlement in the county, to demand that the Saints leave by 7 August. On that day, the committee reported in another public meeting at Carrollton that the Saints were determined to stay and that “they would apply to the for assistance” if needed. In response to this report, the citizens of Carroll County began seeking allies in neighboring counties and requesting “aid to remove Mormons, abolitionists, and other disorderly persons” from the county.Troubles were also increasing in , Missouri. On 6 August, a riot broke out at the election poll in , and on 8 August, Latter-day Saints confronted , a justice of the peace, who was reportedly organizing anti-Mormon vigilantes to take action against the Saints. Rumors of conflict with the Latter-day Saints spread to the surrounding counties, fueling fears that the Saints were in rebellion against the . On 9 and 10 August, residents at public meetings in , Ray County, called for an investigation of the confrontation with Black and for a peaceful resolution of hostilities. The Richmond citizens appointed a three-man committee to travel to Daviess and counties and gather information regarding the conflict. According to , a Latter-day Saint living in , on 11 August the committee traveled to the town, where JS had stopped on his way to the Canadian Saints’ settlement. The committee, JS, and about one hundred other Latter-day Saints met “at the usual place of meeting for worship”—likely the grove near ’s first cabin. The committee then went to Wight’s unfinished home and met privately with Wight and JS.The next day, JS addressed a congregation of Saints in . According to , the meeting was held in the morning in the same place that JS met the committee the day before; it is unclear whether Swartzell was referring to the public meeting grounds or to ’s unfinished home, where JS had preached two weeks earlier. JS gave a discourse in which he exhorted the Saints in Adam-ondi-Ahman “to be of good cheer,” assuring them that they were not in danger but also admonishing them to be prepared to travel to in Carroll County to rescue the Saints living there.apparently recorded the discourse in his journal within a few days after JS gave the sermon. While the majority of Swartzell’s account is a summary, he also captured, or attempted to capture, some of JS’s words. Swartzell’s original journal is apparently not extant; however, after he left the church, he published the journal as part of an anti-Mormon exposé.
Footnotes
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1
JS, Journal, 11 Aug. 1838; see also JS, Journal, 6 Aug. 1838.
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2
“The Mormons in Carroll County,” Missouri Republican (St. Louis), 18 Aug. 1838, [2]. The committee was appointed to deliver its message to prominent non-Mormons at De Witt, but the committee apparently addressed the Saints there as well. (Murdock, Autobiography, 37.)
Missouri Republican. St. Louis. 1822–1919.
Murdock, John. Journal, ca. 1830–1859. John Murdock, Journal and Autobiography, ca. 1830–1867. CHL. MS 1194, fd. 2.
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3
“The Mormons in Carroll County,” Missouri Republican (St. Louis), 18 Aug. 1838, [2].
Missouri Republican. St. Louis. 1822–1919.
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5
“Mormon War,” Missouri Republican (St. Louis), 3 Sept. 1838, [2]; “Public Meeting,” Missouri Republican, 3 Sept. 1838, [2].
Missouri Republican. St. Louis. 1822–1919.
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6
Swartzell, Mormonism Exposed, 32.
Swartzell, William. Mormonism Exposed, Being a Journal of a Residence in Missouri from the 28th of May to the 20th of August, 1838, Together with an Appendix, Containing the Revelation concerning the Golden Bible, with Numerous Extracts from the ‘Book of Covenants,’ &c., &c. Pekin, OH: By the author, 1840.
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7
The timing of the committee’s movements is somewhat unclear. According to George W. Robinson, a public meeting was held in Far West on the evening of 11 August in response to the committee’s visit. Robinson initially dated the meeting minutes as 13 August in JS’s journal but then revised the date to 11 August. Further, Robinson’s minutes indicate the committee came from Ray County, whereas Swartzell’s entry identifies the committee as coming from Clay County. Given the discrepancies in the accounts, there are many possibilities regarding the details of the visit: Robinson may have incorrectly dated the committee’s visit; or the committee may have visited Far West on 11 August in hopes of conferring with JS, who had already left for Daviess County, and may have caught up to him at Adam-ondi-Ahman later in the day; or the committee may have split up and visited Caldwell and Daviess counties simultaneously; or the committee at Adam-ondi-Ahman may have been a separate committee sent from Clay County and not mentioned in other extant documents. (JS, Journal, 11 Aug. 1838; Swartzell, Mormonism Exposed, 32.)
Swartzell, William. Mormonism Exposed, Being a Journal of a Residence in Missouri from the 28th of May to the 20th of August, 1838, Together with an Appendix, Containing the Revelation concerning the Golden Bible, with Numerous Extracts from the ‘Book of Covenants,’ &c., &c. Pekin, OH: By the author, 1840.
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8
This meeting may have been the usual Sunday worship service; however, Swartzell wrote that “the congregation was called together” specifically by JS for a morning meeting, perhaps so that JS could travel to the Forks of Grand River later that day. (Swartzell, Mormonism Exposed, 32; JS, Journal, 12 Aug. 1838.)
Swartzell, William. Mormonism Exposed, Being a Journal of a Residence in Missouri from the 28th of May to the 20th of August, 1838, Together with an Appendix, Containing the Revelation concerning the Golden Bible, with Numerous Extracts from the ‘Book of Covenants,’ &c., &c. Pekin, OH: By the author, 1840.
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10
Swartzell’s journal has daily entries. Also, his account of JS’s 12 August 1838 discourse states that it was delivered in a meeting held “this morning,” suggesting that Swartzell wrote the entry that day.
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11
For more on the reliability of Swartzell’s published journal, see Historical Introduction to Discourse, 29 July 1838.
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