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General Joseph Smith’s Appeal to the Green Mountain Boys, 21 November–circa 3 December 1843

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General Joseph Smith’s Appeal to the Green Mountain Boys, 21 November–circa 3 December 1843

Source Note

JS [and ], General Joseph Smith’s Appeal to the Green Mountain Boys, 21 Nov.–ca. 3 Dec. 1843. Featured version published as General Joseph Smith’s Appeal to the Green Mountain Boys, December 1843; Nauvoo, IL: Taylor and Woodruff, 1843; pp. [1]–7. The featured version is held at CHL; includes docket, archival stamp, and redactions in ink and graphite.
Two bifolia measuring 8¾ × 5¾ inches (22 × 15 cm) and consisting of four leaves stitched together. The presence of corresponding holes in both bifolia indicates that they were later bound together. At some point, the bifolia became disbound and were folded in half twice horizontally for storage. The fold of the outer bifolium contains separations.
The pamphlet was docketed by , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (now CHL) from 1853 to 1859. It also contains an archival stamp that dates to the mid-twentieth century. The document’s docket and archival stamp suggest continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    “Obituary of Leo Hawkins,” Millennial Star, 30 July 1859, 21:496–497.

    Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

Historical Introduction

In December 1843, and published JS’s Appeal to the Green Mountain Boys, which called on the citizens of to help the Latter-day Saints gain redress for losses sustained from mobs in the 1830s. JS apparently commenced this appeal after “2 gentleme[n] from virmont” visited , Illinois, and lodged with him at the on 20 November 1843. The next day, JS gave “instructi[o]ns to write an appeal to the citizens of Vermo[n]t.” While it is unknown what ideas or language JS contributed to this document, he consulted with Phelps about its contents. Appealing to the citizens of Vermont was one component of church leaders’ broader strategy to gain redress. During a meeting of Nauvoo citizens on 29 November, JS “motioned that every man in the meting who could w[i]eld a pen write an address to his mother count[r]y.” Because JS was born in Vermont and spent much of his childhood there, the appeal repeatedly referred to Vermont as his “native State.” Church members , Benjamin Andrews, , , and Alfonso Young wrote later appeals to the citizens of , , , , and Tennessee, respectively.
JS called for assistance from the states because the Latter-day Saints had not been awarded redress by the courts and legislature or received remuneration from the federal government for their lost property. In the appeal featured here, expressed the Latter-day Saints’ frustration with perceived government ineptitude and impotence by paraphrasing what President told JS in November 1839: “your cause is just, but government has no power to redress you!” The pamphlet broadly requested help “in obtaining justice from Missouri,” but it never specified how ’s citizens were to assist JS and the Saints. The appeal referred to the biblical account of Abraham and his armed servants rescuing Lot as well as to the support and Holland showed the American colonies during the Revolutionary War.
JS and likely addressed the pamphlet to the Green Mountain Boys to remind the citizens of of their legacy as patriots who championed property rights and liberty. The Green Mountain Boys were members of a grassroots militia led by Ethan Allen in the 1770s to protect settlers’ rights to land that was claimed by both and New Hampshire. The militia also fought in the Revolutionary War. Allen, however, was not given command of the Green Mountain Boys when they became official members of the Continental Army in 1775 and were renamed the Green Mountain Regiment.
To make the Latter-day Saints’ plight relevant to ’s citizens, cast JS not only as a religious leader but also as a patriot and general who inherited his love of freedom from his forefathers who “fought and bled” for American independence. Phelps asserted that the church members had been stripped of their rights to life, liberty, and property and questioned his countrymen’s commitment to fighting for justice as they had in 1776. He declared that if the Saints’ wrongs were not redressed and if their right to worship was trampled, American freedom would cease to be, and God would “purify the nation.”
Although wrote the document, JS was identified as the author and adopted it as his own, calling it “my appeal.” JS also attended several gatherings where he heard the appeal read and offered no corrections, demonstrating his tacit endorsement of the document’s contents. The document was apparently completed by 30 November 1843, when a portion was sent to the press. The printing was likely finished around 3 December, since the letter was “consecrated & dedicated unto God” on that day. and published the appeal as a Times and Seasons extra, the version featured here. The original manuscript has not been located.
While the Nauvoo Neighbor was optimistic that the appeal would be well received, extant responses proved critical and sarcastic. On 17 January 1844, the Warsaw Message published the appeal along with a brief response mocking JS’s request for assistance and ridiculing the pamphlet’s use of foreign phrases. In an unsigned letter to the editor of the Warsaw Signal allegedly written from on 15 February 1844, the author claimed to be a part of the Green Mountain Boys, but it is impossible to know if the author represented anyone but himself. The letter excoriated JS, comparing him to a pirate and declaring that he should be hanged because he promised his followers a “new government” and called the American government “rotten.”

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    For an overview of the Saints’ experiences in Missouri, see Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840; and JS et al., Memorial to U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, 28 Nov. 1843, Record Group 46, Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives, Washington DC.

  2. [2]

    JS, Journal, 20 Nov. 1843; see also Clayton, Journal, 20 Nov. 1843. The Nauvoo Mansion was the Smith family residence from 31 August 1843; it was also used as a hotel. (JS, Journal, 31 Aug. 1843; 15 Sept. 1843; 3 Oct. 1843; Berrett, Sacred Places, 3:135–136.)

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

    Berrett, LaMar C., ed. Sacred Places: A Comprehensive Guide to Early LDS Historical Sites. 6 vols. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1999–2007.

  3. [3]

    JS, Journal, 21 Nov. 1843.

  4. [4]

    In addition to consulting with Phelps on the appeal, JS worked with Phelps, John Frierson, and others on the memorial to Congress later that week. (JS, Journal, 21 and 26 Nov. 1843.)

  5. [5]

    Minutes, 29 Nov. 1843.

  6. [6]

    Parley P. Pratt, An Appeal to the Inhabitants of the State of New York, Letter to Queen Victoria, (Reprinted from the Tenth European Edition,): The Fountain of Knowledge, Immortality of the Body, and Intelligence and Affection (Nauvoo, IL: John Taylor, [1844]); Benjamin Andrews, “An Appeal to the People of the State of Maine,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 17 Jan. 1844, [1]; Sidney Rigdon, “To the Honorable, the Senate and House of Representatives of Pennsylvania, in Legislative Capacity Assembled,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 31 Jan. 1844, [1]; Richards, “An Appeal to the Inhabitants of Massachusetts,” 1 Feb. 1844, CHL; Phineas Richards, “An Appeal, to the Inhabitants of Massachusetts,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 7 Feb. 1844, [2]; Noah Packard, House....No. 64. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Memorial. To the Honorable the Governor, Senate and House of Representatives of Massachusetts, in Legislative Capacity Assembled (Boston: Dutton and Wentworth, 1844); Noah Packard, “House—No. 64. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Memorial,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 24 Apr. 1844, [2]; Alphonso Young, “An Appeal to the State of Tennessee,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 28 Feb. 1844, [1].

    Pratt, Parley P. An Appeal to the Inhabitants of the State of New York, Letter to Queen Victoria: (Reprinted from the Tenth European Edition,): The Fountain of Knowledge, Immortality of the Body, and Intelligence and Affection. Nauvoo, IL: John Taylor, 1844.

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

    Richards, Phineas. “An Appeal to the Inhabitants of Massachusetts,” 1 Feb. 1844. CHL.

    Packard, Noah. House....No. 64. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Memorial. To the Honorable the Governor, Senate and House of Representatives of Massachusetts, in Legislative Capacity Assembled. [Boston: Dutton and Wentworth, 1844].

  7. [7]

    According to JS’s 1839 account of his and Elias Higbee’s meeting with Van Buren, the president said, “what can I do? I can do nothing for you,— if I do any thing, I shall come in contact with the whole State of Missouri.” While the phrasing in the appeal differed from the earlier account, Phelps nevertheless captured the essence of Van Buren’s response. (Letter to Hyrum Smith and Nauvoo High Council, 5 Dec. 1839; McBride, “When Joseph Smith Met Martin Van Buren,” 153–154.)

    McBride, Spencer W. Pulpit and Nation: Clergymen and the Politics of Revolutionary America. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2017.

  8. [8]

    Randall, Ethan Allen: His Life and Times, 9–10, 254–255, chaps. 10–11.

    Randall, Willard Sterne. Ethan Allen: His Life and Times. New York: W. W. Norton, 2011.

  9. [9]

    In July 1843, JS delivered a discourse in which he stated, “It is a love of libe[r]ty which inspires my soul. civil and religious liberty— were diffused into my soul by my grandfathers. while they dandld me on their knees.” The state of Illinois commissioned JS as lieutenant general of the Nauvoo Legion in March 1841. (JS, Journal, 9 July 1843; see also Commission from Thomas Carlin, 10 Mar. 1841.)

  10. [10]

    JS, Journal, 29 Dec. 1843; see also Minutes, 29 Nov. 1843; JS, Journal, 3 Dec. 1843; and Minutes, 4 Dec. 1843.

  11. [11]

    JS, Journal, 30 Nov. 1843.

  12. [12]

    Woodruff, Journal, 3 Dec. 1843; see also JS, Journal, 3 Dec. 1843.

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

  13. [13]

    John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff were the publishers of the Times and Seasons. (Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:92, 94.)

    Crawley, Peter. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. 3 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997–2012.

  14. [14]

    See News Item, Nauvoo Neighbor, 6 Dec. 1843, [2].

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  15. [15]

    “The Appeal to the Green Mountain Boys,” and JS, “General Joseph Smith’s Appeal to the Green Mountain Boys,” Warsaw (IL) Message, Extra, 17 Jan. 1844, [1]–[2].

    Warsaw Message. Warsaw, IL. 1843–1844.

  16. [16]

    Green Mountain Boys, Strafford, VT, to the Editor of the Warsaw Signal, Warsaw, IL, 15 Feb. 1844, Thomas C. Sharp and Allied Anti-Mormon Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT.

    Thomas C. Sharp and Allied Anti-Mormon Papers. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *General Joseph Smith’s Appeal to the Green Mountain Boys, 21 November–circa 3 December 1843 History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”
retains them; and the ’ militia law, with this fact before the government, still compells us to do military duty, and for a lack of said arms the law forces us to pay our fines. As Shakspeare would say; “thereby hangs a tale.”
Several hundred thousand dollars worth of land in , was purchased at the ’ Land Offices in that district of country; and the money without doubt, has been appropriated to strengthen the army and navy, or increase the power and glory of the in some other way: and notwithstanding has robbed and mob[b]ed me and twelve or fifteen thousand innocent inhabitants, murdered hundreds, and expelled the residue, at the point of the bayonet, without law, contrary to the express language of the Constitution of the , and every State in the ; and contrary to the custom and usage of civilized nations; and especially, one holding up the motto: “The asylum of the oppressed;” yet the comfort we receive, to raise our wounded bodies, and invigorate our troubled spirits, on account of such immense sacrifices of life, property, patience, and right; and as an equivalent for the enormous taxes we are compelled to pay to support these functionaries in a dignified manner, after we have petitioned, and plead with tears, and been showed like a caravan of foreign animals, for the peculiar gratification, of connoisseurs in humanity, that flare along in public life, like lamps upon lamp posts, because they are better calculated for the schemes of the night than for the scenes of the day, is, as said, your cause is just, but government has no power to redress you!
No wonder, after the Pharisee’s prayer, the Publican smote his breast and said, Lord be merciful to me a sinner! What must the manacled nations think of freemen’s rights in the land of liberty?
Were I a Chaldean I would exclaim: Keed’nauh ta-meroon le-hoam elauhayauh dey-shemayauh veh aur’kau lau gnaubadoo yabadoo ma-ar’gnau oomeen tehoat shemayauh alah. (Thus shall ye say unto them: The gods that have not made the heavens and earth, they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens.)
An Egyptian: Su-e-eh-ni: (What other persons are those?) A Grecian: Diabolos bassileuei: (The Devil reigns.) A Frenchman: Messieurs sans Dieu, (Gentlemen without God:) A Turk. Ain shems: (The fountain of light.) A German: sie sind unferstandig. (What consummat ignorance!) A Syrian: Zaubol. (Sacrifice!) A Spaniard: ll sabio muda conscio, il nescio no. (A wise man reflects, a fool does not.) A Samaritan: Saunau! (O Stranger!) An Italian: Oh tempa! oh diffidanza! (O the times! o the diffidence!) A Hebrew: Ahtauh ail rauey. (Thou God seest me.) A Dane: Hyad tidende! (What tidings!) A Saxon: Hwaet riht! (What right!) A Sweede: Hyad skilia: (What skill!) A Polander: Nav-yen-shoo bah pon na Jesu Christus; (Blessed be the name of Jesus Christ.) A Western Indian: She-mo-kah she-mo-keh teh ough-negah. (The white man, O the white man, he very uncertain.) A Roman: Procul, o procul este profani! (Be off, be off ye profane!) But as I am I will only add: when the wicked rule the people mourn.
Now, therefore, having failed in every attempt to obtain satisfaction at the tribunals where all men seek for it, according to the rules of right:—I am compelled to appeal to the honor and patriotism of my native ; to the clemency and valor of “Green Mountain Boys;” for, throughout the various [p. 4]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
General Joseph Smith’s Appeal to the Green Mountain Boys, 21 November–circa 3 December 1843
ID #
1209
Total Pages
8
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:308–322
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Footnotes

  1. [12]

    This possibly referred to the 1792 Militia Act, which required militia members to supply their own weapons. Fines were levied but not often enforced on those men who failed to participate on militia days. Moreover, militia members often did not have weapons in the early nineteenth century. (Uviller and Merkel, Militia and the Right to Arms, 113–114, 119, 123.)

    Uviller, H. Richard, and William G. Merkel. The Militia and the Right to Arms, or, How the Second Amendment Fell Silent. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2002.

  2. [13]

    See Shakespeare, As You Like It, act 2, sc. 7, l. 28, in Riverside Shakespeare, 414.

    The Riverside Shakespeare: The Complete Works. Edited by G. Blakemore Evans, J. J. M. Tobin, Herschel Baker, Anne Barton, Frank Kermode, Harry Levin, Hallett Smith, and Marie Edel. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1997.

  3. [14]

    Edward Partridge, acting on behalf of JS and the church, purchased about 1,300 acres of land in Jackson County, Missouri, from the federal government in the form of land patents. These purchases occurred between 26 July 1831 and 30 April 1833, though the General Land Office in Washington DC did not begin issuing the land patents until December 1833, and some were not issued until late 1835.a Partridge purchased at least 800 additional acres from various individuals and from the state of Missouri in the form of state land patents.b Other church leaders, including Newel K. Whitney, Sidney Gilbert, and William W. Phelps, purchased lots in Independence for their own needs.c One scholar concluded that the Saints purchased at least 57,000 acres of land in Caldwell County, Missouri.d Another scholar estimated that in September 1838, the Saints owned “between ten and twenty thousand acres” in Daviess County, Missouri.e A later history calculated that for the duration of their stay in Missouri, the Saints purchased more than 250,000 acres from the United States government at a cost of $318,000.f

    (aJackson Co., MO, Land and Property Records, 1832–1857, “Record of Original Entries to Lands in Jackson County Missouri,” 20 Dec. 1898, Township 49 North, Ranges 32 and 33 West, pp. [15]–[16], microfilm 1,019,781, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Land Patents for Edward Partridge, Jackson Co., MO, nos. 14, 26, 27, 34, 1871, 1872, 1873, 1961, 1962, 2317, 2599, 3172, General Land Office Records, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior. bJackson Co., MO, Deed Records, 1827–1909, vol. A, pp. 111–116; vol. B, pp. 1, 16–18, 129–131, 154–156, microfilm 1,017,978, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Parkin, “History of the Latter-day Saints in Clay County,” appendix A. cJackson Co., MO, Deed Records, 1827–1909, vol. B, pp. 32–34, 135–136, microfilm 1,017,978; vol. F, pp. 52–54, microfilm 1,017,980, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL. dLewis, “Mormon Land Ownership,” 34. eWalker, “Mormon Land Rights,” 41n107. fCarr, Missouri, 181.)

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

    General Land Office Records. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Department of the Interior. Digital images of the land patents cited herein are available at http://www.glorecords.blm.gov/.

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

    Lewis, Wayne J. “Mormon Land Ownership as a Factor in Evaluating the Extent of Mormon Settlements and Influence in Missouri, 1831–1841.” Master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1981.

    Walker, Jeffrey N. “Mormon Land Rights in Caldwell and Daviess Counties and the Mormon Conflict of 1838: New Findings and New Understandings.” BYU Studies 47, no. 1 (2008): 4–55.

    Carr, Lucien. Missouri: A Bone of Contention. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin; Cambridge: Riverside Press, 1888.

  4. [15]

    This estimation possibly referred to or was influenced by the reported number of Saints who were expelled from Missouri in late 1838 and early 1839. The two most recent memorials to Congress respectively reported that fourteen thousand and fifteen thousand Saints fled Missouri. According to contemporary letters and historians’ estimates, the total number of Saints expelled from Missouri was likely between eight thousand and ten thousand. (JS et al., Memorial to U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, 28 Nov. 1843, 3, Record Group 46, Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives, Washington DC; Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840; Elias Smith, Far West, MO, to Ira Smith, East Stockholm, NY, 11 Mar. 1839, Elias Smith, Papers, CHL; Heber C. Kimball, Far West, MO, to Joseph Fielding, Preston, England, 12 Mar. 1839, typescript, Heber C. Kimball Family Organization, Compilation of Heber C. Kimball Correspondence, 1983, CHL; LeSueur, 1838 Mormon War in Missouri, 35–36; Leonard, Nauvoo, 30–31, 671n33.)

    Smith, Elias. Correspondence, 1834–1839. In Elias Smith, Papers, 1834–1846. CHL.

    Heber C. Kimball Family Organization. Compilation of Heber C. Kimball Correspondence, 1983. Unpublished typescript. CHL.

    LeSueur, Stephen C. The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1987.

    Leonard, Glen M. Nauvoo: A Place of Peace, a People of Promise. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book; Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press, 2002.

  5. [16]

    The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution states that citizens shall not “be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”

  6. [17]

    Joseph Warren used this phrase to describe America in his 1772 commemorative speech on the Boston Massacre. (Warren, Oration Delivered March 5th, 1772, 18.)

    Warren, Joseph. An Oration Delivered March 5th, 1772. At the Request of the Inhabitants of the Town of Boston; To Commemorate the Bloody Tragedy of the Fifth of March, 1770. Boston: Edes and Gill, 1772.

  7. [18]

    See Luke 18:13.

  8. [19]

    This is a translation of Jeremiah 10:11, a verse that was originally written in Biblical Aramaic. Between the eighth and sixth centuries BC, Aramaic became the lingua franca of the Chaldeans and other groups in ancient Mesopotamia. Jeremiah 10:11 is the only verse in the book of Jeremiah (and one of only a handful of verses in the Hebrew Bible) that was originally written in Biblical Aramaic rather than Biblical Hebrew. In the nineteenth century, Aramaic was typically referred to as Chaldean. How JS or Phelps developed this translation is not known. In November 1835, JS acquired “a Hebrew bible, lexicon & Grammar,” which was probably Josiah M. Gibbs’s A Manual Hebrew and English Lexicon including the Biblical Chaldee. It is possible that JS or Phelps used this to produce the translation. JS or Phelps may have also had access to Joshua Seixas’s Aramaic primer or Adam Clarke’s commentary on the Bible, which included what Clarke referred to as “Chaldee Text.” (Wayment and Wilson-Lemmon, “Recovered Resource,” 262–284; Hanoosh, “Minority Identities Before and After Iraq,” 11; Rosenthal, Grammar of Biblical Aramaic, 10; Schuele, Introduction to Biblical Aramaic, 1; Brown, “Translator and the Ghostwriter,” 44–45; JS, Journal, 20 Nov. 1835.)

    Wayment, Thomas A., and Haley Wilson-Lemmon. “A Recovered Resource: The Use of Adam Clarke’s Bible Commentary in Joseph Smith’s Bible Translation.” In Producing Ancient Scripture: Joseph Smith’s Translation Projects in the Development of Mormon Christianity, edited by Michael Hubbard MacKay, Mark Ashurst-McGee, and Brian M. Hauglid, 262–284. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 2020.

    Hanoosh, Yasmeen. “Minority Identities before and after Iraq: The Making of the Modern Assyrian and Chaldean Appellations.” The Arab Studies Journal 24, no. 2 (Fall 2016): 8–40.

    Rosenthal, Franz. A Grammar of Biblical Aramaic. 7th ed. Wiesbaden, Germany: Harrassowitz Verlag, 2006.

    Schuele, Andreas. An Introduction to Biblical Aramaic. Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2012.

    Brown, Samuel. “The Translator and the Ghostwriter: Joseph Smith and W. W. Phelps.” Journal of Mormon History 34, no. 1 (Winter 2008): 26–62.

  9. [20]

    It is possible that this phrase is in Lenape, a language spoken by an indigenous tribe of the same name that historically inhabited portions of New Jersey, Delaware, eastern Pennsylvania, and southern New York. (Brown, “Translator and the Ghostwriter,” 46n91.)

    Brown, Samuel. “The Translator and the Ghostwriter: Joseph Smith and W. W. Phelps.” Journal of Mormon History 34, no. 1 (Winter 2008): 26–62.

  10. [21]

    The inclusion of these foreign phrases reflects the broader interest that JS and his associates, especially Phelps, had in ancient languages and cultures. The accuracy of Phelps’s translations varies. (See “Part 1: 2 October–1 December 1835”; “Book of Abraham and Related Manuscripts”; and Brown, “Translator and the Ghostwriter,” 26–62; for a linguistic analysis of each phrase, see Brown, “Translator and the Ghostwriter,” 43–47, 62.)

    Brown, Samuel. “The Translator and the Ghostwriter: Joseph Smith and W. W. Phelps.” Journal of Mormon History 34, no. 1 (Winter 2008): 26–62.

  11. [22]

    See Proverbs 29:2.

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