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Letter from Elias Higbee, 21 February 1840

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Letter from Elias Higbee, 21 February 1840

Source Note

, Letter, , to JS, [, Hancock Co., IL?], 21 Feb. 1840. Featured version copied [between Apr. and June 1840] in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 100–103; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 2.

Historical Introduction

While in on 21 February 1840, wrote a letter to JS, the third in a series of seven extant letters apprising JS of the actions of the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, which was considering the ’s memorial to Congress. Higbee had testified before the committee the previous day, and the committee had adjourned with the understanding that Senator and Representative of would be allowed the following day to present their version of what had transpired in Missouri. In this letter, Higbee conveyed to JS much of what Linn and Jameson contended, as well as how he rebutted their arguments.
presumably sent this letter by post to , Illinois, where JS would have received it after he returned from on or before 29 February 1840. The original letter is not extant. copied the version featured here into JS Letterbook 2 sometime between April and June 1840.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Historical Introduction to Letter from Elias Higbee, 20 Feb. 1840–A.

  2. [2]

    Letter from Elias Higbee, 20 Feb. 1840–A.

  3. [3]

    John Smith, Journal, 1836–1840, 29 Feb. 1840, [58].

    Smith, John (1781-1854). Journal, 1833–1841. John Smith, Papers, 1833-1854. CHL. MS 1326, box 1.

  4. [4]

    Coray, Autobiographical Sketch, 17, 19.

    Coray, Howard. Autobiographical Sketch, after 1883. Howard Coray, Papers, ca. 1840–1941. Photocopy. CHL. MS 2043, fd. 1.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter from Elias Higbee, 21 February 1840 Letterbook 2 History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] “History of Joseph Smith”
it should be fully investigated, and they the committee, should have power to send for persons and papers— For if we had a right to claim damages of the , so had they, if all were true concerning the acts alledged against the Mormons; that they had a right to ask the Government, to pay the war against the Mormons— But finally seemed to disapprove of the exterminating order. which was admitted to have existed by . or was issued by their Legislature, but that no one ever thought of carrying it into effect. He said that merely advised the mormons to leave the : to which I replied, ’s speech was before them; that I had stated some of its contents yesterday; and if it were necessary, I could prove it by four or five hundred affidavits
Then stated something about the prisoners making their escape— and that he had no doubt, but that they could have a fair trial in , for the Legislature, to his certain knowledge, passed a law whereby they had a right to choose, any county in the State, to be tried in; to which I replied, that I understood such a law was passed; but notwithstanding they could not get their their trials in the County wherein they desired: for they were forced to go to , whereas they desired to have their trials at Palmira; where they could get their Witnesses, as that was only, sixteen miles from the river, and the other, was a great distance— He said certainly would not go contrary to law— I told him there were some affidavits in some affidavits in those documents that would tell him some things very strange concerning — then wished to know if the affidavits were from any body else save Mormons: I replied that there were some others; but how many I knew not— He then wanted to know how they were certified— whether any clerks name was attached in the business— I told him they were well authenticated by the Courts of record; with the clerk’s name attached thereto [p. 102]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Elias Higbee, 21 February 1840
ID #
516
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D7:188–193
Handwriting on This Page
  • Howard Coray

Footnotes

  1. [17]

    In October 1838, Governor Lilburn W. Boggs issued orders to the state militia that the Mormons should be either driven from the state or exterminated. (Lilburn W. Boggs, Jefferson City, MO, to John B. Clark, Fayette, MO, 27 Oct. 1838, copy, Mormon War Papers, Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City.)

    Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

  2. [18]

    Clark’s speech referred to here was included in John P. Greene’s Facts relative to the Expulsion of the Mormons, which was submitted to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary to accompany the memorial. In the speech, Clark ordered the Saints to “leave the State [Missouri] forthwith,” explaining that “the orders of the Governor to me, were, that you should be exterminated, and not allowed to continue in the State.” (Greene, Facts relative to the Expulsion, 26–27; Historical Introduction to Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840.)

    Greene, John P. Facts Relative to the Expulsion of the Mormons or Latter Day Saints, from the State of Missouri, under the “Exterminating Order.” By John P. Greene, an Authorized Representative of the Mormons. Cincinnati: R. P. Brooks, 1839.

  3. [19]

    JS and his fellow prisoners escaped custody and fled to Illinois on 16 April 1839. They arrived in Quincy, Illinois, on 22 April 1839. (Promissory Note to John Brassfield, 16 Apr. 1839; Order for Change of Venue, Gallatin, MO, 11 Apr. 1839, State of Missouri v. Worthington et al. for Larceny [Daviess Co. Cir. Ct. 1839], photocopy, Max H Parkin, Collected Missouri Court Documents, CHL.)

    Missouri, State of. Order for change of Venue, Gallatin, MO, 11 Apr. 1839. Private possession. Copy in CHL.

  4. [20]

    The legislature passed a law in February 1839 stating that a change of venue was permitted “when the people in the circuit, where the indictment is found, are so prejudiced against the defendant that a fair trial cannot be had.” (Journal, of the House of Representatives, of the State of Missouri, 13 Feb. 1839, 462; An Act to Amend an Act concerning Criminal Proceedings [13 Feb. 1839], Laws of the State of Missouri [1838–1839], p. 98.)

    Journal, of the House of Representatives, of the State of Missouri, at the First Session of the Tenth General Assembly, Begun and Held at the City of Jefferson, on Monday, the Nineteenth Day of November, in the Year of Our Lord, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Eight. Jefferson City, MO: Calvin Gunn, 1839.

    Laws of the State of Missouri, Passed at the First Session of the Tenth General Assembly, Begun and Held at the City of Jefferson, on Monday, the Nineteenth Day of November, in the Year of Our Lord, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Eight. Jefferson, MO: Calvin Gunn, 1838.

  5. [21]

    Order for Change of Venue, Gallatin, MO, 11 Apr. 1839, State of Missouri v. Worthington et al. for Larceny [Daviess Co. Cir. Ct. 1839], photocopy, Max H Parkin, Collected Missouri Court Documents, CHL.

    Missouri, State of. Order for change of Venue, Gallatin, MO, 11 Apr. 1839. Private possession. Copy in CHL.

  6. [22]

    Palmyra is the seat of Marion County, Missouri. (Campbell, Campbell’s Gazetteer of Missouri, 356.)

    Campbell, R. A., ed. Campbell’s Gazetteer of Missouri: From Articles Contributed by Prominent Gentlemen in Each County of the State. . . . St. Louis: By the author, 1874.

  7. [23]

    See, for example, David Pettegrew, Affidavit, Montrose, Iowa Territory, 21 Mar. 1840, Mormon Redress Petitions, 1839–1845, CHL; Lyman Wight, Petition, 15 Mar. 1839, CHL; and Bill of Damages, 4 June 1839. In a petition to the Missouri legislature asking for a change in venue, JS and his fellow prisoners stated that King had written letters that were “published to the world” in which he had “placed us in the wrong” and had presided at public meetings called in opposition to the Mormons. (Memorial to the Missouri Legislature, 24 Jan. 1839.)

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

    Wight, Lyman. Petition, Liberty, MO, 15 Mar. 1839. CHL. MS 24547.

  8. [24]

    Many of the affidavits submitted to Congress with the church’s memorial are stored in the National Archives in Washington DC, but it is unclear how many were created by individuals who were not members of the church. (See the affidavits and petitions housed in Record Group 233, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, National Archives, Washington DC.)

    Record Group 233, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives / Petitions and Memorials, Resolutions of State Legislatures, and Related Documents Which Were Referred to the Committee on Judiciary during the 27th Congress. Committee on the Judiciary, Petitions and Memorials, 1813–1968. Record Group 233, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1789–2015. National Archives, Washington DC. The LDS records cited herein are housed in National Archives boxes 40 and 41 of Library of Congress boxes 139–144 in HR27A-G10.1.

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