The Papers
Browse the PapersDocumentsJournalsAdministrative RecordsRevelations and TranslationsHistoriesLegal RecordsFinancial RecordsOther Contemporary Papers
Reference
PeoplePlacesEventsGlossaryLegal GlossaryFinancial GlossaryCalendar of DocumentsWorks CitedFeatured TopicsLesson PlansRelated Publications
Media
VideosPhotographsIllustrationsChartsMapsPodcasts
News
Current NewsArchiveNewsletterSubscribeJSP Conferences
About
About the ProjectJoseph Smith and His PapersFAQAwardsEndorsementsReviewsEditorial MethodNote on TranscriptionsNote on Images of People and PlacesReferencing the ProjectCiting This WebsiteProject TeamContact Us
Published Volumes
  1. Home > 
  2. The Papers > 

Letter from Francis M. Higbee, 10 January 1844

Source Note

, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 10 Jan. 1844; handwriting of ; three pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, dockets, and archival notations.
Bifolium measuring 12½ × 7⅞ inches (32 × 20 cm). The paper is ruled with approximately forty printed lines, now faded. inscribed the letter in blue and black ink. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. The letter was torn when opened, and remnants of the wafer remain on the recto of the second leaf. The bifolium was later refolded for filing.
The document was docketed by , who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844, and by , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. The document was listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) circa 1904. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early dockets, its listing in a circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:718.

    Jenson, Andrew. Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 4 vols. Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History Co., 1901–1936.

  2. [2]

    Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Jan. 1865.

    Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.

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

  3. [3]

    “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [4], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

  4. [4]

    See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 10 January 1844, wrote a letter to JS in , Illinois, complaining of recent criticisms JS had leveled against him. Five days earlier, the Nauvoo City Council had investigated rumors that member and Nauvoo president were disloyal to JS. According to the minutes of the meeting, Higbee—who was summoned to the meeting by the city marshal—testified that he had heard “from some source” that Law, Marks, and others in the “could not subscribe to all things in the church, and it might make trouble.” later testified that after speaking, Higbee left the council’s ongoing proceedings without permission. After Higbee’s departure, JS said that Higbee “had better stay at home & hold his tongue, lest rumor turn upon him” and that “the young men of the city had better withdraw from him & let him stand on his own merits, not consider him the standard, of the city.” According to Law, who was at the meeting, JS also stated that Higbee was “conniving with ” and that he disgraced his associates.
In his 10 January letter, complained of JS’s “unwarented, and unheard of Attack” on his character during the 5 January meeting. He wrote that he could not understand JS’s motive for making such an accusation but intimated that he thought it might be connected to Higbee’s opposition to plural marriage. Higbee concluded by demanding that an ecclesiastical court immediately investigate the charges against him.
The letter, which bears no postal marks or notations, was apparently hand delivered to JS—possibly by . It is unknown whether JS wrote a response, but the situation escalated in the ensuing weeks. Although Higbee demanded that a church council investigate his case, there is no evidence that the , First Presidency, or held a formal meeting about Higbee’s conduct. However, the matter became a legal issue and was revisited by the city council. On 15 January, informed JS that Higbee intended to put JS “under $10.000 bonds for speaking agai[n]st h[i]m.” The same day, JS issued an arrest warrant for Higbee based on an affidavit from stating that Higbee had used “slanderous and abusive epithets and language” toward JS while in Pratt’s home on 14 January. On 16 January, however, Higbee appeared before the Nauvoo Municipal Court and reconciled with JS, with each expressing feelings of friendship.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 5 Jan. 1844, 36–40. In an address to forty newly sworn Nauvoo policemen on 29 December 1843, JS said he felt as if he were in more “danger from some little doe head of a fool” or a “Brutus” in the city than from the state of Missouri or other outside threats. Within a few days, rumors were circulating that JS was referring to either William Law or William Marks. The rumors and resulting rift between JS and these men were discussed at city council meetings on 3 and 5 January 1844. Law’s opposition to plural marriage was discussed as part of the reason Law had been identified as the target of JS’s remarks. (Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 29 Dec. 1843, 30–31; 3 Jan. 1844, 32–36; 5 Jan. 1844, 36–40; JS, Journal, 3–5 Jan. 1844.)

  2. [2]

    Orson Pratt, Complaint, 15 Jan. 1844, City of Nauvoo v. F. M. Higbee (Nauvoo Mun. Ct. 1844), Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.

  3. [3]

    Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 5 Jan. 1844, 39; 16 Jan. 1844, 45.

  4. [4]

    Law, Record of Doings, 5 Jan. 1844, in Cook, William Law, 45–46.

    Cook, Lyndon W. William Law: Biographical Essay, Nauvoo Diary, Correspondence, Interview. Orem, UT: Grandin Book, 1994.

  5. [5]

    Tensions between Higbee and JS over plural marriage surfaced at least as early as May 1842, when Higbee began spreading rumors about Sidney Rigdon’s family and JS—possibly in connection with JS’s apparent proposal to Nancy Rigdon. (JS, Journal, 13 May and 29 June 1842; Francis M. Higbee, Letter to the Editor, Warsaw [IL] Signal, 29 May 1844, [2]; see also “Municipal Court,” Times and Seasons, 15 May 1844, 5:539.)

    Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

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

  6. [6]

    JS, Journal, 15 Jan. 1844.

  7. [7]

    JS, Journal, 15 Jan. 1844; Orson Pratt, Complaint, 15 Jan. 1844, City of Nauvoo v. F. M. Higbee (Nauvoo Mun. Ct. 1844), Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.

  8. [8]

    JS, Journal, 16 Jan. 1844; Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 16 Jan. 1844, 45; Nauvoo Municipal Court Docket Book, 90; Clayton, Journal, 16 Jan. 1844. Several months later, however, Higbee sued JS for $5,000 in damages for his comments on 5 January and on other occasions. (JS, Journal, 6 May 1844.)

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

Page [2]

and defy the foulest breath that man can breath[e]; he is looking forward without the least fear to the great change; and no chains are so strong, no fetters are bound as tight, as those which bind his soul to this tenement of clay.
Sir, you have Struck a blow at evry thing which renders existence Sweet; you have sought to blast evry proud hope, and evry fond expectation, by throwing into free circulation reports, the truth of which, God is some day to Judge. The cause of your course towards me, has astonished many, from the fact that they can not divine the cause, or reason; and as for myself, I am as ignorant of the cause, as a child unborn. As for the opinion which I always, and still entertain, with regard to the propriety of one mans having more than one woman, or this spiritual business, I am not ashamed to avow, in your presence or in the face and eyes of the world; I have repeatedly Said and am still of the Same opinion “fixed and determined as the pole star” that any revelation commanding or in any wise sufering sexual intercourse, under any other form, than that prescribed by the laws of our , and which has been ratified by special revelation through you, is of HELL; and I bid defiance to any or all such. As far as my character and influence extends, I am willing, not only willing but determined to oppose it, under evry form it can present it self. Whenever my name shall be sounded, my opposition to such a hellish fabrication, shall be known; at the peril of my life, my fortune and my sacred honor.
Though the people should riot and project insurrection; though tyrants should rage and threaten destruction; though the hurricane should lay open the bed of the Sea; though the earthquake should tear the globe in pieces; though the Stars should fall from their spheres, and the frame of nature should be disolved, I know virtue will protect her votaries, while the good man will remain tranquil amidst the ruins of the world.
That man who has pursued pursues a course diferent from that which I have persued, and am still determined to persue, may reach the regions of pleasure where the happy companions, Contentment, Friendship, Knowledge, Wealth, Dignity, and Fame Shall greet him; but alas! how soon must he according to the inevitable decree of Heaven, be consigned to Extravagance, Luxury, & Avarice, who will soon commit their unfortunate victim to Sorrow, [p. [2]]
View entire transcript

|

Cite this page

Source Note

Document Transcript

Page [2]

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Francis M. Higbee, 10 January 1844
ID #
1248
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Francis M. Higbee

Footnotes

  1. [6]

    A possible allusion to Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, act 3, sc. 1, ll. 60–63, in Wadsworth Shakespeare, 1164.

    The Wadsworth Shakespeare, Formerly “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: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 1997.

  2. [7]

    Higbee was likely referring to the 1843 revelation on plural marriage. (See Revelation, 12 July 1843 [D&C 132].)

  3. [8]

    The phrase “my life, my fortune and my sacred honor” echoes the concluding statement in the Declaration of Independence: “We mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.”

  4. [9]

    See Jamieson, Grammar of Rhetoric, 87; and Pullen, Mother’s Book, 124.

    Jamieson, Alexander. A Grammar of Rhetoric and Polite Literature: Comprehending the Principles of Language and Style, the Elements of Taste and Criticism; with Rules for the Study of Composition and Eloquence: Illustrated by Appropriate Examples, Selected Chiefly from the British Classics, for the Use of Schools, or Private Instruction. New Haven, CT: A. H. Maltby, 1840.

    Pullen, P. H. The Mother’s Book: Exemplifying Pestalozzi’s Plan of Awakening the Understanding of Children in Language, Drawing, Geometry, Geography and Numbers. London: By the author, 1820.

© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of UseUpdated 2021-04-13Privacy NoticeUpdated 2021-04-06