, Letter with postscript by , , Jackson Co., MO, to and JS, , Kirtland Township, Geauga Co., OH, 29 July 1833. Retained copy, [ca. summer 1839], in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 52–56; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 2.
Historical Introduction
In this 29 July 1833 letter, and provided details about events unfolding in , Missouri, to church leaders in , Ohio. In the July 1833 issue of The Evening and the Morning Star, William W. Phelps published an editorial titled “Free People of Color,” which warned free black members of the about the state laws that prohibited free blacks from coming to or settling in the state “under any pretext whatever.” Phelps further stated, “So long as we have no special rule in the church, as to people of color, let prudence guide; and while they, as well as we, are in the hands of a merciful God, we say: Shun every appearance of evil.” In the same issue of the Star, a letter to all of the of the Church of Christ reiterated the need to shun the appearance of evil and added, “As to slaves we have nothing to say. In connection with the wonderful events of this age, much is doing towards abolishing slavery, and colonizing the blacks, in Africa.” These articles angered many Jackson County citizens who saw Phelps’s words as an invitation for free blacks to come surreptitiously and settle in Missouri, even though Phelps later claimed to have said the opposite. On 16 July 1833, Phelps issued an extra of the Star in which he attempted to mitigate the misunderstanding of his earlier article. He wrote:
We often lament the situation of our sister states in the south, and we fear, lest, as has been the case, the blacks should rise and spill innocent blood: for they are ignorant, and a little may lead them to disturb the peace of society. To be short, we are opposed to have free people of color admitted into the state; and we say, that none will be admitted into the church, for we are determined to obey the laws and constitutions of our country, that we may have that protection which the sons of liberty inherit from the legacy of Washington, through the favorable auspices of a Jefferson, and Jackson.
The extra apparently did nothing to calm the church’s opponents.
By 18 July 1833, non-Mormon residents of circulated a document enumerating their grievances against members of the Church of Christ and stating their determination to eliminate them from the county by purchasing their properties or by “such means as may be sufficient to remove them.” Signed by some three hundred residents of Jackson County, the document, known later among members of the church as the “manifesto,” also called for a meeting to be held on 20 July to further discuss the perceived problems with the Mormons and how to remove the church members from the county. At the meeting, the assembled Missourians adopted resolutions listing specific actions to be taken against the Mormons and appointed a committee to present their agreed-upon demands to a group of church leaders. The committee presented their ultimatum that same day and gave church leaders only fifteen minutes to reply. The Mormons refused to comply, after which the committee returned to the , where those who had gathered voted to demolish the Mormons’ . After destroying the shop, they tarred and feathered and and gave notice that they would return on 23 July.
and other church leaders reported that on 23 July, “the mob again assembled to the number of about 500 . . . [and] proceeded to take some of the leading elders by force declaring it to be their intention to whip them from fifty to five hundred lashes apiece.” , , , , , and “offered themselves as a ransom [to the mob] for the church, willing to be scourged or die, if that will appease their anger toward the church,” but the mob declared that all church members must leave or die. The confrontation on 23 July 1833 led to the creation of another document, known as the “memorandum of the agreement.” In the agreement Mormon leaders pledged that most of the leaders of the church and half of the members would leave the county by the first of January 1834 and the remainder would leave by the first of April 1834.
Probably in the day or two after the 23 July agreement, left to inform JS and other church leaders in of these developments. After arriving at Walnut Farm in , probably a two-day journey, Cowdery wrote back to , Missouri, requesting an update on events there and copies of the manifesto and memorandum of agreement. When Cowdery mailed the letter from Walnut Farm is unknown, but given normal mail conveyance time in that era, at least two days would have been required to transport the letter to Independence. The Missouri church leaders therefore probably received Cowdery’s letter no earlier than 27 July 1833.
The letter featured here, which includes copies of the manifesto and of the Mormons’ agreement to leave the county, indicates that the church leaders in had received ’s letter and was written in response to his request. In the 29 July letter, , the principal author, provided an update on recent developments in while added a note on both the anxiety and faithfulness of the Missouri church members. Phelps also included the text of two hymns that had recently been sung in Missouri. Though the body of the letter was largely directed to Cowdery, the postscript from Phelps appears to have been directed to JS. It is not known how or when this letter reached . copied it into JS’s letterbook in late 1839. JS’s 18 August letter to Whitmer, Phelps, and the other church leaders in Jackson County demonstrates familiarity with the contents of this letter, although JS’s letter also references information that Cowdery reported to JS in person.
Cowdery likely left Independence after the creation of the memorandum of agreement on 23 July but before 25 July. He likely did not leave before 23 July because had he been any appreciable distance from Independence on or shortly after 23 July, he probably would not have known of the memorandum’s creation. Further, a reminiscent account by William E. McLellin places Cowdery in Jackson County on 22 July. Cowdery likely left before 25 July because in the letter featured here, John Whitmer told Cowdery that on 25 July many “at the school received the gift of tongues”—something Cowdery would already have known about if he had been present at or near the school of the prophets at the time. (Memorandum of Agreement, 23 July 1833, CHL; Schaefer, William E. McLellin’s Lost Manuscript, 166.)
Memorandum of Agreement, 23 July 1833. CHL.
Schaefer, Mitchell K., ed. William E. McLellin’s Lost Manuscript. Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2012.
of human reason: They declare openly that <their> God has given them this of land, and that sooner or later they must and will have the possession of our lands for an inheritance, and in fine they have conducted themselves on many other occasions in such a manner, that we believe it a duty we owe ourselves to our wives and Children, to the cause of public morals, to remove them from among us, as we are not prepared to give up pleasant places, and goodly possessions to them, or to receive into the bosoms of our families, as fit companions for our wives and daughters the degraded free negroes and Mulatoes that are now invited to settle among us.
Under such a state of things even our beautiful Country would cease to be a desirable residence, and our situation intolerable! We therefore agree that after timely warning, and after receiving an adequate compensation for what little property they cannot take with them, they refuse to leave us in peace as they found us; we agree to use such means as may be sufficient to remove them, and to that end we each pledge our to each other our bodily powers, our lives, fortunes, and sacred honor.
We will meet at the of the Town of on Saturday next 20th Inst to consult of ulterior movements.”
There are about 300 signers to this instrument.
We leave the result <event> with God
Memorandum of the agreement between the undersigned of the Mormon Society in , Missouri, and Committee appointed by a public meeting of the Citizens of Said County; made the 23rd day of July 1833
It is understood that the undersigned <members> of the said society do give their solemn pledge, each for himself as follows, to wit that , , , , , & & shall remove with their families out of this on or before the 1st day of January next, and that they as well as the two herein after named use all their influence to induce all their brethren now here to move as soon as possible, one half say by the first day of January next and all by the first day of April next & to advise, and to try all means in their power to stop any more of their sect from moving to this , and to those now on the road & who have no notice of this agreement they will use their influence to prevent their settling <permanently> in this , but that they shall only make arrangement for temporary shelter, till a new location is fixed on by the Society. & are allowed to remain [p. 54]
In the summer of 1831, several JS revelations indicated that western Missouri was the land of church members’ “inheritance.” David Whitmer later remembered that “there were among us a few ignorant and simple-minded persons who were continually making boasts to the Jackson county people that they intended to possess the entire county.” (Revelation, 6 June 1831 [D&C 52:2, 42]; Revelation, 20 July 1831 [D&C 57:1–5]; Revelation, 1 Aug. 1831 [D&C 58:44–56]; “Mormonism,” Kansas City Daily Journal, 5 June 1881, 1.)
Kansas City Daily Journal. Kansas City, MO. 1878–1891.
At first, the Missourians were willing to give the Mormons approximately five to eight months to settle their affairs and move from Jackson County. However, persecution continued, and when church leaders openly vowed to pursue legal means to remain on their lands, violence again erupted. In early November 1833, an armed group of Jackson County residents drove the Mormons from the county. (See Historical Introduction to Letter, 30 Oct. 1833; see also “From Missouri,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Jan. 1834, 124–126.)
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
Members of the Church of Christ received almost no compensation for their lost property and the abuse they suffered, despite the considerable time and money spent attempting to seek redress through the legal system. In 1839, for example, Edward Partridge wrote, “I have never received any satisfaction” for being tarred and feathered by the mob on 20 July 1833, “although I commenced a suit against some of them for $50,000, damage, and paid my lawyers six hundred dollars to carry it on.” As bishop, in charge of administering inheritances to church members, Partridge also held title to 2,136 acres of land in the county, along with two lots in Independence, but he received no compensation for the loss of his property. (Edward Partridge, Petition for Redress, 15 May 1839, copy, Edward Partridge, Papers, CHL; see also Partridge v. Lucas et al. [Ray Co. Cir. Ct. 1836], Ray Co., MO, Circuit Court Records, 1821–1882, vol. A, p. 249, microfilm 959,749, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; and Phelps v. Simpson et al. [Ray Co. Cir. Ct. 1836], Ray Co., MO, Circuit Court Records, 1821–1882, vol. A, p. 250, microfilm 959,749, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)
This sentence resembles the closing words of the Declaration of Independence, which states, “For the support of this Declaration, with a firm Reliance on the Protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”
Neither here nor in his history does Whitmer include any names of the signatories of the manifesto. Edward Partridge’s copy of this document, however, does list seventy-eight names. The copy printed in The Evening and the Morning Star adds, “Among the hundreds of names attached to the above document were:— Lewis Franklin, Jailor. Samuel C. Owens, County Clerk.Russel Hicks, Deputy Clerk. R. W. Cummins, Indian Agent. Jones H. Flournoy, P. Master.S. D. Lucas, Col. and Judge of the Court. Henry Childs, Att’y at Law. N. K. Olmstead, M. D. John Smith, J. P.Sam’l. Weston, J. P. William Brown, Const[able] Abner F. Staples, Capt.Thomas Pitcher, Deputy Const.Moses G. Wilson, Thomas Willson, Merchants.” (“We the Undersigned Citizens of Jackson County,” [July 1833], Edward Partridge, Papers, CHL; Whitmer, History, 42; “To His Excellency, Daniel Dunklin,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Dec. 1833, 114, italics in original.)
Partridge, Edward. Papers, 1818–1839. CHL. MS 892.
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
The members of the committee who signed the memorandum of agreement were Samuel C. Owens, Leonidas Oldham, G. W. Simpson, W. L. Irvin, John Harris, Henry Childs, Harvey H. Younger, Hugh L. Breazeale, Newel K. Olmstead, James C. Sadler, William Bowers, Benjamin Majors, Zacheriah Waller, Harmon Gregg, Aaron Overton, and Russell Hicks. A copy of the agreement published in The Evening and the Morning Star contains minor variations in spelling and lists Samuel Weston rather than Russell Hicks as the last signatory. (Memorandum of Agreement, 23 July 1833, CHL; “To His Excellency, Daniel Dunklin,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Dec. 1833, 115.)
Memorandum of Agreement, 23 July 1833. CHL.
The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.
Various newspapers in the state and nation published the memorandum of agreement over the next couple of months. According to JS’s history, the memorandum appeared in the Western Monitor in Fayette, Missouri, on 2 August 1833; however, no copy of that issue has been located in modern repositories. (JS History, vol. A-1, 330; see also “‘Regulating’ the Mormonites,” Missouri Republican [St. Louis], 9 Aug. 1833, [3]; “Mormonites in Missouri,” Daily National Intelligencer [Washington DC], 21 Aug. 1833, [2]; and “‘Regulating’ the Mormonites,” Niles’ Weekly Register [Baltimore], 14 Sept. 1833, 47–48.)
Daily Missouri Republican. St. Louis. 1822–1869.
Daily National Intelligencer. Washington DC. 1800–1869.