On 1 May 1843, wrote a letter from to JS in , Illinois, to complain about slandering her and disparaging her character. Winchester, who was appointed the of the ’s Philadelphia in April 1841, had been experiencing longstanding difficulties with different members of the branch and with church officials who traveled to Philadelphia. Due to these difficulties, Winchester was removed as presiding elder and replaced by in September 1842. Nevertheless, Winchester’s divisive influence persisted in the branch. Hess wrote JS and in February 1843 asking that they remove Winchester from the branch entirely and explaining that they would receive more information in letters from Armstrong and others. On 21 and 22 April, a council of the Philadelphia branch’s officers investigated an accusation that Winchester had defamed the character of , another member of the Philadelphia branch. During the same council meeting, Armstrong claimed that Winchester had spoken against her, a charge corroborated by , a missionary who had been proselytizing in the area. On 23 April 1843, Nicholson wrote a letter to JS and the Nauvoo stating that Winchester had slandered her character and that he was “under the influense of the evil one.”

One week later, on 1 May 1843, wrote a similar letter, featured here. Addressing JS as church president, she outlined the grievances she had with . Among other things, Winchester accused her of drunkenness, immorality, and keeping company with an “atrocois villain.” Armstrong asked JS to present her charges against Winchester to the for action.

The letter was mailed from on 2 May and reached , Illinois, by 15 May. It then traveled from Monmouth to , a distance of approximately fifty miles. JS received the letter on 22 May, and it was read at a meeting of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on 23 May. On 27 May, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, JS, , and other church leaders considered the letter and its contents during a meeting specifically called for that purpose.