Letter to Friends in Illinois, 20 December 1841

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Letter to Friends in Illinois, 20 December 1841
Source Note

JS, Letter,
Nauvoo
Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....
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, Hancock Co., IL, to “my friends in
Illinois
Became part of Northwest Territory of U.S., 1787. Admitted as state, 1818. Population in 1840 about 480,000. Population in 1845 about 660,000. Plentiful, inexpensive land attracted settlers from northern and southern states. Following expulsion from Missouri...
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,” 20 Dec. 1841. Featured version published in “State Gubernatorial Convention,” Times and Seasons, 1 Jan. 1842, vol. 3, no. 5, 651. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.

Historical Introduction
On 20 December 1841 JS wrote a letter to “friends in
Illinois
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,” expressing support for the Illinois Democratic Party’s nominees for governor and lieutenant governor,
Adam W. Snyder
6 Oct. 1799–14 May 1842. Lawyer, politician. Born in Connellsville, Fayette Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Adam Snyder and Margaret Hartzel Schaeffer. Moved to Knox Co., Ohio, ca. 1816. Moved to Cahokia, St. Clair Co., Illinois, June 1817, where he helped build...
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and
John Moore
8 Sept. 1793–23 Sept. 1866. Schoolteacher, wagonmaker, farmer, justice of the peace, postmaster, politician, state treasurer. Born in Lincolnshire, England. Immigrated to U.S., 1817. Married Gabrilla, by ca. 1830. Moved to Harrison, Hamilton Co., Ohio. Moved...
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. JS also articulated his position that the
Latter-day Saints
The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...
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should back political candidates who supported the Saints. The letter was first published in the 1 January 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons and was reprinted in several other Illinois newspapers shortly thereafter.

JS’s endorsement of the two Democratic candidates, both of whom were members of the
Illinois
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Senate, was likely based on the pair’s support of a bill the state legislature passed in December 1840 titled “An Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo”—often referred to as the
Nauvoo
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charter
“An Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo,” approved 16 December 1840 by the Illinois general assembly to legally organize the city of Nauvoo. The charter authorized the creation of a city council, consisting initially of a mayor, four aldermen, and nine ...
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.
1
Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.

Snyder
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was first elected to the Illinois Senate in 1830 and then to the
United States
North American constitutional republic. Constitution ratified, 17 Sept. 1787. Population in 1805 about 6,000,000; in 1830 about 13,000,000; and in 1844 about 20,000,000. Louisiana Purchase, 1803, doubled size of U.S. Consisted of seventeen states at time ...
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House of Representatives in 1837. After returning to the state senate in 1840, he was selected as chairman of the judiciary committee, which reviewed and recommended passage of the Nauvoo charter during his tenure.
2
Journal of the Senate . . . of the State of Illinois, 5 Dec. 1840, 45; Ford, History of Illinois, 263. Referring to the passage of the Nauvoo charter, Snyder’s biographer noted that “Mr. Snyder when chairman of the State Judiciary Committee, to which the infamous measures concocted by Senator [Sidney] Little were referred, had reported them favorably, and they were passed without roll call, or a dissenting vote from any member of either party.” (Snyder, Adam W. Snyder, 388.)
Comprehensive Works Cited
Journal of the Senate of the Thirteenth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their Regular Session, Begun and Held at Springfield, December 5, 1842. Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1842.
Ford, Thomas. A History of Illinois, from Its Commencement as a State in 1818 to 1847. Containing a Full Account of the Black Hawk War, the Rise, Progress, and Fall of Mormonism, the Alton and Lovejoy Riots, and Other Important and Interesting Events. Chicago: S. C. Griggs; New York: Ivison and Phinney, 1854.
Snyder, John Francis. Adam W. Snyder, and His Period in Illinois History, 1817–1842. Virginia, IL: E. Needham, 1906.

Moore
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was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives in 1836 and to the Illinois Senate in August 1840. As with Snyder, it appears that Moore played a significant role in shepherding the Nauvoo charter through the senate. In a letter printed in the January 1841 issue of the church newspaper Times and Seasons,
John C. Bennett
3 Aug. 1804–5 Aug. 1867. Physician, minister, poultry breeder. Born at Fairhaven, Bristol Co., Massachusetts. Son of John Bennett and Abigail Cook. Moved to Marietta, Washington Co., Ohio, 1808; to Massachusetts, 1812; and back to Marietta, 1822. Married ...
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identified Moore, Snyder, and a few other politicians—both Democrats and Whigs—who had “rendered us very essential services” in getting the bill passed “without a dissenting vote.”
3
John C. Bennett [Joab, pseud.], Springfield, IL, 16 Dec. 1840, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, 1 Jan. 1841, 2:266–267, italics in original.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
In the 20 December 1841 letter featured here, JS highlighted another prominent Democrat,
Stephen A. Douglas
23 Apr. 1813–3 June 1861. Lawyer, politician. Born at Brandon, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of Stephen Arnold Douglass and Sarah Fisk. Moved to Ontario Co., New York, 1830. Moved to Jacksonville, Morgan Co., Illinois, 1833. Served as attorney general of Illinois...
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, who also helped secure the bill’s passage.
4
Gregg, History of Hancock County, Illinois, 273; Ford, History of Illinois, 263.
Gregg, Thomas. History of Hancock County, Illinois, Together with an Outline History of the State, and a Digest of State Laws. Chicago: Charles C. Chapman, 1880.

Although church members had supported candidates from various political parties during the preceding decade, since their arrival in
Illinois
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, Latter-day Saints had regularly voted for Whig candidates, and some citizens in Illinois perceived JS’s public endorsement of
Snyder
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and
Moore
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as a departure from that practice.
5
Pease, Illinois Election Returns, 1818–1848, 117, 122.
Pease, Theodore Calvin, ed. Illinois Election Returns, 1818–1848. Springfield, Illinois: Illinois State Historical Library, 1923.
JS’s public declaration that the Latter-day Saints maintained no party loyalty—and his implication that the Saints would vote as a bloc for candidates who supported their causes—exacerbated fears about the Saints’ growing political power in
Hancock County
Formed from Pike Co., 1825. Described in 1837 as predominantly prairie and “deficient in timber.” Early settlers came mainly from mid-Atlantic and southern states. Population in 1835 about 3,200; in 1840 about 9,900; and in 1844 at least 15,000. Carthage ...
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and in the state overall. Shortly after JS’s letter was published in the Times and Seasons, several Whig newspapers reprinted it along with scathing critiques of what editors perceived as the church’s new, troubling political position. The editor of the
Springfield
Settled by 1819. Incorporated as town, 1832. Became capital of Illinois, 1837. Incorporated as city, 1840. Sangamon Co. seat. Population in 1840 about 2,600. Stake of Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints organized in Springfield, Nov. 1840; discontinued...
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, Illinois, Sangamo Journal, for example, asserted that “though we have no objection that they should act individually and independently, as their conscience dictates . . . when they attempt to join the civil power with the religious they attempt to destroy our hard-earned birth-right of liberty of conscience, and compel us to retaliate for the injury done.”
6
Connecting JS’s religious and political clout to his authority to command the Nauvoo Legion, the Sangamo Journal also declared, “When he enters upon the duties of a civil office of the State, and as a Lieutenant General, speaks to his friends, whom he knows as a Prophet he can command, and uses the religious influence he possesses under the Military garb he has acquired, he becomes a dangerous man, and must look to the consequences.” (“Citizens of Illinois—Read and Consider!,” Sangamo Journal [Springfield, IL], 21 Jan. 1842, [3], emphasis in original.)
Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.
The Quincy Whig warned its readers that “this clannish principle of voting in a mass, at the dictation of one man . . . is so repugnant to the principles of our Republican form of government, that its consequences and future effects will be disagreeable to think of.”
7
“Joseph Smith,” Quincy (IL) Whig, 22 Jan. 1842, [2], italics in original. Echoing the fear that JS was now dictating how Latter-day Saints should vote, the Peoria Register remarked, “This is probably the first time that a public manifesto of this sort has been issued by a religious leader in this country. . . . We trust that all parties will see its dangerous tendency, and at once rebuke it.” (“The Mormons—Religion and Politics,” Peoria [IL] Register and North-Western Gazetteer, 21 Jan. 1842, [2].)
Quincy Whig. Quincy, IL. 1838–1856.
Peoria Register and North-Western Gazetteer. Peoria, IL. 1837–1843.
While noting that they were not “apologists of the Mormons,” editors of the Peoria Democratic Press nevertheless defended the right of a church member to vote “on account of his religious belief.”
8
Editorial, Peoria (IL) Democratic Press, 26 Jan. 1842, [2].
Despite the largely negative press, the Latter-day Saints and other residents of Hancock County voted overwhelmingly for the Democratic candidates for governor and lieutenant governor, as well as for state representative, in the August 1842 election.
9
Pease, Illinois Election Returns, 1818–1848, 127, 130, 351, 363. Snyder, who had suffered from health problems for years, passed away two and a half months before the election, at the age of forty-two; he was replaced on the ballot by Thomas Ford. (Snyder, Adam W. Snyder, 376, 394; Davidson and Stuvé, Complete History of Illinois, 462.)
Davidson, Alexander, and Bernard Stuvé. A Complete History of Illinois from 1673 to 1873; Embracing the Physical Features of the Country; Its Early Explorations; Aboriginal Inhabitants; French and British Occupation; Conquest by Virginia; Territorial Condition and the Subsequent Civil, Military and Political Events of the State. Springfield, IL: Illinois Journal Co., 1874.
Footnotes
[1]
Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.
[2]
Journal of the Senate . . . of the State of Illinois, 5 Dec. 1840, 45; Ford, History of Illinois, 263. Referring to the passage of the Nauvoo charter, Snyder’s biographer noted that “Mr. Snyder when chairman of the State Judiciary Committee, to which the infamous measures concocted by Senator [Sidney] Little were referred, had reported them favorably, and they were passed without roll call, or a dissenting vote from any member of either party.” (Snyder, Adam W. Snyder, 388.)
Journal of the Senate of the Thirteenth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their Regular Session, Begun and Held at Springfield, December 5, 1842. Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1842.
[3]
John C. Bennett [Joab, pseud.], Springfield, IL, 16 Dec. 1840, Letter to the Editor, Times and Seasons, 1 Jan. 1841, 2:266–267, italics in original.
[4]
Gregg, History of Hancock County, Illinois, 273; Ford, History of Illinois, 263.
Gregg, Thomas. History of Hancock County, Illinois, Together with an Outline History of the State, and a Digest of State Laws. Chicago: Charles C. Chapman, 1880.
[5]
Pease, Illinois Election Returns, 1818–1848, 117, 122.
[6]
Connecting JS’s religious and political clout to his authority to command the Nauvoo Legion, the Sangamo Journal also declared, “When he enters upon the duties of a civil office of the State, and as a Lieutenant General, speaks to his friends, whom he knows as a Prophet he can command, and uses the religious influence he possesses under the Military garb he has acquired, he becomes a dangerous man, and must look to the consequences.” (“Citizens of Illinois—Read and Consider!,” Sangamo Journal [Springfield, IL], 21 Jan. 1842, [3], emphasis in original.)
Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.
[7]
“Joseph Smith,” Quincy (IL) Whig, 22 Jan. 1842, [2], italics in original. Echoing the fear that JS was now dictating how Latter-day Saints should vote, the Peoria Register remarked, “This is probably the first time that a public manifesto of this sort has been issued by a religious leader in this country. . . . We trust that all parties will see its dangerous tendency, and at once rebuke it.” (“The Mormons—Religion and Politics,” Peoria [IL] Register and North-Western Gazetteer, 21 Jan. 1842, [2].)
Quincy Whig. Quincy, IL. 1838–1856.
[8]
Editorial, Peoria (IL) Democratic Press, 26 Jan. 1842, [2].
[9]
Pease, Illinois Election Returns, 1818–1848, 127, 130, 351, 363. Snyder, who had suffered from health problems for years, passed away two and a half months before the election, at the age of forty-two; he was replaced on the ballot by Thomas Ford. (Snyder, Adam W. Snyder, 376, 394; Davidson and Stuvé, Complete History of Illinois, 462.)
Davidson, Alexander, and Bernard Stuvé. A Complete History of Illinois from 1673 to 1873; Embracing the Physical Features of the Country; Its Early Explorations; Aboriginal Inhabitants; French and British Occupation; Conquest by Virginia; Territorial Condition and the Subsequent Civil, Military and Political Events of the State. Springfield, IL: Illinois Journal Co., 1874.
Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter to Friends in Illinois, 20 December 1841 History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] “History of Joseph Smith”
Page 651
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STATE GUBERNATORIAL CONVENTION.

City of
Nauvoo
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, Illinois,

December 20th, A. D. 1841.

To my friends in
Illinois
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:—

The Gubernatorial Convention of the State of
Illinois
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have nominated Colonel
Adam W. Snyder
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for GOVERNOR, and Colonel
John Moore
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for LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR of the State of
Illinois
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—election to take place in August next.
Colonel Moore
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, like
Judge Douglass [Stephen A. Douglas]
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,
1
After the Illinois legislature appointed him to the Illinois Supreme Court in February 1841, Douglas visited Nauvoo in May and was given “freedom of the city.” In June 1841, when Missouri officials were attempting to extradite JS to Missouri, Douglas presided over JS’s habeas corpus hearing in Monmouth, Illinois, and ruled in his favor by declaring the writ against him dead and no longer actionable. (Letter to the Editors, 6 May 1841; “The Late Proceedings,” Times and Seasons, 15 June 1841, 2:447–449.)
and
Esq. [Calvin A.] Warren
3 June 1807–22 Feb. 1881. Lawyer. Born in Elizabethtown, Essex Co., New York. Lived at Hamilton Co., Ohio, 1832. Moved to Batavia, Clermont Co., Ohio, by 1835. Married first Viola A. Morris, 25 May 1835, at Batavia. Moved to Quincy, Adams Co., Illinois, 1836...
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,
2
Warren was a partner in the Quincy, Illinois, firm Ralston, Warren & Wheat and was also part of the legal team that defended JS during the June 1841 habeas corpus hearing in Monmouth, Illinois. In August 1841 Warren wrote a letter to JS offering to sell property in nearby Warsaw to the church. (History of Adams County, Illinois, 707; JS History, vol. C-1, 1205; Letter from Calvin A. Warren, 31 Aug. 1841.)
The History of Adams County, Illinois. Containing a History of the County—Its Cities, Towns, Etc. . . . Chicago: Murray, Williamson, and Phelps, 1879.
was an intimate friend of
General [John C.] Bennett
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long before that gentleman became a member of our community; and
General Bennett
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informs us that no men were more efficient in assisting him to procure our great chartered privileges than were
Colonel Snyder
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, and
Colonel Moore
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.— They are sterling men, and friends of equal rights—opposed to the oppressor’s grasp, and the tyrant’s rod. With such men at the head of our State Government we have nothing to fear. In the next canvass we shall be influenced by no party consideration—and no Carthagenian coalescence or collusion,
3
JS was likely referencing the Anti-Mormon Convention in Illinois. Initially comprising Warsaw residents, the political group convened its first convention in Carthage on 28 June 1841, where it selected candidates for the August 1841 election. (“Anti-Mormon Meeting,” Warsaw [IL] Signal, 23 June 1841, [3]; “To the Citizens of Hancock County,” and “Anti-Mormon Nominations,” Warsaw Signal, 21 July 1841, [3].)
Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.
with our people, will be suffered to affect, or operate against,
General Bennett
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or any other of our tried friends already semi-officially in the field; so the partizans in this
county
Formed from Pike Co., 1825. Described in 1837 as predominantly prairie and “deficient in timber.” Early settlers came mainly from mid-Atlantic and southern states. Population in 1835 about 3,200; in 1840 about 9,900; and in 1844 at least 15,000. Carthage ...
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who expect to divide the friends of humanity and equal rights will find themselves mistaken—we care not a fig for Whig or Democrat: they are both alike to us; but we shall go for our friends, our tried friends, and the cause of human liberty which is the cause of God. We are aware that “divide and conquer” is the watch-word with many, but with us it cannot be done—we love liberty too well—we have suffered too much to be easily duped—we have no cat’s-paws
4
A cat’s paw is a “person used as a tool by another to accomplish a purpose.” The term derives from Jean de La Fontaine’s fable “The Monkey and the Cat.” (“Cat’s paw,” in Oxford English Dictionary, 2:189; Shapiro, Complete Fables of Jean de La Fontaine, 254–255.)
Oxford English Dictionary. Compact ed. 2 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971.
Shapiro, Norman R., trans. The Complete Fables of Jean de La Fontaine. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2007.
amongst us. We voted for General [William Henry] Harrison because we loved him—he was a gallant officer and a tried statesman; but this is no reason why we should always be governed by his friends—he is now dead, and all of his friends are not ours.
5
In the 1840 election Hancock County residents voted overwhelmingly for Harrison, who was the Whig presidential candidate, and for the Whig candidate for the state legislature. Harrison took office on 4 March 1841 but died one month later, after contracting pneumonia. (Pease, Illinois Election Returns, 1818–1848, 117, 346.)
We claim the privileges of freemen, and shall act accordingly.
Douglass
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is a Master Spirit, and his friends are our friends—we are willing to cast our banners on the air, and fight by his side in the cause of humanity, and equal rights—the cause of liberty and the law.
Snyder
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, and
Moore
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, are his friends—they are ours. These men are free from the prejudices and superstitions of the age, and such men we love, and such men will ever receive our support, be their political predilections what they may.
Snyder
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, and
Moore
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, are known to be our friends; their friendship is vouched for by those whom we have tried. We will never be justly charged with the sin of ingratitude—they have served us, and we will serve them.

JOSEPH SMITH.

Lieutenant-General of the
Nauvoo Legion
A contingent of the Illinois state militia provided for in the Nauvoo city charter. The Nauvoo Legion was organized into two cohorts: one infantry and one cavalry. Each cohort could potentially comprise several thousand men and was overseen by a brigadier...
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Footnotes
[1]
After the Illinois legislature appointed him to the Illinois Supreme Court in February 1841, Douglas visited Nauvoo in May and was given “freedom of the city.” In June 1841, when Missouri officials were attempting to extradite JS to Missouri, Douglas presided over JS’s habeas corpus hearing in Monmouth, Illinois, and ruled in his favor by declaring the writ against him dead and no longer actionable. (Letter to the Editors, 6 May 1841; “The Late Proceedings,” Times and Seasons, 15 June 1841, 2:447–449.)
[2]
Warren was a partner in the Quincy, Illinois, firm Ralston, Warren & Wheat and was also part of the legal team that defended JS during the June 1841 habeas corpus hearing in Monmouth, Illinois. In August 1841 Warren wrote a letter to JS offering to sell property in nearby Warsaw to the church. (History of Adams County, Illinois, 707; JS History, vol. C-1, 1205; Letter from Calvin A. Warren, 31 Aug. 1841.)
The History of Adams County, Illinois. Containing a History of the County—Its Cities, Towns, Etc. . . . Chicago: Murray, Williamson, and Phelps, 1879.
[3]
JS was likely referencing the Anti-Mormon Convention in Illinois. Initially comprising Warsaw residents, the political group convened its first convention in Carthage on 28 June 1841, where it selected candidates for the August 1841 election. (“Anti-Mormon Meeting,” Warsaw [IL] Signal, 23 June 1841, [3]; “To the Citizens of Hancock County,” and “Anti-Mormon Nominations,” Warsaw Signal, 21 July 1841, [3].)
Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.
[4]
A cat’s paw is a “person used as a tool by another to accomplish a purpose.” The term derives from Jean de La Fontaine’s fable “The Monkey and the Cat.” (“Cat’s paw,” in Oxford English Dictionary, 2:189; Shapiro, Complete Fables of Jean de La Fontaine, 254–255.)
Oxford English Dictionary. Compact ed. 2 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971.
Shapiro, Norman R., trans. The Complete Fables of Jean de La Fontaine. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2007.
[5]
In the 1840 election Hancock County residents voted overwhelmingly for Harrison, who was the Whig presidential candidate, and for the Whig candidate for the state legislature. Harrison took office on 4 March 1841 but died one month later, after contracting pneumonia. (Pease, Illinois Election Returns, 1818–1848, 117, 346.)