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Letter to Isaac Morley, 16 June 1844

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Letter to Isaac Morley, 16 June 1844

Source Note

JS, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to , [, Rocky Run precinct, Hancock Co., IL], 16 June 1844. Featured version drafted [16 June 1844]; handwriting of ; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes docket, redaction, use marks, and notation.
Single leaf measuring 9⅝ × 7¾ inches (24 × 20 cm). The leaf was hand cut on the left side of the recto, which suggests that it was originally part of a book or larger sheet. The letter was trifolded for filing and then docketed. The docket notes that the sent copy was delivered to Morley “by .”
The letter was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and served as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854. Jonathan Grimshaw, who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1856, copied the letter into JS’s history in 1856. The notation “A.J” was later added by Andrew Jenson, who began working in the Church Historian’s Office in 1891 and served as assistant church historian from 1897 to 1941. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The letter’s early docket, its transcription in JS’s history, its notation, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

  2. Historian’s Office, Journal, 7 June 1853; Wilford Woodruff, Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, to George A. Smith, 30 Aug. 1856, in Historian’s Office, Letterpress Copybooks, vol. 1, p. 364; JS History, vol. F-1, 107. Grimshaw copied the letter into JS’s history sometime in 1856. (Source Note for and Historical Introduction to History, 1838–1856, vol. F-1.)

    Historian’s Office. Journal, 1844–1997. CHL. CR 100 1.

    Historian’s Office. Letterpress Copybooks, 1854–1879, 1885–1886. CHL. CR 100 38.

  3. Jenson, Autobiography, 192, 389; Cannon, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891; Jenson, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891 and 19 Oct. 1897; Bitton and Arrington, Mormons and Their Historians, 47–52.

    Jenson, Andrew. Autobiography of Andrew Jenson: Assistant Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. . . . Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1938.

    Cannon, George Q. Journals, 1855–1864, 1872–1901. CHL. CR 850 1.

    Jenson, Andrew. Journals, 1864–1941. Andrew Jenson, Autobiography and Journals, 1864–1941. CHL.

    Bitton, David, and Leonard J. Arrington. Mormons and Their Historians. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988.

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

Historical Introduction

On 16 June 1844, JS wrote a letter from , Hancock County, Illinois, to in in the Rocky Run precinct of Hancock County to provide him with instructions for the members under his direction amid growing unrest in the . Morley had written to JS earlier that day to inform him of an ultimatum that the Saints at his settlement had received from a group of vigilantes on 15 June. The men told Morley that if the area’s Saints wished to avoid violence, they would need to assist with the arrest of JS, immediately move to Nauvoo, or surrender their arms and remain neutral during the impending conflict. Morley informed JS that the Saints living in his settlement did not intend to comply “with any of thease proposals” but instead planned to “stand in [their] own defence.” JS received Morley’s letter sometime around five o’clock in the evening, shortly after delivering a Sunday afternoon discourse.
JS responded to ’s letter immediately after reading it. He apparently dictated the letter to or assigned him to compose it. Acting in his capacity as lieutenant general of the , JS ordered Morley and the Saints at the to keep abreast of the actions of the vigilantes and to prepare the local members of the Nauvoo Legion to be ready to assist in defending and other Latter-day Saint settlements throughout the . He further requested Morley to swear out an affidavit about the threat against the Saints and to send word to governor regarding these developments.
After the letter was composed, JS gave it to ’s son-in-law to carry to . Traveling from to the settlement, about thirty miles, took several hours. Allen presumably delivered the letter to Morley that evening or the following day. Pursuant to JS’s directions, on 20 June, Morley and others—, John Edmiston, and —swore an affidavit before Justice of the Peace regarding the threats made on 15 June, indicating that the mob said they would take action against the Saints with or without the sanction of . A copy of this affidavit was subsequently sent to Ford on 21 June.
The original letter sent to is apparently not extant. The version featured here is a retained copy of the letter in the handwriting of . The cancellations and insertions in this version suggest that it served as a draft for the sent copy.

Footnotes

  1. Letter from Isaac Morley, 16 June 1844.

  2. JS, Journal, 16 June 1844; Richards, Journal, 16 June 1844; Discourse, 16 June 1844–B.

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

  3. The 3 February 1841 ordinance organizing the Nauvoo Legion permitted not only citizens of Nauvoo but also “such Citizens of Hancock County as may unite by Voluntary Enrollment” to join the Nauvoo Legion. (Minutes, 3 Feb. 1841.)

  4. See Clay Co., MO, Marriage Records, 1822–1878, vol. A, p. 154, 2 Sept. 1835, microfilm 955,303, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; and JS History, vol. F-1, 107.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  5. Isaac Morley et al., Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 20 June 1844, JS Office Papers, CHL. Other residents of Morley’s settlement also swore out affidavits regarding various threats that mobs in the region had made against members of their community. (See Hiram B. Mount and John Cunningham, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 20 June 1844; Solomon Hancock et al., Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 20 June 1844; Allen Wait, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 20 June 1844; James Guyman, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 20 June 1844; Obadiah Bowen, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 20 June 1844, JS Office Papers, CHL.)

    JS Office Papers / Joseph Smith Office Papers, ca. 1835–1845. CHL. MS 21600.

  6. Minutes, 21 June 1844; Letter to Thomas Ford, 21 June 1844.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Letter to Isaac Morley, 16 June 1844
History, 1838–1856, volume F-1 [1 May 1844–8 August 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”

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Head Quarters, , Liut Gens office
June 16, 1844.—
Col
Morly Aid to the Liut Gen of said Legi[o]n
Sir In reply to yours of this date, you will take special notice you will take specil notic[e] of the movements of the mob party, that is stirring up strife and endeav[o]ring to excite rebellion to the govenmet, and destroy the and cause all the troops of said Legion in your vicinity, to be in readiness to act at a moments warning, and if the Mob shall fall upon the saints by force of arms defend them at every hazard; unless prudence dictate the retre[a]t of the troops to , in which case the mob will not disturb your women and children, and if the mob move towar[d] , either come before them or on their rear, and be ready to cooperate with the main body of the Legion— Instruct the companies to keep cool, and let all things be done dece[n]tly and in order, Give information by affidivit before a magistrate, & special messengers to the of what has occurred, and every illegal poceedigs [proceeding] that shall be had on the subject without delay, also notify me of the same, And dem[a]nd instruction and protection as <​from​> the .
Joseph Smith.
Liut Gen Nauvoo Legin
Col . [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to Isaac Morley, 16 June 1844
ID #
1407
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Willard Richards

Footnotes

  1. Morley was named an aide-de-camp when the Nauvoo Legion was first organized in 1841. The ordinance organizing the legion permitted any desirous residents of Hancock County to become members of the legion. The ordinance further specified that “the Staff of the Lieutenant General” should be made up of “two principal Aids-de-Camp, with the Rank of Colonels of Cavalry,” though the staff expanded to include four aides-de-camp in 1842. (“The First List of the Officers of the Nauvoo Legion, as Made Out by John C. Bennett. M. Gl.,” 1841, [1], Nauvoo Legion Records, CHL; Minutes, 3 Feb. 1841; Minutes, 12 Mar. 1842.)

  2. Letter from Isaac Morley, 16 June 1844.

  3. On 15 June, JS received a report of “40 men traini[n]g at Carthage” and that “several boxes of [arms] had arrivd at War[s]aw from Quincy.” The following day, JS received additional reports that “a mob was collecting at carthage” and that around 1,500 Missourians planned “to cross to Warsaw next mor[ni]ng on way to carth[a]ge.” Utilizing an argument that he had developed in his attempts at redress for the persecutions the Saints suffered during their expulsion from Missouri, JS described these vigilante forces, and particularly those coming from Missouri, as institutions that challenged the state sovereignty of Illinois and were therefore insurrectionary. He offered the services of the Nauvoo Legion to Illinois governor Thomas Ford in quelling these rebellions. (JS, Journal, 15–16 June 1844; Letter to Thomas Ford, 16 June 1844.)

  4. Between 16 and 22 June, JS and others collected several affidavits detailing the various threats made against the Saints throughout Hancock County, Illinois, including a 20 June affidavit sworn out by Isaac Morley, Gardner Snow, John Edmiston, and Edmund Durfee. JS made similar requests for affidavits from Saints in Nauvoo and other communities, including Macedonia. These affidavits were collected to be sent to Ford. (Isaac Morley et al., Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 20 June 1844, JS Office Papers, CHL; Letter to John Smith, 17 June 1844; Minutes, 21 June 1844.)

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