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Letter to John C. Bennett, 7 March 1842

Source Note

JS, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to , [, Hancock Co., IL], 7 Mar. 1842. Featured version published in Times and Seasons, 15 Mar. 1842, vol. 3, no. 10, 724. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.

Historical Introduction

On 7 March 1842 JS wrote a brief letter to in response to Bennett’s earlier correspondence with abolitionist Charles V. Dyer. In a 3 January 1842 letter to Bennett, Dyer expressed indignation for “the outrages committed upon the Latter Day Saint by the authorities as well as the people of the State of ” in 1838, drew attention to the recent conviction and imprisonment of three abolitionists in Missouri, and urged Bennett to examine “the whole subject of American slavery.” In a 20 January 1842 reply, Bennett represented himself to Dyer as a “friend of liberty” who “ever detested servile bondage,” and he appealed to Dyer to further “investigate the wrongs” inflicted upon members in Missouri. The correspondence between Dyer and Bennett was published in the 19 February 1842 issue of Illinois antislavery newspaper Genius of Liberty and, at some point, came to JS’s attention.
In this 7 March letter to , JS referenced the January correspondence and expressed outrage over the 1841 incarceration, trial, and conviction of the three abolitionists, who were affiliated with the Mission Institute in , Illinois. JS probably saw a parallel between the experiences of the abolitionists and his own detention in jails between 31 October 1838 and 16 April 1839, as well as a failed attempt to extradite him back to Missouri in June 1841. With these episodes fresh in his mind, he wrote to Bennett about unjust detention, constitutional justice, and mob violence in Missouri. Though JS had publicly distanced himself from the actions of radical abolitionists in April 1836, his sympathy for the incarcerated men and anger toward Missourians is plainly manifest in his letter to Bennett.
Given that lived in JS’s home during this period, the correspondence between the two men was likely rhetorical in nature and created for publication in the church periodical. It is also possible that letters were exchanged, with JS hand delivering this letter shortly after it was written. In any event, Bennett responded to JS’s letter the following day. JS and Bennett’s exchange was published in the 15 March 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons along with Bennett and Dyer’s earlier communication. The correspondence eventually came to the attention of former governor . On 14 May 1842 the Alton Telegraph and Democratic Review paraphrased Duncan as having asserted that the correspondence among Dyer, Bennett, and JS “divulges the fact, that the Mormons, at the solicitation of Dr. Dyer, (who is an Abolitionist) are prepared to act with them.”

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    A resident of Chicago, Dyer was a medical doctor and real estate entrepreneur in addition to being a prominent abolitionist. (Obituary for Charles V. Dyer, Chicago Tribune, 25 Apr. 1878, 7.)

    Chicago Tribune. Chicago. 1847–.

  2. [2]

    “Correspondence between Dr. C. V. Dyer and Gen. J. C. Bennett,” Times and Seasons, 15 Mar. 1842, 3:723–724, italics in original.

  3. [3]

    “Correspondence,” Genius of Liberty (Lowell, IL), 19 Feb. 1842, 1.

    Genius of Liberty. Lowell, IL. 1840–1842.

  4. [4]

    Founded by antislavery advocate David Nelson in 1836, the Mission Institute was located approximately forty miles south of Nauvoo in Quincy, Illinois. (Prinsloo, “Abolitionist Factory,” 36.)

    Prinsloo, Oleta. “‘The Abolitionist Factory’: Northeastern Religion, David Nelson, and the Mission Institute near Quincy, Illinois, 1836–1844.” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 105, no. 1 (Spring 2012): 36–68.

  5. [5]

    See “Joseph Smith Documents from February 1838 through August 1839”; and Historical Introduction to Statement of Expenses to Thomas King, 30 Sept. 1841.

  6. [6]

    Letter to Oliver Cowdery, ca. 9 Apr. 1836.

  7. [7]

    Letter from John C. Bennett, 8 Mar. 1842.

  8. [8]

    “Correspondence between Dr. C. V. Dyer and Gen. J. C. Bennett,” Times and Seasons, 15 Mar. 1842, 3:723–724. The correspondence among the three men was later reproduced in the Nauvoo newspaper Wasp. (“Correspondence. Between Dr. C. V. Dyer and Gen. J. C. Bennett,” Wasp, 28 May 1842, [2]–[3].)

    The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.

  9. [9]

    “Gov. Duncan,” Alton (IL) Telegraph and Democratic Review, 14 May 1842, [2]. JS later asserted that Duncan’s statements were “foul perversions of truth; the correspondence does not shew either myself or Gen. Bennett to be abolitionists, but the friends of equal rights and prlvileges to all men.” (Editorial, Times and Seasons, 1 June 1842, 3:808, italics in original.)

    Alton Telegraph and Democratic Review. Alton, IL. 1841–1850.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Letter to John C. Bennett, 7 March 1842
Times and Seasons, 15 March 1842 Letter to John C. Bennett, 7 March 1842, as Published in Wasp History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 724

Editor’s Office, , Ill.,
March 7th, 1842.
;
Respected Brother:—I have just been perusing your correspondence with Doctor [Charles V.] Dyer on the subject of American Slavery, and the students of the Mission Institute, and it makes my blood boil within me to reflect upon the injustice, cruelty, and oppression, of the rulers of the people—when will these things cease to be, and the Constitution and the Laws again bear rule? I fear for my beloved country—mob violence, injustice, and cruelty, appear to be the darling attributes of , and no man taketh it to heart! O, tempora! O, mores! What think you should be done?
Your friend,
JOSEPH SMITH. [p. 724]
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Source Note

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Page 724

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to John C. Bennett, 7 March 1842
ID #
781
Total Pages
1
Print Volume Location
JSP, D9:222–224
Handwriting on This Page
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Footnotes

  1. [1]

    This may refer to a space in the printing office, located on the northwest corner of Water and Bain streets, or to JS’s office on the second floor of his mercantile store in Nauvoo. (Editorial, Times and Seasons, 1 Dec. 1841, 3:615; Masthead, Times and Seasons, 1 Mar. 1842, 3:718; Clayton, History of the Nauvoo Temple, 16; Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 4 May 1842, 11; JS, Journal, 3 and 8 Mar. 1842.)

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

    Clayton, William. History of the Nauvoo Temple, ca. 1845. CHL. MS 3365.

  2. [2]

    While the Quincy Mission Institute was established to train evangelical missionaries, one former student recalled that “all who came . . . were of the same stamp—the Institute was a fountain of anti-slavery principle.” Many members of the institute were deeply involved in the formation of the Illinois Anti-slavery Society and acted as “conductors” in the Underground Railroad, actively aiding fugitive slaves attempting to escape servitude in Missouri. In July 1841 two students and one employee of the institute—James Burr, George Thompson, and Alanson Work—crossed the Mississippi River north of Palmyra, Missouri, to aid several slaves in their attempt to escape to Canada. Betrayed by the slaves, however, the men were captured by slave-owning farmers, bound with ropes, and incarcerated. Though defense attorneys argued that the men had broken no law, Burr, Thompson, and Work were convicted by a Missouri jury for larceny of slaves and sentenced to twelve years in prison in September 1841. (Prinsloo, “Abolitionist Factory,” 50–56; Thompson, Prison Life and Reflections, 17–23, 81, 85–90; Asbury, Reminiscences of Quincy, Illinois, 72–73.)

    Prinsloo, Oleta. “‘The Abolitionist Factory’: Northeastern Religion, David Nelson, and the Mission Institute near Quincy, Illinois, 1836–1844.” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 105, no. 1 (Spring 2012): 36–68.

    Thompson, George. Prison Life and Reflections; or, A Narrative of the Arrest, Trial, Conviction, Imprisonment, Treatment, Observations, Reflections, and Deliverance of Work, Burr and Thompson, Who Suffered an Unjust and Cruel Imprisonment in Missouri Penitentiary, for Attempting to Aid Some Slaves to Liberty. Oberlin, OH: James M. Fitch, 1847.

    Asbury, Henry. Reminiscences of Quincy, Illinois, Containing Historical Events, Anecdotes, Matters concerning Old Settlers and Old Times, Etc. Quincy, IL: D. Wilcox and Sons, 1882.

  3. [3]

    Both Dyer and Bennett had used a nearly identical phrase in earlier correspondence. (“Correspondence between Dr. C. V. Dyer and Gen. J. C. Bennett,” Times and Seasons, 15 Mar. 1842, 3:724.)

  4. [4]

    Variously translated as “Oh the times! Oh the customs!” or “Shame on the age and on its principles!” this Latin phrase was famously used in a speech by Roman orator and lawyer Cicero in 63 BC. (Yonge, Orations of Cicero against Catiline, 280.)

    Yonge, C. D., trans. The Orations of Cicero against Catiline. London: G. Bell and Sons, 1919.

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