, JS, , , and , Letter, , Geauga Co., OH, to , Peter Rogers, Andrew Robertson, James Thompson, , Woodson Moss, James Hughs, , and , , MO, 25 July 1836. Featured version published in “Kirtland, Geauga County, Ohio,” Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate, Aug. 1836, 2:355–359. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Oliver Cowdery, Dec. 1834.
Historical Introduction
After disbanding the in , Missouri, in 1834, JS encouraged to emigrate there. The revelation calling for the discontinuance of the camp directed the Saints “to gather up the strength of my house” into the county, and a letter JS wrote the following August instructed church leaders in to “prevail on the churches to gather to those regions and situate themselves to be in readiness” to return to by the fall of 1836.
By summer 1836, more than 100 Latter-day Saint families joined the 250 families already residing in , many of whom had been forced out of in 1833. With this immigration, unrest grew among the non-Mormon citizens of the county. The factors that gave rise to the tension in Clay County had marked similarities to the causes of earlier violence in Jackson County. In late 1833 and early 1834, Clay County residents who were sympathetic to the Mormon exiles had agreed to give them temporary asylum after their troubles in Jackson County. By mid-1836, however, because of the rapid and increasing immigration of church members to the county and their extensive land purchases, non-Mormon Clay County residents feared that their county was becoming the new , or permanent church center. They also accused Mormons of opposing slavery and causing problems for slaveholders, as well as having unauthorized communications with American Indians in the area to turn them against non-Mormon whites.
By late June 1836, violence broke out between the communities. Anderson Wilson, a citizen who organized forces against the Saints, wrote, “There were Several outrages Committed on the night of the 28 [June 1836]. Six of our party went to a mormon town. Several mormons Cocked their guns & Swore they would Shoot them. After Some Scrimiging two white men took a mormon out of Company & give him 100 lashes & it is thought he will Die of this Beating.” Latter-day Saint remembered that in late spring 1836, “it appeared that war was even at our doors.” Believing that the Mormons’ increased immigration, efforts to redeem Zion, and apparent sympathy for slaves and Indians would lead to bloodshed and “civil war” in Clay County, local citizens and community leaders met in to devise a resolution to the impending conflict.
At the meeting, held 29 June 1836 at the courthouse, citizens organized a “Committee of nine.” This body was composed of community leaders and included , a Democrat and former judge in who served as the committee chair, and three attorneys previously employed by the Saints during their efforts to obtain redress and justice for their expulsion from —, , and . The committee wrote a preamble and resolutions to present to the Saints. The preamble expressed residents’ belief that a crisis had arrived and that if it was not resolved, harmony, good order, and peace would no longer exist in the county. The committee listed what they believed were the county residents’ collective complaints against the Saints and requested as a solution that church members stop immigrating to the county and completely withdraw from it. The resolutions detailed how they would negotiate the departure of the Latter-day Saints from the county.
While the committee did not intend to include JS as part of these negotiations, , assistant church president in , forwarded to him the committee’s preamble and resolutions, which had been published in a local newspaper. The letter featured here is the response JS and other members of the church in wrote directly to the committee led by . The letter from the Kirtland leaders countered rumors about the Missouri Saints and explained their defensive actions, addressing issues that had spurred tensions leading to the request for them to vacate the county. This letter was sent along with another letter JS and the other church leaders wrote to Phelps and the Missouri church leaders on the same date. Wording in the Phelps letter indicates that it was written after the letter featured here. Both letters were apparently sent to Phelps, with the intent that he pass on the letter addressed to Thornton and the rest of the committee. Both letters were printed in the August issue of the Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate; the printed copies are the only known extant versions.
Lewis, “Mormon Land Ownership,” 25–28; Parkin, “History of the Latter-day Saints in Clay County,” 318–319; Berrett, Sacred Places, 4:162–190.
Lewis, Wayne J. “Mormon Land Ownership as a Factor in Evaluating the Extent of Mormon Settlements and Influence in Missouri, 1831–1841.” Master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1981.
Parkin, Max H. “A History of the Latter-day Saints in Clay County, Missouri, from 1833 to 1837.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1976.
Berrett, LaMar C., ed. Sacred Places: A Comprehensive Guide to Early LDS Historical Sites. 6 vols. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1999–2007.
Anderson Wilson and Emelia Wilson, Clay Co., MO, to Samuel Turrentine, Orange Co., NC, 4 July 1836, Wilson Family Papers, Southern Historical Collection, Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill; see also Parkin, “History of the Latter-day Saints in Clay County,” 242–279.
Wilson Family Papers, 1835–1849. Southern Historical Collection, Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Parkin, Max H. “A History of the Latter-day Saints in Clay County, Missouri, from 1833 to 1837.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1976.
“Public Meeting,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Aug. 1836, 353–355; “Public Meeting,” Far West (Liberty, MO), 30 June 1836; see also Historical Introduction to Letter to John Thornton and Others, 25 June 1834.
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
dangerous to the welfare of your country, and will, if suffered among you, cause the ties of peace and friendship, so desirable among all men, to be burst asunder, and bring war and desolation upon your now pleasant homes.
Under existing circumstances, while rumor is afloat with her accustomed cunning, and while public opinion is fast setting, like a flood-tide against the members of said , we cannot but admire the candor with which your preamble and resolutions were clothed, as presented to the meeting of the citizens of , on the 29th of June last. Though, as you expressed in your report to said meeting—“We do not contend that we have the least right, under the constitution and laws of the , to expel them by force,”—yet communities may be, at times, unexpectedly thrown into a situation, when wisdom, prudence, and that first item in nature’s law, self-defence, would dictate that the responsible and influential part should step forward and guide the public mind in a course to save difficulty, preserve rights, and spare the innocent blood from staining that soil so dearly purchased with the fortunes and lives of our fathers. And as you have come forward as “mediators,” to prevent the effusion of blood, and save disasters consequent upon civil war, we take this opportunity to present to you, though strangers, and through you, if you wish, to the people of , our heart-felt gratitude for every kindness rendered our friends in affliction, when driven from their peaceful homes, and to yourselves, also, for the prudent course in the present excited state of your community. But, in doing this, justice to ourselves, as communicants of that church to which our friends belong, and duty towards them as acquaintances and former fellow citizens, require us to say something to exonerate them from the foul charges brought against them, to deprive them of their constitutional privileges, and drive them from the face of society:
They have been charged, in consequence of the whims and vain notions of some few uninformed, with claiming that upper country, and that ere long they were to possess it, at all hazards, and in defiance of all consequences.— This is unjust and far from a foundation, in truth. A thing not expected, not looked for, not desired by this society, as a people, and where the idea could have originated is unknown to us—We do not, neither did we ever insinuate a thing of this kind, or hear it from the leading men of the society, now in your country. There is nothing in all our religious faith to warrant it, but on the contrary, the most strict injunctions to live in obedience to the laws, and follow peace with all men. And we doubt not, but a recurrence to the difficulties, with our friends, will fully satisfy you, that at least, heretofore, such has been the course followed by them. That instead of fighting for their own rights, they have sacrificed them for a season, to wait the redress guaranteed in the law, and so anxiously looked for at a time distant from this. We have been, & are still, clearly under the conviction, that had our friends been disposed, they might have maintained their possessions in . They might have resorted to the same barbarous means with their neighbors, throwing down dwellings, threatening lives, driving innocent women and children from their homes, and thereby have annoyed their enemies equally, at least—But, this to their credit, and which must ever remain upon the pages of time, to their honor, they did not. They had possessions, they had homes, they had sacred rights, and more still, they had helpless harmless innocence, with an approving conscience that they had violated no law of their country or their God, to urge them forward—But, to show to all that they were willing to forego these for the peace of their country, they tamely submitted, and have since been wanderers among strangers, (though hospitable,) without homes. We think these sufficient reasons, to show to your patriotic minds, that our friends, instead of having a wish to expel a community by force of arms, would suffer their rights to be taken from them before shedding blood.
Another charge brought against our friends is that of being dangerous in societies “where slavery is tolerated and practiced.” Without occupying time here, we refer you to the April (1836) No. of the “Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate,” printed at this place, a copy of which we forward to each of you. From the length of [p. 356]
The resolutions of the committee expressed the fear that “the horrors and desolations of a civil war” would befall Clay County if Mormons did not stop migrating to the county. (“Public Meeting,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Aug. 1836, 2:354.)
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
Speaking of the “excited state” of the Clay County community, Latter-day Saint Drusilla Hendricks, who relocated from Simpson County, Kentucky, in spring 1836, recalled, “Our wagons, some five or six in number, had stirred up the mob spirit for fear the Mormons would come and take away their place and nation.” On 4 July 1836, Clay County citizen Anderson Wilson described the unrest in a letter, stating that the Saints “have been flocking in here faster than ever and making great talk what they would do. . . . We are to Submit to a mormon government or trample under foot the laws of our Co[u]ntry. To go away was to Just give up all for if emigration once Begun none would buy our land but mormons and they would have it at their own price So we were resolved . . . [to] fight by each others Side & die like Ishmael.” (Hendricks, Reminiscences, 17; Anderson Wilson and Emelia Wilson, Clay Co., MO, to Samuel Turrentine, Orange Co., NC, 4 July 1836, Wilson Family Papers, Southern Historical Collection, Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.)
Hendricks, Drusilla. Reminiscences, ca. 1877. CHL.
Wilson Family Papers, 1835–1849. Southern Historical Collection, Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.
Joseph Thorp, a Clay County resident who was sometimes a friendly employer of the Saints, said, “The poor, deluded mortals, with all their experience in Jackson, began to tell the citizens of Clay the same old tale; that this country was theirs by gift of the Lord, and it was folly for them to improve their lands, they would not enjoy the fruits of their labor; that it would finally fall into the hands of the saints. . . . This kind of talk, with their insolence and impudent behavior, so enraged the citizens that they began to consult about the best course to take to rid themselves of a set of religious fanatics, for they found that their faith was so strong that not only the land was theirs, but the goods and chattels of the ungodly Gentiles was theirs.” This was similar to explanations given for some of the animosity against the Saints in Jackson County. David Whitmer 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.” Similarly, Isaac McCoy, who rode with the mobs in Jackson County, remembered of the earlier conflict, “[The Mormons] grew bolder as they grew stronger, and daily proclaimed to the older settlers that the Lord had given them the whole land of Missouri.” They “had not so much violated law,” said McCoy, as become “arrogant and unbearable.” A JS revelation in 1834 had counseled the Saints to be prudent in the words they used with their Clay County neighbors. (Thorp, Early Days in the West, 79–80; “Mormonism,” Kansas City Daily Journal, 5 June 1881, 1; History of Jackson County, Missouri, 253, 257; Revelation, 22 June 1834 [D&C 105:23–25]; Letter to Lyman Wight and Others, 16 Aug. 1834; see also “The Other Side,” Kansas City Daily Journal, 24 Apr. 1881, 9.)
Thorp, Joseph. Early Days in the West: Along the Missouri One Hundred Years Ago. Liberty, MO: Irving Gilmer, 1924.
Kansas City Daily Journal. Kansas City, MO. 1878–1891.
The History of Jackson County, Missouri: Containing a History of the County, Its Cities, Towns, Etc. Kansas City, MO: Union Historical, 1881.
The response of William W. Phelps and the other MissouriSaints to the citizens’ committee similarly stated, “That we (the Mormons so called,) are grateful for the kindness which has been shown to us by the citizens of Clay, since we have resided with them, and being desirous for peace and wishing the good rather than the ill-will of mankind, will use all honorable means to allay the excitement, and so far as we can, remove any foundation for jealousies against us as a people.” (“Public Meeting,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Aug. 1836, 2:359–360.)
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.
The April 1836 Messenger and Advocate included several articles arguing against abolition, including Letter to Oliver Cowdery, ca. 9 Apr. 1836. On 1 July, William W. Phelps stated, “We have taken no part for or against slavery, but are opposed to the abolitionists, and consider that men have a right to hold slaves or not according to law.” In earlier statements, the church had declared itself as “opposed to abolition,” stating that it disturbed “the peace and harmony of our Constitution and country.” Jackson County residents also considered Mormon views on slavery to be a threat to society in Missouri. (“Public Notice,” LDS Messenger and Advocate, Aug. 1836, 2:360; “Abolition,” Northern Times, 9 Oct. 1835, 2; Letter from John Whitmer, 29 July 1833.)
Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.