Letter to Sylvester Bartlett, 22 May 1842

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Letter to Sylvester Bartlett, 22 May 1842
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
[Sylvester] Bartlett
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, [Editor of the Quincy Whig], [
Quincy
Located on high limestone bluffs east of Mississippi River, about forty-five miles south of Nauvoo. Settled 1821. Adams Co. seat, 1825. Incorporated as town, 1834. Received city charter, 1840. Population in 1835 about 800; in 1840 about 2,300; and in 1845...
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, Adams Co., IL], 22 May 1842. Featured version published in Quincy Whig, 4 June 1842, vol. 5, no. 6, [2]. Transcription from a microfilm image obtained from Micro Photo, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.

The 4 June 1842 issue of the Quincy Whig consists of four leaves; each page contains seven columns. The Quincy Whig was a weekly newspaper published from 1838 to 1852. In 1842, Henry V. Sullivan was the publisher of the newspaper, and
Sylvester Bartlett
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was the editor.
1
History of Knox and Daviess Counties, Indiana, 196; Collins and Perry, Past and Present of the City of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois, 652.
Comprehensive Works Cited
History of Knox and Daviess Counties, Indiana. From the Earliest Time to the Present; with biographical Sketches, Reminiscences, Notes, Etc.; Together with an Extended History of the Colonial Days of Vincennes, and It’s Progress Down to the Formation of the State Government. Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1886.
Collins, William H., and Cicero F. Perry. Past and Present of the City of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing, 1905.
Footnotes
[1]
History of Knox and Daviess Counties, Indiana, 196; Collins and Perry, Past and Present of the City of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois, 652.
History of Knox and Daviess Counties, Indiana. From the Earliest Time to the Present; with biographical Sketches, Reminiscences, Notes, Etc.; Together with an Extended History of the Colonial Days of Vincennes, and It’s Progress Down to the Formation of the State Government. Chicago: The Goodspeed Publishing Co., 1886.
Historical Introduction
On 22 May 1842 in
Nauvoo
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, Illinois, JS wrote a letter to
Sylvester Bartlett
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, the editor of the Quincy Whig, objecting to the newspaper’s implications that JS was complicit in an assassination attempt on
Lilburn W. Boggs
14 Dec. 1796–14 Mar. 1860. Bookkeeper, bank cashier, merchant, Indian agent and trader, lawyer, doctor, postmaster, politician. Born at Lexington, Fayette Co., Kentucky. Son of John M. Boggs and Martha Oliver. Served in War of 1812. Moved to St. Louis, ca...
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, former governor of
Missouri
Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...
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.
1
A 22 May 1842 entry in JS’s journal states that he “called at the Editors office to have letter copied for Qunciy [Quincy] Whig. denying the charge of killing Ex Govener Boggs of Missouri.” This statement suggests that JS took his letter to the printing office, either to make a fair copy to send to the Quincy Whig or to make a file copy to retain in Nauvoo before sending the original letter. (JS, Journal, 22 May 1842.)
Boggs, who had issued an order in 1838 declaring that the Latter-day Saints should be “exterminated or driven from” Missouri,
2
Lilburn W. Boggs, Jefferson City, MO, to John B. Clark, Fayette, MO, 27 Oct. 1838, copy, Mormon War Papers, MSA.
Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.
had been shot by an unknown assailant on the evening of 6 May 1842 in
Independence
Located twelve miles from western Missouri border. Permanently settled, platted, and designated county seat, 1827. Hub for steamboat travel on Missouri River. Point of departure for Santa Fe Trail. Population in 1831 about 300. Latter-day Saint population...
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, Missouri.
3
Because Boggs’s order was instrumental in forcing the Saints from Missouri in 1839, church members had placed much blame on him for their mistreatment in that state. William Smith, for example, stated that Boggs’s actions indicated “to the world that he is not only capable of tolerating, but of participating in one of the most inhuman and barbarious persecutions, ever recorded in the annals of history, by favoring, and encouraging the Missouri mob in butchering, beating, and driving the Saints from the State and robbing them of their possessions.” (William Smith, “Infatuated & Deluded Sect,” Times and Seasons, 15 Feb. 1841, 2:314–315.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
A 21 May article in the Quincy Whig stated that “several rumors” existed as to who fired the shot, “one of which throws the crime upon the Mormons.” The Whig asserted that JS had prophesied Boggs’s “death by violent means” a year earlier, which, in the Whig’s view, provided “plenty of foundation for rumor.”
4
“Assassination of Ex-Governor Boggs of Missouri,” Quincy (IL) Whig, 21 May 1842, [3]. Neither JS’s journal nor minutes of church meetings in Nauvoo in 1841 contain a prophecy from JS about Boggs’s death. Other newspapers, including the Missouri Reporter and the Sangamo Journal, also promulgated the account of JS prophesying Boggs’s death and suggested church members were behind the assassination attempt. (News Item, Sangamo Journal [Springfield, IL], 27 May 1842, [2]; John C. Bennett, Carthage, IL, 2 July 1842, Letter to the Editor, Sangamo Journal, 15 July 1842, [2]; see also Bennett, History of the Saints, 281–282.)
Quincy Whig. Quincy, IL. 1838–1856.
Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.
Bennett, John C. The History of the Saints; or, an Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism. Boston: Leland and Whiting, 1842.

On 22 May, JS wrote to
Bartlett
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to deny that he had predicted
Boggs
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’s demise or had been involved in the attempted assassination. Four days later, a public meeting in
Nauvoo
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“unanimously disapproved of the remarks of the Quincy Whig” and declared “that Gen. Smith had never made such a prediction.”
5
“Public Meeting,” Wasp, 28 May 1842, [3].
The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.
The Wasp, a Nauvoo newspaper edited by JS’s brother
William Smith
13 Mar. 1811–13 Nov. 1893. Farmer, newspaper editor. Born at Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Lebanon, Grafton Co., New Hampshire, 1811; to Norwich, Windsor Co., 1813; and to Palmyra, Ontario Co., New York, 1816...
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s, published JS’s letter to Bartlett in its 28 May issue.
6
JS, Nauvoo, IL, to [Sylvester] Bartlett, [Quincy, IL], 22 May 1842, in Wasp, 28 May 1842, [2].

The Whig, which was published weekly, received JS’s letter on 28 May and printed it in its next issue, dated 4 June.
7
JS, Nauvoo, IL, to [Sylvester] Bartlett, [Quincy, IL], 22 May 1842, in Quincy (IL) Whig, 4 June 1842, [2]; “The Mormons—Mr. Smith’s Letter,” Quincy Whig, 11 June 1842, [2].
JS also wrote to the Quincy Herald requesting publication of his letter to
Bartlett
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; the Herald subsequently included the Bartlett letter in its 2 June issue.
8
JS, Nauvoo, IL, 27 May 1842, Letter to the Editor, Quincy (IL) Herald, 2 June 1842, [2]. The Wasp had also asked the Herald to publish the letter. (JS, Nauvoo, IL, to [Sylvester] Bartlett, [Quincy, IL], 22 May 1842, in Wasp, 28 May 1842, [2].)
Quincy Herald. Quincy, IL. 1841–before 1851.
The letter was also published in the 14 June issue of the New York Herald.
9
“Curious and Important from the Mormons,” New York Herald, 14 June 1842, [2].
New York Herald. New York City. 1835–1924.
Apparently no manuscript copy is extant. Because the letter was addressed to Bartlett, editor of the Quincy Whig, the text featured here is from the Whig.
Footnotes
[1]
A 22 May 1842 entry in JS’s journal states that he “called at the Editors office to have letter copied for Qunciy [Quincy] Whig. denying the charge of killing Ex Govener Boggs of Missouri.” This statement suggests that JS took his letter to the printing office, either to make a fair copy to send to the Quincy Whig or to make a file copy to retain in Nauvoo before sending the original letter. (JS, Journal, 22 May 1842.)
[2]
Lilburn W. Boggs, Jefferson City, MO, to John B. Clark, Fayette, MO, 27 Oct. 1838, copy, Mormon War Papers, MSA.
Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.
[3]
Because Boggs’s order was instrumental in forcing the Saints from Missouri in 1839, church members had placed much blame on him for their mistreatment in that state. William Smith, for example, stated that Boggs’s actions indicated “to the world that he is not only capable of tolerating, but of participating in one of the most inhuman and barbarious persecutions, ever recorded in the annals of history, by favoring, and encouraging the Missouri mob in butchering, beating, and driving the Saints from the State and robbing them of their possessions.” (William Smith, “Infatuated & Deluded Sect,” Times and Seasons, 15 Feb. 1841, 2:314–315.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
[4]
“Assassination of Ex-Governor Boggs of Missouri,” Quincy (IL) Whig, 21 May 1842, [3]. Neither JS’s journal nor minutes of church meetings in Nauvoo in 1841 contain a prophecy from JS about Boggs’s death. Other newspapers, including the Missouri Reporter and the Sangamo Journal, also promulgated the account of JS prophesying Boggs’s death and suggested church members were behind the assassination attempt. (News Item, Sangamo Journal [Springfield, IL], 27 May 1842, [2]; John C. Bennett, Carthage, IL, 2 July 1842, Letter to the Editor, Sangamo Journal, 15 July 1842, [2]; see also Bennett, History of the Saints, 281–282.)
Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.
Bennett, John C. The History of the Saints; or, an Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism. Boston: Leland and Whiting, 1842.
[5]
“Public Meeting,” Wasp, 28 May 1842, [3].
The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.
[6]
JS, Nauvoo, IL, to [Sylvester] Bartlett, [Quincy, IL], 22 May 1842, in Wasp, 28 May 1842, [2].
[7]
JS, Nauvoo, IL, to [Sylvester] Bartlett, [Quincy, IL], 22 May 1842, in Quincy (IL) Whig, 4 June 1842, [2]; “The Mormons—Mr. Smith’s Letter,” Quincy Whig, 11 June 1842, [2].
[8]
JS, Nauvoo, IL, 27 May 1842, Letter to the Editor, Quincy (IL) Herald, 2 June 1842, [2]. The Wasp had also asked the Herald to publish the letter. (JS, Nauvoo, IL, to [Sylvester] Bartlett, [Quincy, IL], 22 May 1842, in Wasp, 28 May 1842, [2].)
Quincy Herald. Quincy, IL. 1841–before 1851.
[9]
“Curious and Important from the Mormons,” New York Herald, 14 June 1842, [2].
Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. Letter to Sylvester Bartlett, 22 May 1842, as Published in Wasp *Letter to Sylvester Bartlett, 22 May 1842 History, 1838–1856, volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842] “History of Joseph Smith”
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Nauvoo
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, Ill., May 22d, 1842.

Mr. [Sylvester] Bartlett
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—
1
Aside from being the editor of the Quincy Whig, Sylvester Bartlett was also one of its founders. (Collins and Perry, Past and Present of the City of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois, 652.)

Dear Sir: In your paper, (the Quincy Whig,) of the 21st inst., you have done me manifest injustice, in ascribing to me a prediction of the demise of
Lilburn W. Boggs
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, ex-governor of
Missouri
Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...
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, by violent hands.
Boggs
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was a candidate for the State Senate,
2
Boggs was elected to the Missouri state senate in fall 1842. (Gordon, “Political Career of Lilburn W. Boggs,” 121.)
Gordon, Joseph F. “The Political Career of Lilburn W. Boggs.” Missouri Historical Review 52, no. 2 (Jan. 1958): 111–122.
and I presume, fell by the hand of a political opponent, with his “hands and face yet dripping with the blood of murder,” but he died not through my instrumentality.
3
Although the Quincy Whig initially reported that it was unlikely Boggs would survive the assassination attempt, he actually lived. (“Assassination of Ex-Governor Boggs of Missouri,” Quincy [IL] Whig, 21 May 1842, [3]; News Item, Quincy Whig, 28 May 1842, [2].)
My hands are clean, and my heart pure, from the blood of all men.
4
See Acts 20:26.
I am tired of the misrepresentation, calumny and detraction heaped upon me by wicked men;
5
The Quincy Whig responded to this charge by stating that JS saw “a design to ‘misrepresent’ where none exists” and that it was merely reporting “every thing of a news character, that may interest readers, whether as rumor or in a more direct and tangible shape.” (“The Mormons—Mr. Smith’s Letter,” Quincy [IL] Whig, 11 June 1842, [2], italics in original.)
and desire and claim only those privileges
6
The New York Herald version of this letter has “principles” instead of “privileges.” (“Curious and Important from the Mormons,” New York Herald, 14 June 1842, [2].)
guaranteed to all men by the Constitution and Laws of 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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, and of
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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.

Will you do me the justice to publish this communication, and oblige

Yours respectfully,

JOSEPH SMITH. [p. [2]]
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Footnotes
[1]
Aside from being the editor of the Quincy Whig, Sylvester Bartlett was also one of its founders. (Collins and Perry, Past and Present of the City of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois, 652.)
[2]
Boggs was elected to the Missouri state senate in fall 1842. (Gordon, “Political Career of Lilburn W. Boggs,” 121.)
Gordon, Joseph F. “The Political Career of Lilburn W. Boggs.” Missouri Historical Review 52, no. 2 (Jan. 1958): 111–122.
[3]
Although the Quincy Whig initially reported that it was unlikely Boggs would survive the assassination attempt, he actually lived. (“Assassination of Ex-Governor Boggs of Missouri,” Quincy [IL] Whig, 21 May 1842, [3]; News Item, Quincy Whig, 28 May 1842, [2].)
[4]
See Acts 20:26.
[5]
The Quincy Whig responded to this charge by stating that JS saw “a design to ‘misrepresent’ where none exists” and that it was merely reporting “every thing of a news character, that may interest readers, whether as rumor or in a more direct and tangible shape.” (“The Mormons—Mr. Smith’s Letter,” Quincy [IL] Whig, 11 June 1842, [2], italics in original.)
[6]
The New York Herald version of this letter has “principles” instead of “privileges.” (“Curious and Important from the Mormons,” New York Herald, 14 June 1842, [2].)