Letter to William W. Phelps, 31 July 1832

A cholera epidemic began in India in 1826, spreading into England by October 1831. It appeared in Lower Canada in June 1832 and then gradually made its way into the United States, generally along waterways. By the end of July, over two thousand had died in New York City. (Rosenberg, Cholera Years, 25–34; Chambers, Conquest of Cholera, 64; “Items for the Public,” The Evening and the Morning Star, July 1832, [6].)  

Rosenberg, Charles E. The Cholera Years: The United States in 1832, 1849, and 1866. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1962.

Chambers, J. S. The Conquest of Cholera: America’s Greatest Scourge. New York: Macmillan, 1938.

The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

The Detroit Courier in June, July, and August 1832 did not report on anything resembling what JS describes here, although it stated on 12 July 1832 that “little doubt exists that the Cholera” had reached the city and that “a large number of our citizens” had “betaken themselves to the country” in response. The newspaper also cautioned against “unauthenticated accounts of the existence of the Cholera in various places,” stating that “every new story adds to the general stock of alarm; and under such feverish sensability, much anxiety is created, which cannot fail of producing solicitude and unhappiness, and great numbers of people are made miserable without the least advantage to any body.” (“The Cholera” and “Our City,” Detroit Courier, 12 July 1832, [2].)  

Detroit Courier. Detroit, Michigan Territory. 1830–1835.

This probably refers to troops who took transport on the steamboat Henry Clay. In June 1832, troops departed from New York City to aid in what is now known as the Black Hawk War. In Buffalo, New York, they boarded the Henry Clay, and on 4 July cholera broke out among them. When the ship reached the Detroit River, two soldiers had already died. According to one report, “the cases multiplied” rapidly, and the steamboat finally landed near Fort Gratiot, in St. Clair County, Michigan, at the mouth of the outlet of Lake Huron, where the soldiers disembarked. By 16 July, thirty-four deaths had occurred and “many [had] deserted to escape the disease.” According to assistant surgeon R. E. Kerr, “The attempt to escape the disease, however, by that means, in a number of cases that came to our ears, proved futile, for they are reported to have died on the road.” The Detroit Courier reported a similar incident involving the steamboat Sheldon Thompson. On 5 July, that steamer, loaded with soldiers, left Detroit, Michigan Territory, en route to Chicago, Illinois. Cholera soon broke out, killing twenty-five and afflicting another sixty. According to the Courier, the bodies of the dead were thrown overboard and the vessel continued on to Chicago. However, when the ship reached Chicago, “the inhabitants [of the city] fled in every direction, including Col. Owen, the Indian Agent.” (U.S. Surgeon-General’s Office, Cholera Epidemic of 1873, 569–572; “Our Army,” Detroit Courier, 19 July 1832, [2]; Blois, Gazetteer of the State of Michigan, 287, 365–366.)  

U.S. Surgeon-General’s Office. The Cholera Epidemic of 1873 in the United States. Washington DC: Government Printing Office, 1875.

Detroit Courier. Detroit, Michigan Territory. 1830–1835.

Blois, John T. Gazetteer of the State of Michigan, in Three Parts, Containing a General View of the State. . . . Detroit: Sydney L. Rood, 1839.

Likely a reference to the Black Hawk War. In April 1832, a group of Sac and Fox Indians (including men, women, and children), who had been removed from their homelands in Illinois to the west side of the Mississippi River, crossed back over the Mississippi in an attempt to resettle their ancestral lands. Pursued by federal troops and the Illinois militia, the group, led by Black Hawk, attempted to surrender under a white flag, but the soldiers fired on them, after which Black Hawk routed the troops. Additional soldiers then pursued Black Hawk and his followers into western Michigan Territory (now Wisconsin), eventually leading to Black Hawk’s capture in August. Newspaper reports at the time gave exaggerated accounts of Indian depredations during the war. William W. Phelps, for example, stated in the June 1832 The Evening and the Morning Star that “the Indians are undoubtedly the aggressors, and it is said they have murdered several men, women, and children.” But there is no evidence that Black Hawk’s band committed such acts. (Prucha, Great Father, 253–256; “News,” The Evening and the Morning Star, June 1832, [7].)  

Prucha, Francis Paul. The Great Father: The United States Government and the American Indians. 2 vols. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1984.

The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

A January 1832 revelation appointed Pratt and Johnson, who were both only twenty years old, to preach the gospel in the “eastern countries” of the United States. They left Hiram in February and traveled through Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, New Hampshire, and Vermont. (Revelation, 25 Jan. 1832–A [D&C 75:14]; Orson Pratt, Bath, NH, to “Dear Brethren,” 23 Jan. 1833, in The Evening and the Morning Star, Mar. 1833, [6]; Milando Pratt, “Baptism and Ordinations Early Missionary Labors and Family Register of Orson Pratt, Sen,” in Orson Pratt, Diaries, CHL.)  

The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

Pratt, Orson. Diaries, 1833–1837. CHL. MS 587.