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Minutes and Discourse, 29 January 1844

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Minutes and Discourse, 29 January 1844

Source Note

Minutes, and JS, Discourse, , Hancock Co., IL, 29 Jan. 1844. Featured version inscribed [ca. 29 Jan. 1844] in JS, Journal, 1842–1844, bk. 3, p. [248]; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS, Journal, 1842–1844.

Historical Introduction

On 29 January 1844, JS attended and spoke at a meeting in his in , Illinois, about the 1844 presidential election and his potential candidacy for president of the . In early November 1843, JS wrote to five men expected to run for president in 1844: , , , Richard M. Johnson, and . Referencing the persecution the had experienced in during the 1830s and the corresponding inaction of the United States government, JS asked each candidate, “What will be your rule of action relative to us as a people, should fortune favor your ascension to the chief magistracy?” The letters implied that church members throughout the country would vote for the candidate willing to commit the federal government to the defense of the Saints’ civil rights. Only Clay, Cass, and Calhoun replied to JS. Clay was noncommittal in his response, and Cass and Calhoun each stated that they believed the federal government could not involve itself in the matter. In a public letter to Calhoun written in early January 1844, JS expressed his frustration with the philosophy of states’ rights that Calhoun and Cass used to justify federal inaction. Nearing the end of the month, JS had not heard from Johnson or Van Buren and appears to have acknowledged that none of the candidates was willing to commit to help the Saints.
On 29 January, at ten o’clock in the morning, JS met in his office in the with members of the and a few others—, who was church and a member of the ; , the city marshal; , JS’s private clerk; and possibly others—and discussed the 1844 presidential election. It is unclear if this was an official meeting of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, as it is not mentioned in that body’s minutes. However, the language Clayton used to describe the meeting in his own journal suggests that it was.
JS and the assembled leaders apparently met under the assumption that none of the presidential candidates would commit to implementing federal policies that would ensure religious freedom for the church and its members. Accordingly, apostle moved that the Saints have electors unaffiliated with either of the major political parties and that JS be their candidate. JS agreed to run for president and spoke on the establishment and operation of his campaign, including a plan to send church members to canvass the entire country delivering stump speeches and holding political conventions. In listing a few possibilities for such electioneering missions, he suggested that church members be sent to their native states and places where they already had strong social connections. JS also pledged that as president he would protect the rights of the people. The meeting apparently concluded by midafternoon, if not earlier.
, who served as the clerk for the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as well as a scribe for JS, recorded the proceedings of the meeting, including JS’s discourse, in JS’s journal.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS’s journal states that the meeting happened in “the mayors office.” JS had more than one office in Nauvoo, including an office on the second floor of his store. William Clayton wrote in his journal that the meeting occurred in the office in JS’s home. (Clayton, Journal, 29 Jan. 1844.)

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  2. [2]

    Letter to John C. Calhoun, 4 Nov. 1843; “Correspondence between Gen. Joseph Smith and the Hon. Henry Clay,” Times and Seasons, 1 June 1844, 5:544, italics in original; JS, Draft Letter to Presidential Candidates, 4 Nov. 1843, JS Collection, CHL.

  3. [3]

    Letter from Henry Clay, 15 Nov. 1843; Letter from Lewis Cass, 9 Dec. 1843; Letter from John C. Calhoun, 2 Dec. 1843; see also Letter to Henry Clay, 13 May 1844.

  4. [4]

    Letter to John C. Calhoun, 2 Jan. 1844.

  5. [5]

    In the minutes of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles there is no record of a meeting occurring between 7 November 1843 and 21 February 1844. (See Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Minutes, 7 Nov. 1843–21 Feb. 1844.)

    Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Minutes, 1840–1844. CHL.

  6. [6]

    In his journal entry for 29 January 1844, Clayton wrote, “At Prest. J’s in Council with the Twelve on the subject of running J [JS] for President of U.S.” (Clayton, Journal, 29 Jan. 1844.)

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  7. [7]

    JS’s journal includes a subsequent note regarding a conversation with William W. Phelps that preceded events at five o’clock in the afternoon and later in the “ev[en]ing.” (JS, Journal, 29 Jan. 1844.)

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Minutes and Discourse, 29 January 1844
Journal, December 1842–June 1844; Book 3, 15 July 1843–29 February 1844 History Draft [1 January–21 June 1844] History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [248]

Monday Janua[r]y 29. 1844
at 10 A M. The met at the mayors . Joseph & — . . . Moved by and voted unanimou[s]ly— that we have— indepindent electors— and that Joseph Smith be a candidate for the next presidiny [presidency]— and that we use all honorable means to se[c]ure his election— Joseph said to accomplish this you <​we​> must send eve[r]y man in the who could speak— th[r]oughout the land to electioneer. stump speech.— Mormon religion.— election.— Laws &c &c— — must go. to . to — to — After the April we will have gen[eral] conferncs all over the nation & I will attend them. Tell the people we have had whig & democrats presidnts long enough we want a Presedint of the If I ever get in the presedental [presidential] chair— I will protect the people in their rights & libe[r]ties, I will not electione[e]r for myself— . . & must go.— the Whigs are striving for a king under the garb of Democracy.— There is oretory enough in the to carry me into the presdntial [presidential] chair th[e] fi[r]st slide [p. [248]]
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Source Note

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Page [248]

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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Minutes and Discourse, 29 January 1844
ID #
1259
Total Pages
1
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Willard Richards

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Yearsley joined the church in 1841 and moved to Nauvoo by 1843, at which time he was ordained an elder. (Smith, Forebearers of Julia Brown and John Heber Yearsley, 244; General Church Recorder, License Record Book, 115.)

    Smith, Ramona Y. Forebearers of Julia Brown and John Heber Yearsley. [n.p. : R.Y. Smith, 1981?].

  2. [2]

    Pratt was born and raised in New York and preached there during several of his missions. (Pratt, Autobiography, 17–26, 327–332.)

    Pratt, Parley P. The Autobiography of Parley Parker Pratt, One of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Embracing His Life, Ministry and Travels, with Extracts, in Prose and Verse, from His Miscellaneous Writings. Edited by Parley P. Pratt Jr. New York: Russell Brothers, 1874.

  3. [3]

    Snow was born and raised in Vermont and served a mission in that state in 1834. (Snow, Journal, 1835–1837, [2]; “Death of Apostle Erastus Snow,” Deseret News [Salt Lake City], 30 May 1888, 312.)

    Snow, Erastus. Journals, 1835–1851; 1856–1857. CHL. MS 1329, box 1, fds. 1–3.

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

  4. [4]

    Rigdon was born and raised in Pennsylvania and began his ministerial occupation there as a Baptist preacher. (“History of Joseph Smith,” Times and Seasons, 1 May 1843, 4:177; Rigdon, “Life Story of Sidney Rigdon,” 1, 4; see also Van Wagoner, Sidney Rigdon, chap. 3.)

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

    Rigdon, John Wickliff. “Life Story of Sidney Rigdon,” no date. CHL. MS 3451.

    Van Wagoner, Richard S. Sidney Rigdon: A Portrait of Religious Excess. Salt Lake City: Signature Books, 1994.

  5. [5]

    Self-promotion for public office was viewed as inappropriate political behavior in the early United States. Presidential candidates traditionally relied on their affiliated political parties and supporters to campaign for them. Although the election of 1840 marked a shift in this tradition because presidential candidates more actively directed the activities of their campaigns, candidates were still expected to refrain from appealing to voters directly. (See Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 571–573; Wilentz, Rise of American Democracy, 85; and Cheathem, Coming of Democracy, 9–11, 143–150.)

    Howe, Daniel Walker. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848. The Oxford History of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

    Wilentz, Sean. The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln. New York: W. W. Norton, 2005.

    Cheathem, Mark R. The Coming of Democracy: Presidential Campaigning in the Age of Jackson. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018.

  6. [6]

    After the Whig Party expelled President John Tyler from its ranks in 1841, Henry Clay became the frontrunner for the party’s presidential nomination in 1844 with no serious challengers. (Klotter, Henry Clay, 290–291; Howe, What Hath God Wrought, 590–594; McBride, Joseph Smith for President, 75–76.)

    Klotter, James C. Henry Clay: The Man Who Would Be President. New York: Oxford University Press, 2018.

    Howe, Daniel Walker. What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848. The Oxford History of the United States. New York: Oxford University Press, 2007.

    McBride, Spencer W. Joseph Smith for President: The Prophet, the Assassins, and the Fight for American Religious Freedom. New York: Oxford University Press, 2021.