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“A History, of the Persecution, of the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter Day Saints in Missouri,” December 1839–October 1840

Installment 1, December 1839 Page 17 Installment 2, January 1840 Page 33 Installment 3, February 1840 Page 49 Installment 4, March 1840 Page 65 Installment 5, April 1840 Page 81 Installment 6, May 1840 Page 97 Installment 7, June 1840 Page 113 Installment 8, July 1840 Page 129 Installment 9, August 1840 Page 145 Installment 10, September 1840 Page 161 Installment 11, October 1840 Page 177

Source Note

“A History, of the Persecution, of the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter Day Saints in ,” in Times and Seasons (Commerce/Nauvoo, IL), vol. 1, nos. 2–12: Dec. 1839, pp. 17–20; Jan. 1840, pp. 33–36; Feb. 1840, pp. 49–51; Mar. 1840, pp. 65–66; Apr. 1840, pp. 81–82; May 1840, pp. 97–99; June 1840, pp. 113–116; July 1840, pp. 129–131; Aug. 1840, pp. 145–150; Sept. 1840, pp. 161–165; Oct. 1840, pp. 177, 184–185; edited by and . The copy used for transcription is currently part of a bound volume held at CHL; includes light marginalia and archival marking.
Each segment in the eleven-part series begins on the first page of its respective number of the Times and Seasons. Each issue comprises eight leaves (sixteen pages) that measure 8⅝ x 5¼ inches (22 x 13 cm). The text on each page is set in two columns. At some point, the editors of the Times and Seasons reset and reprinted the December 1839 and January 1840 issues of the Times and Seasons; based on textual analysis, the version used for transcription appears to be the earlier typesetting of both. It is unknown how long this volume has been in church custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:94–95.

    Crawley, Peter. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. 3 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997–2012.

Historical Introduction

While incarcerated at , Missouri, in March 1839, JS addressed a letter to the Saints, and to “ in particular,” in which he called for the Saints to gather up “a knoledge of all the facts and sufferings and abuses put upon them” in that they might publish the records “to all the world” and “present them to the heads of the government.” Apparently in response to this assignment, Edward Partridge wrote a history that became the first three installments of “A History, of the Persecution, of the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter Day Saints in Missouri,” an eleven-part series published in the church’s newspaper, Times and Seasons, between December 1839 and October 1840. This series gave the first extended account of the Missouri period to be printed in the Latter-day Saint press. The editors of the Times and Seasons, and , announced in its first issue that the newspaper would “commence publishing the history of the disturbances in Missouri, in regular series,” and the first installment appeared in the second issue.
“A History, of the Persecution” begins with ’s account of the conflicts in the early 1830s. Partridge was a bishop of the church in Missouri, first in , then in following the Latter-day Saints’ expulsion from Jackson, and finally in after the Saints relocated from Clay. By the time he wrote this account of the Mormons’ experiences in Missouri, the Saints had been exiled from the state and had relocated to . Partridge lived first at Pittsfield, then at . In July 1839 he settled in the area, where he served again as a bishop in the new Mormon community being established there. Partridge’s narrative is based on firsthand observations and may also have relied on other records he kept. The manuscript version of the history begins, “In presenting to our readers a history of the persecutions,” indicating that Partridge wrote it for publication purposes. He may have intended to tell the entire Missouri story himself, but he fell ill shortly after publication of the “History of the Persecution” began, and he died 27 May 1840.
The fourth installment of “History, of the Persecution” provides a brief transition from ’s account, which ends in 1836 as the Saints were settling in what became , to the conflicts in Caldwell and adjoining counties beginning in 1838. Though the source or author of this portion is not known, it may have been written by editors and . Perhaps prompted by Partridge’s illness, the editors sought elsewhere for source materials to continue the series. In April 1840, the fifth installment reprinted passages from ’s History of the Late Persecution Inflicted by the State of Missouri upon the Mormons (Detroit: Dawson and Bates, 1839), and the sixth in May excerpted ’s An Appeal to the American People: Being an Account of the Persecutions of the Church of Latter Day Saints; and of the Barbarities Inflicted on Them by the Inhabitants of the State of Missouri (Cincinnati: Glezan and Shepard, 1840). In June the editors again excerpted Pratt’s History of the Late Persecution, and in the three articles published from July to September they reprinted more of Rigdon’s work. The series concluded in the October 1840 issue with a reprint of the speech that , a major general of the Missouri state militia, made to the Latter-day Saints at , Caldwell County, on 5 November 1838.
The “History, of the Persecution” is representative of the many histories and individual petitions written at the time to document the Saints’ experiences in . Its excerpts from ’s History of the Late Persecution and ’s Appeal to the American People provide a useful sampling of two published histories of the period and demonstrate that documenting these events was a widespread effort. Publication in the church’s periodical lent credibility to the series and ensured that it was the source from which many new Mormon converts learned the details of the church’s history in Missouri. What they read was not the work of neutral historians detached from the events described. When , Pratt, and Rigdon wrote their histories, the persecutions and injustices against them were still fresh in their memories. All three authors suffered personally during the Missouri hardships, and as they and other Saints undertook to write about their experiences, their primary focus was to fulfill JS’s directive—to obtain redress by making known the “nefarious and murderous impositions that have been practiced upon this people.”

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS et al., Liberty, MO, to the church members and Edward Partridge, Quincy, IL, 20 Mar. 1839, in Revelations Collection, CHL [D&C 123:1, 6]. An edited and slightly shortened version of the letter was published in two parts in the Times and Seasons, May and July 1840. The instruction to record the Saints’ Missouri history was part of the July installment. (“Copy of a Letter, Written by J. Smith Jr. and Others, While in Prison,” Times and Seasons, May 1840, 1:99–104; “An Extract of a Letter Written to Bishop Partridge, and the Saints in General,” Times and Seasons, July 1840, 1:131–134.)

    Revelations Collection, 1831–ca. 1844, 1847, 1861, ca. 1876. CHL. MS 4583.

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

  2. [2]

    “A Word to the Saints,” Times and Seasons, July 1839, 1:12. After the first copies of the first number were printed in July, publication of the Times and Seasons halted for several months because both editors fell ill amidst a malaria outbreak in the Commerce, Illinois, area. The first number was reissued under the date November 1839.

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

  3. [3]

    Edward Partridge, Miscellaneous papers, CHL. This collection of Partridge papers includes other autobiographical writings about Missouri events.

    Partridge, Edward. Miscellaneous Papers, ca. 1839–May 1840. CHL.

  4. [4]

    Partridge, History, manuscript, Edward Partridge, Miscellaneous Papers, CHL. Significant differences between the first three installments of “History, of the Persecution” and the Partridge manuscript are described in footnotes herein.

    Partridge, Edward. Miscellaneous Papers, ca. 1839–May 1840. CHL.

  5. [5]

    No manuscript is known to exist for Pratt’s published pamphlet. Rigdon is not named as the author on the title page of Appeal to the American People, but he is credited as such in the “History, of the Persecution” series and in advertisements for the pamphlet in the Times and Seasons. A manuscript version of Rigdon’s Appeal to the American People, titled “To the Publick” and inscribed by George W. Robinson, is found in the JS Collection at the Church History Library. Many textual differences exist between the manuscript and Appeal to the American People, and the editors of the Times and Seasons clearly used the published pamphlet, not the manuscript, as their source. (“History, of the Persecution,” May 1840, 1:99; Advertisement, Times and Seasons, 1 Jan. 1841, 2:272.)

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

  6. [6]

    Earlier published accounts of the Jackson County conflicts from Latter-day Saints include the broadside “The Mormons,” So Called, dated 12 December 1833, and its reprint in The Evening and the Morning Star, Extra, Feb. 1834, [1]–[2]; a series titled “The Outrage in Jackson County, Missouri,” published in The Evening and the Morning Star, Dec. 1833–Mar. 1834 and May–June 1834; John P. Greene’s pamphlet Facts Relative to the Expulsion of the Mormons or Latter Day Saints, from the State of Missouri, under the “Exterminating Order” (Cincinnati: R. P. Brooks, 1839); and John Taylor’s eight-page work, A Short Account of the Murders, Roberies, Burnings, Thefts, and Other Outrages Committed by the Mob and Militia of the State of Missouri, Upon the Latter Day Saints (Springfield, IL: By the author, 1839).

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

  7. [7]

    JS et al., Liberty, MO, to the church members and Edward Partridge, Quincy, IL, 20 Mar. 1839, in Revelations Collection, CHL [D&C 123:5].

    Revelations Collection, 1831–ca. 1844, 1847, 1861, ca. 1876. CHL. MS 4583.

Page 129

Installment 8, July 1840
Editorial Note
Times and Seasons, July 1840, 1:129–131. This is the eighth installment in the series. To assist in the transition between ’s narrative at the end of the previous installment and the resumption of excerpts from ’s, this section opens with an introductory paragraph (author unknown) and a copy of governor ’s “extermination order” that closely matches the version found in Rigdon’s Appeal to the American People, pages 47–48. Then follows an account of two incidents of assault by Missourians on Latter-day Saints that occurred prior to the encampment of the Missouri militia outside . The account of these incidents was adapted from Appeal to the American People, pages 46 and 78. Beginning at the bottom of page 129, the installment excerpts from Appeal to the American People, pages 48–51.
A HISTORY, OF THE PERSECUTION, OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST, OF LATTER DAY SAINTS IN .
 
continued.
 
It was before said that the had long sought an opportunity to destroy us, and drive us from the ; he now had all things arranged according to his liking, an army of several thousand men were now arayed against a few, innocent, unofending citizens who had always been strict to obey the laws of the ; and several thousand more were on their march to , and all this according to the orders of the : the following is the exterminating order under which this mob millitia were acting.
 
Head Quarters of the Militia,
City of ,
Oct. 27th 1838.
Sir,
Since the order of the morning to you, directing you to come with four hundred mounted men, to be raised within your Division, I have received, by , Esq., and Wiley C. Williams, Esq., one of my aids, information of the most appalling character, which changes entirely the face of things, and places the Mormons in the attitude of an avowed defiance of the Laws, and of having made war upon the people of this . Your orders are therefore, to hasten your operations and endeavor to reach in Ray county, with all possible speed.— The Mormons must be treated as enemies and must be exterminated, or driven from the , if necessary for the public peace.
Their outrages, are beyond all de[s]cription. If you can increase your force, you are authorized to do so, to any extent you may think necessary. I have just issued orders to Major General Wollock [David Willock] of Marion county, to raise five hundred men, and to march them to the northern part of and there to unite with of —who has been ordered with five hundred men, to proceed to the same point for the purpose of intercepting the retreat of the Mormons to the north. They have been directed to communicate with you by express. You can also communicate with them if you find it necessary. Instead therefore, of proceeding as at first directed to re-instate the citizens of in their houses, you will proceed immediately to and, there operate against the Mormons.— of , has been ordered to have four hundred of his Brigade in readiness to join you at . The whole force will be placed under your command.
(Sined) ,
Govenor and Commander-in-Chief
 
We would here observe that the large army, or rather mob, just before they reached , took a man prisoner by the name of [William] Carey who was a stranger in the country; and one of their number, coolly and deliberately beat out his brains with the breech of his gun. He was then thrown into a wagon and taken with them to their encampment. His family were not allowed to see him, or even permitted to administer to his wants, in the hour of death; he was given up to his family a few minutes before he expired.— This was known by all the officers, but was considered, probally, an act of bravery.
An aged man by the name of was taken about the same time and regardless of grey hairs, that wore evident ma[r]ks of hardship in the service of his , he was struck over the head with the breech of a gun, and his skull laid bare: but to return. We here quote from ’s Appeal to the American people &c. it being a well written statement of facts.
To .
This order of ’, was given, as he, and the whole band of them pretended, in consequence of the battle: pretending that he had been sent there, by legal authority. Now, for [p. 129]
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Page 129

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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
“A History, of the Persecution, of the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter Day Saints in Missouri,” December 1839–October 1840
ID #
6553
Total Pages
39
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
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Footnotes

  1. [174]

    Lilburn W. Boggs.

  2. [175]

    Comparisons in the following footnotes are to Lilburn W. Boggs, Jefferson City, MO, to John B. Clark, Fayette, MO, 27 Oct. 1838, copy, Mormon War Papers, MSA, designated hereafter as “MSA copy.”

    Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

  3. [176]

    B. M. Lisle, Jefferson City, MO, to John B. Clark, [Fayette, MO], 26 Oct. 1838, copy, Mormon War Papers, MSA. The MSA copy of Lisle’s letter may be misdated, since Boggs indicated here that Lisle’s letter was sent the morning of 27 October.

    Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

  4. [177]

    Instead of “come with,” MSA copy has “cause.”

  5. [178]

    MSA copy adds “of Ray.”

  6. [179]

    In a letter to John B. Clark, Rees and Williams reported widespread destruction by the Mormons in Daviess County and high casualties in the Crooked River battle between Latter-day Saints and the Ray County militia. Further, they reported rumors that the Mormons intended to burn Richmond the night of 25 October and that all women and children had evacuated the town. Rees and Williams indicated that they were carrying the same news to Governor Boggs. (Wiley C. Williams and Amos Rees to John B. Clark, 25 Oct. 1838, copy, Mormon War Papers, MSA; see also Sashel Woods and Joseph Dickson, Carrollton, MO, to [John B. Clark], 24 Oct. 1838, copy; and E. M. Ryland, Lexington, MO, to Amos Rees and Wiley C. Williams, 25 Oct. 1838, copy, Mormon War Papers, MSA.)

    Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

  7. [180]

    MSA copy does not have “and endeavor to reach Richmond in Ray county.”

  8. [181]

    MSA copy reads “exterminated or driven from the state if necessary for the public peace,” without commas.

  9. [182]

    MSA copy does not include the title of governor. The signature in the MSA copy is followed by “To Genl John B Clark Fayette Ho[ward] Co.”

  10. [183]

    John Smith, who was sitting alongside Carey in a wagon at the time the blow was struck, reported that Carey’s head was “split open,” that a surgeon in the camp of the militia “washed his wound and sowed it up,” and that Carey died about forty-four hours later. (John Smith, Affidavit, Adams Co., IL, 8 Jan. 1840, photocopy, Material Relating to Mormon Expulsion from Missouri, 1839–1843, CHL.)

    Library of Congress Collection. National Archives, Washington DC. Redress petitions from this collection are also available in Clark V. Johnson, ed., Mormon Redress Petitions: Documents of the 1833–1838 Missouri Conflict, Religious Studies Center Monograph Series 16 (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1992).

  11. [184]

    According to Hyrum Smith, Tanner’s skull was “laid bare the width of a man’s hand” and he appeared to be “in the agonies of death for several hours.” Alexander Doniphan gave permission for Tanner to be returned to Far West, and he eventually recovered. (Hyrum Smith, Testimony, Nauvoo, IL, 1 July 1843, p. 10, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)

    Nauvoo, IL. Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.

  12. [185]

    In Rigdon’s Appeal to the American People, “To S. D. Lucas” appears directly after Boggs’s signature at the end of the 27 October order. The placement of the line here in the “History, of the Persecution” series, separated from the body of the letter, may indicate that the two intervening paragraphs were inserted after the text that follows was already typeset. Rigdon misidentified the intended recipient; Boggs addressed the order not to Lucas but to John B. Clark.

  13. [186]

    That is, the 25 October 1838 battle at Crooked River.

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