Documents, Volume 13, Part 2 Introduction: September 1843
Part 2: September 1843
In September 1843, JS attended to civic and
ecclesiastical responsibilities. He participated in and dealt with
various courts and legal matters.
At the beginning of the month, he and his wife served as witnesses in the
trial of , who had been charged with adultery, breach of
covenant, lying, and slander.
Near the end of the month, JS
answered a complaint regarding payments for land in Nauvoo,
Illinois. As lieutenant general
of the , he participated in a
legion drill, inspection, and parade.
In addition to performing these duties, JS interacted with and ministered
to his own family as well as other members of the . On 4 September, JS, , and their children observed
feats of horsemanship and strength at the traveling Mabie and Howes
Circus, which had stopped in
for two nights. Emma fell ill a few days later, and JS
remained at home to care for her. JS also continued to
guide church members throughout the month. In early
September, he counseled with other Latter-day Saint leaders
and gave instruction on undisclosed “future things.” After
listening to a sermon preached by a visiting Unitarian minister in
mid-September,
JS delivered a discourse to assembled church members on
persecution as well as the use and abuse of medicine. JS and the
Latter-day Saints had experienced harassment and physical expulsion
a number of times over the previous decade, and he thus refuted the
notion that “persecution causes a good work to prosper.”
The documentary record for September indicates that JS was especially concerned with
protecting church members from external threats. He remained worried
that Missourians were plotting to have him or other Latter-day
Saints extradited from to to stand trial for alleged crimes committed
during the 1838 conflict between church members and
their opponents in that state. JS’s
correspondence with Illinois governor about this lingering fear continued in September with a letter from Ford to
JS expressing doubts that Missourians would attack but declaring
that he would “prevent the invasion of this State.”
The growing hostility toward the Latter-day Saints in only added to
JS’s concerns. In mid-August
1843, a group of Hancock County citizens organized a “Great
Meeting of Anti-Mormons” in , and a committee appointed by the conference
later drafted resolutions condemning and threatening the Saints. In
early
September, the Anti-Mormon Convention reconvened and adopted
the measures. The convention’s resolutions
were of the “strongest kind” and specifically charged JS with “a
most shameless disregard for all the forms and restraints of
Law.” Newspaper reports indicated that
the disgruntled Hancock County residents declared that “if would not surrender Joe Smith on the
requisition of the of —which he had refused to do from political
considerations—that they would call in aid from other counties and
other States to assist them in delivering him up.” The Anti-Mormon
Convention participants further stated that they believed their
lives were threatened by the Latter-day Saints and resolved to
“avenge any blood that might be shed” by inflicting violence upon
them.
The resolutions of this group, which the Latter-day Saints
characterized as the “ Mob,” arrived in on 15 September—the same day that
JS raised the
sign for the , the commodious new hotel where he and his family
had moved at the end of
August. Citing
the Carthage resolutions, JS wrote again to , reiterating his concern that residents
might conspire with Missourians to capture him. The resolutions also
startled land creditor ,
whom JS owed money for most of the Nauvoo property where the Saints
lived. Hotchkiss read the resolutions in a newspaper in
and asked JS for more information. Amid this rising
tension, JS’s concern for his safety and the protection of his
people continued to grow.
Part 2 features eleven documents
created in September 1843, including letters, a
discourse, and a legal document.