The version of the letter published in the Nauvoo newspaper reads “surrounding counties.” On 6 October the authors of this letter wrote an open letter to the anti-Mormon citizens of Hancock and the surrounding counties informing them of their negotiations with church leaders and the Saints’ offer to leave in the spring. The men cautioned the anti-Mormons to cease their violent attacks and accept the church’s offer. “We trust, & believe,” they wrote, “that for this lovely portion of our state, a brighter day is dawning. And We beseech all parties not to seek to hasten its approach by the torch of the incendiary; nor to disturb its dawn by the crash of arms.” (John J. Hardin et al., “Camp Carthage,” IL, to “the President and High Council,” 3 Oct. 1845, in Nauvoo Neighbor, 29 Oct. 1845, [1]; John J. Hardin et al., “Camp Carthage,” IL, “To the Anti Mormon Citizens of Hancock and the Surrounding Counties,” 6 Oct. 1845, Hardin Family Papers, Chicago History Museum.)

Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

Hardin Family Papers, 1733–1943. Chicago History Museum.