Footnotes

1. [1]

   This is the second of two discourses JS preached during Sunday worship services on 13 August. In the morning, he spoke on the death of church member Elias Higbee. (Discourse, 13 Aug. 1843–A.)

2. [2]

   JS, Journal, 2 Mar. 1842.

3. [3]

   Hancock Co., IL, Plat Books, 1836–1938, vol. 1, p. 27, Commerce Plat, 31 Jan. 1842, microfilm 954,774, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.

   U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

4. [4]

   Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 2 Mar. 1842, 5; see also JS History, vol. C-1, 1286. Conversely, Bagby felt that JS was dishonest in his land dealings. In an 1845 letter to his sister, Bagby railed against JS and “the wrongs and oppressions inflicted upon us in so many thousand ways by that abomination of land Pirates at Nauvoo.” (Walter Bagby, Carthage, IL, to Nancy Bagby Rogers, Glasgow, KY, 9 Mar. 1845, Bagby-Rogers-Wood-Fishback Family Papers, Special Collections Research Center, Margaret I. King Library, University of Kentucky, Lexington.)

   Bagby-Rogers-Wood-Fishback Family Papers, 1805–1910. Special Collections, Margaret I. King Library, University of Kentucky, Lexington.

5. [5]

   [Walter Bagby], Warsaw, IL, to Willard Richards, Nauvoo, IL, 10 Mar. 1843; Willard Richards, Nauvoo, IL, to Walter Bagby, Warsaw, IL, 14 Mar. 1843, copy, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL; see also JS History, vol. D-1, 1497–1498.

   Richards, Willard. Journals and Papers, 1821–1854. CHL.

6. [6]

   JS History, vol. E-1, 1714; Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 5 Sept. 1843, 67.

7. [7]

   Clayton, Journal, 1 Aug. 1843. This sort of altercation was not uncommon in nineteenth-century America. In February 1844, for example, a Mr. A. Sympson (likely Alexander Sympson) accused Hancock County circuit court clerk Jacob B. Backenstos of circulating “reports derogatory to his character” and insisted that he retract his statements or “take a flogging.” Sympson “then struck him, with a cane.” In response, Backenstos “took to his natural weapons.—his heels.” (“An Affray at Carthage,” Warsaw [IL] Signal, 14 Feb. 1844, [2], italics in original.)

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

   Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

8. [8]

   Nauvoo was divided into two voting precincts—the Commerce precinct, which incorporated residents living north of Mulholland Street, and the Nauvoo precinct, comprising citizens living south of Mulholland Street. Though he lived in the Nauvoo precinct, JS apparently tried to vote at the Commerce precinct polls, which was located across the street from the temple at the law office of Stiles & Higbee. (Minutes, 10 June 1842 and 15 June 1843, Records 3, 1840–1843, Hancock County Papers, CHL; “Geo. P. Stiles,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 12 July 1843, [4].)

   Hancock County Papers, 1830–1872. CHL.

   Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

9. [9]

   In spring 1842, JS allegedly asked Rigdon’s daughter Nancy Rigdon to become his plural wife, which later resulted in difficulties between JS and the Rigdon family. Tensions between JS and Sidney Ridgon increased when John C. Bennett published a letter that JS purportedly wrote to Nancy Rigdon justifying the practice of plural marriage. In September 1842, JS asserted that the Nauvoo post office, which Sidney Rigdon operated from his home, was “exceedingly corrupt” and that a “confederate” of Bennett was tampering with the mail and stealing money. In November, JS and others petitioned the United States postmaster general to have Rigdon removed from his position. (Historical Introduction to Letter from Sidney Rigdon, 1 July 1842; JS, Journal, 21 Aug. 1842; Letter to Nancy Rigdon, ca. mid-Apr. 1842; Letter to James Arlington Bennet, 8 Sept. 1842; Emma Smith, Nauvoo, IL, to Sidney Rigdon, Nauvoo, IL, 12 Sept. 1842, Emma Smith, Correspondence, CHL; Letter to George W. Robinson, 6 Nov. 1842; JS, Journal, 8 Nov. 1842.)

   Smith, Emma. Correspondence, 1842 and 1844. CHL.

10. [10]

    JS, Journal, 18 Jan. 1843.

11. [11]

    JS, Journal, 11 Feb. 1843; Letter to Sidney Rigdon, 27 Mar. 1843. Rigdon wrote back to JS immediately, and his defense apparently assuaged JS’s fears temporarily. (Letter from Sidney Rigdon, 27 Mar. 1843.)

12. [12]

    Thomas Carlin, Quincy, IL, to Sidney Rigdon, Nauvoo, IL, copied into JS, Journal, 27 Aug. 1843. Rigdon later publicly defended himself at the church’s October 1843 conference, and the congregation ultimately voted to retain him as one of JS’s counselors. (Minutes and Discourses, 6–9 Oct. 1843.)

13. [13]

    Historical Introduction to Appendix 3: Willard Richards, Draft Notes of JS’s Activities, 1842, 1844.