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Discourse, 13 August 1843–B, as Reported by Willard Richards

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Discourse, 13 August 1843–B, as Reported by Willard Richards

Source Note

JS, Discourse, [, Hancock Co., IL, 13 Aug. 1843]. Featured version copied [ca. 13 Aug. 1843] in JS, Journal, 1842–1844, bk. 3, pp. [51]–[55]; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS, Journal, 1842–1844.

Historical Introduction

On the afternoon of 13 August 1843, in , Illinois, JS delivered a discourse on a variety of ecclesiastical, civic, and social topics. Among the subjects he addressed were social decorum at meetings, disruptions caused at local drinking establishments, the latest election, and his own personal conflicts with several individuals, including a recent physical confrontation with , Illinois, tax collector . Land payments had been a source of considerable tension between church leaders and Bagby for well over a year. JS reportedly paid and county taxes to Bagby in March 1842 but refused to pay taxes assessed on lots in the platted town of . According to an inscription recorded in one of the Hancock County plat books in January 1842, JS had vacated the Commerce lots “now inclosed within the general Boundaries & limits of the City of Nauvoo.” JS thus believed that Bagby’s demand that JS pay taxes on the Commerce lots was illegal and that continued efforts to collect taxes on these lots were “continued by our enemies on the tax list for the purpose of getting more money from the saints.” In addition to this, Bagby wrote at least two letters to , JS’s personal secretary and friend, in March 1843 demanding that he pay a tax on lands that the county assessor believed belonged to Richards. Asserting that the land belonged to the church rather than him personally, Richards refused to pay the tax and advised the assessor (and Bagby, by implication) to correct the error.
During summer 1843, sheriff turned the deed to a piece of land owned by JS over to a Mr. Hamilton of , Illinois, because JS was apparently delinquent in paying the property’s taxes—a charge JS vehemently denied. When JS encountered on the streets of on 1 August, he inquired about the tax title. In his journal, reported that the conversation between the two men became heated and that JS told Bagby that he had “abused the citizens here and was always doing so.” After Bagby called him a liar, JS stepped out of his carriage. Bagby then picked up a rock, and JS became “so enraged that he followed him & struck him two or three times” before alderman separated the two men. Immediately following the incident, JS went to the office of , who acted as a justice of the peace, to pay a fine for his actions.
In addition to giving an account of his confrontation with , JS described another distressing incident that occurred the prior week. On 7 August, when JS had proceeded to the polls in the voting precinct to cast his vote in the congressional election, he was reportedly “abused” for attempting to vote in the wrong precinct. Shortly after he closed his discourse, JS returned to the stand to accuse , one of his counselors in the church’s , of betraying him and conspiring to have him extradited to . Though Ridgon became JS’s counselor in 1832, the two men experienced intermittent periods of discord beginning in spring 1842. In January 1843, furnished JS with a letter written by excommunicated church member to Rigdon and Pratt outlining his plan to have JS extradited to Missouri to face charges stemming from 1838 conflicts between the Saints in Missouri and their opponents in that state; the letter apparently led JS to believe that Rigdon was in league with their former colleague and bitter enemy. Though JS and Rigdon temporarily reconciled in mid-February, JS’s doubts about Rigdon persisted. In late March, JS dictated a letter to Rigdon in which he talked about their past grievances and informed him that he intended to have him disfellowshipped. JS decided to take this action by 13 August, after receiving a report that Rigdon allegedly told former governor that he would use his influence to “to have Joseph Smith arrested, and deliverd into the hands of the Missourians.” After expressing his concerns about Rigdon in the featured discourse, JS then called for a vote to disfellowship him, which the congregation affirmed.
Church members and attended JS’s discourse, and both men produced handwritten manuscripts that captured portions of his words. Richards likely recorded rough notes of the discourse on loose paper or in a notebook before inscribing a more polished account in JS’s journal. Clayton’s more polished version also suggests that he reconstructed it from notes or memory. Both versions are featured here in their entirety.

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.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Discourse, 13 August 1843–B, as Reported by Willard Richards Journal, December 1842–June 1844; Book 3, 15 July 1843–29 February 1844 *Discourse, 13 August 1843–B, as Reported by William Clayton History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”
and told me to go away.
All our wronged wrongs have arisen under the power and authority of democra[c]y and I have swron [sworn] that I will this arm shall fall from my shoulder and. this tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth. before I will vote for them. unless they make me satisfacti[o]n I & I feel it sensibly.—
I was abused and neglected at the ground. <​and there was not a man in the crowd to say— this is Bro Joseph this is th[e] Mayor—​>
then spoke of the grog shops and the disturbance of the crowd in the street by Messoer’s [Moeser’s] grocery.
Warned the grog shops to be scarce after this time and the [p. [53]]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Discourse, 13 August 1843–B, as Reported by Willard Richards
ID #
1140
Total Pages
5
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:42–44
Handwriting on This Page
  • Willard Richards

Footnotes

  1. [6]

    See Job 31:22; and Psalm 137:6.

  2. [7]

    This likely referred to the Democratic Party, which was also known as “the Democracy” or “the American Democracy.” In a 29 August 1843 interview with Pittsburgh Daily Gazette editor David Nye White, JS articulated some of his personal frustrations with the political party. (“Remarks of Gen. Pillow,” York [PA] Gazette, 11 June 1844, [2]; “Report and Resolutions of the Committee Appointed to Draft an Address to the People of the United States,” Niles’ National Register [Washington DC], 8 June 1844, 227; Interview, 29 Aug. 1843.)

    York Gazette. York, PA. 1815–1918.

    Niles’ National Register. Washington DC, 1837–1839; Baltimore, 1839–1848; Philadelphia, 1848–1849.

  3. [8]

    Frederick Moeser owned a mercantile store at the corner of Page and Mulholland streets, where he sold some alcohol. Eight days after JS’s discourse, Moeser was fined three dollars for violating the Nauvoo ordinance prohibiting the sale of liquor in small quantities. (JS, Journal, 21 Aug. 1843.)

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