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General Joseph Smith’s Appeal to the Green Mountain Boys, 21 November–circa 3 December 1843

Source Note

JS [and ], General Joseph Smith’s Appeal to the Green Mountain Boys, 21 Nov.–ca. 3 Dec. 1843. Featured version published as General Joseph Smith’s Appeal to the Green Mountain Boys, December 1843; Nauvoo, IL: Taylor and Woodruff, 1843; pp. [1]–7. The featured version is held at CHL; includes docket, archival stamp, and redactions in ink and graphite.
Two bifolia measuring 8¾ × 5¾ inches (22 × 15 cm) and consisting of four leaves stitched together. The presence of corresponding holes in both bifolia indicates that they were later bound together. At some point, the bifolia became disbound and were folded in half twice horizontally for storage. The fold of the outer bifolium contains separations.
The pamphlet was docketed by , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (now CHL) from 1853 to 1859. It also contains an archival stamp that dates to the mid-twentieth century. The document’s docket and archival stamp suggest continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    “Obituary of Leo Hawkins,” Millennial Star, 30 July 1859, 21:496–497.

    Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

Historical Introduction

In December 1843, and published JS’s Appeal to the Green Mountain Boys, which called on the citizens of to help the Latter-day Saints gain redress for losses sustained from mobs in the 1830s. JS apparently commenced this appeal after “2 gentleme[n] from virmont” visited , Illinois, and lodged with him at the on 20 November 1843. The next day, JS gave “instructi[o]ns to write an appeal to the citizens of Vermo[n]t.” While it is unknown what ideas or language JS contributed to this document, he consulted with Phelps about its contents. Appealing to the citizens of Vermont was one component of church leaders’ broader strategy to gain redress. During a meeting of Nauvoo citizens on 29 November, JS “motioned that every man in the meting who could w[i]eld a pen write an address to his mother count[r]y.” Because JS was born in Vermont and spent much of his childhood there, the appeal repeatedly referred to Vermont as his “native State.” Church members , Benjamin Andrews, , , and Alfonso Young wrote later appeals to the citizens of , , , , and Tennessee, respectively.
JS called for assistance from the states because the Latter-day Saints had not been awarded redress by the courts and legislature or received remuneration from the federal government for their lost property. In the appeal featured here, expressed the Latter-day Saints’ frustration with perceived government ineptitude and impotence by paraphrasing what President told JS in November 1839: “your cause is just, but government has no power to redress you!” The pamphlet broadly requested help “in obtaining justice from Missouri,” but it never specified how ’s citizens were to assist JS and the Saints. The appeal referred to the biblical account of Abraham and his armed servants rescuing Lot as well as to the support and Holland showed the American colonies during the Revolutionary War.
JS and likely addressed the pamphlet to the Green Mountain Boys to remind the citizens of of their legacy as patriots who championed property rights and liberty. The Green Mountain Boys were members of a grassroots militia led by Ethan Allen in the 1770s to protect settlers’ rights to land that was claimed by both and New Hampshire. The militia also fought in the Revolutionary War. Allen, however, was not given command of the Green Mountain Boys when they became official members of the Continental Army in 1775 and were renamed the Green Mountain Regiment.
To make the Latter-day Saints’ plight relevant to ’s citizens, cast JS not only as a religious leader but also as a patriot and general who inherited his love of freedom from his forefathers who “fought and bled” for American independence. Phelps asserted that the church members had been stripped of their rights to life, liberty, and property and questioned his countrymen’s commitment to fighting for justice as they had in 1776. He declared that if the Saints’ wrongs were not redressed and if their right to worship was trampled, American freedom would cease to be, and God would “purify the nation.”
Although wrote the document, JS was identified as the author and adopted it as his own, calling it “my appeal.” JS also attended several gatherings where he heard the appeal read and offered no corrections, demonstrating his tacit endorsement of the document’s contents. The document was apparently completed by 30 November 1843, when a portion was sent to the press. The printing was likely finished around 3 December, since the letter was “consecrated & dedicated unto God” on that day. and published the appeal as a Times and Seasons extra, the version featured here. The original manuscript has not been located.
While the Nauvoo Neighbor was optimistic that the appeal would be well received, extant responses proved critical and sarcastic. On 17 January 1844, the Warsaw Message published the appeal along with a brief response mocking JS’s request for assistance and ridiculing the pamphlet’s use of foreign phrases. In an unsigned letter to the editor of the Warsaw Signal allegedly written from on 15 February 1844, the author claimed to be a part of the Green Mountain Boys, but it is impossible to know if the author represented anyone but himself. The letter excoriated JS, comparing him to a pirate and declaring that he should be hanged because he promised his followers a “new government” and called the American government “rotten.”

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    For an overview of the Saints’ experiences in Missouri, see Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840; and JS et al., Memorial to U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, 28 Nov. 1843, Record Group 46, Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives, Washington DC.

  2. [2]

    JS, Journal, 20 Nov. 1843; see also Clayton, Journal, 20 Nov. 1843. The Nauvoo Mansion was the Smith family residence from 31 August 1843; it was also used as a hotel. (JS, Journal, 31 Aug. 1843; 15 Sept. 1843; 3 Oct. 1843; Berrett, Sacred Places, 3:135–136.)

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

    Berrett, LaMar C., ed. Sacred Places: A Comprehensive Guide to Early LDS Historical Sites. 6 vols. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1999–2007.

  3. [3]

    JS, Journal, 21 Nov. 1843.

  4. [4]

    In addition to consulting with Phelps on the appeal, JS worked with Phelps, John Frierson, and others on the memorial to Congress later that week. (JS, Journal, 21 and 26 Nov. 1843.)

  5. [5]

    Minutes, 29 Nov. 1843.

  6. [6]

    Parley P. Pratt, An Appeal to the Inhabitants of the State of New York, Letter to Queen Victoria, (Reprinted from the Tenth European Edition,): The Fountain of Knowledge, Immortality of the Body, and Intelligence and Affection (Nauvoo, IL: John Taylor, [1844]); Benjamin Andrews, “An Appeal to the People of the State of Maine,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 17 Jan. 1844, [1]; Sidney Rigdon, “To the Honorable, the Senate and House of Representatives of Pennsylvania, in Legislative Capacity Assembled,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 31 Jan. 1844, [1]; Richards, “An Appeal to the Inhabitants of Massachusetts,” 1 Feb. 1844, CHL; Phineas Richards, “An Appeal, to the Inhabitants of Massachusetts,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 7 Feb. 1844, [2]; Noah Packard, House....No. 64. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Memorial. To the Honorable the Governor, Senate and House of Representatives of Massachusetts, in Legislative Capacity Assembled (Boston: Dutton and Wentworth, 1844); Noah Packard, “House—No. 64. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Memorial,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 24 Apr. 1844, [2]; Alphonso Young, “An Appeal to the State of Tennessee,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 28 Feb. 1844, [1].

    Pratt, Parley P. An Appeal to the Inhabitants of the State of New York, Letter to Queen Victoria: (Reprinted from the Tenth European Edition,): The Fountain of Knowledge, Immortality of the Body, and Intelligence and Affection. Nauvoo, IL: John Taylor, 1844.

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

    Richards, Phineas. “An Appeal to the Inhabitants of Massachusetts,” 1 Feb. 1844. CHL.

    Packard, Noah. House....No. 64. Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Memorial. To the Honorable the Governor, Senate and House of Representatives of Massachusetts, in Legislative Capacity Assembled. [Boston: Dutton and Wentworth, 1844].

  7. [7]

    According to JS’s 1839 account of his and Elias Higbee’s meeting with Van Buren, the president said, “what can I do? I can do nothing for you,— if I do any thing, I shall come in contact with the whole State of Missouri.” While the phrasing in the appeal differed from the earlier account, Phelps nevertheless captured the essence of Van Buren’s response. (Letter to Hyrum Smith and Nauvoo High Council, 5 Dec. 1839; McBride, “When Joseph Smith Met Martin Van Buren,” 153–154.)

    McBride, Spencer W. Pulpit and Nation: Clergymen and the Politics of Revolutionary America. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2017.

  8. [8]

    Randall, Ethan Allen: His Life and Times, 9–10, 254–255, chaps. 10–11.

    Randall, Willard Sterne. Ethan Allen: His Life and Times. New York: W. W. Norton, 2011.

  9. [9]

    In July 1843, JS delivered a discourse in which he stated, “It is a love of libe[r]ty which inspires my soul. civil and religious liberty— were diffused into my soul by my grandfathers. while they dandld me on their knees.” The state of Illinois commissioned JS as lieutenant general of the Nauvoo Legion in March 1841. (JS, Journal, 9 July 1843; see also Commission from Thomas Carlin, 10 Mar. 1841.)

  10. [10]

    JS, Journal, 29 Dec. 1843; see also Minutes, 29 Nov. 1843; JS, Journal, 3 Dec. 1843; and Minutes, 4 Dec. 1843.

  11. [11]

    JS, Journal, 30 Nov. 1843.

  12. [12]

    Woodruff, Journal, 3 Dec. 1843; see also JS, Journal, 3 Dec. 1843.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  13. [13]

    John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff were the publishers of the Times and Seasons. (Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:92, 94.)

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

  14. [14]

    See News Item, Nauvoo Neighbor, 6 Dec. 1843, [2].

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  15. [15]

    “The Appeal to the Green Mountain Boys,” and JS, “General Joseph Smith’s Appeal to the Green Mountain Boys,” Warsaw (IL) Message, Extra, 17 Jan. 1844, [1]–[2].

    Warsaw Message. Warsaw, IL. 1843–1844.

  16. [16]

    Green Mountain Boys, Strafford, VT, to the Editor of the Warsaw Signal, Warsaw, IL, 15 Feb. 1844, Thomas C. Sharp and Allied Anti-Mormon Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT.

    Thomas C. Sharp and Allied Anti-Mormon Papers. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*General Joseph Smith’s Appeal to the Green Mountain Boys, 21 November–circa 3 December 1843
History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [1]

-[times and seasons—extra.]-
GENERAL JOSEPH SMITH’S
APPEAL
to the
GREEN MOUNTAIN BOYS,
DECEMBER, 1843.
, ILL.
AND , PRINTERS.
1843. [p. [1]]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
General Joseph Smith’s Appeal to the Green Mountain Boys, 21 November–circa 3 December 1843
ID #
1209
Total Pages
8
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:308–322
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