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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 6

Jews and Jerusalem; and remember the Lord Almighty will avenge the blood of his Saints that now crimsons the skirts of ! Shall wisdom cry aloud and not her speech be heard?
Has the majesty of American liberty sunk into such vile servitude and oppression, that justice has fled? Has the glory and influence of a Washington, an Adams, a Jefferson, a Lafayette, and a host of others forever departed,—and the wrath of a Cain, a Judas, and a Nero whirled forth in the heraldry of hell, to sprinkle our garments with blood; and lighten the darkness of midnight, with the blaze of our dwellings? Where is the patriotism of ’76? Where is the virtue of our forefathers? and where is the sacred honor of freemen?
Must we, because we believe in the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ; the administration of angels, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, like the prophets and apostles of old,—must we be mobed with impunity—be exiled from our habitations and property without remedy; murdered without mercy,—and government find the weapons, and pay the vagabonds for doing the jobs, and give them the plunder into the bargain? Must we, because we believe in enjoying the constitutional privilege and right of worshipping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own consciences; and because we believe in repentance, and for the remission of sins; the by the ; the resurrection of the dead; the millenium; the day of judgment; and the Book of Mormon as the history of the aborigines of this continent,—must we be expelled from the institutions of our ; the rights of citizenship, and the graves of our friends and brethren, and the government lock the gate of humanity, and shut the door of redress against us?— If so, fare well freedom; adieu to personal safety,—and let the red hot wrath of an offended God purify the of such sinks of corruption! For that realm is hurrying to ruin where vice has the power to expel virtue.
My , who stood, several times in the battles of the American Revolution, till his companions, in arms, had been shot dead, at his feet, was forced from his home in , Missouri, by those civilized, or satanized savages, in the dreary season of winter, to seek a shelter in another State; and the vicissitudes and sufferings consequent to his flight, brought his honored grey head to the grave, a few months after. And my youngest , also, in the vigor and bloom of youth, from his great exposure and fatigue in endeavoring to assist his parents on their journey, (I and my brother being in chains, in dungeons—where they tried to feed us upon human flesh—in ,) was likewise so debilitated that he found a premature grave shortly after my . And my , too, though she yet lingers among us, from her extreme exposure in that dreadful tragedy, was filled with rheumatic affections and other diseases, which leaves her no enjoyment of health. She is sinking in grief and pain, broken hearted, from persecution.
O death! wilt thou not give to every honest man, a heated dart to sting those wretches while they pollute the land? and O grave! wilt thou not open the trap door to the pit of ungodly men, that they may stumble in?
I appeal to the “Green Mountain Boys” of my native , to rise in the majesty of virtuous freemen, and by all honorable means help bring to the bar of justice. If there is one whisper from the spirit of an Ethan Allen; or a gleam from the shade of a Gen. Stark, let it mingle with [p. 6]
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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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Footnotes

  1. [41]

    It is unclear whether Phelps was referring to the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC or AD 70.

  2. [42]

    See Deuteronomy 32:43; 2 Kings 9:7; and Revelation 6:10; 19:2.

  3. [43]

    See Jeremiah 2:34; and Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 422 [Helaman 9:31].

  4. [44]

    Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, the French Marquis de Lafayette, came to America in 1777 and helped command the soldiers of the Continental Army in their fight against the British in the American Revolution. (Middlekauff, Glorious Cause, 419–420, 685.)

    Middlekauff, Robert. The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763–1789. New York: Oxford University Press, 1982.

  5. [45]

    Nero was a Roman emperor who persecuted early Christians. Christian tradition has also viewed Nero as the Antichrist. (See “Nero,” in Anchor Bible Dictionary, 4:1080.)

    The Anchor Bible Dictionary. 6 vols. Edited by David Noel Freedman. New York: Doubleday, 1992.

  6. [46]

    The First Amendment to the United States Constitution states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” A portion of section sixteen of the Virginia Declaration of Rights, adopted in 1776, reads, “all men are equally entitled to the free exercise of religion, according to the dictates of conscience.” (Mason, Virginia Declaration of Rights, sec. 16, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington DC.)

    Mason, George. The Virginia Declaration of Rights, May 1776. Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington DC.

  7. [47]

    See “Printer’s Manuscript of the Book of Mormon”.

  8. [48]

    This passage was apparently meant to contrast the experience of JS’s grandfather and father. JS may have assigned Phelps to write about both his grandfather’s experience fighting for independence in the Revolution and his father’s subsequent experience being deprived of his liberties in Missouri—an ironic pairing of experiences from the lives of two closely related but separate individuals. Their experiences were conflated during the drafting or editing of the text. JS’s grandfather Solomon Mack fought in the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War and related an experience similar to that mentioned here. A funeral sermon delivered for Joseph Smith Sr., who died 14 September 1840, stated that the capture of JS and Hyrum Smith during the 1838 Missouri persecutions gave his constitution “a shock from which it never recovered.” (Mack, Narraitve of the Life of Solomon Mack, 6–9; Robert B. Thompson, “An Address Delivered at the Funeral of Joseph Smith Sen.,” Times and Seasons, Sept. 1840, 1:172; see also Eliza R. Snow, “Elegy,” Times and Seasons, Oct. 1840, 1:190–191.)

    Mack, Solomon. A Narraitve [sic] of the Life of Solomon Mack, Containing an Account of the Many Severe Accidents He Met With During a Long Series of Years, Together With the Extraordinary Manner in Which He was Converted to the Christian Faith. To Which is Added, a Number of Hymns Composed on the Death of Several of His Relations. Windsor, VT: By the author, 1811.

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  9. [49]

    Hyrum Smith testified that while incarcerated in Clay County, Missouri, during winter 1838–1839, the prisoners were “subjected to the necessity of eating human flesh.” According to Hyrum Smith, Lyman Wight was the only prisoner who ate the flesh. (Hyrum Smith, Testimony, Nauvoo, IL, 1 July 1843, pp. 21–22, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)

  10. [50]

    Don Carlos Smith died in 1841 from “consumption,” likely pulmonary tuberculosis. (“Death of General Don Carlos Smith,” Times and Seasons, 16 Aug. 1841, 2:503; Letter to Oliver Granger, 30 Aug. 1841.)

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  11. [51]

    See 1 Corinthians 15:55.

  12. [52]

    French and Indian War veteran General John Stark of New Hampshire fought with troops from New Hampshire and neighboring Vermont in 1777 in the Battle of Bennington. (Randall, Ethan Allen: His Life and Times, 436, 492; Paul David Nelson, “Stark, John,” in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 52:293–294.)

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

    Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: In Association with the British Academy; From the Earliest Times to the Year 2000. Edited by Henry Colin Gray Matthew, Brian Harrison , and Lawrence Goldman. 60 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004.

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