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Letter from Francis M. Higbee, 10 January 1844

Source Note

Francis M. Higbee

1820–after 1850. Attorney, merchant. Born in Tate, Clermont Co., Ohio. Son of Elias Higbee and Sarah Elizabeth Ward. Moved to Fulton, Hamilton Co., Ohio, by 1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1832. Moved to Jackson Co., Missouri...

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, Letter,
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
, Hancock Co., IL, to JS,
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
, Hancock Co., IL, 10 Jan. 1844; handwriting of
Francis M. Higbee

1820–after 1850. Attorney, merchant. Born in Tate, Clermont Co., Ohio. Son of Elias Higbee and Sarah Elizabeth Ward. Moved to Fulton, Hamilton Co., Ohio, by 1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1832. Moved to Jackson Co., Missouri...

View Full Bio
; three pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, dockets, and archival notations.
Bifolium measuring 12½ × 7⅞ inches (32 × 20 cm). The paper is ruled with approximately forty printed lines, now faded.
Francis M. Higbee

1820–after 1850. Attorney, merchant. Born in Tate, Clermont Co., Ohio. Son of Elias Higbee and Sarah Elizabeth Ward. Moved to Fulton, Hamilton Co., Ohio, by 1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1832. Moved to Jackson Co., Missouri...

View Full Bio
inscribed the letter in blue and black ink. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer. The letter was torn when opened, and remnants of the wafer remain on the recto of the second leaf. The bifolium was later refolded for filing.
The document was docketed by
William Clayton

17 July 1814–4 Dec. 1879. Bookkeeper, clerk. Born at Charnock Moss, Penwortham, Lancashire, England. Son of Thomas Clayton and Ann Critchley. Married Ruth Moon, 9 Oct. 1836, at Penwortham. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by Heber...

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, who served as scribe to JS from 1842 to 1844,
1

JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:718.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Jenson, Andrew. Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 4 vols. Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History Co., 1901–1936.

and by
Thomas Bullock

23 Dec. 1816–10 Feb. 1885. Farmer, excise officer, secretary, clerk. Born in Leek, Staffordshire, England. Son of Thomas Bullock and Mary Hall. Married Henrietta Rushton, 25 June 1838. Moved to Ardee, Co. Louth, Ireland, Nov. 1839; to Isle of Anglesey, Aug...

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, who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865.
2

Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Jan. 1865.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.

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

The document was listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) circa 1904.
3

“Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [4], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL).
4

See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.


The document’s early dockets, its listing in a circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 29 June 1842; “Clayton, William,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:718.

    Jenson, Andrew. Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia: A Compilation of Biographical Sketches of Prominent Men and Women in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 4 vols. Salt Lake City: Andrew Jenson History Co., 1901–1936.

  2. [2]

    Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Jan. 1865.

    Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.

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

  3. [3]

    “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [4], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

  4. [4]

    See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 10 January 1844,
Francis M. Higbee

1820–after 1850. Attorney, merchant. Born in Tate, Clermont Co., Ohio. Son of Elias Higbee and Sarah Elizabeth Ward. Moved to Fulton, Hamilton Co., Ohio, by 1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1832. Moved to Jackson Co., Missouri...

View Full Bio
wrote a letter to JS in
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
, Illinois, complaining of recent criticisms JS had leveled against him. Five days earlier, the Nauvoo City Council had investigated rumors that
First Presidency

The highest presiding body of the church. An 11 November 1831 revelation stated that the president of the high priesthood was to preside over the church. JS was ordained as president of the high priesthood on 25 January 1832. In March 1832, JS appointed two...

View Glossary
member
William Law

8 Sept. 1809–12/19 Jan. 1892. Merchant, millwright, physician. Born in Co. Tyrone, Ireland. Son of Richard Law and Ann Hunter. Immigrated to U.S. and settled in Springfield Township, Mercer Co., Pennsylvania, by 1820. Moved to Delaware Township, Mercer Co...

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and Nauvoo
stake

Ecclesiastical organization of church members in a particular locale. Stakes were typically large local organizations of church members; stake leaders could include a presidency, a high council, and a bishopric. Some revelations referred to stakes “to” or...

View Glossary
president
William Marks

15 Nov. 1792–22 May 1872. Farmer, printer, publisher, postmaster. Born at Rutland, Rutland Co., Vermont. Son of Cornell (Cornwall) Marks and Sarah Goodrich. Married first Rosannah R. Robinson, 2 May 1813. Lived at Portage, Allegany Co., New York, where he...

View Full Bio
were disloyal to JS. According to the minutes of the meeting, Higbee—who was summoned to the meeting by the city marshal—testified that he had heard “from some source” that Law, Marks, and others in the
church

The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...

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“could not subscribe to all things in the church, and it might make trouble.”
1

Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 5 Jan. 1844, 36–40. In an address to forty newly sworn Nauvoo policemen on 29 December 1843, JS said he felt as if he were in more “danger from some little doe head of a fool” or a “Brutus” in the city than from the state of Missouri or other outside threats. Within a few days, rumors were circulating that JS was referring to either William Law or William Marks. The rumors and resulting rift between JS and these men were discussed at city council meetings on 3 and 5 January 1844. Law’s opposition to plural marriage was discussed as part of the reason Law had been identified as the target of JS’s remarks. (Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 29 Dec. 1843, 30–31; 3 Jan. 1844, 32–36; 5 Jan. 1844, 36–40; JS, Journal, 3–5 Jan. 1844.)


Orson Pratt

19 Sept. 1811–3 Oct. 1881. Farmer, writer, teacher, merchant, surveyor, editor, publisher. Born at Hartford, Washington Co., New York. Son of Jared Pratt and Charity Dickinson. Moved to New Lebanon, Columbia Co., New York, 1814; to Canaan, Columbia Co., fall...

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later testified that after speaking, Higbee left the council’s ongoing proceedings without permission.
2

Orson Pratt, Complaint, 15 Jan. 1844, City of Nauvoo v. F. M. Higbee (Nauvoo Mun. Ct. 1844), Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.


After Higbee’s departure, JS said that Higbee “had better stay at home & hold his tongue, lest rumor turn upon him” and that “the young men of the city had better withdraw from him & let him stand on his own merits, not consider him the standard, of the city.”
3

Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 5 Jan. 1844, 39; 16 Jan. 1844, 45.


According to Law, who was at the meeting, JS also stated that Higbee was “conniving with
Missouri

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...

More Info
” and that he disgraced his associates.
4

Law, Record of Doings, 5 Jan. 1844, in Cook, William Law, 45–46.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Cook, Lyndon W. William Law: Biographical Essay, Nauvoo Diary, Correspondence, Interview. Orem, UT: Grandin Book, 1994.

In his 10 January letter,
Higbee

1820–after 1850. Attorney, merchant. Born in Tate, Clermont Co., Ohio. Son of Elias Higbee and Sarah Elizabeth Ward. Moved to Fulton, Hamilton Co., Ohio, by 1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1832. Moved to Jackson Co., Missouri...

View Full Bio
complained of JS’s “unwarented, and unheard of Attack” on his character during the 5 January meeting. He wrote that he could not understand JS’s motive for making such an accusation but intimated that he thought it might be connected to Higbee’s opposition to plural marriage.
5

Tensions between Higbee and JS over plural marriage surfaced at least as early as May 1842, when Higbee began spreading rumors about Sidney Rigdon’s family and JS—possibly in connection with JS’s apparent proposal to Nancy Rigdon. (JS, Journal, 13 May and 29 June 1842; Francis M. Higbee, Letter to the Editor, Warsaw [IL] Signal, 29 May 1844, [2]; see also “Municipal Court,” Times and Seasons, 15 May 1844, 5:539.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

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

Higbee concluded by demanding that an ecclesiastical court immediately investigate the charges against him.
The letter, which bears no postal marks or notations, was apparently hand delivered to JS—possibly by
Higbee

1820–after 1850. Attorney, merchant. Born in Tate, Clermont Co., Ohio. Son of Elias Higbee and Sarah Elizabeth Ward. Moved to Fulton, Hamilton Co., Ohio, by 1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1832. Moved to Jackson Co., Missouri...

View Full Bio
. It is unknown whether JS wrote a response, but the situation escalated in the ensuing weeks. Although Higbee demanded that a church council investigate his case, there is no evidence that the
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
high council

A governing body of twelve high priests. The first high council was organized in Kirtland, Ohio, on 17 February 1834 “for the purpose of settling important difficulties which might arise in the church, which could not be settled by the church, or the bishop...

View Glossary
, First Presidency, or
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Members of a governing body in the church, with special administrative and proselytizing responsibilities. A June 1829 revelation commanded Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer to call twelve disciples, similar to the twelve apostles in the New Testament and ...

View Glossary
held a formal meeting about Higbee’s conduct. However, the matter became a legal issue and was revisited by the city council. On 15 January,
Willard Richards

24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...

View Full Bio
informed JS that Higbee intended to put JS “under $10.000 bonds for speaking agai[n]st h[i]m.”
6

JS, Journal, 15 Jan. 1844.


The same day, JS issued an arrest warrant for Higbee based on an affidavit from
Pratt

19 Sept. 1811–3 Oct. 1881. Farmer, writer, teacher, merchant, surveyor, editor, publisher. Born at Hartford, Washington Co., New York. Son of Jared Pratt and Charity Dickinson. Moved to New Lebanon, Columbia Co., New York, 1814; to Canaan, Columbia Co., fall...

View Full Bio
stating that Higbee had used “slanderous and abusive epithets and language” toward JS while in Pratt’s home on 14 January.
7

JS, Journal, 15 Jan. 1844; Orson Pratt, Complaint, 15 Jan. 1844, City of Nauvoo v. F. M. Higbee (Nauvoo Mun. Ct. 1844), Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.


On 16 January, however, Higbee appeared before the Nauvoo Municipal Court and reconciled with JS, with each expressing feelings of friendship.
8

JS, Journal, 16 Jan. 1844; Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 16 Jan. 1844, 45; Nauvoo Municipal Court Docket Book, 90; Clayton, Journal, 16 Jan. 1844. Several months later, however, Higbee sued JS for $5,000 in damages for his comments on 5 January and on other occasions. (JS, Journal, 6 May 1844.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

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

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 5 Jan. 1844, 36–40. In an address to forty newly sworn Nauvoo policemen on 29 December 1843, JS said he felt as if he were in more “danger from some little doe head of a fool” or a “Brutus” in the city than from the state of Missouri or other outside threats. Within a few days, rumors were circulating that JS was referring to either William Law or William Marks. The rumors and resulting rift between JS and these men were discussed at city council meetings on 3 and 5 January 1844. Law’s opposition to plural marriage was discussed as part of the reason Law had been identified as the target of JS’s remarks. (Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 29 Dec. 1843, 30–31; 3 Jan. 1844, 32–36; 5 Jan. 1844, 36–40; JS, Journal, 3–5 Jan. 1844.)

  2. [2]

    Orson Pratt, Complaint, 15 Jan. 1844, City of Nauvoo v. F. M. Higbee (Nauvoo Mun. Ct. 1844), Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.

  3. [3]

    Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 5 Jan. 1844, 39; 16 Jan. 1844, 45.

  4. [4]

    Law, Record of Doings, 5 Jan. 1844, in Cook, William Law, 45–46.

    Cook, Lyndon W. William Law: Biographical Essay, Nauvoo Diary, Correspondence, Interview. Orem, UT: Grandin Book, 1994.

  5. [5]

    Tensions between Higbee and JS over plural marriage surfaced at least as early as May 1842, when Higbee began spreading rumors about Sidney Rigdon’s family and JS—possibly in connection with JS’s apparent proposal to Nancy Rigdon. (JS, Journal, 13 May and 29 June 1842; Francis M. Higbee, Letter to the Editor, Warsaw [IL] Signal, 29 May 1844, [2]; see also “Municipal Court,” Times and Seasons, 15 May 1844, 5:539.)

    Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

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

  6. [6]

    JS, Journal, 15 Jan. 1844.

  7. [7]

    JS, Journal, 15 Jan. 1844; Orson Pratt, Complaint, 15 Jan. 1844, City of Nauvoo v. F. M. Higbee (Nauvoo Mun. Ct. 1844), Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.

  8. [8]

    JS, Journal, 16 Jan. 1844; Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 16 Jan. 1844, 45; Nauvoo Municipal Court Docket Book, 90; Clayton, Journal, 16 Jan. 1844. Several months later, however, Higbee sued JS for $5,000 in damages for his comments on 5 January and on other occasions. (JS, Journal, 6 May 1844.)

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

Page [1]

Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
Jany 10. /44
Mr. J. Smith;
Sir
The inconsiderate, the unwarented, and unheard of attack you made upon my character on the 6th instant before the City Council,
1

The meeting was held on 5 January. (See Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 5 Jan. 1844, 36–40.)


impels me to demand an investigation of you, and that without delay before the eclesiastical powers. For if I am guilty, of either of those charges, omitting the guilt of the whole, I most unquestionably am not worthy a name among a people making as great professions as do the people called mormons. It is said I seeke the hours of the midnight assassin to seize my victim, when no one is near to bear witness of the crime or attest the unhollowed deed; that I sympathize with the afflicted and oppressed, that I may devour their vitals; and that I seek the mantle of religion to envelop my Scorpian body, that I may the better practice my nefarius designs;— Then sir, if I am acting in this sphere, am I not acting in the sphere of a hypocrite, and am I not a darke body suffered a place on the <​fair​> escutcheon of our Religion? In deciding this question, or let us not sever the moorings of Christianity, and plunge into the mad sea of revenge? persuade the mariner to sell his compass? or Washington his sword; persuade an inteligent man to pluck out his eyes, to enjoy the unmitigated horrors of blindness? Truth is our compass on the stormy Sea of life; before which wealth, power, authority, talent and genious tremble, as did Felix on his thrown;
2

See Acts 24:25.


when Heaven and Earth shall pass away, Truth shall arise like the angel on Manoah’s Sacrifice,
3

See Judges 13:19–20.


upon the flame of Natures funeral pyre, and ascend to her source, her heaven and her home, the bosom of the Holy, and eternal God.
Sir any man so base, so lost to evry principle of honor and virtue, So unmindful of the obligations he is under <​owes​> to his fellow man; and So forgetful of those he is under to his God, as to wrap himself in the habiliments of religion and under the garb of Christianity perpetrate the crimes which you have allidged to me, deserves to die if ever man merited death.
I want you to thouroughly understand, I look upon that Species of crime, as the greatest, the most distructive to human happiness, and the most fatal to all earthly enjoyment.
4

TEXT: The ink color changes at this point from blue to black.


The history of the dark ages warrants me in the assertion, during the days when the “end was thought to Justify the means” when patents of absolution were granted; during the days of Leo X. and Tetzel,
5

Pope Leo X infamously offered indulgences for donations to rebuild St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Indulgence commissioner Johann Tetzel expanded the practice in Germany, which served as the catalyst for Martin Luther to write his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 and led to Luther’s central role in the Protestant Reformation. (“Leo X,” and “Tetzel, Johann,” in Catholic Encyclopedia, 9:166; 14:539.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church. Edited by Charles G. Herbermann, Edward A. Pace, Condé B. Pallen, Thomas J. Shahan, and John J. Wynne. 15 vols. New York: Robert Appleton, 1907–1914.

Christianity and virtue are emblimatical of that noble independence which always characterizes a man of God. That man who posesses those envied charms, can Shroud himself in a good conscience [p. [1]]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Francis M. Higbee, 10 January 1844
ID #
1248
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Francis M. Higbee

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    The meeting was held on 5 January. (See Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 5 Jan. 1844, 36–40.)

  2. [2]

    See Acts 24:25.

  3. [3]

    See Judges 13:19–20.

  4. [4]

    TEXT: The ink color changes at this point from blue to black.

  5. [5]

    Pope Leo X infamously offered indulgences for donations to rebuild St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Indulgence commissioner Johann Tetzel expanded the practice in Germany, which served as the catalyst for Martin Luther to write his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517 and led to Luther’s central role in the Protestant Reformation. (“Leo X,” and “Tetzel, Johann,” in Catholic Encyclopedia, 9:166; 14:539.)

    The Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church. Edited by Charles G. Herbermann, Edward A. Pace, Condé B. Pallen, Thomas J. Shahan, and John J. Wynne. 15 vols. New York: Robert Appleton, 1907–1914.

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