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Letter from Isaac Morley, 16 June 1844

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Letter from Isaac Morley, 16 June 1844

Source Note

, Letter, [, Rocky Run precinct, Hancock Co., IL], to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 16 June 1844; handwriting and signature of ; certified by , , and Ira Kellsey; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, dockets, and use marks.
Bifolium measuring 9⅝ × 7¾ inches (24 × 20 cm). A watermark runs diagonally across the bifolium. The first three pages are ruled with twenty-nine lines printed in gray ink, while the last page is unruled. The document was inscribed on the first page; the second and third pages are blank. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer, remnants of which appear on the verso of the second leaf. It was later refolded for filing.
The letter was docketed twice by , who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and served as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854. The first docket was likely added shortly after the letter was received, while the second docket may have been inscribed during a later filing process. The document was later docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. The letter was listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) circa 1904. By 1973 it had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The letter’s early dockets, its listing in the circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

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

Historical Introduction

On 16 June 1844, local leader wrote a letter from in Hancock County, Illinois, to JS in , Hancock County, regarding a threat he received from a group of vigilantes. Following the 10 June destruction of the press of the Nauvoo Expositor, church opponents had gathered in mass meetings in and , Hancock County, and passed several resolutions advocating violence against the Saints and even extermination if JS was not surrendered into their custody. They resolved that “the adherents of Smith, as a Body, should be driven from the surrounding settlements, into Nauvoo.” To accomplish this, citizens in Warsaw appointed a committee to notify church members who were “suspected of being the tools of the Prophet, to leave immediately on pain of instant vengeance” and recommended that other towns in the area do the same.
Around nine thirty in the morning on 15 June, two unnamed messengers from the met with JS at . They relayed news that a “mob had asked the brethren in to give up their arms promising if they would do so till Joseph & about 15 or 20 others were taken they might dwell there in peace.” According to , JS, acting as lieutenant general of the , instructed them “not to give up their arms but to keep them till they died.” The messengers returned to the Morley settlement with these directions.
The same day, a group of residents, composed of , , , Luther Perry, and an unnamed man, began approaching homes at . They visited the home of the settlement founder, , who was and president of the , to give him and the other Latter-day Saint members of the community an ultimatum regarding their allegiance to JS. They presented him with three options: take up arms and help with the arrest of JS, immediately move to , or surrender their weapons and remain quiet during the conflict. They notified Morley that he and the other settlers there had until the morning of 17 June to decide which option they would choose. They conveyed a similar message to other Saints in the community. Church members Hiram B. Mount and John Cunningham later testified that Baker, Barber, Banks, and two unnamed men told them that unless the Saints assisted in arresting JS, the men would take hostages among the Saints and “hold them under bonds of death until Smith was delivered up to them.”
The following day, 16 June, wrote to JS to provide him with details regarding the threatening visit to his home. He outlined the three propositions given to the Saints around the . Morley then explained that he and the other members of the settlement were determined to defend their homes and property. He also told JS that a posse intended to gather at the home of , colonel of the militia, early the following morning and travel to to arrest JS. Settlement residents and branch members , , and Ira Kellsey signed their names to the letter soon after, attesting to the accuracy of Morley’s statements.
The letter was apparently written and sent in the forenoon, because it was delivered in that afternoon around five o’clock. It was presumably hand carried by a courier from the , most likely ’s son-in-law . Immediately after he received it, JS wrote a response, acting in his capacity as lieutenant general of the .

Footnotes

  1. Church opponents resolved to notify the Saints in Augusta, Carthage, Chili, St. Mary’s, Fountain Green, Pilot Grove, Bear Creek, Nauvoo, La Harpe, Warsaw, and Rocky Run precinct, which included the Morley settlement. The inclusion of Nauvoo presumably referred to the more expansive Nauvoo precinct, rather than to the city of Nauvoo. (Warsaw [IL] Signal, Extra, 14 June 1844, [1].)

    Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

  2. William Clayton, Daily Account of JS’s Activities, 14–22 June 1844. The mob was headed by Levi Williams, colonel of the county militia. (JS, Journal, 15 June 1844.)

  3. William Clayton, Daily Account of JS’s Activities, 14–22 June 1844. The 3 February 1841 ordinance establishing the Nauvoo Legion permitted not only citizens of Nauvoo but also “such Citizens of Hancock County as may unite by Voluntary Enrollment” to join the Nauvoo Legion. Isaac Morley had received a commission as an aide-de-camp with the rank of lieutenant colonel in April 1841. (Minutes, 3 Feb. 1841; “The First List of the Officers of the Nauvoo Legion, as Made Out by John C. Bennett. M. Gl.,” 1841, [1], Nauvoo Legion Records, CHL; Returns for Commission in the Nauvoo Legion, 10 Aug. 1841, Illinois Governor’s Correspondence, 1816–1852, Illinois State Archives, Springfield; Nauvoo Legion, Hancock Co., Illinois State Militia Commission Records, 1834–1855, vol. 17, p. 41, Illinois State Archives, Springfield.)

    Illinois State Militia Commission Records, 1834–1855. Illinois State Archives, Springfield.

  4. William Clayton, Daily Account of JS’s Activities, 14–22 June 1844; see also JS, Journal, 15 June 1844.

  5. Hiram B. Mount and John Cunningham, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 20 June 1844, JS Office Papers, CHL.

  6. Richards, Journal, 16 June 1844.

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

  7. See Clay Co., MO, Marriage Records, 1822–1878, vol. A, p. 154, 2 Sept. 1835, microfilm 955,303, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL. In an 1867 autobiography, Allen recalled going to Nauvoo on one occasion “in consequence of mob threatenings.” According to the docket on the retained copy of JS’s reply, Allen was designated to carry JS’s response back to Morley, so Allen likely carried this original letter to JS at Nauvoo. (“Correspondence,” Deseret News [Salt Lake City], 20 Nov. 1867, 326; Source Note for Letter to Isaac Morley, 16 June 1844; JS History, vol. F-1, 107.)

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

  8. Letter to Isaac Morley, 16 June 1844; see also JS History, vol. F-1, 107.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter from Isaac Morley, 16 June 1844 History, 1838–1856, volume F-1 [1 May 1844–8 August 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”
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Editorial Title
Letter from Isaac Morley, 16 June 1844
ID #
1398
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
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