On 24 July 1842, wrote a short letter to JS in , Illinois, asking for direction on whom to vote for in the upcoming state election. Morley—who was living in the Latter-day Saint settlement of in southern , Illinois, and was serving as president of the sizable in nearby , Adams County, Illinois—was apparently responding to local members’ requests that he ask JS whom they should support. Given prior voting behaviors of members, as well as statements made by some of the Saints, including JS, some critics in the area had previously expressed concerns about Latter-day Saints’ voting. Morley’s letter demonstrates JS’s influence in political matters, thus giving credence to the concerns about potential Latter-day Saint bloc voting. Earlier in July, JS had encouraged independent candidates to run and had indicated that the Latter-day Saints would support those with the “courage to oppose the spirit of dictation which governed the Anti-Mormon convention candidates.” In the summer of 1841, the Anti-Mormon Party emerged, according to party promoter , “to oppose the concentration of political power in a religious body.” Sharp also declared that JS’s call for independent candidates had spurred the organization of the 1842 Anti-Mormon Party’s convention. Despite JS’s call for independent candidates, the Saints, including members in and counties, overwhelmingly supported Democratic candidates in the August 1842 election.

The absence of postal markings suggests that the letter was delivered by hand. No reply from JS is extant or known.