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Letter from John Whitmer, 29 July 1833

Source Note

, Letter with postscript by , , Jackson Co., MO, to and JS, , Kirtland Township, Geauga Co., OH, 29 July 1833. Retained copy, [ca. summer 1839], in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 52–56; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 2.

Historical Introduction

In this 29 July 1833 letter, and provided details about events unfolding in , Missouri, to church leaders in , Ohio. In the July 1833 issue of The Evening and the Morning Star, William W. Phelps published an editorial titled “Free People of Color,” which warned free black members of the about the state laws that prohibited free blacks from coming to or settling in the state “under any pretext whatever.” Phelps further stated, “So long as we have no special rule in the church, as to people of color, let prudence guide; and while they, as well as we, are in the hands of a merciful God, we say: Shun every appearance of evil.” In the same issue of the Star, a letter to all of the of the Church of Christ reiterated the need to shun the appearance of evil and added, “As to slaves we have nothing to say. In connection with the wonderful events of this age, much is doing towards abolishing slavery, and colonizing the blacks, in Africa.” These articles angered many Jackson County citizens who saw Phelps’s words as an invitation for free blacks to come surreptitiously and settle in Missouri, even though Phelps later claimed to have said the opposite. On 16 July 1833, Phelps issued an extra of the Star in which he attempted to mitigate the misunderstanding of his earlier article. He wrote:
We often lament the situation of our sister states in the south, and we fear, lest, as has been the case, the blacks should rise and spill innocent blood: for they are ignorant, and a little may lead them to disturb the peace of society. To be short, we are opposed to have free people of color admitted into the state; and we say, that none will be admitted into the church, for we are determined to obey the laws and constitutions of our country, that we may have that protection which the sons of liberty inherit from the legacy of Washington, through the favorable auspices of a Jefferson, and Jackson.
The extra apparently did nothing to calm the church’s opponents.
By 18 July 1833, non-Mormon residents of circulated a document enumerating their grievances against members of the Church of Christ and stating their determination to eliminate them from the county by purchasing their properties or by “such means as may be sufficient to remove them.” Signed by some three hundred residents of Jackson County, the document, known later among members of the church as the “manifesto,” also called for a meeting to be held on 20 July to further discuss the perceived problems with the Mormons and how to remove the church members from the county. At the meeting, the assembled Missourians adopted resolutions listing specific actions to be taken against the Mormons and appointed a committee to present their agreed-upon demands to a group of church leaders. The committee presented their ultimatum that same day and gave church leaders only fifteen minutes to reply. The Mormons refused to comply, after which the committee returned to the , where those who had gathered voted to demolish the Mormons’ . After destroying the shop, they tarred and feathered and and gave notice that they would return on 23 July.
and other church leaders reported that on 23 July, “the mob again assembled to the number of about 500 . . . [and] proceeded to take some of the leading elders by force declaring it to be their intention to whip them from fifty to five hundred lashes apiece.” , , , , , and “offered themselves as a ransom [to the mob] for the church, willing to be scourged or die, if that will appease their anger toward the church,” but the mob declared that all church members must leave or die. The confrontation on 23 July 1833 led to the creation of another document, known as the “memorandum of the agreement.” In the agreement Mormon leaders pledged that most of the leaders of the church and half of the members would leave the county by the first of January 1834 and the remainder would leave by the first of April 1834.
Probably in the day or two after the 23 July agreement, left to inform JS and other church leaders in of these developments. After arriving at Walnut Farm in , probably a two-day journey, Cowdery wrote back to , Missouri, requesting an update on events there and copies of the manifesto and memorandum of agreement. When Cowdery mailed the letter from Walnut Farm is unknown, but given normal mail conveyance time in that era, at least two days would have been required to transport the letter to Independence. The Missouri church leaders therefore probably received Cowdery’s letter no earlier than 27 July 1833.
The letter featured here, which includes copies of the manifesto and of the Mormons’ agreement to leave the county, indicates that the church leaders in had received ’s letter and was written in response to his request. In the 29 July letter, , the principal author, provided an update on recent developments in while added a note on both the anxiety and faithfulness of the Missouri church members. Phelps also included the text of two hymns that had recently been sung in Missouri. Though the body of the letter was largely directed to Cowdery, the postscript from Phelps appears to have been directed to JS. It is not known how or when this letter reached . copied it into JS’s letterbook in late 1839. JS’s 18 August letter to Whitmer, Phelps, and the other church leaders in Jackson County demonstrates familiarity with the contents of this letter, although JS’s letter also references information that Cowdery reported to JS in person.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    “Free People of Color,” The Evening and the Morning Star, July 1833, 109.

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

  2. [2]

    “The Elders Stationed in Zion to the Churches Abroad,” The Evening and the Morning Star, July 1833, 111.

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

  3. [3]

    The Evening and the Morning Star, Extra, 16 July 1833, [1].

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

  4. [4]

    “To His Excellency, Daniel Dunklin,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Dec. 1833, 114; Corrill, Brief History, 19; Whitmer, History, 42–44; [Edward Partridge], “A History, of the Persecution,” Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:17–18.

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

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

  5. [5]

    “To His Excellency, Daniel Dunklin,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Dec. 1833, 114.

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

  6. [6]

    Cowdery likely left Independence after the creation of the memorandum of agreement on 23 July but before 25 July. He likely did not leave before 23 July because had he been any appreciable distance from Independence on or shortly after 23 July, he probably would not have known of the memorandum’s creation. Further, a reminiscent account by William E. McLellin places Cowdery in Jackson County on 22 July. Cowdery likely left before 25 July because in the letter featured here, John Whitmer told Cowdery that on 25 July many “at the school received the gift of tongues”—something Cowdery would already have known about if he had been present at or near the school of the prophets at the time. (Memorandum of Agreement, 23 July 1833, CHL; Schaefer, William E. McLellin’s Lost Manuscript, 166.)

    Memorandum of Agreement, 23 July 1833. CHL.

    Schaefer, Mitchell K., ed. William E. McLellin’s Lost Manuscript. Salt Lake City: Eborn Books, 2012.

  7. [7]

    Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson Co., MO, 18 Aug. 1833.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter from John Whitmer, 29 July 1833 Letterbook 2

Page 56

By his almighty power
Sustains all things from week to week
From day to day, from hour to hour
Praise ye the Lord ye saints in Zion
Praise his glorious name
Our God shall triumph over all his foes
Our enemies shall all be put to shame
And God be praised for all his mighty power
Exalt the wastes of Zion sing for joy ye saints
Let praise your earthly powers employ
Arise, awake, put thy strength and sing
The everlasting praises of your King
Till earth & heaven in Halelujahs ring.
The towers of Zion soon shall rise
Hymn book page 38
If the Lord will yet speak to his children, it may be well to inquire every matter concerning the destruction of the , and what is to be done in future, and also concerning the , and what is to be done in future: I know from the experience I have had that it is a good thing to have our faith thoroughly tried.
must and will be pure. Health prevails among the disciples.
N.B. Early on Monday morning we received letters from containing all the patterns &c postages $1,50 by wt, which in single letters would have been but $1,00— We also recd a [letter] dated Walnut farm” from . Our anxiety will be so great that I say : write the first mail after you arrive at , whether the tidings be favorable or not. Every one that is a saint or nearly so, in the Timber speaks in tongues, says he can speak in all the tongues on earth, we shall probably begin to worship here in tongues tomorrow if the Lord wills, that is excepting we 6— It is a solemn day with us and I remain.
Joseph Smith Jr
Geauga Co, Ohio [p. 56]
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Source Note

Document Transcript

Page 56

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from John Whitmer, 29 July 1833
ID #
1604
Total Pages
5
Print Volume Location
JSP, D3:186–198
Handwriting on This Page
  • James Mulholland

Footnotes

  1. [37]

    TEXT: The first part of page 56 in JS Letterbook 2 is divided into two columns by a vertical line drawn in ink. The text beginning here and ending with “We also recd” appears in these two columns.

  2. [38]

    See Psalm 44:7.

  3. [39]

    See Isaiah 52:1; and Book of Mormon, 1830 ed., 61 [2 Nephi 1:14, 23].

  4. [40]

    The following two lines appear to be a later insertion by the clerk who copied this letter into JS Letterbook 2. “The towers of Zion soon shall rise” was the opening line of a six-stanza hymn that appears on page 38 of the church’s first hymnal, published in 1835. (Hymn 29, Collection of Sacred Hymns, 38–39.)

  5. [41]

    29 July 1833.

  6. [42]

    Walnut Farm, Saline County, Missouri, is approximately one hundred miles east of Independence on the south side of the Missouri River, opposite Chariton. It is located where one of the principal east-west land routes crossed the Missouri River. (See Darby and Dwight, Gazetteer of the United States, 496, 579.)

    Darby, William, and Theodore Dwight, Jr. A New Gazetteer of the United States of America; Containing a Copious Description of the States, Territories, Counties, Parishes, Districts, Cities and Towns. . . . Hartford, CT: Edward Hopkins, 1833.

  7. [43]

    Cowdery wrote to Phelps and others on 10 August 1833—the day following his arrival in Kirtland—advising them to “look out another place to locate on.” (Letter to Church Leaders in Jackson Co., MO, 10 Aug. 1833.)

  8. [44]

    “Timber branch” was another name for the Whitmer settlement in Kaw Township, Missouri. (See “Short Sketch of the Life of Levi Jackman,” [7]–[9]; and “From Missouri,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Jan. 1834, 124; see also Berrett, Sacred Places, 4:101–102.)

    Jackman, Levi. “A Short Sketch of the Life of Levi Jackman,” ca. 1851. Typescript. CHL. M270.1 J123ja 18--?.

    The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

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

  9. [45]

    A month later, Edward Partridge wrote, “Many speak with new tongues, or in other languages; some speak in a number of different languages shortly after they receive the gift; others are confined to one or two—These are not idle assertions; I know that these things are so.” (Edward Partridge, Independence, MO, to “Friends and Neighbors,” Painesville, OH, 31 Aug. 1833, in LDS Messenger and Advocate, Jan. 1835, 1:60.)

    Latter Day Saints’ Messenger and Advocate. Kirtland, OH. Oct. 1834–Sept. 1837.

  10. [46]

    “We 6” probably refers to church leaders Edward Partridge, Sidney Gilbert, John Corrill, Isaac Morley, John Whitmer, and William W. Phelps.

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