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Letter to Editor, 10 February 1844

Source Note

JS, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to the editor of Nauvoo Neighbor [, , Hancock Co., IL], 10 Feb. 1844. Featured version published in Nauvoo Neighbor, 21 Feb. 1844, vol. 1, no. 43, [2]. For more complete source information, see the source note for Notice, 26 Aug. 1843.

Historical Introduction

On 10 February 1844, JS wrote a brief letter in , Illinois, to , editor of the Nauvoo Neighbor, recommending that Nauvoo’s secular newspaper take a peaceful approach in engaging with the traditionally antagonistic newspaper published in nearby , Illinois. Since the abductions of and his son a few months earlier, , Illinois, had been on the brink of civil war, with hostility between church members and their neighbors continually escalating. JS’s letter was printed in the 21 February 1844 issue of the Neighbor following several other documents related to the turmoil. Included among them was a letter from governor , published within an article titled “Pacific Innuendo,” that instructed county residents to maintain order.
Although JS’s letter refers to the Warsaw Signal and its editor, the newspaper was at the time titled Warsaw Message and edited by respected resident . Before January 1843, the paper—then called the Warsaw Signal—was edited by the young . Under Sharp’s leadership, the paper had been vociferously hostile toward the Saints. Within a few days after JS composed this letter and before it was published in the Nauvoo Neighbor, Sharp resumed editorship of the Warsaw paper and reverted the name to Warsaw Signal with the 14 February 1844 issue.
Recent issues of the Message had included several editorials, articles, and items of correspondence critical of JS and the Saints in . However, the most immediate catalyst for JS’s 10 February letter was likely an editorial published three days earlier titled “A Word of Parting to Brother Joe.” In this editorial, claimed to give JS advice out of “the kindest feeling.” He described JS as being “steeped up to the very eyes in sin” and then continued to disparage his character for the remainder of the editorial.
No handwritten letter is extant. The version published in the 21 February 1844 issue of the Nauvoo Neighbor is featured here.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See “Joseph Smith Documents from 1 January through 15 May 1844.”

  2. [2]

    See Thomas Ford, Letter, Springfield, IL, 29 Jan. 1844, Collection of Manuscripts about Mormons, 1832–1954, Chicago History Museum; and Editorial, 16–17 Feb. 1844.

    Chicago Historical Society, Collection of Manuscripts about Mormons, 1832–1954. Microfilm. CHL. MS 8136.

  3. [3]

    Masthead, Warsaw (IL) Signal, 1 Oct. 1842, [1]; Mott, “Thomas Gregg,” 267.

    Warsaw Message. Warsaw, IL. 1843–1844.

    Mott, David C. “Thomas Gregg, Local Historian and Author.” Annals of Iowa 14, no. 4 (Spring 1924): 263–271.

  4. [4]

    “Valedictory,” and “Proposals for Resuscitating the Warsaw Signal,” Warsaw (IL) Message, Second Edition, 7 Feb. 1844, [1], [3]; Masthead, Warsaw (IL) Signal, 14 Feb. 1844, [1]. At this time, JS would have known that the paper’s name would soon be reverting to Warsaw Signal, as the Message gave notice of the pending change in editorship and name in its 31 January 1844 issue. (“To the Reader,” Warsaw [IL] Message, 31 Jan. 1844, [2].)

    Warsaw Message. Warsaw, IL. 1843–1844.

  5. [5]

    See, for example, “Meeting at Green Plains,” Warsaw (IL) Message, 3 Jan. 1844, [2]; “Great Excitement at Carthage,” Warsaw Message, 10 Jan. 1844, [2]; and “The Question of Compromise,” and “Meeting of Citizens at Carthage,” Warsaw Message, 17 Jan. 1844, [1], [2]–[3].

    Warsaw Message. Warsaw, IL. 1843–1844.

  6. [6]

    “A Word of Parting to Brother Joe,” Warsaw (IL) Message, Second Edition, 7 Feb. 1844, [1].

    Warsaw Message. Warsaw, IL. 1843–1844.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Letter to Editor, 10 February 1844
History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [2]

To the of the Neighbor:
: I wish to say to you, as there seems to be a prospect of peace, that it will be more love-like, God-like, and man-like, to say nothing about the ‘Warsaw Signal.’ If the editor breaths out that old sulphurous blast, let him go and besmear his reputation and the reputation of those that uphold him, with soot and dirt; but as for us, and all honest men, we will ‘act well our part for there the honor lies.’ We will honor the advice of ; cultivate peace and friendship with all; mind our own business and come off with flying colors, respected, because, in respecting others, we respect ourselves.
Respectfully, I am
JOSEPH SMITH.
, Feb. 10, 1844 [p. [2]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to Editor, 10 February 1844
ID #
1267
Total Pages
1
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Printed text

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Pope, Essay on Man, epistle 4, line 194.

    Pope, Alexander. The Major Works. Edited by Pat Rogers. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1993.

  2. [2]

    In his 29 January 1844 letter—published in Nauvoo and Warsaw papers—Ford urged Nauvoo citizens and their enemies in the area to “be aware of carrying matters to extremity.” He warned that if the situation escalated to war, he would have to interfere “against those who shall be the first transgressors.” (Thomas Ford, Letter, Springfield, IL, 29 Jan. 1844, Collection of Manuscripts about Mormons, 1832–1954, Chicago History Museum.)

    Chicago Historical Society, Collection of Manuscripts about Mormons, 1832–1954. Microfilm. CHL. MS 8136.

  3. [3]

    The document was possibly dated 19 February 1844.

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