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Letter to John Smith, 17 June 1844

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Letter to John Smith, 17 June 1844

Source Note

JS, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to , [, Hancock Co., IL], 17 June 1844; handwriting of ; signature block in handwriting of JS; two pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes dockets, redactions, use marks, and notation.
Single leaf measuring 9⅝ × 7¾ inches (24 × 20 cm). The leaf was hand cut along the left side of the recto, which suggests that it was removed from a book or larger sheet. The letter was trifolded and then folded in half twice for filing.
The letter was docketed by , who presumably kept it in his possession—perhaps until his death in 1854. The letter came into the possession of the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department), most likely through Smith’s son , who became church historian and recorder in 1854 and served until 1870. It was docketed again, likely by James Ure, who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office from 1852 to 1855. Jonathan Grimshaw, who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office from 1853 to 1856, copied the letter into JS’s history in 1856. The notation “A.J” was added by Andrew Jenson, who began working in the Church Historian’s Office in 1891 and served as assistant church historian from 1897 to 1941. By 1973 the letter had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The letter’s early dockets, its use in JS’s history, its notation, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody after John Smith’s death.

Footnotes

  1. “Death of the Patriarch John Smith,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 25 May 1854, [2].

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

  2. “Minutes,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 13 Apr. 1854, [2]; “Smith, George Albert,” in Jenson, Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia, 1:41; Esshom, Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah, 1283; “Fortieth Semi-annual Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” Deseret News, 12 Oct. 1870, 419.

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

    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.

    Esshom, Frank. Pioneers and Prominent Men of Utah: Comprising Photographs, Genealogies, Biographies. Salt Lake City: Utah Pioneers Book, 1913.

  3. Historian’s Office, Journal, 10 May 1852 and 1 Dec. 1855; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Apr. 1856.

    Historian’s Office. Journal, 1844–1997. CHL. CR 100 1.

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

  4. Historian’s Office, Journal, 7 June 1853; Wilford Woodruff, Great Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, to George A. Smith, 30 Aug. 1856, in Historian’s Office, Letterpress Copybooks, vol. 1, p. 364; JS History, vol. F-1, 109–110. Grimshaw copied the letter into JS’s history sometime in 1856. (Source Note for and Historical Introduction to History, 1838–1856, vol. F-1.)

    Historian’s Office. Journal, 1844–1997. CHL. CR 100 1.

    Historian’s Office. Letterpress Copybooks, 1854–1879, 1885–1886. CHL. CR 100 38.

  5. Jenson, Autobiography, 192, 389; Cannon, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891; Jenson, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891 and 19 Oct. 1897; Bitton and Arrington, Mormons and Their Historians, 47–52.

    Jenson, Andrew. Autobiography of Andrew Jenson: Assistant Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. . . . Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1938.

    Cannon, George Q. Journals, 1855–1864, 1872–1901. CHL. CR 850 1.

    Jenson, Andrew. Journals, 1864–1941. Andrew Jenson, Autobiography and Journals, 1864–1941. CHL.

    Bitton, David, and Leonard J. Arrington. Mormons and Their Historians. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988.

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

Historical Introduction

On 17 June 1844, JS dictated a letter from , Illinois, to his uncle in , Illinois, directing the in the Macedonia not to surrender their arms but to defend themselves if attacked. A day earlier had written to JS requesting instructions about how to proceed in light of the growing threats against , Illinois, church members living outside of Nauvoo. Smith, the and church in Macedonia, sent the letter to Nauvoo with a Mr. Perkins and another man, presumably both members of the Macedonia branch. JS received it on 17 June before ten o’clock in the morning.
After reading ’s plea for counsel, JS dictated the letter featured here to his scribe . He advised the Saints in the area to prepare to defend their homes and families in the event of a mob attack. JS suggested that, if necessary, they also might assist in protecting the Saints at from mob attacks. He further urged them to swear out affidavits to forward to governor , in hopes of securing the assistance of the against mob persecutions.
had requested that JS send his reply in the care of Perkins. The letter was presumably given to Perkins to carry back to Smith. It would have taken about a day to transport the letter over the twenty miles of prairie between and . One of the dockets on the letter is in Smith’s handwriting, which indicates that he received it. There is no known reply, and the Macedonia Saints do not appear to have sworn out affidavits to be sent to .

Footnotes

  1. Letter from John Smith, 16 June 1844.

  2. Macedonia Branch, Record, 24 Sept. 1843, 35; “Death of the Patriarch John Smith,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 25 May 1854, [2]; Carter, Our Pioneer Heritage, 15:230. John Smith stated that he was sending “Bro Perkins’s two faithful Brethren” to speak with JS and noted on the address that the letter was sent via “Politeness Mr. Perkins.” He did not further identify these two men. William Clayton, who was keeping an account of JS’s activities in Nauvoo, identified them only as “two brethren . . . from Macedonia.” (Letter from John Smith, 16 June 1844; William Clayton, Daily Account of JS’s Activities, 14–22 June 1844.)

    Macedonia Branch, Record / “A Record of the Chur[c]h of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints in Macedonia (Also Called Ramus),” 1839–1850. CHL. LR 11808 21.

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

    Carter, Kate B., comp. Our Pioneer Heritage. 20 vols. Salt Lake City: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, 1937–1977.

  3. William Clayton, Daily Account of JS’s Activities, 14–22 June 1844.

  4. Letter from John Smith, 16 June 1844.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Letter to John Smith, 17 June 1844
History, 1838–1856, volume F-1 [1 May 1844–8 August 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”

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June 17th. 1844
:—
Dear Sir:— The brethren from arrived here this morning, We were glad to see them and to hear that you were all alive in the midst of the ragings of an infatuated and blood thirsty mob. I write these few lines to inform you that we feel determined in this place not to be dismayed if hell boils over all as at once. We feel to hope for the best, and determined to prepare for the worse. And we want this to be your motto in common with us, “that we will never ground our arms untill we give them up by death”— “Free trade and Sailors rights, protection of persons and property, wives and families”. If a mob annoy you, defend yourselves to the very last, and if they fall upon you with a superior force, and if you think you are not able to compete with them, retreat to . But we hope for better things, but remember if your enemies do fall upon you be sure and take the best and most efficient measures the emergency of the case may require. Remember the front and the rear of your enemies, because if they should come to to attack unlawfully, and by mob force, a little annoyance upon the rear with some bold fellows would be a very good thing to weaken the ranks of an enemy It is impossible to give you correct information what to do beforehand, but act according to the emmergency of the case [p. [1]]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to John Smith, 17 June 1844
ID #
1410
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • William Clayton

Footnotes

  1. Though previously known as Ramus, the town was incorporated under the name Macedonia in March 1843. (An Act to Incorporate the Town of Macedonia, in Hancock County, and for Other Purposes [3 Mar. 1843], Laws of the State of Illinois [1842–1843], pp. 304–307; Minutes, 13 Mar. 1843.)

    General Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Eighteenth General Assembly, Convened January 3, 1853. Springfield: Lanphier and Walker, 1853.

  2. The phrase ground arms is a command for soldiers to lay down their weapons, generally in an act of surrender. (See “Ground,” in Oxford English Dictionary, 4:454.)

    Oxford English Dictionary. Compact ed. 2 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1971.

  3. “Free trade and sailors’ rights” was a slogan coined during the War of 1812. According to one scholar, the slogan “encapsulated for many Americans the very meaning of the War of 1812,” simplifying the war’s complex origins by focusing on two of the many issues behind the war—the search and seizure of neutral sailing vessels and the British practice of impressing sailors. After the War of 1812, the slogan was adopted by many political and social movements in the United States, regardless of their policies. JS used the phrase in a letter to Wilson Law, stating, “let our charter, and our Municipality; free trade and Sailors rights be our motto.” During the presidential election of 1844, JS used the phrase as part of his campaign motto, which he enunciated as “Jeffersonianism, Jeffersonian Democracy, free trade and Sailors rights, protection of person & property.” (Gilje, Free Trade and Sailors’ Rights, 1–9; Letter to Wilson Law, 14 Aug. 1842; Council of Fifty, “Record,” 11 Apr. 1844, underlining in original.)

    Gilje, Paul A. Free Trade and Sailors’ Rights in the War of 1812. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.

  4. JS gave similar instructions to the Saints at Isaac Morley’s settlement, advising them to defend themselves “at every hazard; unless prudence dictate the retre[a]t of the troops to Nauvoo,” in which case JS believed that the mob would “not disturb [the] women and children.” (Letter to Isaac Morley, 16 June 1844.)

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