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Letter to John Thornton and Others, 25 June 1834

Source Note

JS, Letter, , Clay Co., MO, to , , and , [, MO], 25 June 1834. Featured version copied [4–6 Aug. 1843] in JS History, vol. A-1, 505–506; handwriting of ; CHL. Includes redactions. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS History, 1838–1856, vol. A-1.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Richards, Journal, 4–6 Aug. 1843.

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

Historical Introduction

On 25 June 1834, while with the in , Missouri, JS wrote a letter to individuals identified in a later JS history as “Messrs Thornton, Doniphan & Atchison.” These were almost certainly , , and . Thornton was a prominent Democrat and attorney in Clay County who had served as speaker of the House of Representatives from 1828 to 1830. He was working with Doniphan, Atchison, and —attorneys hired as legal counsel for the Missouri Saints—to effect a compromise between church members and other residents of . Since November 1833, when non-Mormon residents of Jackson County expelled church members from their lands, the Saints had corresponded with Missouri governor about how to regain their property, given the continued hostility of those living in Jackson County. On 6 June 1834, Dunklin wrote to Thornton, noting that he had received a letter from Thornton, Doniphan, Atchison, and Rees suggesting terms to resolve the problems. “As you have manifested a deep interest in a peaceable compromise of this important affair,” Dunklin stated, “I have therefore taken the liberty of appointing you an aid to the commander-in-chief.” Dunklin asked Thornton to “keep a close correspondence” with both the Missouri Saints and the other Jackson County residents “and by each mail write to [him].” Apparently aware of Thornton’s appointment, JS wrote this letter to him and two of the attorneys, hoping that they would convey to Dunklin the Saints’ desire to achieve a peaceful compromise.
JS’s letter may have been prompted by a meeting he had with on 24 June. According to ’s recollections, Atchison “and several other gentlemen” met JS and the Camp of Israel as they were making their way to , Clay County. The delegation asked the camp not to go to Liberty, “as the feelings of the people of that place was much enraged against” the Saints. The camp accordingly changed its plans and marched to ’s residence at , two miles east of Liberty, and afterward set up camp on nearby land owned by church member . By 25 June, JS may have also received a 23 June communication from a committee of , Missouri, residents who had resolved that they would “interfer[e]” if the Camp of Israel entered “in hostile array.” This letter from JS and a letter written by Sidney Gilbert, , and to on 26 June indicate that church leaders still hoped that some kind of compromise could be arranged. JS pledged his best efforts to achieve such a compromise, stating that he would disband the Camp of Israel while negotiations occurred.
In this letter, JS also mentions the efforts to achieve “an adjustment of differences” between the Saints and the citizens, likely a reference to ongoing negotiations between the two groups. On 16 June 1834, with Judge acting as mediator, a Jackson County delegation met in with a delegation of church members and proposed a resolution to the difficulties. Church leaders rejected this proposal and offered a counterproposal on 23 June. But on 26 June, Samuel Owens, chairman of the Jackson County delegation, informed that “the people here en masse” would not accept the offer.
The original of this letter has not been located. copied it into volume A-1 of JS’s history in 1843.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS History, vol. A-1, 505.

    JS History / Smith, Joseph, et al. History, 1838–1856. Vols. A-1–F-1 (original), A-2–E-2 (fair copy). Historian’s Office, History of the Church, 1839–ca. 1882. CHL. CR 100 102, boxes 1–7. The history for the period after 5 Aug. 1838 was composed after the death of Joseph Smith.

  2. [2]

    Bay, Reminiscences of the Bench and Bar of Missouri, 175; LeSueur, Official Manual of the State of Missouri, 366–367; William W. Phelps et al. to William T. Wood et al., 30 Oct. 1833, copy, William W. Phelps, Collection of Missouri Documents, CHL; Daniel Dunklin, Jefferson City, MO, to John Thornton, 6 June 1834, in The Evening and the Morning Star, July 1834, 175–176. For examples of correspondence with Dunklin, see Sidney Gilbert et al., Liberty, MO, to Daniel Dunklin, 24 Apr. 1834; and Sidney Gilbert et al., Liberty, MO, to Daniel Dunklin, 5 June 1834, copy, William W. Phelps, Collection of Missouri Documents, CHL. For more information on the expulsion of the Saints from Jackson County, see Parley P. Pratt et al., “‘The Mormons’ So Called,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Extra, Feb. 1834, [1]–[2]; Corrill, Brief History, 18–20; and “A History, of the Persecution,” Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839, 1:18–20; Jan. 1840, 1:33–36.

    Bay, W. V. N. Reminiscences of the Bench and Bar of Missouri. . . . St. Louis: F. H. Thomas, 1878.

    LeSueur, Alexander A. Official Manual of the State of Missouri, for the Years 1897–98. Jefferson City, MO: By the author, 1897.

    Phelps, William W. Collection of Missouri Documents, 1833–1837. CHL. MS 657.

    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.

  3. [3]

    Daniel Dunklin, Jefferson City, MO, to John Thornton, 6 June 1834, in The Evening and the Morning Star, July 1834, 176.

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

  4. [4]

    Kimball, “Journal and Record,” 15–16; George A. Smith, Autobiography, 39; Woodruff, “History and Travels of Zion’s Camp,” 76; Berrett, Sacred Places, 4:195.

    Kimball, Heber C. “The Journal and Record of Heber Chase Kimball an Apostle of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints,” ca. 1842–1858. Heber C. Kimball, Papers, 1837–1866. CHL. MS 627, box 1.

    Smith, George A. Autobiography, ca. 1860–1882. George Albert Smith, Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322, box 1, fd. 2.

    Woodruff, Wilford. “The History and Travels of Zion’s Camp, Led by the Prophet Joseph Smith from Kirtland Ohio to Clay County Missoura in the Spring of 1838,” 1882. CHL.

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

  5. [5]

    Resolutions of Committee from Lafayette Co., MO, 23 June 1834.

  6. [6]

    Sidney Gilbert et al. to Daniel Dunklin, 26 June 1834, copy, William W. Phelps, Collection of Missouri Documents, CHL.

    Phelps, William W. Collection of Missouri Documents, 1833–1837. CHL. MS 657.

  7. [7]

    “The Mormons,” Missouri Intelligencer and Boon’s Lick Advertiser (Columbia), 28 June 1834, [3]; Samuel Owens et al. to Church Leaders in Missouri, 16 June 1834, William W. Phelps, Collection of Missouri Documents, CHL. For more information on the Jackson County delegation’s proposal, see Historical Introduction to Declaration, 21 June 1834.

    Missouri Intelligencer and Boon’s Lick Advertiser. Franklin, MO, 1819–1827; Fayette, MO, 1827–1830; Columbia, MO, 1830–1835.

    Phelps, William W. Collection of Missouri Documents, 1833–1837. CHL. MS 657.

  8. [8]

    William W. Phelps et al. to Samuel Owens, 21 June 1834, copy; William W. Phelps et al., Clay Co., MO, to Samuel Owens et al., 23 June 1834, William W. Phelps, Collection of Missouri Documents, CHL. JS and other representatives of the Camp of Israel presented essentially this same proposal in writing to a delegation from Clay County on 21 June. For more information on these negotiations and the church leaders’ proposal, see Declaration, 21 June 1834.

    Phelps, William W. Collection of Missouri Documents, 1833–1837. CHL. MS 657.

  9. [9]

    Samuel Owens, Independence, MO, to Amos Rees, Liberty, MO, 26 June 1834, William W. Phelps, Collection of Missouri Documents, CHL.

    Phelps, William W. Collection of Missouri Documents, 1833–1837. CHL. MS 657.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter to John Thornton and Others, 25 June 1834 * History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 506

on our part, that would in any wise be required of us by disinterested men of republican principle.
I am respectfully, your obt Servt. Joseph Smith Jr.
N. B. You are now corresponding with the , (as I am informed,) will you do us the favor to acquaint him of our efforts for a compromise. This information we want conveyed to the inasmuch as his ears are stifled with reports from of our hostile intentions &c.
J.S. [p. 506]
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Page 506

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to John Thornton and Others, 25 June 1834
ID #
230
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D4:84–88
Handwriting on This Page
  • Willard Richards

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    On 25 June, members of the Camp of Israel began to disperse as an outbreak of cholera ravaged their ranks. (Baldwin, Account of Zion’s Camp, 14; Holbrook, Reminiscences, 38; George A. Smith, Autobiography, 39–40, 50.)

    Baldwin, Nathan Bennett. Account of Zion’s Camp, 1882. Typescript. CHL. MS 499.

    Holbrook, Joseph. Autobiography and Journal, not before 1871. Photocopy. CHL. MS 5004. Original in private possession.

    Smith, George A. Autobiography, ca. 1860–1882. George Albert Smith, Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322, box 1, fd. 2.

  2. [2]

    Orson Hyde and Parley P. Pratt had been sent by JS to visit Governor Daniel Dunklin; they returned on 15 June and may have told JS about the reports Dunklin was hearing. The governor may have read newspaper reports about the Camp of Israel, or he may have heard reports from his acquaintances in Jackson and Clay counties, which included Lilburn W. Boggs, his lieutenant governor. (George A. Smith, Autobiography, 33; Historical Introduction to Declaration, 21 June 1834.)

    Smith, George A. Autobiography, ca. 1860–1882. George Albert Smith, Papers, 1834–1877. CHL. MS 1322, box 1, fd. 2.

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