On 21 August 1843, in , Illinois, wrote a letter on behalf of JS to governor , in , Illinois, conveying intelligence about a possible incursion of mobs into Illinois. The letter served as a cover letter for two documents JS had recently received and wished to transmit to Ford. On 11 August, , one of JS’s attorneys, wrote a letter to JS from , Illinois, informing him of the political backlash Patrick and fellow attorney faced for their legal defense of JS during a June 1843 extradition attempt. When he sent his letter to JS, Patrick also forwarded a letter he had received from Jacob Hall, an attorney living in , Missouri, that specifically criticized Patrick for his role in defending JS and warned that Missourians would require little inducement to attack Nauvoo if JS was not brought to Missouri to face justice. Hall also reported on the ongoing attempts to prosecute in Missouri. At the time, Rockwell was imprisoned at Independence, having been accused of attempting to assassinate former Missouri governor .

obtained ’s letter, with Hall’s letter enclosed, from the post office on the morning of 21 August. After Clayton delivered the letters, JS instructed “to have them copied with some additional remarks” addressed to . Richards copied the two letters into the featured draft of the brief cover letter, which informed Ford that while JS did not believe the threats from , he felt it best to forward them to keep Ford abreast of a potential threat to sovereignty. JS also assured Ford of his loyalty and patriotism should Ford call on the to defend Nauvoo and Illinois.

presumably finished copying the letters and drafting JS’s letter on 21 August, the date mentioned in JS’s journal and the date of the letter draft. However, Richards’s journal recorded that he “wrote” to on both 21 and 22 August. This second date may refer to the date Richards made a fair copy of the extant draft. Richards sent the cover letter along with ’s and Hall’s letters to Ford on 22 August. Although most of Richards’s cover letter to Ford appears last in the extant draft, the final iteration sent to Ford was presumably separate from and in addition to the forwarded letters. None of the three original letters have been located. Richards’s copies of Patrick’s and Hall’s letters, together with his draft cover letter, are featured here. Ford responded to JS’s letter and the enclosures on 13 September 1843.