[], An Appeal to the American People: Being an Account of the Persecutions of the Church of Latter Day Saints; and of the Barbarities Inflicted on Them by the Inhabitants of the State of Missouri; 1–84 pp.; Cincinnati, OH: Glezen and Shepard, stereotypers and printers, 1840. The copy used herein is held at Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
Historical Introduction
While incarcerated at , Missouri, in March 1839, JS addressed a letter to the church “at Illinois and scattered abroad and to in particular,” instructing the Saints to gather up “a knoledge of all the facts and sufferings and abuses put upon them by the people of this .” Edward Partridge responded with an account that became the three opening installments of “A History, of the Persecution, of the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter Day Saints in Missouri,” an eleven-part series published in the church’s newspaper, Times and Seasons, between December 1839 and October 1840. “A History, of the Persecution” receives comprehensive treatment in volume 2 of the Histories series of The Joseph Smith Papers and is available on this website.
may have intended to tell the entire story himself, but he fell ill shortly after publication of “A History, of the Persecution” began and died on 27 May 1840. Prompted by Partridge’s illness and subsequent death, the editors of the Times and Seasons, and , sought elsewhere for source materials to continue the series. It is probable that they composed the fourth installment to provide a brief transition from Partridge’s account, which ends in 1836, and the conflicts in and adjoining counties in 1838. The fifth and seventh installments reprinted passages from ’s History of the Late Persecutions Inflicted by the State of Missouri upon the Mormons (Detroit: Dawson and Bates, 1839). In May 1840, the sixth installment reprinted passages from ’s eighty-four page pamphlet, An Appeal to the American People: Being an Account of the Persecutions of the Church of Latter Day Saints; and of the Barbarities Inflicted on Them by the Inhabitants of the State of Missouri (Cincinnati: Glezan and Shepard, 1840). More of Rigdon’s work was reprinted in the eighth through tenth installments, published from July to September 1840. The series concluded with an eleventh installment in the October 1840 issue, featuring General ’s callous speech to the Saints after their surrender at , Missouri, in November 1838.
A manuscript version of ’s Appeal to the American People, referred to as the “petition draft” titled “To the Publick” and endorsed by JS, Rigdon, and , was read to a conference of Saints in , Illinois, on 1 November 1839. The conference voted to approve its publication in the name of the church. and then collaborated to arrange for publication of the text in late 1839 and early 1840. Though no author is named on the title page, Rigdon was acknowledged as author when the pamphlet was advertised in the Times and Seasons in 1840 and 1841. JS and Elias Higbee had some expectation that funds from the sale of the publication would help defray costs of their trip to in late 1839. In July 1840, a second edition was printed by Shepard & Stearns in to raise funds for Orson Hyde and ’s mission to .
Although many of the events reported in ’s pamphlet can be corroborated from other sources, his chronology is often inaccurate. (Consult the annotation in Histories, Volume 2 for correction to portions published as part of “A History, of the Persecutions.”) However, his account contains the text of several significant documents. Among these are JS’s 5 September 1838 affidavit concerning the 7 August 1838 visit to and those of and and regarding the massacre. Consequently, though in many respects Rigdon’s document is more advocacy than history, it offers access to some material not readily found elsewhere.
from voting; and in order to accomplish their object, had killed two of them, and their bodies were lying on the ground, and that they would not let their friends have them for burial; and that one other man, had fled into the woods, badly wounded; supposed to be dead, as he had not been heard of, after he had disappeared among the bushes. This created a great feeling, and of course much excitement. A physician, who resided in , by the name of , called for volunteers, declared that he would have the bodies of those persons who had been killed, and bury them; and have the man that was lost, or die in the attempt. The report coming from , a resident of the , and the successful candidate for the State senate, no doubt was entertained of its truth. A company was raised consisting, if we recollect right, of about seventeen persons, who left , for the express object of getting the bodies of the dead. Through the course of the day, there was probably to the number of fifty persons, all going to enquire after their friends, for it was unknown to the people of , who of their friends were killed; for no doubt was entertained, but some of them were dead.
When the company arrived there, they found the report not true: there had been a great difficulty; but no lives lost that was known of. But there was nothing heard but threatening—men were passing through the village, which had been laid off, by the saints, threatening them, that in three days they should all be driven out, and the property taken as spoil. It was reported, and that by themselves, too, that there was a large mob gathering at Millport, a small village in ; and that , formerly a Justice of the Peace, and had at the election, been elected one of the County Judges, was at the head of it. It was thought best, seeing he was a peace officer, to go and inquire into the affair. This said , had, a short time before this, sold his possessions to one of the saints, by the name of , and had received two hundred dollars, as part of the payment. A committee was appointed, consisting of five or six persons; the names of three of them, were , , and ; the names of the [p. 23]