In October 1838, Governor Lilburn W. Boggs issued orders to the state militia that the Mormons should be either driven from the state or exterminated. (Lilburn W. Boggs, Jefferson City, MO, to John B. Clark, Fayette, MO, 27 Oct. 1838, copy, Mormon War Papers, Missouri State Archives, Jefferson City.)

Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

Clark’s speech referred to here was included in John P. Greene’s Facts relative to the Expulsion of the Mormons, which was submitted to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary to accompany the memorial. In the speech, Clark ordered the Saints to “leave the State [Missouri] forthwith,” explaining that “the orders of the Governor to me, were, that you should be exterminated, and not allowed to continue in the State.” (Greene, Facts relative to the Expulsion, 26–27; Historical Introduction to Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840.)

Greene, John P. Facts Relative to the Expulsion of the Mormons or Latter Day Saints, from the State of Missouri, under the “Exterminating Order.” By John P. Greene, an Authorized Representative of the Mormons. Cincinnati: R. P. Brooks, 1839.

JS and his fellow prisoners escaped custody and fled to Illinois on 16 April 1839. They arrived in Quincy, Illinois, on 22 April 1839. (Promissory Note to John Brassfield, 16 Apr. 1839; Order for Change of Venue, Gallatin, MO, 11 Apr. 1839, State of Missouri v. Worthington et al. for Larceny [Daviess Co. Cir. Ct. 1839], photocopy, Max H Parkin, Collected Missouri Court Documents, CHL.)

Missouri, State of. Order for change of Venue, Gallatin, MO, 11 Apr. 1839. Private possession. Copy in CHL.

The legislature passed a law in February 1839 stating that a change of venue was permitted “when the people in the circuit, where the indictment is found, are so prejudiced against the defendant that a fair trial cannot be had.” (Journal, of the House of Representatives, of the State of Missouri, 13 Feb. 1839, 462; An Act to Amend an Act concerning Criminal Proceedings [13 Feb. 1839], Laws of the State of Missouri [1838–1839], p. 98.)

Journal, of the House of Representatives, of the State of Missouri, at the First Session of the Tenth General Assembly, Begun and Held at the City of Jefferson, on Monday, the Nineteenth Day of November, in the Year of Our Lord, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Eight. Jefferson City, MO: Calvin Gunn, 1839.

Laws of the State of Missouri, Passed at the First Session of the Tenth General Assembly, Begun and Held at the City of Jefferson, on Monday, the Nineteenth Day of November, in the Year of Our Lord, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Eight. Jefferson, MO: Calvin Gunn, 1838.

Order for Change of Venue, Gallatin, MO, 11 Apr. 1839, State of Missouri v. Worthington et al. for Larceny [Daviess Co. Cir. Ct. 1839], photocopy, Max H Parkin, Collected Missouri Court Documents, CHL.

Missouri, State of. Order for change of Venue, Gallatin, MO, 11 Apr. 1839. Private possession. Copy in CHL.

Palmyra is the seat of Marion County, Missouri. (Campbell, Campbell’s Gazetteer of Missouri, 356.)

Campbell, R. A., ed. Campbell’s Gazetteer of Missouri: From Articles Contributed by Prominent Gentlemen in Each County of the State. . . . St. Louis: By the author, 1874.

See, for example, David Pettegrew, Affidavit, Montrose, Iowa Territory, 21 Mar. 1840, Mormon Redress Petitions, 1839–1845, CHL; Lyman Wight, Petition, 15 Mar. 1839, CHL; and Bill of Damages, 4 June 1839. In a petition to the Missouri legislature asking for a change in venue, JS and his fellow prisoners stated that King had written letters that were “published to the world” in which he had “placed us in the wrong” and had presided at public meetings called in opposition to the Mormons. (Memorial to the Missouri Legislature, 24 Jan. 1839.)

Mormon Redress Petitions, 1839–1845. CHL. MS 2703.

Wight, Lyman. Petition, Liberty, MO, 15 Mar. 1839. CHL. MS 24547.

Many of the affidavits submitted to Congress with the church’s memorial are stored in the National Archives in Washington DC, but it is unclear how many were created by individuals who were not members of the church. (See the affidavits and petitions housed in Record Group 233, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, National Archives, Washington DC.)

Record Group 233, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives / Petitions and Memorials, Resolutions of State Legislatures, and Related Documents Which Were Referred to the Committee on Judiciary during the 27th Congress. Committee on the Judiciary, Petitions and Memorials, 1813–1968. Record Group 233, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1789–2015. National Archives, Washington DC. The LDS records cited herein are housed in National Archives boxes 40 and 41 of Library of Congress boxes 139–144 in HR27A-G10.1.