Prior to an 1838 election for state and county offices in Caldwell County, Missouri, a militant group of church members called the Danites printed a ticket of candidates and then, in an effort to control the election’s outcome, distributed it among church members in the county. According to one newspaper, the election results in Caldwell County were 351 votes for the “Van Buren ticket” and 2 for the “Whig.” (Corrill, Brief History, 33; “Editorial Items,” Quincy [IL] Whig, 25 Aug. 1838, [2].)

Quincy Whig. Quincy, IL. 1838–1856.

The church’s declaration on government, published in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, stated that the church did “not believe it just to mingle religious influence with civil Government.” (Declaration on Government and Law, ca. Aug. 1835 [D&C 134:9].)

In a Washington DC discourse he delivered earlier that month, JS reportedly declared that the Bible was a “sacred volume— In it the Mormon faith is to be found. We teach nothing but what the Bible teaches. We believe nothing but what is to be found in this Book.” (Discourse, 5 Feb. 1840.)

The church’s declaration on government advised citizens of republics to seek to elect government officials who would “administer the law in equity and justice” and counseled citizens to uphold such individuals “by the voice of the people.” (Declaration on Government and Law, ca. Aug. 1835 [D&C 134:3].)

According to former Latter-day Saint John Corrill, many members of the church thought that the ticket of candidates the Danites distributed was “from head quarters, and that it was the will of God that all should go for it,” but others saw it as “taking an undue advantage of the election, and were extremely dissatisfied; not so much with the ticket itself as with the principle in which it had been got up, for the ticket was democratic, and the Mormons, as individuals, are almost universally of that party.” (Corrill, Brief History, 33.)

The “whig Paper” possibly refers to the Quincy Whig, which had published articles in March 1839 supporting church members and condemning the Missourians. (See, for example, Report, Quincy [IL] Whig, 2 Mar. 1839, [2]; and “The Mormons,” Quincy Whig, 16 Mar. 1839, [1].)

Quincy Whig. Quincy, IL. 1838–1856.

“The trials at Richmond” refers to the November 1838 court of inquiry in Richmond before Judge Austin A. King for a group of church members facing a variety of charges, including treason, riot, and murder. (See Document Containing the Correspondence, 149–151; see also Historical Introduction to Letter to Emma Smith, 1 Dec. 1838; Historical Introduction to Petition to George Tompkins, between 9 and 15 Mar. 1839; and LeSueur, 1838 Mormon War in Missouri, chap. 12.)

LeSueur, Stephen C. The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1987.