This sentence refers to the constitution of the Society of the Daughter of Zion (later called Danites), which was a group that sought to support the First Presidency, to defend the church against persecution, and to remove dissenting church members from the Saints’ communities. It is unclear who authored the Danite constitution or how aware church leaders were of the document’s existence. There is no indication that Rigdon authored the constitution. (Introduction to Part 2: 8 July–29 Oct. 1838; Constitution of the “Society of the Daughter of Zion,” in Sampson Avard, Testimony, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, pp. [10]–[12], in State of Missouri, “Evidence.”)

Higbee was a prominent member of the Danites, serving as captain general within the group. However, he joined the group’s leadership after its constitution was likely drafted and may not have been aware of the document’s existence. (Constitution of the “Society of the Daughter of Zion,” in Sampson Avard, Testimony, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, pp. [10]–[12], in State of Missouri, “Evidence”; Reed Peck, Quincy, IL, to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839, p. 48, Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.)

Peck, Reed. Letter, Quincy, IL, to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.

Corrill, a former church member and leader, stated that he ultimately defected from the church and testified against JS and Rigdon because church members in Caldwell County, Missouri, mobilized for preemptive strikes against the vigilantes who were preparing to drive the Saints from Daviess County, Missouri. (Historical Introduction to Corrill, Brief History; Corrill, Brief History, 36–37; John Corrill, Testimony, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, pp. [29]–[34], State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Treason and Other Crimes [Mo. 5th Jud. Cir. 1838], in State of Missouri, “Evidence.”)

A siege and attack on church members in De Witt, Missouri, occurred in early October 1838, causing church members to evacuate the town. (See “A History, of the Persecution,” Times and Seasons, Apr. 1840, 1:82; [Rigdon], Appeal to the American People, 35–41; and Baugh, “Call to Arms,” chap. 6.)

Baugh, Alexander L. “A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1996. Also available as A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2000).

Higbee’s precise whereabouts during the late-October 1838 conflict in Daviess County are unknown, but he was presumably in Caldwell County at the time. (See Baugh, “Call to Arms,” 226–227.)

Baugh, Alexander L. “A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1996. Also available as A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2000).

Even though Corrill had separated himself from the church by this date, he submitted an affidavit to Congress that urged the restoration of church members’ citizenship rights in Missouri and remuneration for their lost and damaged property there. (John Corrill, Petition, Quincy, IL, 9 Jan. 1840, 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.

Corrill served one term in the Missouri House of Representatives, having been elected to represent Caldwell County in 1838. (Journal, of the House of Representatives, of the State of Missouri, 2; Historical Introduction to Corrill, Brief History.)

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.

Senator Garret D. Wall. (Journal of the Senate of the United States, 26th Cong., 1st Sess., 16 Dec. 1839, 11.)

Journal of the Senate of the United States of America, Being the First Session of the Twenty-Sixth Congress, Begun and Held at the City of Washington, December 2, 1839, and in the Sixty-Fourth Year of the Independence of the Said United States. Washington DC: Blair and Rives, 1839.