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Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, 28 November 1843

Source Note

JS and 3,418 others, Memorial, , Hancock Co., IL, to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, , 28 Nov. 1843; handwriting of ; signatures of memorialists; fifty-three pages; Records of the United States Senate, Record Group 46, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington DC. Transcription from digital images of the document provided by the National Archives, Washington DC.
The memorial was presented to Congress as one long scroll, with all the pages attached together. This website presents all of the rectos first and then all of the versos. On the verso of the first page, an unidentified scribe docketed the memorial after the pages were attached together. The remaining versos are blank except for the notation “Ramus” on the verso of page 45.

Historical Introduction

In early November 1843, in , Illinois, JS accepted a proposal from Colonel to help prepare a memorial to the Congress on behalf of members of the . Frierson was a United States surveyor, , Illinois resident, and outsider to the church who knew about and sympathized with the Saints’ suffering during the persecutions of the 1830s. Having learned that JS and the Saints were planning to petition the United States Congress to secure redress for their losses, Frierson offered in October 1843 to assist with their attempt to obtain justice. After learning of Frierson’s willingness to help the Saints petition Congress, JS wrote a letter on 2 November 1843, inviting him to come to Nauvoo.
On 25 November 1843, arrived in and the next morning met with church leaders at the , where he listened to several affidavits about the Saints’ treatment in . Conversation about the Missouri experience lasted throughout the day. Beyond these affidavits, it is unclear what other documents Frierson had access to as he drafted the memorial. He likely consulted a copy of a 27 January 1840 memorial to Congress that JS, , and prepared because the document that Frierson helped create both follows the structure of and contains phrases from this earlier petition. The 27 January 1840 memorial was also the model for two other memorials to Congress dated 28 November 1840 and 10 January 1842. Differences between the featured document and the 27 January 1840 memorial are noted in the annotations herein.
The most notable difference between this and prior memorials is the 3,419 names appended to the petition. Efforts to collect signatures began immediately after the memorial was completed on 28 November 1843. The next day, left and returned to to gather signatures there. That afternoon, a group of Nauvoo citizens met to discuss the memorial and organize efforts to find signatories. Signatures were collected on loose sheets of paper, which were then gathered and rolled up in a scroll. When unrolled, the memorial measured fifty feet.
The memorial summarizes the experiences of the Saints in , from their settlement in 1831 to their expulsion beginning in 1838. It is measured in its descriptions of Missouri persecutions, providing general descriptions of suffering along with accounts of property loss. It informs members of Congress that all attempts to secure redress at the state and federal levels have failed and closes with a vague petition for relief.
On 29 November 1843, JS read the memorial to a group of citizens who gathered to discuss measures for securing redress from the persecutions. When this meeting reconvened on 4 December 1843, the memorial was read again and unanimously approved by a vote of those present. On 16 December 1843, JS and the Nauvoo City Council signed the memorial. , who was assigned to convey the document to , left Nauvoo for the capital in March 1844. On 5 April 1844, Senator of presented the memorial to Congress. The Senate then referred it to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, which took no action in responding to the Latter-day Saint request.
used ’s text to make several copies, including the version sent to Congress, featured here with the pages of signatures attached.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 25 Nov. 1843; Letter from Joseph L. Heywood, 23 Oct. 1843. Frierson was apparently well connected with members of Congress and willing to use his influence for the Saints’ benefit. In a letter dated 12 October 1843, Frierson informed erstwhile congressman Franklin H. Elmore of the Saints’ intention to petition Congress: “I have understood from one of the brethren, it is possible they may memorialize Congress at the approaching session on the subject of their wrongs in Missouri.” Frierson’s Latter-day Saint contact is not identified, but it was likely Joseph L. Heywood who acted as the liaison between Frierson and JS. (John Frierson, Quincy, IL, to Hon. Franklin H. Elmore, 12 Oct. 1843, in Nauvoo Neighbor, 5 June 1844, [3]; Biographical Directory of the United States Congress 1774–2005, 1017; see also Letter from Joseph L. Heywood, 23 Oct. 1843; Letter to Joseph L. Heywood, 2 Nov. 1843.)

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

    Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–2005, the Continental Congress, September 5, 1774, to October 21, 1788, and the Congress of the United States, from the First through the One Hundred Eighth Congresses, March 4, 1789, to January 3, 2005, inclusive. Edited by Andrew R. Dodge and Betty K. Koed. Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2005.

  2. [2]

    Letter to Joseph L. Heywood, 2 Nov. 1843.

  3. [3]

    JS, Journal, 25 and 26 Nov. 1843; Woodruff, Journal, 26 Nov. 1843. The testimonies in these affidavits were originally intended for JS’s habeas corpus trial, which took place on 1 July 1843 in Nauvoo. From these affidavits, Frierson would have learned disturbing details about the abuse that Latter-day Saints endured during the Missouri persecutions: men were whipped, women were raped, and children were compelled to flee until their feet bled. While Frierson’s memorial recounted some acts of violence against the Saints, its descriptions of persecution never approximated the graphic content of these affidavits. These details were possibly omitted because, as the memorial indicates, the Saints’ persecution “has been published to the world.” Moreover, early Americans were generally careful with their language when discussing sexual assault. For instance, the details of sexual assaults in published trial transcripts were often omitted. (Docket Entry, 1–ca. 6 July 1843, Extradition of JS for Treason (Nauvoo Mun. Ct. 1843), Nauvoo Municipal Court Docket Book, 55; JS, Journal, 1 July 1843; see, for example, Hyrum Smith, Testimony, Nauvoo, IL, 1 July 1843, 3, 24; Parley P. Pratt, Testimony, Nauvoo, IL, 1 July 1843, 4; Brigham Young, Testimony, Nauvoo, IL, 1 July 1843, 2; Lyman Wight, Testimony, Nauvoo, IL, 1 July 1843, 6, 9; Sidney Rigdon, Testimony, Nauvoo, IL, 1 July 1843, [21]–[22], Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; Block, Rape and Sexual Power in Early America, 111–112; see also George Pitkin, Testimony, Nauvoo, IL, 1 July 1843, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

    Block, Sharon. Rape and Sexual Power in Early America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2006.

  4. [4]

    Woodruff, Journal, 26 Nov. 1843.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  5. [5]

    JS indicated previously that he would aid Frierson’s investigation of the Saints’ treatment in Missouri by providing him “with documents and evidence to substantiate all the necessary facts.” In his journal entry for 26 November 1843, Wilford Woodruff only noted that the above affidavits were read. The entry suggests that Woodruff arrived after the meeting commenced, thereby opening the possibility that other documents were reviewed before he arrived. (Letter to Joseph L. Heywood, 2 Nov. 1843; Woodruff, Journal, 26 Nov. 1843.)

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  6. [6]

    Elias Higbee was one of the signatories of the 27 January 1840 memorial and a member of the delegation that brought it to Washington DC. After the Senate discharged the Committee on the Judiciary from considering the memorial, Higbee informed JS that he retrieved a copy of the document. If Frierson consulted the 27 January 1840 memorial, it is likely that he used the copy that Higbee procured. (Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840; Letter from Elias Higbee, 24 Mar. 1840.)

  7. [7]

    The 28 November 1840 memorial is a nearly word-for-word copy of the 27 January 1840 memorial. Beyond the omission of a few passages, the primary difference between the 28 November 1840 and the 27 January 1840 memorials is the conclusion. The 27 January 1840 memorial closes by informing Congress that this will be the Saints’ only attempt to appeal for redress—“To your decision, favorable or otherwise, we will submit.” The 28 November 1840 memorial, however, omits this phrase in its concluding argument. The 10 January 1842 memorial is an almost identical copy of the 28 November 1840 memorial. (Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840; “Latter-day Saints,” Alias Mormons: The Petition of the Latter-day Saints, Commonly Known as Mormons, H.R. Doc. no. 22, 26th Cong., 2nd Sess. [1840], 13; Elias Higbee et al., Memorial to Congress, 10 Jan. 1842, photocopy, Material Relating to Mormon Expulsion from Missouri, CHL; see also Edward Partridge, Memorial to U.S. Congress, ca. Jan. 1839, Edward Partridge Papers, CHL; Memorial of Ephraim Owen, Jr., H. R. Doc. no. 42, 25th Cong., 3rd Sess. [1838].)

    “Latter-day Saints,” Alias Mormons: The Petition of the Latter-day Saints, Commonly Known as Mormons. House of Representatives doc. no. 22, 26th Cong., 2nd Sess. (1840).

    Material Relating to Mormon Expulsion from Missouri, 1839–1843. Photocopy. CHL. MS 2145.

    Edward Partridge, Papers, 1818–1839. CHL. MS 892.

    Memorial of Ephraim Owen, Jr. H.R. Doc. no. 42, 25th Cong., 3rd Sess. (1838).

  8. [8]

    The petition also stands apart because of the brevity of its main text. While consulting with Illinois representatives in December 1839 about securing an audience with Congress, JS and Elias Higbee were advised “that a memorial and petition be drawn up in a concise manner.” Of these four memorials, the 28 November–16 December 1843 petition is the most condensed. (Letter to Seymour Brunson and Nauvoo High Council, 7 Dec. 1839.)

  9. [9]

    JS, Journal, 28 and 29 Nov. 1843.

  10. [10]

    Minutes, 29 Nov. 1843. It is possible that the assessors and collectors of Nauvoo wards participated in gathering signatures. A note on the verso of one of the signature pages indicates that the names were gathered from the “1s. Ward,” suggesting that the process of collecting signatures was organized and methodical. (Minutes, 29 Nov. 1843.)

  11. [11]

    Johnson, Mormon Redress Petitions, 563.

    Johnson, Clark V., ed. Mormon Redress Petitions: Documents of the 1833–1838 Missouri Conflict. Religious Studies Center Monograph Series 16. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1992.

  12. [12]

    Minutes, 29 Nov. 1843; Minutes, 4 Dec. 1843; and Letters from Orson Hyde, 25 and 26 Apr. 1844, in Council of Fifty, “Record,” [261]–[285].

  13. [13]

    Congressional Globe, 28th Cong., 1st Session, p. 482 (1844); see also Orson Pratt, Washington DC, to Hon. John Berrien, Washington DC, 11 May 1844, in Pratt, Prophetic Almanac for 1845, 18–19; Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774–1996, 655, 1801.

    The Congressional Globe, Containing Sketches of the Debates and Proceedings of the First Session of the Twenty-Eighth Congress. Vol. 13. Washington DC: Blair and Rives, 1844.

    Pratt, Orson. Prophetic Almanac for 1845. Being the First after Bissextile or Leap Year. Calculated for the Eastern, Middle and Western States and Territories, the Northern Portions of the Slave States, and British Provinces. New York: Prophet Office, 1845.

    Biographical Directory of the American Congress, 1774–1996: The Continental Congress, September 5, 1774, to October 21, 1788, and the Congress of the United States from the First through the Ninety-First Congress March 4, 1789, to January 3, 1971, Inclusive.

  14. [14]

    Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, 28 Nov. 1843, John Frierson Copy, JS Office Papers, CHL. Three of the other Bullock copies are extant, as well as a copy made by Willard Richards. (Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, 28 Nov. 1843, Thomas Bullock First Copy, JS Office Papers, CHL; Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, 28 Nov. 1843, Thomas Bullock Second Copy, CHL; Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, 28 Nov. 1843, Thomas Bullock Third Copy, Adams Family Papers, Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston; Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, 28 Nov. 1843, Willard Richards Copy, JS Office Papers, CHL.)

    Memorial to U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, 28 Nov. 1843. CHL. MS 27289.

    Adams Family Papers, 1639–1889. Massachusetts Historical Society, Boston, MA.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, 28 November 1843, John Frierson Copy Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, 28 November 1843, Willard Richards Copy Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, 28 November 1843, Thomas Bullock First Copy *Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, 28 November 1843 History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”

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George Snow John Edmiston
Martha Snow
Mary Snow Eliaz Gardner
Sarah S. Snow Amy Gardner
Elisabeth C. Snow Walter E Gardner
Nancey M. Gardner
Mary Gardner Henry F Gardner
william woodland Wilber J Earl
Silvester H Earl
David Tyler Lois C Earl
Wilber J Earl
Clarinda [Graves] Stanton Loisa Earl
Eleanor Hillson
Constanza C Stanton H. H. [William Henry Harrison] Keys
Eliza A[nn Herrick] Keys
Alma Keys
Amy [Ward] Hancock Sarah E Keys
Wm. Mooney John Brown
David Mooney Erastus H. Rudd
Marilda Mooney Eliza W. [Hancock] Rudd
Eliza A Mooney Alta E. Rudd
John G Lofton Osro. F. [Franklin Osro] Rudd
Gemila [Gamila] Lofton John Huston
Mildred A Lofton
Thomas D Lofton George Hancock
Solon P Bassett Ruth Tyler
Clarinda Ann Bassett P. O. Tyler
samira C Bassett Orville S. Cox
Melinda E Stanton Leane Durfee
Harriet L Stanton
Caroline A Stanton Willim S Durfee
Nancy Koyl
Jane Koyl
Edward Koyl Bennjamin Bragg
Harriet Koyl
Mary Koyl Abram Durfee
John Koyl
Elvira. P. Cox Hannah Bragg
Adelia. B. Cox
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Editorial Title
Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, 28 November 1843
ID #
1208
Total Pages
118
Print Volume Location
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