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Sidney Rigdon, Appeal to the American People, 1840, Second Edition

Page 53

Source Note

[], 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, second edition; i-vi, 7–60 pp.; Cincinnati, OH: Shepard and Stearns, 1840. The copy used herein is held at CHL.

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 knowledge of all the facts and sufferings and abuses put upon them by the people of this ”. Among the earliest responses to JS’s call was ’s 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: Glezen and Shepard, 1840).
A manuscript draft of this pamphlet, simply titled “To the Publick” was presented to a conference of church members at , Illinois, on 1 November 1839. The conference voted to approve the manuscript and authorized its publication on behalf of the church. The pamphlet, when published, carried the endorsement of JS, , and as “Presidents of said Church.”
and collaborated on the publication of the text, which was available in print by May 1840. Though no author is named on the title page, was acknowledged as author in an 1840 Times and Seasons newspaper article, and when the pamphlet was advertised in that church periodical in 1841. JS and held some expectation that funds from the sale of An Appeal would eventually help defray costs of their late-1839 trip to .
By July 1840, and had been authorized to produce a second, revised edition to be published by Shepard & Stearns in . Page related some of the circumstances surrounding its publication and circulation in a letter sent to JS, “. . . at [Ohio] we parted for a few days . . . Elder Hyde went to Cincinnati where in my absince he published a second Edition of the ‘Apeal to the American people’ (2000 copies)[.] when I arrived the work was about completed[.] after disposing of as many of them as posible and suplying the market about cincinnati and the adjacient country he left me with some fourteen or fifteen hundred on hand, to dispose of” (John E. Page, Philadelphia, PA, to JS et al., Nauvoo, IL, 1 Sept. 1841, JS Collection, CHL). Funds from this printing were to be for the express purpose of subsidizing Hyde and Page’s imminent mission to in Palestine.
The second edition was essentially a lightly edited reprint of the first, with a four-page “Publisher’s Preface” added. In the preface, and noted the purpose of the publication, explained the severe hardships imposed by the persecutions upon Page’s own family, provided a detailed account of a vision experienced by Hyde, and expressed enthusiasm about the prospects of the mission. The preface also contained a copy of an official letter of appointment and commendation for Hyde and Page from an April 1840 church conference at , Illinois, signed by JS, and a letter of reference from , governor of .
Although many of the events reported in both editions of ’s pamphlet can be corroborated from other sources, his chronology of events is often inaccurate. However, Rigdon’s account does contain the texts of several significant documents. Among these are JS’s September 1838 affidavit concerning the 7 August 1838 visit to and those of and regarding the massacre. Consequently, though in many respects Rigdon’s document from a historical perspective is more advocacy than history, it offers access to some important material not readily found elsewhere.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Letter to the Church and Edward Partridge, 20 March 1839 [D&C 123:1, 6].

  2. [2]

    Sidney Rigdon, JS, et al., Petition Draft (“To the Publick”), circa 1838–1839.

  3. [3]

    “A History, of the Persecution,” Times and Seasons, May 1840, 1:99; Advertisement, Times and Seasons, 1 Jan. 1841, 1:272.

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

  4. [4]

    Crawley, Descriptive Bibliography, 1:103–104.

    Crawley, Peter. A Descriptive Bibliography of the Mormon Church. 3 vols. Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1997–2012.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Statement, circa 1 November 1839–B *Affidavit, 5 September 1838 [ State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Riot ]

Page 23

Sworn to and subscribed this fifth day of September, A. D. 1838.
(Signed) , J. C. C. C. C.
But the case having undergone a legal investigation, had no tendency to stop the operations of the mob; but it tended clearly to show how much sincerity there was in their pretended zeal for the laws; for in open and avowed violation of them, they went on to collect together, and to gather into , from , Corrill [Carroll], , Clinton and Platt, and some from , openly declaring that they would put the law at defiance, and the Saints should be driven out. They, in the meantime, took their families away from their house under the pretence of fear, and ran through the conntry, from county to county telling how they were driven from their homes—got up county meetings in the surrounding counties, particularly Jackson, , Corrill, and . At these meetings, might be seen preachers of the gospel, (as they called themselves,) drunkards, profane swearers, and all forming one company, and all declaring their determination to aid their friends if necessary. In one of these mob meetings in was seen , States attorney, and now one of the judges; also, , who would wish to be called a respectable lawyer. At these meetings the most slanderous resolutions would be passed, that a people so basely ignorant as they were could invent. The mob, thus encouraged by judges, lawyers, priests, &c., kept gathering in large numbers. The roads were infested with them—companies of armed men were passing and repassing in every direction, while a great majority of the principal men of the country, if they did not join the mob, used no exertions to prevent its operations. Among the rest that headed a gang of these ruffians, was , who was the same season elected to the State Senate. He had, but a short time before, been converted, and united with the baptist church.
The whole body made its way to . On ’s arrival the Saints were summoned to send a flag into his camp forthwith, and receive terms at his hand. They, however, paid no attention to the mandate of this new potentate. After they had, as they supposed, got sufficiently strong, they commenced taking cattle, corn, &c., to feed their army. Cattle, horses and grain were taken with a liberal hand; and they publicly boasted that they “lived on Mormon beef, and Mormon corn.” The Saints dare not leave their homes, for if they did, they were stopped on the road, they were shot at, their horses taken from them, and to all appearance they would be ruined. All the time the mob had their runners, telling that their wives and children were driven from their homes—that their fences were thrown down, and the Mormons were destroying all they had. Their wives and children were either in the camp, or else sent off to some of their friends in the adjoining counties—and all this they pretended was through fear. But, to certain of their friends they said their object in so doing was to keep the public ignorant of their real design; for they did not wish their women and children there, when they drove the Mormons out, lest they might get hurt. The Saints were all the time making application to the authorities of the country to put down the mob. Messengers after messengers were sent to the military offi [p. 23]
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Editorial Title
Sidney Rigdon, Appeal to the American People, 1840, Second Edition
ID #
7509
Total Pages
62
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