The June 1838 Letter to the Dissenters in Missouri · Web view16 “To His Excellency, Daniel Dunklin,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Dec. 1833, 114; Grimsted, American Mobbing,

The June 1838 Letter to the Dissenters in Missouri

David Grua, Ph.D.

http://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/appendix-1-letter-to-oliver-cowdery-and-others-circa-17-june-1838/1#full-transcript

Accessed 7.18.18

About 17 June 1838, a letter of uncertain origin was written in Far West, Missouri, addressed to former Latter-day Saints Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, John Whitmer, William W. Phelps, and Lyman E. Johnson, demanding that they leave Caldwell County, Missouri. The letter was written in the plural “we” voice of those who would sign the letter—ultimately eighty-three Latter-day Saints. JS did not sign the document. His direct involvement in the production of the main body of the text is unknown, although Ebenezer Robinson, the church printer at the time, recounted decades later that the main body of the document was created under the auspices of the First Presidency.1 Nevertheless, the document’s historical background, the circumstances of its production, and its shifting narrative voice underscore the uncertainty of its authorship.

In March and April 1838, church councils in Far West excommunicated Cowdery, the Whitmers, Phelps, and Johnson on various charges.2 After their excommunications, the former church members remained in Far West. Cowdery and Johnson, and perhaps the others, encouraged lawsuits for debt among the Latter-day Saints in order to charge fees for legal services.3 According to John Corrill, many Saints saw these actions as “a kind of secret opposition to the presidency and church.”4 In early May, JS delivered a sermon in Far West warning the Saints against certain unnamed men—presumably Cowdery and other recently excommunicated dissenters—whom he said would attempt to collect debts from among the membership of the church, claiming that they were owed money for bearing the church’s past expenses. JS also warned that these agitators would make “foul insinuations, to level as it were a dart to the best interests of the Church, & if possible to destroy the Characters of its Presidency.”5

By the middle of June, these tensions between church leaders and the excommunicated dissenters reached a breaking point. Reed Peck, in a short history of the church in Missouri that he wrote following his disaffection in 1839, recounted that Latter-day Saints Jared Carter and Dimick B. Huntington called a secret meeting during the week of 10–16 June 1838 to discuss plans for removing the dissenters’ influence in Far West.6 At least a few different proposals were discussed at the meeting, including a plan to expel the dissenters from the county. Peck also claimed a proposal was made that the dissenters should be killed so “that they would not be capable of injuring the church.” This, he wrote, was “strenuously opposed” by church leaders John Corrill and Thomas B. Marsh.7 Later, in the November 1838 hearing, Corrill testified that “none of the first presidency was present at the meeting.” However, Corrill also recounted that when he later approached Rigdon, expressing his reservations regarding the proposals discussed at the meeting, Rigdon only told him that he need not participate further and that Carter and Huntington and the rest “would do as they pleased”—suggesting that Rigdon was aware of what had been discussed at the meeting.8 JS, who was visiting Daviess County during the week of 10–16 June, likely became aware of the meeting upon his return, but it is uncertain when or what details he learned of the meeting’s proceedings.9



JS returned to Caldwell County by the following Sunday, 17 June, when he attended worship services in Far West.10 During the meeting, Rigdon delivered a sermon taking as its text Matthew 5:13: “If the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.”11 The most detailed account of Rigdon’s sermon was made by Peck in his 1839 history, wherein he recounted that Rigdon accused the dissenters of seeking to undermine the First Presidency and of committing various offenses, including counterfeiting, lying, and cheating. According to Peck, Rigdon “called on the people to rise en masse and rid the county of Such a nuisance He said it is the duty of this people to trample them into the earth.”12

Violent rhetoric and calls for expelling undesirable individuals from a community were already long-held American traditions. By the early nineteenth century, state laws regulated the “warning-out” system, a social mechanism that civil authorities used to compel individuals whose poverty threatened to overburden community resources to leave.13 For example, in the early 1830s, residents of Kirtland, Ohio, who feared the increasing influx of Latter-day Saints convinced officials to issue warrants ordering several church members, including JS, to leave the township. These church members were ostensibly warned out due to their poverty but the more likely reason was their unpopular religion.14 Early American vigilantes employed their own parallel system of social order—often using legalistic expressions and tropes—to expel vagrants, free blacks, abolitionists, gamblers, and other people deemed undesirable from a community. Vigilantes relied on threats, assaults, and riots to maintain this social order, with the 1830s witnessing the highest number of riots and mobbings in the decades prior to the United States Civil War.15 This included the violence against the Latter-day Saints in 1833 that culminated in their expulsion from Jackson County, Missouri. Vigilantes in Jackson had passed resolutions and circulated a document describing the social taboos violated by the Saints and calling for their expulsion. Consistent with other instances of vigilante violence, some Jackson County officers turned a blind eye, cooperated with the vigilantes, or even helped lead them.16

In Rigdon’s 17 June 1838 speech, he reportedly related a recent instance of vigilantism in Vicksburg, Mississippi, using it as a precedent for such action in Caldwell County. In 1835, prominent citizens of Vicksburg had declared that all gamblers had twenty-four hours to leave town or face extreme consequences. Their resolutions were printed and posted publicly. Most of the gamblers fled; five men who had not heeded the warning were taken and hung. Similarly, as Peck recounted, Rigdon threatened to either “trample” the dissenters, using the language of Matthew 5:13, or “to erect a gallows on the Square of Far West and hang them up as they did the gamblers at Vicksburgh.”17 Peck also stated that after Rigdon concluded his sermon, JS addressed the audience and tacitly approved of his counselor’s remarks.18

The warning-out letter to the dissenters was written in Far West at about the time of Rigdon’s sermon. Addressed to Cowdery, the two Whitmer brothers, Phelps, and Johnson, the letter described various crimes and offenses committed in Kirtland and Far West and pronounced a “decree” that the dissenters would have three days from receipt of the document to leave the county before facing “a more fatal calamity.” The letter then accused the dissenters of seeking to undermine the First Presidency and—congruent with the accusations made by Rigdon in his 17 June sermon—of lying, stealing, and counterfeiting. The authors insisted that their letter served as a final warning that the dissenters leave the county peaceably on their own or be driven out with deadly force.

Throughout, the letter uses the first-person plural voice; it also refers to the “citizens of Caldwell County” in the third-person. Although in the letter’s opening sentences this plural voice appears to be representatively embodying the united “citizens of Caldwell County,” the language seems to quickly shift so that the first-person plural voice of authorship separates itself from the third-person references to the citizens of Caldwell County. Similarly, the letter refers to the warning already given to the dissenters as “our warnings” and closes by expressing indignity at the counterthreats received from the dissenters “to shoot us if we offered to molest you.” This indicates the authorship not of the Caldwell citizens generally, but of a much smaller group, who had already confronted the dissenters and had been threatened.19 This group also tended to differentiate itself from JS and Rigdon, referring to them in the third person. For example, in one passage they are referred to as “our beloved breathren.”20 This voice of a smaller body of individuals acting in defense of both the First Presidency and the county’s citizens suggests that the letter may have been authored by the group of zealots led by Huntington and Carter.

However, following his disaffection from the church, Sampson Avard testified in the November 1838 hearing that Rigdon had “drafted” the “paper against the dissenters.”21 Church printer Ebenezer Robinson, who also signed the document, recalled in 1890 that it was commonly understood that the letter “was gotten up in the office of the First Presidency.”22 One possibility is that Rigdon authored the document on behalf of the First Presidency. However, Rigdon’s signature does not appear on the document. Rigdon was often the first signatory to documents he had written himself.23 A second possibility is that Avard, the first signatory, named Rigdon as the author to shift blame away from himself and support the state of Missouri in its case against JS, Rigdon, and other church leaders and members. A third possibility is that Rigdon and Avard were both somehow involved in the document’s production.

Eighty-three Mormon men signed the letter. A comparison of the order of signatures in the two extant copies, which were presumably copied from the original, indicates that the signatures were initially written on two pages, each with two columns. On the first page, each column contained thirty-six names. On the second page, the left column contained five signatures while the right column had six names.24 Nearly all of the signatories were Caldwell County citizens. At least one—JS’s uncle and assistant church president John Smith—had only recently arrived in the county.25 The letter was signed by several ecclesiastical leaders as well. Besides John Smith, the letter was signed by Hyrum Smith, second counselor in the First Presidency, and George W. Robinson, the presidency’s scribe.26 However, these men did not sign as members of the First Presidency; they signed their names only, without any title. Moreover, their names did not appear first among signatories nor even grouped together. Instead, they appear here and there among the many other signatures. The gathering of signatures, in general, seems to have been somewhat haphazard. One of the signatories, Ebenezer Robinson, later recalled that the document was presented to him while in the street in Far West and that several men had already signed it. He had no recollection of either reading or hearing the letter read at the time, only that his signature was requested as a sign of loyalty to the First Presidency.27

Among the earliest signatories were some especially prominent men in terms of wielding civil and military power or social influence. Huntington, as noted above, had been one of the organizers of the group that was later formally organized, at about this time or shortly thereafter, as the Daughter of Zion (Danite) society. Avard would be appointed a general in the society. Robinson served as the colonel of the Caldwell County regiment of the Missouri state militia, with Philo Dibble as lieutenant colonel. Pitkin served as the sheriff of the county.28 It may be that these early signers were the group that initially

gathered at a secret meeting to compose the letter; the inclusion of Huntington supports this possibility. Yet another possibility is that Avard—whom Reed Peck later referred to as “the most busy actor and sharpest tool of the Presidency”29—composed the letter, signed it, and then began gathering signatures by approaching powerful office holders for support early on. The fact that Avard maintained possession of the letter also suggests that he may have composed it or perhaps have been the one gathering signatures.

Dating the letter, both the main body of the letter and the register of signatures, presents a challenge. The document bears the month and year, June 1838, but not a specific day. Presumably, the earliest the letter could have been written was during the week of 10–16 June, when the secret meeting was held regarding the excommunicated dissenters. Given that Cowdery and the others fled Far West on 19 June, that date is likely the last possible day the letter could have been written.30 Since the letter gave the dissenters three days from receipt of the document to leave the county, it was probably written on or about 17 June, the date of Rigdon’s sermon.

It is also unknown how or even whether this enigmatic document was delivered to its addressees. The document states that it was intended for publication, but there is no indication that anything was printed in June 1838.31 Cowdery later claimed that he was unaware of the letter’s existence until after its publication in 1841.32 Additionally, John Whitmer attributed his departure from Far West on 19 June not to the warning-out letter, but to his efforts, along with the other excommunicated dissenters, to secure legal assistance in a neighboring county. He did indicate that their families, who had remained in Far West, were subsequently threatened with expulsion, suggesting that the warning-out letter may have been delivered after 19 June or that the intent of the letter, if not the document itself, was effectively communicated.33 A few weeks later, George W. Robinson noted approvingly in the journal he was keeping for JS that the dissenters were sent “bounding over the prairie like the scape Goat to carry of[f] their own sins.”34 Phelps, who had reconciled with church leaders, was permitted to remain in the county.35

When Avard was captured by Missouri state militiamen in early November 1838, he agreed to cooperate with the criminal prosecution of Latter-day Saints in exchange for immunity. At this time, he submitted the letter and another document to be used as evidence against church members.36 Although Avard’s copy of the letter is not extant, it was copied at least twice following his arrest. Major General John B. Clark had these documents copied, evidently by an unidentified member of his staff, and on 10 November 1838 forwarded the copies to Missouri governor Lilburn W. Boggs.37 That copy of the letter is apparently the copy now held by the Missouri State Archives.38 The letter was also copied into the record of Avard’s testimony given before Judge Austin A. King on 13–14 November 1838 in Richmond, Missouri. The clerk who copied the letter into the court record neglected to transcribe the signatures, providing instead a descriptive notation: “The above signed by some eighty four Mormons.”39 The copy at the Missouri State Archives is featured here because it includes the signatures. Significant variations between the two extant version are noted.40

Footnotes

1 Ebenezer Robinson, “‘Saints’ Herald,’ Again,” Return (Davis City, IA), Feb. 1890, 218–219.

Comprehensive Works Cited

The Return. Davis City, IA, 1889–1891; Richmond, MO, 1892–1893; Davis City, 1895–1896; Denver, 1898; Independence, MO, 1899–1900.

2 Minute Book 2, 10 Mar. 1838; Minutes, 12 Apr. 1838, in JSP, D6:93; Minutes, 13 Apr. 1838, in JSP, D6:101, 103.


JSP, D6 / Ashurst-McGee, Mark, David W. Grua, Elizabeth Kuehn, Alexander L. Baugh, and Brenden W. Rensink, eds. Documents, Volume 6: February 1838–August 1839. Vol. 6 of the Documents series of The Joseph Smith Papers, edited by Ronald K. Esplin, Matthew J. Grow, and Matthew C. Godfrey. Salt Lake City: Church Historian’s Press, 2017.

3 As early as January 1838, Cowdery and Johnson were arranging to leave the county because of their opposition to the actions of church leaders. In early June, Cowdery informed his brothers that he and Johnson were considering relocating to Springfield, Illinois, and starting a law practice there with Warren Parrish, another disaffected Latter-day Saint. In the meantime, however, Cowdery sought to alleviate his debts in Far West, pursuing debt suits and allegedly committing fraudulent activity. (Oliver Cowdery, Far West, MO, to Warren Cowdery and Lyman Cowdery, [Kirtland, OH], 4 Feb. 1838, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 85; Oliver Cowdery, Far West, MO, to Warren Cowdery and Lyman Cowdery, Kirtland Mills, OH, 2 June 1838, Lyman Cowdery, Papers, CHL; JSP, D6:85n436; Indictment, July 1838, State of Missouri v. Walter and Cowdery for Forgery [Caldwell Co. Cir. Ct. 1838], in Oliver Cowdery, Petition, 30 Aug. 1838, CHL.)


Cowdery, Oliver. Letterbook, 1833–1838. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.

Cowdery, Lyman. Papers, 1834–1858. CHL. MS 3467.


Cowdery, Oliver. Petition, 30 Aug. 1838. CHL.

4 Corrill, Brief History, 30.

5 Discourse, 6 May 1838.

6 Peck’s narrative implies that the meeting was held sometime during the week prior to Sunday, 17 June 1838, when Rigdon gave a sermon regarding the actions of the excommunicants. (Reed Peck, Quincy, IL, to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839, pp. 22–23, Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.)


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

7 R. Peck to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839, pp. 22–23.



8 John Corrill, Testimony, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, p. [29], Transcript of Proceedings, 12–29 Nov. 1838 [State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Treason and Other Crimes].

9 JS, Journal, 4–5 June 1838.

10 JS’s uncle, John Smith, recorded in his journal that he had “met Joseph & Hyrum” at church services in Far West on 17 June. (John Smith, Journal, 17 June 1838.)


Smith, John (1781-1854). Journal, 1833–1841. John Smith, Papers, 1833-1854. CHL. MS 1326, box 1, fd. 1.

11 See JS, Journal, 4 July 1838.

12 R. Peck to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839, pp. 24–25. Peck’s disaffection from the church was largely motivated by his opposition to the rising militancy among church members, which may have colored his recounting of the speech.



13 See Herndon, Unwelcome Americans, 1–22.


Herndon, Ruth Wallis. Unwelcome Americans: Living on the Margin in Early New England. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001.

14 Historical Introduction to Warrant, 21 Oct. 1833.

15 Grimsted, “Rioting in Its Jacksonian Setting,” 361–397.


Grimsted, David. “Rioting in Its Jacksonian Setting.” American Historical Review 77, no. 2 (Apr. 1972): 361–397.

16 “To His Excellency, Daniel Dunklin,” The Evening and the Morning Star, Dec. 1833, 114; Grimsted, American Mobbing, 109; see also Historical Introduction to Letter from John Whitmer, 29 July 1833.


The Evening and the Morning Star. Independence, MO, June 1832–July 1833; Kirtland, OH, Dec. 1833–Sept. 1834.

Grimsted, David. American Mobbing, 1828–1861: Toward Civil War. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.

17 R. Peck to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839, p. 25; Thompson, “Far West Dissenters and the Gamblers at Vicksburg,” 22–23; see also Rothman, Flush Times and Fever Dreams, chaps. 5–6.



Thompson, John E. “The Far West Dissenters and the Gamblers at Vicksburg: An Examination of the Documentary Evidence and Historical Context of Sidney Rigdon’s Salt Sermon.” Restoration 5 (Jan. 1986): 21–27.

Rothman, Joshua D. Flush Times and Fever Dreams: A Story of Capitalism and Slavery in the Age of Jackson. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2012.

18 According to Peck, JS stated he did not “want the brethren to act unlawfully” but then brought up the suicide of Judas in the New Testament and claimed that Judas had actually been hung by the apostle Peter. Peck interpreted this as a “hint” that, combined with Rigdon’s remarks, “created a great excitement and prepared the people to execute anything that should be proposed.” (R. Peck to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839, pp. 25–26.)



19 The letter also states: “We have solmnly warned you and that in the most determined manner, that if you did not cease that course of wanton abuse of the Citizens of this County that vengence would overtake you sooner or later” (emphasis added).

20 The letter refers to JS and Rigdon as “two influential men of this place.” It also refers to JS individually in the third-person as “a principal man in this church.” The letter further states: “We wish to remind you that Oliver Cowdry and David Whitmier were among the principal of those who were the means of geathering us to this place by their testimony which they gave concerning the plates of the book of Mormon, that they were shown to them by an Angel which testimony we believe now as much as before you so scandalously disgraced it.” This expression of belief makes little sense coming from JS, who claimed to have had much more experience with the plates of the Book of Mormon than did the other witnesses.

21 Sampson Avard, Testimony, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, p. [13], Transcript of Proceedings, 12–29 Nov. 1838 [State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Treason and Other Crimes]. Rigdon’s authorship cannot be verified as the original letter is not extant.

22 Ebenezer Robinson, “‘Saints’ Herald,’ Again,” Return (Davis City, IA), Feb. 1890, 218–219.



23 See, for example, License for Edward Partridge, ca. 4 Aug. 1831–ca. 5 Jan. 1832; Vision, 16 Feb. 1832 [D&C 76]; and Charges against Missouri Conference Preferred to JS, ca. Mar. 1832.

24 The signatures were copied in the version featured here and reproduced in the Missouri legislature’s 1841 publication of the letter. Although the lists present the names in different orders, the copyist for the featured version evidently copied the first column and then the second column of the first page, followed by the first and the second columns of the second page. Rather than following the order of names in the columns, the typesetter for the legislature’s 1841 printed version apparently reproduced the order of the rows on each page. (Document Containing the Correspondence, 106.)

25 John Smith, Journal, 16 June 1838.


Smith, John (1781-1854). Journal, 1833–1841. John Smith, Papers, 1833-1854. CHL. MS 1326, box 1, fd. 1.

26 Minutes, 17 Sept. 1837–A; Minutes, 6 Apr. 1838.

27 Ebenezer Robinson, “‘Saints’ Herald,’ Again,” Return (Davis City, IA), Feb. 1890, 219.



28 Milo Andrus and Ralph Cox may have been interested individuals who were present with others of the early signers during or shortly after the body of the original document was written.

29 R. Peck to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839, pp. 50–51.



30 Whitmer, Daybook, 19 June 1838.


Whitmer, John. Daybook, 1832–1878. CHL. MS 1159.

31 Decades later, Ebenezer Robinson recounted that the letter was circulated to Cowdery and the other former church members. In the same reminiscence, Robinson—who had served as a church printer in Kirtland and Far West—recounted printing the Independence Day oration delivered by Sidney Rigdon. In contrast, while Robinson recounted signing the warning-out letter, he made no mention of printing it. (Ebenezer Robinson, “Items of Personal History of the Editor,” Return [Davis City, IA], Oct. 1889, 147–148; Ebenezer Robinson, “‘Saints’ Herald,’ Again,” Return, Feb. 1890, 218–219.)



32 The letter was published twice in 1841, first by the Missouri legislature and then by the U.S. Senate. In December 1843, Cowdery referred to “a certain publication, appended to which are many names who are, are [or] were at the time [in 1838], members of the Church of Latter Day Saints, charging myself with being connected with out-laws. I cannot speak definitely of this instrument, as I know nothing of it except what has been related by those who say they have seen it.” (Document Containing the Correspondence, 103–106; Document Showing the Testimony, 1841, 6–9; Oliver Cowdery, Tiffin, OH, to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Nauvoo, IL, 25 Dec. 1843, Brigham Young Office Files, CHL.)


Brigham Young Office Files, 1832–1878. CHL. CR 1234 1.

33 Whitmer, History, 86–87.

34 JS, Journal, 4 July 1838.

35 In November 1838, Phelps testified that he “agreed to conform to the rules of the church in all things, knowing I had a good deal of property in the county, & if I went off I should have to leave it.” (William W. Phelps, Testimony, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, p. [87], Transcript of Proceedings, 12–29 Nov. 1838 [State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Treason and Other Crimes].)

36 See John B. Clark, Richmond, MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, 10 Nov. 1838, copy, Mormon War Papers, MSA; Sampson Avard, Testimony, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, pp. [9]–[10], Transcript of Proceedings, 12–29 Nov. 1838 [State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Treason and Other Crimes]; and R. Peck to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839, pp. 123–124.


Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.


37 In Clark’s 10 November 1838 letter to Boggs, he indicated that he was forwarding “a copy of a Constitution of one of their societies,” likely referring to the Daughter of Zion constitution. Although Clark did not explicitly refer to the June 1838 letter, a contemporary newspaper article reported that Clark had recovered a “constitution” that included signatures. The constitution was not signed, but the June 1838 letter was, suggesting that the newspaper article, and perhaps Clark, had conflated the two documents. The copies of the constitution and the June 1838 letter housed in the Missouri State Archives are in the same handwriting as other documents connected with Clark, indicating that the copyist was a member of Clark’s staff. (John B. Clark, Richmond, MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, 10 Nov. 1838, copy; John B. Clark, Jefferson City, MO, to Lilburn W. Boggs, 29 Nov. 1838, copy; Lilburn W. Boggs, Jefferson City, MO, to John B. Clark, Fayette, MO, 27 Oct. 1838, copy, Mormon War Papers, MSA; Letter to the Editor, Missouri Republican [St. Louis], 20 Nov. 1838, [2].)


Mormon War Papers, 1838–1841. MSA.

Missouri Republican. St. Louis. 1822–1919.

38 The copy is interspersed with the copy of Avard’s testimony contained in “Copies of Part of the Evidence Taken in the Examination of the Mormon Prisoners before Judge King,” in the Mormon War Papers.

39 Sampson Avard, Testimony, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, p. [20], Transcript of Proceedings, 12–29 Nov. 1838 [State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Treason and Other Crimes]; Phelps, Reminiscences, 19. The reference to “some eighty four Mormons” was apparently a miscount, as only eighty-three signatures appear on the copy at the Missouri State Archives.


Phelps, Morris. Reminiscences, no date. CHL. MS 271.

40 The copy in Avard’s testimony occasionally varies in diction and syntax from the copy in the Missouri State Archives, differences that seem to go beyond copying errors. This suggests one of the copyists took a liberal approach, occasionally revising the text, or that Avard may have had two versions of the letter in his possession when he was arrested in early November 1838.

Document Transcript

Far west June [blank] 1838

To Oliver Cowd[e]ry David Whitmer John Whitmier [Whitmer] William W Phelps and Lyman E. Johnson Greeting Whereas the Citizens of Caldwell County have borne with the abuses received from you at different times and on different occasions until it is no longer to be endured, neither will they endure it any longer, having exhausted all the patience they have.1 We have borne long and suffered incredibly, but we will bear nor suffer any longer and the decree has gone forth from our hearts and shall not return unto us void. Neither think gentlemen in so doing2 we are trifling with either you or ourselves for we are not. There are no threats from you, no fear of lossing our lives by you or any thing you can say or do will restrain us for out of the County you shall go and no power shall save you, and you shall have three days after you receive this our communication to you including twenty-four hours in each day for you to depart with your families peaceably which you may do undisturbed by any person But in that time if you do not depart we will use the means in our power to cause you to depart for go you shall . We will have no more promises to reform as you have already made3 and in every instance violated your promise and regarded not the Covenant which you had made; but put both it and us at defiance We have solmnly warned you and that in the most determined manner, that if you did not cease that course of wanton abuse of the Citizens of this County that vengence would overtake you sooner or later, and that when it did [p. 1] come it would be as furious as the Mountains torrent and as terible as the beating tempest But you have affected to despise our warnings and pass them off with a sneer or a grin or a threat and still persued your former course. Vengince sleeps not neither does it slumber; and unless you heed us this time, and attend to our request, it will overtake you at an hour where you do not expect it and at a day when you do not look for it. and for you there shall be no escape; for there is but one decree for you which is depart depart or else a more fatal calamity shall befall you After Oliver Cowdrey

had been taken by a States warrent for stealing and the stolen property found concealed in the house of William W Phelps; in which nefarious transaction John Whitmier had also participated. Oliver Cowdry stole the property Conveyed it to John Whitmier and John Whitmore to William W Phelps and there the officers of the law found it.4 While in the hands of the officers and under an arrest for this vile transaction and if possible to hide your shame from the world like criminals which in deed you were, you appealed to our beloved breathren President Rigdon Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigden [Rigdon] Men whose characters you had endeavoured to destroy, by every artifice you could invent not even the basest lying excepted5 notwithstanding all your scandolous attacks, still such was the nobleness of their characters that even vile enemies could not appeal to them in vain They enlisted as you well know other influance to save you from your just fate and they by their influance delivered you out of the hands of the officer While you were pleading [p. [2]] with them you promised reformation you bound yourselves by the most solemn promises that you would never be employed again in abusing any of the citizens of Caldwell and by such by condescentions did you attempt to escape the workhouse. But now for the sequel did you practice the promised reformation—you know that you did not but by secret efforts continued to practice your inequity and clandestinely6 to injure their character notwithstanding their kindness to you. Are such things to be borne? You yourselves would answer that they are unsufferable if you were to answer according to the feelings of your own hearts. As we design this paper to be published to the world we will give an epitome of your scandalous conduct and treachery for the last two years. We wish to remind you that Oliver Cowdry and David Whitmier [Whitmer] were among the principal of those who were the means of geathering us to this place by their testimony which they gave concerning the plates of the book of Mormon, that they were shown to them by an Angel7 which testimony we believe now as much as before you so scandalously disgraced it. You commenced your wikedness by heading a party to disturb the worship of the Saints of the first day of the week, and made the house of the Lord in Kirtland to be a scene of abuse and slander to destroy the reputation of those whom the Church had appointed to be their teachers and for no other cause only that you were not the persons. The Saints in Kirtland having elected Oliver Cowdry to be a justice of the peace,8 he used the power of that office, to take their most sacred rights from them, and that [p. [3]] contrary to law. He supported a parcel of Blacklegs in disturbing the worship of the Saints—and when the men whom the Church had chosen to preside over their meetings endeavored to put the house to order— Oliver Cowdry by the authority of his office assisted those wretches9 in continuing their confusion and threatened the Church with a prosecution for trying to put them out of the house And issued writs against the Saints for endeavouring to sustain rights and bound them under heavy bonds to appear before his honour— and required bonds which were both inhuman and unlawful10 One of those injured men was a man upwards of seventy years of age the venerable Father [Joseph Smith Sr.] who had been appointed by the Church to preside11—a man notorious for his peaceable habits12

Oliver Cowdry David Whitmier and Lyman E Johnson united with a gang of counterfiters thieves, liars, and Blacklegs of the deepest die to deceive, cheat and defraud the Saints out of their property by every act and stratagem which wckness [wickedness] could invent using the influance of the vilust persecutors to bring vexatious lawsuits upon vilanous persecutions and even steeling not excepted13 In the midst of this career for fear the Saints would seek redress at their hands they breathed out threatnings of mobs and actually made attempts with their gang to bring mobs upon them. Oliver Cowdry and his gang such of them as belonged to the Church were called to an account by the Church for their iniquity— they confessed repentance and were again restored to the Church.

But the very first opportunity they were [p. [4]] again practicing their former course. While this wikedness was going on in Kirtland Oliver Cowdry and his gang14 were writing letters to Far West in order to distroy the character of every person they thought were standing in their way15 And John Whitmier and William W. Phelps were assisting to prepare the way to throw confusion among the Saints of Far West.16 During the full career of Oliver Cowdry and David Whitmiers Bogus money business it got abroad into the wold that they were engaged in it, and several gentlemen were preparing to commence a prosecution against Cowdry. He finding it out took with him Lyman E Johnson and fled to Far West with their familys: Cowdry stealing a property and bringing it with him; which has within a few weeks past been obtained by the owners by means of a search warrent and he was saved from the Penitentiary by the influance of two influntial men of this place. He also brought notes with him upon which he had received pay and had promised to destroy them since here he17 made an attempt to sell them to Mr [Michael] Arthur of Clay County.18 And Lyman E. Johnson on his arrival reported that he had a note of One thousand dollars against a principal man in this Church when it is a fact that it was a palpable falsehood and had no such thing and he did it for the purpose of injureing his character.19 Shortly after Cowdry and Johnson left Kirtland for Far West they were followed by David Whitmer, on whose arrival a general system of slander and abuse was commenced by you all for the purpose of distroying the character of certain individuals whose influance and strict [p. [5]] regard for righteousness you dreded. and not only you but your wives and children led by yourselves were busily engaged in it. Neither were you contented with slandering and vilifying here: but you kept up continual correspondance with your gang of Marauders in Kirtland20 incourageing them to go on with their inequity which they did to perfection by smearing falsely to injure the character and property of innocent men—cheating stealing, lying, and instituting vexatious Law Suits,21 selling bogus money, and also stones and sand for bogus money,22 in which nefarious business you Oliver Cowdry David Whitmer and Lyman E Johnson23 were engaged while at Kirtland.24 Since your arrival here you have commenced a general system of the same kind of conduct in this place you got up a nasty dirty pettifoggers office pretending to be judges of the law when it is a notorious fact that you are profoundly ignorant of it,25 and of every other thing calculated to do mankind good or if you know it you take good care never to practice it. And in order to bring yourselves into notice you began to interfere with all the business of the place trying to distroy the character of our merchants and bring their creditors upon them and break them up. In addition to this you steared up men of weak minds to prosecute one another, for the vile purpose of geting a fee for a pettifogger from them. You have been also been threatening continually to enter into a general system of prosecuting—determined as you said to peck a flaw in the titles of those who have purchased26 city lots and built upon them not that you can do any thing but cause vexatious [p. [6]] lawsuits.27 And among the most monstrous of all your abominations we have evidence which when Called upon we can produce; that letters sent to the Post Office in this place have been opened and read and distroyed, and the persons to whom they were sent never obtained them—thus ruining the business of the place.28 We have evidence of a very strong character that you are this very time engaged with a gang of counterfeiters and coiners and blacklegs as some of those characters have lately visited our city from Kirtland and told what they had come for, and we know assuredly that if we suffer you to continue we may expect and that speedily to find a general system of stealing, cheating, counterfeiting, and burning property as in Kirtland29 for so are your associates carrying on there at this time and that encouraged by you by means of letters you send continually to them.

And to crown to whole you have had the audacity to threaten us that if we offered to disturb you—you would get up a mob from Clay and Ray Counties—for this insult if nothing else and your threatenings to shoot us if we offered to molest you We will put you from the County of Caldwell So help us God

Sampson Avard 30 Geo W. Pitkin31 Mile Andrews [Milo Andrus] Ralph Cox Philo Dibble32 D[imick] B Huntington33 Geo W Robinson34 Daniel Carn Ebenezer Robinson Tru[e]man Brace Amasa Lyman Dani[e]l Carter S D Hunter Erastus Bingham Alexander McRea [McRae] Samuel Bent Israel Barlow Elisha Averett Silas Maynard [p. [7]] Orrin [Porter] Rockwell Elijah Averett Joseph Clark Jr Lorenzo Barnes Joseph Corlay Levi W Hancock Stephen Winchester John S Higbee Isaac Higbee Chandler Holbrook Gad Yale Huntington Johnson John Lomy George P Dykes William C Gallaher Anthony Head Richard Howard35 George Washington Vorheese John W Clunk Harrison H Hills Cyrus Daniels Jotham Maynard Benjamin Benson Squire Bozarth Timothy B Font Daniel Shearer Sylvester Hulet Solomon Daniels William Stringham Andrew Moore Newell [Newel] Knight James B Prie Dwight Hadding Ezekial Billington John Fawsett John Crush Rufus Allen Norvil M Head Alfred Head Lee Joseph Rose William Hewett Lewis Allen Hiram Clark Jared Carter36 Harvey Greene [Green] Seymour Brunson James Hendrix [Hendricks] James S Allen Ethan Barrows [Barrow] Charles C Rich John Smith Harloe [Harlow] Redfield Joseph Cooledge [Joseph W. Coolidge]37 Edward Leaky Jackson Smith Jacob Gates Sydney Tanner James Brashear38 Joseph Holbrook Nathan Tanner Wernier Carter Hiram [Hyrum] Smith Nelson Maynard Philo Allen39 [p. [8]]

Footnotes

1 The version in Avard’s testimony adds “and conceive that to bear any longer is a vice instead of a virtue.”

2 Instead of “doing,” the version in Avard’s testimony has “saying.”

3 Instead of “made,” the version in Avard’s testimony has “done.”

4 This charge may have been connected to the printing press or other printing materials that Cowdery brought to Far West in 1837. Cowdery apparently conveyed the press and its accoutrements to John Whitmer and William W. Phelps in exchange for “timbered lands,” and Phelps seems to have taken a prominent role in preparing the press for operation in 1838. In April, shortly after the excommunication of Cowdery, the three men sold the press back to the church. (John Whitmer, Far West, MO, to Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, Kirtland Mills, OH, 29 Aug. 1837, Western Americana Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT; Whitmer, Daybook, 18 Sept. 1837; 15 Dec. [1837 or 1838]; 17 Apr. 1838; Oliver Cowdery, Far West, MO, to Warren Cowdery and Lyman Cowdery [Kirtland, OH], 4 Feb. 1838, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 86; Minutes, 12 Apr. 1838, in JSP, D6:91–92.)


Western Americana Collection. Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT.

Whitmer, John. Daybook, 1832–1878. CHL. MS 1159.

Mike Day, 07/18/18,

Here are the signatures. Some notable members:Hyrum Smith (1st Presidency), Orrin Porter Rockwell, Amasa Lyman, Charles C. Rich, George Robinson (1st Presidency scribe), John Smith, Levi Hancock, Newel Knight, Sampson Avard.

Mike Day, 07/18/18,



5 The version in Avard’s testimony adds “and did you find them revengeful? no, but.”

6 Instead of “clandestinely,” the version in Avard’s testimony has “secretly.”

7 See Testimony of Three Witnesses, Late June 1829.

8 Cowdery was elected as one of the county’s justices of the peace on 29 Apr. 1837. (Kirtland Township Trustees’ Minutes and Poll Book, 153–154.)


Kirtland Township Trustees’ Minutes and Poll Book, 1817–1838. Lake County Historical Society, Painesville, OH.

9 Instead of “Oliver Cowdry by the authority of his office assisted those wretches,” the version in Avard’s testimony has “he helped and by the authority of his justices office too, these wretches.”

10 During a meeting in the Kirtland House of the Lord on 13 August 1837, Warren Parrish attempted to remove Joseph Smith Sr. from the pulpit for criticizing dissenters. A fight ensued between the dissenters and Smith family members as well as others loyal to JS. According to Lucy Mack Smith, Joseph Smith Sr. called upon Cowdery in his position as justice of the peace to stop the dissenters, “but Oliver paid no attention.” The next day, Parrish prepared an affidavit before Cowdery, accusing Joseph Smith Sr. and eighteen others of assault. On 15 August, most of the accused men were arrested and pleaded not guilty. A trial was held on 25–26 August 1837, wherein Cowdery found that “the charge against them was not sustained, and they were therefore discharged.” (Lucy Mack Smith, History, 1844–1845, bk. 14, [8]; Transcript of Proceedings, 14 and 25–26 Aug. 1837, State of Ohio v. Joseph Smith Sr. et al [J.P. Ct. 1837], in Cowdery, Docket Book, 225–226.)


Cowdery, Oliver. Docket Book, June–Sept. 1837. Henry E. Huntington Library, San Marino, CA.

11 Joseph Smith Sr. was appointed an assistant president of the church on 6 December 1834. (Account of Meetings, Revelation, and Blessing, 5–6 Dec. 1834.)

12 Instead of “one of those injured men was a man upwards of seventy years of age the venerable Father who had been appointed by the Church to preside,” the version in Avard’s testimony has “and one of these was the venerable father, who had been appointed by the church to preside, a man of upwards seventy years of age.”

13 In mid-April 1838, one of the charges brought against Oliver Cowdery in his church trial was “disgracing the Church by being connected in the ‘Bogus’ buisness as common report says.” This charge “was sustained satisfactoryly” by unreported “circumstantial evidence.” Aside from the minutes of Cowdery’s trial, few extant documents mention the allegations regarding counterfeiting. In 1839 Reed

Peck, who had left the church and had not personally witnessed events in Kirtland, claimed that “very many credible persons in the [Kirtland Safety] Society have asserted that while the mony fever raged in Kirtland the leaders of the church and others were, more or less, engaged in purchasing and circulating Bogus money or counterfeit coin.” Peck stated that JS and his followers traded accusations with Cowdery and other dissenters over who was responsible for the counterfeiting. (Minutes, 12 Apr. 1838, in JSP, D6:87, 93; R. Peck to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839, pp. 17–18.)




14 Instead of “gang,” the version in Avard’s testimony has “company.”

15 See, for example, Oliver Cowdery, Far West, MO, to Warren Cowdery, 21 Jan. 1838, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 80–83. A similar charge was made against David Whitmer during his April 1838 excommunication hearing before the Zion high council in Far West. (See Minutes, 13 Apr. 1838, in JSP, D6:102.)




16 An August 1837 letter from John Whitmer in Missouri to David Whitmer and Cowdery in Kirtland implied that correspondence between Kirtland dissenters and the Missouri Saints was encouraged, if not already occurring. For example, John Whitmer, who was in Far West, wrote to his brother David Whitmer and to Oliver Cowdery, who were still in Kirtland at the time, that they could “Communicate to us any thing that you in your wisdom may think expedient.” Whitmer assured them that because Phelps was the postmaster of Far West, a letter could “be addressed to him on any subject and no one know it.” (John Whitmer, Far West, MO, to Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, Kirtland Mills, OH, 29 Aug. 1837, Western Americana Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT.)



17 Instead of “since here he,” the version in Avard’s testimony has “and.”

18 According to Sidney Rigdon, in January 1837 Cowdery sold his share in the Kirtland printing office in exchange for notes from JS and Rigdon. Later that year, Rigdon and JS agreed to allow Cowdery to have one of the two presses in the office if Cowdery would surrender the earlier notes. Rigdon also testified in April 1838 that Cowdery had promised to surrender the notes, but he had not yet done so. (Minutes, 12 Apr. 1838, in JSP, D6:92–93.)



19 This charge against Johnson was presented during his trial held by the Zion high council in April 1838. According to JS, the note was actually the record of a loan that someone—presumably Johnson—had received from the Kirtland Safety Society, with JS acting as cashier. (See Minutes, 13 Apr. 1838, in JSP, D6:99.)



20 Although little of the correspondence survives, at least Cowdery and Johnson appear to have been regularly corresponding with Warren Parrish and other dissenters in the Kirtland area. (See Oliver Cowdery, Far West, MO, to Warren Cowdery and Lyman Cowdery, [Kirtland, OH], 4 Feb. 1838, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 87; Oliver Cowdery to Warren Cowdery and Lyman Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, 24 Feb. 1838, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 87; Stephen Burnett, Orange Township, OH, to Lyman Johnson, 15 Apr. 1838, in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 64–66; and Oliver Cowdery, Far West, MO, to Warren Cowdery and Lyman Cowdery, Kirtland Mills, OH, 2 June 1838, Lyman Cowdery, Papers, CHL.)




21 Soon after JS arrived in Far West earlier that year, he composed a church motto that condemned, among other things, “vexatious lawsuits.” (See Motto, ca. 16 or 17 Mar. 1838.)

22 An August 1838 editorial in the Elders’ Journal alleged that Warren Parrish, a dissenter in Kirtland, traveled to Tinker’s Creek, Ohio, to buy a box of counterfeit coin but upon his return discovered that the box contained only sand and stones. The editorial claimed that “Parrish stole the paper out of the institution, and went to buying bogus or counterfeit coin with it” and that he “was aided by his former associates to take his paper, and go and buy bogus with it.” (Editorial, Elders’ Journal, Aug. 1838, 58; see also Letter from Heber C. Kimball and Orson Hyde, between 22 and 28 May 1838.)

23 Although all three men were named in this letter, during their excommunication hearings before the Zion high council only Cowdery was accused of being connected with counterfeiters in the Kirtland area. (See Minutes, 12 Apr. 1838, in JSP, D6:87, 92–93.)



24 Instead of “you Oliver Cowdry David Whitmer and Lyman E Johnson were engaged while at Kirtland,” the version in Avard’s testimony has “Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer and Lyman E Johnson were engaged while you were there.”

25 Cowdery and Johnson both began to study law while in Far West and apparently attempted to offer legal counsel, especially to redeem promissory notes, although apparently neither man had been licensed by the state of Missouri to practice law. (Oliver Cowdery, Far West, MO, to Warren Cowdery and Lyman Cowdery, Kirtland, OH, [10] Mar. 1838, in Cowdery, Letterbook, 92; David Frampton, Justice of the Peace Docket Entry, CHL; Attornies at Law [18 Feb. 1835], Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri [1835], p. 90, secs. 1–5.)



The Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri, Revised and Digested by the Eighth General Assembly, During the Years One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Four, and One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Five. Together with the Constitutions of Missouri and of the United States. 3rd ed. St. Louis: Chambers and Knapp, 1841.

26 Instead of “purchased,” the version in Avard’s testimony has “bought.”

27 Both men were charged by the Zion high council with bringing “vexatious lawsuits” against members of the church in April 1838. (Minutes, 12 Apr. 1838, in JSP, D6:85; Minutes, 13 Apr. 1838, in JSP, D6:96.)



28 William W. Phelps was the postmaster in Far West. In 1837, John Whitmer wrote to Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, explaining that Phelps’s position meant they could confidentially send letters that were critical of JS to Far West. Phelps later recalled that the post office was a major point of contention between himself and church leaders in June 1838 and that there was a failed attempt to remove him as

postmaster prior to his reconciliation. (John Whitmer, Far West, MO, to Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, Kirtland Mills, OH, 29 Aug. 1837, Western Americana Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University, New Haven, CT; William W. Phelps, Testimony, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, pp. [85]–[86], Transcript of Proceedings, 12–29 Nov. 1838 [State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Treason and Other Crimes].)



29 The printing office in Kirtland had been destroyed by fire. (Historical Introduction to Prospectus for Elders’ Journal, 30 Apr. 1838, in JSP, D6:130.)



30 Avard and Cowdery had apparently had some negative interactions prior to 1838, as indicated by a comment by Cowdery in early June 1838: “Avard arrived some time since. He appears very friendly, but I look upon [him] with so much contempt, that he will probably get but little from me.” The tension between Avard and Cowdery may partly explain why Avard signed his name first. Soon after the letter to the dissenters was composed, Avard was selected as a general in the Daughter of Zion society. (Oliver Cowdery, Far West, MO, to Warren Cowdery and Lyman Cowdery, Kirtland Mills, OH, 2 June 1838, Lyman Cowdery, Papers, CHL; R. Peck to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839, p. 45; see also Historical Introduction to Constitution of the Society of the Daughter of Zion, ca. Late June 1838.)




31 George Pitkin was the sheriff of Caldwell County. (George Pitkin, Testimony, Nauvoo, IL, 1 July 1843, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)


Nauvoo, IL. Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.

32 Philo Dibble was lieutenant colonel of the Caldwell County regiment of the Missouri state militia. (Dibble, “Philo Dibble’s Narrative,” 88.)


Dibble, Philo. “Philo Dibble’s Narrative.” In Early Scenes in Church History, Faith-Promoting Series 8, pp. 74–96. Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1882.

33 Dimick B. Huntington was “city constable & collector” of Far West in 1838. Soon after the letter to the dissenters was composed, Huntington was selected as captain of the guard in the Daughter of Zion society. (Dimick Huntington, Reminiscences and Journal, [14]–[15].)


Huntington, Dimick B. Reminiscences and Journal, 1845–1847. Dimick B. Huntington, Journal, 1845–1859. CHL. MS 1419, fd. 1.

34 George W. Robinson was colonel of the Caldwell County regiment of the Missouri state militia. Soon after the letter to the dissenters was composed, Robinson was selected as a colonel in the Daughter of Zion society. (Dibble, “Philo Dibble’s Narrative,” 88; R. Peck to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839, p. 45.)


Dibble, Philo. “Philo Dibble’s Narrative.” In Early Scenes in Church History, Faith-Promoting Series 8, pp. 74–96. Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1882.


35 A comparison of the two extant copies of the letter indicate that in the original, Richard Howard was the thirty-sixth and final man to sign in the first column of the first page.

36 Soon after the letter to the dissenters was composed, Carter was selected as captain general—the ranking officer subject only to the First Presidency—in the Daughter of Zion society. (R. Peck to “Dear Friends,” 18 Sept. 1839, p. 45; Constitution of the Society of the Daughter of Zion, ca. Late June 1838.)



37 A comparison of the two extant copies of the letter indicate that in the original, Joseph W. Coolidge was the thirty-sixth and final man to sign in the second column of the first page.

38 A comparison of the two extant copies of the letter indicate that in the original, James Brashear was the fifth and final man to sign in the first column of the second page.

39 A comparison of the two extant copies of the letter indicate that in the original, Philo Allen was the sixth and final man to sign in the second column of the second page.