The Mormon War in 1838...
Item # 708086
November 17, 1838
NILES' NATIONAL REGISTER, Washington City, Nov. 17, 1838
* The Mormon War
* Northwestern Missouri
The front page has a very nice item headed: "The Mormon War" portions of which include: "...from the scene of the Mormon difficulties. A meeting of the citizens of Fayette was called...to hear the accounts just brought of 'the most barbarous atrocities'. ..a letter was read from Major Woodward...Oct.25 which stated the arrival of information at the post that the Mormons had attacked and cut to pieces captain Bogart's company of 50 men but three or four escaped! The Mormon force was estimated at 300 to 400. The town of Richmond was threatened...reports of cannon had just been heard in the direction of Richmond. Firing had indeed been heard in various directions....Davis county is said to be a scene of desolation & Ray county we believe to be already in a like condition. Carrollton was expected to be their next object...terms of the letter show the writer's sense of the power & purpose of the Mormons and the magnitude of the evil pending over that quarter of Missouri." and much more.
Sixteen pages, 9 by 12 inches, various foxing, good condition.
background: The primary significance of this report lies in its role as a catalyst for state-sponsored violence; by publishing unverified and inflammatory claims that Captain Bogart’s company had been "cut to pieces," it fueled the mass hysteria that led Governor Lilburn Boggs to issue the "Extermination Order." The text illustrates how frontier misinformation transformed a localized land and religious dispute into a perceived armed rebellion, providing the Missouri militia with the moral and political justification to forcibly expel nearly 10,000 Latter-day Saints from the state. Ultimately, this passage captures the exact moment when rumor superseded diplomacy, resulting in one of the most significant instances of state-sanctioned religious persecution in American history.
As noted in Wikipedia, this title: "...(was) one of the most widely-circulated magazines in the United States...Devoted primarily to politics...considered an important source for the history of the period."
* The Mormon War
* Northwestern Missouri
The front page has a very nice item headed: "The Mormon War" portions of which include: "...from the scene of the Mormon difficulties. A meeting of the citizens of Fayette was called...to hear the accounts just brought of 'the most barbarous atrocities'. ..a letter was read from Major Woodward...Oct.25 which stated the arrival of information at the post that the Mormons had attacked and cut to pieces captain Bogart's company of 50 men but three or four escaped! The Mormon force was estimated at 300 to 400. The town of Richmond was threatened...reports of cannon had just been heard in the direction of Richmond. Firing had indeed been heard in various directions....Davis county is said to be a scene of desolation & Ray county we believe to be already in a like condition. Carrollton was expected to be their next object...terms of the letter show the writer's sense of the power & purpose of the Mormons and the magnitude of the evil pending over that quarter of Missouri." and much more.
Sixteen pages, 9 by 12 inches, various foxing, good condition.
background: The primary significance of this report lies in its role as a catalyst for state-sponsored violence; by publishing unverified and inflammatory claims that Captain Bogart’s company had been "cut to pieces," it fueled the mass hysteria that led Governor Lilburn Boggs to issue the "Extermination Order." The text illustrates how frontier misinformation transformed a localized land and religious dispute into a perceived armed rebellion, providing the Missouri militia with the moral and political justification to forcibly expel nearly 10,000 Latter-day Saints from the state. Ultimately, this passage captures the exact moment when rumor superseded diplomacy, resulting in one of the most significant instances of state-sanctioned religious persecution in American history.
As noted in Wikipedia, this title: "...(was) one of the most widely-circulated magazines in the United States...Devoted primarily to politics...considered an important source for the history of the period."
Item from last month's catalog - #364 - released for March, 2026.
Category: Pre-Civil War
