Through the gathering of converts from Great Britain as well as from various parts of the United States, Nauvoo had become the foremost city of Illinois. It had risen from a swamp and wilderness in 1839, to a commonwealth of some twenty thousand souls. The people were frugal, industrious and law-abiding. Many factories had been established, and measures were on foot, at the suggestion of President Smith, to dam the Mississippi for water power purposes. He also suggested that Congress be petitioned to build a canal around the Des Moines rapids to admit of the passage of boats for commercial purposes.[1] He instructed the Saints to be producers and to manufacture from the raw materials, rather than to be consumers only, and under his direction and inspiration the city prospered.
Jealousy of Other Towns
All this augmented the jealousy and hatred of the neighboring towns, where thrift and unity were lacking. Another thing that increased the opposition, especially of the politicians, was the fact that the Saints usually voted as a unit. It was this tendency which caused Cyrus Walker to seek the favor of Joseph Smith in the summer of 1843. However, the voting of the “Mormons” in this manner was not due to instruction from the leading councils of the Church, but from necessity and for self-preservation. Both the Whig and the Democratic office-seekers sought the support of the Saints, and when it was not forthcoming, hatred filled their breasts, and vengeance was threatened. The constant arrival of immigrants, who were instructed to gather at Nauvoo, was also looked upon as an attempt to lay plans to control the state. So strong were the Latter-day Saints that they held the balance of power in the elections and naturally threw their support to those most friendly to them, which aroused the animosities of their opponents to a murderous degree.
In the August (1843) election Robert D. Foster and George W. Thatcher were elected to county offices. They went to Carthage to give bonds and take their oaths and were threatened by Harmon T. Wilson and some fifteen or twenty others, who were armed with knives and pistols. The bonds, however, were accepted, and the mob gave notice of a meeting of anti-“Mormons” to consider the question of the “Mormons” holding office. At their meeting they made all manner of accusations and threats, stating that they “pledge themselves in the most determined manner” to aid Missouri should another demand be made for Joseph Smith, which gave encouragement to the enemies of the Saints within that state.
Near the close of the year 1843, they openly resorted to mob violence. Daniel Avery and his son Philander, were kidnapped and delivered to the Missourians. On false accusations they were imprisoned and brutally treated for some time. The son finally made his escape and the father was later released on habeas corpus proceedings.
Joseph Smith and the Presidency of the United States
From the time of the organization of the Church the Saints had suffered most cruelly at the hands of enemies. Governors and lesser state dignitaries, had aided in the persecutions. No redress, even from the government of the United States, could be obtained. Mobs still menaced them, and their chances for protection by lawful means were not the best, for the governor of Illinois was intimidated by mob threats. It was agreed, therefore, to inquire of the various candidates for the presidency of the United States what their feelings would be, if elected, towards the Latter-day Saints, and their course of action in relation to the cruel oppression the Saints had suffered. Accordingly letters were sent to the leading candidates. Only two, Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun, deigned to make reply. Their answers were so unsatisfactory that the “Mormon” people decided they could vote for neither of them. Clay replied that if he ever entered that high office he must go into it free and unfettered, with no guarantees but such as were to be drawn from his whole life, character and conduct, although he had sympathized with the Saints in their sufferings under injustice. Calhoun was more frank, stating that the case of the Saints in Missouri, candor compelled him to say, “did not come within the jurisdiction of the Federal Government, which is one of limited and specific powers.”
Under these conditions the citizens of Nauvoo felt that the only consistent step they could take was to place their own candidate in the field. Consequently, at a political convention held in Nauvoo, January 29, 1844, Joseph Smith was nominated as a candidate for the presidency of the United States, and on May 17, a state convention was held in Nauvoo where his nomination was sustained. There was no thought on the part of President Joseph Smith or the Saints that he would be elected, but it gave to them an opportunity to express their feelings, and to sustain a candidate who would advocate their rights against oppression. In the Times and Seasons (Feb. 15) an editorial was published entitled: “Who Shall be our Next President?” in which the reasons for selecting their own candidate were clearly and emphatically stated by the editor (John Taylor) in behalf of the Latter-day Saints.
James Arlington Bennett, of New York, was asked to become their candidate for the vice-presidency, but as he was born in Ireland, was not eligible. Sidney Rigdon, who had moved from Nauvoo to Pittsburgh—contrary to revelation and to the feelings of the Prophet —was selected for that place.