Introduction to Part V

Introduction to Part V in Mormon Redress Petitions: Documents of the 1833–1838 Missouri Conflict, ed. Clark V. Johnson (Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1992), 617.

The petitions that constitute Part V are those which do not logically belong in earlier parts. Chapter 8 consists of sworn, legal testimony given before the Municipal Court of Nauvoo in 1843. Prominent Church leaders in an effort to protect Joseph Smith, who was then being accused of treason and threatened with extradition by Missouri officials (HC 3:403). Their testimonies tell of the harassment of Latter-day Saints by both local and state leaders in Missouri. Even though they do not specifically request redress, these documents tell the same story of abuse as many other petitions.

Also included in this part are individual petitions which were never presented to the federal government. Most of these were written in 1845, suggesting that the Saints intended to make yet another appeal. These petitions are similar to the individual petitions prepared earlier.

The last chapter of this section contains undated petitions. Many of these may have gone to Washington with one of the appeals-their content is similar to the petitions dated 1839 and 1840. However, since they are undated it seemed imprudent to designate them as a formal part of any appeal.