1838-39 NEW-YORKER MAGAZINE. Trail of Tears, Abolition & Slavery, Mormons and Latter Day Saints

Very rare entire year run of Horace Greeley's first publication, prior to his New York Tribune. A Whig, Abolitionist, Advocate Against the Death Penalty, Promoter of the Westward Expansion, Defender of Slaves, etc., via his expansive and influential publishing work, Greeley was one of the most influential men of the 19th century. 

The present large 4to volume, near folio, contains two entire 6 month runs of The New-Yorker. It contains important primary resource content related to the ongoing Boundary Battle with Canada in Maine; Indian Battles in Florida, Texas, Iowa, Missouri, etc.; Slavery and Abolition; The Trail of Tears; etc., 

The volume is very sought for its early, first-hand Mormon material. Relevant to the important Mormon content, please see LDS dealer Rick Grunder's extensive description of the importance of this issue at the bottom of the catalog entry. 

Greeley, Horace. Benjamin Park [Eds]. The New-Yorker. A Weekly Journal of Literature, Politics, Statistics, and General Intelligence; Containing Original and Selected Tales, Essays, Reviews, Poems, Anecdotes, &c. &c. With Notices of an Extracts from New Books of Interest; Full Accounts of All Elections, Foreign and Domestic News, Important Political Developments, General Editorial Comments, &c. With Twenty-Two Pieces of Music, Arranged for the Piano, Flute, &c. September to March, 1838. New York. Published Every Saturday by Horace Greeley & Co. No. 1. Ann-St. 1839. 416pp

[bound with]

Greeley, Horace. Benjamin Park [Eds]. The New-Yorker. A Weekly Journal of Literature, Politics, Statistics, and General Intelligence; Containing Original and Selected Tales, Essays, Reviews, Poems, Anecdotes, &c. &c. With Notices of an Extracts from New Books of Interest; Full Accounts of All Elections, Foreign and Domestic News, Important Political Developments, General Editorial Comments, &c. With Twenty-Two Pieces of Music, Arranged for the Piano, Flute, &c. March to September 14, 1839. New York. Published Every Saturday by Horace Greeley & Co. No. 1. Ann-St. 1839. 414pp.

VOLUME ONE.

Lynching of Two Abolitionists in St. Louis | Nights on the Hudson River | Magnetic Discoveries | The Whigs and Martin Van Buren | Indian Frontier Conflicts | Meeting of the Southern Convention [ against Northern Tyranny ] | Animal Magnetism |  Dr. Marshman of the Serampore Mission [ William Carey, etc. ] | Western Emigration | Annual Report of the New York Peace Society | Cholera in Sicily | A Chapter from the Adventures of a Lame Gentleman | The Old Soldier Visiting the Scenes of His Early Battles - A Poem by Melzar Gardner | The Punishment of Death [Capital Punishment] | Chinese English [ interesting article on Chinese accents when learning English ] | Joseph Smith and Trouble with the Mormons in Missouri | Review of Judge Harper's Memoir on Slavery published in the Southern Literary Messenger [abolitionist, etc.] | Shocking Murder of a Wife by Her Husband in Benington Vermont | Mulberry Mania | Benjamin Franklin's Advice to Young Tradesmen | The Kushow Property [humorous series by Frederick William Shelton] | A Day on Lake Erie | On Imprisonment for Debt | A Wonderful Instance of Somnambulism | A Chapter from the History of Quackery by a Regular Physician [ Homeopathy, Phrenology, Quack Medicine ] | The Morals of the Waltz | The Removal of the Cherokee [ Trail of Tears ] | Mormons Leaving Maine | Some Thoughts on the History of the American Government [Series] | Election Frauds | Mormon Difficulties | Philosophy - Letters from M. Victor Cousin to Prof. Henry of This City [Series] | A Sister Shot by Her Brother | Counsel for those Emigrating Westward | Fruits of a Drunken Frolic | Some Views of the History of the American Constitution [Series] | Excursion to Camel's Rump by William Slade | Punishment of Death in Australia [Capital Punishment] | Proclamation of President Martin Van Buren against Americans Engaged in Hostilities against Canada | Thirty-Two Mormons Butchered at Splawn's Creek | The Trial of Mr. Mahan for Abducting Slaves from Kentucky [Fugitive Slave Act | Underground Railroad etc.] | Horrid Murders in Mississippi | The Phantom Ship | Beautiful Passages from Ralph Waldo Emerson - Nature | First-hand Account of a Boy Taken by a Bear | Phrenology | Persecution of Indians in Georgia, Alabama, and Texas | An Indian's Tradition | Phantasmion | The Aurora Borealis | Indian Troubles in Texas | The Detroit Patriots Routed, etc. | The Onyx Ring by Archaeus [Series by John Stirling - First American Edition on Thomas Carlyle] | History of Quackery | The Patriots of Detroit Frozen to Death in the Woods | Murder and Piracy aboard the Eclipse | Effective Force of the Russian Army | Down-East Notions [Series - Jeremy Bentham, Aaron Burr, Matthew L. Davis, etc.] | Positive of Women [Women's Rights, Changing Women's Place in Society, etc.] etc. etc. etc. 

VOLUME TWO.

Insanity | The Jews Moving for Palestine | A Scene at the Battle of the Bad Axe | The  Border Difficulties - Kennebec Militia | The Gift of Second-Sight | Pe-Wa-Tem: Or the Last Chief Huron by L. L. Noble | Fashion in Dress | Fragments of a Journal by a Virginian Lady | Education in Tennessee | Disputed Territory in Maine | Abolition of Debtor's Prisons in Michigan | The Great Presbyterian Lawsuit between Old and New School | The Battle of the Pyramids by Alexander Dumars | The End of the War on the Northeastern Border by Winfield Scott | Affairs of the East: Declaration of the United States of Cabool, Candahar, and Herat [ Afghanistan ] | New Discovery in Fine Arts [ Fantastic Article on How Daguerre and his "Daguerreotype" would put painters and engravers out of business, p.50-51 ] | Shakspeare's Drinking-Bout. A Tale of the Toping at Bidford by J. R. Buckstone | The Trespasser in Maine; Or, the Memorable Expulsion of a Speculator from Certain Disputed Territory | [Claim] Jumping in Illinois | Wild Scenes in the West | Lectures on Phrenology and its Application by George Combe [Series] | Diamond Cut Diamond. A Pindaric. by Robert Turner | A New Discovery in the Fine Arts - The Daguerreotype | The Autocrat of the Breakfast Table by Oliver Wendell Holmes | Old Ironsides on a Lee Shore by an Eye Witness | The Panther's Leap. An Adventure in Illinois | The Crater of Kirauea, Hawaii. Sandwich Islands | A Fatal Duel in North Carolina | The Influence of Religion | Sleepy Hollow by Geoffrey Crayon | The Buffalo Baiting | A Day by the Merrimac | From the Antarctic Ocean | The Red Swan - A Tradition from the Algic Indians by Schoolcraft | The Phantom Ship | James Fenimore Cooper and His Critics | The Scandal-Mongers of Literature | Mexicans and Indians in Texas | The Connecticut Temperance Law | The Florida War not Ended | The Political Writings of Thomas Paine | Affairs in Florida [Extensive] | An Attempted Suicide |  Fairy Grove | Confessions of an English Opium-Eater [series] | Santa Anna Superseded in Mexican Presidential Chair by General Bravo | War between the Chippewa and the Sioux | An Affair between a Whaling Captain and a Military Officer [Duel] | The Horrid Massacre of 120 Indians in Iowa | The Phantom Funeral | The Western Prairies | The Punishment of Death [Capital Punishment] | The Pawnees | The Lottery Ticket - A True Narrative | The Case of Dr. Holmes - The Murderer | The Outrage on the Erie - Murder of Miss Westfalls by Captain Appleby | 

Large half leather quarto. Heavily rubbed with rear board nearly detached. As usual and expected, quite handled and rubbed. For reason, these volumes almost always seem to have textual deficits. This is textually complete as described. aside from pp.97-98 which is lacking 1/4 sheet and pp.291-296 which shows minor losses at base of sheet impacting a few lines of text. No "index" to the second volume and thus ends on 414, making it textually complete aside from the index.  

RICK GRUNDER'S LDS DESCRIPTION:

In this complete volume we are able to see even those Mormon articles which might normally elude the LDS market (in instances where a more valuable article on some other, non-Mormon subject would typically direct a given issue of this paper to a collector or institution specializing in another field). The index pages are typical of the period, and are not very helpful in locating the Mormon articles. I have therefore examined all the pages, and located eleven historically important articles on the Mormons.

For word count reference, please note that the type of this newspaper is very small, so that a column inch of text may contain from eighty to a hundred words.

Articles include:

— September 22, 1838 [VI:1], p. 12: "The Mormons." 3¾ column inches on the critical Adam Black incident. An important article; see below.

— October 6, 1838 [VI:3], p. 44: "The Mormons." 2¼ column inches announcing that "the Mormons have established a town in Missouri which they call the 'Far West,' . . . The people in the neighboring counties were very much alarmed, and are daily expecting an attack." The governor has called out 3,000 militiamen to protect the citizens of Missouri, and "the supremacy of the law will be maintained."

— October 13, 1838 [VI:4], p. 59: "The Mormons." 3½ column inches defending the Mormons. This important article presents the Saints' position, and reprints an affidavit signed in type by Joseph Smith, Jr., and Sidney Rigdon, insisting that the Mormons have not collaborated with the Indians "to commit depredations upon the people of this State," contrary to the claims of "a Mr. Nathan Marsh." "'We have never had any communication with the Indians on any subject;" certify Smith and Rigdon, quoted here, and we, and all the Mormon Church, as we believe, entertain the same feelings and fears towards the Indians that are entertained by other citizens of this State. We are friendly to the Constitution and the laws of this State and of the United States, and wish to see them enforced.

JOSEPH SMITH, Jr.
SIDNEY RIGDON."

— October 27, 1838 [VI:6], p. 91: "Mormon Difficulties." 2 column inches, taken from the St. Louis Republican. A gentleman has arrived in St. Louis "in the steamboat Kansas, on Saturday," and describes seeing "about two hundred of the Mormons armed and prepared for conflict." Some eighty wagons of new Mormons have just arrived at a village, and the anti-Mormons have ordered the Saints "to leave the country, and that if they did not go by Saturday they would be driven off." Real news, as it happened!

— November 3, 1838 [VI:7], p. 107: "Mormon Difficulties." 3¼ column inches, reprinting a letter of October 12 sent to the St. Louis Republican. The anonymous writer has "witnessed the departure of every Mormon in Carroll county for 'Far West,' in Caldwell county." It appears that the difficulties are being resolved (writes the correspondent, prematurely!), and it is a good thing: "Had the Mormons refused to sell on the day the last proposition was made to them, it would have been a serious matter to both parties, for there was but little difference in their forces, and the citizens had come to a determination to make, if possible, a successful attack on the day the compromise was effected."

— November 17, 1838 [VI:9], p. 143: "The Mormons." 2½ column inches of dramatic news of depredations committed by the Mormons themselves. The reports are copied from the St. Louis Republican of Monday, October 29, followed by an update from the St. Louis Bulletin of October 31. The Mormons have burned the Court House of Daviess County, as well as the clerk's office, the Post Office, and two stores. Partial confirmation comes by travelers arriving at St. Louis on the 31st . . .

 "By the steamer Astoria, we have a confirmation of the report of the burning of Daviess Court House, Post Office, and a store, by the Mormons.—It is stated that the Governor has ordered out 4,000 militia; and we understand that volunteer companies are rapidly being organized to march to the scene of action. The Mormons are said to receive daily accessions to their numbers, by emigrants from Canada."

This article has light staining, but is important as an essentially accurate depiction of how the Missourians viewed the Mormons at this time. The store which they burned (owned by Jacob Stollings, in Gallatin) had ironically helped the Saints by extending them credit and allowing Mormon emigrants to obtain necessities.

— November 24, 1838 [VI:10], p. 159: "The Mormon War Ended. . . . The Mormons."  5 column inches, presenting urgent and conflicting news from various Missouri papers, including the arrest of Joseph Smith, Parley P. Pratt and others; Governor Boggs' infamous Mormon extermination order; and the first intimation of the Haun's Mill Massacre. Important; see below.

— December 1, 1838 [VI:11], p. 172: "Further from the Mormons." 4 column inches. This is the report of the Haun's Mill Massacre in some detail, with an indignant editorial sympathetic to the Mormons. Very important; see below.

— December 15, 1838 [VI:13], p. 203: "The Mormon War . . ." 1¼ column inches, taken from the Poughkeepsie Telegraph. The Mormon War appears to be over. "Joe Smith and his followers have surrendered, and Joe is to be tried, but for what crime does not clearly appear." The Haun's Mill reports are confirmed to be true. "It was a bloody outrage."

— March 16, 1839 [VI:26], p. 415: "The Mormons." 1½ column inches, taken from the Jefferson Enquirer, quote "an extract from a letter dated Liberty, Feb. 9, 1839:" The report describes an apparent attempt to break Joseph Smith and his fellow prisoners out of the Liberty Jail . . .

 "There has been much excitement here within a few days past. Several young men from Far West arrived here late one night and asked permission to see the prisoners, which was granted. They seized the jailor and endeavored to let the Mormon prisoners escape; but an alarm was given and they were all taken into custody, and are to be tried tomorrow."

 The young men alluded to in the preceding extract, we presume are Mormons, as the inhabitants in and about Far West are all of that denomination, with a very few exceptions. The letter is from a source that may be relied upon.

— August 17, 1839 [VII:22], p. 350 (of Vol. VII): "Mormonism."  ¾ column inch, learning from the Trenton Gazette that the Mormon delusion has new exhibited itself in New Jersey, "in the neighborhood of New Egypt and other places in Monmouth co. A number of the disciples appeared there some six months ago, and have succeeded in making converts of several persons of some standing and influence; and, strange as the story seems, their numbers are increasing."

. . .

A note on the price of this volume:  Over the past decade or two, I have obtained a few loose examples of the same issues which are described above, and have sold them to major LDS institutions and private collectors - some for as much as $175 for a single example. Any newspaper report from the 1830s is interesting and rare, and these are particularly instructive. The combined value of the eleven Mormon articles present here (based upon my years of experience selling thousands of early Mormon-related newspapers) is easily $1,200 or more.

In the summary of articles, above, I directed your attention three times to "below." We are now below, and here are illustrations of some of the best Mormon reports which the present New-Yorker dangles before the fortunate, future owner of this old volume of 1838-9! 

THE ADAM BLACK INCIDENT:

This simple report belies the importance of an event which would escalate into the driving of the Mormons from Missouri with their prophet left languishing in the Liberty Jail. Here is high drama, as significant as the exaggerated text may suggest. In early August, 1838, Mormons in Daviess County, Missouri, had been barred from voting by a drunken mob of thugs. No one was killed, but rumors magnified the tension of the situation, and the Mormons began to take matters into their own hands.

On August 8, Joseph Smith sent several Danite leaders to visit Judge Adam Black, a reputed anti-Mormon who lived nearby. When Black refused to sign a statement that he had no connections with vigilantes, Smith showed up half an hour later with a hundred armed men. After much discussion, Black, apparently under duress, wrote out a brief certificate that he would not molest the Mormons so long as they would not molest him. Other leading non-Mormon citizens received similar treatment. It sounded even worse as reported in the Missourian newspaper of August 12, from which the present newspaper coverage is taken (New-Yorker issue for September 22, 1838)

ARREST OF JOSEPH SMITH;  BOGGS' MORMON EXTERMINATION ORDER; FIRST INTIMATION OF THE HAUN'S MILL MASSACRE:

Three crucial events come together in this dramatic article! For background and details, see Steven C. LeSueur, The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri (Columbia, Missouri: Univ. of Missouri Press, 1987), Chapter 10, "Surrender." New-Yorker issue for November 24, 1838, p. 159.

THE HAUN'S MILL MASSACRE:

Just as the Mountain Meadows Massacre in Utah is held up by critics as the nadir of Mormon historical behavior, so do Mormons point to the Haun's Mill Massacre in Missouri as the most extreme offense which the Missouri Saints endured. The slaughter took place on October 30, but preliminary reports are now confirmed in the New=Yorker issue for December 1, 18383, p. 172. The editor can scarcely credit the full implications of this event. "Two children were killed," he presumes, ". . . by accident."

The children were not killed by accident. Sardius Smith, age ten, was deliberately shot point blank - with the reflection, "Nits will make lice . . ." Old Thomas McBride was hacked to death with a scythe after being shot in the chest with his own gun. (Stephen C. LeSueur, The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri [Columbia, Mo., 1987], pp. 166-7). As the nation eventually came to accept the full horror of what had occurred, public sentiment outside of Missouri shifted to favor the Mormons.