Scope and Contents Typewritten copy of excerpts of a book published in Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1842. Jacob writes about the nature of marriage, fornication, and divorce. He states that women are the property of men and condones polygamy. The book was denounced by the first president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Joseph Smith, as "trash." The historian Faun Brodie suggests that Joseph Smith used the work to see the possible reaction to an announcement on polygamy. The item also includes...

Scope and Contents

Photocopy of a handwritten and signed letter addressed to Martin Van Buren and dated 19 March 1840. Jacob writes to Van Buren offering to aid him in the presidential election if Van Buren would finance the printing of a manuscript to be used against Joseph Smith and the Mormons.