Almost immediately after his conversion to Mormonism, George Miller was taken into Joseph Smith’s confidence and was placed in prominent leadership positions in the Church. When he found the gospel, George Miller was a fairly well-to-do farmer residing near Macomb, McDonough County, Illinois. His compassion stirred by the sight of exiled Mormons from western Missouri, he opened both his heart and home to the destitute Saints. Soon convinced of the truth of their doctrine, George Miller joined the Church in June 1839, and by January 1841 he was called as a presiding Church Bishop.
In 1842 George Miller wrote a letter regarding an order of extradition from the State of Missouri. Miller’s assignment in this matter was to inform Governor Reynolds of Joseph Smith’s innocence. Though George Miller did write to Governor Reynolds in late June 1842, and was later “delegated to go to Missouri and see governor Reynolds in person”, a second demand for the Prophet’s arrest and delivery by the State of Missouri was issued in July 1842. The letter reproduced in this article was written in September 1842 (after the second requisition had been issued).