Source Note
David W. Kilbourne, Letter, Montrose, Lee Co., Iowa Territory, to Thomas Reynolds, May 14, 1842. Published in Warren A. Jennings, “Two Iowa Postmasters View Nauvoo: Anti-Mormon Letters to the Governor of Missouri,” BYU Studies 11, no. 3 (1971): 276–77.
Historical Introduction
Lilburn Boggs was the governor of Missouri from 1836 to 1840 and was generally hated by the Latter-day Saints for his infamous extermination order issued in 1838.1 On the evening of May 6, 1842, Boggs was at his home in Independence, Missouri, relaxing with his family when shots from a pistol broke through the window and hit Boggs in his head and neck. Boggs was not expected to survive. When the Saints heard (incorrectly) that Boggs had passed away, they saw it as evidence of “the vengeance of God” and called the act a “Noble Deed.”2 Boggs survived the incident, although he remained in critical condition for two weeks.
The Latter-day Saints were not initially suspected to be responsible, but many soon began speculating of their involvement.3 Orrin Porter Rockwell quickly became a suspect in the eyes of the Boggs family and others because he had been living in Independence, Missouri, at that time and because he was seen as a notorious figure in the Latter-day Saint community.
When David Kilbourne, who was postmaster at Montrose, received news of the attempted assassination, he wrote to the new governor of Missouri, Thomas Reynolds, to inform him of his opinion that the Latter-day Saints were involved. He was not the only one in the area to do so; Laban Fleak, of Keokuk, also wrote to Reynolds of the same opinion.4 However, he may have been the first to put this theory into writing.
Document Transcript
Montrose May 14th 1842
To His Excely
Governor Reynolds
Sir
We have just recd via St Louis information the Ex Govr Boggs of your State was murdered in his own house on the 9th [sic] last & that suspicion was [illegible] that the awful deed had been committed by a follower of the wretched imposter Joe Smith.
If it is true that Gov Boggs has been murdered & that it is not satisfactorily known who committed the murder, then I should not entertain a doubt that it was done by some of Joes minions at his instigation. He has sworn Vengence publickly against Gov Boggs ever since he settled in this neighborhood. A friend of mine was present to day when the news was made known to Joe—he exclaimed in that [sic] it was to good to be true; but he hoped to G d it was so.5
Almost every Mormon here rejoices over it & I have heard many of them say that he ought to have been killed long ago; and one leading Mormon remarked that he had no doubt but a Mormon had done it . . .
Their city Nauvoo is directly opposite this. We look upon them as a Banditti; called together by their leaders for the purpose of forming a more perfect organization, to carryout their swindling & treasonable plans.
I have heard the leaders publickly encourage their people to steal from Missourians.
D. W. Kilbourne P. M.
1. William G. Hartley, “Missouri’s 1838 Extermination Order and the Mormons’ Forced Removal to Illinois,” Mormon Historical Studies 2, no. 1 (2001): 5–27.
2. Morris A. Thurston, “The Boggs Shooting and Attempted Extradition: Joseph Smith’s Most Famous Case,” BYU Studies 48, no. 1 (2009): 7–8.
3. Thurston, “Boggs Shooting and Attempted Extradition,” 9.
4. L. B. Fleak to Gov. Reynolds, July 12, 1842, pp. 375–78 herein.
5. According to Joseph Smith’s history, he received word on May 14, 1842, that Boggs had been shot, the same day Kilbourne wrote this letter. “History, 1838–1856, Volume C-1 [2 November 1838–31 July 1842],” 1331, Joseph Smith Papers, Church Historian’s Press, accessed August 20, 2025, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-c-1-2-november-1838-31-july-1842/505.
