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| Governor Lilburn Boggs | |
|---|---|
| Name | Lilburn W. Boggs |
| Birth date | May 14, 1796 |
| Birth place | Sumner County, Tennessee |
| Death date | March 14, 1860 |
| Death place | Independence, Missouri |
| Occupation | Politician, lawyer, militia officer |
| Office | 6th Governor of Missouri |
| Term start | 1836 |
| Term end | 1840 |
| Predecessor | Daniel Dunklin |
| Successor | Thomas Reynolds |
Governor Lilburn Boggs
Lilburn W. Boggs was an American politician and militia officer who served as the sixth Governor of Missouri from 1836 to 1840. Noted for his involvement in the Missouri Mormon conflicts, his tenure intersected with major figures and events such as Joseph Smith, the Missouri Mormon War, and national debates involving the Jacksonian democracy era. His career connected to institutions like the Missouri General Assembly, the United States Army, and regional actors including William Clark and Thomas Hart Benton.
Born in Sumner County, Tennessee in 1796, Boggs moved westward amid patterns of migration tied to the Louisiana Purchase frontier and the expansion of St. Louis, Missouri. He trained in law and participated in state militia activities influenced by leaders such as Andrew Jackson and veterans of the War of 1812. Early political activity placed him in the orbit of Missouri Territory governance and actors like Alexander McNair and William Carr Lane. His legal and civic roles linked him to county courts and the Missouri Legislature where Jacksonian politics and regional controversies involving Spain-era land claims and the legacy of the Missouri Compromise shaped local debates.
Boggs rose through Jacksonian networks to win election as governor in 1836, succeeding Daniel Dunklin. His administration worked within the framework of the Missouri General Assembly and interacted with national figures such as Martin Van Buren and Henry Clay as partisan alignments shifted. As governor he confronted issues including frontier security, relations with Native American nations such as the Osage Nation and the Choctaw, infrastructure projects tied to the Mississippi River and the Santa Fe Trail, and state fiscal policy debated by legislators aligned with Thomas Hart Benton and Lewis F. Linn. Boggs also addressed legal disputes emanating from the Burned-over District migrations and settlements tied to religious movements like the Latter Day Saint movement.
In 1838 Boggs issued a controversial order during the Missouri Mormon War instructing that members of the Latter Day Saint movement be treated as enemies and expelled from the state, an action later described as the "Extermination Order". This directive intersected with violent episodes including the Battle of Crooked River and the Haun's Mill massacre, and it involved militia commanders such as Alexander Doniphan and Samuel Lucas. The order was debated in the Missouri Senate and provoked responses from national figures including John C. Calhoun and commentators in the New York Herald. The directive had implications for federal-state relations, attracting attention from the United States Congress and influencing subsequent legal claims by displaced Mormons in Illinois and Iowa.
Boggs's role in the conflicts with Latter Day Saints derived from tensions in counties like Jackson County, Missouri and Caldwell County, Missouri, and from clashes involving leaders such as Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Elder John Taylor. Militia actions under officers like David R. Atchison and orders communicated through officials such as S. D. Lucas and Clinton County, Missouri authorities tied Boggs to episodes including the forced expulsion of Mormon settlers from Independence, Missouri. The violence and property loss led to appeals to judges such as William J. Stone and to petitions presented before congressional delegations including representatives aligned with Missouri's Congressional delegation. The aftermath propelled many adherents toward Nauvoo, Illinois and influenced later federal litigation and congressional inquiries.
After leaving office in 1840, Boggs remained active in Missouri politics and law, interacting with figures such as Thomas Reynolds and Claiborne Fox Jackson. In 1842 he was shot in an assassination attempt near Independence, Missouri; accusations and suspicion involved adherents of the Latter Day Saint movement and led to interactions with authorities including Daniel Boone-era local leaders and federal marshals. The alleged assailant, Ira D. Ellsworth-type suspects and later named suspects such as John C. Bennett in contemporary discourse, became part of sensational press coverage in outlets like the St. Louis Enquirer and the New York Tribune. Boggs also faced civil suits and reputation battles involving property claims, insurance disputes, and petitions filed in Jackson County, Missouri courts and the Missouri Supreme Court. He engaged with national debates on law enforcement and religious liberty that involved legal actors like Ralph Waldo Emerson-era commentators and legislators in the United States Senate.
Historians and commentators including Jesse D. Bright-era observers, later scholars in the fields of American frontier studies and religious history—such as those publishing in journals of the Missouri Historical Society and the Journal of Mormon History—have debated Boggs's legacy. Assessments weigh his role in frontier governance, his participation in Jacksonian patronage networks tied to figures like Lewis Cass and Richard M. Johnson, and his issuance of the 1838 order that led to long-term repercussions for the Latter Day Saint movement and for state-federal relations. Commemorations and critiques have appeared in museum exhibits at Independence, Missouri institutions and in scholarship referencing the Extermination Order rescinded much later by officials in Missouri. His life is evoked in biographies alongside contemporaries such as Alexander Doniphan, Thomas Hart Benton, Daniel Boone, and Joseph Smith, reflecting contested memory in the histories of Missouri and the American West.
Category:1796 births Category:1860 deaths Category:Governors of Missouri