“From this time until the 8th. or 10th. of January 1832 myself and Elder Sidney Rigdon continued to preach in Shalersville, Ravenna, and other places, setting forth the truth; vindicating the cause of our Redeemer; shewing that the day of vengeance was coming upon this generation like a theif in the night: that prejudice, blindness, and darkness, filled the minds of many, and caused them to persecute the true church, and reject the true light: by which means we did much towards allaying the excited feelings which were growing out of the scandalous letters then being published in the “Ohio Star,” at Ravenna, by the before mentioned apostate Ezra Booth.” — Joseph Smith1
The Ohio Star, established on January 6, 1830, by Lewis L. Rice, Jonathan Sloane, and Cyrus Prentiss, was known for its anti-Masonic and anti-Catholic stance. Its motto was “Be Just and Fear Not.”2 In the early 1830s, the Ohio Star became a platform for anti-Mormon sentiment, particularly through the letters of Ezra Booth. Booth, a former Latter-day Saint, used the newspaper to publish a series of letters that criticized Joseph Smith and the Church. These letters accused Joseph Smith of making false prophecies and hiding revelations from the public, and they were widely read in the local community.3,4
The publication of Booth’s letters in the Ohio Star contributed to growing wariness and suspicion among the Saints’ neighbors and the general public. This negative publicity compounded existing tensions and raised questions in the minds of people whose family and friends worshipped with the Saints, further straining the relationship between the Latter-day Saint community and the broader Ohio population.4
