Documents, Volume 12, Part 4 Introduction: June–July 1843
Part 4: June–July 1843
During June and July 1843,
JS continued to lead the Saints
even as he contended with an attempt by and state officials to
extradite him to stand trial in Missouri for allegedly committing
treason during the 1838 conflict between Latter-day Saints and their
opponents in that state. Documents from June and July show that JS
performed routine ecclesiastical and civil responsibilities,
delivered significant doctrinal discourses, and dictated a lengthy
revelation on eternal and plural marriage. He also
participated in multiple legal actions resulting from the
extradition attempt.
JS's civic and financial
responsibilities demanded much of his attention during these months.
As mayor of , Illinois, he
attended city council meetings and signed a city ordinance that gave him sole authorization to operate a
ferry near Nauvoo on the . Managing land
transactions in the city was a particularly pressing issue. Most
significantly, on 7 July 1843 land speculators and
renegotiated the terms of an 1839 agreement in which the purchased on credit approximately four hundred
acres of land on the peninsula, the area that became Nauvoo. The
renegotiated agreement allowed the church to retain
fifty city lots, amounting to forty-seven acres—located primarily to
the west of the church’s unfinished —while
returning the rights to the remaining property to the land
speculators.
Ecclesiastical concerns also required JS’s time. In early June, he
signed two significant authorizations. The first authorized to raise funds for a mission to
Russia, while the second permitted to
collect donations in the eastern
for the and the
. Church members such as
conveyed
donations to JS, the church’s trustee-in-trust, for the ongoing
construction of the Nauvoo temple. In
addition, JS received correspondence dealing with subjects such as
political candidates and the purported discovery of ancient metal
plates near Kinderhook, Illinois. He was also
invited to submit a short history of the church for
publication.
JS focused considerable attention
in these months on instructing the Saints. He delivered several
discourses on a variety of subjects, including the construction of
the , his
1820 vision of Deity, and the nature of
the . He also expanded the
doctrinal and textual foundations of eternal and plural marriage.
Although he had previously introduced the practice of plural
marriage to a small group of female and male confidants, a revelation he dictated on 12 July 1843 provided the most
detailed explication of the subject recorded during his
lifetime. Four days later, JS
delivered his first public discourse on the eternal nature of
marital unions sealed by priesthood authority.
During late June and early
July 1843, JS was preoccupied
with his efforts to extricate himself from the most recent
extradition attempt by officials, the third
since he relocated to four years earlier.
The first attempt occurred in 1840–1841 and was based on a treason charge
stemming from the 1838 conflict. In June 1841, JS appeared before Illinois
judge on a writ
of , a common law remedy that
allowed an authorized court to review the legality of an arrest.
Douglas discharged JS, citing a deficiency in the warrant. The second attempt was based on JS’s
alleged role in the attempted assassination of former Missouri
governor in May 1842. In January 1843, JS appeared on a writ of
habeas corpus before the
Circuit Court for the District of Illinois. Judge ruled that the
documents supporting the extradition were insufficient and
discharged JS from arrest.
Following JS’s release, former Latter-day
Saint coordinated with
his allies in to reinitiate extradition
proceedings on the treason charge.
Bennett and his collaborators arranged for a grand jury in , Missouri, to
again indict JS for treason based on the 1838 evidence, believing that with proper documentation
JS would not be able to use the writ of habeas corpus to challenge
the extradition. On 5 June 1843, the grand jury
returned the new indictment alleging that in October 1838, JS and at least five
hundred armed men had assembled in Daviess County and levied “public
war” against the state of Missouri, alluding to the definition of
treason included in the the Missouri state constitution.
Based on the indictment, governor initiated a third
extradition attempt. On 13 June 1843, he prepared a
requisition demanding that officials apprehend
JS and deliver him to Sheriff of ,
Missouri. After
receiving the requisition, Governor issued a warrant for JS’s arrest on 17 June and gave it to Constable of ,
Illinois. In mid-June, JS
and his family departed
to visit ’s sister Elizabeth
Hale Wasson in Palestine
Grove, near ,
Illinois. On 23 June 1843, Wilson and Reynolds,
who may have been apprised of the trip, approached the Wasson home
pretending to be Latter-day Saint missionaries. Wilson apprehended
JS in a rough manner and transferred custody to Reynolds. The two
lawmen then transported JS to Dixon, where they hoped to acquire
fresh horses and quickly convey JS to Missouri.
With the aid of several
residents, none of whom were members of the church, JS retained attorneys and . They were
subsequently joined by , an attorney
and congressional candidate who was campaigning in the area. JS and his
attorneys initiated several legal actions designed to hinder the
extradition. First, they obtained a writ of habeas corpus that
required to present JS before an
circuit court judge, who would review the
legality of the detention.
Next, the attorneys brought multiple charges against the lawmen
stemming from their handling of JS’s arrest. Finally, JS
and his lawyers brought a civil
suit against Reynolds and for false imprisonment
and personal injury. JS submitted to the Circuit Court an affidavit recounting his arrest, after which Lee County
sheriff James Campbell arrested Reynolds and
Wilson and held them in custody until they could secure bail.
On 24 June, JS, his attorneys, his captors,
Sheriff Campbell, and a few others
departed for Ottawa, Illinois,
where they expected to appear before Judge John
Caton. The party traveled more than thirty miles to
,
where they learned that Caton was in . On 25 June, they returned to Dixon,
arriving in the late afternoon.
They obtained another writ of habeas corpus for JS, which commanded to present JS “before the
nearest Judge or Judicial tribunal” in the fifth judicial circuit
“authorised to hear and determine upon writs of Habeas Corpus.” JS and
his attorneys reportedly decided to appear before circuit court
judge in , Illinois,
possibly because Young had previously been friendly to JS and the
church. Reynolds and , still in Sheriff
Campbell’s custody due to JS’s civil suit, also obtained a writ of
habeas corpus with the intent to appear before Young to challenge
their detention.
The traveling party departed on 26 June. Although was the stated
destination, it appears that no one in the party actually intended
to go there. and wanted the party to
head west to the , where a steamboat
was waiting for them, ostensibly to convey them more quickly to
Quincy further south on the river. JS and his associates in the party
suspected that once on the boat, Reynolds intended to force JS into
. JS and his allies instead insisted that the
group travel overland in the direction of Quincy. Reynolds later claimed
that JS and his allies insisted on the overland route because it
would bring them close to
and the city’s municipal court, where JS would seek discharge on habeas
corpus. JS’s attorney confirmed
Reynolds’s suspicion, explaining in July 1843 that prior to the group’s
departure from Dixon, “it was the determination of the whole
company”—apparently including Sheriff Campbell, who
held Reynolds and Wilson in custody—“to go to Nauvoo.” Southwick
further claimed that the stagecoach was “chartered to go to
Nauvoo.”
The municipal court’s habeas corpus powers caused
significant controversy in western during the early 1840s. Church members argued that the
charter, which was granted by the Illinois state
legislature in 1840, and various city ordinances
subsequently passed by the city council granted the court authority
to review any warrant, regardless of whether it was issued by
federal, state, or city officials. The church’s opponents countered
that the legislature had envisioned the municipal court reviewing
detentions stemming from alleged violations of city ordinances, not
state or federal laws.
JS later explained that he had
“dictated” to attorney “the laws of
Nauvoo” regarding habeas corpus and that Walker “rec[e]ived them on
my testimony.” JS claimed that he had “converted” Walker “to the
truth of Habeus Corpus.”
explained that both he and
were also convinced,
later stating that the attorneys believed the “jurisdiction of said
case was very properly entertained by said court.” Southwick further
argued that because “the language of the writ of habeas corpus”
obtained in stated that the writ
was returnable before the nearest court with habeas corpus powers
within the fifth judicial circuit, the writ gave JS “the right to go
before the municipal authority of said city.”
later stated that he “did
not intend” to allow JS to appear before the Nauvoo Municipal Court,
which in his view “had no legal power to interfere in the matter at
all.”
After the party passed through
Geneseo, Illinois, on 27 June, a small group of scouts intercepted JS’s group. The scouts were among
approximately two hundred legion soldiers who began departing on 25 June to search for JS and to
rescue him if his captors sought to convey him out of the without due process. Over the next few days, dozens
of legion troops joined the traveling party. Although armed, they evidently
kept their weapons hidden; and other
citizens who were
with the traveling party later claimed that the troops did not have
any visible weapons. JS enjoined the
troops not to harm and , while JS’s allies in
the traveling party pledged that they would not allow JS to escape
prior to his appearance before a court on habeas corpus. As the traveling
party approached , Illinois,
on 28 June, they left the main road
that would have taken them to
and instead followed the route toward Nauvoo, despite Reynolds’s
objections.
As the party approached
on 30 June, “an immenes [immense]
concourse of people” accompanied by a band met them and escorted the
company into the city. JS and hosted and at their home for the
midday meal, after which JS petitioned the Nauvoo Municipal Court
for a writ of habeas corpus, which was granted. Although Reynolds
“refused to recognise the jurisdiction of the court,” he
nevertheless wrote on the writ of habeas corpus a notation
explaining by what authority he detained JS, effectively
transferring custody of JS to the court for the hearing. In the evening, JS
addressed the Saints, recounting his arrest and the
journey to Nauvoo and defending the Nauvoo Municipal Court’s habeas
corpus powers.
On 1 July 1843, the municipal court
justices heard testimony regarding the extradition and the 1838 conflict in . The court then
discharged JS, citing deficiencies in ’s warrant and,
“upon the merits of said Case,” essentially acquitting JS from the
treason charge.
Following the 1 July 1843 discharge, Sheriff Campbell allowed and to leave and go to , Illinois,
the seat of , where they
gave bail and were discharged from his custody on the condition that
they would appear at the next session of the Circuit Court for JS’s civil suit against them. According to , while in Carthage,
the lawmen claimed that JS “had resisted the law and the Mormons had
rescued him.” Furthermore, Reynolds and Wilson “had made some
excitement & had petitioned the Gov. to send on an armed force
to take” JS. In response, church members forwarded a
petition to asking him not to take this action
and sent missionaries throughout to tell the Saints’
side of the story. JS also spoke publicly on 4 July about his arrest and the
history of the Saints’ difficulties with their antagonists in .
Seeking reliable information on the arrest and subsequent
events, sent attorney to
to investigate the claims made by and . On 7 July, JS recounted his experience in in 1838 and 1839 in an affidavit, which was sent, along with copies of the
evidence submitted to the municipal court in the habeas corpus
hearing, to Ford on 9 July.
At the end of the month, Brayman wrote to inform JS that Ford had decided not to grant
Reynolds’s request to send the state militia to arrest JS. JS’s attorney also wrote recounting his efforts to influence public opinion
via the press in response to the negative fallout from the claims
made by Reynolds and Wilson.
Twenty-five JS documents created
in June and July 1843
are reproduced in part 4, including correspondence, accounts of
discourses, legal and financial documents, a revelation, and other
miscellaneous documents.