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Appendix 3: Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844

23 June 1844 • Sunday Page 19 24 June 1844 • Monday Page 20 25 June 1844 • Tuesday Page 21 26 June 1844 • Wednesday Page 28 27 June 1844 • Thursday Page 35

Source Note

Willard Richards

24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...

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, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844; handwriting of
Willard Richards

24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...

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; nineteen pages; in Willard Richards, Journal, CHL. Portions of some entries were written in pencil before they were overwritten in ink.

Historical Introduction

JS’s journal, kept by
Willard Richards

24 June 1804–11 Mar. 1854. Teacher, lecturer, doctor, clerk, printer, editor, postmaster. Born at Hopkinton, Middlesex Co., Massachusetts. Son of Joseph Richards and Rhoda Howe. Moved to Richmond, Berkshire Co., Massachusetts, 1813; to Chatham, Columbia Co...

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, ended with the entry of 22 June 1844, just before JS left
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
, Illinois, in company with Richards,
Hyrum Smith

9 Feb. 1800–27 June 1844. Farmer, cooper. Born at Tunbridge, Orange Co., Vermont. Son of Joseph Smith Sr. and Lucy Mack. Moved to Randolph, Orange Co., 1802; back to Tunbridge, before May 1803; to Royalton, Windsor Co., Vermont, 1804; to Sharon, Windsor Co...

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, and
Orrin Porter Rockwell

June 1814–9 June 1878. Ferry operator, herdsman, farmer. Born in Belchertown, Hampshire Co., Massachusetts. Son of Orin Rockwell and Sarah Witt. Moved to Farmington (later in Manchester), Ontario Co., New York, 1817. Neighbor to JS. Baptized into Church of...

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. Richards, who remained with JS until the moment of JS’s death on 27 June, evidently left JS’s journal in Nauvoo when the four men departed for
Carthage

Located eighteen miles southeast of Nauvoo. Settled 1831. Designated Hancock Co. seat, Mar. 1833. Incorporated as town, 27 Feb. 1837. Population in 1839 about 300. Population in 1844 about 400. Site of acute opposition to Latter-day Saints, early 1840s. Site...

More Info
, Illinois. Richards, however, recorded in his own journal many of the events of the last five days of JS’s life. These events include JS’s arrival on the
Mississippi River

Principal U.S. river running southward from Itasca Lake, Minnesota, to Gulf of Mexico. Covered 3,160-mile course, 1839 (now about 2,350 miles). Drains about 1,100,000 square miles. Steamboat travel on Mississippi very important in 1830s and 1840s for shipping...

More Info
bank in
Iowa Territory

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803. First permanent white settlements established, ca. 1833. Organized as territory, 1838, containing all of present-day Iowa, much of present-day Minnesota, and parts of North and South Dakota. Population in...

More Info
on the morning of 23 June and his trip to Carthage, during which JS and Hyrum gave themselves up to authorities on the charge of treason. Richards’s journal also recounts JS’s activities in Carthage during the days preceding his and Hyrum’s deaths. The material Richards recorded in his own journal during this time is in the same format and style as the record he had been keeping for JS. Richards’s hasty, terse notations and precise attention to details—illustrated by his practice of recording the specific times events occurred—indicate that he continuously carried his journal with him and recorded many of the events as he witnessed them, possibly with the intention of using the record to fill in JS’s journal at a later date. Richards’s journal entries for 23–27 June 1844 provide a contemporaneous firsthand account of JS’s activities during the last five days of his life, and they are reproduced here in full.
1

For additional details on the events leading to the deaths of JS and Hyrum Smith, see Oaks and Hill, Carthage Conspiracy.


Comprehensive Works Cited

Oaks, Dallin H., and Marvin S. Hill. Carthage Conspiracy: The Trial of the Accused Assassins of Joseph Smith. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1975.

Richards first inscribed portions of these entries in pencil and then rewrote them in ink. In a few cases, while overwriting, he skipped or altered the original penciled text. The transcription here reproduces the final ink version and does not capture the slight variations in the penciled text.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    For additional details on the events leading to the deaths of JS and Hyrum Smith, see Oaks and Hill, Carthage Conspiracy.

    Oaks, Dallin H., and Marvin S. Hill. Carthage Conspiracy: The Trial of the Accused Assassins of Joseph Smith. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1975.

Page [30]

Gov

5 Dec. 1800–3 Nov. 1850. Schoolteacher, newspaperman, lawyer, politician, judge, author. Born in Uniontown, Fayette Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Robert Ford and Elizabeth Logue Forquer. Moved to St. Louis, 1804; to New Design (later American Bottom), Randolph...

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came here to enforce the Law on all people.—
Gov

5 Dec. 1800–3 Nov. 1850. Schoolteacher, newspaperman, lawyer, politician, judge, author. Born in Uniontown, Fayette Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Robert Ford and Elizabeth Logue Forquer. Moved to St. Louis, 1804; to New Design (later American Bottom), Randolph...

View Full Bio
expessd [expressed] his feeli[n]gs about the destuctin [destruction] of the press.—
72

Thomas Ford had told JS earlier that he felt the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor press “was a very gross outrage upon the laws and the liberties of the people” and that Nauvoo city officials had violated constitutional principles when they removed it. (Thomas Ford, Carthage, IL, to JS et al., [Nauvoo, IL], 22 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL.)


Joseph— spoke of impisonmet [imprisonment] in
Mo [Missouri]

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Latter-day Saint ...

More Info
—
73

JS had been arrested in Far West, Missouri, on 31 October 1838 and remained in custody of Missouri officials until 16 April 1839, when he was allowed to escape. According to JS’s history, JS also “spoke of . . . the shameful kidnapping of his witnesses” in Missouri “and their being thrust into prison to prevent them from giving their testimony in his favor”—a reference to events that transpired during the court of inquiry held 12–29 November 1838 before Judge Austin A. King in Richmond, Missouri. (JS History, vol. F-1, 164; “A History, of the Persecution,” Times and Seasons, Sept. 1840, 1:162–163.)


<​
Ford

5 Dec. 1800–3 Nov. 1850. Schoolteacher, newspaperman, lawyer, politician, judge, author. Born in Uniontown, Fayette Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Robert Ford and Elizabeth Logue Forquer. Moved to St. Louis, 1804; to New Design (later American Bottom), Randolph...

View Full Bio
spoke of the. Constituti[o]n.​>
74

Thomas Ford may have repeated the same points he made in his 22 June 1844 letter to JS—that is, that the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor press violated the constitutional protection of freedom of the press and the guarantee against being deprived of “life liberty or property” without due process of law, and that the Nauvoo city council, a legislative body, assumed judicial powers it did not have when it deemed the press a nuisance. (Thomas Ford, Carthage, IL, to JS et al., [Nauvoo, IL], 22 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL; see also Editorial Note following 22 June 1844 entry in JS, Journal; and John Taylor, “The Martyrdom of Joseph Smith,” in Burton, City of the Saints, 531.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Taylor, John. “The Martyrdom of Joseph Smith.” In The City of the Saints, and Across the Rocky Mountains to California, by Richard F. Burton, 517–540. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1862.

Joseph sa[i]d we were willing to pay for it.
75

JS was probably referring to the Nauvoo Expositor press. He had earlier promised Thomas Ford that he would “make all things right” if it was deemed that the press had been unjustifiably destroyed. (JS, Nauvoo, IL, to Thomas Ford, Carthage, IL, 22 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL; see also John Taylor, Statement, 23 Aug. 1856, p. 41, Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, ca. 1839–1856, CHL.)


if it were inte[n]ded to resist the
Gov

5 Dec. 1800–3 Nov. 1850. Schoolteacher, newspaperman, lawyer, politician, judge, author. Born in Uniontown, Fayette Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Robert Ford and Elizabeth Logue Forquer. Moved to St. Louis, 1804; to New Design (later American Bottom), Randolph...

View Full Bio
of the
state

Became part of Northwest Territory of U.S., 1787. Admitted as state, 1818. Population in 1840 about 480,000. Population in 1845 about 660,000. Plentiful, inexpensive land attracted settlers from northern and southern states. Following expulsion from Missouri...

More Info
. <​Treason​> if People believd they were endeav[or]ing to evade the.— <​to def[e]nd themselvs. it was all right.—​>
76

According to the compilers of JS’s history, this passage refers to JS’s calling out the Nauvoo Legion. (JS History, vol. F-1, 164.)


1/4 past 10 A.M.
Gov

5 Dec. 1800–3 Nov. 1850. Schoolteacher, newspaperman, lawyer, politician, judge, author. Born in Uniontown, Fayette Co., Pennsylvania. Son of Robert Ford and Elizabeth Logue Forquer. Moved to St. Louis, 1804; to New Design (later American Bottom), Randolph...

View Full Bio
left.— after saying that— the prisoners were were under his protection— & probably th[e]y would go to
Nauvoo

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
77

JS had been told the previous afternoon that he would accompany Thomas Ford and “his army” to Nauvoo. According to William Clayton, JS expected to go to Nauvoo on 27 June. (JS, Carthage, IL, to Emma Smith, [Nauvoo, IL], 25 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL; Clayton, Journal, 26 June 1844.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

copi[e]d the orders of the mayor & Liut Gen to the
Marshal

3 Sept. 1793–10 Sept. 1844. Farmer, shoemaker, printer, publisher. Born at Herkimer, Herkimer Co., New York. Son of John Coddington Greene and Anna Chapman. Married first Rhoda Young, 11 Feb. 1813. Moved to Aurelius, Cayuga Co., New York, 1814; to Brownsville...

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&c
m[a]jor Genl

14 Jan. 1800–28 July 1845. Soldier, police captain. Born in Paris, Oneida Co., New York. Son of Jonathan Dunham. Married Mary Kendall. Moved to Rushford, Allegany Co., New York, by 1830. Baptized into Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and ordained...

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—
78

JS had issued two orders to Marshal John P. Greene over the previous three weeks—one to destroy the Nauvoo Expositor press on 10 June and one to “take such measures as shall be necessary to preserve the peace” of Nauvoo on 17 June. (JS, Nauvoo, IL, to John P. Greene, Nauvoo, IL, 10 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL; JS, Proclamation to John P. Greene, Nauvoo, IL, 17 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL.)


wrote
Judge [Jesse] Thomas

31 July 1806–20 Feb. 1850. Lawyer, judge. Born in Lebanon, Warren Co., Ohio. Son of Richard Simmons Thomas and Florence Pattie. Attended Transylvania University, in Lexington, Fayette Co., Kentucky. Moved to Edwardsville, Madison Co., Illinois, before 1830...

View Full Bio
79

JS told Thomas that he and Hyrum Smith had been arrested and incarcerated on the charge of treason. In his letter, JS noted that the statement in the mittimus that said they had appeared before a magistrate was “utterly false.” Feeling that he and Hyrum had “no reasonable prospect, of any thing but partial decisions of law” and that their only hope for justice lay in obtaining a habeas corpus hearing before an impartial judge, JS asked Thomas to make himself at home in JS’s house at Nauvoo “until the papers can be in readiness for you to bring us on Habeas [Corpus]. Our witnesses are all at Nauvoo—& there you can easily investigate the whole matter.” According to William Clayton, the plan to hold a habeas corpus hearing before Thomas at Nauvoo was based at least in part on JS’s expectation that he would accompany Thomas Ford to Nauvoo the following day. (JS, Carthage, IL, to Jesse Thomas, [Springfield], IL, 26 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL, underlining in original; Clayton, Journal, 26 June 1844.)


Comprehensive Works Cited

Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

12 noon
<​Joseph​> said I have had a good deal of anxiety about my safety. which I never did before— I could n[o]t help.—
1/2 Past 12 noon
Dr Bernhisel

23 June 1799–28 Sept. 1881. Physician, politician. Born in Sandy Hill, Tyrone Township, Cumberland Co. (later in Perry Co.), Pennsylvania. Son of Samuel Bernhisel and Susannah Bower. Attended medical lectures at University of Pennsylvania, 1818, in Philadelphia...

View Full Bio
. arived
Mr Reed

8 Oct. 1811–21 Aug. 1874. Farmer, lawyer, land developer, railroad owner and operator. Born in what became Union Co., Indiana. Son of James Reid and Ann Thompson. Graduated from Indiana College, 1837. Admitted to Indiana bar, 1839. Moved to Fort Madison, ...

View Full Bio
came in with a letter fr[o]m
Gen [Miner R.] Deming

24 Feb. 1810–10 Sept. 1845. Teacher, farmer. Born in Sharon, Litchfield Co., Connecticut. Son of Stephen Deming and Sarah Buel. Moved to Cincinnati, 1836. Married Abigail Barnum, 2 Aug. 1836, in Danbury, Fairfield Co., Connecticut. Moved to St. Mary’s Township...

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.— (Filed)—
80

Deming told JS and Hyrum Smith that their guard “have been acting upon the supposition that [their] protection excluded all persons but those admitted by a pass” and that he, Deming, had “caused the officer of the guard to be correctly instructed of his duties” so that JS and Hyrum would “suffer no further inconvenience.” According to JS’s history, a guard had prevented JS from communicating with a messenger earlier in the day. (Miner Deming, Carthage, IL, to JS and Hyrum Smith, Carthage, IL, 26 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL; JS History, vol. F-1, 167.)


Reed

8 Oct. 1811–21 Aug. 1874. Farmer, lawyer, land developer, railroad owner and operator. Born in what became Union Co., Indiana. Son of James Reid and Ann Thompson. Graduated from Indiana College, 1837. Admitted to Indiana bar, 1839. Moved to Fort Madison, ...

View Full Bio
said he had got the magistrate on a pin hook the Magistrate had committd— them without examination— & had no further jurisdiction.— if Justice [Robert] Smith would consent to go to
Nauvo[o]

Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....

More Info
for examatin [examination]
81

The compilers of JS’s history expanded this passage to read, “he [Hugh Reid] would not agree to a trial unless (Captain) Justice Smith would consent to go to Nauvoo for examination, where witnesses could be had.” (JS History, vol. F-1, 169; see also John Taylor, Statement, 23 Aug. 1856, pp. 42–43, Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, ca. 1839–1856.)


—
Reed

8 Oct. 1811–21 Aug. 1874. Farmer, lawyer, land developer, railroad owner and operator. Born in what became Union Co., Indiana. Son of James Reid and Ann Thompson. Graduated from Indiana College, 1837. Admitted to Indiana bar, 1839. Moved to Fort Madison, ...

View Full Bio
said that some week ago Wilson
82

Probably Harmon T. Wilson, who, with Joseph H. Reynolds, had attempted to transport JS to Missouri in June 1843 to answer the charge of treason. (JS, Journal, 23 June 1843.)


[p. [30]]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Appendix 3: Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844
ID #
7059
Total Pages
19
Print Volume Location
JSP, J3:303–330
Handwriting on This Page
  • William Clayton

Footnotes

  1. [72]

    Thomas Ford had told JS earlier that he felt the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor press “was a very gross outrage upon the laws and the liberties of the people” and that Nauvoo city officials had violated constitutional principles when they removed it. (Thomas Ford, Carthage, IL, to JS et al., [Nauvoo, IL], 22 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL.)

  2. [73]

    JS had been arrested in Far West, Missouri, on 31 October 1838 and remained in custody of Missouri officials until 16 April 1839, when he was allowed to escape. According to JS’s history, JS also “spoke of . . . the shameful kidnapping of his witnesses” in Missouri “and their being thrust into prison to prevent them from giving their testimony in his favor”—a reference to events that transpired during the court of inquiry held 12–29 November 1838 before Judge Austin A. King in Richmond, Missouri. (JS History, vol. F-1, 164; “A History, of the Persecution,” Times and Seasons, Sept. 1840, 1:162–163.)

  3. [74]

    Thomas Ford may have repeated the same points he made in his 22 June 1844 letter to JS—that is, that the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor press violated the constitutional protection of freedom of the press and the guarantee against being deprived of “life liberty or property” without due process of law, and that the Nauvoo city council, a legislative body, assumed judicial powers it did not have when it deemed the press a nuisance. (Thomas Ford, Carthage, IL, to JS et al., [Nauvoo, IL], 22 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL; see also Editorial Note following 22 June 1844 entry in JS, Journal; and John Taylor, “The Martyrdom of Joseph Smith,” in Burton, City of the Saints, 531.)

    Taylor, John. “The Martyrdom of Joseph Smith.” In The City of the Saints, and Across the Rocky Mountains to California, by Richard F. Burton, 517–540. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1862.

  4. [75]

    JS was probably referring to the Nauvoo Expositor press. He had earlier promised Thomas Ford that he would “make all things right” if it was deemed that the press had been unjustifiably destroyed. (JS, Nauvoo, IL, to Thomas Ford, Carthage, IL, 22 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL; see also John Taylor, Statement, 23 Aug. 1856, p. 41, Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, ca. 1839–1856, CHL.)

  5. [76]

    According to the compilers of JS’s history, this passage refers to JS’s calling out the Nauvoo Legion. (JS History, vol. F-1, 164.)

  6. [77]

    JS had been told the previous afternoon that he would accompany Thomas Ford and “his army” to Nauvoo. According to William Clayton, JS expected to go to Nauvoo on 27 June. (JS, Carthage, IL, to Emma Smith, [Nauvoo, IL], 25 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL; Clayton, Journal, 26 June 1844.)

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  7. [78]

    JS had issued two orders to Marshal John P. Greene over the previous three weeks—one to destroy the Nauvoo Expositor press on 10 June and one to “take such measures as shall be necessary to preserve the peace” of Nauvoo on 17 June. (JS, Nauvoo, IL, to John P. Greene, Nauvoo, IL, 10 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL; JS, Proclamation to John P. Greene, Nauvoo, IL, 17 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL.)

  8. [79]

    JS told Thomas that he and Hyrum Smith had been arrested and incarcerated on the charge of treason. In his letter, JS noted that the statement in the mittimus that said they had appeared before a magistrate was “utterly false.” Feeling that he and Hyrum had “no reasonable prospect, of any thing but partial decisions of law” and that their only hope for justice lay in obtaining a habeas corpus hearing before an impartial judge, JS asked Thomas to make himself at home in JS’s house at Nauvoo “until the papers can be in readiness for you to bring us on Habeas [Corpus]. Our witnesses are all at Nauvoo—& there you can easily investigate the whole matter.” According to William Clayton, the plan to hold a habeas corpus hearing before Thomas at Nauvoo was based at least in part on JS’s expectation that he would accompany Thomas Ford to Nauvoo the following day. (JS, Carthage, IL, to Jesse Thomas, [Springfield], IL, 26 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL, underlining in original; Clayton, Journal, 26 June 1844.)

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  9. [80]

    Deming told JS and Hyrum Smith that their guard “have been acting upon the supposition that [their] protection excluded all persons but those admitted by a pass” and that he, Deming, had “caused the officer of the guard to be correctly instructed of his duties” so that JS and Hyrum would “suffer no further inconvenience.” According to JS’s history, a guard had prevented JS from communicating with a messenger earlier in the day. (Miner Deming, Carthage, IL, to JS and Hyrum Smith, Carthage, IL, 26 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL; JS History, vol. F-1, 167.)

  10. [81]

    The compilers of JS’s history expanded this passage to read, “he [Hugh Reid] would not agree to a trial unless (Captain) Justice Smith would consent to go to Nauvoo for examination, where witnesses could be had.” (JS History, vol. F-1, 169; see also John Taylor, Statement, 23 Aug. 1856, pp. 42–43, Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, ca. 1839–1856.)

  11. [82]

    Probably Harmon T. Wilson, who, with Joseph H. Reynolds, had attempted to transport JS to Missouri in June 1843 to answer the charge of treason. (JS, Journal, 23 June 1843.)

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