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

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.)  

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.)  

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.

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.)  

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.)  

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.

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.)  

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.

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.)  

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.)  

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.)