Council of Fifty, Minutes, March 1844–January 1846; Volume 2, 1 March–6 May 1845

Probably Charles H. Cooley. Although there were other Cooleys living in Nauvoo at this time, they all appear to have been Latter-day Saints. The use of the title “Mister” instead of “Brother” suggests that this Cooley was not a Mormon. (Nauvoo Registry of Deeds, Record of Deeds, bk. B, pp. 108–109; History of Sangamon County, 1145.)  

Nauvoo Registry of Deeds. Record of Deeds, bk. B, 1843–1846. CHL. MS 3443.

History of Sangamon County, Illinois; Together with Sketches of Its Cities, Villages, and Townships. . . . Chicago: Inter-State Publishing Co., 1881.

On 8 March 1845 a justice of the peace in Augusta, Illinois, issued an arrest warrant for Brackenbury, a witness in the trial of the accused murderers of JS and Hyrum Smith, after citizens in southern Hancock County accused him of committing perjury before the grand jury the previous fall. Two days later Brackenbury was arrested at the Nauvoo Mansion. Fearing for his safety, a group of Latter-day Saints distracted the four officers guarding him while Oliver B. Huntington “sliped Brackenbery out, and into a back room— through another back door, and so he dissappeared entirely.” Brigham Young arranged for an armed guard to escort Brackenbury to his trial in Augusta on 13 March. After the prosecution stated that it was not prepared for the trial, the case was continued to 19 March and Brackenbury’s party returned to Nauvoo. Legal wrangling continued throughout the month, but in May a grand jury refused to indict him; his case was formally dismissed that fall. (Docket, 12 May 1845, State of Illinois v. Brackenbury [J.P. Ct. 1845], microfilm, Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court, Cases Files, 1830–1847, CHL; Huntington, History, 100; Clayton, Journal, 10 Mar. 1845; Stout, Journal, 13 Mar. 1845; Taylor, Journal, [Mar. 1845], 44–46; Oaks and Hill, Carthage Conspiracy, 68–69, 81; Recognizance, 21 Oct. 1845, State of Illinois v. Brackenbury [J.P. Ct. 1845], microfilm, Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court, Cases Files, 1830–1847, CHL.)  

Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court. Court Cases Files, 1830–1846. Microfilm. CHL.

Huntington, Oliver B. History, 1845–1846. Oliver Boardman Huntington, Papers, 1843– 1932. BYU.

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

Stout, Hosea. Journal, Oct. 1844–May 1845. CHL. MS 1910.

Taylor, John. Journal, Dec. 1844–Sept. 1845. CHL.

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

At the end of February, William Clayton complained, “The mob are continually getting out writs for the best of our men and seem determined to blot us own [out?] from the face of the earth.” The day after this council meeting, Clayton noted that Sheriff Miner R. Deming arrived in Nauvoo “with writs for several of the brethren,” including John Taylor. (Clayton, Journal, 28 Feb. and 12 Mar. 1845.)  

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