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Docket Entry, circa 5 July 1842 [City of Nauvoo v. McGraw]

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Introduction to City of Nauvoo v. H. Rhodes, City of Nauvoo v. Walker, and City of Nauvoo v. McGraw Subpoena, 5 July 1842 [City of Nauvoo v. McGraw] Execution, 5 July 1842 [City of Nauvoo v. McGraw] Recognizance, 5 July 1842 [City of Nauvoo v. McGraw] Docket Entry, circa 5 July 1842 [City of Nauvoo v. McGraw] Bond, 5 July 1842–A [City of Nauvoo v. McGraw] Bond, 5 July 1842–B [City of Nauvoo v. McGraw] Venire Facias, 14 July 1842 [City of Nauvoo v. McGraw] Subpoena, 14 July 1842 [City of Nauvoo v. McGraw] Docket Entry, between 14 July and circa 2 August 1842 [City of Nauvoo v. McGraw] Cancellation of Bond, 31 August 1842 [City of Nauvoo v. McGraw] Judgment, 2 August 1842 [City of Nauvoo v. McGraw]

Docket Entry, circa 5 July 1842 [City of Nauvoo v. McGraw]

Source Note

Docket Entry, , Hancock Co., IL, ca. 5 July 1842, City of Nauvoo v. McGraw (Nauvoo, IL, Mayor’s Court 1842). Featured version inscribed [ca. 5 July 1842] in Nauvoo Mayor’s Court Docket Book, p. 30; handwriting of ; in Historian’s Office, Historical Record Book, 1841–1874, CHL.
Nauvoo Mayor’s Court Docket Book, , Hancock Co., IL, 25 Oct. 1841–10 Feb. 1843; handwriting of and ; thirty-eight pages; in Historian’s Office, Historical Record Book, 1843–1874, pp. 12–50, CHL.
The docket book for the mayor’s court is recorded on pages 12 to 50 of a large, commercially produced record book used by various organizations in Nauvoo and later by the Church Historian’s Office (now CHL) in Utah Territory. The book, which measures 14⅜ × 10 × 2 inches (37 × 25 × 5 cm), has 228 leaves of paper measuring 14 × 9⅝ inches (36 × 24 cm), with forty preprinted blue horizontal lines. The volume has twenty-seven gatherings: the first twenty-five gatherings are composed of eight leaves each; the twenty-sixth gathering has four leaves, with signs indicating that two additional leaves were removed; and the last gathering consists of ten leaves, all of which were separated from the binding, likely after the pages were inscribed. The endpapers consist of a pastedown and two flyleaves at each end of the book; the pastedowns and facing flyleaves use marbled paper. The volume has a hardbound ledger-style binding. It is bound in brown calfskin with blind-tooled decoration on the cover as well as red leather bands with decorative stitching on the top and bottom edges of the cover. The cover was inscribed with the title “Docket | of the | Municipal Court | of the | City of Nauvoo.” The spine of the volume bears four paper labels. The label placed at the top of the spine reads “Record | 1855” and the next says “Incidents | of | History”. The third label is torn and shows a greater degree of wear; it reads “Nauvoo | Municipal Court | Docket”. The last paper label has a red border, likely placed on the record by Church Historian’s Office staff in the 1950s or 1960s, and reads “N686.4”. Significant staining and wear on the edges of the pages of the final gathering suggest that these leaves were stored outside the volume. At some point, these ten leaves underwent conservation and were pasted into folded paper edges to create an artificial gathering, which was then tied into the existing binding with string.
The record book was initially in the possession of . He used it to record four pages of information about the University of Nauvoo from 1841 to 1844. These entries were later canceled. Beginning in 1841, Bennett also used the volume as a docket book for the Nauvoo mayor’s court and the Nauvoo Municipal Court, both of which he presided over as mayor and a justice of the peace. When JS was elected mayor of in May 1842 after Bennett’s resignation, began keeping the records for the Nauvoo mayor’s court and Nauvoo Municipal Court, using this same book. The record book was included in Historian’s Office inventories, indicating it was transported from Nauvoo to Utah along with church records. The volume was used by the Church Historian’s Office in the 1850s and 1870s to record ordinations, general conference minutes, correspondence, and blessings, as well as church information and journal entries from . It also contains copies of several texts related to the Latter-day Saints’ departure from Nauvoo, the writing of JS’s history, and a list of members of the first pioneer company to arrive in Utah Territory in 1847, which was compiled in 1867.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    The record book, listed under “Municipal Court Docket,” was included in the earliest extant Historian’s Office inventory and successive inventories. (See “Schedule of Church Records. Nauvoo 1846,” [1], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.)

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

Historical Introduction

On 5 July 1842, JS, as mayor of , Illinois, heard several cases in the Nauvoo mayor’s court, including one against William H. McGraw. JS had been elected mayor on 19 May and therefore, as stipulated in the Nauvoo charter, was able to prosecute violations of city ordinances. After his election, he was also commissioned a justice of the peace for , Illinois, a position authorized by the governor, which allowed him to preside over judicial matters. The first cases JS heard as mayor were brought forward on 5 July 1842 and included three charges; two, including McGraw’s, related to the sale of alcohol in Nauvoo, while the third was a charge of disorderly conduct. Each of these cases appears to be connected to Fourth of July festivities held in Nauvoo and suggests that the celebration included alcohol and lasted through the night and into the next day. The record of McGraw’s trial is featured here as a document representative of records created when JS presided over the mayor’s court. McGraw’s case, the most complete record of the three 5 July 1842 trials, represents a common charge of selling small quantities of alcohol, and it captures the legal process of appealing a case from the mayor’s court to the municipal court.
, who charged McGraw, was a constable for the city of and a member of the city’s recently established night watch. McGraw was charged with a breach of the city’s temperance ordinance, which was passed in order to dissuade public drunkenness and stipulated that spirituous liquors must not be sold in small quantities unless they were dispensed under the recommendation of an accredited physician. One of the witnesses summoned to testify against McGraw was Henry Rhodes, who had been charged on 4 July with disorderly conduct, which may have included public drunkenness. Rhodes was apparently not fined in his 5 July trial because he agreed to identify the individual who sold him alcohol, William McGraw. After summoning the three witnesses and hearing their statements, JS fined McGraw twenty-five dollars—the maximum amount allowed by the temperance ordinance—and ordered him to pay the court costs, or the payment due court officers. McGraw appealed his case to the Nauvoo Municipal Court, which JS presided over as chief justice and which required a jury to determine a verdict. McGraw’s case was brought before the municipal court on 2 August 1842. However, neither McGraw nor anyone representing him was present for the trial, which resulted in the appeal’s dismissal. The judgment then defaulted to JS’s earlier ruling.
The transcript for City of Nauvoo v. McGraw sheds light on JS’s new role as justice of the mayor’s court. The systematic approach used in this case record suggests that JS and , who served as JS’s recorder, were learning the requisite legal processes and were attentive to the detailed record keeping required of the court and its officers. As shown in the featured docket entry, JS followed legal process when he issued and signed an execution, which gave his decision on the case. McGraw’s appeal, however, voided the execution, making the document unnecessary.
Justices of the peace were required to keep a docket of the cases they oversaw. In his time as mayor and as judge over the mayor’s court, personally wrote the docket entries for his cases. JS, however, did not keep his own docket book. Rather, , who was city recorder at the time, kept the docket for JS, who signed and certified Sloan’s entries. Sloan appears to have taken notes on loose paper during the trials and then transcribed those notes, which are apparently no longer extant, into the docket book. Sloan presumably copied the McGraw transcript into the docket book on 5 July 1842 or shortly thereafter.
See also Introduction to City of Nauvoo v. H. Rhodes, City of Nauvoo v. Walker, and City of Nauvoo v. McGraw.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Although McGraw was brought before the Nauvoo mayor’s court twice, no contemporary records indicate that he was a resident of Nauvoo or a member of the church. No individuals named William McGraw appear in Nauvoo land records, church records, or Hancock County records. Census and other local records place several individuals identified as “William McGraw” or “W. McGraw” in Sangamon County, Schuyler County, and Logan County, Illinois. (1860 U.S. Census, 17th Subdivision, Sangamon Co., IL, 713; 1850 U.S. Census, Federal Mortality Schedules, Logan Co., IL, 511; “Notice,” Sangamo Journal [Springfield, IL], 26 May 1838, [2]; “Administrator’s Sale,” Illinois Daily Journal [Springfield, IL], 21 Jan. 1850, [3].)

    Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.

    Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.

    Illinois Daily Journal. Springfield, IL. 1848–1855.

  2. [2]

    See Minutes, 19 May 1842; and Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.

  3. [3]

    At the request of city recorder James Sloan, Illinois governor Thomas Carlin issued JS a commission as a justice of the peace on 13 June 1842, and JS took the required oath of office on 21 June 1842. In his capacity as mayor and a justice of the peace, JS presided over both a mayor’s court, which was similar to a justice of the peace court, and the Nauvoo Municipal Court. (See Historical Introduction to Oath, 21 June 1842.)

  4. [4]

    In addition to McGraw’s case, the other cases heard on 5 July were City of Nauvoo v. Walker and City of Nauvoo v. H. Rhodes. The records for these and all other extant cases over which JS presided in the Nauvoo mayor’s court are available in the Legal Records section on this website.

  5. [5]

    According to the 9 July issue of the Wasp, a large crowd of eleven or twelve thousand gathered to celebrate the Fourth of July in Nauvoo, including visitors who had traveled from Burlington via steamboat. (See “Life in Nauvoo,” Wasp, 9 July 1842, [2]; see also Introduction to City of Nauvoo v. H. Rhodes, City of Nauvoo v. Walker, and City of Nauvoo v. McGraw, 5 July 1842, in the Legal Records section on this website.)

    The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.

  6. [6]

    The night watch had been established several weeks earlier. (See Mayor’s Order to City Watch, 20 May 1842.)

  7. [7]

    The ordinance, passed in February 1841, was titled “An Ordinance in Relation to Temperance” and specified that “all Persons & Establishments whatever, in this City, are prohibited from vending Whiskey in a less quantity than a Gallon, or other Spirituous Liquors in a less quantity than a quart, to any Person whatever, excepting on the Recommendation of a Physician duly accredited, in Writing, by the ‘Chancellor & Regents of the University of the City of Nauvoo,’ & any Person guilty of any Act contrary to the prohibition contained in this ordinance, shall, on conviction thereof before the Mayor, or Municipal Court, be fined in any Sum not exceeding twenty five Dollars, at the discretion of said Mayor, or Court; & any Person or Persons who shall attempt to evade this Ordinance by giving away Liquor, or by any other means, shall be considered alike amenable, and fined as aforesaid.” Most other cities in the 1840s had not yet established temperance ordinances prohibiting the sale of alcohol. However, most cities during this period did require sellers to have a license from the city granting them the right to sell liquor. In some instances, alcohol was prohibited in small quantities in jails or almshouses. (Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 15 Feb. 1841, 8; Digest of the Laws and Ordinances of Cincinnati, 13; By-Laws and Ordinances . . . of the City of New-York, 126, 511–513; Laws and Ordinances Governing the City of Chicago, 190, 643.)

    Digest of the Laws and Ordinances of Cincinnati, of a General Nature, Now in Force. Cincinnati: E. Morgan, 1842.

    By-Laws and Ordinances of the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City of New-York. New York: John S. Voorhies, 1845.

    Laws and Ordinances Governing the City of Chicago, January 1, 1866, with an Appendix, Containing the Former Legislation relating to the City, and Notes of Decisions of the Supreme Court of Illinois, relating to Corporations. Compiled by Joseph E. Gray. Chicago: E. B. Myers and Chandler, 1866.

  8. [8]

    See Docket Entry, ca. 5 July 1842, City of Nauvoo v. H. Rhodes [Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1842], Nauvoo Mayor’s Court Docket Book, 29; and “Life in Nauvoo,” Wasp, 9 July 1842, [2].

    The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.

  9. [9]

    In the other 5 July case related to selling liquor in Nauvoo, JS fined Thomas Walker only ten dollars. Existing court records offer no explanation for the difference in fines, although they were presumably based on individual circumstances and the severity of the breach of the temperance ordinance. (Docket Entry, ca. 5 July 1842, City of Nauvoo v. Walker [Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1842], Nauvoo Mayor’s Court Docket Book, 29.)

  10. [10]

    Docket Entry, between 14 July and ca. 2 Aug. 1842, City of Nauvoo v. McGraw [Nauvoo Mun. Ct. 1842], Nauvoo Municipal Court Docket Book, 5 (second numbering). The same day, 2 August 1842, McGraw was brought before JS in the mayor’s court on a second charge of selling liquor. This time a James White was charged along with McGraw, and neither White nor McGraw appealed the case. (Docket Entry, between 30 July and ca. 2 Aug. 1842, City of Nauvoo v. McGraw and White [Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1842], Nauvoo Mayor’s Court Docket Book, 34.)

  11. [11]

    In the docket entry for the 5 July 1842 case City of Nauvoo v. H. Rhodes—inscribed on the page preceding the McGraw case—Sloan summarized the events of the Rhodes hearing by stating JS’s decision; he did not include any details of court procedure. In contrast, in the McGraw docket entry, Sloan noted specific court procedures and captured each step taken during the trial by JS and the counsel for the defendant. (See Docket Entry, ca. 5 July 1842, City of Nauvoo v. H. Rhodes [Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1842], Nauvoo Mayor’s Court Docket Book, 29.)

  12. [12]

    An execution was a court order in the form of a writ that authorized an officer of the court to carry out the judgment rendered by the court and to collect money or property to satisfy the judgment. (See “Execution,” in Bouvier, Law Dictionary, 1:387.)

    Bouvier, John. A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States of America, and of the Several States of the American Union; With References to the Civil and Other Systems of Foreign Law. 2 vols. Philadelphia: Deacon and Peterson, 1854.

  13. [13]

    Loose notes are not extant for the McGraw trial, though they are for a later case of the mayor’s court—City of Nauvoo v. W. Thompson. (See Notes of Evidence, 2 Aug. 1842, City of Nauvoo v. W. Thompson [Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1842], Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)

Page 30

City of ) Breach of a City Ordinance, for by Selling Spirituous Liquors.
vs)
William H. McGraw)
Fine—— $25.00
Mayors fees—— 1.87½
Const[able]s fees—— .56
July 5th. 1842. one of the Night Watch, and a Special Constable of the , brought the said <​William <​H​> McGraw​> before the Mayor, for a Breach of a City Ordinance, by selling Spirituous Liquors, upon the day and year above Written.
The Defendant pleaded not Guilty.
The Council for Defendant made a point, that the Suit for want of Proper Parties, and called upon the Court to abate the Cause.
The Court overruled the point.
July 5th. 1842. A Summons issued by Order of the , to bring forward , , and Henry Rhodes as Witnesses. Summons returned Endorsed,— [illegible] Served the within named three Witnesses on the 5[t]h day of July 1842, by Reading. Serving 38 <​cts​>, Mileage 18 <​cts​>, $— 56. Const..—
The Witnesses attended, and were examined, and on hearing, the Defendant was fined in a Sum of Twenty five Dollars, & Costs of Suit.
The Council for Defendant gave Notice of the Defendants intention to appeal to the Municipal Court, and that Deft would require a Jury.— The Court Ordered, that the Witnesses be bound Over to appear and give Evidence at the Municipal Court, and Henry Rhodes and executed a Bond to that effect, having departed from the Court without License.
The Defendant lodged an approved Bond with the Treasurer upon the same Day, in compliance with the Ordinance in Relation to Appeals.— afterwards executed the abovementioned Bond.— An Execution had [been] issued prior to the lodging of the Appeal Bond, but was superseded by that Bond being lodged, & the E[x]ecution being <​so​> stayed, was not delivered to the .
[8 lines blank] [p. 30]
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Source Note

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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Docket Entry, circa 5 July 1842 [City of Nauvoo v. McGraw]
ID #
4362
Total Pages
1
Print Volume Location
JSP, D10:236–241
Handwriting on This Page
  • James Sloan

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Constable’s fees referred to the court fees Charles Allen received for acting as a constable for the mayor’s court; his role included traveling and reading the summons to each of the three witnesses.

  2. [2]

    The defense attorney’s point about “proper parties” may have been based on the fact that the wrong individual had brought the charge (in other words, Charles Allen may have not been a witness to the sale of alcohol) or that another individual should have been charged along with McGraw. A second complaint against McGraw for selling liquor, dated 30 July 1842, included a James White. Though White could have also been involved in the 5 July case, he was not named by Allen in the complaint. (See Docket Entry, between 30 July and ca. 2 Aug. 1842, City of Nauvoo v. McGraw and White [Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1842], Nauvoo Mayor’s Court Docket Book, 34.)

    Nauvoo Mayor’s Court Docket Book / Nauvoo, IL, Mayor’s Court. Docket Book, 1843. In Historian’s Office, Historical Record Book, 1843–1874, pp. 12–50. CHL.

  3. [3]

    Abatement was defined as “the overthrow of an action in consequence of some error committed in bringing or conducting it, when the plaintiff is not forever barred from bringing another action.” Abatement was used to correct errors made in the action that began a lawsuit. In the case of Nauvoo v. McGraw, McGraw’s attorney asked JS, as the justice of the mayor’s court, to reframe the action because of an error regarding the legal principle of proper parties. (“Abatement,” in Bouvier, Law Dictionary, 1:12.)

    Bouvier, John. A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States of America, and of the Several States of the American Union; With References to the Civil and Other Systems of Foreign Law. 2 vols. Philadelphia: Deacon and Peterson, 1854.

  4. [4]

    Carlos Granger and his wife, Sarah Stiles Granger, had moved to Nauvoo by 1842. Although not a church member, Granger was sympathetic to the Latter-day Saints and helped hide JS in August 1842 while JS evaded arrest and extradition to Missouri. (JS, Journal, 27 Jan. and 17 Aug. 1842; “G. W. Robinson,” Times and Seasons, 1 Aug. 1842, 3:878.)

  5. [5]

    Stiles was an attorney who sold land in Nauvoo in August 1842. It is not clear if he was a member of the church in 1842; the earliest record of his church membership is his record of endowment, dated January 1846. (Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. K, pp. 445–446, 31 Aug. 1842, microfilm 954,599, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Temple Records Index Bureau, Nauvoo Temple Endowment Register, 113.)

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

    Temple Records Index Bureau of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Nauvoo Temple Endowment Register, 10 December 1845 to 8 February 1846. Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1974.

  6. [6]

    In addition to serving as a witness, on 5 July 1842 Rhodes was tried in his own case in response to charges of unspecified disorderly conduct. Nauvoo ordinances defined disorderly conduct broadly to include any and all suspicious individuals and indecent, immoral, or threatening acts. (See Docket Entry, ca. 5 July 1842, City of Nauvoo v. H. Rhodes [Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1842], Nauvoo Mayor’s Court Docket Book, 29; and Minutes, 13 Nov. 1841.)

    Nauvoo Mayor’s Court Docket Book / Nauvoo, IL, Mayor’s Court. Docket Book, 1843. In Historian’s Office, Historical Record Book, 1843–1874, pp. 12–50. CHL.

  7. [7]

    TEXT: Possibly “Endorsed The [illegible]”.

  8. [8]

    This fee appears to have been calculated based on an 1827 state law that stipulated constable fees of twelve and a half cents for serving a writ and six and a quarter cents per mile traveled. In January 1843, Nauvoo’s city council passed an ordinance that stipulated a fee of twelve and a half cents for serving subpoenas or summons and five cents for each mile traveled. (JS, Warrant to City Marshal or City Constable, [2 Aug. 1842], City of Nauvoo v. W. Thompson [Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1842], Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; An Act Regulating the Salaries, Fees, and Compensation of the Several Officers and Persons Therein Mentioned [19 Feb. 1827], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois [1834–1837], p. 297, sec. 5; Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 14 Jan. 1843, 143–144.)

    The Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois: Containing All the Laws . . . Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835; and at Their Second Session, Commencing December 7, 1835, and Ending January 18, 1836; and Those Passed by the Tenth General Assembly, at Their Session Commencing December 5, 1836, and Ending March 6, 1837; and at Their Special Session, Commencing July 10, and Ending July 22, 1837. . . . Compiled by Jonathan Young Scammon. Chicago: Stephen F. Gale, 1839.

  9. [9]

    Meaning, Granger had not signed a bond before departing.

  10. [10]

    See Minutes, 13 Nov. 1841.

  11. [11]

    Although invalidated by McGraw’s appeal, the execution was not destroyed. It was kept with the records for the city of Nauvoo. (See Execution, Nauvoo, IL, 5 July 1842, City of Nauvoo v. McGraw [Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1842], Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)