Charles A. Foster was in Nauvoo on 27 February 1843, when he witnessed the signing of a deed there. (Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. L, p. 223, 27 Feb. 1843, microfilm 954,599, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)  

U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

John P. Greene, “All Is Peace at Nauvoo among the Saints,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 1 May 1844, [3]; Letter, Charles A. Foster to Editor, 12 Apr. 1844.  

Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

“The Mormons and Their Prophet—Legislation at Nauvoo—the Temple,” New-York Daily Tribune (New York City), 27 Jan. 1844, [1].  

New-York Daily Tribune. New York City. 1841–1924.

JS, Journal, 7 Mar. 1844.  

Letter, Charles A. Foster to Editor, 12 Apr. 1844, italics in original.  

JS, Journal, 24 Mar. 1844; 1–3, 13, and 18 Apr. 1844; Clayton, Journal, 23 Mar. 1844; Abiathar B. Williams, Affidavit, Hancock Co., IL, 27 Mar. 1844; Merinus G. Eaton, Affidavit, Hancock Co., IL, 27 Mar. 1844, in Nauvoo Neighbor, 17 Apr. 1844, [2].  

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

Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

Letter, Charles A. Foster to Editor, 29 Apr. 1844; Introduction to City of Nauvoo v. A. Spencer; Pleas, ca. 27 May 1844 [C. A. Foster v. JS and Coolidge]; Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 1 Mar. 1841, 13. Under Illinois law, a constable could arrest an offender without a warrant if the offense was “committed in his presence.” In contrast, the Nauvoo city ordinance that authorized city officers to arrest individuals for alleged breaches of ordinances without a warrant did not require that the officer witness the crime. The Nauvoo charter did not require city ordinances to be consistent with state law but instead authorized the city council to pass any ordinance for the good of the city, as long as the ordinance was “not repugnant” to the national or state constitutions. (An Act concerning Justices of the Peace and Constables [3 Feb. 1827], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois, p. 412, sec. 49; Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.)  

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.

The precise location of Marr’s law office is unknown. JS’s journal entry for 26 April 1844 indicates that John P. Greene later “went up on hill” to detain Spencer, and Greene indicated that he and Rockwell found Spencer at Marr’s law office. It is possible that Marr shared space with attorney Sylvester Emmons, whose law office was located above the store owned by Marr’s cousin Samuel M. Marr, on Knight Street east of the temple. (JS, Journal, 26 Apr. 1844; John P. Greene, “All Is Peace at Nauvoo among the Saints,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 1 May 1844, [3]; Jamison, Descendants of John and Catherine Surplus Marr, 169, 175; “S. Emmons, Attorney and Counsellor at Law, and Solicitor in Chancery,” Nauvoo Expositor, 7 June 1844, [3].)  

Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

Jamison, James F. The Descendants of John and Catherine Surplus Marr. Zelienople, PA: J. F. Jamison, 1985.

Nauvoo Expositor. Nauvoo, IL. 1844.

Letter, Charles A. Foster to Editor, 29 Apr. 1844; John P. Greene, “All Is Peace at Nauvoo among the Saints,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 1 May 1844, [3]; JS, Journal, 26 Apr. 1844.  

Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

Letter, Charles A. Foster to Editor, 29 Apr. 1844; John P. Greene, “All Is Peace at Nauvoo among the Saints,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 1 May 1844, [3]; JS, Journal, 26 Apr. 1844; Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 1 Mar. 1841, 12.  

Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

Letter, Charles A. Foster to Editor, 29 Apr. 1844; JS, Journal, 26 Apr. 1844; John P. Greene, “All Is Peace at Nauvoo among the Saints,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 1 May 1844, [3]; Pleas, ca. 27 May 1844 [C. A. Foster v. JS and Coolidge]. Coolidge, a Latter-day Saint living in Nauvoo, was an officer in the Nauvoo Legion and a recently inducted member of the Council of Fifty. He had no apparent connection with either the Nauvoo police or the city marshal, but he was evidently deputized because he was nearby during the altercation. (John C. Bennett, “Officers of the Nauvoo Legion,” [6]; “List of Commissioned and Non Commissioned Officers of the Second Reg Second Cohort NL,” Nauvoo Legion Records, CHL; Council of Fifty, Minutes, 18 Apr. 1844.)  

Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

Nauvoo Legion Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 3430.

John P. Greene, “All Is Peace at Nauvoo among the Saints,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 1 May 1844, [3]; JS, Journal, 26 Apr. 1844.  

Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

JS, Journal, 26 Apr. 1844; Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 1 Mar. 1841, 12; Introduction to City of Nauvoo v. C. L. Higbee et al.  

Editorial, Nauvoo Expositor, 7 June 1844, [3], italics in original.  

Nauvoo Expositor. Nauvoo, IL. 1844.

Higbee and the Fosters appealed JS’s decision to the Nauvoo Municipal Court, but when the appellants did not appear on 3 June 1844, the appeal was dismissed. The Foster brothers then appealed to the circuit court. The appeals were continued until the October 1845 term, when the circuit court dismissed the original convictions and fines. (Introduction to City of Nauvoo v. C. L. Higbee et al.; Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.)  

Warrant, Robert F. Smith for Joseph W. Coolidge, 24 June 1844.  

Praecipe, 9 May 1844 [C. A. Foster v. JS and Coolidge].  

Declaration, ca. 9 May 1844 [C. A. Foster v. JS and Coolidge].  

Pleas, ca. 27 May 1844 [C. A. Foster v. JS and Coolidge]; Ordinance, 1 Mar. 1841–D, Thomas Bullock Copy; Ordinance, 1 Mar. 1841–E, Thomas Bullock Copy.  

Demurrer, ca. 28 May 1844 [C. A. Foster v. JS and Coolidge].  

Docket Entry, Sustained Demurrer, 29 May 1844 [C. A. Foster v. JS and Coolidge]; Transcript of Proceedings, 10 Aug. 1844 [C. A. Foster v. JS and Coolidge]. To be considered valid, pleas needed to be “certain,” meaning they provided “a clear and distinct statement of the facts which constitute the cause of action, or ground of defence.” Thomas may have sustained Foster’s demurrer on the grounds that the defendants’ pleas were not sufficiently certain regarding the ordinances and authorities referenced. (“Certainty, pleading,” in Bouvier, Law Dictionary, 1:245–246; see also Chitty and Chitty, Treatise on the Parties to Actions, and on Pleading, 1:534.)  

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. 2nd ed. 2 vols. Philadelphia: T. and J. W. Johnson, 1843.

Chitty, Joseph, and Thomas Chitty. A Treatise on the Parties to Actions, and on Pleading, with Second and Third Volumes, Containing Precedents of Pleadings, and Copious Directory Notes. 3 Vols. Springfield, MA: G. and C. Merriam, 1840.

See Stephen, Treatise on the Principles of Pleading in Civil Actions, 279.  

Stephen, Henry John, and Francis J. Troubat. A Treatise on the Principles of Pleading in Civil Actions; Comprising a Summary View of the Whole Proceedings in a Suit at Law. 2nd American ed. Philadelphia: Robert H. Small, 1831.

Affidavit, 23 May 1844 [C. A. Foster v. JS and Coolidge]; Docket Entry, Motion, Change of Venue, and Pleas, 28 May 1844 [C. A. Foster v. JS and Coolidge].  

Although the outcome of the suit is uncertain, on 26 August 1844, Babbitt filed an affidavit asserting that Foster was destitute and unable to pay the costs of the suit. (Affidavit, 26 Aug. 1844 [C. A. Foster v. JS and Coolidge].)