Introduction to JS Guardian of Maria Lawrence et al., Babbitt Guardian of James Lawrence et al. v. William Law et al., and Maria Lawrence et al. v. Coolidge Administrator of the Estate of JS
JS Guardian of Maria Lawrence, Sarah Lawrence, James Lawrence, Nelson Lawrence, Henry Lawrence, Julia Lawrence, and Margaret Lawrence
Adams Co., Illinois, Probate Court, 4 June 1841
Babbitt Guardian of James Lawrence, Nelson Lawrence, Henry Lawrence, Julia Lawrence, and Margaret Lawrence v. William Law, Coolidge Administrator of the Estate of JS, and Mary Fielding Smith Administratrix of the Estate of H. Smith
Hancock Co., Illinois, Circuit Court, 19 May 1846
Maria Lawrence, Sarah Lawrence, and Babbitt Guardian of James Lawrence, Nelson Lawrence, Henry Lawrence, Julia Ann Lawrence, and Margaret Lawrence v. Coolidge Administrator of the Estate of JS
Hancock Co., Illinois, Circuit Court, 22 May 1846
Historical Introduction
In 1841, the , Illinois, probate court appointed JS guardian of the seven children of , a Latter-day Saint who had died in 1839. JS attempted to relinquish the guardianship but was unable to complete the process before his own death in 1844. After JS’s death the court appointed as guardian of the five youngest Lawrence children, the two eldest having reached adulthood. Babbitt attempted to assume control of the children’s assets that remained in JS’s estate by submitting a claim and filing two separate lawsuits against the estate.
The and family converted to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Canada, then relocated to in winter 1839 and purchased a farm in , Illinois, about thirty miles from . Edward died within months of their arrival in Lima, leaving Margaret with six children between the ages of three and sixteen and pregnant with a seventh. Although Edward Lawrence’s will identified the executors of his estate, it did not name a legal guardian for his minor children. In such instances, Illinois law granted courts the right to appoint a guardian for children under fourteen and allowed children over fourteen the right to nominate a guardian themselves. Margaret Lawrence married on 24 December 1840, and they proceeded to support the youngest three children—Henry, Julia, and Margaret—in Lima, while , , James, and Nelson Lawrence went to live among several families in Nauvoo. Maria and Sarah lived with JS and .
JS Guardian of Maria Lawrence et al.
For unspecified reasons, seventeen-year-old and fifteen-year-old nominated JS as their guardian. The Probate Court approved their nomination and appointed JS legal guardian of all the Lawrence children on 4 June 1841. and , who acted as sureties to JS’s guardianship bond, affirmed the faithful execution of his duties as guardian. , , and ’s brother John Lawrence, all of whom were designated executors to the Lawrence estate, assigned JS approximately $3,800 in assets of the deceased to support the children financially.
JS’s duties as guardian required him to disperse payments from the estate for the ongoing care of the minor heirs and issue annual payments to for her one-third of the interest earned by the estate. On 4 June 1842, submitted a bill to JS summarizing his expenditures for the three minor children in his care, which JS paid. The following year, , JS, and a large company of Latter-day Saints traveled by steamboat to , Illinois. There, Clayton presented papers documenting JS’s handling of guardianship finances to Probate Justice of the Peace Andrew Miller. law granted probate courts the power to periodically require guardians “to render their respective accounts upon oath, touching their guardianship,” which accounting Clayton was apparently undertaking on JS’s behalf. The papers were insufficient or failed to meet the legal requirements of the court, as Miller found he “could do nothing with them.” After ascertaining what Miller wanted, Clayton compiled two accounts documenting $489.94 JS spent on the children from 1841 to 1843, which Miller accepted; Clayton then returned to the probate court with JS, who had been waiting on the steamboat, to certify the accuracy of the statements. According to Clayton, the balance of money for the guardianship totaled $3,790.89¾.
In January 1844, JS, with ’s assistance, settled the accounts of the Lawrence children at ’s store, distributed cash payments to and and , and took initial steps to transfer the guardianship to . These plans continued to mature in June, when JS sought to surrender his guardianship to Taylor in conjunction with Taylor pursuing litigation against for slandering Maria Lawrence. Law, one of the sureties for JS’s guardianship bond, experienced mounting conflict with JS in 1844 over JS’s increasing authority and influence in civic organizations and his plural marriages to several women, including Sarah and Maria Lawrence. At this time, JS had an unresolved petition for bankruptcy, and his alleged insolvency led Law to petition the Probate Court to examine the guardianship in May 1844. In his petition, Law noted the “large amount” of property belonging to the Lawrence heirs that was in JS’s possession, the risk of JS becoming “utterly insolvent, if he is not already so,” and ’s approved bankruptcy that required “supplementary security” upon the guardianship bond.
However, nothing came of ’s petition due to the murder of JS in June. ’s efforts to assume guardianship of the children failed to materialize prior to JS’s death, and subsequent instruction from church leaders dissuaded him from considering it further, leaving the guardianship uncertain. , who in the initial months after JS’s death played a formative role separating church assets from personal assets in the estate, traveled with to to resolve the guardianship, but they were informed by Judge Miller that settling “the Lawrence business” was impossible without the appointment of another guardian.
Babbitt Guardian of James Lawrence et al. v. William Law et al.
On 5 September 1844, , representing her three children under the age of fourteen, petitioned the Probate Court to appoint as guardian; James and Nelson Lawrence, both over fourteen, nominated Babbitt guardian. The probate court granted the petition and nomination, giving Babbitt guardianship over the five youngest Lawrence children. The two oldest children, and , were now adults. In May 1845, Babbitt, on behalf of the Lawrence children, submitted a $4,033.87 claim against the JS estate, which was allowed by the Hancock County Probate Court.
In addition to submitting a claim against the JS estate, as guardian of the five minor Lawrence children filed a lawsuit against and the estates of JS and on 1 September 1845 for a debt of $7,750 plus $500 damages. As sureties to JS’s 1841 guardianship bond, Hyrum Smith and Law had assumed responsibility for JS’s performance as guardian. On 23 October, , administrator of the estate of JS, appeared in court, but the other defendants—, administrator of the estate of Hyrum Smith, and Law—did not. The court initially gave Babbitt a default judgment, but damages were apparently “unknown to the court.” The court awarded a writ of inquiry that allowed for the selection and swearing in of twelve jurors to assess the damages. For unspecified reasons, Babbitt took a and the suit was dismissed at his costs in the October 1845 court term.
Maria Lawrence et al. v. Coolidge Administrator of the Estate of JS
In January 1846, filed a lawsuit against the JS estate that omitted as a defendant and included and as additional plaintiffs. The defendants failed to appear, and the suit was dismissed at the plaintiffs’ costs in May. The court awarded another writ of inquiry and the jury assessed the debt in the plaintiffs’ declaration at $7,750.06; the court ordered that the plaintiffs recover $4,275.88 in damages.
The amount of debt JS incurred during his lifetime, consisting of personal transactions and church debts he took on in his role as trustee-in-trust, exceeded the liquidated assets of his estate. Church trustees and assumed responsibility for some of these debts from JS’s death until 1846, when they were replaced by , , and . In August 1846, Babbitt, Heywood, and Fullmer issued a promissory note for $3,884.61 payable in one day to Babbitt as guardian of the Lawrence children, but it was apparently renegotiated with a new note that has not been located. In 1849, church recorder paid Babbitt for two personal financial transactions and $1,248.22 for a promissory note on the Lawrence estate. Babbitt was ready to dispose of additional property to the credit of the church trustees. There are no further indications of payments between the church and Babbitt as guardian of the Lawrence children.
Calendar of Documents
This calendar lists all known documents created by or for the court, whether extant or not. It does not include versions of documents created for other purposes, though those versions may be listed in footnotes. In certain cases, especially in cases concerning unpaid debts, the originating document (promissory note, invoice, etc.) is listed here. Note that documents in the calendar are grouped with their originating court. Where a version of a document was subsequently filed with another court, that version is listed under both courts.
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