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Letter from Thomas Ford, 22 June 1844

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Letter from Thomas Ford, 22 June 1844

Source Note

, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to city mayor [JS] and Nauvoo City Council, [, Hancock Co., IL], 22 June 1844; handwriting and signature of ; eight pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes docket and redactions.
Two bifolia measuring 12⅜ × 7⅝ inches (31 × 19 cm). Each page is horizontally lined with thirty-seven thin lines. An embossment reading “AMES” with a decorative octagonal border is on the first page of both bifolia. The document was folded in half twice horizontally. There are three sets of pin holes in the upper left corner of the bifolia, indicating various efforts to keep the entirety of the document together.
The letter was docketed on the fourth page by , who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and served as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854. At some later point, an unknown scribe made insertions in graphite. The letter was copied into JS’s history sometime in 1856. The document was listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) circa 1904. By 1973 it had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early docket, its inclusion in JS’s history, its inclusion in the circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

  2. JS History, vol. F-1, 140–143; Source Note for History, 1838–1856, vol. F-1.

  3. “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [4], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

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

  4. See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

During the early afternoon of 22 June 1844, governor wrote a letter to JS and the city council of , Hancock County, Illinois, urging JS and seventeen others to submit to arrest and come to , the Hancock County seat, to answer a charge of . Ford had traveled from , Illinois, to Carthage to investigate the circumstances surrounding the city council’s ordering the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor’s press. Soon after arriving on 21 June, Ford sent a letter to JS informing him of the investigation and inviting JS to send representatives to Carthage to relate the perspectives of JS and the city council regarding the circumstances in question. In response, JS sent and to Carthage carrying a short letter, fifteen affidavits detailing threats made against the Latter-day Saints, and some other documents. The next day, 22 June, Taylor and Bernhisel delivered the documents to Ford at about ten o’clock in the morning. After perusing the documents, Ford told Taylor and Bernhisel that he wanted JS and the others named in the arrest warrant to come to Carthage and answer the charge of riot. By doing so, they could “prove to the people, what . . . [they] professed, that . . . [they] wished to be governed by law.” Ford stated that he believed such actions “would have a tendency to allay public excitement.” When Taylor and Bernhisel countered that it would be unsafe for JS to travel to Carthage “with out an armed force,” Ford “strenuously advised” the “not to bring any arms and pledged his faith as Governor and the faith of the State that [they] should be protected, and that he would guarrantee [their] perfect safety.”
Upon the conclusion of his meeting with and , wrote his 22 June 1844 letter to JS and the City Council, explaining that he believed the uproar in stemmed directly from the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor and the apparent unwillingness of JS and the others named in the warrant to be tried by any court other than the Nauvoo Municipal Court. Ford ignored the arguments that JS had presented and instead proceeded with his own analysis of why the city council had acted inappropriately in ordering the press’s destruction. Ford, who had been an attorney and a judge for several years—and had even served on the Supreme Court—also lectured JS on the Illinois state constitution and how JS had violated its principles. Ford wrote that unless those charged with answered the charges in , he would be forced to call out the state militia to arrest them. He expressed that he was not confident he could control the militia or guarantee the safety of Nauvoo against an attack and warned JS that if he and the others accused did not surrender themselves and come to Carthage, dire consequences would likely result. Ford evidently finished writing the letter sometime around five o’clock in the afternoon.
Upon finishing the letter, gave it to Christopher Yates, captain of the militia, and a posse of between ten and thirty men, who accompanied and back to . After arriving in Nauvoo that night at around ten o’clock, Yates gave the letter to JS. Around midnight, JS wrote a response to Ford.

Footnotes

  1. John Taylor, Statement, 23 Aug. 1856, 24, Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, CHL; Letter from Thomas Ford, 21 June 1844.

  2. Letter to Thomas Ford, 21 June 1844; Minutes, 21 June 1844; JS, Journal, 21 June 1844. The other documents included, among other items, copies of JS’s 14 and 16 June letters to Ford, the sent copies of which had arrived in Springfield after Ford's departure for Carthage. (Letter to Thomas Ford, 14 June 1844; Letter to Thomas Ford, 16 June 1844.)

  3. John Taylor, Statement, 23 Aug. 1856, 20–24, Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, CHL.

  4. JS offered defenses of the destruction of the Expositor in his 14 June letter to Ford, a copy of which Taylor and Bernhisel provided Ford after they arrived in Carthage. (Letter to Thomas Ford, 14 June 1844; John Taylor, Statement, 23 Aug. 1856, 22, Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, CHL.)

  5. John Taylor, Statement, 23 Aug. 1856, 24, Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, CHL.

  6. 1850 U.S. Census, Hancock Co., IL, 294[A]; John Taylor, Statement, 23 Aug. 1856, 24–25, Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, CHL. In a December 1844 message to the Illinois state legislature, Ford reported that he had dispatched “a force of ten men” to deliver the letter and make the arrests. William Clayton recorded that the posse numbered thirty men. (Message of the Governor, 9; Clayton, Journal, 22–23 June 1844; see also Ford, History of Illinois, 332.)

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

    Message of the Governor of the State of Illinois, in Relation to the Disturbances in Hancock County, December, 21, 1844. Springfield, IL: Walters and Weber, 1844.

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

    Ford, Thomas. A History of Illinois, from Its Commencement as a State in 1818 to 1847. Containing a Full Account of the Black Hawk War, the Rise, Progress, and Fall of Mormonism, the Alton and Lovejoy Riots, and Other Important and Interesting Events. Chicago: S. C. Griggs; New York: Ivison and Phinney, 1854.

  7. Richards, Journal, 22 June 1844. Taylor later recalled returning to Nauvoo around eight or nine o’clock in the evening, but his recollection was written approximately twelve years later. (John Taylor, Statement, 23 Aug. 1856, 25, Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, CHL.)

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

  8. Letter to Thomas Ford, 22–23 June 1844.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter from Thomas Ford, 22 June 1844 Letter from Thomas Ford, 22 June 1844, John McEwan First Copy Letter from Thomas Ford, 22 June 1844, John McEwan Second Copy Letter from Thomas Ford, 22 June 1844, as Published in Warsaw Signal History, 1838–1856, volume F-1 [1 May 1844–8 August 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”
I Sincerely hope that your people may do nothing which will make Such a proceeding necessary. I hope also that they will be well disposed to cooperate with me in allaying the excitement of the public mind. Immediately discharge such persons as you have under martial law Let them go without molestation. Abstain from all injury to private property Let people go where they please without Swearing them first to take no part against you. All Such proceedings tend only to inflame the public mind and raise up ten men disposed to fight you, where for every one thus foolishly disabled from appearing against you
Your Committee assures me that you are Sincerely desirous of preserving the peace; and if so I hope you will cooperate with me in every thing necessary to allay the Excitement in the minds of the People
The following named persons are reported to me as being detained against their will by Marshall law . A[ndrew] J. Higbee , P. J. Rolf[e], , T. J. Rolph It will tend greatly to allay Excitement if they Shall be immediately discharged and Suffered to go without molestation
It is also reported here and generally believed but whether truly or not I have not yet learned, that there are many foraging parties abroad from committing depredations upon the cattle and property in the vicinity This pr These acts if correctly reported must absolutely cease immediately, if you expect any person here to have the power to preserve the peace [p. [7]]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Thomas Ford, 22 June 1844
ID #
1959
Total Pages
8
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Thomas Ford

Footnotes

  1. On 19 June, Nauvoo officials began taking affidavits from community members who were leaving Nauvoo in which they swore that they were “not opposed to” and did not have “any hostile feelings to the Citizens of Nauvoo” and that they would not give support “to the mob, or any one belonging to the mob.” They also affirmed that they would not “carry out of Nauvoo any arms or ammunition whatever.” Several individuals made this or similar affidavits between 19 and 22 June. (Affidavit Form, between 19 and 22 June 1844, JS Office Papers, CHL; see also, for example, James Camron, Affidavit, Hancock Co., IL, 19 June 1844; H. Rosenkrantz, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 22 June 1844; Luther Taylor, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 22 June 1844, JS Office Papers, CHL.)

  2. No documentation survives showing that all these men had been detained, but Hicks, at least, had. On 19 June 1844, William Clayton recorded that Hicks had been “arrested for attempting to violate the law & go to Carthage.” Five days later Norton filed a complaint against Hyrum Smith before a justice of the peace at Carthage stating that on 19 June, Hyrum Smith had committed “the crime of Treason against the Government and people of the State of Illinois aforesaid.” It is unclear what Norton was referring to, but it is possible that, like Hicks, he was detained on that day. Nothing is known about the other alleged detentions, though JS asserted in his response to Ford that all those detained had violated city ordinances and all had been released before JS’s response. (William Clayton, Daily Account of JS’s Activities, 14–22 June 1844; Robert Smith, Warrant for Hyrum Smith, Carthage, IL, 24 June 1844, State of Illinois v. JS and H. Smith for Treason [J.P. Ct. 1844], JS Office Papers, CHL; Letter to Thomas Ford, 22–23 June 1844.)

  3. Despite denials from JS and others, similar charges had been made against the Latter-day Saint residents in Hancock County since at least 1841. While a few cases confirmed some thefts by Latter-day Saints, contemporary evidence suggested that such instances were isolated. Ford later recalled that when he arrived in Hancock County, he was told by some of the Latter-day Saints’ enemies that “the larcenies of the Mormons had become unusually numerous and insufferable.” More specifically, they claimed that “sixteen horses had been stolen by the Mormons in one night” near Lima, just across the border in Adams County. While Ford noted that “some larcenies and robberies had been committed, and that Mormons had been convicted of the crimes,” he also acknowledged that his investigations into the matter revealed that “the charge of promiscuous stealing appeared to be exaggerated.” For instance, when he visited Lima he was “told that no horses had been stolen in that neighborhood, but that sixteen horses had been stolen in one night in Hancock county.” (Affidavit, 29 Nov. 1841; Ford, History of Illinois, 329, 331.)

    Ford, Thomas. A History of Illinois, from Its Commencement as a State in 1818 to 1847. Containing a Full Account of the Black Hawk War, the Rise, Progress, and Fall of Mormonism, the Alton and Lovejoy Riots, and Other Important and Interesting Events. Chicago: S. C. Griggs; New York: Ivison and Phinney, 1854.

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