Ordinance, 14 May 1842–A, as Published in the Wasp
Source Note
Nauvoo City Council, Ordinance, , Hancock Co., IL, 14 May 1842. Version published in “An Ordinance Concerning Brothels and Disorderly Characters,” Wasp, 14 May 1842, [3].
An Ordinance concerning brothels and disorderly characters.
Sec. 1st. Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of , that all brothels or houses of ill fame, erected or being in the City of , be and the same hereby are henceforth prohibited and by law declared public nuisances and that the owners or keepers of such houses, be fined in a sum of not less than five hundred nor more than fifty thousand dollars & imprisoned for six months for each offence of one day’s continuance of such establishment; and that any person frequenting such establishment, (except on lawful business) shall be fined in the sum of five hundred dollars, and six months imprisonment for each offence: and further, that for every act of adultery, or fornication, which can be proved, the parties shall be imprisoned six months, and fined, each, in the sum of from five hundred to fifty thousand dollars, and that the individual’s own acknowledgement shall be considered sufficient evidence in the case.