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Proclamation, 11 June 1844

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Proclamation, 11 June 1844

Source Note

JS, Proclamation, , Hancock Co., IL, 11 June 1844. Featured version published in “Proclamation,” Nauvoo Neighbor (Nauvoo, Hancock Co., IL), 12 June 1844, vol. 2, no. 7, [2]–[3]. For more complete source information, see the source note for Notice, 26 Aug. 1843.

Historical Introduction

On 11 June 1844, JS, as mayor of , Illinois, instructed his clerk to compose a proclamation ordering the city officers and citizens of Nauvoo to assist JS in keeping the peace. The previous day, the Nauvoo City Council had passed a resolution declaring the Nauvoo Expositor a nuisance. Pursuant to this decision, JS, as mayor, instructed city marshal to remove the nuisance by destroying the newspaper’s printing equipment. That evening, a posse led by Greene carried out the order, and several of JS’s enemies threatened to retaliate by demolishing the , burning down JS’s , or tearing down the Nauvoo Neighbor’s printing office. , for instance, stated that “if th[e]y lay their hand up[o]n it,” meaning the Expositor’s press, “or break it. th[e]y may date their downfall f[r]om that ve[r]y hour. and in 10 days there will not be a Mormon left in Nauvoo.” The following day, 11 June, pointed to these threats and reported that there was “considerable excitement” about the Expositor’s suppression.
Besides the threat of vengeance from JS’s opponents within , there was also the danger of mob violence originating outside the city. Tensions between the and some of their neighbors had been growing for years, and in 1844 a tenuous peace prevailed in . In late May, , the editor of the Warsaw Signal, warned that if one of JS’s “enemies be assailed, or the blood of one of them spilled, it will be the signal for general hostilities.” He further stated that “the feeling in this county is now lashed to its utmost pitch, and it will break forth in fury upon the slightest provocation.” JS’s opponents in Hancock County viewed the Expositor’s destruction as this provocation, and reports reached JS sometime on 11 June that “runners [had] gone in diff[er]ent directi[o]ns to get up a mob.”
On the morning of 11 June, JS met with his brother , , , and others in his in the . According to JS’s journal, which was kept by Richards, at some point during or after this meeting, JS instructed to write a proclamation about keeping the peace.
In the proclamation, JS requested that the city’s officers and citizens prevent the circulation of false statements, libels, and slanders, as well as the gathering of mobs. The proclamation was apparently completed later that day and was published in the 12 June issue of the Nauvoo Neighbor along with editorials defending the city council’s actions against the Expositor.
No draft by has been located. However, two manuscript versions of the proclamation are extant. Both appear to be fair copies made by scribe . As the proclamation was presumably intended to be published, the version printed in the Nauvoo Neighbor is featured here.

Footnotes

  1. Minutes, 10 June 1844; Resolution, 10 June 1844.

  2. Mayor’s Order to Nauvoo City Marshal, 10 June 1844; Clayton, Journal, 11 June 1844; Richards, Journal, 11 June 1844; Willard Richards, Minutes concerning Threats, 11 June 1844, Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, ca. 1839–1860, CHL; JS, Journal, 11 June 1844; see also Testimonies, Nauvoo, IL, 12 June 1844, State of Illinois v. JS for Riot on Habeas Corpus (Nauvoo Mun. Ct. 1844), pp. [2]–[3], Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.

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

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

    Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Documents, 1839–1860. CHL. CR 100 396.

    Nauvoo, IL. Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.

  3. Clayton, Journal, 11 June 1844.

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

  4. See “Joseph Smith Documents from 16 May through 28 June 1844.”

  5. Editorial, Warsaw (IL) Signal, 29 May 1844, [2].

    Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

  6. JS, Journal, 11 June 1844; “Unparalleled Outrage at Nauvoo,” Warsaw (IL) Signal, 12 June 1844, [2].

    Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

  7. JS, Journal, 11 June 1844.

  8. “Retributive Justice,” and “To the Public,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 12 June 1844, [2].

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  9. JS, Proclamation, 11 June 1844, fair copy, JS Office Papers, CHL; JS, Proclamation, 11 June 1844, fair copy, JS Collection (Supplement), CHL.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. Proclamation, 11 June 1844, John McEwan First Copy Proclamation, 11 June 1844, John McEwan Second Copy *Proclamation, 11 June 1844
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tempts have already been made to excite the jealousy and prejudice of the people of the surrounding country, by libels, and slanderous articles upon the citizens and City Council, for the purpose of destroying the “Charter” of said , and for the purpose of raising suspicion, wrath, and indignation among a certain class of the less honorable portion of mankind, to commit acts of violence upon the innocent and unsuspecting, in a certain newspaper called the “Nauvoo Expositor,” recently established for such purposes in said , and which has been destroyed as a nuisance according to the provisions of the Charter. I further call upon every Officer, authority and citizen to be vigilant in preventing by wisdom, the promulgation of false statements, libels, slanders, or any other malicious designed concern that may be put in operation to excite and ferment the passions of men to rebel against the rights and privileges of the , citizens or laws of the land: to be ready to suppress the gathering of mobs; to repel, by gentle means and noble exertion, every foul scheme of unprincipled men, to disgrace and dishonor the , or , or any of their legally constituted authorities: and finally to keep the peace, by being cool, considerate, virtuous, unoffending, manly and patriotic as the true sons of liberty ever have been, and honorably maintain the precious boon our illustrious fathers won.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand & affixed the seal of said Corporation at the City of , this 11th day of June, 1844.
-[L.S.]-
JOSEPH SMITH, Mayor. [p. [3]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Proclamation, 11 June 1844
ID #
1391
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Printed text

Footnotes

  1. The unconditional repeal of Nauvoo’s city charter was one of the stated goals of the Nauvoo Expositor. The first and only issue of the Expositor contained two articles advocating this position. (Prospectus of the Nauvoo Expositor [Nauvoo, IL: 10 May 1844], copy at CHL; Editorial, and Francis M. Higbee, “Citizens of Hancock County,” Nauvoo Expositor, 7 June 1844, [3].)

    Nauvoo Expositor Prospectus. Nauvoo, IL: ca. 10 May 1844. Copy at CHL.

  2. One of the concerns raised about the Nauvoo Expositor during meetings of the city council on 8 and 10 June was that the newspaper would incite mob violence against the Latter-day Saints. (Minutes, 8 June 1844; Minutes, 10 June 1844.)

  3. The Nauvoo Expositor was published on 7 June. (Nameplate, Nauvoo Expositor, 7 June 1844, [1]; JS, Journal, 7 June 1844.)

  4. On 10 June 1844, the Nauvoo City Council approved an ordinance prescribing a fine of up to $500, six months’ imprisonment, or both for anyone who was convicted of writing or publishing a false statement, libeling one of the city’s citizens “for the purpose of exciting the public mind against the chartered privileges, peace and good order of said city,” slandering or bribing any of the city’s residents, or exciting “in any manner or form . . . the prejudice of the community against any portion of the citizens of said city for evil purposes.” (Ordinance, 10 June 1844.)

  5. The Sons of Liberty was the name given to extralegal groups formed in the British North American colonies to resist the implementation of the Stamp Act of 1765. William W. Phelps also employed the term sons of liberty in JS’s political writings. (Wood, American Revolution, 28–30; General Joseph Smith’s Appeal to the Green Mountain Boys, 21 Nov.–ca. 3 Dec. 1843; General Smith’s Views of the Powers and Policy of the Government of the United States, ca. 26 Jan.–7 Feb. 1844.)

    Wood, Gordon S. The American Revolution: A History. New York: Modern Library, 2002.

  6. “L.S.” is an abbreviation for locus sigilli, Latin for “location of the seal.” A fair copy of the proclamation was impressed with the city of Nauvoo’s seal. The seal’s design consisted of a scale set above “1840,” the year Nauvoo was incorporated as a city. The words “CORPORATION SEAL of CITY of NAUVOO” encircled these elements. (JS, Proclamation, 11 June 1844, fair copy, JS Collection [Supplement], CHL.)

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