Report of Nauvoo Legion General Court-Martial, 30 November 1841
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Source Note
Nauvoo Legion General Court-Martial, Report, , Hancock Co., IL, 30 Nov. 1841. Featured version published in Times and Seasons, 1 Dec. 1841, vol. 3, no. 3, 618. For more complete source information, see the source note for Letter to Isaac Galland, 22 Mar. 1839.
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Historical Introduction
On 30 November 1841, on the order of JS, officers in the held a disciplinary court to try David Smith and on charges of theft and accessory to theft. The two men were found guilty and dismissed from the legion. That same day, members of the Nauvoo Legion’s general court-martial prepared a report of their verdict. As the commanding officer of the Nauvoo Legion, JS signed the report to indicate his approval of their verdict.This charge was not the only accusation of theft made against members of the . Reports of Latter-day Saints engaging in illegal behavior, particularly stealing, had spread since the war of 1838. An Anti-Mormon Almanac, published in 1841, claimed that “MORMONISM AUTHORIZES THE CRIMES OF THEFT, ROBBERY, HIGH TREASON, AND MURDER,” and accounts of Saints committing theft were published in various newspapers. In response to such accusations, JS unequivocally disavowed theft in an affidavit published in December 1841 alongside the report of the 30 November court-martial.At the time of the court-martial, David Smith (no relation to JS) was serving as assistant inspector general of the Second Cohort of the Nauvoo Legion, and was a commissioned captain. Holbrook later recorded that “times became very hard so that many of the brethren were much put to it for clothing &c. and as there were among us some that were not exactly honest who brought in damnable Doctrine so that with others I was brought into bondage to my enimies.” Holbrook was also one of five church members charged with “larceny, &c.” in a meeting of the church in , Illinois, on 18 November 1841. After evidence was brought forward, all five members were expelled from the church. The decision to excommunicate the offenders was echoed in the Nauvoo Legion’s disciplinary action against Holbrook and Smith.Engaging in theft was not only against the laws of the church and , but it was also at odds with the militia’s purpose of proving that the Saints were “obedient to the paramount laws of the land.” JS, as lieutenant general, ordered that a general court-martial be held for Smith and a trial held for ; the order was conveyed through Major General to Brevet Major General . After hearing witnesses and deciding that Smith and Holbrook were guilty as charged, the court-martial cashiered the two men from the Nauvoo Legion’s ranks.Under ’s authority as president of the court-martial, the court’s verdict of guilt and decision to cashier the men were recorded and signed by the members of the court. The report was then conveyed back through the chain of command, first to and then to . Both approved and signed the report. The report was then given to JS for final review, and he approved and signed it. The original report is evidently not extant, but a copy was published in the Times and Seasons; that version is featured here.
Footnotes
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1
See Historical Introduction to Agreement with Jacob Stollings, 12 Apr. 1839; Thomas B. Marsh and Orson Hyde, Richmond, MO, to Lewis Abbott and Ann Marsh Abbott, Far West, MO, 25–30 Oct. 1838, in JS Letterbook 2, p. 18. For information on accusations of robbery in Illinois, see Affidavit, 29 Nov. 1841; News Item, Warsaw (IL) Signal, 15 Dec. 1841, [2]; “Mormon Excitement,” Warsaw Signal, 24 Nov. 1841, [2]; Gregg, History of Hancock County, Illinois, 278–282, 337; and Smith, History of Illinois and Her People, 2:274, 280.
Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.
Gregg, Thomas. History of Hancock County, Illinois, Together with an Outline History of the State, and a Digest of State Laws. Chicago: Charles C. Chapman, 1880.
Smith, George W. History of Illinois and Her People. 6 vols. Chicago: American Historical Society, 1927.
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2
Anti-Mormon Almanac, for 1842, title page; “Anti-Mormon Almanac,” Times and Seasons, 16 Aug. 1841, 2:513–514; see also Affidavit, 29 Nov. 1841; David W. Kilbourne and Edward Kilbourne, “Latter-Day-Ism, Number One,” Warsaw (IL) Signal, 6 Oct. 1841, [2]–[3]; News Item, Radical (Bowling Green, MO), 6 Nov. 1841, [1]; and “The Mormons,” New-York Tribune, 7 Dec. 1841, [3].
Anti-Mormon Almanac, for 1842: Containing, Besides the Usual Astronomical Calculations, a Variety of Interesting and Important Facts, Showing the Treasonable Tendency . . . . New York: no publisher, [1841].
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.
Radical. Bowling Green, MO. 1841–1845.
New-York Tribune. New York City. 1841–1842.
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3
Affidavit, 29 Nov. 1841. A statement issued by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles made it clear that any members of the church acting with the “gangs of robbers up and down” the Mississippi River would be “cut off from the church, and handed over to the law.” Hyrum Smith also swore an affidavit disavowing theft. The affidavit was created in response to reports he had received that professed members of the church were alleging that “the First Presidency, and others in authority and high standing in said church, do sanction and approbate the members of said church in stealing property from those persons who do not belong to said church.” (Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Statement, Times and Seasons, 1 Dec. 1841, 3:617; “Hyrum Smith’s Affidavit,” Times and Seasons, 1 Dec. 1841, 3:615.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
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4
Nauvoo Legion, Hancock Co., Illinois State Militia Commission Records, 1834–1855, vol. 17, p. 41, Illinois State Archives, Springfield; Thomas Carlin, Commission to Joseph Holbrook, certified 6 Oct. 1841, in Holbrook, Autobiography and Journal, inserted between pp. 60–61.
Illinois State Militia Commission Records, 1834–1855. Illinois State Archives, Springfield.
Holbrook, Joseph. Autobiography and Journal, not before 1871. Photocopy. CHL. MS 5004. Original in private possession.
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5
Holbrook, Autobiography and Journal, 61.
Holbrook, Joseph. Autobiography and Journal, not before 1871. Photocopy. CHL. MS 5004. Original in private possession.
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6
Proceedings of the Ramus meeting were published in the Times and Seasons. (Minutes, Ramus, IL, 18 Nov. 1841, in Times and Seasons, 1 Dec. 1841, 3:616; see also Macedonia Branch, Record, 18 Nov. 1841.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Macedonia Branch, Record / “A Record of the Chur[c]h of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints in Macedonia (Also Called Ramus),” 1839–1850. CHL. LR 11808 21.
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