Statement, 17 June 1844
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Statement, 17 June 1844
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Historical Introduction
Historical Introduction
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See “Joseph Smith Documents from 16 May through 28 June 1844”; Historical Introduction to Petition to Nauvoo Municipal Court, 12 June 1844; and Historical Introduction to Docket Entry, ca. 13 June 1844. A copy of Morrison’s warrant is featured in the print volume as part of JS’s 12 June 1844 petition for habeas corpus.
Warsaw (IL) Signal, Extra, 14 June 1844, [1]; Thomas Barnes, Ukiah, CA, to Miranda Haskett, 1 Nov. 1897, 8, photocopy, CHL.
Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.
Barnes, Thomas L. Letter, Ukiah, CA, to Miranda Haskett, 1 Nov. 1897. Photocopy. CHL.
JS, Journal, 16 June 1844. Later, on 20 June 1844, Thomas reportedly told Latter-day Saint Anson Call that JS had misunderstood his advice and wrote a note to JS counseling him “to suffer yourself to be taken by the officer holding the writ and go before the justice of the peace who issued the same and have an investigation of the matter.” Illinois law stated that the arresting officer should bring the detained individual “before the officer issuing said warrant, or in case of his absence, before any other judge or justice of the peace” of the county. (Call, Autobiography and Journal, 23–26; An Act to Regulate the Apprehension of Offenders, and for Other Purposes [6 Jan. 1827], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois [1839], p. 238, sec. 3; see also Oaks, “Suppression of the Nauvoo Expositor,” 864n11.)
Call, Anson. Autobiography and Journal, ca. 1857–1883. CHL. MS 313.
The Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois: Containing All the Laws . . . Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835; and at Their Second Session, Commencing December 7, 1835, and Ending January 18, 1836; and Those Passed by the Tenth General Assembly, at Their Session Commencing December 5, 1836, and Ending March 6, 1837; and at Their Special Session, Commencing July 10, and Ending July 22, 1837. . . . Compiled by Jonathan Young Scammon. Chicago: Stephen F. Gale, 1839.
Oaks, Dallin H. “The Suppression of the Nauvoo Expositor.” Utah Law Review 9 (Winter 1965): 862–903.
JS, Journal, 17 June 1844. Wells was elected to his second two-year term as an alderman on 6 February 1843. According to the city charter, aldermen “shall be conservators of the peace within the limits of said city, and shall have all the powers of Justices of the Peace therein, both in civil and criminal cases arising under the laws of the State.” (“City Election,” Wasp, 8 Feb. 1843, [2]; Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840; “Municipal Election,” Times and Seasons, 1 Feb. 1841, 2:309; “The Attendance of the City Council of the City of Nauvoo— Commencing February 10th 1844,” Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)
The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Nauvoo, IL. Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.
“Record of the Names of the Members . . . in the Spring of the Year 1842,” [63]. Apparently, neither Ware’s complaint nor Wells’s warrant is extant, but both documents are referenced in Wells’s published trial report, which listed Samuel Bennett, Joseph W. Coolidge, Jonathan Dunham, John P. Greene, Jesse Harmon, Jonathan Holmes, Dimick B. Huntington, John Lytle, Stephen Markham, Stephen Perry, William W. Phelps, David Harvey Redfield, Levi Richards, Orrin Porter Rockwell, JS, Hyrum Smith, and John Taylor as defendants. The list in Wells’s warrant was identical to that included in Morrison’s 11 June 1844 warrant, except that it omitted William H. Edwards for unknown reasons. (“For the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 21 June 1844, [1]; Petition to Nauvoo Municipal Court, 12 June 1844; see also Historical Introduction to State of Illinois v. JS et al. for Riot–A, State of Illinois v. JS for Riot on Habeas Corpus, State of Illinois v. H. Smith et al. on Habeas Corpus, and State of Illinois v. JS et al. for Riot–B.)
“A Record of the Names of the Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, as Taken by the Lesser Priesthood, in the Spring of the Year 1842, and Continued, to Be Added as the Members Arrive at the City of Nauvoo, Hancock County; Illinois. Also the Deaths of Members, and Their Children, and Names of Children under 8 Years of Age,” after 1844–after 1846. Far West and Nauvoo Elders’ Certificates, 1837–1838, 1840–1846, 1862. CHL.
JS, Journal, 17 June 1844; William Clayton, Daily Account of JS’s Activities, 14–22 June 1844. According to an 1842 survey, Wells’s farm was located between Warrington’s Addition to Nauvoo and Herringshaw and Thompson’s First Addition to Nauvoo. (See map of the City of Nauvoo, 1842; and map of Nauvoo Plats, Blocks, and Lots, 27 June 1844.)
An Act to Regulate the Apprehension of Offenders, and for Other Purposes [6 Jan. 1827], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois (1839), p. 238, sec. 3. If the justice decided to send the case to the circuit court, the defendants would be either released on bail or committed to jail until the court’s next session.
The Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois: Containing All the Laws . . . Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835; and at Their Second Session, Commencing December 7, 1835, and Ending January 18, 1836; and Those Passed by the Tenth General Assembly, at Their Session Commencing December 5, 1836, and Ending March 6, 1837; and at Their Special Session, Commencing July 10, and Ending July 22, 1837. . . . Compiled by Jonathan Young Scammon. Chicago: Stephen F. Gale, 1839.
“For the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 21 June 1844, [1]. Bonney was a merchant who had recently moved to Nauvoo and was one of three non–Latter-day Saint individuals who were admitted to the Council of Fifty. It is unknown why he was selected to act as the prosecutor in this case, as he is not known to have had legal training. Stiles was appointed Nauvoo city attorney in mid-April 1844 and had represented the defendants in the riot case in the habeas corpus proceedings before the Nauvoo Municipal Court. (Council of Fifty, “Record,” 4 Apr. 1844; Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 13 Apr. 1844, 207; Historical Introduction to Petition to Nauvoo Municipal Court, 12 June 1844; Docket Entry, ca. 13 June 1844.)
The published account of the trial identified these witnesses as “H. O. Norton,” presumably Henry Norton; “O. F. Moesseur,” presumably Frederick Moeser; and “P. T. Rolfe,” presumably Tallman Rolfe. Norton and Rolfe, both of whom were associated with the proprietors of the Expositor, testified that they were in the newspaper’s office when the posse arrived. Moeser, who owned a grocery store across the street from the Expositor office, testified that he observed the destruction from outside the office. (“For the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 21 June 1844, [1]; Willard Richards, Minutes concerning Threats, 11 June 1844, Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, ca. 1839–1860, CHL; map of Western Nauvoo, IL, 28 June 1844.)
Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Documents, 1839–1860. CHL. CR 100 396.
“For the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 21 June 1844, [1]. Illinois law defined an accessory as someone “who stands by and aids, abets, or assists; or who not being present aiding, abetting, or assisting, hath advised and encouraged the perpetration of the crime. He or she, who thus aids, abets, or assists, advises, or encourages, shall be deemed and considered as principal, and punished accordingly.” If convicted, an accessory would face the same punishment as a principal in the crime. (An Act Relative to Criminal Jurisprudence [26 Feb. 1833], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois [1839], p. 201, sec. 13.)
The Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois: Containing All the Laws . . . Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835; and at Their Second Session, Commencing December 7, 1835, and Ending January 18, 1836; and Those Passed by the Tenth General Assembly, at Their Session Commencing December 5, 1836, and Ending March 6, 1837; and at Their Special Session, Commencing July 10, and Ending July 22, 1837. . . . Compiled by Jonathan Young Scammon. Chicago: Stephen F. Gale, 1839.
Aside from Ware, the defense witnesses included John R. Wakefield and Edward Wingott, two visitors to Nauvoo who witnessed the destruction of the press. Three Latter-day Saints from Nauvoo or nearby also testified: Addison Everett, who witnessed the destruction of the press; Joel Miles, a Hancock County constable who witnessed the press’s destruction; and Joseph W. Coolidge, one of the defendants whom Wells discharged and then allowed to testify. (“For the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 21 June 1844, [1]; Historical Introduction to Letter to John R. Wakefield, 23 June 1844.)
Richards, Journal, 19 June 1844.
Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.
This copy is held at the CHL and is the copy used for transcription. (See Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 21 June 1844, CHL.)
Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.
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Footnotes
Footnotes
The United States Constitution provided that members of Congress “shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.” The Illinois Constitution of 1818 provided similar protections for state legislators. (U.S. Constitution, art. 1, sec. 6; Illinois Constitution of 1818, art. 2, sec. 12.)
Illinois Office of Secretary of State. First Constitution of Illinois, 1818. Illinois State Archives, Springfield.
Under Illinois law, performing a lawful act, such as executing an order, could be deemed a riot if it was committed “in a violent and tumultuous manner.” However, the official who issued the order would not be held responsible for its manner of execution. (An Act Relative to Criminal Jurisprudence [26 Feb. 1833], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois [1839], p. 220, sec. 117.)
The Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois: Containing All the Laws . . . Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835; and at Their Second Session, Commencing December 7, 1835, and Ending January 18, 1836; and Those Passed by the Tenth General Assembly, at Their Session Commencing December 5, 1836, and Ending March 6, 1837; and at Their Special Session, Commencing July 10, and Ending July 22, 1837. . . . Compiled by Jonathan Young Scammon. Chicago: Stephen F. Gale, 1839.
According to an influential nineteenth-century legal dictionary, the term arraignment “signifies the calling of the defendant to the bar of the court, to answer the accusation contained in the indictment.” It would have been therefore premature for JS to use the term arraigned in a technical sense at a preliminary examination, which occurred prior to the convening of a grand jury at the next session of the circuit court to consider an indictment. As Wells’s docket entry for this examination is apparently not extant, it is unknown whether JS used the term in his statement or if the term was ascribed to him during the process of revision that led to the Nauvoo Neighbor extra. It is also possible that JS used the term in its nontechnical sense of “accused” or “called in question.” (“Arraignment,” in Bouvier, Law Dictionary, 1:126–127; “Arraigned,” in American Dictionary [1841], 1:102.)
Bouvier, John. A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States of America, and of the Several States of the American Union; With References to the Civil and Other Systems of Foreign Law. 2 vols. Philadelphia: Deacon and Peterson, 1854.
An American Dictionary of the English Language: Intended to Exhibit, I. the Origin, Affinities and Primary Signification of English Words, as far as They Have Been Ascertained. . . . Edited by Noah Webster. New York: S. Converse, 1828.
JS apparently believed that just as the United States Supreme Court could determine the constitutionality of federal laws, the Illinois Supreme Court would determine whether the state-chartered Nauvoo City Council had exceeded its authority. Wells, as a justice of the peace, was authorized only to determine whether there was sufficient evidence to send the case to the circuit court for trial. (Nelson, Origins and Legacy of Judicial Review, 1–5; An Act to Regulate the Apprehension of Offenders, and for Other Purposes [6 Jan. 1827], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois [1839], p. 238, sec. 3; see also Letter to Thomas Ford, 22–23 June 1844.)
Nelson, William E. Marbury v. Madison: The Origins and Legacy of Judicial Review. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2000.
The Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois: Containing All the Laws . . . Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835; and at Their Second Session, Commencing December 7, 1835, and Ending January 18, 1836; and Those Passed by the Tenth General Assembly, at Their Session Commencing December 5, 1836, and Ending March 6, 1837; and at Their Special Session, Commencing July 10, and Ending July 22, 1837. . . . Compiled by Jonathan Young Scammon. Chicago: Stephen F. Gale, 1839.
No other extant source describes such a comment from Thomas. JS’s statement suggests Thomas told him that if he could show that no riot had been committed, whether by establishing that the city council’s resolution was legal or that the marshal had not executed JS’s orders “in a violent and tumultuous manner,” then the charge could not be sustained. (An Act Relative to Criminal Jurisprudence [26 Feb. 1833], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois [1839], p. 220, sec. 117.)
The Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois: Containing All the Laws . . . Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835; and at Their Second Session, Commencing December 7, 1835, and Ending January 18, 1836; and Those Passed by the Tenth General Assembly, at Their Session Commencing December 5, 1836, and Ending March 6, 1837; and at Their Special Session, Commencing July 10, and Ending July 22, 1837. . . . Compiled by Jonathan Young Scammon. Chicago: Stephen F. Gale, 1839.