Skip to main content

Joseph Smith as a Judge

Following JS’s election as mayor of , Illinois, on 19 May 1842, he served as a judge in two courts in the city’s judicial system—the mayor’s court and the municipal court. According to the act incorporating the city of Nauvoo, also known as the , the mayor’s court held limited jurisdiction over alleged violations of state statutes, minor civil disputes, and breaches of city ordinances. The municipal court heard appeals from the mayor’s and city ’s courts and also issued writs of . Like most other local judges in the nineteenth century, JS lacked formal legal training. However, consistent with comparable lay magistrates, he was a well-respected member of his community, and he performed his duties by referencing state statutes, city ordinances, and legal treatises such as William Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England. He consulted with local attorneys and others well versed in the law, and he drew upon his own experiences with the legal system. Between his election as mayor and his death on 27 June 1844, JS presided over approximately sixty-five cases in the mayor’s court and twelve in the municipal court, totaling seventy-seven cases—more than one-third of the total number of cases he was involved in.
Records for only thirty-seven cases for which JS was the judge—twenty-five in the mayor’s court and twelve in the municipal court—are apparently extant. The gap in surviving documentation in the mayor’s court record coincides with the transition from to as the court’s clerk. Sloan served as clerk from July 1842 through February 1843, during which time JS presided over eighteen cases in the mayor’s court. Sloan recorded entries in the mayor’s court docket book and produced case files for each of them. Following the legislature’s disincorporation of in 1845, these court records were preserved with other city records by church clerks. Between Phelps’s February 1843 appointment as mayor’s court clerk and JS’s June 1844 death, JS heard approximately forty-seven cases. Documents for only seven of these cases are apparently extant. The remaining cases are known primarily from references in JS’s journal, as discussed herein.
By contrast, the records of the municipal court during JS’s tenure as chief justice were well preserved in a docket book and in case files, first by and then by his successor as municipal court clerk, .
 
Mayor’s Court: Violations of State Statutes
According to the charter, the mayor served as a , with limited jurisdiction over violations of state statutes that allegedly occurred within the city’s boundaries. Under law, justices of the peace could preside over trials for and similar crimes, with authority to make final determinations of guilt or innocence, but for most criminal offenses, justices were authorized only to hold preliminary examinations to determine whether there was sufficient evidence to send the case to the circuit court for trial. During his tenure as a justice of the peace, JS is known to have tried four defendants for violating state statutes. Docket entries and case files have survived for three of those cases, each heard during ’s tenure as clerk.
State of Illinois v. Little, 21 July 1842
State of Illinois v. D. Brown and Edwards, 15 November 1842
State of Illinois v. Olney, 10 February 1843
State of Illinois v. J. Thompson, 29 May 1843
 
Mayor’s Court: Civil Cases
The charter authorized the mayor, acting as a justice of the peace, to hear minor civil suits within the boundaries of the city, with powers defined by state laws. law granted justices authority to hear civil suits for unpaid debts not exceeding $100. In addition, justices heard cases dealing with personal property for damages not exceeding twenty dollars. Illinois law also permitted justices to adjudicate claims that individuals had unlawfully entered and occupied land. Appeals of decisions rendered by the mayor acting as a justice of the peace would be heard by the Hancock County Circuit Court. During his tenure as mayor, JS presided over approximately seventeen civil suits. Documents for eight civil cases are extant, four of which were heard during ’s tenure as clerk.
Parker v. S. Foster, 16 July 1842
Harwood v. A. Brown, 1 September 1842
Copeland v. A. Brown, 5 September 1842
Canfield v. Morey, 26 December 1842
Dana v. Brink, 10 March 1843
Webb v. E. Rigby and B. Rigby, 31 March 1843
M. F. Thompson v. F. Dixon and E. Dixon, 17 May 1843
Alford v. Gulley, 10 May 1843
Butterfield v. Mills, 17 August 1843
Mallery v. Pilkinton, 23 August 1843
Foster v. Easton, 5 September 1843
Dana v. Leeches, 26 September 1843
Meddagh v. Hovey, 26 September 1843
Flagg v. Unknown Party, 30 October 1843
Erskine v. Pullen, 15 November 1843
Averill v. Bostwick, 16 November 1843
Saunders v. T. Dixon, ca. 4 February 1844
 
Mayor’s Court: Violations of City Ordinances
The charter authorized the city council to pass ordinances that were deemed “necessary for the peace, benefit, good order, regulation, convenience, and cleanliness, of said city.” The charter specified that ordinances could not be “repugnant” to the constitution of the or of the state of . The mayor, along with the aldermen, operated courts that were tasked with prosecuting those accused of breaching the ordinances. During his time as judge of the mayor’s court, JS prosecuted approximately fifty people charged with violating city ordinances. Documents for fourteen of those cases—eleven heard during ’s tenure—are apparently extant.
City of Nauvoo v. H. Rhodes, 5 July 1842
City of Nauvoo v. Walker, 5 July 1842
City of Nauvoo v. McGraw, 5 July 1842
City of Nauvoo v. McGraw and White, 30 July 1842
City of Nauvoo v. W. Thompson, 2 August 1842
City of Nauvoo v. Davis for Ardent Spirits, 1 December 1842
City of Nauvoo v. Davis for Slander of Miles, 6 December 1842
City of Nauvoo v. Davis for Assault, 6 December 1842
City of Nauvoo v. Anderson, Cutler, and Hamilton, 17 December 1842
City of Nauvoo v. Clements and N. Tanner, 19 December 1842
City of Nauvoo v. Clements, A. Tanner, and H. Tanner, 22 December 1842
City of Nauvoo v. Morgan and Taylor, 21 February 1843
City of Nauvoo v. Sherwood, 10 March 1843
City of Nauvoo v. Lower, 31 March 1843
City of Nauvoo v. Unknown Defendant–A, 27 April 1843
City of Nauvoo v. Gay, 3 May 1843
City of Nauvoo v. Bullard–A, 17 August 1843
City of Nauvoo v. Fizzacherly, 17 August 1843
City of Nauvoo v. Moeser, 21 August 1843
City of Nauvoo v. Wilkinson–A, 22 August 1843
City of Nauvoo v. Huxhan, 23 August 1843
City of Nauvoo v. Bullard–B, 23 August 1843
City of Nauvoo v. Hotchkissn, 29 August 1843
City of Nauvoo v. Derby, 29 August 1843
City of Nauvoo v. Miles, 29 August 1843
City of Nauvoo v. A. Dodge, S. Dodge, and Purtelow, 4 September 1843
City of Nauvoo v. Owen, 6 September 1843
City of Nauvoo v. Unknown Defendant–B, 18 September 1843
City of Nauvoo v. Unknown Defendant–C, 18 September 1843
City of Nauvoo v. Moore, 30 October 1843
City of Nauvoo v. R. White and E. White, 30 December 1843
City of Nauvoo v. T. Miller, Leach, Bridges, and Frodsham, 1 Jan. 1844
City of Nauvoo v. H. Dayton, 2 January 1844
City of Nauvoo v. L. Dayton, 2 January 1844
City of Nauvoo v. Wilkinson–B, 20 January 1844
City of Nauvoo v. Coates, 30 January 1844
City of Nauvoo v. Unknown Defendants, 8 February 1844
City of Nauvoo v. Withers, 9 February 1844
City of Nauvoo v. Bostwick, 26 February 1844
City of Nauvoo v. Eastin, 1 April 1844
City of Nauvoo v. A. Spencer, 26 April 1844
City of Nauvoo v. C. L. Higbee, C. A. Foster, and R. D. Foster, 26 April 1844
City of Nauvoo v. R. D. Foster–B, 26 April 1844
City of Nauvoo v. R. D. Foster–C, ca. 9 May 1844
 
Nauvoo Municipal Court: Habeas Corpus Proceedings
According to the charter, the Nauvoo Municipal Court was composed of the mayor as chief justice and the city aldermen as associate justices. The charter gave the municipal court “power to grant writs of habeas corpus in all cases arising under the ordinances of the City Council.” During JS’s tenure as chief justice, he presided over nine habeas corpus proceedings in the municipal court, each of which is attested in docket entries and extant case files.
State of Illinois v. Goddard et al. on Habeas Corpus, 4 February 1843
State of Illinois v. J. Hoopes and L. Hoopes on Habeas Corpus, 5 April 1843
State of Illinois v. Drown on Habeas Corpus, 17 October 1843
State of Illinois v. Finch on Habeas Corpus, 24 November 1843
State of Illinois v. Greene et al. on Habeas Corpus, 3 April 1844
State of Illinois v. Colton on Habeas Corpus, 13 April 1844
United States v. Jeremiah Smith on Habeas Corpus–A, 30 May 1844
United States v. Jeremiah Smith on Habeas Corpus–B, 30 May 1844
State of Illinois v. H. Smith et al. on Habeas Corpus, 13 June 1844
 
Nauvoo Municipal Court: Appeals
According to the charter, the Nauvoo Municipal Court heard appeals “from any decision or judgment” rendered by the mayor’s or aldermen’s courts “arising under the city ordinances.” The charter also stated “that the parties litigant shall have a right to a trial by a Jury of twelve men, in all cases before the Municipal Court,” a provision that applied to appeals. During his tenure as chief justice, JS presided over three appeals, each of which is represented by docket entries and extant case files.
City of Nauvoo v. McGraw, 5 July 1842
City of Nauvoo v. Davis for Ardent Spirits, 6 December 1842
Brink v. Dana, 19 April 1843