On 10 June 1844 JS issued an order to Dunham, then serving as acting major general of the Nauvoo Legion, to assist Nauvoo city marshal John P. Greene in the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor printing press if called upon by Greene. Three days later Dunham was arrested, along with JS and sixteen other men who were allegedly involved in the destruction of the press. After being discharged in Nauvoo by both the municipal court and Justice of the Peace Daniel H. Wells, Dunham and the other defendants were examined before Justice of the Peace Robert F. Smith in Carthage, Illinois, on 25 June 1844. Robert Smith released Dunham and the other prisoners on bail to appear at the next term of the circuit court in October 1844. In October eleven of the original eighteen men charged with riot—including council members Dunham, Alpheus Cutler, and Orrin Porter Rockwell—were indicted by a grand jury and ordered to appear at the next session of the court in May 1845. (JS, Journal, 10, 12, 13, and 17 June 1844; Richards, Journal, 25 June 1844; Order, 10 June 1844, JS Collection, CHL; Warrant, 11 June 1844, State of Illinois v. JS et al. for Riot [J.P. Ct. 1844], copy, JS Collection, CHL; Clayton, Journal, 23 Oct. 1844; Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court Records, 1829–1897, vol. D, pp. 193, 200, microfilm 947,496, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL. MS 155.

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

U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.