Docket Entry, 1–circa 6 July 1843 [Extradition of JS for Treason]
Source Note
Docket Entry, [, Hancock Co., IL, 1–ca. 6 July 1843], Extradition of JS for Treason (Nauvoo, IL, Municipal Court 1843); Nauvoo Municipal Court Docket Book, 55–87, 116–150; handwriting of and ; CHL.
A simultanious was made in all the counties where settlements were made in every part of the , which soon became violent & threatenings were heard from every quarter. Public meetings were held & the most inflamatory speeches made & resolutions passed, which dnounced all the citizens of these counties in the most bitter & rancorous manner. These resolutions were published in the papers & the most extensive circulation given to them that the presses of the country were capable of giving.
The first regular mob that assembled was in Carroll county, & their efforts were directed against the settlements made in that county, declaring their intention determination to drive out of the county all the citizens who were of our religion & that indiscriminately without regard to any thing else but <their> religion. The only evidence necessary to dispossess any individual or family, or all the evidence required, would be that they were mormons as we were called, or rather that they were of the Mormon religion. This was considered of itself crime enough to cause any individual or family to be driven from their homes & their property made common plunder. Resolutions to this effect were made at public meetings held for the purpose, & made through the papers of the in the face of all law & all authority.
I will give a history of the settlement in Carroll county. In the preceding April, as myself & family were on our way to , we we put up at a house in Carroll county, on a Stream called Turkey creek, to tarry for the night. Soon after we stopped, a youngery man rideing up who also stopped & staid through the night. Hearing my name mentioned, he introduced himself to me as , said he lived in that county, in a little town called , on the & had been at , to get some of those, to get some of those who were coming into that place, to form a Settlement at , speaking highly of the advantages of the situation & soliciting my interference in his behalf— to obtain a number, of families to commence at that place as he was a large proprietor in the town plat. He offered a liberal share in all the profits which arise from the sale of property there, to those who would aid him in getting the place settled. In the morning we proceeded on our journey.
Some few weeks after my arrival, the said , in company with a man by the name of , came to on the same business; & after much solicitation on there part it was agreed that a settlement should be made in that place & in the July following, the first families removed there & the settlement soon increased until [p. 133]