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Letter from Almon Babbitt, 17 May 1844

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Letter from Almon Babbitt, 17 May 1844

Source Note

, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to JS, [, Hancock Co., IL], 17 May 1844; handwriting and signature of ; one page; JS Collection, CHL.
Single leaf measuring 6¼ × 8⅛ inches (16 × 21 cm). Both sides are ruled with eighteen horizontal lines printed in blue ink, with header space. The left and bottom edges of the leaf are unevenly cut, which suggests it was torn or hand cut from a book or larger sheet. The letter was written on the recto of the leaf, and there are ink test marks on the verso. The document was then folded, probably for transmission.
The letter was listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) circa 1904. By 1973 this letter had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The letter’s listing in the circa 1904 inventory and its later inclusion in the JS Collection suggest continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [4], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

  2. See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 17 May 1844, , one of JS’s attorneys, wrote a letter from , Illinois, to JS in , Illinois, requesting that JS send him information in preparation for a civil lawsuit brought by against JS for defamation of character. Higbee and JS’s relationship had been tumultuous in years past. After a period of apparent quiet, tensions between Higbee and JS again arose, this time over remarks JS made about Higbee’s character—implying that he had a venereal disease—at a 5 January 1844 session of the Nauvoo City Council. JS and Higbee tentatively reconciled in mid-January 1844, but their relationship remained strained.
By May 1844 had aligned himself with JS’s opponents in and initiated a civil lawsuit against JS in the Circuit Court for defamation of character, seeking $5,000 in damages. On 10 May 1844, Higbee’s attorneys filed a declaration outlining his claims against JS, arguing that JS’s remarks ruined Higbee’s reputation.
, one of JS’s attorneys for the case, wrote the featured letter to JS requesting that JS send him any verifiable information that could be used to prepare a plea, or a written response to the facts outlined in ’s declaration. Babbitt’s letter lacks any postal markings or notations, which indicates that it was likely sent via courier rather than through the mail. The letter was likely received in the day it was written or shortly thereafter. No response from JS has been located, but JS presumably sent Babbitt the requested information either in writing or by messenger. On 29 May, Babbitt filed JS’s plea countering Higbee’s declaration by describing the January 1844 reconciliation between the two men.

Footnotes

  1. See Historical Introduction to Pleas, ca. 28 May 1844; Account of Hearing, Nauvoo, IL, 8 May 1844, F. M. Higbee v. JS–A on Habeas Corpus (Nauvoo Mun. Ct. 1844), pp. 3, 5, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; “Municipal Court,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 15 May 1844, [3]; “Extract of a Letter from F. M. Higbee,” Times and Seasons, 15 Dec. 1842, 4:47; Bennett, History of the Saints, 245; “Letters from Gen. Bennett,” Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 19 Aug. 1842, [2]; and Minutes and Discourses, 6–9 Oct. 1843.

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

    Bennett, John C. The History of the Saints; or, an Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism. Boston: Leland and Whiting, 1842.

    Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.

  2. JS, Journal, 5 Jan. 1844; Law, Diary, 5 Jan. 1844, in Cook, William Law, 45–46; Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 5 Jan. 1844, 36–39; Orson Pratt, Complaint, Nauvoo, IL, 15 Jan. 1844, City of Nauvoo v. F. M. Higbee (Nauvoo Mun. Ct. 1844), Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; Pleas, ca. 28 May 1844.

    Cook, Lyndon W. William Law: Biographical Essay, Nauvoo Diary, Correspondence, Interview. Orem, UT: Grandin Book, 1994.

  3. Letter from Francis M. Higbee, 10 Jan. 1844; JS, Journal, 15–16 Jan. 1844; Orson Pratt, Complaint, Nauvoo, IL, 15 Jan. 1844, City of Nauvoo v. F. M. Higbee (Nauvoo Mun. Ct. 1844), Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 5 and 16 Jan. 1844, 39, 44, 45; Docket Entry, Nauvoo, IL, 15–ca. 16 Jan. 1844, City of Nauvoo v. F. M. Higbee (Nauvoo Mun. Ct. 1844), Nauvoo Municipal Court Docket Book, 90; see also Clayton, Journal, 16 Jan. 1844.

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

  4. See Historical Introduction to Pleas, ca. 28 May 1844.

  5. Francis M. Higbee, Declaration, Hancock Co., IL, ca. 9 May 1844, F. M. Higbee v. JS–B (Hancock Co. Cir. Ct. 1844), McDonough County Circuit Court Files, Illinois Regional Archives Depository vault, Archives and Special Collections, Leslie F. Malpass Library, Western Illinois University, Macomb.

  6. See “Plea,” in Bouvier, Law Dictionary, 2:325–326; and Historical Introduction to Plea, ca. 21 May 1844.

    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.

  7. Pleas, ca. 28 May 1844; Historical Introduction to City of Nauvoo v. F. M. Higbee, F. M. Higbee v. JS–A, F. M. Higbee v. JS–A on Habeas Corpus, and F. M. Higbee v. JS–B. JS was represented at this hearing by his attorneys George Bachman, Onias Skinner, and Babbitt. (See JS, Plea, Hancock Co., IL, 20 May 1844, F. M. Higbee v. JS–B [Hancock Co. Cir. Ct. 1844], McDonough County Circuit Court Files, Illinois Regional Archives Depository vault, Archives and Special Collections, Leslie F. Malpass Library, Western Illinois University, Macomb.)

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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Almon Babbitt, 17 May 1844
ID #
1366
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
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