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Footnotes
Footnotes
See Historical Introduction to Letter to James Arlington Bennet, 17–18 Mar. 1843.
Willard Richards, Nauvoo, IL, to James Arlington Bennet, 19 Mar. 1843, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL.
See Letter to John M. Bernhisel, 3 Aug. 1841; Historical Introduction to Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 1 Sept. 1842; and Letter to James Arlington Bennet, 8 Sept. 1842.
Butterfield advised JS on 27 March to ensure that Rockwell had competent counsel in Missouri, to seek a change of venue for Rockwell, and to delay the trial until witness depositions could be secured. In addition, Butterfield urged that the defense focus on John C. Bennett’s character in order to undermine his allegation against Rockwell. (Letter from Justin Butterfield, 27 Mar. 1843.)
In the 1830s, Bennett founded medical colleges in Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. Although the bylaws of these institutions required that students pass examinations prior to receiving a diploma, Bennett regularly granted degrees to individuals without formal training or examination in medicine in exchange for a fee ranging from ten to twenty-five dollars. Observers frequently questioned the legal and ethical merits of this practice. Bennett was fired from one institution in 1835 and was forced to resign from another in 1836, yet he evidently continued to peddle diplomas into the 1840s. He also hired agents who were tasked with selling diplomas on his behalf. (See Smith, Saintly Scoundrel, chaps. 2–3, 5; and Times and Seasons, 1 July 1842, 3:842–843.)
Smith, Andrew F. The Saintly Scoundrel: The Life and Times of Dr. John Cook Bennett. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997.
Bennet was likely referring to a New York law that stated: “Every person, who, with intent to cheat or defraud another, shall designedly, by colour of any false token or writing, or by any other false pretence, obtain the signature of any person to any written instrument, or obtain from any person, any money, personal property, or valuable thing; upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by imprisonment in a state prison not exceeding three years, or in a county jail not exceeding one year, or by a fine not exceeding three times the value of the money, property or thing, so obtained, or by both such fine and imprisonment.” (An Act concerning Crimes and Punishments; Proceedings in Criminal Cases; and Prison Discipline [10 Dec. 1828], Revised Statutes of the State of New-York [1828–1835], vol. 2, p. 564, chap. 1, title 3, art. 4, sec. 53.)
The Revised Statutes of the State of New-York, Passed During the Years One Thousand Eight Hundred and Twenty-Seven, and One Thousand Eight Hundred and Twenty-Eight: To Which Are Added, Certain Former Acts Which Have Not Been Revised. 3 Vols. Albany: Packard and Van Benthuysen, 1829.
Bennet may have been referring to a New York statute that stated: “Every other killing of a human being, by the act, procurement or culpable negligence of another, where such killing is not justifiable or excusable, or is not declared in this Chapter murder, or in this Title manslaughter of some other degree, shall be deemed manslaughter in the fourth degree.” (An Act concerning Crimes and Punishments; Proceedings in Criminal Cases; and Prison Discipline [10 Dec. 1828], Revised Statutes of the State of New-York [1828–1835], vol. 2, p. 552, chap. 1, title 2, art. 1, sec. 19.)
The Revised Statutes of the State of New-York, Passed During the Years One Thousand Eight Hundred and Twenty-Seven, and One Thousand Eight Hundred and Twenty-Eight: To Which Are Added, Certain Former Acts Which Have Not Been Revised. 3 Vols. Albany: Packard and Van Benthuysen, 1829.
There were about two thousand members of the Nauvoo Legion in 1843. (Saunders, “Officers and Arms,” 142.)
Saunders, Richard L. “Officers and Arms: The 1843 General Return of the Nauvoo Legion’s Second Cohort.” BYU Studies 35, no. 2 (1995): 138–151.
“Self-preservation is the first law of Nature” was a common saying, rooted in natural law theory, that meant the right to self-defense was not granted by governments but instead was inherent in nature. (Whiting, Early American Proverbs, 383; see also Blackstone, Commentaries, vol. 2, bk. 3, pp. 2–3.)
Whiting, Bartlett Jere. Early American Proverbs and Proverbial Sayings. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1977.
Blackstone, William. Commentaries on the Laws of England: In Four Books; with an Analysis of the Work. By Sir William Blackstone, Knt. One of the Justices of the Court of Common Pleas. In Two Volumes, from the Eighteenth London Edition. . . . 2 vols. New York: W. E. Dean, 1840.
TEXT: Postscript inserted in margin.