The Papers
Browse the PapersDocumentsJournalsAdministrative RecordsRevelations and TranslationsHistoriesLegal RecordsFinancial RecordsOther Contemporary Papers
Reference
PeoplePlacesEventsGlossaryLegal GlossaryFinancial GlossaryCalendar of DocumentsWorks CitedFeatured TopicsLesson PlansRelated Publications
Media
VideosPhotographsIllustrationsChartsMapsPodcasts
News
Current NewsArchiveNewsletterSubscribeJSP Conferences
About
About the ProjectJoseph Smith and His PapersFAQAwardsEndorsementsReviewsEditorial MethodNote on TranscriptionsNote on Images of People and PlacesReferencing the ProjectCiting This WebsiteProject TeamContact Us
Published Volumes
  1. Home > 
  2. The Papers > 

Letter from Thomas Ford, 12 December 1843

Source Note

, Letter, , Sangamon Co., IL, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 12 Dec. 1843; handwriting of ; three pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, wafer seal, docket, and redactions.
Bifolium measuring 12½ × 7⅞ inches (32 × 20 cm). The paper is laid with the watermark of a coat of arms consisting of a decoration in an oval topped by a crown on the first leaf and “O & H” on the second leaf. The letter is inscribed on the first three pages of the bifolium. The document was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, and sealed with a red adhesive wafer, remnants of which appear on the recto and verso of the second leaf. At some point, an unidentified scribe made redactions in ink and graphite.
The document was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and served as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854. The letter may be listed in an inventory produced by the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) circa 1904. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early docket, redactions, and later inclusion in the JS Collection suggest continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

  2. [2]

    Although the CHL currently houses seven letters written between Thomas Ford and JS in 1843, the earlier inventory identifies only four. (“Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [3], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.)

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

  3. [3]

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

Historical Introduction

On 12 December 1843, governor wrote a letter from , Illinois, to JS in , Illinois, warning him of the potential consequences of a military or violent response to the kidnappings of and his son . Ford was responding to a 6 December letter from JS that enclosed an affidavit describing the kidnappings, a petition from Nauvoo residents who were not members asking Ford to resist officials’ attempts to persecute the Saints, and the resolutions of a Nauvoo public meeting calling on Ford to refuse a rumored new request to extradite JS to Missouri. In response to the threats of persecution, extradition, and additional kidnappings, JS asked Ford for direction and inquired whether he should call out the .
dismissed JS’s inquiry and warned him not to send men to to rescue the Averys. Ford warned that such a use of the militia was illegal and could lead to “a species of border warfare” between the Latter-day Saints and Missourians and ultimately lead to further persecution and legal prosecution. He counseled JS to rely on the state’s judicial system, promising that if JS could prove that anyone committed a crime in and fled to Missouri, Ford could request his or her extradition to Illinois for trial. He also stated that if Missouri governor sent a new requisition for JS’s extradition to Missouri, Ford would consider the evidence before making a decision.
The lack of postal markings on ’s letter indicates that it was hand delivered to JS in , presumably by , who served as the courier for JS’s 6 December letter to Ford and with whom JS requested Ford send a reply. JS likely received Ford’s letter by 29 December, when he apparently referenced it in a discourse to the Nauvoo police. In a letter dated 1 January 1844, JS corrected Ford’s misconception of his earlier request, clarifying that he desired only that the legion be “ready to resist a Mob” and “keep the peace of the city.” He assured Ford that he had “never talked of sending men to to fight.”

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Affidavit from Dellmore Chapman and Letter to Thomas Ford, 6 Dec. 1843.

  2. [2]

    In his letter, JS specifically requested that Ford send his “instructions by the bearer.” (JS, Journal, 7 Dec. 1843; Affidavit from Dellmore Chapman and Letter to Thomas Ford, 6 Dec. 1843.)

  3. [3]

    Minutes and Discourse, 29 Dec. 1843.

  4. [4]

    JS, Nauvoo, IL, to Thomas Ford, [Springfield, IL], 1 Jan. 1844, JS Collection, CHL.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Letter from Thomas Ford, 12 December 1843
History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [1]

Dec 12 1843
Genl Joseph Smith
Sir I have received your favor of the 6th instant together with the proceedings of a Public meeting of the citizens of on the Subject of the late Kidnapping by the people of and others; of two citizens of this
You request to know if any portion of the Shall be called out. My answer is No. The Militia Cannot be called out except in the cases specified by me in my letter to dated in the month of August last; in which I took the ground that the Militia can only be called out to repel an invasion Suppress an insurrection or on some extreme emergency; and not to suppress prevent or punish individual Crimes[.] I still am of opinion that the ground assumed by me, on that occasion is the true One[.] The prevention and punishment of individual offences have been confided by the Constitution and laws of this , to the judicial power and not to the executive
If a citizen of the has been Kidnapped; or if property has been stolen from this <​& carried​> to the State of those who have done either are guilty of an indictable offence. But the constitution and the laws have provided no means whereby either the person or property taken away [p. [1]]
View entire transcript

|

Cite this page

Source Note

Document Transcript

Page [1]

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Thomas Ford, 12 December 1843
ID #
1227
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:362–366
Handwriting on This Page
  • Thomas Ford

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Affidavit from Dellmore Chapman and Letter to Thomas Ford, 6 Dec. 1843; see also Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 9 Dec. 1843, [1]; and “Public Meeting,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 13 Dec. 1843, [1].

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  2. [2]

    In July, after the latest attempt to extradite JS to Missouri failed, Reynolds requested that Ford call out the Illinois militia to arrest JS. Ford declined this request and, in a subsequent letter dated 14 August, explained that according to Illinois law, the governor could call out the militia only if there were “either a requisition from the President, an actual or threatened invasion, or some extreme emergency.” Although Ford’s reading of the Illinois militia statute was correct, Nauvoo’s state-legislated city charter stated that the Nauvoo Legion was “at the disposal of the Mayor in executing the laws and ordinances of the City Corporation, and the laws of the State,” technically granting the legion the law-enforcement authority that Ford denied it had. (“Illinois and Missouri,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 30 Aug. 1843, [2]; An Act for the Organization and Government of the Militia of This State [2 Mar. 1833], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois [1839], p. 483, sec. 43; Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.)

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

    The Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois: Containing All the Laws . . . Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835; and at Their Second Session, Commencing December 7, 1835, and Ending January 18, 1836; and Those Passed by the Tenth General Assembly, at Their Session Commencing December 5, 1836, and Ending March 6, 1837; and at Their Special Session, Commencing July 10, and Ending July 22, 1837. . . . Compiled by Jonathan Young Scammon. Chicago: Stephen F. Gale, 1839.

© 2024 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of UseUpdated 2021-04-13Privacy NoticeUpdated 2021-04-06