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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 [2]

except by an can be returned except by an appeal to the laws of [.] The has no legal right to demand the return of either[.] The only power I would have would be, simply this; If any of the guilty persons should be charged with larceny or Kidnapping And by indictment or affidavit duly certified, and with having fled to than then I would have the power and it would become my duty to make a demand upon the of for the surrender of the fugitives to be tried by the courts of this . I am fully satisfied that in ordinary cases this is all the power I would possess. It would be simply a power to be exercised in aid of the Judicial power. Any other powers to be exercised by the Governor would be to make him a dictator and a despot[.] It is true that an extraordinary case might arise in which the inhabitants of one State might rise in warlike and hostile array against those of another In which case a State of War would exist and then only could I interfere
I would adv[i]se your citizens to be strictly peaceable towards the people of . You ought to be aware that in every country individuals are liable to be visited by with wrong which the law is slow to redress and Some of which are never redressed in this world [p. [2]]
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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

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