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Letter to Thomas Ford, 1 January 1844

Source Note

JS, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to , [, Sangamon Co., IL], 1 Jan. 1844. Featured version copied [ca. 1 Jan. 1844]; handwriting of ; four pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes dockets, redactions, and archival marking.
Bifolium measuring 9⅞ × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm). The bifolium was trifolded for filing. The document has undergone some conservation.
The document was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. The document also includes a second docket in unidentified handwriting, likely that of an early church clerk. The document was listed in an inventory that was 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 dockets, its listing in a circa 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Jan. 1865.

    Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  2. [2]

    “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.

  3. [3]

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

Historical Introduction

On 1 January 1844, JS wrote from , Illinois, to governor regarding escalating tensions between the and their neighbors in , Illinois, as well as JS’s earlier proposal to call out the for protection. The letter was in response to one from Ford the previous month. The exchange was prompted by the kidnappings of Hancock County residents and suspected horse thieves and in November and December 1843. In mid-November, Philander was taken from his home in in southern Hancock County and incarcerated across the in . His father, Daniel, a church member, was abducted on 2 December. The kidnappings were a coordinated effort by a group of vigilantes made up of citizens of Hancock County; Clark County, Missouri; and , Iowa Territory. The Averys were accused of having stolen two horses in Missouri four years earlier.
Although had escaped and had been discharged in a hearing by a court by the time JS wrote this letter, the episode brought the region to the brink of war. The abductions reignited JS’s own fears of being captured and taken to Missouri, as he had narrowly avoided a third extradition attempt the previous summer. In response, JS and the City Council bolstered the city’s police force and passed a controversial ordinance stipulating that any law officer attempting to apprehend JS and convey him to Missouri would be imprisoned for life.
On 6 December, the day after hearing of the abductions, JS wrote to , forwarding an affidavit about the kidnappings and asking whether he should activate the to protect the city’s residents. JS wrote to Ford again on 11 December, sending another affidavit. Ford replied to JS’s first letter on 12 December, stating that JS was not authorized to call out the city’s militia and explaining the limitations of the governor’s authority in cases of interstate crime.
By the time JS received ’s response, the situation had escalated. Without waiting for word from Ford, on 8 December JS ordered marshal to “take the necessary measures to have the rights of the citizens of this city held sacred” and instructed him that “should you judge that the peace and safety of this city required it, you are further notif[i]ed to call for a suitable portion of the to be in complete readiness to compel obedience to the ordinances of said city.” Anticipating conflict from the Saints, Colonel , one of the Averys’ abductors and commander of the Fifty-Ninth Regiment of the state militia, gathered a force in , Illinois. After hearing on 18 December of the “warlike force . . . collecting at or near Warsaw,” JS ordered Nauvoo Legion major general to mobilize the militia.
On 1 January 1844, JS responded to ’s 12 December letter, giving further details about developments in the county and arguing it would be appropriate to use the to defend the city’s citizens. JS concluded by reminding the governor of the state of ’s continued hostility toward the Saints and assuring him that they would not instigate aggression. It is unknown whether Ford sent a response directly to JS. However, in a 29 January 1844 letter that appears to have been addressed to the editor of the Warsaw Signal, Ford touched on many of these same issues and pleaded for all residents to help maintain peace.
The version featured here is a retained draft in the handwriting of . The sent copy of the letter is apparently not extant.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Letter from Thomas Ford, 12 Dec. 1843.

  2. [2]

    Philander Avery, Testimony, [Clark Co., MO], 13 Nov. 1843, State of Missouri v. Philander Avery (Clark Co. Cir. Ct. 1843), Clark County Circuit Clerk’s Office, Clark County Courthouse, Kahoka, MO; Affidavit from Dellmore Chapman and Letter to Thomas Ford, 6 Dec. 1843; Philander Avery, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 20 Dec. 1843, copy, JS Office Papers, CHL; Affidavit from Daniel Avery, 28 Dec. 1843; William W. Phelps, Nauvoo, IL, to J. White, Waterloo, MO, 21 Dec. 1843, copy, JS Office Papers, CHL.

    Clark County Circuit Clerk’s Office, Clark County Courthouse. Kahoka, MO.

  3. [3]

    William W. Phelps, Nauvoo, IL, to J. White, Waterloo, MO, 21 Dec. 1843, copy, JS Office Papers, CHL; see also J. White, Waterloo, MO, to Jesse D. Hunter, Montrose, Iowa Territory, 10 Dec. 1843, JS Office Papers, CHL.

  4. [4]

    Affidavit from Daniel Avery, 28 Dec. 1843.

  5. [5]

    See Historical Introduction to Petition to Nauvoo Municipal Court, 30 June 1843; and “Joseph Smith Documents from March through July 1843.”

  6. [6]

    See Ordinance, 12 Dec. 1843–A; Ordinance, 8 Dec. 1843; “Nauvoo City Council,” Quincy (IL) Whig, 27 Dec. 1843, [2]; “Meeting of Citizens at Carthage,” Warsaw (IL) Message, Extra, 17 Jan. 1844, [2]; and “The Mormons and Their Prophet—Legislation at Nauvoo—The Temple,” New-York Daily Tribune (New York City), 27 Jan. 1844, [1].

    Quincy Whig. Quincy, IL. 1838–1856.

    Warsaw Message. Warsaw, IL. 1843–1844.

    New-York Daily Tribune. New York City. 1841–1924.

  7. [7]

    JS, Journal, 5 Dec. 1843; Affidavit from Dellmore Chapman and Letter to Thomas Ford, 6 Dec. 1843.

  8. [8]

    Letter to Thomas Ford, 11 Dec. 1843.

  9. [9]

    Letter from Thomas Ford, 12 Dec. 1843.

  10. [10]

    Mayor’s Order to Henry G. Sherwood, 8 Dec. 1843.

  11. [11]

    JS, Journal, 18 Dec. 1843; Willard Richards, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 18 Dec. 1843, JS Office Papers, CHL; Military Order to Wilson Law, 18 Dec. 1843–B; Oaks and Hill, Carthage Conspiracy, 58.

    Oaks, Dallin H., and Marvin S. Hill. Carthage Conspiracy: The Trial of the Accused Assassins of Joseph Smith. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1975.

  12. [12]

    Thomas Ford, Letter, Springfield, IL, 29 Jan. 1844, Collection of Manuscripts about Mormons, 1832–1954, Chicago History Museum.

    Manuscripts about Mormons at Chicago History Museum, Research Center, ca. 1832–1954. Microfilm. Chicago Historical Society.

Page [2]

of this and others as reported, in addition to the two Averys already there groaning in the prisons of I thought it advisable to have a portion of the ready to resist a Mob. A burnt child dreads the fire, and when my old friends, men women and children look to me in the hour of danger for protection, and the wives and children of kidnap<​ed​> men beg with tears for Justice and protection I am bound by my oath of office and by all laws human and divine to grant it. I have always said I should act constitutionally. I know I have no power to call out men to go to , or to take , the constable can take such a posse as he pleases, or the sheriff may, if necessary to effect the ends of Justice, call out the power of the . And I as mayor of the city of , have power when an armed mob has been organized for weeks, and carried off to another state innocent citizens, and flung them into prisons, and threaten to take more and if resisted, say they will slaughter the inhabitants of the , and swear [p. [2]]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter to Thomas Ford, 1 January 1844
ID #
1237
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • William W. Phelps

Footnotes

  1. [4]

    Chapman reported a rumor that some of the Averys’ kidnappers were coming “to Nauvoo next. to Kidnap Nelson Turner.” Philander Avery’s coerced confession stated that Turner stole a horse from Joseph McCoy at the same time Daniel Avery did. (Affidavit from Dellmore Chapman and Letter to Thomas Ford, 6 Dec. 1843; Philander Avery, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 20 Dec. 1843, copy, JS Office Papers, CHL; Philander Avery, Testimony, [Clark Co., MO], 13 Nov. 1843, State of Missouri v. Philander Avery [Clark Co. Cir. Ct. 1843], Clark County Circuit Clerk’s Office, Clark County Courthouse, Kahoka, MO.)

    Clark County Circuit Clerk’s Office, Clark County Courthouse. Kahoka, MO.

  2. [5]

    On 8 December 1843, JS ordered Nauvoo marshal Henry G. Sherwood to call up a portion of the Nauvoo Legion, if needed, to protect the city’s citizens. (Mayor’s Order to Henry G. Sherwood, 8 Dec. 1843.)

  3. [6]

    An 1845 Illinois justice of the peace manual indicated that a constable could “take of the county any number that he shall think proper, to pursue, arrest, and imprison” accused offenders. (Cotton, Treatise on the Powers and Duties of Justices of the Peace, 37.)

    Cotton, Henry G. A Treatise on the Powers and Duties of Justices of the Peace in the State of Illinois, with Practical Forms. Ottawa, IL: By the author, 1845.

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