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Letter to Thomas Ford, 26 June 1844

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Letter to Thomas Ford, 26 June 1844

Source Note

JS, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to , , Hancock Co., IL, 26 June 1844; handwriting of ; signature of JS in the handwriting of ; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, dockets, notations, and archival marking.
Single leaf measuring 9⅝ × 7¾ inches (24 × 20 cm). The leaf was hand cut along the left side of the recto, which suggests that it was removed from a book or larger sheet. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style and addressed. Later on 26 June 1844, governor wrote a response on the letter and returned it to JS. It was later refolded for filing.
The letter 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. It was also 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 was possibly listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) circa 1904. The graphite notation “A.J” was added to the document by Andrew Jenson, who began working in the Church Historian’s Office in 1891 and served as assistant church historian from 1897 to 1941. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early dockets, its possible listing in the circa 1904 inventory, its notation, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. Note from Thomas Ford, 26 June 1844.

  2. 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–.

  3. 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.

  4. “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [4], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL. The inventory lists three letters from JS to Ford in 1844 without their dates, but there are multiple extant letters from JS to Ford from 1844.

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

  5. Jenson, Autobiography, 192, 389; Cannon, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891; Jenson, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891 and 19 Oct. 1897; Bitton and Arrington, Mormons and Their Historians, 47–52.

    Jenson, Andrew. Autobiography of Andrew Jenson: Assistant Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. . . . Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1938.

    Cannon, George Q. Journals, 1855–1864, 1872–1901. CHL. CR 850 1.

    Jenson, Andrew. Journals, 1864–1941. Andrew Jenson, Autobiography and Journals, 1864–1941. CHL.

    Bitton, David, and Leonard J. Arrington. Mormons and Their Historians. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988.

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

Historical Introduction

On 26 June 1844, JS sent a letter from the jail, in , Illinois, to governor , at ’s in Carthage, requesting a meeting with Ford to discuss his incarceration. On 24 June, acting on complaints made by and , Justice of the Peace signed warrants for JS and to be arrested on charges of , apparently in connection with calling out the earlier in the month. Constable served the warrants on 25 June, arresting JS and Hyrum Smith at around eight o’clock in the morning. That evening, sometime after five o’clock, fifteen of the defendants, including JS and Hyrum Smith, were released on bail in the amount of $500 per person and agreed to appear before the Hancock County Circuit Court during its next term. The court then adjourned, following which JS and Hyrum Smith, who remained in Bettisworth’s custody, as well as a few others went back to the to meet with Ford, while several of the others who were released on bail returned to .
Around eight o’clock that night, less than an hour after the court adjourned, presented JS and with a at the . The mittimus had been signed by and ordered that the two be committed to the jail to await their examination on the charges of treason. Unlike the earlier charge of , the charge of treason did not allow bail. law required that a justice “inquire into the truth or probability” of criminal charges before committing an individual to jail. The mittimus indicated that JS and Hyrum Smith had been brought before Justice Smith for a hearing but that the trial on the charges had necessarily been postponed “by reason of the absence of material witnesses, to wit: and others.” JS’s legal team objected, claiming that such a preliminary hearing had not occurred. Because the order to place JS and Hyrum Smith in jail was given before the treason charge had been examined, they against the legality of the order committing them to jail, stating that the legal process had not been observed. Around nine o’clock they appealed to , who was in the adjacent room at the , in hopes that he would rule the mittimus illegal. However, he declined to intervene, stating that “they were in the hands of the civil law, and therefore he had it not in his power to stay process.” Jailer subsequently received JS and Hyrum Smith, joined voluntarily by several of their associates, at the jail. Stigall initially put them into the criminal cell but thereafter moved them to the debtor’s room.
The following morning, 26 June, around eight o’clock, JS dictated to a letter for . In the letter, JS requested an interview to discuss his and ’s incarceration. As he had the previous night, JS argued in his letter that they had been committed to jail based upon a false mittimus and that their incarceration was thus illegal. He expressed hope that a meeting with Ford would resolve the matter quickly and result in his and his brother’s release from the jail.
After dictating the letter to , JS evidently gave it to to deliver to . Ford received the letter sometime before nine o’clock in the morning, when JS received Ford’s response on the same leaf, agreeing to meet.

Footnotes

  1. Warrant, 24 June 1844; Robert Smith, Warrant for Hyrum Smith, Carthage, IL, 24 June 1844, State of Illinois v. JS and H. Smith for Treason (J.P. Ct. 1844), JS Office Papers, CHL.

  2. Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844.

  3. Recognizance, 25 June 1844. The next term of the circuit court began in October 1844. (Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court Records, 1829–1897, vol. D, p. 162, microfilm 947,496, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; An Act to Change the Time of Holding Courts in the Fifth Judicial Circuit [4 Mar. 1843], Laws of the State of Illinois [1842–1843], p. 136, sec. 1.)

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

    Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835. Vandalia, IL: J. Y. Sawyer, 1835.

  4. Hugh T. Reid, “Statement of Facts!,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 30 June 1844, [1]; Hugh T. Reid, “Statement of Facts!,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1844, 5:562; Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844.

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

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

  5. Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844; Hugh T. Reid, “Statement of Facts!,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1844, 5:562; Hugh T. Reid, “Statement of Facts!,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 30 June 1844, [1]; see also Ford, History of Illinois, 337–338.

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

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

    Ford, Thomas. A History of Illinois, from Its Commencement as a State in 1818 to 1847. Containing a Full Account of the Black Hawk War, the Rise, Progress, and Fall of Mormonism, the Alton and Lovejoy Riots, and Other Important and Interesting Events. Chicago: S. C. Griggs; New York: Ivison and Phinney, 1854.

  6. The 1818 Illinois state constitution specified that “all persons shall be bailable by sufficient sureties unless for capital offences, where the proof is evident or the presumption great.” Illinois law did not permit justices of the peace to “admit to bail any person or persons charged with treason.” (Illinois Constitution of 1818, art. 8, sec. 13; An Act to Regulate the Apprehension of Offenders, and for Other Purposes [6 Jan. 1827], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois [1839], p. 238, sec. 3.)

    Illinois Office of Secretary of State. First Constitution of Illinois, 1818. Illinois State Archives, Springfield.

    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.

  7. An Act to Regulate the Apprehension of Offenders, and for Other Purposes [6 Jan. 1827], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois (1839), p. 238, sec. 3.

    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.

  8. Hugh T. Reid, “Statement of Facts!,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 30 June 1844, [1]; Hugh T. Reid, “Statement of Facts!,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1844, 5:562. Years later, Ford opined that the postponement was a benefit to both JS and his opponents, “because neither of the parties were prepared with their witnesses for trial.” (Ford, History of Illinois, 338.)

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

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

    Ford, Thomas. A History of Illinois, from Its Commencement as a State in 1818 to 1847. Containing a Full Account of the Black Hawk War, the Rise, Progress, and Fall of Mormonism, the Alton and Lovejoy Riots, and Other Important and Interesting Events. Chicago: S. C. Griggs; New York: Ivison and Phinney, 1854.

  9. Hugh T. Reid, “Statement of Facts!,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 30 June 1844, [1]; Hugh T. Reid, “Statement of Facts!,” Times and Seasons, 1 July 1844, 5:562; Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844. While Illinois law mandated that arrested individuals be brought before a justice of the peace before they were committed to jail, legal precedent also allowed for prisoners to remain in custody in cases where “it may be unseasonable to take the information and examinations presently, or possibly it may take longer time.” This was to be determined by “the circumstances of each case.” In cases where there was “sufficient legal cause for the commitment of the prisoner,” even if the legal process had not been strictly followed, the court could remedy the legal errors by making “a new commitment, in proper form, and directed to the proper officer.” (An Act to Regulate the Apprehension of Offenders, and for Other Purposes [6 Jan. 1827], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois [1839], p. 238, sec. 3; Chitty, Practical Treatise on the Criminal Law, vol. 1, p. 50, sec. 74; An Act Regulating the Proceeding on Writs of Habeas Corpus [22 Jan. 1827], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois [1839], p. 324, sec. 3; An Act to Regulate the Apprehension of Offenders, and for Other Purposes [6 Jan. 1827], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois [1839], p. 240, sec. 10.)

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

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

    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.

    Chitty, Joseph. A Practical Treatise on the Criminal Law; Comprising the Practice, Pleadings, and Evidence, Which Occur in the Course of Criminal Prosecutions. . . . 4 vols. Philadelphia: Edward Earle, 1819.

  10. Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844; John S. Fullmer, Preston, England, to George A. Smith, [Utah Territory], 27 Nov. 1854, [1]–[2], Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, ca. 1839–1860, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Documents, 1839–1860. CHL. CR 100 396.

  11. Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844.

  12. Note from Thomas Ford, 26 June 1844; Willard Richards, Journal Excerpt, 23–27 June 1844.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Letter to Thomas Ford, 26 June 1844 History, 1838–1856, volume F-1 [1 May 1844–8 August 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”
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Letter to Thomas Ford, 26 June 1844
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1449
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