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

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

Source Note

JS, Mayor’s Order, , Hancock Co., IL, to [], 8 Dec. 1843; handwriting of and ; signature of JS by ; one page; JS Office Papers, CHL. Includes docket, seal, redactions, and use marks.
Single leaf measuring 9¾ × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm). inscribed the recto, and inserted a phrase. The leaf was trifolded and docketed on the verso. It also includes graphite redactions. In 2012 the order underwent conservation to repair separation along the folds.
Likely on or near 8 December 1843, the order was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844. The redactions were likely made in 1855, when the order was copied into JS’s history. In 2012 the order was cataloged as part of the JS Office Papers at the CHL. The document’s contemporaneous docket, early redactions, and later inclusion in the JS Office Papers suggest continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See the full bibliographic entry for JS Office Papers, ca. 1835–1845, in the CHL catalog.

  2. [2]

    Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458. In December 1843, Bullock docketed and copied many of JS’s letters as well as municipal and legal documents so that copies could be forwarded to Illinois governor Thomas Ford. (See, for example, Affidavit from Daniel Avery, 28 Dec. 1843.)

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

  3. [3]

    See JS History, vol. E-1, 1795–1796; and Vogel, History of Joseph Smith, 1:c.

    Vogel, Dan, ed. History of Joseph Smith and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: A Source and Text-Critical Edition. 8 vols. Salt Lake City: Smith-Pettit Foundation, 2015.

  4. [4]

    See the full bibliographic entry for JS Office Papers, ca. 1835–1845, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 8 December 1843, JS, as mayor of , Illinois, issued an order to the city marshal, , commanding him to be ready to protect the rights of Nauvoo’s citizens. The order was part of JS’s response to continued rumors growing out of the kidnappings of and his father, , that had occurred in November and early December. At eleven o’clock in the morning on 8 December, JS called for the city council to meet in the afternoon so that they could prepare the city “for any invasion from .” Sometime between then and the city council’s meeting at four o’clock, and swore out an affidavit before JS as mayor and as clerk of the mayor’s court that briefly described the kidnappings and reported that there were rumors that the same men who kidnapped the Averys were planning “to kidnap some of the citizens of this City.” In the face of this threat, Richards and Lewis opined that “something should be done to secure the peace of this city from being disturbed.” Although JS obtained an affidavit describing the kidnappings from two days earlier, that affidavit was created specifically to send to governor to inform him of the event. In contrast, the affidavit from Richards and Lewis was apparently designed to provide city officials with legal justification to initiate defensive measures for the city. With the affidavit from Richards and Lewis in hand, JS issued an order to Sherwood directing him to protect Nauvoo citizens’ rights and enforce city ordinances. JS also instructed Sherwood to “call for a suitable portion of the ” to assist him in this task.
state law indicated that only the governor could call militia units into active service and that he could do so only under limited circumstances, such as invasion or a requisition from the president of the . However, the act incorporating the city of —passed by the state legislature and signed into law by Governor —authorized the city’s mayor to use the legion to help with “executing the laws and ordinances of the City Corporation.” On 6 December, JS wrote to Illinois governor asking whether he should call out the legion. JS proceeded two days later without the governor’s permission, likely based on the content of two letters the city received from Illinois attorney general and his predecessor that indicated the legion was independent of the state militia. The letters referenced disputes over whether it was Nauvoo or Illinois that was responsible for paying the legion’s officers. The men concluded that except for the expense of state arms, the costs of the legion devolved to the city and that the state could dismiss requests for payment because the legion was “entirely independent of the general military law.” Their letters were published in the 9 December 1843 extra issue of the Nauvoo Neighbor, which focused on the city’s response to the Avery kidnappings, and they appeared alongside a brief note describing the “independent position” of the legion.
No provision in city ordinances or state statutes explained the process by which the mayor could call out the legion. , acting in his capacity as clerk of the mayor’s court in , drafted a series of documents that together constituted such a process. After Phelps drafted the featured order to , he inscribed a requisition from Sherwood to JS asking him to issue an order to activate the legion and a subsequent order from JS to Major General . These three documents were presumably created in JS’s at roughly the same time. Sherwood presumably received JS’s order shortly after it was issued and in turn signed the requisition to JS as mayor to issue an order to the .

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    For more information on the Avery kidnappings, see “Part 5: December 1843.”

  2. [2]

    JS, Journal, 8 Dec. 1843.

  3. [3]

    Willard Richards and Philip B. Lewis, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 8 Dec. 1843, JS Office Papers, CHL.

  4. [4]

    Aside from giving the call to action, the affidavit from Richards and Lewis merely repeated much of what was stated in Chapman’s affidavit. (Willard Richards and Philip B. Lewis, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 8 Dec. 1843, JS Office Papers, CHL; Affidavit from Dellmore Chapman and Letter to Thomas Ford, 6 Dec. 1843.)

  5. [5]

    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.

    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.

  6. [6]

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

  7. [7]

    William Ewing, [Springfield, IL], to John Bills, [Nauvoo, IL], ca. 30 Nov. 1843, copy, JS Office Papers, CHL; Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 9 Dec. 1843, [1]; see also Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840; and 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), pp. 472, 478–479, secs. 9–10, 35.

    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.

  8. [8]

    Requisition from Henry G. Sherwood, 8 Dec. 1843; Military Order to Wilson Law, 8 Dec. 1843.

  9. [9]

    Requisition from Henry G. Sherwood, 8 Dec. 1843.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Mayor’s Order to Henry G. Sherwood, 8 December 1843
History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”

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State of Illinois)
City of )
To the of said Greeting:—
Whereas complaint has been made to me upon oath, that some persons have been kidnapped by the Missourians in connection with some of the lawless inhabitants of , and that th[r]eats have been made that some of the citizens of , will be ki[d]napped or arrested and forcibly carried <​away from said ​> without being allowed the benefit of the write of , according to the ordinance in such case made and provided, you will therefore take the necessary measures to have the rights of the citizens of this held sacred, and the ordinances of said duly carried into full force and effect; To which end, if you <​should you​> judge that the peace and safety of this 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 .
Given under my hand, <​and seal​> this 8 day of December, 1843.
Joseph Smith <​L. S.​>
Mayor
By Clerk M.C. [p. [1]]
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Source Note

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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Mayor’s Order to Henry G. Sherwood, 8 December 1843
ID #
1215
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:331–334
Handwriting on This Page
  • William W. Phelps
  • Willard Richards
  • Unidentified

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Henry G. Sherwood.

  2. [2]

    Although the affidavit from Willard Richards and Philip B. Lewis did not identify the target of these threats, Dellmore Chapman specifically reported hearing that the kidnappers were planning to target Nauvoo resident Nelson Turner, who was accused of stealing horses with the Averys. (Willard Richards and Philip B. Lewis, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 8 Dec. 1843, JS Office Papers, CHL; Affidavit from Dellmore Chapman and Letter to Thomas Ford, 6 Dec. 1843.)

  3. [3]

    Nauvoo’s city charter gave Nauvoo’s municipal court the “power to grant writs of habeas corpus in all cases arising under the ordinances of the City Council.” By 1842, JS and others in Nauvoo interpreted this to mean they were authorized to pass ordinances giving their municipal court broad jurisdiction to issue writs of habeas corpus. Between July and November 1842, Nauvoo’s city council passed a series of four ordinances that delineated and expanded the municipal court’s authority to issue writs of habeas corpus. The first of these four ordinances stipulated that “no Citizen of this City shall be taken out of the City by any Writs, without the privilege of investigation before the Municipal Court, and the benefit of a Writ of Habeas Corpus.” (Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840; Ordinance, 5 July 1842; see also Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 8 Aug. and 9 Sept. 1842, 98–99, 101; and Ordinance, 14 Nov. 1842.)

  4. new scribe logo

    Insertion in the handwriting of Willard Richards.

  5. new scribe logo

    Insertion in unidentified handwriting, possibly Willard Richards. “L. S.” (which stands for locus sigilli, Latin for “location of the seal”) is inscribed within a hand-drawn representation of a seal.

  6. [4]

    Phelps was appointed clerk of the mayor’s court on 11 February 1843. (Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 11 Feb. 1843, 159.)

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