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Minutes, 10 June 1844

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Minutes, 10 June 1844

Source Note

Nauvoo City Council, Minutes, [, Hancock Co., IL], 10 June 1844. Featured version copied [ca. 10 June 1844] in Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 10 Feb. 1844–13 Jan. 1845, pp. 19–[31]; handwriting of ; Nauvoo, IL, Records, 1841–1845, CHL. Includes use marks. For more complete source information, see the source note for Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, Feb. 1844–Jan. 1845.

Historical Introduction

On 10 June 1844, the , Illinois, city council met to consider what action it should take in response to the publication of the Nauvoo Expositor. The first issue of this newspaper was published on 7 June. The city council subsequently gathered on 8 June for its regularly scheduled meeting and, among other things, heard from witnesses JS had brought in to testify about the character of certain individuals associated with the Expositor. During this meeting, JS stated his belief that the newspaper and its proprietors intended to destroy the peace in Nauvoo and that it was not safe to have this type of publication in the city, as it could lead to mob violence. Moreover, he explained that his statements and the testimony of the witnesses were meant to prepare the city council to act on the matter. In particular, JS urged the city council to pass an ordinance against libels, and city councilor and , who was a city councilor as well as the city’s attorney, received the assignment to craft this legislation. Later during the meeting, Phelps read a draft of the libel ordinance, and JS and city councilor requested certain additions to it. The council then adjourned until 10 June.
The city council held two sessions on 10 June, most likely in the . The first session lasted from ten o’clock in the morning until shortly after one o’clock in the afternoon, when the council adjourned for a recess. At half past two o’clock in the afternoon, the second session began, and it lasted until a little after six o’clock in the evening. During these sessions, the city council heard additional testimony about various men connected to the Nauvoo Expositor and unanimously approved the newest draft of the libel ordinance. At JS’s suggestion, the city council also discussed the possibility of suppressing the Nauvoo Expositor. Most of the council’s members expressed their approval of this course of action. Only , a city councilor who was not a member of the , urged caution and suggested instead giving the proprietors “a few days” notice to desist publishing the alleged libels and assessing heavy fines for noncompliance. After deliberating, the city council rejected Warrington’s suggestion. It then passed a resolution declaring the Expositor a nuisance and ordering JS as mayor to remove any printing equipment and copies of the newspaper found in its office in a manner of his choosing.
City recorder appears to have taken notes during the 10 June city council meeting on loose leaves of paper, one of which is still extant. It seems he then used these notes to craft the minutes of the 10 June city council meeting, which he recorded in the city council’s rough minute book. Later, on 15 and 16 June, Richards prepared a revised version of the minutes for the 8 and 10 June meetings focused on the city council’s deliberations regarding the Nauvoo Expositor. The Nauvoo Neighbor then published the revised version of the minutes in its extra issue dated 17 June and its regular issue dated 19 June. The version in the 19 June issue is identical to the version in the extra, except for some stylistic and clarifying changes. The 10 June minutes that Richards recorded in the city council’s rough minute book are featured here, with significant differences between them and the version published in the Neighbor’s 17 June extra noted.

Footnotes

  1. Nauvoo Expositor, 7 June 1844, [1]; see also Historical Introduction to Minutes, 8 June 1844.

  2. Minutes, 8 June 1844.

  3. Ordinance, 10 June 1844.

  4. Resolution, 10 June 1844.

  5. This loose leaf rests between pages [22] and [23] of Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, Feb. 1844–Jan. 1845.

  6. Richards, Journal, 15–16 June 1844. A synopsis for a portion of the manuscript version of the 8 June minutes is extant; however, the manuscript version of the last portion of the 8 June minutes and the entirety of the 10 June minutes has not been located. (Synopsis of Nauvoo City Council Proceedings, 8 June 1844, JS Office Papers, CHL.)

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

  7. “For the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 17 June 1844, [1]; “For the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 19 June 1844, [2]–[3].

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. Minutes, 10 June 1844, Partial Draft Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, February 1844–January 1845 *Minutes, 10 June 1844 Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, February 1844–January 1845 Minutes, 10 June 1844, Extract, as Published in Nauvoo Neighbor Revised Minutes, 17 June 1844 Revised Minutes, 17 June 1844, as Published in Nauvoo Neighbor History, 1838–1856, volume F-1 [1 May 1844–8 August 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”
he saw at Joseph’s making professions of fidship [friendship]— said he was not.— asked if he did not state befor hu[n]dreds of people that you belivd [believed] Jos[e]ph a prophet? No! said — th[e]y were under oath when th[e]y said it.
accorded with the vi[e]ws expersed [expressed]. that this paper is a nuisan[c]e. did not consider it wis[e] to give th[e]m time to trupret [trumpet] a thou[sa]nd lies this prope[r]ty could not pay for.— If we pass only a fine or impismnt [imprisonment]. have we any confiden[ce] that th[e]y will dsit [desist]? None at all.— fo[u]nd these men covnet [covenant] breakers. with God with their wives. &c. have we any hope of their doing better— Their charactees [characters] have gone before th[e]m
. said when at the people sa[i]d no-body caered [cared] for him— they all belivd him to be a scoundrel. Higbe
continud.— shall they be suffrd to go on. No I had rather my blood would be spilld.— and would like to have the p[r]ess removd as soon as the ordina[n]ce will allow.— wish[e]d the matter be put in the h[a]nds of the Mayor and eve[r]y body stand by him.— in the excutin [execution] of his duties.— and hush eve[r]y mu[r]mur—
C. said he had felt deeply on this subject.— and concurred fully in gen smiths views as expressed by him— this day.— consid[er]ed private interest as nothing in comparison with the public good.— Eve[r]y time a line was formed in he was theree [there]. for what. to defend themse[l]ves aga[ins]t just such schondrels [scoundrels] as as are now fig[h]ting agai[n]st us.— considerd the doings of the coun[c]il this day of immence moment. not to this alone but to the whole wo[r]ld.— would go in to put a stop to this thing at once— Let the thing be thrond [thrown] out of this — and have the responsbity [responsibility] off his shouldars & let it fall on. the state of Go.— [p. [29]]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Minutes, 10 June 1844
ID #
17544
Total Pages
13
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Willard Richards

Footnotes

  1. This may refer to a temporary reconciliation that took place between JS and Higbee in January 1844. (See Historical Introduction to Pleas, ca. 28 May 1844.)

  2. The sentence “Hundreds know this statement to be false” appears at this point in the published version of the city council minutes. (“For the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 17 June 1844, [1].)

  3. The sentence “Many hundreds of people are witness to this perjury” appears at this point in the published version of the city council minutes. (“For the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 17 June 1844, [1].)

  4. The published version of the city council minutes substitutes the word “their” for “this.” (“For the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 17 June 1844, [1].)

  5. On 11 May, John P. Greene reported that Francis M. Higbee and James Blakeslee were in Quincy speaking against JS. The Quincy Whig reported that Blakeslee and one of the Higbees had been in Quincy, where they contended that JS “was pretty much of a rough customer, especially in relation to the ‘spiritual wife’ doctrine. Their whole aim was principally against Smith and not against the church—of which they still claimed to be members. They painted Smith, as any thing but the Saint he claims to be—and as a man, to the last degree, corrupt in his morals and religion.” (JS, Journal, 11 May 1844; “The Mormons,” Quincy [IL] Whig, 22 May 1844, [1].)

    Quincy Whig. Quincy, IL. 1838–1856.

  6. Taylor’s statement is not included in the published version of the city council minutes. (“For the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 17 June 1844, [1].)

  7. The published version of the city council minutes expands this passage to read “shall they be suffered to go on, and bring a mob upon us; and murder our women and children, and burn our beautiful city?” (“For the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 17 June 1844, [1].)

  8. The published version of the city council minutes expands this sentence to read “I had rather my blood would be spilled at once.” (“For the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 17 June 1844, [1].)

  9. The phrase “thought it unnecessary to repeat what the council perfectly understood” was inserted into the published version of the city council minutes at this point. (“For the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 17 June 1844, [1].)

  10. Far West was the main Latter-day Saint settlement in Missouri after 1836. Many Saints gathered there for safety during the 1838 conflict between them and their neighbors in Missouri. On 30 October a force of Missouri militia approached Far West, and the Saints formed a defensive line on the southern end of the town. Two days later, on 1 November, the Saints surrendered to the Missouri militia. (“Joseph Smith Documents from February 1838 through August 1839”; Baugh, Call to Arms, 135, 137–139, 149–150.)

    Baugh, Alexander L. “A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri.” PhD diss., Brigham Young University, 1996. Also available as A Call to Arms: The 1838 Mormon Defense of Northern Missouri, Dissertations in Latter-day Saint History (Provo, UT: Joseph Fielding Smith Institute for Latter-day Saint History; BYU Studies, 2000).

  11. The published version of the city council minutes expands this passage to read “to defend it against just such scoundrels, and influence as the Nauvoo Expositor and its supporters; were directly calculated to bring against us again.” (“For the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 17 June 1844, [1].)

  12. The published version of the city council minutes renders this passage as follows: “let it be thrown out of this city, and the responsibility of countenancing such a press, be taken off our shoulders, and fall on the state, if corrupt enough to sustain it.” (“For the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 17 June 1844, [1].)

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