Attendance records show that sixteen of the nineteen members of the city council were present on 21 June. A majority was needed to constitute a quorum. (Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840; “The Attendance of the City Council of the City of Nauvoo— Commencing February 10th 1844,” Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)

Nauvoo, IL, Records, 1841–1845. CHL.

The rules of order specified that the council’s meetings open with prayer. (“Rules of Order of the City Council of the City of Nauvoo,” 22 Jan. 1842, 1, 3, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)

See The city council’s rules of order dictated that after an opening prayer “the journal of the preceding meeting shall be read by the Recorder, to the end that any mistake may be corrected that shall have been made in the entries.” (“Rules of Order of the City Council of the City of Nauvoo,” 22 Jan. 1842, 1, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.). The 17 June extra issue of the Nauvoo Neighbor published revised versions of the minutes of the Nauvoo City Council’s 8 and 10 June meetings, during which the council considered whether the Nauvoo Expositor could be considered a public nuisance and destroyed. The next regular issue of the Neighbor, dated 19 June, republished the revised minutes. (“For the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 17 June 1844, [1]; “For the Neighbor,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 19 June 1844, [2]–[3].)

Mount and Cunningham were Latter-day Saints residing in Isaac Morley’s settlement, in southwestern Hancock County, Illinois. They swore out an affidavit before Justice of the Peace Aaron Johnson stating that on 15 June, George Baker, John Banks, Joseph Barber, and two others approached them at Morley’s settlement and demanded that they surrender their weapons. Upon learning they were unarmed, the posse demanded that they either assist in the capture and arrest of JS and other Latter-day Saints or move to Nauvoo, Illinois. (Hiram B. Mount and John Cunningham, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 20 June 1844, JS Office Papers, CHL.)

Canfield and Belnap, Latter-day Saint residents of Nauvoo, Illinois, swore out an affidavit before Justice of the Peace Aaron Johnson averring that on 17 June at Carthage, Illinois, a Dr. Barnes and Joseph H. Jackson stated that Illinois governor Thomas Ford was “as big a scoundrel as Joseph Smith” and that they were going to go to Nauvoo “with a sufficient force to take Smith, and if the people endeavored to prevent them, that they should kill the people.” Canfield and Belnap also testified that they had heard that “about one hundred persons had already arrived from Missouri, and were expecting a[s] many more from that State” in addition to “Guns and Ammunition and Provisions from St. Louis in order to prosecute their attack upon Nauvoo.” (Cyrus Canfield and Gilbert Belnap, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 18 June 1844, JS Office Papers, CHL.)

In a public meeting on 16 June, Evans and Horner, along with fellow Nauvoo, Illinois, Latter-day Saints Anson Call and Nicholas Boscow, were appointed to try to help calm concerns about JS and Nauvoo in the Rocky Run precinct in the southwestern portion of Hancock County, Illinois. On 19 June, Evans, Horner, and Call swore out the affidavit listed here before Justice of the Peace Aaron Johnson testifying that on 18 June they met with a group of Hancock County militia members under the command of Levi Williams at Rocky Run precinct. The militia members explained that the only thing that would satisfy them was JS’s arrest and trial at Carthage, Illinois, before Justice of the Peace Thomas Morrison, which would annul JS’s discharge from arrest by Daniel H. Wells on 17 June. They also vowed that, with or without the help of Illinois governor Thomas Ford, they would gather “all the people that would come into the county until they got force enough to come up, and take Joseph Smith with the first warrant” and that JS would stand trial at Carthage. Call, Evans, and Horner also testified that they had heard threats made against circuit court judge Jesse B. Thomas. (“Public Meeting,” Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 17 June 1844, [1]; “Public Meeting,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 19 June 1844, [3]; Anson Call et al., Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 19 June 1844, Thomas Bullock First Copy, JS Office Papers, CHL; Statement, 17 June 1844.)

Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

At JS’s request, Morley, Snow, Edmiston, and Durfee, all of whom were church members living in Isaac Morley’s settlement, Hancock County, Illinois, swore out an affidavit before Justice of the Peace Aaron Johnson stating that on 15 June a group of Hancock County citizens had approached Morley’s settlement and told them “to take up arms, join with, and go along with them to Nauvoo,” Illinois, to arrest JS, to move to Nauvoo, or to “give up our arms to them and remain neutral” during the impending problems. If they did not comply with any of those requirements, the group told the men, they “would smell thunder.” (Letter from Isaac Morley, 16 June 1844; Letter to Isaac Morley, 16 June 1844; Isaac Morley et al., Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 20 June 1844, JS Office Papers, CHL.)

Hancock, Garner, and Lofton, Latter-day Saint residents of Isaac Morley’s settlement, Hancock County, Illinois, swore out an affidavit before Justice of the Peace Aaron Johnson asserting that on 15 June they had been approached by several Hancock County citizens who told them to “take up our arms and join with them in going to Nauvoo to take Joseph Smith and others prisoner.” Hancock further testified that John Clark informed him on 18 June that “one of their party was gone to St. Louis and had obtained three cannon, and were expecting three companies of soldiers from St. Louis to join them in going to Nauvoo to exterminate the Mormons.” (Solomon Hancock et al., Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 20 June 1844, JS Office Papers, CHL.)

Wait, a Latter-day Saint resident of Isaac Morley’s settlement, Hancock County, Illinois, swore out an affidavit before Justice of the Peace Aaron Johnson testifying that on 15 June he had been at the home of Colonel Levi Williams of the Hancock County militia. Wait testified that Williams “told me that I must take up arms and go and fight against Joseph Smith or I must leave the place immediately—or else I must give up my arms and stay at home.” Williams further promised to “lay the whole city of Nauvoo in ashes” if the Saints refused to give JS up to the militia. As Wait was returning home, Captain Harrison P. Crawford told him that the militia deemed Illinois governor Thomas Ford “an unconstitutional man” and that it “intended to proceed against the Mormons whether they got any authority from the Governor or not.” (Allen Wait, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 20 June 1844, JS Office Papers, CHL.)

Guyman, who lived in Green Plains precinct, near Isaac Morley’s settlement, Hancock County, Illinois, and who professed not to be a member of the church, swore out an affidavit before Justice of the Peace Aaron Johnson asserting that on 15 June a Captain Wyers of a company of “Independent Anti Mormon Minute Men” indicated that “he was going to proceed to take Smith” and that “Missouri had offered to send over two thousand men to come over to assist and take him.” When Guyman questioned the legality of the Missouri militia coming to Illinois, Wyers responded that “the constables were going to summons them, and also to summons every man who were in, or would come into the county” to participate in the venture. According to Guyman, Wyers declared that if Ford would not “order the militia out in their favor to help to take those criminals and if he would not do just right,” they would decapitate him. Wyers further stated that they would also decapitate Ford if he attempted to order the militia to act against them. (James Guyman, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 20 June 1844, JS Office Papers, CHL.)

Tippets, a church member in Warsaw, Illinois, swore out an affidavit before Justice of the Peace Aaron Johnson averring that on 12 June, Levi Williams came to his home and ordered him to leave it that same day. Tippets stated, “I then took away part of my goods and left the house accordingly because I was afraid to stay there another night.” According to Tippets’s affidavit, the following day, Williams’s son physically assaulted Tippets and condemned him “for placing confidence in Joseph Smith and the people of Nauvoo.” (Alvah Tippets, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 20 June 1844, JS Office Papers, CHL.)

Bowen, from Isaac Morley’s settlement, Hancock County, Illinois, swore out an affidavit before Justice of the Peace Aaron Johnson asserting that on 15 June he was approached by John Clark, who stated his concern that the Saints would “come and destroy” the property of those who did not belong to the church. Clark declared that if any of his property was destroyed “by any person,” he would steal property from the nearest Saints he could find. Bowen related that on 18 June he overheard Clark, Levi Williams, and others discussing shooting the Saints. Clark reportedly said it was “no disgrace” to shoot one of the Saints, following which Williams threatened Bowen, saying that he must either leave Morley’s settlement or suffer the same fate as the Saints. Williams then stated that he intended to “gather the troops,” including two thousand volunteers from Missouri, who would “meet next day at Carthage, and then go against Joseph Smith and demolish the City of Nauvoo.” Although it appears that Clark and Williams assumed that Bowen was not a member of the church, Bowen may have been a Latter-day Saint by April 1844, when an Obadiah Bowen received an elder’s license. (Obadiah Bowen, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 20 June 1844, JS Office Papers, CHL; General Church Recorder, License Record Book, 122.)

A Hancock County, Illinois, resident and recent Latter-day Saint convert, Wilson swore out an affidavit before Nauvoo, Illinois, city recorder Willard Richards reporting that on 15 June, Robert Johnson told him that “fifteen hundred Missourians would assemble at Warsaw,” Illinois, on 17 June; proceed to Carthage, Illinois, with the Quincy Greys, a regiment of the Illinois state militia in Adams County; and then begin rounding up those living in the outlying branches of the church. Wilson also swore that Johnson informed him that on 20 June the mob planned “to proceed to Nauvoo, and demand Joseph & Hyrum Smith, and the city council of said city.— and if Joseph & Hyrum & City council were not given up they would blow up the city, and kill & exterminate all the inhabitants of said city.” (“Death of Thos. G. Wilson,” Deseret Evening News [Salt Lake City], 8 Dec. 1903, 9; Thomas Wilson, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 16 June 1844, JS Office Papers, CHL.)

Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

Markham, a Latter-day Saint resident of Nauvoo, Illinois, swore out an affidavit before Nauvoo city recorder Willard Richards stating that local newspapers, especially the Warsaw Signal, were reporting that “a mob may be expected to make an immediate attack of the citizens and city of Nauvoo.” He testified that throughout the “various precincts”—Hancock County’s voting precincts—there were “threats to exterminate the Latter day saints.” (Stephen Markham, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 17 June 1844, JS Office Papers, CHL.)

Both Greene and Bernhisel were Latter-day Saints and members of the Council of Fifty. The two men swore out an affidavit before Justice of the Peace Aaron Johnson testifying that during a mass meeting at Carthage, Illinois, on 13 June, participants “resolved to exterminate the latter day saints of the said city of Nauvoo.” They also stated that according to the Warsaw Signal, “bodies of armed men are coming from the state of Missouri and also from the Territory of Iowa and that cannon and ammunition are being transported from the state of Missouri to Illinois for the purpose of utterly exterminating the Latter day Saints.” (Council of Fifty, “Record,” 11 Mar. 1844; John P. Greene and John M. Bernhisel, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 20 June 1844, JS Office Papers, CHL; see also Warsaw [IL] Signal, Extra, 14 June 1844, [1]; and “The Preparation,” and “Postscript,” Warsaw Signal, 19 June 1844, [2].)

Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

Gillet, a Latter-day Saint resident of Hancock County, Illinois, swore out an affidavit before Nauvoo, Illinois, city recorder Willard Richards testifying that on 1 June 1842, onboard the steamboat Massachusetts, he overheard a Missourian and another man talking about JS. One of the men reportedly stated that if William Law had been able to introduce them to JS, they “would have gagged him. or nabbed him.” The following day, the Missourian related to Gillet that he and twelve to fourteen other men had “a plan to kidnap Jo Smith” and that this group believed Law would get them access to JS. When Gillet responded that he knew Law and “considered he was an honorable Man. and was led to doubt his being engaged with them in a conspiracy against Joseph Smith,” the man replied, “It is true whither you beleive it or not.” (Truman Gillet Jr., Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 18 June 1844, JS Office Papers, CHL.)

Lyon, a Latter-day Saint, swore an affidavit before Nauvoo, Illinois, city recorder Willard Richards stating that while he was in St. Louis on 17 June, “it was a common topic that they [Missourians] were furnishing arms and ammunition to be sent by steam boat to Warsaw Illinois.” He had also heard that “if the people of Warsaw need 500 men, to give notice by the steamer Boreas and the men should be sent from St Louis to Warsaw.” (Carlos W. Lyon, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 20 June 1844, JS Office Papers, CHL; see also General Church Recorder, License Record Book, 95.)

Hugins, a lawyer from Burlington, Iowa Territory, swore an affidavit before JS as mayor testifying that on 30 May a former United States marshal for Iowa Territory, Thomas B. Johnson, stated that he “intended to bring dragoons & troops of the United States from Iowa Territory” into Nauvoo, Illinois, “for the purpose of resisting the authority & power of the Municipal Court” of Nauvoo, which Johnson believed was acting without authority, particularly in cases concerning Jeremiah Smith. (Affidavit from Henry T. Hugins, 31 May 1844; see also Docket Entry, 18–31 May 1844; and Docket Entry, 30–31 May 1844.)

TEXT: The ink for the following two lines appears to be lighter than the foregoing ink, which suggests that these lines were later insertions—possibly added after Richards took these two affidavits following this meeting. (JS, Journal, 21 June 1844.)

Greene, a Latter-day Saint and a member of the Council of Fifty living in Nauvoo, Illinois, swore out an affidavit before Nauvoo city recorder Willard Richards stating that around 27 May at Artois Hamilton’s tavern in Carthage, Illinois, Robert D. Foster approached Greene in a private room and said with emotion, “For God’s sake dont suffer that man, Joseph Smith, to go out of doors for if he steps outside of the door his blood will be spilt.” When Greene asked who intended to kill JS, Foster refused to say, but he stated that “he knew the proud spirit of. [Joseph H.] Jackson. that he would not be insulted and that he would kill Joseph Smith if he had to die on. the spot. And there were many others, in carthage who would assist to do the same thing.” (John P. Greene, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 21 June 1844, copy, JS Collection, CHL.)

JS swore out an affidavit before Nauvoo, Illinois, city recorder Willard Richards testifying that around 27 May 1844, Charles A. Foster privately informed JS of a conspiracy against his life and warned that JS “had not better go out if he did his blood would be shed.” (Affidavit, 21 June 1844.)

Letter from Sylvester Emmons, 21 June 1844.