Footnotes
Historical Introduction to Ordinance, 12 Dec. 1843–B; Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 12 Dec. 1843, 24; Nauvoo Second Ward, Resolutions, 11 Dec. 1843; Nauvoo Third Ward, Resolutions, 11 Dec. 1843, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; see also “Joseph Smith Documents from August through December 1843.”
The ordinance authorized JS as mayor to select the forty officers. One of the policemen, James Pace, later stated that he was “chosen a Policeman by Joseph Smith” directly. (Ordinance, 12 Dec. 1843–B; Pace, Autobiographical Sketch, 4.)
Pace, James. Autobiographical Sketch, ca. 1861. James Pace, Papers, 1846–1861. CHL.
Dunham, Account Book, [91]–[93]. Stout noted on a June 1844 list of Nauvoo policemen that “the regular police . . . were mostly officers in the Legion.” (Thomas Bullock, Record of Events, 26 June 1844, [1], Nauvoo Legion Records, CHL.)
Dunham, Jonathan. Account Book, 1825–1844. Jonathan Dunham, Papers, 1825–1846. CHL. MS 1387 fd 5.
Nauvoo Legion Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 3430.
Other military offices listed in 1844 records and in JS’s history included ensigns, sergeants, corporals, musicians, pioneers, and privates. (Mitrani, Rise of the Chicago Police Department, 2–3; Dunham, Account Book, [91]–[93].)
Mitrani, Sam. The Rise of the Chicago Police Department: Class and Conflict, 1850–1894. The Working Class in American History. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2013.
Dunham, Jonathan. Account Book, 1825–1844. Jonathan Dunham, Papers, 1825–1846. CHL. MS 1387 fd 5.
As brigadier general in the Nauvoo Legion, Rich twice mobilized Stout’s regiment, on 9 and 19 December 1843, in response to orders from JS. On 18 December, Stout—though not a constable or any other legal officer—was chosen to attempt to arrest Levi Williams for his role in the Avery kidnappings. Dunham and Stout apparently led an attempt on 20–21 December to kidnap or otherwise interfere with witnesses in Iowa Territory planning to testify against Daniel Avery in Clark County, Missouri. (Notice, Wasp, 21 May 1842, [3]; Historical Introduction to Military Order to Wilson Law, 8 Dec. 1843; Charles C. Rich to Hosea Stout, Order, Nauvoo, IL, 9 Dec. 1843; Theodore Turley to George W. Crouse, Order, Nauvoo, IL, [19] Dec. 1843, in Order Book, 1843–1844, 13, 14–15, Nauvoo Legion Records, CHL; Historical Introduction to Petition from Aaron Johnson, 18 Dec. 1843; Historical Introduction to Military Order to Wilson Law, 18 Dec. 1843–A; JS, Journal, 21 Dec. 1843; Charles Shumway, Report, ca. 1843, Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, ca. 1839–1860, CHL; Jackson, Narrative, 15–19; see also Historical Introduction to Military Order to Wilson Law, 18 Dec. 1843–B.)
The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.
Nauvoo, IL. Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.
Nauvoo Legion Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 3430.
Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Documents, 1839–1860. CHL. CR 100 396.
Jackson, Joseph H. A Narrative of the Adventures and Experience of Joseph H. Jackson, in Nauvoo. Disclosing the Depths of Mormon Villainy. Warsaw, IL: By the author, 1844.
Historical Introduction to Ordinance, 12 Dec. 1843–B; Nauvoo Second Ward, Resolutions, 11 Dec. 1843; Nauvoo Third Ward, Resolutions, 11 Dec. 1843, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.
See Historical Introduction to Complaint, 18 Dec. 1843; and Clayton, Journal, 19 Dec. 1843.
Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.
Many of the police officers believed it was their duty to “guard the city and especially Br Joseph Smith,” and at least some of them favorably compared their organization to the Danites, a vigilante force that was created in 1838 to defend the church and the First Presidency. (Haight, Journal, [21]; Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 3 Jan. 1844, 34–36; Lee, Mormonism Unveiled, 215–216; Jackson, Narrative, 16, 22; LeSueur, 1838 Mormon War in Missouri, 37–47.)
Haight, Isaac Chauncey. Journal, 1852–1862. Photocopy. CHL. MS 1384.
Lee, John D. Mormonism Unveiled. St. Louis, MO: Sun Publishing Company, 1882.
Jackson, Joseph H. A Narrative of the Adventures and Experience of Joseph H. Jackson, in Nauvoo. Disclosing the Depths of Mormon Villainy. Warsaw, IL: By the author, 1844.
LeSueur, Stephen C. The 1838 Mormon War in Missouri. Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1987.
Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 3 and 5 Jan. 1844, 32–40. In his journal, Law stated that he was told he was “suspected of being a Brutus, and consequently narrowly watched, and should any misconceive my motives my life would be jeopardized.” (Law, Diary, 2 Jan. 1844, in Cook, William Law, 38.)
Cook, Lyndon W. William Law: Biographical Essay, Nauvoo Diary, Correspondence, Interview. Orem, UT: Grandin Book, 1994.
Law, Diary, 2 Jan. 1844, in Cook, William Law, 38; Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 3 and 5 Jan. 1844, 32–40; JS, Journal, 3–5 Jan. 1844.
Cook, Lyndon W. William Law: Biographical Essay, Nauvoo Diary, Correspondence, Interview. Orem, UT: Grandin Book, 1994.
According to the attendance record, city councilors Hyrum Smith, John Taylor, Orson Pratt, Orson Hyde, William W. Phelps (acting on behalf of Sylvester Emmons), Benjamin Warrington, and Brigham Young; aldermen Daniel H. Wells, George A. Smith, George W. Harris, and Samuel Bennett; mayor JS; city recorder Willard Richards; and city marshal John P. Greene were all present at the meeting. (“The Attendance of the City Council of the City of Nauvoo, Commencing August. 12th 1843,” Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)
Nauvoo, IL. Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.
The Nauvoo charter required the mayor, aldermen, and city councilors to swear “that they will support the Constitution of the United States, and of this State, and that they will well and truly perform the duties of their offices to the best of their skill and abilities.” The charter also required that all city officers appointed by the city council “take an oath for the faithful performance of the duties of their respective offices.” Phelps administered the oath of office for the police force in compliance with the latter requirement, but the wording and requirements more closely followed the former. (Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.)
Phelps apparently acted in two separate capacities during this meeting. As clerk of the Nauvoo mayor’s court, he administered the oath of office to the new policemen, but he was also a city councilor pro tempore acting on behalf of Sylvester Emmons. (“The Attendance of the City Council of the City of Nauvoo, Commencing August. 12th 1843,” Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 16 Dec. 1843, 25.)
Nauvoo, IL. Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.
The 12 December 1843 ordinance creating the police force stated that one of its purposes was “ferreting out thieves and bringing them to Justice.” Stealing by Latter-day Saints first became an issue during the October 1838 conflict in Missouri, when Latter-day Saint vigilantes participated in raids on havens used by church opponents in Daviess County, Missouri. In late 1841, five Latter-day Saint men were excommunicated from the church after being caught stealing and using an 1831 revelation to justify their actions. JS and other church leaders issued strongly worded statements condemning those actions in the Times and Seasons. Stealing among Latter-day Saints reemerged as a problem in early 1843, necessitating comment from JS and other church leaders. (Ordinance, 12 Dec. 1843–B; Historical Introduction to Affidavit, 29 Nov. 1841; Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:39]; JS, Journal, 20 Feb. 1843; JS, “Proclamation,” Wasp, 29 Mar. 1843, [3]; Minutes and Discourses, 6–7 Apr. 1843; see also Historical Introduction to Agreement with Jacob Stollings, 12 Apr. 1839; and Reed Peck, Testimony, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, p. [57], State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Treason and Other Crimes [Mo. 5th Jud. Cir. 1838], in State of Missouri, “Evidence.”)
In the 1850s, when he prepared these minutes for JS’s history, Thomas Bullock added language clarifying JS’s remarks. According to Bullock’s reconstruction, JS explained that while Dunham was technically “Captain of the Police” he would not use that title because “men are apt to be frightened at a Military Title.” Instead, JS argued, the city would refer to Dunham with the “Civil Title” of “High Policeman.” (Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 29 Dec. 1843, 86a.)
The breaking of a yoke was a biblical image of deliverance from bondage. (See, for example, Isaiah 9:4; see also Book of Mormon, 1840 ed., 94 [2 Nephi 19:4].)
In his 1850s edits to these minutes for JS’s history, Thomas Bullock inserted a clause claiming that the mob was frustrated “in their last attempt at kidnapping,” presumably referring to the release of Daniel Avery a few days earlier. Threats of extralegal violence against the Saints continued to circulate. The day prior to this meeting, Orson Hyde swore out an affidavit before JS testifying that a group of church opponents led by Levi Williams had threatened the Saints living in the Morley Settlement in Illinois on 23 December. (Affidavit from Orson Hyde, 28 Dec. 1843; Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 29 Dec. 1843, 87b; Affidavit from Daniel Avery, 28 Dec. 1843.)
TEXT: The strikethrough cancellation does not cover “us,” but it was apparently intended for cancellation.
After an unknown assailant shot and nearly killed Boggs in May 1842, John C. Bennett and others accused JS of sending Rockwell to assassinate the former Missouri governor. In July 1842, Boggs formally accused JS of being an “Accessary before the fact of the intended Murder.” In early March 1843, Rockwell was arrested in St. Louis. After he spent months in prison, a grand jury refused to indict Rockwell for shooting Boggs because of the lack of evidence against him. Nevertheless, Rockwell was indicted for attempting to break out of jail while the grand jury at Independence, Missouri, investigated the charges against him. The case was transferred to Missouri’s fifth judicial circuit, and a trial was held on 11 December 1843. The jury convicted Rockwell of jailbreaking and sentenced him to five minutes imprisonment. Rockwell was released on 13 December and arrived in Nauvoo on 25 December. (Lilburn W. Boggs, Affidavit, 20 July 1842; JS, Journal, 13 Mar. 1843; McLaws, “Attempted Assassination,” 51, 55–58; JS History, vol. E-1, pp. 1827–1829; JS, Journal, 25 Dec. 1843; see also Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 5 Mar. 1843, 2.)
McLaws, Monte B. “The Attempted Assassination of Missouri’s Ex-Governor, Lilburn W. Boggs.” Missouri Historical Review 60, no. 1 (Oct. 1965): 50–62.
Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Draft Notes, ca. 1839–1856. CHL. CR 100 92.