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Introduction to City of Nauvoo v. Bostwick, Bostwick v. JS and Greene, and Bostwick v. JS Praecipe, circa 3 March 1844 [Bostwick v. JS and Greene] Notice, 9 April 1844 [Bostwick v. JS and Greene] Docket Entry, Dismissal, 20 May 1844 [Bostwick v. JS and Greene] Docket Entry, circa 20 May 1844 [Bostwick v. JS and Greene] Docket Entry, circa 27 May 1844 [Bostwick v. JS and Greene] Case File Wrapper, circa May 1844 [Bostwick v. JS and Greene] Docket Entry, Fee Bill, between circa 22 November 1844 and circa 20 February 1845 [Bostwick v. JS and Greene]

Notice, 9 April 1844 [Bostwick v. JS and Greene]

Source Note

, , and , Attorneys, on behalf of , Notice, , IL, to JS and , 9 Apr. 1844, Bostwick v. JS and Greene (Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court 1844); handwriting of ; docket by , [, IL, ca. 9 Apr. 1844]; two pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes docket and notations.
Single leaf measuring 9½ × 7¾ inches (24 × 20 cm). Both sides are ruled with twenty-six horizontal lines printed in blue ink. The right side and bottom of the recto are unevenly cut, suggesting that the leaf was excised from a book or a larger sheet. The document was folded in half twice and later refolded for filing.
Notations were added by , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The notice’s early notations and its later inclusion in the JS Collection suggest continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    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.

  2. [2]

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

Historical Introduction

On 9 April 1844, the attorneys for , Illinois, resident issued a notice to JS and requesting that they produce all the papers associated with the case City of Nauvoo v. Bostwick. Sometime between 18 and 24 February 1844, Bostwick alleged that JS’s brother had several “spiritual wives” and that many of Nauvoo’s females lived as prostitutes. Bostwick made his allegations as rumors of plural marriage were circulating in Nauvoo. By 1842, JS, who was secretly practicing plural marriage, had shared the principle with only a select group of . A revelation outlining the doctrine of plural marriage had been recorded on 12 July 1843. Plural marriage, however, was not publicly taught during JS’s lifetime. Rumors of plural marriage had led to misrepresentations and abuses of the practice, problems which JS sought to eliminate. Hyrum Smith accepted the practice of plural marriage in May 1843 and married two plural wives in August of that year.
subsequently made a complaint against for using “slanderous Language” against him and certain women in . This complaint was probably based on Nauvoo’s ordinance regarding vagrants and disorderly persons, which, among other things, forbade “profane or indecent language, or behaviour.” On 26 February, “Bostwick was brought before the Mayor,” who at the time was JS, “for breach of ordinance.” The details of Hyrum Smith’s allegations and Bostwick’s defense before the Nauvoo mayor’s court are unknown. JS ruled against Bostwick, fining him fifty dollars and ordering him to pay court costs. , the city marshal, was responsible for collecting the judgment and costs from Bostwick. Bostwick’s attorney then informed JS that he would appeal the court’s ruling to the Nauvoo Municipal Court and then to the Circuit Court in , Illinois. JS responded by accusing Higbee of “trying to cary such a suit to Carthage” in order to “stir up the mob— & bring them upon us.”
Instead of appealing the ruling, initiated a civil suit for against JS and in the Circuit Court sometime between 26 February and 4 March, requesting $200 in damages. was a broad common law category of civil suits designed to recover damages from unlawful injuries to person or property. Because Bostwick’s —the legal document that would have outlined his claims against JS and Greene—is apparently not extant, the exact nature of the alleged wrongs is unknown. Bostwick also sought an injunction against JS in the court around this same time. While the details of this action are unclear, it was presumably connected to the earlier case in the mayor’s court or to the trespass suit.
In support of the civil suit for trespass, ’s attorneys—, , and —wrote a notice to JS and on 9 April. This notice requested that the two defendants provide Bostwick’s attorneys with the record of the mayor’s court related to Bostwick’s 26 February trial, the writ of execution authorizing Greene to collect on the court’s judgment against Bostwick, Greene’s return on the writ, and any other relevant court documents. The specific request for Greene’s return, in which he would have stated how he collected the judgment, suggests that Bostwick was claiming that Greene had somehow acted improperly when serving the writ of execution.
The notice written on behalf of was one of two that , , and wrote to JS and on 9 April. The other notice was written on behalf of resident , who, like Bostwick, was suing JS and Greene for trespass, apparently related to Greene allegedly seizing more property than was necessary when he enforced a writ of execution against Davis. Higbee served JS and Greene with the notice on behalf of Davis between 13 and 14 April by giving them a copy. Presumably, Higbee served the notice on behalf of Bostwick to JS and Greene around the same time.
In May 1844, both cases instigated by —the chancery case against JS and the trespass case against JS and —were dismissed. These dismissals took place for unstated reasons at Bostwick’s request and with Bostwick assuming responsibility for the costs of the legal actions. The notice delivered to JS and Greene on behalf of Bostwick is featured here.
See also Introduction to City of Nauvoo v. Bostwick, Bostwick v. JS and Greene, and Bostwick v. JS.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    John Scott, Deposition, Nauvoo, IL, 26 Feb. 1844, City of Nauvoo v. Bostwick (Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1844), Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; see also Historical Introduction to City of Nauvoo v. Bostwick.

  2. [2]

    See “Nauvoo Journals, December 1841–April 1843”; “Nauvoo Journals, May 1843–June 1844”; “Joseph Smith Documents from May through August 1842”; Revelation, 12 July 1843 [D&C 132]; JS, Journal, 12 July and 5 Oct. 1843; and Woodruff, Journal, 25 Nov. 1843.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  3. [3]

    Clayton, Journal, 26 May 1843; JS, Journal, 29 May 1843; Mercy Fielding Thompson, Affidavit, Salt Lake Co., Utah Territory, 19 June 1869, in Joseph F. Smith, Affidavits about Celestial Marriage, 1:34; Catherine Phillips Smith, Affidavit, Salt Lake Co., UT, 28 Jan. 1903, Joseph F. Smith, Affidavits about Celestial Marriage, CHL. In August 1843, Hyrum Smith married Mercy Fielding Thompson, who was the sister of Hyrum’s wife Mary Fielding Smith and the widow of Robert B. Thompson, and Catherine Phillips.

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

    Smith, Joseph F. Affidavits about Celestial Marriage, 1869–1915. CHL. MS 3423.

  4. [4]

    JS, Journal, 26 Feb. 1844.

  5. [5]

    Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 13 Nov. 1841, 31.

  6. [6]

    Clayton, Journal, 26 Feb. 1844.

    Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.

  7. [7]

    JS, Journal, 26 Feb. 1844.

  8. [8]

    Nauvoo’s city charter stated that “all process issued by the Mayor, Aldermen, or Municipal Court, shall be directed to the Marshal.” (Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.)

  9. [9]

    JS, Journal, 26 Feb. 1844. Nauvoo’s city charter stated that “appeals may be had from any decision or judgment of said Mayor or Aldermen, arising under the city ordinances, to the Municipal Court . . . and from the final judgment of the Municipal Court, to the Circuit Court of Hancock county.” (Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.)

  10. [10]

    Praecipe, ca. 3 Mar. 1844, Bostwick v. JS and Greene (Hancock Co. Cir. Ct. 1844), Circuit Court Case Files 1830–1900, CHL. On 4 March 1844, one of Bostwick’s attorneys, Chauncey L. Higbee, filed a request asking the clerk of the Hancock County Circuit Court to summon JS and Greene to appear at the court’s May 1844 session.

  11. [11]

    “Trespass,” in Bouvier, Law Dictionary, 2:579–580.

    Bouvier, John. A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States of America, and of the Several States of the American Union; With References to the Civil and Other Systems of Foreign Law. 2 vols. Philadelphia: Deacon and Peterson, 1854.

  12. [12]

    “Declaration,” in Bouvier, Law Dictionary, 1:424–426.

    Bouvier, John. A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States of America, and of the Several States of the American Union; With References to the Civil and Other Systems of Foreign Law. 2 vols. Philadelphia: Deacon and Peterson, 1854.

  13. [13]

    Docket Entry, Dismissal, 27 May 1844, Bostwick v. JS (Hancock Co. Cir. Ct. 1844), Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court, Chancery Court Records, 1838–1924, vol. C, p. 41, microfilm 955,134, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.

  14. [14]

    This notice was in accordance with a practice described in an Ohio law book, which stated that “if the adverse party be in possession of any written instrument . . . which would be evidence for you, if produced, you may serve either him or his attorney, as the case may be, with notice to produce it at the trial.” (Swan, Practice in Civil Actions and Proceedings at Law, 2:867–868.)

    Swan, Joseph R. The Practice in Civil Actions and Proceedings at Law, in Ohio, and Precedents in Pleading, with Practical Notes; together with the Forms of Process and Clerks’ Entries. 2 vols. Columbus: Isaac N. Whiting, 1845.

  15. [15]

    Notice, 9 Apr. 1844, Davis v. JS et al. (Hancock Co. Cir. Ct. 1844), Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court Case Files, 1830–1900, JS Collection, CHL; Summons, 24 Feb. 1844.

  16. [16]

    Docket Entry, Dismissal, 20 May 1844, Bostwick v. JS and Greene (Hancock Co. Cir. Ct. 1844), Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court Records, 1829–1897, vol. D, p. 82, microfilm 947,496; Docket Entry, Dismissal, 27 May 1844, Bostwick v. JS (Hancock Co. Cir. Ct. 1844), Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court, Chancery Court Records, 1838–1924, vol. C, p. 41, microfilm 955,134, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.

Page [1]

Circuit Court
May Te[rm] 1844.
vs
Joseph Smith &
The defendants in this Cause are notified to produce on the time of this Cause the record of the Mayor’s Court of the City of Containing all proceedings in a case lately before said Court wherein the the City of were plaintiffs and defendant together with the writ of execution issued in said Cause and the proceedings and return thereon and all papers <​properly​> appertaining to said Cause; to be read and inspected by the on the time of the above Cause in the Circuit Court of .
To the said defendants:
April 9th 1844.
& &
attys for pltff [p. [1]]
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Editorial Title
Notice, 9 April 1844 [Bostwick v. JS and Greene]
ID #
2719
Total Pages
2
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