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Pleas, circa 28 May 1844 [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B]

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Introduction to City of Nauvoo v. F. M. Higbee, F. M. Higbee v. JS–A, F. M. Higbee v. JS–A on Habeas Corpus, and F. M. Higbee v. JS–B Praecipe, circa 7 May 1844–A [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B] Praecipe, circa 7 May 1844–B [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B] Summons, 8 May 1844 [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B] Subpoena, 8 May 1844–A [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B] Subpoena, 8 May 1844–B [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B] Declaration, circa 9 May 1844 [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B] Plea, 20 May 1844 [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B] Docket Entry, Plea, 21 May 1844 [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B] Affidavit, 23 May 1844–A [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B] Affidavit, 23 May 1844–B [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B] Affidavit, 23 May 1844–C [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B] Docket Entry, Motion and Change of Venue, 23 May 1844 [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B] Affidavit, 24 May 1844 [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B] Docket Entry, Motion Set Aside, 24 May 1844 [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B] Pleas, circa 28 May 1844 [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B] Replication, circa 28 May 1844 [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B] Demurrer, circa 28 May 1844 [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B] Docket Entry, Pleas and Demurrer, 29 May 1844 [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B] Docket Entry, Demurrer Sustained, 29 May 1844 [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B] Bill of Costs, 9 August 1844 [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B] Bill of Costs, 10 August 1844 [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B] Transcript of Proceedings, 10 August 1844 [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B] Case File Wrapper, circa October 1844 [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B] Praecipe, 29 May 1844 [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B] Docket Entry, Abatement, 27 August 1844 [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B] Docket Entry, circa 27 August 1844 [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B] Docket Entry, Abatement, circa August 1844 [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B]

Pleas, circa 28 May 1844 [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B]

Source Note

and , attorneys, on behalf of JS, Pleas, , IL, [ca. 28 May 1844], F. M. Higbee v. JS–B (Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court 1844); handwriting of and ; signatures of and [by ]; signatures of and [by ]; docket by , [, IL, ca. 28 May 1844]; notation possibly by , [, Hancock Co., IL], 29 May 1844; notation by James M. Campbell, [, McDonough Co., IL], 12 Aug. 1844; four pages; McDonough County Circuit Court Files, Illinois Regional Archives Depository vault, Archives and Special Collections, Leslie F. Malpass Library, Western Illinois University, Macomb. Includes docket and notations.
Bifolium measuring 12½ × 8 inches (32 × 20 cm). Each page is ruled with thirty-seven horizontal lines printed in blue ink. The document was folded in half twice horizontally for filing.
After its creation and filing in the Circuit Court, the document was transferred to the Circuit Court in 1844, when the court granted a change of venue. The document presumably remained in the custody of the McDonough County Circuit Court until 1996, when the McDonough County Circuit Court files were transferred to the Illinois Regional Archives Depository at Western Illinois University in , Illinois.

Footnotes

  1. Email, 4 Feb. 2022, copy in editors’ possession.

    Email, 4 Feb. 2022. Copy in editors' possession.

Historical Introduction

Around 28 May 1844, attorney prepared legal pleas on JS’s behalf as part of Francis M. Higbee v. JS–B, a civil lawsuit filed during the May 1844 term of the , Illinois, circuit court, stemming from difficulties existing between and JS. Higbee joined the with his family in in 1832 and subsequently with the Saints in and then . The two men differed as to when conflict between them began. According to statements made by JS and other Latter-day Saints, Higbee was accused of illicit sexual conduct in 1841, but after Higbee promised to reform, church leaders decided to take no disciplinary action against him. For his part, Higbee claimed that his grievance against JS began in 1842 after JS purportedly asked to become one of his plural wives; Higbee was romantically involved with her at the time. Higbee relocated to in late summer or fall 1842, but he returned to , Illinois, the following summer.
The immediate cause of the legal actions between JS and originated from comments JS allegedly made about Higbee’s character at a meeting of the City Council on 5 January 1844. That day, the city council was investigating a controversy surrounding remarks JS made to the Nauvoo police force on 29 December 1843 that he feared “a Brutus” existed in the city. Individual policemen speculated regarding the identity of this suspected traitor, concluding that JS may have referred to , a counselor in the , or , the Nauvoo president, or possibly both. Marks reported that Higbee had informed him Marks’s life was in danger. JS summoned Higbee to testify before the city council on the matter. In his testimony, Higbee related that he had “received the impression from some source” that Law and Marks “could not subscribe to all things in the church, and it might make trouble.” Higbee, however, said he had not heard that the two men were in danger. Later in the meeting, Higbee left, evidently without permission from the council.
The city council minutes indicate that after departed, JS stated that Higbee “had better stay at home & hold his tongue, lest rumor turn upon him.” According to ’s journal, JS also accused Higbee of conspiring with the church’s enemies in . Law further noted that JS implied that Higbee had a sordid sexual history and that JS alluded to an instance when “he had been called on to him” for a healing blessing, but Higbee “stank from a cause that he did not like to name.” On 10 January 1844, Higbee wrote a letter confronting JS about “the inconsiderate, the unwarented, and unheard of Attack you made upon my character” before the city council and demanded that the church investigate the matter.
retaliated against JS by attacking his character and threatening legal action. On 15 January, filed a complaint before , clerk of the Municipal Court, accusing Higbee of using “slanderous and abusive epithets and language” toward JS and declaring he would “put him [JS] under ten thousand dollar bonds.” JS, as mayor, reviewed the complaint and ordered Richards to issue an arrest warrant for Higbee. The following day, Higbee was brought before the municipal court. , who was present at the proceedings, described Higbee as “very wrathy and vicious” and said that he “threatened to sue J. at the County court.”
However, around eleven o’clock in the morning, before the trial could proceed, the justices of the municipal court “adjourned one hour to accommodate the City Council,” which had a meeting scheduled for that morning. Partway through the meeting, JS briefly stepped away from the council, possibly to meet with . Following his return, JS announced that he and Higbee had reconciled; Higbee pledged his friendship to JS and, referring to “his distraction of mind the past week,” stated that he was “glad the difficulties [were] settled.” JS ordered that his comments about Higbee made on 5 January 1844 be stricken from the city council minutes. The municipal court then dropped the charges against Higbee.
Despite the reconciliation, JS and ’s relationship deteriorated further during the following months. On 26 February 1844, Higbee served as ’s attorney in a case before JS in the mayor’s court wherein Bostwick was accused of slander for alleging that JS’s brother had married “spiritual wives.” After JS convicted Bostwick, Higbee threatened to appeal the case, which JS believed would “stir up the mob” against the Saints. On 28 April, Higbee was appointed an apostle in a new church formed by dissenters led by .
On 1 May 1844, followed through on his earlier threat to sue JS in the Circuit Court for his 5 January comments. Higbee brought the suit, F. M. Higbee v. JS–A, as a “” action, a common law remedy designed to indemnify a plaintiff for a wrong that was “not committed with force.” At Higbee’s request, the circuit court issued a writ of capias ad respondendum, or a warrant ordering the county sheriff to take JS into custody. JS was arrested on 6 May, but the Nauvoo Municipal Court granted JS a writ of the same day and discharged him two days later. Higbee then initiated a second, parallel suit—F. M. Higbee v. JS–B—in the circuit court, which issued a summons on 8 May for JS to appear later that month at the court’s scheduled term.
Attorneys for both parties filed a series of pleadings to narrow and refine the single issue that the jury would decide at the trial. On 10 May, ’s attorneys— and —filed his declaration, which asserted that on 5 January 1844, JS publicly uttered “false scandalous malicious and defamatory words” that damaged Higbee’s reputation. According to the declaration, JS accused Higbee of fornication, adultery, larceny, and having a venereal disease. Furthermore, the attorneys alleged that JS forbade him from associating with the women of JS’s household. JS’s remarks, the declaration continued, injured Higbee’s “good name fame and credit” among his neighbors, who subsequently refused to transact business with him, causing Higbee to sustain damages amounting to $5,000.
JS retained the services of attorney , a prominent Latter-day Saint and a member of the , to defend him in the suit. Although the circuit court term opened on 20 May 1844, various procedural issues related to the suit delayed Babbitt in filing JS’s pleas responding to Higbee’s declaration. Babbitt did not identify the place or date he composed the pleas, although he probably began them either in , where he consulted with JS on 25 and 26 May, or in , Illinois, after he returned there on 27 May. Babbitt presumably finalized them around 28 May, since he filed them with the court in Carthage the following day. The pleas are featured here.
Each of the three pleas composed by was designed to deny that the had a valid cause of action. Following the legal form, Babbitt wrote the name and term of the circuit court, as well as the names of the parties to the suit, before listing the pleas. The first plea generally denied the assertions presented in the declaration. It concluded with a request for a jury trial. ’s attorney later countersigned the request for a jury trial and added the surname of his cocounsel, , who had apparently replaced . In the second plea, Babbitt argued that Higbee had no cause of action because on 16 January 1844, JS and Higbee reconciled with each other. Finally, in the third plea, Babbitt explained that JS’s remark about Higbee having a venereal disease was justified because it was true, as JS was prepared to prove by relating the circumstances in which it was contracted in 1842.
After filed the pleas, ’s attorneys inscribed a replication responding to these claims beneath Babbitt’s third plea. The replication denied that Higbee had “the Pox in manner and form as the said Defendent” alleged. In addition, on the same day, Higbee’s attorneys filed a demurrer arguing that the second and third pleas were “not sufficient in law” and that Higbee was “not bound by law to answer the same.” The document did not, however, specify the reasons for this challenge. At the circuit court in , Judge of the fifth judicial circuit heard oral arguments from both parties’ attorneys, which were not recorded, and then sustained the demurrer. The demurrer did not mention the first plea—which contained JS’s general denial of Higbee’s claims in the declaration—thereby sending the question of whether JS had actually wronged Higbee with his 5 January comments to the jury to decide. Thomas also granted an earlier request from Higbee for a change of venue, transferring the case to the Circuit Court, to be heard at the August 1844 term. The case was subsequently dismissed in August, following JS’s death in June.

Footnotes

  1. Higbee, Autobiographical Sketch, [1]–[2]; “A History, of the Persecution, of the Church of Jesus Christ, of Latter Day Saints in Missouri,” Times and Seasons, Dec. 1839–Oct. 1840; 1840 U.S. Census, Hancock Co., IL, 166.

    Higbee, Isaac. Autobiographical Sketch, 24 May 1864. Obituary Notices and Biographies, 1854–1877. CHL.

    Census (U.S.) / U.S. Bureau of the Census. Population Schedules. Microfilm. FHL.

  2. See Account of Hearing, Nauvoo, IL, 8 May 1844, F. M. Higbee v. JS–A on Habeas Corpus (Nauvoo Mun. Ct. 1844), pp. 3–8, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.

  3. “Comunication,” Warsaw (IL) Signal, 29 May 1844, [2]; see also Historical Introduction to Letter to Nancy Rigdon, ca. Mid-Apr. 1842.

    Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.

  4. Letter from Francis M. Higbee, 8 Sept. 1843.

  5. Minutes and Discourse, 29 Dec. 1843.

  6. Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 3 and 5 Jan. 1844, 32–38.

  7. Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 5 Jan. 1844, 36–39; Orson Pratt, Complaint, Nauvoo, IL, 15 Jan. 1844, City of Nauvoo v. F. M. Higbee (Nauvoo Mun. Ct. 1844), Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.

  8. Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 5 Jan. 1844, 39.

  9. Law, Diary, 5 Jan. 1844, in Cook, William Law, 45–46.

    Cook, Lyndon W. William Law: Biographical Essay, Nauvoo Diary, Correspondence, Interview. Orem, UT: Grandin Book, 1994.

  10. Letter from Francis M. Higbee, 10 Jan. 1844.

  11. Orson Pratt, Complaint, Nauvoo, IL, 15 Jan. 1844, City of Nauvoo v. F. M. Higbee (Nauvoo Mun. Ct. 1844), Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.

  12. JS, Journal, 15–16 Jan. 1844; Richards, Journal, 15 Jan. 1844.

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

  13. Clayton, Journal, 16 Jan. 1844.

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

  14. Docket Entry, Nauvoo, IL, 15–ca. 16 Jan. 1844, City of Nauvoo v. F. M. Higbee (Nauvoo Mun. Ct. 1844), Nauvoo Municipal Court Docket Book, 90; Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 16 Jan. 1844, 44. According to the act incorporating the city of Nauvoo, often called the Nauvoo charter, the municipal court was composed of the mayor as chief justice and the four city aldermen as associate justices. The mayor and aldermen were also members of the city council, along with nine city councilors. (Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.)

  15. Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 16 Jan. 1844, 44–45; JS, Journal, 16 Jan. 1844; Docket Entry, Nauvoo, IL, 15–ca. 16 Jan. 1844, City of Nauvoo v. F. M. Higbee (Nauvoo Mun. Ct. 1844), Nauvoo Municipal Court Docket Book, 90.

  16. JS, Journal, 26 Feb. 1844; John Scott, Deposition, Nauvoo, IL, 26 Feb. 1844, City of Nauvoo v. Bostwick (Nauvoo Mayor’s Ct. 1844), Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; Historical Introduction to City of Nauvoo v. Bostwick, Bostwick v. JS and Greene, and Bostwick v. JS. JS prosecuted Bostwick under a city ordinance. According to the Nauvoo charter, defendants who appealed their convictions in the mayor’s or aldermen’s courts for violating city ordinances would first need to go to the Nauvoo Municipal Court and then appeal that decision to the circuit court. Bostwick ultimately decided not to appeal the decision, instead filing a civil suit against JS at the May 1844 term of the circuit court. (Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840; Notice, 9 Apr. 1844.)

  17. JS, Journal, 28 Apr. 1844. Higbee was excommunicated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on 18 May 1844. (Nauvoo Stake High Council Minutes, 18 May 1844.)

    Nauvoo Stake High Council Minutes, ca. 1839–ca. 1843. Fair copy. In Oliver Cowdery, Diary, Jan.–Mar. 1836. CHL.

  18. Francis M. Higbee, Praecipe, Hancock Co., IL, 1 May 1844, F. M. Higbee v. JS–A (Hancock Co. Cir. Ct. 1844), Illinois State Historical Society, Circuit Court Case Files [Cases pertaining to Mormon Residents], 1830–1900, CHL; Swan, Practice in Civil Actions and Proceedings at Law, 1:17; Blackstone, Commentaries, vol. 2, bk. 3, p. 92.

    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.

    Blackstone, William. Commentaries on the Laws of England: In Four Books; with an Analysis of the Work. By Sir William Blackstone, Knt. One of the Justices of the Court of Common Pleas. In Two Volumes, from the Eighteenth London Edition. . . . 2 vols. New York: W. E. Dean, 1840.

  19. Petition to Nauvoo Municipal Court, 6 May 1844. Illinois law required a request for a writ of capias ad respondendum to be accompanied by an affidavit detailing the wrong committed and showing how the “damages sustained” were “in danger of being lost,” thereby requiring the apprehension of the defendant. (An Act concerning Special Bail [26 Jan. 1827], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois [1839], p. 88, sec. 1; see also Francis M. Higbee, Affidavit, Carthage, IL, 1 May 1844, F. M. Higbee v. JS–A [Hancock Co. Cir. Ct. 1844], Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court Legal Documents, 1839–1860, Nineteenth-Century Western and Mormon Americana, BYU.)

    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.

  20. Petition to Nauvoo Municipal Court, 6 May 1844; see also Historical Introduction to City of Nauvoo v. F. M. Higbee, F. M. Higbee v. JS–A, F. M. Higbee v. JS–A on Habeas Corpus, and F. M. Higbee v. JS–B. In response to a motion by Higbee, the circuit court dismissed the first suit against JS on 23 May. (Docket Entry, Dismissal, Carthage, IL, 23 May 1844, F. M. Higbee v. JS–A [Hancock Co. Cir. Ct. 1844], Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court Records, 1829–1897, vol. D, p. 116, microfilm 947,496, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

  21. Francis M. Higbee, Praecipe for Summons, Hancock Co., IL, ca. 7 May 1844; Jacob B. Backenstos, Summons for JS, Carthage, IL, 8 May 1844, F. M. Higbee v. JS–B (Hancock Co. Cir. Ct. 1844), McDonough County Circuit Court Files, Illinois Regional Archives Depository vault, Archives and Special Collections, Leslie F. Malpass Library, Western Illinois University, Macomb.

  22. For more information on the common law pleading system, see Historical Introduction to Plea, ca. 21 May 1844.

  23. Francis M. Higbee, Declaration, Hancock Co., IL, ca. 9 May 1844, F. M. Higbee v. JS–B (Hancock Co. Cir. Ct. 1844), McDonough County Circuit Court Files, Illinois Regional Archives Depository vault, Archives and Special Collections, Leslie F. Malpass Library, Western Illinois University, Macomb; see also “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.

  24. Letter from Almon Babbitt, 17 May 1844; Letter from Almon Babbitt, 5 May 1844.

  25. Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court Records, 1829–1897, vol. D, p. 64, microfilm 947,496, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL. The circuit court, for unknown reasons, took no action following the municipal court’s 8 May 1844 discharge of JS. Both of Higbee’s suits—docketed by the circuit court clerk as 128 and 139—were therefore still pending against JS. JS’s attorneys filed a plea on his behalf on 21 May asking the court to dismiss Higbee’s second suit, number 139. Higbee’s attorney in turn motioned on 23 May to dismiss the first suit, number 128, instead; the court dismissed the first suit. The same day, Higbee filed an affidavit claiming he could not receive a fair trial in suit 139 in Hancock County and requesting a change of venue. The request was granted, although the change was delayed on 24 May until the parties finished filing their pleadings. (Historical Introduction to Petition to Nauvoo Municipal Court, 6 May 1844; JS, Plea, Hancock Co., IL, 20 May 1844, F. M. Higbee v. JS–B [Hancock Co. Cir. Ct. 1844], McDonough County Circuit Court Files, Illinois Regional Archives Depository vault, Archives and Special Collections, Leslie F. Malpass Library, Western Illinois University, Macomb; Docket Entry, Plea, Carthage, IL, 21 May 1844, F. M. Higbee v. JS–B [Hancock Co. Cir. Ct. 1844], Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court Records, 1829–1897, vol. D, p. 90; Docket Entry, Dismissal, Carthage, IL, 23 May 1844, F. M. Higbee v. JS–A [Hancock Co. Cir. Ct. 1844], Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court Records, 1829–1897, vol. D, p. 116, microfilm 947,496, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Francis M. Higbee, Affidavit, Carthage, IL, 23 May 1844, F. M. Higbee v. JS–B [Hancock Co. Cir. Ct. 1844], McDonough County Circuit Court Files, Illinois Regional Archives Depository vault, Archives and Special Collections, Leslie F. Malpass Library, Western Illinois University, Macomb; Docket Entry, Motion Set Aside, Carthage, IL, 24 May 1844, F. M. Higbee v. JS–B [Hancock Co. Cir. Ct. 1844], Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court Records, 1829–1897, vol. D, p. 126, microfilm 947,496, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  26. JS, Journal, 25–27 May 1844.

  27. See “Plea in Bar,” in Bouvier, Law Dictionary, 2:327–328.

    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.

  28. JS, Pleas, Hancock Co., IL, ca. 28 May 1844; Francis M. Higbee, Replication, Hancock Co., IL, ca. 28 May 1844, F. M. Higbee v. JS–B (Hancock Co. Cir. Ct. 1844), McDonough County Circuit Court Files, Illinois Regional Archives Depository vault, Archives and Special Collections, Leslie F. Malpass Library, Western Illinois University, Macomb; see also “Replication,” in Bouvier, Law Dictionary, 2:435–436. Although inscribed on the same leaf with the pleas, the replication is a distinct legal text and is not reproduced in this transcript.

    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.

  29. Francis M. Higbee, Demurrer, Hancock Co., IL, ca. 28 May 1844, F. M. Higbee v. JS–B (Hancock Co. Cir. Ct. 1844), McDonough County Circuit Court Files, Illinois Regional Archives Depository vault, Archives and Special Collections, Leslie F. Malpass Library, Western Illinois University, Macomb; see also “Demurrer,” in Bouvier, Law Dictionary, 1:446–447.

    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.

  30. Docket Entry, Demurrer Sustained, Carthage, IL, 29 May 1844, F. M. Higbee v. JS–B (Hancock Co. Cir. Ct. 1844), Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court Records, 1829–1897, vol. D, p. 157, microfilm 947,496, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.

  31. Stephen and Troubat, Treatise on the Principles of Pleading in Civil Actions, 279.

    Stephen, Henry John, and Francis J. Troubat. A Treatise on the Principles of Pleading in Civil Actions; Comprising a Summary View of the Whole Proceedings in a Suit at Law. 2nd American ed. Philadelphia: Robert H. Small, 1831.

  32. Docket Entry, Motion and Change of Venue, Carthage, IL, 23 May 1844, F. M. Higbee v. JS–B (Hancock Co. Cir. Ct. 1844), Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court Records, 1829–1897, vol. D, p. 122, microfilm 947,496, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Docket Entry, Abatement, 27 Aug. 1844, McDonough Co., IL, Circuit Court Record, vol. B, p. 336, Illinois Regional Archives Depository vault, Archives and Special Collections, Leslie F. Malpass Library, Western Illinois University, Macomb; see also Historical Introduction to City of Nauvoo v. F. M. Higbee, F. M. Higbee v. JS–A, F. M. Higbee v. JS–A on Habeas Corpus, and F. M. Higbee v. JS–B.

at that time he the defendent did for the consideration of the settlement of all matters of difficultys and greivences between him the said defendants and the said & he the defendant did <​there & then​> discharge <​the from a certain cause of action and damages to the defendent then existing by reason of the against the for certain slanderous words before that time spoken by the of and concerning the defendant​> on certain suit at law committed against the said by him the said defendant before the Municipal Court for of the city of for damages &c as full discharge of and satisfaction of the said supposed wrongs and greivences aforesaid in the said said in his said decleration mentioned and the said did then and there accepted the aforesaid discharge of the aforesaid <​cause of action & damages​> suit in full satisfaction of all the wrongs and greivences set forth in the said decleration and the said defendant then and there accepted the said wrongs and greivences as a full satisfaction of all his damages against the said as aforesaid and then and there the aforesaid and the defendent shook hands mutually and agreed that all there said diffrence then and therefrom <​should​> be settled and cease and this the defendent is ready to verify wharefore he the defendent prays <​judgemnt​> and that the said may be bared of his action aforesaid against him &c
& for Deft
And for a further plea herein the defendent <​says​> that as to speaking and publishing so much as imputes or charges to or against with having pox <​[2 words illegible] and seduction​> [p. [2]]
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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Pleas, circa 28 May 1844 [F. M. Higbee v. JS–B]
ID #
4823
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • Almon Babbitt

Footnotes

  1. The first portion of this plea evidently recounts a 16 January 1844 reconciliation between JS and Higbee. It is unclear why Babbitt dated the reconciliation 1 February. The second portion of the plea describes the municipal court’s mid-January 1844 prosecution of Higbee and subsequent decision to drop the charges. Babbitt may have intended this to be a “plea in excuse,” in which the defendant attempted to show that he did “all in his power to satisfy” the plaintiff. (JS, Journal, 16 Jan. 1844; Docket Entry, Nauvoo, IL, 15–ca. 16 Jan. 1844, City of Nauvoo v. F. M. Higbee [Nauvoo Mun. Ct. 1844], Nauvoo Municipal Court Docket Book, 90; “Plea in Excuse,” in Bouvier, Law Dictionary, 2:328.)

    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.

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