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Documents, Volume 13, Part 5 Introduction: December 1843

Part 5: December 1843

In December 1843, tensions between the and their neighbors in , Illinois, came to a head, resulting in a period of significant anxiety for JS and other church members. In November and early December, threats of violence and vigilantism materialized in the form of the kidnapping of a church member and his son by opponents in and . JS was involved in the creation of dozens of letters, legal documents, city ordinances, and military orders that responded to the kidnappings and the threat they presented to the Latter-day Saints.

In November 1843, Mark Childs, the son of a church member living in , Iowa Territory, was accused of stealing a mare and a colt from in Clark County, Missouri. Childs was subsequently arrested. In an effort to deflect blame from himself, Childs accused Latter-day Saint and his son of stealing the horses.

For several months, the Anti-Mormon Party in and surrounding counties had claimed that it was willing to assist in any attempt to extradite JS to or otherwise put a halt to supposed criminal deeds by church members and that it would do so “at all hazards, and under all circumstances.” After accusations were leveled at Daniel and Philander Avery, members of the Anti-Mormon Party apparently decided to act on these earlier threats and take the men illegally to Missouri.

Shortly after Childs gave his testimony, , one of his associates, went to to work with Anti-Mormon Party members to orchestrate the kidnappings.

On 12 November, Richardson persuaded to accompany him to the .

When they arrived at , Illinois, a group of Missourians, including , seized Avery and carried him across the river to Clark County, where Richardson took out a Bowie knife and threatened him “with death or seven years imprisonment” unless he confessed both his and his father’s involvement in the theft. Although Avery was apparently not a member of the church, his coerced affidavit, sworn before Clark County justice of the peace John Dedman, stated that church members , , and Jedediah Owens had convinced him that it was not a crime to steal from Missourians because of their earlier mistreatment of the Latter-day Saints. Philander Avery’s affidavit also claimed that in July 1840, he and Turner each stole a horse—as well as one of the horse’s colts—from McCoy and that he later delivered the horse and colt that he stole to his father, Daniel Avery, who sold them upriver at , Illinois.

After certifying Philander Avery’s confession, Justice Dedman sent him to prison to await the next circuit court session, which was scheduled for late December.

On 2 December, nearly three weeks after ’s kidnapping, militia colonel led an armed mob composed of people from and to Vernon Doty’s mill in southern Hancock County. There the men seized and forced him to cross the into Clark County, despite his demands for a hearing or trial. Daniel Avery, like his son, was subjected to a hearing before Dedman and remanded to jail to await the next circuit court session.

, the wife of and mother of , brought news of the kidnappings to on 5 December. Over the next several days, JS and others gained further intelligence regarding how the Averys were taken and the potential threat to other Latter-day Saints, including JS. A messenger from reported that ’s governor was issuing a new requisition for JS’s extradition. Although the rumor proved incorrect, JS wrote to governor to inform him of these developments and request instructions for how to respond. In the meantime, JS and other civic leaders began preparing to protect and defend JS and other Nauvoo residents. On 8 December, the Nauvoo City Council passed an ordinance explicitly designed to protect JS from both extralegal kidnapping and legal arrest. JS also issued orders to mobilize a portion of the to defend the city’s residents. In the weeks that followed, JS collected affidavits about the kidnappings and explored additional means to defend the city and its residents. These included the creation of a full-time municipal police force on 12 December and the passage of an ordinance on 21 December that required all law officers seeking to arrest or subpoena individuals in Nauvoo to submit their legal process to JS as mayor for approval. JS’s actions during these weeks further enraged the Anti-Mormon Party in and increased the tension in the region.

On 18 December, law officers from arrested , a participant in ’s kidnapping, and brought him to Nauvoo for a hearing. JS also charged Elliott with threatening JS’s life, but he ultimately forgave the offense during the subsequent hearing. Elliott was bound over to answer the kidnapping accusation at the next circuit court session. During the hearings, additional evidence implicated in the kidnappings. A group of Nauvoo Legion troops traveled south to arrest Williams that night. However, after Elliott’s arrest, Williams had gathered a large mob to resist arrest, and the Nauvoo posse abandoned its attempt rather than risk bloodshed. JS again mobilized a portion of the legion to defend the city from the mob threat, counseling the Saints to “hold themselves in readiness at a moments warning.” He also attempted to decrease tensions by noting that “it was best not to [go] down again at present” to attempt to arrest Williams or others. Instead, he advised the Saints to “let the mob abide there for a public disgrace, and when the mob had dispersed then our men could go down & bring Colonel Williams without trouble.”

Meanwhile in , the legal case against the Averys began to fall apart. When the circuit court met in Clark County in late December, a grand jury indicted for grand larceny but did not pursue charges against , who had already either escaped or been released. After the indictment, Daniel Avery’s case was continued to the June 1844 circuit court session. However, after the court’s term ended, Avery obtained a writ of from the Clark County court and was discharged on 25 December 1843 after a hearing. He arrived in the next day at sundown. Avery’s return to marked the end of the immediate threat of kidnappings or extraditions to Missouri, but tensions in remained. As the month closed, JS received reports that Williams threatened to force the Latter-day Saints to leave their settlements in southern Hancock County.

Beyond the fallout from the Avery kidnappings, JS and the Saints expanded their efforts to appeal to the federal government for redress of their losses and for additional protections throughout the month. The Saints continued to gather signatures for the memorial drafted by and supported publicly by JS. In early December, JS published his appeal addressed to the citizens of , in which he sought support for the Latter-day Saints’ redress campaign, as a pamphlet. The City Council also drafted a second memorial to Congress, requesting that be granted the powers and rights of a federal territory to ensure the protection of its citizens. In addition, JS received two letters from potential presidential candidates and responding to his earlier request for information regarding their position on redress for the Latter-day Saints.

JS also attended to church business. A few believers and skeptics wrote to him requesting favors or additional information about the church, including , who employed JS in 1825 in upstate and who participated in some of the events connected to the translation of the Book of Mormon. JS also granted a request by church members in , Illinois, to make his uncle a . During the month, JS attended seven prayer meetings in which he administered or participated in religious planned for the that was still under construction.

On 29 December 1843, JS attended a swearing-in ceremony for the newly created police force and declared victory over his opponents. After claiming that the “mob has been so repulsed they stand in fear,” JS stated that he feared “pretended friends” or “a Brutus” living in Nauvoo more than he feared his enemies abroad—remarks that set the stage for renewed opposition to JS, this time from within the church and the city, which erupted days later in January 1844.

Part five comprises thirty-three documents, including correspondence, minutes, military orders, city ordinances, legal documents, discourses, a pamphlet, and a memorial to Congress.

1
Child, Autobiography and Personal Papers, 2–3, 7; Philander Avery, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 20 Dec. 1843, JS Office Papers, CHL; John Dedman, Mittimus, [Clark Co., MO], 13 Nov. 1843, State of Missouri v. Philander Avery [Clark Co. Cir. Ct. 1843], Clark County Circuit Clerk’s Office, Clark County Courthouse, Kahoka, MO. While documents produced by the United States government and Latter-day Saints identified him as Mark Childs, Iowa Territory legal records record his surname as “Child” and Missouri legal documents have “Chiles.” (Registers of Enlistments in the United States Army, vol. 44, p. 43; Philander Avery, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 20 Dec. 1843, JS Office Papers, CHL; Docket Entry, 23 May 1844, United States v. Richardson and Child [Lee Co. Dist. Ct. 1844], Lee Co., Iowa Territory, District Court Records, 1837–1993, vol. 3, p. 472, microfilm 1,927,404, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Philander Avery, Testimony, [Clark Co., MO], 13 Nov. 1843; John Dedman, Mittimus, [Clark Co., MO], 13 Nov. 1843, State of Missouri v. Philander Avery [Clark Co. Cir. Ct. 1843], Clark County Circuit Clerk’s Office, Clark County Courthouse, Kahoka, MO.)
Child, Warren G. Autobiography and Personal Papers, ca. 1872–1905. Warren G. Child.
Clark County Circuit Clerk’s Office, Clark County Courthouse. Kahoka, MO.
Registers of Enlistments in the United States Army, 1798–1914. National Archives Microfilm Publications, microcopy M233, reel 21. Washington DC: National Archives and Records Service, 1956.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
2
“Great Meeting of Anti-Mormons!,” Warsaw (IL) Message, 13 Sept. 1843, [1]–[2].
Warsaw Message. Warsaw, IL. 1843–1844.
3
Several months after Childs escaped the horse theft charges in Clark County, he and Richardson were caught with stolen property in Lee County, Iowa Territory. The two men were arrested and charged with burglary, but they both fled the territory after posting bail. (Docket Entry, 23 May 1844, United States v. Richardson and Child [Lee Co. Dist. Ct. 1844], Lee Co., Iowa Territory, District Court Record, vol. 3, p. 472; Docket Entry, 25 May 1844, United States v. Richardson and Child [Lee Co. Dist. Ct. 1844], Lee Co., Iowa Territory, District Court Record, vol. 3, p. 488; Docket Entry, 21 Oct. 1845, United States v. Richardson and Child [Lee Co. Dist. Ct. 1845], Lee Co., Iowa Territory, District Court Records, 1837–1993, vol. 4, p. 150, microfilm 1,927,404, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
4
Although documents subsequently created by Latter-day Saints and others in Nauvoo stated that Philander Avery was kidnapped on Sunday, 19 November, legal documents from Clark County indicate that Avery was taken by 13 November, which suggests that the kidnapping took place on Sunday, 12 November. (Affidavit from Dellmore Chapman and Letter to Thomas Ford, 6 Dec. 1843; JS, Journal, 6 Dec. 1843; Philander Avery, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 20 Dec. 1843, JS Office Papers, CHL; Philander Avery, Testimony, [Clark Co., MO], 13 Nov. 1843; John Dedman, Mittimus, [Clark Co., MO], 13 Nov. 1843, State of Missouri v. Philander Avery [Clark Co. Cir. Ct. 1843], Clark County Circuit Clerk’s Office, Clark County Courthouse, Kahoka, MO; see also Affidavit from Daniel Avery, 28 Dec. 1843.)
Clark County Circuit Clerk’s Office, Clark County Courthouse. Kahoka, MO.
5
Philander Avery, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 20 Dec. 1843, JS Office Papers, CHL.
6
Philander Avery, Testimony, [Clark Co., MO], 13 Nov. 1843, State of Missouri v. Philander Avery [Clark Co. Cir. Ct. 1843], Clark County Circuit Clerk’s Office, Clark County Courthouse, Kahoka, MO. The prosecution of Philander Avery and Daniel Avery was against Missouri law, not only because they were kidnapped but also because the statute of limitations was three years for all felonies not mandating a punishment of death or life imprisonment—a fact that Latter-day Saints used to attack the proceedings against Daniel Avery. Perhaps aware of this technicality, the indictment procured from the Clark County grand jury against Daniel Avery changed the date of the alleged theft from July 1840 to January 1843. (An Act to Regulate Proceedings in Criminal Cases [21 Mar. 1835], Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri [1835], p. 502, art. 9, secs. 23–24; William W. Phelps, Nauvoo, IL, to J. White, Waterloo, MO, 21 Dec. 1843, JS Office Papers, CHL; Indictment, [Clark Co., MO, 23 Dec. 1843], State of Missouri v. Daniel Avery [Clark Co. Cir. Ct. 1843], Clark County Circuit Clerk’s Office, Clark County Courthouse, Kahoka, MO.)
Clark County Circuit Clerk’s Office, Clark County Courthouse. Kahoka, MO.
The Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri, Revised and Digested by the Eighth General Assembly during the Years One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Four, and One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Five. . . . St. Louis: Argus Office, 1835.
7
John Dedman, Mittimus, [Clark Co., MO], 13 Nov. 1843, State of Missouri v. Philander Avery [Clark Co. Cir. Ct. 1843], Clark County Circuit Clerk’s Office, Clark County Courthouse, Kahoka, MO; An Act to Fix the Time of Holding Circuit Courts [24 Feb. 1843], Laws of the State of Missouri [1842–1843], p. 51, sec. 4.
Clark County Circuit Clerk’s Office, Clark County Courthouse. Kahoka, MO.
Laws of the State of Missouri, Passed at the First Session of the Twelfth General Assembly, Begun and Held at the City of Jefferson, on Monday, the Twenty-First Day of November, Eighteen Hundred and Forty-Two, and Ended Tuesday, the Twenty-Eighth Day of February, Eighteen Hundred and Forty-Three. Jefferson City, MO: Allen Hammond, 1843.
8
Affidavit from Daniel Avery, 28 Dec. 1843.
9
JS, Journal, 5 Dec. 1843; Affidavit from Dellmore Chapman and Letter to Thomas Ford, 6 Dec. 1843; Woodruff, Journal, 7 Dec. 1843.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
10
Affidavit from Dellmore Chapman and Letter to Thomas Ford, 6 Dec. 1843.
11
Ordinance, 8 Dec. 1843; see also Minutes, 8 Dec. 1843.
12
Military Order to Wilson Law, 8 Dec. 1843.
13
Ordinance, 12 Dec. 1843–B; Ordinance, 21 Dec. 1843; see also, for example, Letter to Thomas Ford, 11 Dec. 1843.
14
Historical Introduction to Complaint, 18 Dec. 1843.
15
Historical Introduction to Petition from Aaron Johnson, 18 Dec. 1843; Historical Introduction to Military Order to Wilson Law, 18 Dec. 1843–A.
16
Historical Introduction to Military Order to Wilson Law, 18 Dec. 1843–B; Clayton, Journal, 19 Dec. 1843.
Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.
17
Philander Avery returned to Nauvoo by 20 December 1843. (Indictment, [Clark Co., MO, 23 Dec. 1843], State of Missouri v. Daniel Avery [Clark Co. Cir. Ct. 1843], Clark County Circuit Clerk’s Office, Clark County Courthouse, Kahoka, MO; JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1843; Philander Avery, Affidavit, Nauvoo, IL, 20 Dec. 1843, JS Office Papers, CHL.)
Clark County Circuit Clerk’s Office, Clark County Courthouse. Kahoka, MO.
18
Affidavit from Daniel Avery, 28 Dec. 1843.
19
Affidavit from Orson Hyde, 28 Dec. 1843.
20
JS et al., Memorial to U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, 28 Nov. 1843, Record Group 46, Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives, Washington DC; see also Minutes, 4 Dec. 1843; and Historical Introduction to Affidavit from Orson Hyde, 28 Dec. 1843.
21
General Joseph Smith’s Appeal to the Green Mountain Boys, 21 Nov.–ca. 3 Dec. 1843.
22
Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 16 Dec. 1843–12 Feb. 1844.
23
Letter from John C. Calhoun, 2 Dec. 1843; Letter from Lewis Cass, 9 Dec. 1843.
24
Letter from Martha Lucretia Campbell, 19 Dec. 1843; Letter from Glen Hardeman, 19 Dec. 1843; Letters from Newton E. French and James H. Seymour, 27 Dec. 1843.
25
Letter to John Smith, 12 Dec. 1843.
26
JS, Journal, 2–3, 9, 17, 23, and 30–31 Dec. 1843.
27
Minutes and Discourse, 29 Dec. 1843.

Part 5: December 1843

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