Case files for approximately 40 of these cases have not survived, but the cases are referenced in journals and other sources. Information regarding these cases can be found in the JS as a Judge, JS and Civil Litigation, and JS and the Criminal Justice System finding aids.
Illinois Constitution of 1818, art. 4, secs. 1, 8; Severns, Prairie Justice, chap. 5.
Illinois Office of Secretary of State. First Constitution of Illinois, 1818. Illinois State Archives, Springfield.
Severns, Roger L. Prairie Justice: A History of Illinois Courts under French, English, and American Law. Carbondale, Illinois: Southern Illinois University Press, 2015.
An Act to Provide for the Election of Justices of the Peace and Constables [30 Dec. 1826], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois, p. 400, sec. 4; An Act to Amend an Act, Entitled “An Act to Provide for the Election of Justices of the Peace and Constables” [7 Jan. 1835], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois, p. 426, sec. 1.
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.
Friedman, History of American Law, 97; Edwards, People and Their Peace, 67–68, 80–81.
Friedman, Lawrence M. A History of American Law. 4th ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2019.
Edwards, Laura F. The People and Their Peace: Legal Culture and the Transformation of Inequality in the Post-revolutionary South. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009.
An Act to Amend the Act Relative to Criminal Jurisprudence, approved 30 Jan. 1827 [19 Jan. 1829], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois, pp. 241–242, secs. 1–4; An Act to Extend the Jurisdiction of Justices of the Peace [29 Dec. 1826], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois, pp. 414–415, sec. 1; An Act to Amend “An Act concerning Justices of the Peace and Constables,” approved, 13 Feb. 1827 [23 Jan. 1829], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois, pp. 421–422, sec. 12; An Act to Regulate the Apprehension of Offenders, and for Other Purposes [6 Jan. 1827], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois, pp. 237–238, secs. 1, 3.
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.
Specifically, justices were permitted to hear common law actions of assumpsit and debt. (An Act concerning Justices of the Peace and Constables [3 Feb. 1827], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois, p. 402, sec. 1.)
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.
Specifically, justices were permitted to hear common law actions of trespass on personal property as well as trover and conversion. (An Act Supplemental to the Act Entitled “An Act concerning Justices of the Peace and Constables,” passed February 3d, 1827 [12 Feb. 1827], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois, p. 414.)
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.
An Act concerning Justices of the Peace and Constables [3 Feb. 1827], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois, p. 409, sec. 30–31.
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.
An Act Regulating the Supreme and Circuit Courts [19 Jan. 1829], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois, pp. 168, 171, secs. 2, 17–20; An Act Reorganizing the Judiciary of the State of Illinois [10 Feb. 1841], Laws of the State of Illinois, p. 173, secs. 2–3; An Act to Establish Circuit Courts [23 Feb. 1841], Laws of the State of Illinois, pp. 103–105, 108, secs. 1–2, 4, 9, 12, 18.
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.
Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Twelfth General Assembly, at Their Session, Began and Held at Springfield, on the Seventh of December, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Forty. Springfield, IL: William Walters, 1841.
For more information on the similarities and differences between the Nauvoo municipal courts and other municipal courts in Illinois, see Bennett and Cope, “City on a Hill,” 17–40.
Bennett, Richard E., and Rachel Cope. “‘A City on a Hill’—Chartering the City of Nauvoo.” The John Whitmer Historical Association Journal (2002): 17–42.
Although section 17 of the charter stated that the mayor had “exclusive jurisdiction in all cases arising under the ordinances,” subsequent language in the section indicated that the Nauvoo Municipal Court could hear appeals “from any decision or judgment of said Mayor or Aldermen,” implying that the aldermen also had jurisdiction over alleged breaches of city ordinances. Two surviving legal documents produced by alderman Daniel H. Wells confirm that he operated a court with jurisdiction over alleged breaches of city ordinances. (Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840; Complaint, 1 Apr. 1844 [City of Nauvoo v. C. L. Higbee–B]; Docket Entry, 1 Apr. 1844 [City of Nauvoo v. C. L. Higbee–B]; see also Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 13 Nov. 1841, 30; 14 Jan. 1843, 141–146.)
See Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 15 Feb. 1841, 8; 1 Mar. 1841, 12–13; 13 Nov. 1841, 31.
Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840; “The Nauvoo Municipal Court and the Writ of Habeas Corpus.”
An Act to Establish the Judicial Courts of the United States [24 Sept. 1789], Public Statutes at Large, vol. 1, pp. 76–77, sec. 9; An Act to Provide for the Due Execution of the Laws of the United States within the State of Illinois [3 Mar. 1819], Public Statutes at Large, vol. 3, pp. 502–503, secs. 1–2.
The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845. . . . Edited by Richard Peters. 8 vols. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1846–1867.
An Act to Establish the Judicial Courts of the United States [24 Sept. 1789], Public Statutes at Large, vol. 1, pp. 78–79, sec. 11; An Act Supplementary to the Act Entitled “An Act to Amend the Judicial System of the United States” [3 Mar. 1837], Public Statutes at Large, pp. 176–178, secs. 1, 3.)
The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845. . . . Edited by Richard Peters. 8 vols. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1846–1867.
An Act to Establish the Judicial Courts of the United States [24 Sept. 1789], Public Statutes at Large, vol. 1, pp. 81–82, sec. 14.
The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845. . . . Edited by Richard Peters. 8 vols. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1846–1867.
Introduction to Extradition of JS et al. for Treason and Other Crimes; Introduction to Extradition of JS for Accessory to Assault; Introduction to Extradition of JS for Treason; “The Nauvoo Municipal Court and the Writ of Habeas Corpus.”
Introduction to Miller et al. v. B. Holladay and W. Holladay; Introduction to Sweeney v. Miller et al.; Introduction to JS et al. v. C. B. Street and M. B. Street.
Introduction to United States v. Haws et al.; see also Introduction to Joseph Smith’s Bankruptcy.
Introduction to Bostwick v. JS and Greene; 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; Introduction to C. A. Foster v. JS and Coolidge; Introduction to State of Illinois v. Sympson, Sympson v. JS, and State of Illinois v. JS for Perjury; Introduction to State of Illinois v. Finch, State of Illinois v. Finch on Habeas Corpus, and Davis v. JS et al.
Introduction to City of Nauvoo v. Davis for Slander of JS–A; Introduction to City of Nauvoo v. Davis for Slander of JS–B and City of Nauvoo v. Davis for Slander of JS–C; Introduction to City of Nauvoo v. Hunter; Introduction to State of Illinois v. Elliott–B.
Introduction to State of Illinois v. JS for Fornication and Adultery; Introduction to State of Illinois v. JS for Perjury; Introduction to State of Illinois v. JS et al. for Riot–A; Introduction to State of Illinois v. JS and H. Smith for Treason.