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Introduction to State of Illinois v. Williams et al. and State of Illinois v. Elliott–C Complaint, 22 September 1844 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Warrant, 22 September 1844 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Proclamation, 27 September 1844 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Proclamation, 27 September 1844, as Published in Nauvoo Neighbor [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Agreement, 30 September 1844 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Agreement, 30 September 1844, Copy [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Agreement, 2 October 1844 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Agreement, 2 October 1844, as Published in Warsaw Signal [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Recognizance, 2 October 1844 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Praecipe, 9 October 1844 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Praecipe, 25 October 1844 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Indictment, 26 October 1844 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Indictment, 26 October 1844, Copy [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Docket Entry, Indictment, 26 October 1844 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Praecipe, 26 October 1844 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Docket Entry, Capias, 26 October 1844 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Docket Entry, Discharge from Recognizance, 26 October 1844 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Docket Entry, Recognizance, 26 October 1844 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Memorandum of Testimony, circa 27 October 1844 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Memorandum of Testimony, circa 27 October 1844, Copy [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Order, circa 19 November 1844 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Warrant, 20 November 1844 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Warrant, 20 November 1844, as Published in Reports [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Subpoena, 14 December 1844–A [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Subpoena, 14 December 1844–B [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Subpoena, 14 December 1844–C [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Subpoena, 14 December 1844–D [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Attachment, 14 December 1844 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Bond, 20 March 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Subpoena, 8 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Bond, 17 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Praecipe, circa 18 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Subpoena, 19 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Docket Entry, Recognizance, 19 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Subpoena, 20 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Affidavit, 20–21 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Affidavit, 21 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Docket Entry, Motion, 21 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Docket Entry, Affidavits and Motions, 21 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Subpoena, 21 May 1845–A [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Subpoena, 21 May 1845–B [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Account of Trial, 21–28 May 1845, Shorthand [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Account of Trial, 21–28 May 1845, Longhand [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Oath, 22 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Subpoena, 22 May 1845–A [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Subpoena, 22 May 1845–B [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Subpoena, 22 May 1845–C [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Subpoena, 22 May 1845–D [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Subpoena, 22 May 1845–E [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Venire Facias, 22 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Instructions for Jury Selection, 22 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Alias Venire Facias, 22 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Docket Entry, Writs of Venire Facias, 22 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Attachment, 23 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Subpoena, 23 May 1845–A [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Subpoena, 23 May 1845–B [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Subpoena, 23 May 1845–C [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Subpoena, 23 May 1845–D [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Docket Entry, Pluries Venire Facias, 23 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Attachment, 24 May 1845–A [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Attachment, 24 May 1845–B [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Attachment, 24 May 1845–C [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Subpoena, 24 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Docket Entry, Motion Withdrawn, 24 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Docket Entry, Attachments, 24 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Docket Entry, Continuance, 24 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Account of Trial, 24–28 May 1845–A [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Account of Trial, 24–28 May 1845–A, as Published in Trial of the Persons Indicted [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Account of Trial, 24–28 May 1845–B [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Subpoena, 26 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Docket Entry, Continuance, 26 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Attachment, 27 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Subpoena, 27 May 1845–A [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Subpoena, 27 May 1845–B [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Docket Entry, Continuance, 27 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Closing Argument of Josiah Lamborn, 28 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Closing Argument of Calvin A. Warren, 28 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Closing Argument of Calvin A. Warren, 28 May 1845, as Recorded in “Minutes of Trial” [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Docket Entry, Continuance, 28 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Docket Entry, Continuance, 29 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Closing Argument of Onias Skinner, 29 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Closing Argument of Onias Skinner, 29 May 1845, Copy [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Closing Argument of Orville Browning, 29 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Jury Instructions, 30 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Verdict, 30 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Docket Entry, Verdict, 30 May 1845 [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Docket Entry, Attachment, 30 May 1845–A [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.] Docket Entry, Attachment, 30 May 1845–B [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.]

Account of Trial, 21–28 May 1845, Shorthand [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.]

Selection of Jurors, 22 May 1845 Page 9, bk. [1] Selection of Jurors, 23 May 1845 Page [25a], bk. [1] Opening Statement of Josiah Lamborn, 24 May 1845 Page 33, bk. [1] Opening Statement of William Richardson, 24 May 1845 Page 38, bk. [1] Testimony of Jonas Hobart, 24 May 1845 Page [2], bk. [2] Testimony of John Peyton, 24 May 1845 Page [4], bk. [2] Testimony of George Walker, 24 May 1845 Page [9], bk. [2] Testimony of Franklin Worrell, 24 May 1845–A Page [12], bk. [2] Testimony of Baldwin L. Samuel, 24 May 1845 Page [15], bk. [2] Testimony of George Bachman, 24 May 1845 Page [17], bk. [2] Testimony of John D. Mellen, 24 May 1845 Page [18], bk. [2] Testimony of Canfield Hamilton, 24 May 1845 Page [18], bk. [2] Testimony of Eli H. Williams, 24 May 1845 Page [20], bk. [2] Testimony of Franklin Worrell, 24 May 1845–B Page [25], bk. [2] Testimony of William Daniels, 24 May 1845 Page [25], bk. [2] Testimony of John Wilson, 26 May 1845 Page [61], bk. [2] Testimony of Thomas L. Barnes, 26 May 1845 Page [67], bk. [2] Testimony of Eli D. Walker, 26 May 1845 Page [73], bk. [2] Testimony of Thomas Dixon, 26 May 1845 Page [81], bk. [2] Testimony of Eliza Graham, 26 May 1845 Page [88], bk. [2] Testimony of Benjamin Brackenbury, 26 May 1845 Page [19], bk. [3] Testimony of Canfield Hamilton, 27 May 1845 Page [45], bk. [3] Testimony of Franklin Worrell, 27 May 1845 Page [46], bk. [3] Testimony of William Smith, 27 May 1845 Page [47], bk. [3] Testimony of James Reynolds, 27 May 1845 Page [54], bk. [3] Testimony of Larkin Scott, 27 May 1845 Page [55], bk. [3] Testimony of Derrick Fuller, 27 May 1845 Page [59], bk. [3] Testimony of John Pike, 27 May 1845 Page [63], bk. [3] Testimony of John Carlisle, 27 May 1845 Page [65], bk. [3] Testimony of Coleman Garrett, 27 May 1845 Page [69], bk. [3] Testimony of Thomas L. English, 27 May 1845 Page [1], bk. [4] Testimony of George Seabold, 27 May 1845 Page [6], bk. [4] Testimony of Charles Andrews, 27 May 1845 Page [7], bk. [4] Testimony of George McLean, 27 May 1845 Page [9], bk. [4] Testimony of Abraham I. Chittenden, 27 May 1845 Page [11], bk. [4] Testimony of Edward Bedell, 27 May 1845 Page [14], bk. [4] Testimony of John Wilson Williams, 28 May 1845 Page [16], bk. [4] Testimony of E. W. Gould, 28 May 1845 Page [18], bk. [4] Testimony of Ann Fleming, 28 May 1845 Page [26], bk. [4]

Source Note

, “The Examination of Witnesses at Carthage,” Account of Trial, 4 vols., [, Hancock Co., IL, 21–28 May 1845], State of IL v. Williams et al. (Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court 1845); handwriting of ; 232 pages; Carthage Trial Proceedings, 1845, CHL. Includes shorthand and drawings. Shorthand transcription by LaJean Carruth, verified by Silvia Ghosh.
The early custodial history of these shorthand volumes is unknown. The volumes are listed in inventories made by the Church Historian’s Office in 1858 and 1859. At some point, they were transferred into the possession of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The First Presidency transferred the notebooks to the Church Historical Department (now CHL) in 1978.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Catalog, Mar. 1858, [43], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL; Contents of the Historian’s and Recorder’s Office, Jul. 1858, 5, Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL; Contents of H.O. Box No. 1, 11 Feb. 1859, [1], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL; Historian’s Office Catalogue, 1859, [1], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL; List of Books in Chest, 24 Mar. 1859, [1], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

    Historian’s Office. Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904. CHL. CR 100 130.

  2. [2]

    See the full bibliographic entry for Carthage Trial Proceedings, 1845, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

In May 1845, Latter-day Saint attended the trial of the men accused of murdering JS. Watt had learned the phonetic shorthand developed by Sir Isaac Pitman in 1837, and during the 1845 trial in , Illinois, he took detailed notes of the trial testimony and proceedings. Pitman shorthand is a system of compressed writing where consonants and sometimes whole words are represented by straight or curved lines with diacritics and other small adjustments such as hooks or loops modifying the sounds or syllables. The simplified and abbreviated writing form complicates transcription of the shorthand into longhand. The same group of symbols can potentially be transcribed as a number of different words depending on context or vowel placement. Although shorthand allowed a trained reporter like Watt to record spoken words considerably faster than in longhand, the resulting shorthand manuscript was often incomplete. Reporters captured phrases and fragmentary sentences that often lacked formatting such as punctuation or capitalization, with the intent that when they transcribed their report into longhand, incomplete phrases could be expanded, connected, and formatted.
In the case of ’s account of the May 1845 trials, there are several incongruities between his shorthand and the surviving longhand account, which Watt and Daniel Mackintosh created thirteen years later. Notably, Watt’s shorthand contains considerably more material regarding the early stages of the trial. The attorneys’ arguments over appointing are much more detailed in the shorthand notes. The process of jury selection takes up over 20 manuscript pages in Watt’s shorthand notebooks and consists of over 6,000 words when transcribed, but it is entirely absent from the longhand account. The longhand account of witness testimony tracks very closely with Watt’s shorthand notes, although the longhand omits the brief testimony of John D. Mellen, who stated he was in at the time of the murders. Both Watt’s shorthand notes and the longhand account of the trial cut off following the witness testimony. Although Watt was in for the two days of closing arguments from the attorneys, no shorthand notes of those speeches survive.
To aid further research, Joseph Smith Papers staff members have prepared a line-by-line comparison of the two accounts. For more information on the case, see Introduction to State of Illinois v. Williams et al. and State of Illinois v. Elliott–C.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Carruth, “George D. Watt’s Pitman Shorthand,” in Liverpool to Great Salt Lake, xxv–xxvi.

    Carruth, LaJean Purcell. “George D. Watt’s Pitman Shorthand and the Process of Transcription.” In Liverpool to Great Salt Lake: The 1851 Journal of Missionary George D. Watt, xxv–xxvi. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2022.

  2. [2]

    Historian’s Office, Journal, 24 Aug. 1858.

    Historian’s Office. Journal, 1844–1997. CHL. CR 100 1.

  3. [3]

    Clayton, Journal, 31 May 1845.

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

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. Account of Trial, 21–28 May 1845, Shorthand [ State of Illinois v. Williams et al. ] Account of Trial, 21–28 May 1845, Longhand [ State of Illinois v. Williams et al. ]

Page 7, bk. [1]

now enough as this trusting may be as just as accessible to lawyers on this subject enough to read all the light we have upon this subject but there is a condensation of it in Chitty’s now the objection in this case is about the county commissioner’s court.  Objection growing out of the [illegible] that it is about the county commissioner’s court in this matter is one directed to the partiality of a jury whether the jury is selected by a sheriff [illegible] the objection exists against the array that where at the [illegible] and appoint to act in the inference in making the selection are bias of any kind that may be for for the court jury there for the law in some states in this they agree where he was the selecting official you cannot change the immutable principle of law that the selections were made a contaminated panel in this case the county commissioner’s court and although that it supposed of a sheriff as in . Not because he is the sheriff sheriff how I say the county commissioners in this in the performance of that duty that the sheriff or in Great Britain that he was enjoined the other matter to which I call the notice of the court that the affidavit alleges no thing against the jurors themselves all the challenge or the cause of challenge communicated here [2 words illegible] of [illegible] with the array is challenged we have it may be [p. 7, bk. [1]]
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Source Note

Document Transcript

Page 7, bk. [1]

Document Information

Related Case Documents

State of Illinois v. Williams et al., Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court, 30 May 1845

Editorial Title
Account of Trial, 21–28 May 1845, Shorthand [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.]
ID #
13324
Total Pages
311
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
  • George D. Watt

Footnotes

  1. [60]

    TEXT: Shorthand reads “object”. The difference between these two words is the character’s placement on the page.

  2. [61]

    TEXT: Shorthand reads “f-oo”.

  3. [62]

    TEXT: Shorthand here and on the second instance on this line reads “d-r”.

  4. [63]

    TEXT: Shorthand reads “sh-l-f”. Watt frequently wrote “sh-l” instead of “sh-r”.

  5. [64]

    TEXT: Shorthand reads “k-r-n”; intent was possibly “wherein”.

  6. [65]

    TEXT: Shorthand reads “sh-n” or possibly “sh-f”; intent was possibly “sheriff”.

  7. [66]

    TEXT: Or “or”.

  8. [67]

    TEXT: Or “and”.

  9. [68]

    TEXT: Shorthand reads “s-p-s-d”; intent was possibly “composed”.

  10. [69]

    TEXT: Shorthand reads “sh-l-f”.

  11. [70]

    TEXT: Shorthand reads “s-[long a]”; intent was possibly “see”.

  12. [71]

    TEXT: Shorthand reads “sh-l-f”.

  13. [72]

    TEXT: Or “or”.

  14. [73]

    TEXT: Shorthand reads “j-r f”; intent was possibly “jury for”.

  15. [74]

    TEXT: Shorthand reads “th” or “t-n”.

  16. [75]

    TEXT: Possibly “where”.

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