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Affidavit from Dellmore Chapman and Letter to Thomas Ford, 6 December 1843

Source Note

JS, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to , , Sangamon Co., IL, and , Affidavit, before JS as mayor, , Hancock Co., IL, 6 Dec. 1843. Featured version copied [7 Dec. 1843]; handwriting of ; two pages; JS Office Papers, CHL. Includes docket and redactions.
Bifolium measuring 9¾ × 7¾ inches (25 × 20 cm). Each leaf contains thirty printed lines, now faded. The affidavit was copied on the verso of the first leaf, and the letter was copied on the recto of the second leaf. The recto of the first leaf and the verso of the second leaf were left blank. After its inscription, the bifolium was trifolded for docketing and storage. At some point, the two leaves of the bifolium were separated.
The documents were docketed by , who copied the documents and served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844. Graphite redactions on the affidavit appear to have been made in 1855 when the documents were copied into JS’s history. The letter may be listed in an inventory produced by the Church Historian’s Office (now CHL) circa 1904. In 2012 the documents were cataloged as part of the JS Office Papers at the CHL. The documents’ docket, inclusion in JS’s history, and inclusion in the JS Office Papers indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458.

    Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.

  2. [2]

    See JS History, vol. E-1, 1793; and Vogel, History of Joseph Smith, 1:c.

    Vogel, Dan, ed. History of Joseph Smith and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: A Source and Text-Critical Edition. 8 vols. Salt Lake City: Smith-Pettit Foundation, 2015.

  3. [3]

    Although the CHL currently houses seven letters written between Thomas Ford and JS in 1843, the earlier inventory identifies only four. (“Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [3], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.)

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

  4. [4]

    See the full bibliographic entry for JS Office Papers, ca. 1835–1845, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 6 December 1843, JS wrote a letter from , Illinois, to governor in , Illinois, enclosing information about the kidnappings of and in November and early December and requesting instructions on how to respond to the event. JS’s letter served as a cover letter for an affidavit, sworn before JS in his capacity as Nauvoo’s mayor, from , a longtime , Illinois, resident. The Averys were accused of stealing horses from a Clark County, Missouri, resident, and Missourians assisted by leaders of the Illinois Anti-Mormon Party kidnapped them as part of an extralegal attempt to prosecute them for the alleged thefts. In his affidavit, Chapman recounted the circumstances of the kidnappings as unidentified sources had reported them to him, suggesting he was not an eyewitness to the events he described. According to JS’s journal, Chapman’s affidavit was specifically created to be sent to . It is unclear why Chapman was chosen to provide an affidavit describing the kidnappings. —Daniel’s wife and Philander’s mother—brought news of the kidnappings to Nauvoo on 5 December, but because married women lacked standing to initiate legal cases, Chapman may have been chosen to swear out an affidavit on her behalf. Additionally, it appears that Chapman was not a , and during this period JS sought support from individuals “not of the church” to oppose the Avery kidnappings.
Once the affidavit was finished, one of JS’s scribes—likely —drafted the cover letter to requesting instructions on how to proceed and promising to forward additional information as it became available. Of particular concern for JS was whether he should call out the to defend the Saints from any further kidnapping attempts. In addition to containing ’s affidavit, JS’s letter was accompanied by a 6 December petition drafted by Philo Goodwin from residents unaffiliated with the church asking that the governor resist ’s continued attempts to “pers[e]cute the saints.”
Before JS sent his letter, a messenger from arrived in with a report that “the Governor of has issued another writ for President Joseph Smith & is about to make an appeal or demand of the of .” While this report ultimately proved incorrect, it greatly increased the tension and fear in Nauvoo. In response, JS added a postscript to his letter to Ford reporting these developments. Additionally, at eleven o’clock in the morning on 7 December, “the citizens of Nauvoo” gathered near the unfinished and held a public meeting to draft and approve resolutions calling upon Ford to “prevent the said Missourians and Government from committing further violence upon the citizens of Illinois.” Specifically, they requested that he “not . . . issue any more writs against the said General Joseph Smith, or other Latter Day Saints, (unless they are guilty,)” and that he “take some lawful means and measures to regain the citizens that have been kidnapped by the Missourians.” By noon, the meeting ended and was sent to carrying JS’s letter, ’s affidavit, Goodwin’s petition, and the public resolutions.
The original letter, affidavit, and petition are not extant. However, before left for , made copies of JS’s letter and ’s affidavit to keep on file in ; these copies are featured here as JS documents. No copies of the petition have been located. The minutes and resolutions of the public meeting were published in the Nauvoo Neighbor. Because they were not copied with the letter and affidavit and JS apparently did not have a hand in preparing them, they are not featured here. Ford responded to JS’s letter on 12 December 1843.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Wyllys H. Chapman to Dellmore Chapman, Deed, 3 Jan. 1829, Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. 5, p. 444, microfilm 954,191, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  2. [2]

    JS, Journal, 5 Dec. 1843; “Part 5: December 1843.”

  3. [3]

    JS, Journal, 6 Dec. 1843; Edwards, People and Their Peace, 106.

    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.

  4. [4]

    JS, Journal, 6 Dec. 1843.

  5. [5]

    Phelps served as scribe or author for two other letters to Ford in December 1843, which bear notable similarities to this letter. (Letter to Thomas Ford, 11 Dec. 1843; William W. Phelps, Nauvoo, IL, to Thomas Ford, Springfield, IL, 30 Dec. 1843, JS Office Papers, CHL.)

  6. [6]

    JS, Journal, 6 Dec. 1843. Goodwin was a prominent Adams County attorney who had recently moved to the city. (“For Sale or Rent,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 6 Dec. 1843, [4]; Book of Assessment, 1843, First Ward, pp. [11]–[12], Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; Asbury, Reminiscences of Quincy, Illinois, 101; Collins and Perry, Past and Present of the City of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois, 273.)

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

    Nauvoo, IL. Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.

    Asbury, Henry. Reminiscences of Quincy, Illinois, Containing Historical Events, Anecdotes, Matters concerning Old Settlers and Old Times, Etc. Quincy, IL: D. Wilcox and Sons, 1882.

    Collins, William H., and Cicero F. Perry. Past and Present of the City of Quincy and Adams County, Illinois. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing, 1905.

  7. [7]

    Woodruff, Journal, 7 Dec. 1843.

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

  8. [8]

    JS, Journal, 7 Dec. 1843; Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 9 Dec. 1843, [1]; see also “Public Meeting,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 13 Dec. 1843, [1].

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  9. [9]

    JS, Journal, 7 Dec. 1843.

  10. [10]

    Nauvoo Neighbor, Extra, 9 Dec. 1843, [1]; “Public Meeting,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 13 Dec. 1843, [1].

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  11. [11]

    Letter from Thomas Ford, 12 Dec. 1843.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Affidavit from Dellmore Chapman and Letter to Thomas Ford, 6 December 1843
History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”

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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Affidavit from Dellmore Chapman and Letter to Thomas Ford, 6 December 1843
ID #
4558
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:327–331
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