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Bond to James Sloan, 21 May 1842

Source Note

JS, , and , Bond, , Hancock Co., IL, to , , Hancock Co., IL, 21 May 1842; handwriting of ; signatures of JS, , and ; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes docket.
Single leaf measuring 9 × 7½ inches (23 × 19 cm), ruled with twenty-seven horizontal blue lines (now faded) on the recto. The bond and signatures were written in blue ink, except for the signature of James Ivins, which is in brown ink. The leaf was later trifolded, presumably for filing.
, who served as the city recorder from February 1841 to July 1843, docketed the document. It was likely interfiled in either the Nauvoo City Council records or the two manuscript record books that contained copies of Nauvoo bonds and deeds. These records were listed in an inventory produced by the Church Historian’s Office in 1846, when they were packed up with church records that were taken to the Salt Lake Valley. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early docket and inclusion in the JS Collection by 1973 suggest continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Minutes, 3 Feb. 1841; JS, Journal, 30 July 1843.

  2. [2]

    “Schedule of Church Records. Nauvoo 1846,” [1], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

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

  3. [3]

    See the full bibliographic entry for JS Collection, 1827–1844, in the CHL catalog.

Historical Introduction

On 21 May 1842, JS, along with and , signed a bond to , the city recorder of , Illinois, providing assurance that JS would fulfill his duties as Nauvoo’s newly elected mayor. Two days after resigned as mayor on 17 May, the city council elected JS to finish Bennett’s term of office. The bond accorded with a provision in the Nauvoo charter that required all city officers to complete “bonds with penalty and security, for the faithful performance of their respective duties.” JS also likely signed the bond, since such bonds were a prerequisite for mayors to receive commissions as justices of the peace. The bond included a penal sum, which stipulated that JS would be required to pay $1,000 if he failed to fulfill his duties.
inscribed the document; then JS, , and added their signatures. Whitney and Ivins presumably signed the $1,000 bond as sureties, indicating their willingness to pay JS’s fine if he was unable to pay. Whitney, who had been involved in the finances of the for a decade as an and , had also held a number of city council appointments. Ivins, meanwhile, had recently become a prominent financial agent of the church after being assigned to handle transactions with land speculator .
In addition to issuing this bond, JS signed an oath to uphold the law and perform his duties as mayor. sent a certificate of the bond to governor and requested that Carlin forward to JS’s commission to serve as a justice of the peace. Carlin issued the commission on 13 June.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Minutes, 19 May 1842; Letters from John C. Bennett and James Sloan, 17 May 1842.

  2. [2]

    Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.

  3. [3]

    See, for example, An Act to Amend an Act Entitled, “An Act to Incorporate the City of Quincy” [7 Jan. 1841], Laws of the State of Illinois [1840–1841], p. 58, sec. 6. The Nauvoo charter granted “the Mayor and Aldermen . . . all the powers of Justices of the Peace” and stipulated that these justices would be governed by the same laws as other justices of the peace and be commissioned by the Illinois governor. (Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.)

    Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835. Vandalia, IL: J. Y. Sawyer, 1835.

  4. [4]

    Whitney had been sworn into office as an alderman in February 1841 and was acting as a justice of the peace by July 1841. He had also been appointed to the city council’s Committee of Ways and Means on 19 May 1842. (Minutes, 3 Feb. 1841; Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. S, p. 200, 12 July 1841, microfilm 954,605, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; Minutes, 19 May 1842.)

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  5. [5]

    See Promissory Note to Horace Hotchkiss, 23 Oct. 1840; Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 11 Oct. 1841; and Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 9 Nov. 1841. Ivins had apparently arrived in Nauvoo from his home state of New Jersey as early as January but no later than April 1842. (JS, Journal, 27 Jan. 1842; Letter from Horace Hotchkiss, 7 Feb. 1842; Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. K, pp. 433–434, 27 Apr. 1842, microfilm 954,599, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.)

    U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.

  6. [6]

    Oath, 21 May 1842.

  7. [7]

    James Sloan, Nauvoo, IL, to Thomas Carlin, [Springfield, IL], 21 May 1842, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.

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

  8. [8]

    Thomas Carlin, Commission as Justice of the Peace, Springfield, IL, to JS, Nauvoo, IL, 13 June 1842, BYU.

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Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Bond to James Sloan, 21 May 1842
ID #
1921
Total Pages
2
Print Volume Location
JSP, D10:84–87
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