Closing Argument of Onias Skinner, 29 May 1845, Copy [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.]
Source Note
, Closing Argument, [, Hancock Co., IL], 29 May [1845], State of IL v. Williams et al. (Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court 1845). Copied [29 May–20 June 1845]; handwriting of and printed text; thirty-one pages; Wilford Wood Museum, Bountiful, UT; images in Joseph Smith Murder Trial Papers, 1844–1845, CHL.
Dear Sirs:— I send you a plate with an engraved likeness of , Editor of the Warsaw signal and one of the supposed murderers of Jo Smith. He has made himself somewhat notorious in our as one of the chief agitators of the Anti-Mormon humbug. He it is who invents and publishes all the lies about Mormon stealing; Mormon murders; Mormon adultries; spiritual wives and ; for the purpose of exciting the people to riot and murder. This same was once an anti-Masonic editor in the western part of . He it was who invented the name of “Jack Mason” for all such persons who refused to take part in the anti Masonic humbug of that day. He has transferred himself to , settled at ; and made himself the organ of a gang of town lot speculators there, who are afraid that , is about to kill off their town, and render their speculations abortive. As a wit, his most brilliant achievement here was to import his own knickname for the peaceable people of and apply it with the affix of Jack Mormon to the honest and sober minded portion of the community in . This fellow after laboring for years, in the Anti-masonic cause in ; and assisting to give the whigs an ascendency in the western part now pretends to be a democrat. But he deceives nobody. Every one knows that he and a few others at pretend to be democrats; as a surer means of injuiring the domocratic party.— Whenever a whig paper talks about Democrats being in the exterminating party, it is always these fellows. They are also the democratic witnesses and letter writers for the Whigs against the . It is by such fellows the whigs can prove any thing they want to. But now for the likeness. Here it is.
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[image of ]
The likeness is a good one; and admirably takes off the true mean, sneaking look of the man; the cunning, malice, vulgarity, envy, cruelty and cowardice of a paltry spirit, relieved by no one respectable quality. I have been to the trouble of having his likeness engraved for your paper so that some of his sympathisers, may see for themselves what kind of a creature it is who wheedles and moves them.
Closing Argument of Onias Skinner, 29 May 1845, Copy [State of Illinois v. Williams et al.]
ID #
19434
Total Pages
34
Print Volume Location
Handwriting on This Page
Printed text
Footnotes
Onias Skinner handwriting ends; printed text begins. A clipping from the Illinois State Register was attached to this page. (See Illinois State Register [Springfield], 8 Nov. 1844, [2].)
Illinois State Register. Springfield, IL. 1839–1861.