Babbitt obtained a leave of absence from the state legislature on 23 December 1844. By 27 December, Babbitt returned to Nauvoo and reported on the proceedings of the legislature in a meeting of church and city leaders. William Clayton recorded that Babbitt “brought very favorable tidings respecting the prospects of our Charters being sustained” despite “tremendous prejudice in both houses against us and a determination to destroy if possible.” Following Babbitt’s report, “There was a vote taken by unanimous acclamation to sustain the whole Charter and the meeting instructed E[lde]r Babbit to contend for the whole inch by inch &, if the Legislature take any part of it away they do it at their own risk for we will never willingly consent to relinquish one jot of it.” Babbitt returned to Springfield by 3 January and, as he reported in this meeting, encountered an atmosphere much more favorable to the repeal of the Nauvoo charter. (Journal of the House of Representatives . . . of Illinois, 23 Dec. 1844 and 3 Jan. 1845, 120, 155; Clayton, Journal, 27 Dec. 1844.)

Journal of the House of Representatives, of the Fourteenth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, at Their Regular Session, Begun and Held at Springfield, December 2, 1844. Springfield, IL: Walters and Weber, 1844.

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

During the debates over the possible repeal of the Nauvoo charter, Kirby Benedict, a representative from Macon County, introduced to the Illinois House of Representatives a copy of Orson Spencer’s letter to Almon Babbitt. Babbitt complained that it “was a private letter, not laid before the committee, nor authorized by me to be produced in this House.” Nevertheless, Babbitt “consented that he [Benedict] should read the whole document, but this he refused to do, but read just such parts as he chose, which only went to show that the person subscribing to that letter, was of opinion that the legislature had no right to repeal their city charter inasmuch as rights have accrued under its operations.” A lengthy undated excerpt of Spencer’s letter was printed in the Warsaw Signal in late January. The letter informed Babbitt that “the house of Israel have made you their watchman” in the state legislature and expressed indignation at the prospect of having the charter repealed. “What more could a bloody mob ask of a State than they will have done when they take away our charters,” Spencer asked. (Speech of Almon Babbitt, Nauvoo Neighbor, 5 Mar. 1845, [1]; “Extract of a Letter,” Warsaw [IL] Signal, 29 Jan. 1845, [3].)

Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.