Footnotes
“Habeas Corpus,” in Bouvier, Law Dictionary, 1:454–456.
Bouvier, John. A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States of America, and of the Several States of the American Union; With References to the Civil and Other Systems of Foreign Law. 2 vols. Philadelphia: Deacon and Peterson, 1854.
See the warrant featured in Petition to Nauvoo Municipal Court, 30 June 1843; Clayton, Journal, 23 June 1843; JS History, vol. D-1, 1583–1584; “Arrest of Joseph Smith,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 19 July 1843, [2]; “Part 4: June–July 1843”; and Historical Introduction to Affidavit, 24 June 1843.
Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.
Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.
Clayton, Journal, 30 June 1843; Joseph H. Reynolds, St. Louis, MO, 10 July 1843, Letter to the Editor, Old School Democrat and Saint Louis Herald, 10 July 1843, [2]; Habeas Corpus, 30 June 1843, Extradition of JS for Treason (Nauvoo Mun. Ct. 1843), copy, JS Collection, CHL; see also “Part 4: June–July 1843”; and Historical Introduction to Petition to Nauvoo Municipal Court, 30 June 1843.
Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.
Old School Democrat and Saint Louis Herald. St Louis, MO. 1843–1844.
Clayton, Journal, 30 June 1843.
Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.
An Act Regulating the Proceeding on Writs of Habeas Corpus [22 Jan. 1827], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois, p. 322, sec. 1.
The Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois: Containing All the Laws . . . Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835; and at Their Second Session, Commencing December 7, 1835, and Ending January 18, 1836; and Those Passed by the Tenth General Assembly, at Their Session Commencing December 5, 1836, and Ending March 6, 1837; and at Their Special Session, Commencing July 10, and Ending July 22, 1837. . . . Compiled by Jonathan Young Scammon. Chicago: Stephen F. Gale, 1839.
The judge of the Chicago Municipal Court was authorized to issue writs of habeas corpus and “to perform all the judicial duties appertaining to the office of judge of the circuit courts.” Likewise, the judge of the Alton Municipal Court was authorized to issue writs of habeas corpus, “and the same proceedings shall be had thereon before said judge and court as may be had in like cases before the circuit judges and circuit courts of this State, respectively.” (An Act in relation to the Municipal Court of Chicago, and for Other Purposes [21 July 1837], Laws of the State of Illinois [1837], pp. 15–16, sec. 1; An Act to Amend an Act, Entitled “An Act to Incorporate the City of Alton” [2 Mar. 1839], Incorporation Laws of the State of Illinois, p. 240, sec. 1.)
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.
Incorporation Laws of the State of Illinois, Passed by the Eleventh General Assembly, Their Session Began and Held at Vandalia, the Third Day of December, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Eight. Vandalia, IL: William Walters, 1839.
Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 8 Aug. 1842, 98; see also “Part 1: March 1843”; and JS, Journal, 8 Aug. 1842. Rendering a decision on a prisoner’s guilt or innocence went beyond what the Illinois habeas corpus statute permitted judges of the state supreme and circuit courts to do in habeas corpus proceedings. The statute enabled such judges to “settle the said facts, by hearing the testimony and arguments” of witnesses and interested parties. If the judge found defects in the process that held the accused in custody, he could only discharge the prisoner under specific scenarios listed in the statute. This proceeding was not considered a trial, and the discharge did not function as an acquittal, as the accused could be charged with the same offence if there was “sufficient proof” that the crime had been committed. The limits of habeas corpus proceedings were understood by at least one unidentified individual in Nauvoo, who published an anonymous editorial in the 15 August 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons acknowledging that “habeas corpus can only test the validity, not the virtue of a process, (as testimony to prove the guilt or innocence of a person—under an investigation by habeas corpus, is inadmissible).” (An Act Regulating the Proceeding on Writs of Habeas Corpus [22. Jan. 1827], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois, pp. 322–325, secs. 1, 3, 7; “Persecution,” Times and Seasons, 15 Aug. 1842, 3:888–889, italics in original.)
The Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois: Containing All the Laws . . . Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835; and at Their Second Session, Commencing December 7, 1835, and Ending January 18, 1836; and Those Passed by the Tenth General Assembly, at Their Session Commencing December 5, 1836, and Ending March 6, 1837; and at Their Special Session, Commencing July 10, and Ending July 22, 1837. . . . Compiled by Jonathan Young Scammon. Chicago: Stephen F. Gale, 1839.
“An Ordinance,” Warsaw (IL) Signal, 20 Aug. 1842, [2]; see also “Recent Attempt to Arrest the Prophet,” Warsaw Signal, 13 Aug. 1842, [3]; and “Another Farce and Mockery of Justice,” Alton (IL) Telegraph and Democratic Review, 3 Sept. 1842, [2].
Warsaw Signal. Warsaw, IL. 1841–1853.
Alton Telegraph and Democratic Review. Alton, IL. 1841–1850.
Journal of the Senate . . . of Illinois, 10 Dec. 1842, 55–56; 23 Feb. 1843, 412; 4 and 6 Mar. 1843, 515, 533.
Journal of the Senate of the Twelfth General Assembly of the State of Illinois, Convened By Proclamation of the Governor, Being Their First Session, Begun and Held in the City of Springfield, November 23, 1840. Springfield, IL: Wm. Walters, 1840.
Woodruff, Journal, 30 June 1843; see also Clayton, Journal, 30 June 1843.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
Clayton, William. Journals, 1842–1845. CHL.
For more on Richards’s note-taking methods, see Historical Introduction to Discourse, 4 July 1843.
Woodruff, Journal, 30 June 1843.
Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.
In 1833, JS dictated a revelation that enjoined church members to bear patiently violent oppression three times. After the third instance, the Saints were to warn their enemy in the name of Christ to come no more against them, but if the opponent persisted, church members were “justified” in resisting the persecution. (Revelation, 6 Aug. 1833 [D&C 98:23–31].)
A few months earlier, the Illinois legislature, which ratified the Nauvoo charter in 1840, discussed amending or revoking the charter, especially the provision granting the Nauvoo Municipal Court authority to grant writs of habeas corpus. (See Historical Introduction to Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.)