Hyrum Smith, Testimony, 1 July 1843 [Extradition of JS for Treason]
Source Note
, Testimony, , Hancock Co., IL, 1 July 1843, Extradition of JS for Treason (Nauvoo, IL, Municipal Court 1843). Copied [3–6 July 1843]; handwriting of and ; docket by , [6 July 1843, , Hancock Co., IL]; docket by , ca. [6] July 1843; notation by , ca. [6] July 1843; twenty-eight pages; Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.
in the same manner, until they came to the Mormons, to them it was “God damn the God damned Mormons”. “we have sent them to hell.” Then they would slap their hands & shout “hosanna, hosanna, glory to God,” & fall down on their backs & kick with their feet a few moments; then they would pretend to have swooned away into a glorious trance in order to imitate some of the transactions at Camp Meetings. Then they would pretend to come out of their trance & would shout & again slap their hands & jump up, while one would take a bottle of whiskey & a tumbler & turn it out full of whiskey & pour it down each others necks, crying “damn it take it you must take it,” and if he any one refused to drink the whiskey others would clinch him & hold him whilst another pour<ed> it down his neck, & what did not go down the inside when <went> down the outside, this is a part of the farce acted out under by the grand jury of , whilst they stood over us as guards for ten nights successively & <And> all this in the presence of the great ;— who had previously said in our hearing that “there was no law for the Mormons in the state of ”— His brother was then acting as district attorney in that circuit, and if anything, was a greater cannibal than his brother <the >— After all these ten days of drunkenness we were informed that we “were indicted for treason, murder, , , theft and stealing.” We asked for a change of venue to <from> that to Marion County, but they would not grant it; but they gave us a change of venue from to ; and a was made out by the pretended without date, name or place. They fitted us out with a two horse wagon & horses & five four men besides the Sheriff to be our guard, there were five of us— we started from atnight the sun about two hours high P. M. & went as far as that evening, and staid ’till morning— There we bought two horses off the guard [p. 25]