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Letter from Edward Southwick, 29 July 1843

Source Note

, Letter, , Lee Co., IL, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 29 July 1843; handwriting and signature of ; three pages; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, postal notation, postal stamp, and dockets.
Bifolium measuring 12¼ × 7½ inches (31 × 19 cm) and ruled with thirty-five horizontal blue lines, now faded. Embossed in the upper left corner of the recto of the first leaf is a rectangle enclosing a decorative star and “D & J. Ames Springfield”, the insignia of a Springfield, Massachusetts, paper mill firm established by brothers David and John Ames in 1828. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style, addressed, sealed with a red adhesive wafer, and postmarked. The document was later refolded for filing.
The letter was docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from December 1841 until JS’s death in June 1844 and served as church historian from December 1842 until his own death in March 1854. Richards wrote his docket on the address block, probably soon after the letter’s receipt. The letter was also docketed by , who served as a clerk in the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) from 1853 to 1859. The document was listed in an inventory that was produced by the Church Historian’s Office circa 1904. By 1973 the document had been included in the JS Collection at the Church Historical Department (now CHL). The document’s early dockets, its listing in a 1904 inventory, and its later inclusion in the JS Collection indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Whiting, “Paper-Making in New England,” 309; Gravell et al., American Watermarks, 235.

    Whiting, William. “Paper-Making in New England.” In The New England States: Their Constitutional, Judicial, Educational, Commercial, Professional and Industrial History, edited by William T. Davis, vol. 1, pp. 303–333. Boston: D. H. Hurd, 1897.

    Gravell, Thomas L., George Miller, and Elizabeth Walsh. American Watermarks: 1690–1835. 2nd ed. New Castle, DE: Oak Knoll Press, 2002.

  2. [2]

    JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841 and 21 Dec. 1842; Orson Spencer, “Death of Our Beloved Brother Willard Richards,” Deseret News (Salt Lake City), 16 Mar. 1854, [2].

    Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.

  3. [3]

    “Obituary of Leo Hawkins,” Millennial Star, 30 July 1859, 21:496–497.

    Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.

  4. [4]

    “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [3], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

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

  5. [5]

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

Historical Introduction

On 29 July 1843, attorney wrote from , Illinois, to JS in , Illinois, requesting that JS ensure the publication of two affidavits and an editorial in the Warsaw Message. In June 1843, and state officials attempted to have JS extradited to stand trial for treason allegedly committed in the 1838 conflict between the and their antagonists in Missouri. On 23 June 1843, near Dixon, Illinois, Constable of , Illinois, arrested JS on a warrant issued earlier that month by Illinois governor as part of the extradition, and Wilson transferred custody of JS to the agent authorized to convey him to Missouri, Sheriff of , Missouri, who had accompanied Wilson during the arrest.
In , JS retained the legal services of attorneys and , who helped him obtain a writ of , which would allow an authorized judge to review the legality of JS’s detention. The attorneys also assisted JS in filing a civil lawsuit against and for false imprisonment and personal injury, leading Sheriff James Campbell of , Illinois, to arrest the two lawmen on 24 June. Two days later, JS, his attorneys, his captors, Sheriff Campbell, and a few others departed Dixon. Their stated destination was , Illinois, in order to appear before an Illinois state judge. However, JS and his attorneys decided instead to appear before the Municipal Court on a writ of habeas corpus. While en route, small parties of troops began intercepting the traveling party with the intention of impeding Reynolds if he tried to convey JS to without due process. Accordingly, the traveling party stopped in Nauvoo, and on 1 July, the municipal court discharged JS.
After the discharge, and publicly claimed that the legion troops had forcibly rescued JS and that he had defied the law by going before the municipal court, which they believed lacked jurisdiction in the case. The two lawmen petitioned to send the state militia to retake JS. Church members sought to counter the claims of Reynolds and Wilson by sending missionaries to every county in to explain the arrest and the resulting municipal court decision. In addition, JS spoke on the arrest and its aftermath at public gatherings in . Church members also sent Ford a petition and other documents asking him not to dispatch the militia.
For his part, worked to challenge ’s and ’s arguments in the public press. On 10 July 1843, a newspaper printed Reynolds’s statement recounting the arrest and subsequent events, with the lawman asserting that “Holy Joe” held the law in “utter contempt.” Reynolds explained that when JS obtained a writ of habeas corpus in , the expectation was that an circuit judge in would review the legality of the arrest. Reynolds claimed that he was threatened and coerced into diverting the traveling party to , where JS was “rescue[d]” by the municipal court. Southwick, who happened to be in St. Louis when Reynolds’s statement appeared, published a reply in the same newspaper two days later, claiming that Reynolds denied JS access to an attorney the day of the arrest in Dixon, that the legion troops had conducted themselves appropriately, and that the Nauvoo Municipal Court had jurisdiction in the case.
On 12 July—the same day that ’s rebuttal to appeared in the newspaper—the Warsaw Message in , Illinois, published Southwick’s “Statement of the Facts Connected with the Arrest of Joseph Smith, and His Discharge Therefrom,” by “an Eye-Witness.” Southwick argued that had initially refused to grant JS access to an attorney and that the sheriff relented only after residents protested. Southwick then recounted the various legal maneuvers JS’s attorneys employed to impede Reynolds, including obtaining the writ of habeas corpus and filing the civil lawsuit. The statement also described the journey from Dixon and the conduct of Nauvoo Legion troops that began intercepting the traveling party on 27 June. Southwick insisted that the troops treated Reynolds and with respect, going so far as to claim that the legionnaires were unarmed. Southwick concluded with a discussion of the Municipal Court’s 1 July 1843 discharge of JS and its aftermath. On 15 July 1843, the Message reported that Wilson claimed that Southwick’s statement contained “two unqualified falsehoods—the first that Reynolds refused counsel an opportunity of a private interview with Smith—and the second, that the mormons, who from time to time met the company, . . . were unarmed.” Wilson also charged Southwick with having suppressed many other facts relative to the events he described, while giving others “a high coloring.”
believed that these allegations reflected negatively on his reputation, and on 29 July 1843 he worked with his associates to produce two affidavits that countered ’s claims. The first affidavit affirmed that had in fact denied JS the opportunity to speak alone with an attorney for about an hour after the lawmen and JS arrived in Dixon on 23 June. The second affidavit contended that the Nauvoo Legion troops who joined the traveling party conducted themselves appropriately toward Wilson and Reynolds. In addition, the second affidavit contested the claim from Reynolds’s published account that Sheriff Campbell had disarmed Wilson and Reynolds after arresting them on 24 June and had not returned their weapons until after JS’s discharge on 1 July. Southwick also wrote a cover letter for the affidavits requesting that the Message publish them, though Southwick had his doubts that editor Thomas Gregg would comply with his request.
Given these suspicions, wrote to JS later on 29 July asking him to follow up with the newspaper to ensure publication of the affidavits. Southwick also authorized JS to publish the affidavits—which he copied into the letter to JS—in other newspapers. Southwick then mailed the letter to JS in , a distance of approximately 150 miles. The letter was probably delivered to Nauvoo about a week later. Southwick’s letter and affidavits were subsequently provided to the Nauvoo Neighbor, apparently because the Message would not print them. They appeared in the 8 November 1843 issue of the paper.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Clayton, Journal, 23 June 1843; JS History, vol. D-1, 1581–1582; “Part 4: June–July 1843.”

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

  2. [2]

    “Arrest of Joseph Smith,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 19 July 1843, [2].

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

  3. [3]

    See “Part 4: June–July 1843”; and Affidavit, 24 June 1843.

  4. [4]

    JS, Journal, 2 July 1843; see also Joseph H. Reynolds, St. Louis, MO, 10 July 1843, Letter to the Editor, Old School Democrat and Saint Louis Herald, 10 July 1843, [2].

    Old School Democrat and Saint Louis Herald. St Louis, MO. 1843–1844.

  5. [5]

    JS, Journal, 2–3 July 1843; Discourse, 30 June 1843; Discourse, 4 July 1843; Affidavit, 7 July 1843; see also Joseph H. Reynolds, St. Louis, MO, 10 July 1843, Letter to the Editor, Old School Democrat and Saint Louis Herald, 10 July 1843, [2]; and “Part 4: June–July 1843.”

    Old School Democrat and Saint Louis Herald. St Louis, MO. 1843–1844.

  6. [6]

    Joseph H. Reynolds, St. Louis, MO, 10 July 1843, Letter to the Editor, Old School Democrat and Saint Louis Herald, 10 July 1843, [2].

    Old School Democrat and Saint Louis Herald. St Louis, MO. 1843–1844.

  7. [7]

    Edward Southwick, St. Louis, MO, 12 July 1843, Letter to the Editor, Old School Democrat and Saint Louis Herald, 12 July 1843, [2].

    Old School Democrat and Saint Louis Herald. St Louis, MO. 1843–1844.

  8. [8]

    JS, Journal, 5 July 1843; [Edward Southwick], “Statement,” Warsaw (IL) Message, Extra, 12 July 1843, [1]; Editorial, 15 July 1843, in Warsaw Message, 12 July 1843, [3].

    Warsaw Message. Warsaw, IL. 1843–1844.

  9. [9]

    Editorial, 15 July 1843, in Warsaw (IL) Message, 12 July 1843, [3].

    Warsaw Message. Warsaw, IL. 1843–1844.

  10. [10]

    Gregg edited the Message from January 1843 to February 1844. It served as a temporary replacement for Thomas Sharp’s Warsaw Signal, which operated before and after the Message. Both Gregg and Sharp were critical of the Latter-day Saints and the growing economic and political power of Nauvoo. While Gregg favored lawful approaches to the perceived problem, Sharp advocated extralegal solutions. (Hallwas, Thomas Gregg, 46–48; “To the Public,” Warsaw [IL] Message, 7 Jan. 1843, [2]; see also Hampshire, “Thomas Sharp and Anti-Mormon Sentiment in Illinois,” 82–100.)

    Hallwas, John E. Thomas Gregg: Early Illinois Journalist and Author. Western Illinois Monograph Series 2. Macomb: Western Illinois University, 1983.

    Warsaw Message. Warsaw, IL. 1843–1844.

    Hampshire, Annette P. “Thomas Sharp and Anti-Mormon Sentiment in Illinois, 1842– 1845.” Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society 72, no. 2 (May 1979): 82–100

  11. [11]

    JS, Journal, 1 Nov. 1843.

  12. [12]

    Statement, Nauvoo Neighbor, 8 Nov. 1843, [2]–[3].

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

Page [1]

July 29th 1843.
Friend
My Dear Sir— You will have the affidavits of which the enclosed are copies published without delay in the Warsaw Message and such other papers as you may deem proper— The original affidavit I have sent to the Editor of the Warsaw Message but for fear that it may not be published I send you a copy which I wish you see is published in said paper— The falsehood and vilianous conduct by will by these affidavits fully appear. He has charged <​me​> with falsehoods in the Warsaw Message of the date of the 15th of July and it will be seen that his charge thus made is proven by the evidence of men of character (not men like himself) to be untrue.— I would not have had these affidavits published were <​it​> not for the fact that some person who is unacquainted with may believe his statement to be true, but I am not fearful, <​of​> that when he and I are know[n] of any evil results from it—
The following is are the affidavits refered to— ’s statement reflects upon my reputation and I therefore want what is below pub[l]ished. You will not of course publish the above I will write you again in a few days—
Your’s Truly—
<​Please send a me a copy of the Warsaw Message which contains the enclosed affidavits.​>
State of Illinois ss;
We the undersigned citizens of the Town of County of State of being duly sworn according to Law depose and say that we have seen the article entitled “Statement of facts connected with the arrest of Joseph Smith and his discharge there from” published in the Warsaw Message of the date of 15th of July A. D. 1843. and have also seen an editorial article in the same number of said paper in which it is stated that said statement of fact was furnished by one of Mr Smiths attornies in said case and that we know the fact stated in said statement to wit that for a considerable length of time immediately after his arrival [p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Edward Southwick, 29 July 1843
ID #
1977
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:508–514
Handwriting on This Page
  • Edward Southwick

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Edward Southwick, Dixon, IL, to JS, Nauvoo, IL, 7 Aug. 1843, Newel K. Whitney, Papers, BYU.

  2. [2]

    TEXT: Written vertically in left margin.

  3. [3]

    An abbreviation for the Latin scilicet, meaning “namely” or “to wit.” (“Scilicet,” in Bouvier, Law Dictionary, 2:379.)

    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.

  4. [4]

    See Editorial, 15 July 1843, in Warsaw (IL) Message, 12 July 1843, [3].

    Warsaw Message. Warsaw, IL. 1843–1844.

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