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Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 10 April 1843

Source Note

, Letter, , [New Utrecht, Kings Co.], NY, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 10 Apr. 1843; handwriting and signature of ; three pages; JS Materials, CCLA. Includes address, postal notation, postal stamp, endorsement, and dockets.
Bifolium measuring 10 × 8 inches (25 × 20 cm). The paper is ruled with twenty-seven horizontal blue lines. The upper left corner of the recto of the first leaf is embossed with a circular paper manufacturer’s seal. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style and addressed. One of the panels was folded into a triangle, creating a seal flap, which was sealed with red wax and postmarked. The document was later refolded for filing. At some point, a staple was attached to the upper left corner of the bifolium; the staple was later removed.
, who was serving as JS’s scribe at the time the letter was received, docketed and endorsed it soon after receipt. The letter may have remained in the possession of JS’s family after his death and was likely given to the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now Community of Christ). At some point, an archivist added a docket. The letter remains housed at the CCLA.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    JS, Journal, 13 Dec. 1841.

Historical Introduction

On 10 April 1843, attorney and educator wrote from , New York, to JS in , Illinois, offering legal counsel on the arrest of in . Rockwell had been detained in early March 1843 on a charge of having assaulted former governor in May 1842 with intent to kill. The charge stemmed from an allegation made by former Latter-day Saint that JS had sent Rockwell to to shoot Boggs. In summer 1842, following Bennett’s May 1842 excommunication and his subsequent efforts to attack the church, JS began corresponding with James Arlington Bennet, who became a staunch ally of and political adviser to JS. On 17 and 18 March 1843, JS wrote to Bennet to recount his recent discharge from arrest after Missouri officials attempted to extradite him in connection with the Boggs shooting and to relate ongoing difficulties caused by John C. Bennett. The next day, 19 March, , JS’s scribe, wrote to James Arlington Bennet with several questions regarding Rockwell’s legal situation.
’s 10 April letter was a response to the aforementioned letters from JS and . Addressing JS as general of the , Bennet stated that because of illness he could neither attend the parade of the Nauvoo Legion nor perform his responsibilities as the militia’s inspector general on 7 May 1843. Bennet also responded to Richards’s questions and discussed ’s activities in . Bennet mailed his letter on 12 April 1843. Letters usually traveled between and in two or three weeks. Bennet’s letter was received in Nauvoo by 4 May 1843, when JS “called at the & read a letter from [James] Arlington Bennet Shewing that he was sick & cou[l]d not be at inspe[c]tion of the Legion as had been exp[e]cted.” Richards noted on the verso of the second leaf of the featured letter that JS responded to Bennet on 11 May; the response is apparently not extant. In addition, during the evening of 18 May 1843 JS examined in his office “[James] Arlington Bennets letter,” presumably a reference to the 10 April 1843 missive.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Historical Introduction to Letter to James Arlington Bennet, 17–18 Mar. 1843.

  2. [2]

    Willard Richards, Nauvoo, IL, to James Arlington Bennet, 19 Mar. 1843, Willard Richards, Journals and Papers, CHL.

  3. [3]

    See Letter to John M. Bernhisel, 3 Aug. 1841; Historical Introduction to Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 1 Sept. 1842; and Letter to James Arlington Bennet, 8 Sept. 1842.

  4. [4]

    JS, Journal, 4 May 1843.

  5. [5]

    JS, Journal, 18 May 1843.

Page [2]

you but what grew out of inference & this could never convict any man— But with regard to he will swear I suppose, that said to him “That if he did shoot they could not prove it” This was foolish language in yet the most innoc[e]nt man when under the influenc of passion might use it, as a retort to a person making a false accusation— It cannot of itself make against him— Nor would the fact of his having been in about that time, even if he had been seen in the same town & same street be sufficient for might have been shot by a private or political enemy entirely unknow[n] to while he might be in front or rear of house and this might have been the case even if had gone & was there with the intent of doing the deed himself— To convict the evidenc must be brought home to him by a number of concurring facts which as I understand the case cannot be had without perjury— And perjury cannot be guarded against only through the ability & accutings & discrimiation of counsel— Then again if there is at all a doubt the prisoner must have its benefit—— You know the character of the & have the power within yourselvs of persons not Mormon to destroy it— You can prove him unworthy of credit, but he will not dare to go one wit beyond the published facts. He is little known to us in this quarter— his admissi[o]n to me that the charge could not be brought home to you was what I intended to bring against him in case you were to be put on your trial— Perhaps although within the State of he <​​> will be able to prove an Alibi. I should suppose that this might be readily done— Were I on the spot I would have no fears <​for​> of the issue but I am now & have been for the last week confined to my house with a severe attack of Rheumatic gout that has distroyed all my hopes of being able to pay [p. [2]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from James Arlington Bennet, 10 April 1843
ID #
2800
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:193–199
Handwriting on This Page
  • James Arlington Bennet

Footnotes

  1. [6]

    In an affidavit dated 7 July 1842, Bennett claimed that Rockwell stated two days earlier: “If I shot Boggs they have got to prove it.” (John C. Bennett, Affidavit, 7 July 1842, in “Disclosures—the Attempted Murder of Boggs!,” Sangamo Journal [Springfield, IL], 22 July 1842, [2].)

    Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.

  2. [7]

    Rockwell had evidently gone to Independence, Missouri, to be with his wife, Luana Hart Beebe Rockwell, when she gave birth to their daughter, Sarah Jane Rockwell, on 25 March 1842. The Rockwells were likely staying with Luana’s brother, Isaac Beebe, in Independence. Rockwell reportedly later claimed that “he could prove that he was seven miles north of Independence on the night that Governor Boggs was shot.” (Jorgensen and Leary, “Luana Hart Beebe,” 126; Joseph O. Boggs, Independence, MO, to John C. Bennett, 12 Sept. 1842, in Bennett, History of the Saints, 286.)

    Jorgensen, Danny L., and Andrew Leary. “Luana Hart Beebe (1814–1897): A Biographical Sketch of a Remarkable Early Latter-day Saint.” Journal of Mormon History 42, no. 3 (July 2016): 120–154.

    Bennett, John C. The History of the Saints; or, an Exposé of Joe Smith and Mormonism. Boston: Leland and Whiting, 1842.

  3. [8]

    In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, Missouri citizens suspected that a silversmith named Tompkins had made the assault on Boggs. After an informal investigation, however, Tompkins was dismissed as a suspect. (McLaws, “Attempted Assassination,” 53–55.)

    McLaws, Monte B. “The Attempted Assassination of Missouri’s Ex-Governor, Lilburn W. Boggs.” Missouri Historical Review 60, no. 1 (Oct. 1965): 50–62.

  4. [9]

    Missouri law stated that “every person who shall wilfully and corruptly swear, testify or affirm falsely, to any material matter upon any oath or affirmation or declaration, legally administered, in any cause, matter or proceeding, before any court, tribunal or public body or officer, shall be deemed guilty of perjury.” (An Act concerning Crimes and Their Punishments [20 Mar. 1835], Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri [1834–1835], p. 191, art. 5, sec. 1.)

    The Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri, Revised and Digested by the Eighth General Assembly, During the Years One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Four, and One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Five. Together with the Constitutions of Missouri and of the United States. 3rd ed. St. Louis: Chambers and Knapp, 1841.

  5. [10]

    Possibly a variation of acute, a word Bennet used later in this letter to describe Justin Butterfield’s abilities as an attorney.

  6. [11]

    Bennett served as major general of the Nauvoo Legion from early 1841 to mid-1842. (Minutes, 4 Feb. 1841; John C. Bennett, “Officers of the Nauvoo Legion,” [1], Nauvoo Legion Records, CHL; JS, Journal, 30 June 1842.)

    Nauvoo Legion Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 3430.

  7. [12]

    Following Bennett’s 1842 excommunication, the Times and Seasons published documentation of Bennett’s sexual and ethical misdeeds in Nauvoo, as well as information showing that similar allegations were made against him in Ohio and Illinois before he joined the church. (Times and Seasons, 1 July 1842, 3:842–843; Letter to the Church and Others, 23 June 1842.)

  8. [13]

    Rheumatoid gout is painful inflammation of joints, primarily in the big toe. (Eberle, Notes of Lectures, 118–130.)

    Eberle, John. Notes of Lectures on the Theory and Practice of Medicine, Delivered in the Jefferson Medical College, at Philadelphia. 3rd ed. Philadelphia: Grigg and Elliot, 1840.

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