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Letter from Justin Butterfield, 17 December 1842

Source Note

, Letter, , Sangamon Co., IL, to JS, , Hancock Co., IL, 17 Dec. 1842; handwriting of ; one page; JS Collection, CHL. Includes address, dockets, and notation.
Bifolium measuring 10 × 8 inches (25 × 20 cm) when folded. It is ruled with twenty-eight horizontal lines printed in blue ink with header space. The letter was trifolded twice in letter style and addressed. It was later refolded for filing.
The document 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. The document was also docketed by , who served as JS’s scribe from 1843 to 1844 and as clerk to the church historian and recorder from 1845 to 1865. In summer 1845, Richards directed Bullock to include the letter in JS’s history, and it was copied into the 17 December 1842 entry. Presumably, this letter was among the “letters” and other “old Papers” that an 1846 inventory of the Church Historian’s Office (later Church Historical Department) indicated had been “recorded in the history.” Additionally, Andrew Jenson, who began working in the Church Historian’s Office in 1891 and served as assistant church historian from 1897 to 1941, noted that he had reviewed the letter. 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, Jenson’s review of the letter, its likely inclusion in the 1847 inventory, and its inclusion in the circa 1904 inventory and in the JS Collection by 1973 indicate continuous institutional custody.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    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–.

  2. [2]

    Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 456, 458; Woodruff, Journal, 22 Jan. 1865.

    Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.

    Woodruff, Wilford. Journals, 1833–1898. Wilford Woodruff, Journals and Papers, 1828–1898. CHL. MS 1352.

  3. [3]

    Historian’s Office, JS History, Draft Notes, 17 Dec. 1842, 18; JS History, vol. D-1, 1428; Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 441.

    Jessee, Dean C. “The Writing of Joseph Smith’s History.” BYU Studies 11 (Summer 1971): 439–473.

  4. [4]

    This line of the inventory is crossed out in the original. (“Schedule of Church Records. Nauvoo 1846,” [1], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.)

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

  5. [5]

    Jenson, Autobiography, 192, 389; Cannon, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891; Jenson, Journal, 9 Feb. 1891 and 19 Oct. 1897; Bitton and Arrington, Mormons and Their Historians, 47–52.

    Jenson, Andrew. Autobiography of Andrew Jenson: Assistant Historian of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. . . . Salt Lake City: Deseret News Press, 1938.

    Cannon, George Q. Journals, 1855–1864, 1872–1901. CHL. CR 850 1.

    Jenson, Andrew. Journals, 1864–1941. Andrew Jenson, Autobiography and Journals, 1864–1941. CHL.

    Bitton, David, and Leonard J. Arrington. Mormons and Their Historians. Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, 1988.

  6. [6]

    “Letters to and from the Prophet,” ca. 1904, [2], Historian’s Office, Catalogs and Inventories, 1846–1904, CHL.

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

  7. [7]

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

Historical Introduction

On 17 December 1842, wrote a letter to JS counseling him to heed Governor ’s suggestion to submit to the law and come to , Illinois, for a hearing. At the time, Butterfield, as the attorney for the state, was reviewing the bankruptcy proceedings of JS and . In October—after finding evidence of land transferred to noncreditors, specifically family members—Butterfield filed objections to JS’s and Hyrum Smith’s bankruptcy applications. That same month, Butterfield became interested in the ongoing attempt to extradite JS to on charges related to the attempted assassination of former governor . Butterfield apparently encouraged JS’s bankruptcy attorney, , to pass along his opinion that the extradition request was illegal and that a court could release JS on a writ of habeas corpus if he submitted to a hearing. Later in October, in response to a letter from seeking additional information and advice, Butterfield sent Rigdon a lengthy legal analysis of JS’s case. Butterfield argued that because JS was in at the time the assassination attempt occurred, he could not be considered a fugitive from justice in Missouri. Based on his analysis, Butterfield opined that the Illinois Supreme Court would release JS on a writ of habeas corpus. However, Rigdon did not inform JS of Butterfield’s reply or his legal advice.
In early December, , JS’s clerks and , and five other Latter-day Saints left , Illinois, to attend to pressing legal business in . On 14 December, one day after their arrival, the men met with and engaged him on behalf of JS to prepare a petition to . That afternoon the delegation and Butterfield met with Ford to deliver their petition. At the meeting, Butterfield also read his earlier letter to , and Ford promised he would meet with some of the state’s supreme court justices to discuss JS’s case.
Over the next several days, the Latter-day Saint delegation continued meeting with , Supreme Court justice , and regarding the extradition case. The men also met with Butterfield to discuss JS’s and ’s ongoing bankruptcy proceedings, which had stalled due to Butterfield’s earlier objections. On 16 December, Butterfield retracted his objections and the Circuit Court for the District of Illinois granted Hyrum Smith’s petition. He likewise tentatively agreed to a proposed compromise regarding JS’s petition by accepting a bond from the that guaranteed payment on debts JS owed the federal government. Butterfield promised to write to the Department of the Treasury recommending that it accept JS’s offer and approve his bankruptcy.
On 17 December, gave the delegation a letter to JS informing him that all the supreme court justices with whom he and had met agreed with Butterfield’s legal analysis and counseling him to submit to arrest and come to to obtain a writ of habeas corpus. The delegation read Ford’s letter to Butterfield, who then also wrote to JS, echoing Ford’s counsel to come to Springfield for a trial. While much of the discussion with Ford and others had revolved around a possible hearing before the Supreme Court, Butterfield introduced the possibility of bringing the case before the Circuit Court for the District of Illinois, which was then in session at Springfield. After receiving Butterfield’s letter, the delegation left Springfield around eleven o’clock that same morning, 17 December. They arrived in in the afternoon of 20 December, and, “after resting a little,” , , , and two other delegation members met with JS and presumably delivered this letter to him along with the letter from Governor Ford and a letter from .

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Justin Butterfield, Chicago, IL, to Charles Penrose, 2 Aug. 1842, microfilm; Justin Butterfield to Charles Penrose, 13 Oct. 1842, microfilm, Records Related to Church Interaction with Federal Government, copy at CHL.

    Records of the Solicitor of the Treasury / National Archives Reference Service Report, 23 Sept. 1964. “Record Group 206, Records of the Solicitor of the Treasury, and Record Group 46, Records of the United States Senate: Records Relating to the Mormons in Illinois, 1839–1848 (Records Dated 1840–1852), Including Memorials of Mormons to Congress, 1840–1844, Some of Which Relate to Outrages Committed against the Mormons in Missouri, 1831–1839.” Microfilm. Washington DC: National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, 1964. Copy in Records Related to Church Interaction with Federal Government, 1840–1852, CHL.

  2. [2]

    Justin Butterfield, Chicago, IL, to Sidney Rigdon, [Nauvoo, IL], 20 Oct. 1842, Sidney Rigdon, Collection, CHL.

    Rigdon, Sidney. Collection, 1831–1858. CHL. MS 713.

  3. [3]

    In an apparent reference to this incident, JS later accused Rigdon of detaining letters “from J. Butterfield, Esq., which were designed for the benefit of himself, (President Smith,) but was not handed over for some three or four weeks, greatly to his disadvantage.” Rigdon responded to the charge by claiming that he had been sick at the time and unable to examine the letter but that he had given it to JS after he asked for it. There is no mention of this letter in extant sources until 14 December 1842, which suggests most church leaders were unaware of its existence or contents prior to that date. A copy of this letter in Butterfield’s handwriting at the Church History Library does not contain any addressing or postmarks. (“Minutes of a Special Conference,” Times and Seasons, 15 Sept. 1843, 4:329–330; Clayton, Journal, 14 Dec. 1842; JS, Journal, 9–20 Dec. 1842; Justin Butterfield, “Letter to Sidney Rigdon, Esq.,” Times and Seasons, 15 Dec. 1842, 4:33–36; Justin Butterfield, Chicago, IL, to Sidney Rigdon, [Nauvoo, IL], 20 Oct. 1842, Sidney Rigdon, Collection, CHL.)

    Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.

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

    Rigdon, Sidney. Collection, 1831–1858. CHL. MS 713.

  4. [4]

    Clayton, Journal, 14 Dec. 1842; JS, Journal, 9–20 Dec. 1842.

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

  5. [5]

    For a complete summary of this trip, see Historical Introduction to Letter from Thomas Ford, 17 Dec. 1842.

  6. [6]

    Clayton, Journal, 15–16 Dec. 1842.

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

  7. [7]

    Clayton, Journal, 17 and 20 Dec. 1842; Richards, Journal, 17 and 20 Dec. 1842; JS History, vol. D-1, 1428; Letter from Thomas Ford, 17 Dec. 1842; Letter from James Adams, 17 Dec. 1842.

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

    Richards, Willard. Journals, 1836–1853. Willard Richards, Papers, 1821–1854. CHL. MS 1490, boxes 1–2.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation.
*Letter from Justin Butterfield, 17 December 1842
Journal, December 1841–December 1842 History, 1838–1856, volume D-1 [1 August 1842–1 July 1843] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page [1]

Decmb 17. 1842
Joseph Smith Esqr.
Dr. Sir
I have heard the letter read which has written to you, and his statements are correct in relation to the opinion of the Judges of the Supreme Court. The Judges were unanimously of the opinon that you would be entitled to your discharge under a to be issued by the Supreme Court— but felt some delicacy in advising to revoke the order issued by my advice is that you come here without delay and you do not run the least risk of being protected while here and of being discharged by the Sup. court by habeas corpus— I have also a right to bring the case before the court now in session here and there you are certain of obtaining your discharge— I will stand by you and see you safely delivered from your arrest—
Yours truly
[p. [1]]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Justin Butterfield, 17 December 1842
ID #
2214
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D11:282–285
Handwriting on This Page
  • Justin Butterfield

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    See Letter from Thomas Ford, 17 Dec. 1842.

  2. [2]

    There were nine members of the Illinois Supreme Court at the time, but only six were able to attend the meeting with Ford and Butterfield. It is unclear which of the nine justices aside from Stephen A. Douglas were present at this meeting. (An Act Reorganizing the Judiciary of the State of Illinois [10 Feb. 1841], Laws of the State of Illinois [1840–1841], p. 173, secs. 2–3; Letter from Thomas Ford, 17 Dec. 1842.)

    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.

  3. [3]

    Butterfield earlier informed the delegation that three of the justices who met with Ford on 15 December felt that he could simply rescind Carlin’s proclamation and arrest warrant, while the other three thought he might overreach his authority by doing so. (Clayton, Journal, 15 Dec. 1842.)

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

  4. [4]

    Both in his letter to JS and in private conversations with Stephen A. Douglas and others, Ford guaranteed JS’s safety should he come to Springfield. (Letter from Thomas Ford, 17 Dec. 1842; Clayton, Journal, 16 Dec. 1842.)

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

  5. [5]

    At this time, the lowest federal courts serviced districts that were part of multistate circuits. The federal court at Springfield therefore functioned as a district court and a circuit court of appeals and was properly called the Circuit Court of the United States for the District of Illinois. (See An Act Supplementary to the Act Entitled “An Act to Amend the Judicial System of the United States” [3 Mar. 1837], Public Statutes at Large, 24th Cong., 2nd Sess., chap. 34, pp. 176–178, secs. 1 and 3.)

    The Public Statutes at Large of the United States of America, from the Organization of the Government in 1789, to March 3, 1845. . . . Edited by Richard Peters. 8 vols. Boston: Charles C. Little and James Brown, 1846–1867.

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