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Letter from Mason Brayman, 29 July 1843

Source Note

, Letter, , Sangamon Co., IL, to JS, [, Hancock Co., IL], 29 July 1843; handwriting and signature presumably of ; seven pages; JS Materials, CCLA. Includes endorsement and redactions.
Two bifolia, each measuring 12¼ × 7⅝ inches (31 × 19 cm). Both bifolia have an oval embossment of a bird in the upper left corner of the recto of each page. The tops of the first seven pages are paginated. The document was folded in half twice horizontally and has undergone conservation. Cellophane tape was used to repair separation along a fold of the final leaf; the tape was later removed.
The letter was endorsed 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. Due to the letter’s contents, including the governor’s intentions regarding any future efforts by to have him extradited, JS likely retained the document in his possession. After his death, the letter likely remained in the Smith family’s possession until it was transferred on an unknown date to the custody of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now Community of Christ).

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Cole et al., Encyclopedia of Modern Everyday Inventions, 22; Edelman, “Brief History of Tape,” 45–46.

    Cole, David J., Eve Browning, and Fred E.H. Schroeder. Encyclopedia of Modern Everyday Inventions. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2003.

    Edelman, Jonathan. “A Brief History of Tape.” Ambidextrous 5 (Falling in 2006): 45–46.

  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–.

Historical Introduction

On 29 July 1843, , a lawyer from , Illinois, wrote a letter to JS in , Illinois, to convey governor ’s position regarding the recent attempt to extradite JS to . In early June 1843, a grand jury in , Missouri, indicted JS for treason. Missouri governor subsequently issued a requisition demanding that Illinois extradite JS to stand trial. In compliance with the extradition demand, Ford issued an arrest warrant for JS on 17 June. Ford then dispatched Constable of , Illinois, to apprehend JS. On 23 June, near , Illinois, Wilson arrested JS and transferred custody of him to , Missouri, sheriff , the agent authorized to transport JS to Missouri for trial, who had accompanied Wilson during the arrest.
After a series of legal maneuvers, JS, his attorneys, the two lawmen, and a few others departed . Their stated destination was , Illinois, to appear before a judge authorized to hear writs of and review the legality of JS’s detention. However, JS and his attorneys decided instead to appear before the Municipal Court on a writ of habeas corpus. After hearing of JS’s arrest, small parties of the left and began intercepting the traveling party to ensure that JS was not transported to without due process. The whole party proceeded to Nauvoo, where on 30 June 1843 the court issued JS the writ and the following day discharged him, citing a “want of substance in the warrant upon which he was arrested as well as upon the merits of said Case.” complained to that the legion had used excessive force to rescue JS and help him resist arrest, and he asked Ford to dispatch a militia force to execute the warrant and to assist in returning JS to Missouri.
Hearing rumors of what occurred in , asked to represent him in an investigation to ascertain the accuracy of the rumors. The governor also wanted Brayman “to assure all parties of the disposition of the executive to see the laws peaceably submitted to by all citizens of the state.” Brayman arrived in Nauvoo on 7 July. He met with JS and his family and with other Nauvoo residents. He requested and received substantial documentation, including affidavits, concerning the Latter-day Saints’ expulsion from as well as JS’s arrest. More than a week later, Brayman presented to Ford a report of his investigation, which satisfied Ford that neither JS nor the Latter-day Saints “were guilty of any violence, or disorderly, or unlawful conduct whatever.” Brayman then wrote to JS to relieve him of any unnecessary anxiety.
wrote this confidential letter to JS, updating him on the submission of the investigative report and on the feelings and disposition of the governor. Brayman also reported that the warrant had been returned to (thus rendering it null and void) and that Ford did not intend to call out the state militia to help enforce the arrest warrant, issue a new writ based on ’s requisition, or answer any further requisitions from Missouri based on the same indictment. Brayman insisted that there was no intentional delay or political motivation on Ford’s part in any of these matters to secure the future votes of the Saints.
wrote that he intended to send the letter via a private courier, a “Mr. Backinstos,” either Circuit Court clerk or Hancock County sheriff . The letter bears no signs of being addressed or postmarked, indicating that it was hand delivered in , where it arrived by 1 August 1843. ’s 1 August entry in JS’s journal notes that news arrived in “a private communication from Mr Braman.”

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Minutes, 1 July 1843, Extradition of JS for Treason (Nauvoo Mun. Ct. 1843), JS Collection, CHL; see also “Part 4: June–July 1843”; Ford, History of Illinois, 315–316; Docket Entry, ca. 1 July 1843, Extradition of JS for Treason (Nauvoo Mun. Ct. 1843), Nauvoo Municipal Court Docket Book, 55–56; Affidavit, 24 June 1843; and Petition to Nauvoo Municipal Court, 30 June 1843.

    Ford, Thomas. A History of Illinois, from Its Commencement as a State in 1818 to 1847. Containing a Full Account of the Black Hawk War, the Rise, Progress, and Fall of Mormonism, the Alton and Lovejoy Riots, and Other Important and Interesting Events. Chicago: S. C. Griggs; New York: Ivison and Phinney, 1854.

  2. [2]

    Clayton, Journal, 2 July 1843; Shepherd Patrick et al., Affidavit, [Nauvoo, IL], 2 July 1843, JS Office Papers, CHL; Joseph H. Reynolds, St. Louis, MO, 10 July 1843, Letter to the Editor, Old School Democrat and Saint Louis Herald, 10 July 1843, [2].

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

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

  3. [3]

    Thomas Ford, Springfield, IL, to Mason Brayman, 3 July 1843, Illinois Governor’s Correspondence, 1816–1852, Illinois State Archives, Springfield.

    Illinois Governor’s Correspondence, 1816–1852. Illinois State Archives, Springfield.

  4. [4]

    JS, Journal, 7 July 1843.

  5. [5]

    Gregg, History of Hancock County, Illinois, 240, 283.

    Gregg, Thomas. History of Hancock County, Illinois, Together with an Outline History of the State, and a Digest of State Laws. Chicago: Charles C. Chapman, 1880.

  6. [6]

    JS, Journal, 1 Aug. 1843. The last page of the letter bears the inscription “Springfield July 29— /[18]43 | Communicatin | from | M. Brayman | Received Augt 1.—” in the handwriting of Willard Richards. This may be a contemporaneous endorsement noting the date of reception. However, the inscription was written on the letter where dockets were normally written, and it is possible that its date was retrospectively based on JS’s journal entry for 1 August 1843. It is also possible that the inscription is a contemporaneous docket with a date based on the personal knowledge of Richards, who was JS’s secretary.

Page 1

Confidential
July 29. 1843.
Dear Sir:—
By the hand of Mr. Backinstos, who leaves for your tomorrow morning, I write a few lines in reference to the present position of the matters connected with your late arrest.
You will recollect that my mission had sole reference to the investigation of the facts connected [with?] your arrest and subsequent discharge? Whether any unlawful means had been used &c:, so that the could act understandingly in the matter, after the hearing of my report.
I was surprised, on my arrival at , to find prevailing among your people, so much apprehension, and so general an impression that the of was actuated by feelings of hostility towards them, and that he would seize with avidity, the opportunity which the application of the agent of would present, of issuing another writ, and calling out the militia for your apprehension.
I will not speak of the motives which induced such a gross misrepresentation of the feelings and views of . I presume that the <​subsequent​> conduct of the individual who sought thus to place the in a wrong position has fully explained to you those motives. You will recollect, that I then assured you that the was influenced by no unkind feelings or improper motives in the matter— that he acted (and with reluctance too) in obedience to a Sacred constitutional obligation, which he could not without dishonor disobey. I know his feelings towards you, and again repeat, that no [p. 1]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Letter from Mason Brayman, 29 July 1843
ID #
2802
Total Pages
8
Print Volume Location
JSP, D12:500–507
Handwriting on This Page
  • Mason Brayman

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Some of the feelings among the Saints that the governor had hostile sentiments toward them may have originated with JS. On 30 June 1843, JS prophesied that Illinois governor Thomas Ford had damaged his own political career by issuing the warrant against JS. JS also complained in a discourse on 4 July 1843 about Ford’s issuance of the warrant. (JS, Journal, 30 June 1843; Discourse, 4 July 1843.)

  2. [2]

    Ford believed the requisition from Missouri governor Thomas Reynolds and its accompanying papers were in legal order, so he had no recourse but to issue the warrant in accordance with article 4, section 2, of the United States Constitution, which states that “a Person charged in any State with Treason, Felony, or other Crime, who shall flee from Justice, and be found in another State, shall on Demand of the executive Authority of the State from which he fled, be delivered up, to be removed to the State having Jurisdiction of the Crime.” (See Thomas Ford, Springfield, IL, to Mason Brayman, 3 July 1843, Illinois Governor’s Correspondence, 1816–1852, Illinois State Archives, Springfield.)

    Illinois Governor’s Correspondence, 1816–1852. Illinois State Archives, Springfield.

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