Footnotes
For more information about Bennett’s conduct, see Letter to the Church and Others, 23 June 1842.
Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840; Transcript of Proceedings, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Treason and Other Crimes (Mo. 5th Jud. Cir. 1838), in State of Missouri, “Evidence,” [1].
“The Late Proceedings,” Times and Seasons, 15 June 1841, 2:447–448; “Assassination of Ex-Governor Boggs of Missouri,” Quincy (IL) Whig, 21 May 1842, [3]; Letter to Sylvester Bartlett, 22 May 1842. The Nauvoo City Council had established a city watch on 20 May 1842 apparently, at least according to one source, because of fears that Missourians would enter Nauvoo and retaliate for the assassination attempt on Governor Boggs. On 26 June 1842, JS and other church leaders “united in Solemn prayer that God . . . would deliver his anointed, his people. from all the evil designs of Governor Boggs. & the powers of the state of Missouri, & of Governor Carlin. & the authorities of Illinois.” (Mayor’s Order to City Watch, 20 May 1842; “The Mormons,” Sangamo Journal [Springfield, IL], 3 June 1842, [2]; JS, Journal, 26 June 1842.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Quincy Whig. Quincy, IL. 1838–1856.
Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.
A proclamation issued by JS and his counselors in the First Presidency in January 1841, for example, mentioned Carlin as one “who will long be remembered by a grateful community for their philanthropy to a suffering people.” However, after the extradition attempt, JS accused Carlin of being deficient in “moral courage.” (Proclamation, 15 Jan. 1841; Letter to Smith Tuttle, 9 Oct. 1841.)
Letter from Thomas Carlin, 30 June 1842; Thomas Carlin, Commission, Springfield, IL, for George Woodward, 22 June 1842, CHL.
Carlin, Thomas. Commission, Springfield, IL, to George Woodward, 22 June 1842. CHL.
Bennett married Mary Barker in 1826. The couple had a daughter, Mary, who was born in 1827 or 1828, and a son, Joseph, who was born in December 1828 but died shortly after birth. In his 23 June letter to church members, JS stated that Bennett had “two or three children,” but the letter did not identify the children by name. (Smith, Saintly Scoundrel, 5–6; Letter to the Church and Others, 23 June 1842.)
Smith, Andrew F. The Saintly Scoundrel: The Life and Times of Dr. John Cook Bennett. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997.
The Nauvoo high council held a series of meetings in May 1842 to investigate charges of adultery and fornication brought against several church members, including Bennett. (Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 20, 24, 25, 27, and 28 May 1842; Testimonies in Nauvoo High Council Cases, May 1842, CHL.)
Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. CHL. LR 3102 22.
Testimonies in Nauvoo High Council Cases, May 1842. CHL.