Footnotes
JS, Journal, 8 Aug. 1842; “The Arrest,” Wasp, 13 Aug. 1842, [2].
The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.
Thomas R. King, Fillmore, Utah Territory, to George A. Smith, 21 Feb. 1868, Obituary Notices and Biographies, CHL.
Obituary Notices and Biographies, 1854–1877. CHL.
Writ of habeas corpus for JS, 10 Aug. 1842, copy, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL. Illinois state law granted circuit courts the power to issue writs of habeas corpus. In 1841, when JS was brought before Stephen A. Douglas in a similar extradition attempt, Douglas dismissed the arresting writ as obsolete. An editorial published in the 15 August 1842 issue of the Times and Seasons opined that if JS and Rockwell had “appealed to the district court it might have availed them nothing,” as the judge could not decide on the “guilt, or innocence of the persons charged,” but could only “test the validity of the writ; which if proved to be issued in due form of law, however innocent the parties might be, would subject them to be transported to Missouri—to be murdered.” (An Act Regulating the Proceeding on Writs of Habeas Corpus [22 Jan. 1827], Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois [1834–1837], pp. 327–328, sec. 20; “The Late Proceedings,” Times and Seasons, 15 June 1841, 2:447–449; Statement of Expenses to Thomas King, 30 Sept. 1841; “Persucution,” Times and Seasons, 15 Aug. 1842, 3:889.)
The Public and General Statute Laws of the State of Illinois: Containing All the Laws . . . Passed by the Ninth General Assembly, at Their First Session, Commencing December 1, 1834, and Ending February 13, 1835; and at Their Second Session, Commencing December 7, 1835, and Ending January 18, 1836; and Those Passed by the Tenth General Assembly, at Their Session Commencing December 5, 1836, and Ending March 6, 1837; and at Their Special Session, Commencing July 10, and Ending July 22, 1837. . . . Compiled by Jonathan Young Scammon. Chicago: Stephen F. Gale, 1839.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
JS, Journal, 10 Aug. 1842. In 1868, Latter-day Saint Thomas R. King remembered that one night, probably on 10 August, he took JS and Rockwell in a skiff across the river to Nauvoo and that JS then traveled to his “home by some back way.” At two o’clock the next morning, King took JS back to Zarahemla, but “Rockwell did not come with us.” By 1 December 1842, Rockwell was hiding in Philadelphia. JS remained in the area of Zarahemla until the night of 11 August, when he met others on an island in the Mississippi. (Thomas R. King, Fillmore, Utah Territory, to George A. Smith, 21 Feb. 1868, Obituary Notices and Biographies, CHL; Sybella Armstrong and Orrin Porter Rockwell, Philadelphia, PA, to JS, Nauvoo, IL, 1 Dec. 1842, JS Collection, CHL.)
Obituary Notices and Biographies, 1854–1877. CHL.
Hancock Co., IL, Deed Records, 1817–1917, vol. I, pp. 309–310, 19 May 1841, microfilm 954,598, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
On 12 August, William Walker took JS’s horse across the river “to draw the attention of the Sheriffs and public.” On 13 August, JS received a report that “several small companies of men” had seen his horse and were looking for him on the Iowa side of the Mississippi. (JS, Journal, 12 and 13 Aug. 1842.)
David Hollister, Quincy, IL, to Hyrum Smith, Nauvoo, IL, 12 Aug. 1842, JS Office Papers, CHL; JS, Journal, 13 Aug. 1842.
Law replaced John C. Bennett as major general on 13 August. Bennett appears to have been cashiered from the legion on 30 June 1842. (General Orders for Nauvoo Legion, 2 Aug. 1842; Nauvoo Legion, Proceedings, 13 Aug. 1842, Nauvoo Legion Records, CHL; Nauvoo Legion Minute Book, [13] Aug. 1842, 29; JS, Journal, 30 June 1842; see also Letter from Thomas Carlin, 27 July 1842.)
Nauvoo Legion Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 3430.
Nauvoo Legion Minute Book, 1843–1844. Nauvoo Legion, Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 3430, fd. 1.
JS’s 8 August petition reproduced Carlin’s warrant. (Petition to Nauvoo Municipal Court, 8 Aug. 1842.)
JS, Journal, 14 Aug. 1842. On 20 August, Missouri governor Thomas Reynolds issued a requisition for JS’s arrest, and Chambers later issued a writ based on this requisition. (State of Missouri, Office of the Secretary of State, Commissions Division, Register of Civil Proceedings, vol. A, p. 175; John Chambers, Burlington, Iowa Territory, to John Cowan, 10 Mar. 1843, JS Office Papers, CHL.)
JS Office Papers / Joseph Smith Office Papers, ca. 1835–1845. CHL. MS 21600.
Clayton may have copied the letter on 14 August, as suggested by the page break on page 133 of the Book of the Law of the Lord, or on a later date. Clayton was with JS between 15 and 16 August and probably did not have the Book of the Law of the Lord with him. He likely returned to Nauvoo on 16 or 17 August and seems to have copied the letter into the Book of the Law of the Lord soon after returning and no later than 20 August, as suggested by the content of these and surrounding entries and by the changes in the ink Clayton used. (See Book of the Law of the Lord, 133–135, 164–167.)
The usual headquarters for the Nauvoo Legion was likely the office of JS, as his office had served as the meeting place of the legion’s first court-martial. However, at this time JS was in hiding at the home of Edward Sayers, outside the city limits of Nauvoo. As lieutenant general of the city’s militia, JS apparently considered his current place of residence to be a temporary headquarters. (Minutes, 4 Feb. 1841.)
This letter was composed on 14 August 1842. JS may have postdated the letter, or Clayton may have misdated it when he copied it onto a loose leaf or into the Book of the Law of the Lord. (JS, Journal, 14 Aug. 1842.)
JS and Law may have seen each other on 8 August before JS went into hiding. They also might have seen each other on 10 or 11 August, when JS met with friends in secret, though extant records do not specify that Law was present on that occasion. (See JS, Journal, 8–11 Aug. 1842; and Thomas R. King, Fillmore, Utah Territory, to George A. Smith, 21 Feb. 1868, Obituary Notices and Biographies, CHL.)
Obituary Notices and Biographies, 1854–1877. CHL.
In June 1841, JS was arrested in the first attempt to extradite him to Missouri, but he was released when the judge ruled that the arresting writ was invalid. By June 1842, JS began to fear a second extradition attempt. (“The Late Proceedings,” Times and Seasons, 15 June 1841, 2:447–449; Mayor’s Order to City Watch, 20 May 1842; Letter to Thomas Carlin, 24 June 1842; JS, Journal, 26 June 1842.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
In June and July 1842, JS corresponded with and sent emissaries to Thomas Carlin to confer with him on the matter of a possible extradition attempt. Carlin told JS he would receive the same protections as other citizens but also indicated that he, Carlin, would have to comply with any extradition requests. According to JS’s journal, on 11 August William Law conversed with Thomas C. King, who stated that “Carlins course which he had pursued was unjustifiable and illegal.” On 13 August, Hyrum Smith received a letter from David Hollister, a Latter-day Saint living in Quincy, who reported that Quincy lawyers James H. Ralston and Calvin A. Warren had met with the governor, and Carlin had told them he did not feel authorized to pursue extradition further. (Letter to Thomas Carlin, 24 June 1842; Letter from Thomas Carlin, 30 June 1842; Letter from Calvin A. Warren, 13 July 1842; JS, Journal, 12 July 1842; 11 and 13 Aug. 1842; David Hollister, Quincy, IL, to Hyrum Smith, Nauvoo, IL, 12 Aug. 1842, JS Office Papers, CHL.)