Ordinance, 12 December 1843–B, Page 193
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Ordinance, 12 December 1843–B

Source Note

Nauvoo City Council, Ordinance, [, Hancock Co., IL], 12 Dec. 1843. Featured version copied [ca. 12 December 1843] in Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, p. 193; handwriting of ; CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 1841–1845.

Historical Introduction

On 12 December 1843, the , Illinois, city council approved an ordinance authorizing the creation of a municipal police force. The establishment of a full-time police force placed the city at the forefront of a major shift in peacekeeping strategies in the mid-nineteenth century in the . Although southern cities had long relied on military-style police forces to suppress and discourage slave revolts, such forces were rare in northern cities like Nauvoo. Prior to the 1840s and 1850s, most northern communities relied on a system of peace officers—such as sheriffs, justices of the peace, constables, and night watchmen—to preserve peace and order. The act incorporating the city of Nauvoo, passed by the state legislature in 1840, reflected this traditional arrangement, establishing aldermen to act as justices of the peace, a city marshal to function much like a constable, and the authority to create a night watch. The charter authorized the city to “regulate the police of the city,” though this clause apparently relied on an older definition of the term police, which encompassed the government or administration of a city. During the 1840s, the term came to refer to a group of men who enforced laws and ordinances.
During the 1830s and 1840s, a widespread increase in mob violence and disorder, in connection with urbanization and tensions over immigration, led some northern cities to establish full-time police forces modeled after ’s professional police force, which was created in 1829. Nevertheless, full-time police forces were rare in the early 1840s and even , the largest city in the , did not adopt a police force until 1845. was the first city in and the surrounding region to adopt a full-time police force, which was unusually large with forty police officers serving a population of around 10,000. In contrast to the rest of the nation, the creation of a full-time police force in Nauvoo did not grow out of the internal threat of riots but from an apparent desire to protect the city—and JS in particular—from external enemies.
Previous iterations of ’s peacekeeping efforts also sought to protect from external enemies. The city apparently implemented a city watch by 1841 but did not create an organized and regular night watch until May 1842. The city established the night watch to protect JS from potential retaliation for his rumored involvement in the attempted assassination of former governor . The initial night watch consisted of eight men who served “at the sole appointment & discretion of the Mayor.” Two weeks later, the body expanded to include sixteen watchmen. In January 1843, the city council replaced this loosely organized night watch with a more regulated city watch to guard “the peace & safety of the City during the night” under the city council’s direction. In June 1843, the city council clarified that the city watch should particularly guard the city from strangers.
Following the kidnappings of and his father, , which occurred in November and December 1843, fears that JS or other could be similarly kidnapped and taken to led to a flurry of activity on 8 December, which included activating a portion of the and passing an ordinance that criminalized any attempt to make arrests related to the “Missouri difficulties.” On the morning of 11 December, swore an affidavit stating that at least one resident participated in Daniel Avery’s kidnapping, and a messenger brought news of an armed robbery and attempted murder of a Latter-day Saint elsewhere in .
In response to these events, some residents decided that the city needed to create a more substantial police force. On 11 December, two virtually identical handwritten petitions were created, with blank spaces for inserting names. The similarity between the petitions suggests that they derived from a common source, perhaps originating in the city council. The petitions noted that Nauvoo’s second and third municipal wards—the two quadrants in the eastern half of the city—held public meetings to protest the “hostile attitude of and the mobocratic disposition” of the Anti-Mormon political party in . The petitions called for “a more sure and certain order of guarding the peace and safety of the citizens of Nauvoo” and requested that the city council create “a company of about forty men rank and file who shall act as a police and be continually in service, according to the directions of the Mayor.” , the clerk of the second ward’s petition, and , the chairman named in the third ward’s petition, were appointed to present these resolutions at the city council meeting the next day.
On 12 December, the city council assembled at ten o’clock in the morning at JS’s office. After the meeting opened, and presented the resolutions, which were read aloud. An intermittent discussion ensued among , , , and JS regarding the petitions. During pauses in the discussions and as the council attended to other business, Phelps presumably created and amended the initial draft of the ordinance authorizing JS as mayor to create a police force. The only substantive change to Phelps’s initial draft was a clarification stipulating that the police force operate as both “daily and nightly” watchmen. The completed draft was read aloud to the city council and passed without further discussion or amendments. As requested, the ordinance specified that the police force would consist of forty men charged with preserving peace, enforcing city ordinances, and catching thieves. The ordinance also placed the force under the mayor’s control rather than the city council’s. Once the ordinance passed, created a fair copy that the city recorder, , signed on behalf of JS. Bullock subsequently made a copy of the ordinance in the city council minute book. That official city council copy is featured here.
On 29 December, nearly two and a half weeks after the city council passed the ordinance, JS formally presided over the swearing in of forty police officers. The 12 December ordinance stated that the city would supply the police force’s wages. During 1842 and 1843, struggled to support the smaller night watch, and it is unclear how the city council intended to fund the new, larger police force. By the end of January 1844, the police force had cost the city over $700, and opposition to this expense led JS to disband the force. Thereafter, policemen served in an ad hoc capacity until after JS’s death, when city authorities began to rely on the force more heavily.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Mitrani, Rise of the Chicago Police Department, 2, 16, 19.

    Mitrani, Sam. The Rise of the Chicago Police Department: Class and Conflict, 1850–1894. The Working Class in American History. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2013.

  2. [2]

    Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.

  3. [3]

    Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840; “Police,” in American Dictionary (1841), 2:319; “Police,” in American Dictionary (1848), 756.

    An American Dictionary of the English Language; First Edition in Octavo, Containing the Whole Vocabulary of the Quarto, with Corrections, Improvements and Several Thousand Additional Words. . . . Edited by Noah Webster. 2nd ed. 2 vols. New Haven: By the author, 1841.

    An American Dictionary of the English Language; Exhibiting the Origin, Orthography, Pronunciation, and Definitions of Words. Edited by Noah Webster and Chauncey A. Goodrich. Rev. ed. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1848.

  4. [4]

    Gilje, Road to Mobocracy, 267–282; Gilje, Rioting in America, 138–140; Mitrani, Rise of the Chicago Police Department, 16–19.

    Gilje, Paul A. The Road to Mobocracy: Popular Disorder in New York City, 1763–1834. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1987.

    Gilje, Paul A. Rioting in America. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1996.

    Mitrani, Sam. The Rise of the Chicago Police Department: Class and Conflict, 1850–1894. The Working Class in American History. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2013.

  5. [5]

    Gilje, Road to Mobocracy, 267–281; An Ordinance Regulating the Police of the City of New-York [16 June 1845], By-Laws and Ordinances of the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City of New-York, pp. 547–550.

    Gilje, Paul A. The Road to Mobocracy: Popular Disorder in New York City, 1763–1834. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1987.

    By-Laws and Ordinances of the Mayor, Aldermen, and Commonalty of the City of New-York. New York: John S. Voorhies, 1845.

  6. [6]

    St. Louis, the largest city in the region, expanded its night watch from sixteen to thirty-two men in 1841 but did not create a full-time police force until 1846. That police force consisted of fifty-seven men serving a population of over 35,000 individuals. Chicago, then the largest city in Illinois, did not create an independent police force until 1855. That police force consisted of seventy-four men serving a population of over 83,000. Other cities, such as Quincy, Illinois, followed suit in the mid-1850s. (Scharf, History of Saint Louis City and County, 1:738–740; “Mobocracy,” Times and Seasons, 15 Nov. 1845, 6:1031; Primm, Lion of the Valley, 143; Mitrani, Rise of the Chicago Police Department, 14–33; Editorial, Illinois State Journal [Springfield], 19 Sept. 1855, [1]; Tillson and Collins, History of the City of Quincy, Illinois, 166.)

    Scharf, J. Thomas. History of Saint Louis City and County, from the Earliest Periods to the Present Day: Including Biographical Sketches of Representative Men. 2 vols. Philadelphia: Louis H. Everts, 1883.

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

    Primm, James Neal. Lion of the Valley: St. Louis, Missouri, 1764–1980. 3rd ed. St. Louis: Missouri Historical Society Press, 1998.

    Mitrani, Sam. The Rise of the Chicago Police Department: Class and Conflict, 1850–1894. The Working Class in American History. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2013.

    Daily Illinois State Journal. Springfield, IL. 1855–1859.

    Tillson, John. History of the City of Quincy, Illinois. Chicago: S. J. Clarke Publishing, 1900.

  7. [7]

    John C. Bennett, Nauvoo, IL, to “Gentlemen of the City Watch,” 9 Dec. 1841, Times and Seasons, 15 Dec. 1841, 3:637; JS, Journal, 19 May 1842; Minutes, 19 May 1842; Mayor’s Order to City Watch, 20 May 1842; “The Mormons,” Sangamo Journal (Springfield, IL), 3 June 1842, [2].

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

    Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.

  8. [8]

    John C. Bennett and JS, Notice, Wasp, 21 May 1842, [3]; Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 19 May 1842, 82. JS instructed the officers to patrol the city from six o’clock in the evening to six o’clock in the morning and report to him on their activities. (Mayor’s Order to City Watch, 20 May 1842.)

  9. [9]

    John C. Bennett, Notice, Wasp, 4 June 1842, [3]; see also Shadrach Roundy, Claim, Nauvoo, IL, 27 Aug. 1842, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.

    The Wasp. Nauvoo, IL. Apr. 1842–Apr. 1843.

  10. [10]

    Ordinances, 30 Jan. 1843.

  11. [11]

    Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 29 June 1843, 182.

  12. [12]

    Ordinance, 8 Dec. 1843; see also Mayor’s Order to Henry G. Sherwood, 8 Dec. 1843; Requisition from Henry G. Sherwood, 8 Dec. 1843; Military Order to Wilson Law, 8 Dec. 1843; and Minutes, 8 Dec. 1843.

  13. [13]

    Sisson A. Chase, Affidavit, Hancock Co., IL, 11 Dec. 1843, Hancock Co., IL, Circuit Court Legal Documents, 1839–1860, BYU; “Dreadful Outrage and Attempt at Murder,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 13 Dec. 1843, [2]; Clayton, Journal, 11 Dec. 1843; see also Sisson A. Chase, Affidavit, Hancock Co., IL, 11 Dec. 1843, in “Kidnapping,” Nauvoo Neighbor, 20 Dec. 1843, [2]; and Letter to Thomas Ford, 11 Dec. 1843.

    Nauvoo Neighbor. Nauvoo, IL. 1843–1845.

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

  14. [14]

    Unlike most city council petitions, the second and third ward petitions contained only the secretaries’ and meeting chairmen’s names and signatures and not the signatures of those supporting the petitions. (Nauvoo Second Ward, Resolutions, 11 Dec. 1843; Nauvoo Third Ward, Resolutions, 11 Dec. 1843, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)

  15. [15]

    Nauvoo Second Ward, Resolutions, 11 Dec. 1843; Nauvoo Third Ward, Resolutions, 11 Dec. 1843, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.

  16. [16]

    JS, Journal, 12 Dec. 1843; Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 12 Dec. 1843, 24.

  17. [17]

    This was the second of three ordinances passed at the city council’s 12 December 1843 meeting. The first ordinance amended Nauvoo’s tax code to exempt all property owned by the temple committee, while the third ordinance granted JS an exemption from Nauvoo’s temperance ordinance. (Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 12 Dec. 1843, 24; Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 12 Dec. 1843, 194; Ordinance, 12 Dec. 1843–C.)

  18. [18]

    Nauvoo City Council, Ordinance, 12 Dec. 1843, draft, JS Office Papers, CHL.

  19. [19]

    Nauvoo City Council Rough Minute Book, 12 Dec. 1843, 24.

  20. [20]

    Ordinance, 12 Dec. 1843, copy, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.

  21. [21]

    See Minutes and Discourse, 29 Dec. 1843.

  22. [22]

    Few American cities could afford to support a full-time police force. Philadelphia, one of the first American cities to adopt a police force in 1833, abolished its day police two years later and returned to just a night watch due to the expense. (Sprogle, Philadelphia Police, Past and Present, 75–76; Allinson and Penrose, Philadelphia, 1681–1887, 101–102.)

    Sprogle, Howard O. The Philadelphia Police, Past and Present. Philadelphia: By the author, 1887.

    Allinson, Edward P., and Boies Penrose. Philadelphia, 1681–1887: A History of Municipal Development. Baltimore: Publication Agency of the Johns Hopkins University; Philadelphia: Allen, Lane and Scott, 1887.

  23. [23]

    In 1842 the city spent over $500 supporting the sixteen-man night watch during its first three months—$150 more than it cost to pay all city officials the previous year and around half of the assessed tax revenue for 1842. In response, the city council suspended payments to the watch from October 1842 until March 1843. (Shadrach Roundy, Claim, Nauvoo, IL, 27 Aug. 1842; James Sloan, Statement of Claims, Nauvoo, IL, 24 Jan. 1842; [Thomas Bullock], “Recorders Report of the Finance of the City of Nauvoo,” 8 Feb. 1845, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL; Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 8 Oct. 1842 and 11 Mar. 1843, 104, 170.)

    Nauvoo, IL. Records, 1841–1845. CHL. MS 16800.

  24. [24]

    Haight, Journal, [21]–[22]; Jackson, Narrative, 15, 21–23. City treasurer William Clayton’s unusual bookkeeping surrounding early 1844 police accounts suggests that the $700 recorded in the city treasury ledger book was largely credited to the policemen but not actually paid. Individual accounts, such as Josiah Arnold’s, indicate that nearly all officer payments were limited to notes granting them tax credits. After the police complained that these notes were virtually worthless, the city apparently contracted with church leaders to pay the police force. (Nauvoo City Treasury Ledger, 106, 111–114; Hosea Stout and Others, Petition, Nauvoo, IL, 8 Aug. 1844; William Clayton, [Nauvoo, IL], to Thomas Bullock, [Nauvoo, IL], 17 Dec. 1844, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)

    Haight, Isaac Chauncey. Journal, 1852–1862. Photocopy. CHL. MS 1384.

    Jackson, Joseph H. A Narrative of the Adventures and Experience of Joseph H. Jackson, in Nauvoo. Disclosing the Depths of Mormon Villainy. Warsaw, IL: By the author, 1844.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. Ordinance, 12 December 1843–B, Draft Ordinance, 12 December 1843–B, Copy
*Ordinance, 12 December 1843–B
Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 1841–1845 Ordinance, 12 December 1843–B, as Published in Nauvoo Neighbor History, 1838–1856, volume E-1 [1 July 1843–30 April 1844] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 193

An ordinance for selecting forty policemen and for other purposes
Section 1 Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of , that the Mayor of said be and he is hereby authorized to select and have in readiness for every emergency forty policemen to be at his disposal in maintaining the peace and dignity of the Citizens, and enforcing the ordinances of the said ; for ferreting out thieves and bringing them to Justice, and to act as daily and nightly watchmen and be under the pay of said
Passed December 12. 1843
Joseph Smith Mayor
. Recorder [p. 193]
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Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Ordinance, 12 December 1843–B
ID #
8456
Total Pages
1
Print Volume Location
JSP, D13:366–370
Handwriting on This Page
  • Thomas Bullock

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    TEXT: Written in left margin.

  2. [2]

    The language in this ordinance resembles the language used in Nauvoo’s city charter to describe the Nauvoo Legion’s purpose, which included operating “at the disposal of the Mayor in executing the laws and ordinances of the City Corporation.” (Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840.)

  3. [3]

    Thefts had emerged as a major issue in and around Nauvoo among Latter-day Saints and particularly between Latter-day Saints and their neighbors. In March 1843, JS issued a proclamation to the citizens of Nauvoo calling for informants to help him “and all ministers of Justice, in this and the neighboring states, to ferret out a band of thievish outlaws from our midst.” (JS, “Proclamation,” Wasp, 29 Mar. 1843, [3].)

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