Footnotes
James Sloan copied the featured version of the petition sometime between late April 1839 (when the petition likely arrived in Illinois from Missouri) and early June 1839. Sloan’s copy was apparently included in a package of documents that John P. Greene took with him when he left Quincy, Illinois, on 5 June 1839 with an assignment to collect donations for Latter-day Saint refugees. Greene published the documents—including Sloan’s copy of the petition—later that month in Cincinnati, Ohio.a Additionally, James Mulholland copied the featured version into JS Letterbook 2 sometime between 29 May and 30 October 1839.b
(aJS et al., Petition, Liberty, MO, between 9 and 15 Mar. 1839, copy, JS Collection, CHL; Historical Introduction to Letter from John P. Greene, 30 June 1839; Greene, Facts relative to the Expulsion, 31–33. bJS et al., Petition, Liberty, MO, ca. 15 Mar. 1839, in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 21–24.)Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846. CHL. MS 155.
Greene, John P. Facts Relative to the Expulsion of the Mormons or Latter Day Saints, from the State of Missouri, under the “Exterminating Order.” By John P. Greene, an Authorized Representative of the Mormons. Cincinnati: R. P. Brooks, 1839.
A typescript note in the document’s file in the Joseph Smith Collection states the document came from Wood. In 1937 he purchased from Charles Bidamon (Emma Smith’s stepson) several historically significant documents, including two petitions that had belonged to JS. The church later purchased some of the Bidamon documents from Wood, possibly including the petition featured here. (Wilford C. Wood, Statement, Wilmette, IL, 10 July 1937, reel 16, fd. 7-J-b-2; David O. McKay to Arthur Winter, 21 July 1937, reel 16, fd. 7-J-b-2, Wilford C. Wood Collection of Church Historical Materials, CHL; see also “Documents Obtained by Wilford Wood,” Deseret News, 21 July 1937, 13.)
Wilford C. Wood Collection of Church Historical Materials. Microfilm. CHL. MS 8617.
Deseret News. Salt Lake City. 1850–.
Footnotes
“Habeas Corpus,” in Bouvier, Law Dictionary, 1:454–456; Walker, “Habeas Corpus in Early Nineteenth-Century Mormonism,” 5–8.
Bouvier, John. A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States of America, and of the Several States of the American Union; with References to the Civil and Other Systems of Foreign Law. 2 vols. Philadelphia: T. and J. W. Johnson, 1839.
Walker, Jeffrey N. “Habeas Corpus in Early Nineteenth-Century Mormonism: Joseph Smith’s Legal Bulwark for Personal Freedom.” BYU Studies 52, no. 1 (2013): 4–97.
Hyrum Smith, Petition, Liberty, MO, 9 Mar. 1839, CHL.
Smith, Hyrum. Petition, Liberty, MO, 9 Mar. 1839. CHL.
Hyrum Smith, Petition, Liberty, MO, 15 Mar. 1839, CHL; Lyman Wight, Petition, Liberty, MO, 15 Mar. 1839, CHL; Caleb Baldwin, Petition, Liberty, MO, 15 Mar. 1839, CHL; Alexander McRae, Petition, Liberty, MO, 15 Mar. 1839, CHL.
Smith, Hyrum. Petition, Liberty, MO, 15 Mar. 1839. CHL.
Wight, Lyman. Petition, Liberty, MO, 15 Mar. 1839. CHL. MS 24547.
Baldwin, Caleb. Petition, Liberty, MO, 15 Mar. 1839. CHL.
McRae, Alexander. Petition, Liberty, MO, 15 Mar. 1839. CHL.
Hyrum Smith, Petition, Liberty, MO, 9 Mar. 1839, CHL.
Smith, Hyrum. Petition, Liberty, MO, 9 Mar. 1839. CHL.
As Ripley later recalled, he and Kimball were “appointed by the church to visit the Brethren as often as possible who were in jail at liberty and also to importune at the feet of the judges” for the release of the prisoners. (Alanson Ripley, Statements, ca. Jan. 1845, Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, 1839–1860, CHL; see also Heber C. Kimball, Far West, MO, to Vilate Murray Kimball, Quincy, IL, 2 Apr. 1839, Heber C. Kimball, Collection, CHL.)
Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Documents, 1839–1860. CHL. CR 100 396.
Kimball, Heber C. Collection, 1837–1898. CHL. MS 12476.
In his diary, Hyrum Smith named Ripley, Kimball, Huntington, Noble, and Presendia Huntington Buell as the only visitors to the jail on 15 March 1839. (Hyrum Smith, Diary, 15 Mar. 1839.)
Smith, Hyrum. Diary, Mar.–Apr. 1839, Oct. 1840. CHL. MS 2945.
Letter to the Church and Edward Partridge, 20 Mar. 1839. Hyrum Smith made notes on the habeas corpus statute in the back of his diary. (Hyrum Smith, Diary, CHL.)
Smith, Hyrum. Diary, Mar.–Apr. 1839, Oct. 1840. CHL. MS 2945.
An Act to Regulate Proceedings on Writs of Habeas Corpus [6 Mar. 1835], Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri [1835], p. 297, art. 1, secs. 1–3; see also Madsen, “Joseph Smith and the Missouri Court of Inquiry,” 102–115.
The Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri, Revised and Digested by the Eighth General Assembly, During the Years One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Four, and One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Five. Together with the Constitutions of Missouri and of the United States. 3rd ed. St. Louis: Chambers and Knapp, 1841.
Madsen, Gordon A. “Joseph Smith and the Missouri Court of Inquiry: Austin A. King’s Quest for Hostages.” BYU Studies 43, no. 4 (2004): 93–136.
Missouri law required petitions to “be verified by the oath of the applicant, or some other competent person,” such as a justice of the peace. (An Act to Regulate Proceedings on Writs of Habeas Corpus [6 Mar. 1835], Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri [1835], p. 297, art. 1, sec. 4.)
The Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri, Revised and Digested by the Eighth General Assembly, During the Years One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Four, and One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Five. Together with the Constitutions of Missouri and of the United States. 3rd ed. St. Louis: Chambers and Knapp, 1841.
William T. Wood, an attorney living in Clay County, recalled that the prisoners were occasionally permitted to leave the jail under supervision of a guard. However, as JS noted in his 15 March 1839 letter to Presendia Huntington Buell, the Clay County jailer was especially vigilant following the prisoners’ escape attempt in early March. (William T. Wood, “Mormon Memoirs,” Liberty [MO] Tribune, 9 Apr. 1886, [1]; Letter to Presendia Huntington Buell, 15 Mar. 1839.)
Liberty Tribune. Liberty, MO. 1860–.
Far West Committee, Minutes, 17–18 Mar. 1839.
Far West Committee. Minutes, Jan.–Apr. 1839. CHL. MS 2564.
Theodore Turley, Memoranda, ca. Feb. 1845, Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, 1839–1860, CHL; An Act to Regulate Proceedings on Writs of Habeas Corpus [6 Mar. 1835], Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri [1835], p. 297, art. 1, sec. 5.
Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Documents, 1839–1860. CHL. CR 100 396.
The Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri, Revised and Digested by the Eighth General Assembly, During the Years One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Four, and One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Five. Together with the Constitutions of Missouri and of the United States. 3rd ed. St. Louis: Chambers and Knapp, 1841.
Hyrum Smith, Diary, 30 Mar. 1839; see also Theodore Turley, Memoranda, ca. Feb. 1845, Historian’s Office, JS History Documents, 1839–1860, CHL; and Heber C. Kimball, Far West, MO, to Vilate Murray Kimball, Quincy, IL, 2 Apr. 1839, Heber C. Kimball, Collection, CHL. Tompkins (1780–1846) served on the Missouri Supreme Court from 1824 until 1845; McGirk (ca. 1783–1842), from 1821 to 1841; and Edwards (1804–1888), from 1837 to 1839. (Bay, Reminiscences of the Bench and Bar of Missouri, 30–31, 536–537; Ellsberry, Cemetery Records of Montgomery County, Missouri, 1:41; Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–2005, 1005.)
Smith, Hyrum. Diary, Mar.–Apr. 1839, Oct. 1840. CHL. MS 2945.
Historian’s Office. Joseph Smith History Documents, 1839–1860. CHL. CR 100 396.
Kimball, Heber C. Collection, 1837–1898. CHL. MS 12476.
Bay, W. V. N. Reminiscences of the Bench and Bar of Missouri. . . . St. Louis: F. H. Thomas, 1878.
Ellsberry, Elizabeth Prather, comp. Cemetery Records of Montgomery County, Missouri. 2 vols. Chillicothe, MO: By the author, no date.
Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–2005, the Continental Congress, September 5, 1774, to October 21, 1788, and the Congress of the United States, from the First through the One Hundred Eighth Congresses, March 4, 1789, to January 3, 2005, inclusive. Edited by Andrew R. Dodge and Betty K. Koed. Washington DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2005.
Kimball, “History,” 99.
Kimball, Heber C. “History of Heber Chase Kimball by His Own Dictation,” ca. 1842–1856. Heber C. Kimball, Papers, 1837–1866. CHL. MS 627, box 2.
See Mittimus, Richmond, MO, 29 Nov. 1838, State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Treason and Other Crimes (Mo. 5th Jud. Cir. 1838), JS Collection, CHL.
Snow, Journal, 1838–1841, 47–48. According to Missouri law, courts could not grant writs of habeas corpus for nonbailable offenses, such as treason. (An Act to Regulate Proceedings on Writs of Habeas Corpus [6 Mar. 1835], Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri [1835], p. 297, art. 1, sec. 6.)
Snow, Erastus. Journals, 1835–1851; 1856–1857. CHL. MS 1329, box 1, fds. 1–3.
The Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri, Revised and Digested by the Eighth General Assembly, During the Years One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Four, and One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Five. Together with the Constitutions of Missouri and of the United States. 3rd ed. St. Louis: Chambers and Knapp, 1841.
Hyrum Smith, Diary, 6 Apr. 1839.
Smith, Hyrum. Diary, Mar.–Apr. 1839, Oct. 1840. CHL. MS 2945.
An archaic form of promulgate. (“Promulge,” in American Dictionary.)
An American Dictionary of the English Language: Intended to Exhibit, I. the Origin, Affinities and Primary Signification of English Words, as far as They Have Been Ascertained. . . . Edited by Noah Webster. New York: S. Converse, 1828.
Insertion and cancellation in the handwriting of JS.
JS and his fellow petitioners were perhaps referring to the testimonies of several witnesses regarding Mormon interpretations of the kingdom of God and Daniel chapters 1–7. George M. Hinkle, for example, stated that “the general teachings of the presidency were that the Kingdom they were setting up, was a temporal as well as a Spiritual Kingdom—that it was the little stone spoken of by Daniel . . . that the time had come when this Kingdom was to be set up by forcible means, if necessary.” Hinkle also noted that “it was taught the times had come when the riches of the Gentiles were to be consecrated to the true Israel,” referring to a revelation dictated by JS on 9 February 1831. (George M. Hinkle, Testimony, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, p. [42]; John Corrill, Testimony, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, p. [31]; Robert Snodgrass, Testimony, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, p. [35], in State of Missouri, “Evidence”; Revelation, 9 Feb. 1831 [D&C 42:39]; see also Whittaker, “Book of Daniel in Early Mormon Thought,” 155–199.)
Whittaker, David J. “The Book of Daniel in Early Mormon Thought.” In By Study and Also by Faith: Essays in Honor of Hugh W. Nibley on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday, 27 March 1990, edited by John M. Lundquist and Stephen D. Ricks, 1:155–201. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book; Provo, UT: Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1990.
Both the United States and the Missouri constitutions define treason as levying war, which involves either committing an overt act against the government or giving aid and comfort to enemies of the state. (See Introduction to Part 3: 4 Nov. 1838–16 Apr. 1839.)
Insertion in the handwriting of JS.
Insertion and cancellation in the handwriting of JS.
Because treason was a nonbailable offense, Judge King had committed JS and his fellow prisoners to the Clay County jail to await their trials in spring 1839. (See Introduction to Part 3: 4 Nov. 1838–16 Apr. 1839.)
In cases wherein defendents were committed to prison for nonbailable offenses, Missouri law required magistrates to deliver to the jailer the warrant of commitment and a certified copy of the prisoners’ and the witnesses’ testimonies. (An Act to Regulate Proceedings in Criminal Cases [21 Mar. 1835], Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri [1835], p. 477, art. 2, sec. 29.)
The Revised Statutes of the State of Missouri, Revised and Digested by the Eighth General Assembly, During the Years One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Four, and One Thousand Eight Hundred and Thirty-Five. Together with the Constitutions of Missouri and of the United States. 3rd ed. St. Louis: Chambers and Knapp, 1841.