| Show I 1 copyright Secured Secure dJ 1 HISTORY OF JOSEPH SMITH juse JUNE our communications by mail appear to be cut off as no part of 0 oar our extensive correspondence has come to hand by the IL S mail for the last three weeks and dr hickok seems to be aware of it I 1 instructed dr richards to answer dr koks letter and then rode out with aitho 0 P rockwell I 1 received the following letter springfield ill ili june fth 1844 dear sir 1 have just received information that T B johnson is making an effort to procure from the grand jury for the united states now in session at this place an indictment against the them members of your municipal court for or exercising their legal and constitutional rights and discharging their sworn duty in acting act ingin in the matter offer of jeremiah emiah smiths petition for habeas corpus I 1 could hardly have llave supposed that he would succeed had I 1 not been Int informed ormed that there is no doubt that he be will accomplish his bis 0 abject object I 1 give you this information that you may ba be able to act as circumstances may require mr smith has not had a hearing and will not until tomorrow to morrow morning yours truly ff T HUGINS gen joseph smith nauvoo 11 elders J ini i grant and geo J adams preached at it my house in the evening cloudy and cool day the captain of the steamer osprey called this forenoon at the printing office to see me I 1 rode with him to his boat which was waa at the upper landing T when I 1 came up charles A foster called the passengers to come and see the meanest man in the world rord mr eaton stopped him arid arld and told the passengers geis geib thabit it was foster who was the meanest man in the world rollison attempted to draw drao a pistol but eaton silenced him and kept them all i down david harvey redfield red Eed field reported that last evening while on the hill hlll just before the police 1 arrived francis al higbee J said while speak i ing log of the printing press of the nauvoo exi if they lay their bands upon it or break brdak break it they may inky date their d downfall from that very hour and in ten days there here will wilt not i I 1 be a mormon left in nauvoo what they do I 1 they may expect the same in return addison everett also heard him j jason it luce reported that lanthus rolf said while the press was burning that before three weeks the Alan mansion sion slon house would be strung to the ground and he be would help to do it and tallman rolf said the city would be strung to the ground within ten days moses leonard also beard heard him joshua miller being t also present i I 1 bryant merchant of nauvoo said before he would gould see such things thins thid 0 s he would wade to bis his knees in blood it is reported that runners have gone out in all ell directions to try to get up a mob and th the are selling their houses in nauvoo and disposing of their property wednesday 12 at 10 am in my office at half past one I 1 was agreste i 1 by david bettis worth on the following writ i state af pf illinois t hancock ancock II count county ly t so the people of the of illinois to all con stables sherife sheriffs and coroners of said state greeting re efing eting whereas V complaint hath beeb made before me one of oto the justices of the peace within the county of hancock aforesaid upon II 11 ulle flie oath al higbee of said county that joseph smith samuel Samu vennett Wennett john taylor kiy thy william W phelps smith ja john a P green stephen perry dimick B huntington jonahan jonathan dunham dunbain stephen markham william edwards jonathan holmes jesse P harmon john lytle joseph W coolidge H harvey arvay D redfield porter rockwell and levi richards of said county did on the loth day 0 of f june instant commit a not riot at and within the county aforesaid wherein therein they with force and violence broke into the office of the nauvoo expositor and unlawfully and with force burned and destroyed the printing press type and fixtures of the same being the property of william law wilson law charles ivins francis AL higbee chauncey L higbee robert D foster and charles A foster these are therefore to command you forthwith to apprehend the said Jeseph smith samuel 11 bennet ennet john taylor william W phelps hyrum smith john P green sephen perry dimick B huntington jonathan dunham stephen markham mark MarL ham william edwards jonathan holmes jesse P harmon john letle joseph W coolidge harvey harv hirv ey D IZedA redfield eld eid porter rockwell and levi rich richards arda and bring them before me or some other justice of the peace to answer the premises and further t to 0 teace be e dealt with accordi according accordine nr to law given under my hand hana and seal at carthage Car thage in the county aforesaid this eleventh day of june AD 1844 THOMAS MORRISON JP J P seal after the officer got through reading the writ I 1 referred him to this clause in the writ before me or some other justice of the peace of said county saying saving we vve are ready to go to trial before esquire johnson or any justice in nauvoo accordino according according to the requirements of the writ but bettisworth swore he would be dald daid damned but he would carry them to carthage before morrison norrison who issued the writ and seemed very I 1 asked him if he intended to break the law for he knew the privilege of the prisoners and they should have hav hat e it I 1 called upon all present to witness that I 1 then 1 offered myself hyrum did the same to go 0 forthwith before the nearest justice of the tie peace and also called upon them to witness whether the officer broke the law or not I 1 felt so indignant at his abuse in depriving me of the privilege of the statute of illinois in in going before some other justice that thit I 1 determined to take out a writ of habeas corpus and signed the following follow ing petition I 1 state of illinois city of nauvoo kauv oo 00 5 to the honorable municipal court in in and for the said city of nauvoo your petitioner joseph smith respectfully represents that he is 13 now under arrest in the said city cita of nauvoo that he be is in the custody of one david baud bet a constable in and for the said county of hancock who holds your our petitioner as he says bas bab sas by virtue of a warrant issued by one thos morrison an acting justice of the peace in and for tor the said county of hancock and state of illinois which warrant was issued upon the affidavits affidavit of one francis M higbee charging chargin your petitioner with being guilty of a not riot cr ot of having committed a not liot within the county aforesaid your petitioner further represents that the warrant or of arlest an est by virtue of which the said david bettisworth has made this arrest does not disclose sufficiently clear and explicit the charge they have preferred your petitioner further avers az ers era that this proceeding against him has been instituted chrowl through 0 malice private pique and corruption your petitioner further avers that the design t and intention of the said F M higbee in commencing thib this prosecution is to commit and carry out more easily a conspiracy against the life of your petitioner that the said higbee has publicly declared that it was his bis determination mi to do everything every thiva in his power to throw your petitioner into the hands of his enemies and that there is a determination upon the part of the said higbee and his unhallowed ed coadjutors to commit an unlawful ful tul act and tb to set the rights V and privileges of your our petition ers era at defiance denance and bring down upon hib hie head this corrupt and unhallowed prosecution your petitioner further avers that he is is not fe guay ula uia ty of the charge preferred against him that be seeks an investigation before an impartial tribunal and fears not the result your petitioner would therefore ask your honorable body to grant him the benefit of the writ of habeas corpus that this matter may be invests investigated abed upon legal principles and that the legal and nd constitutional rights of 5 your our petitioner tit ioner may be determined by 3 your our honorable body and your petitioner aa as in duty bound will ever pray JOSEPH SMITH subscribed and sworn to this day of june 1844 before me WILLARD RICHARDS M MC Q C CN T 11 whereupon the clerk issued the following state of illinois city of nauvoo 5 the people of the state of illinois to the mar r m rhal bhai ot of said city gr greeting emming effing whereas application a p li cation catlon has been made before the municipal ar court of said city that the body of one oue joseph smith of the city afore baid said is in the custody ef of david dand bettisworth Bettie worth constable of the county of hancock and sta state aforesaid th those oa e are therefore ther eforo to command the said sid bid david constable as aforesaid ito to safely have the body of said joseph smith of the city afo aforesaid reshid in his custody detained as it is said together with the day and cause of his capt caption ion lon and detention by whatsoever what name the said joseph smith may be known or called before the municipal court of the bald said city forthwith to abide such order as the said court shall make in his behalf and further if the said david bettisworth or other person or persons having baying said Josep joseph hSmith smith of said city of nauvoo in custody shall bhail refuse or neglect i to comply with the provisions of this writ you the marshal of said city or other person authorized thorl zed to serve the same are hereby required to arrest the person or persons so refusing oi or neglecting to comply as aforesaid and bring him or them together with the person or persons in his or their custody forthwith before the municipal court aforesaid to be dealt with according to law and herein fail not and bring this writ with you witness willard richards clerk of the municipal court at nauvoo this day of june bundra in the year ear of our lord one thousand eight hundred and forty four seal WILLARD RICHARDS I 1 clerk of the municipal court of the cit city of nauvoo PI at 5 pm I 1 appeared before the municipal court on the above habeas corpus the following is a copy of their docket special session june 18 1814 14 5 6 pm present aldermen N K whitney orson spencer geo W harris gustavus Hill sellas smith and samuel Bennett associate justices the mayor being on trial geo W harris was ivas elected president pro tem tern i J P greene marshal made hi hib his s return on the writ of habeas corpus the body of joseph j smith in court david lle ile bettisworth made his return on the copy of the warrant warr atit which was attached to the cl petition it io n as follows 1 I hold the body of joseph smith i th by virtue of a writ of which the within is a copy D bettisworth constable ath section of addenda of city ordinance read by councilor geo P stiles resolution of city council june loth 1841 declaring the printing establishment of the nauvoo expositor a nuisance read mayors order to the marshal arshal Af to execute the bame same was also read and generals order of jime june loth 1844 to major gen dunham to assist the marshal mar shai to destroy said baid printing establish ment theodore turley sworn said that the order of the marshal arshal Al wai war was executed quietly and peaceably there was rio riot or disturbance no noise no exultation the mal mai shai endeavored to keep peace and silence and the officers did also the two companies under tinder command of dunham and markham retired in perfect order no exultation or shouting marched in front of the mansion and were weri dismissed J R wakefield confirmed the statements of i T turley said the marshal marshai stated his authority and demanded the keys of the building which higbee denied and marshal marshai ordered the door to be forced and the press was broken and type pied pled led in the street james backson jackson sworn confirmed the statements of previous witnesses heard beard no noise oil on opening the door most of the confusion it he e heard was higbee and his company throwing blackguard language to the pose posse which they did not regard saw the whole proceedings till the they were vere were dismissed all was done in order Hig nig H g bees beeb blackguard language was not answered to at all by the ranks heard nothing said about shooting heard beard some one damn the city authorities understood it was charles foster I 1 am a stranger in this place john kay robert clift augustus A farnham joseph A kelting 11 G sherwood augustus staff stafi stamford stafford ord cyrus barfield 6 canfield carfield can car field john gleason sworn 11 G sherwood confirm confirmed ci the statement of previous witnesses called for dr foster and the officer commanded silence francia francis af Hig bees threats have been lavish towards ge gen n smith and hyrum for a long iong tim has threatened injury upon them and the property of the smiths his conspiracies and threats have not been a little 0 P rockwell sworn gome some three or four weeks ago said F al higbee said he would go his death against joseph and hyrum smith francis said 1 I kno know knon my itly course is wron wrong but if 1 1110 stop P 1 I shall get hell and it if I 1 go on I 1 shall get only onis IY hell and would do what he jae intended at the risk of or his life and would destroy the general if possible raid eaid the council had bad ordered the press destroyed and who lays his hands on the press it is death to them witness hapl hag frequently heard beard dibee tell lies about the general to injure llis his character john hu hughea beb bea joseph dalton wm clayton and james goff sworn john hue hug hughes olies alles said higbee said by god all I 1 want to live for ie is to see gee this city sunk down to t the lowest hell bell and by god it shall thib thia was just juet previous to the Mam marshals hails halla arriving on the loth wm clayton eaid two years this juhe june francis M higbee confessed he was concerned with J C bennett in his iniquity and aad had a bad disorder said he knew his bis character w was as ruined from froal time to time tune since that witness knew I 1 higbie ill til had been threatening general smiths charac C beraud ter and property leonard oby soby heard beard higbee threaten to shoot gen smith at store and higbee higher said the destinies of this people are this thia day sealed I 1 in in the archives of 0 heaven and there thera shall not be left obe one one I 1 stone upon another on that tempie temple john P mcewan higbee said sald 10 reference to joseph smith god damn him I 1 will ivill shoot shoog hima him and hyrum cyru smith god damn him himi hilj I 1 will ivill shoot him and all that pertains to him and before ten buns suns shall go over our beads the temple nauvoo house and mansion shall all alf be destroyed and it will be the total downfall of this community cyrus avrus canfield higbee said he would niver never let things go till fill he haa bad accomplished the downfall I 1 of gen smith that be he did not value vaine his bis life to produce the downfall of gen smith joseph dalton higbee said if they laid la T their hands upon the press from that ho hour u they might date their downfall that ten suns should not roll over oven 01 er their heads beads till the city was des troyed troed court coult decided that joseph smith had bad acted actea under proper authority in destroying the establishment lish ment of the nauvoo expositor op on the loth dinst that his orders were executed i 11 an orderly and judicious manner with without oili noise or tumult tur tui nult nuit that this was a malicious prosecution on the part of T F al higbee and that said hig hi bee pay pas the costs of suit and that joseph eay smith lie tie lie honorably discharged from the accusations and of the writ and go helice hence without day 5 I 1 received the following letter eldorado union co arkansas J may ath 1844 to gen joseph |
