On 14 August 1842, while in hiding at ’s house just outside of , Illinois, JS wrote to , major general of the , instructing him to defend the Saints against violence, if necessary. , undersheriff of ; , constable of Adams County; and another officer (possibly ) had arrived in Nauvoo on 8 August and arrested JS and for their alleged involvement in the attempted assassination of former governor . Faced with the threat of extradition to Missouri, JS and Rockwell immediately petitioned Nauvoo’s municipal court for a writ of , which the court granted. Unsure about how to proceed, the arresting officers returned to , Illinois, to receive further instructions from governor . Meanwhile, JS and Rockwell crossed the to , Iowa Territory, where they hid at the homes of members and , JS’s uncle. Perhaps at Carlin’s bidding, on 10 August the Circuit Court issued a writ of habeas corpus of its own, directing Thomas C. King to bring JS before Justice . When Sheriff King returned to Nauvoo later that day to arrest JS, he could not find him.
The next night, on 11 August, JS met with , , and others on an in the and discussed the extradition efforts, including rumors that , the territorial governor of , had also issued a warrant for JS’s arrest and extradition to . After the meeting, a few friends escorted JS to the home of to hide. Sayers lived about two and a half miles northeast of the block.
While JS was at ’s house, associates sent news of efforts to find and arrest him, and he took steps to evade the authorities. As recorded in JS’s journal, on 13 August, received a letter from , a member of the church living in . Hollister reported that , who had been assigned by governor to receive JS as a prisoner, was leaving “to bring a force from Mo.” Hollister suggested, however, that this might be a ruse to get JS to momentarily let his guard down. JS also learned that local authorities, probably and , threatened to “lay the city [of ] in ashes” if they did not find him.
In light of these developments, on the morning of 14 August JS met again with and wrote the letter featured here. In his confidential instructions to Law, JS appealed to the ’s martial heritage, including the American Revolutionary War. Writing as the mayor of and lieutenant general of the Nauvoo Legion, JS ordered , as the legion’s recently elected major general, to rescue him if he should be captured. He also ordered Law to maintain the peace of the city, if possible, and to meet mob violence with force, if necessary. In late June, when JS had written and asked for advice on how to act in the case of a mob attack, Carlin had instructed him to take a defensive stance. A few days after that, during a 4 July parade in Nauvoo, JS emphasized the legion’s role “to defend ourselves and families from mobs.” A few weeks later, JS had again written Carlin, asking him to issue orders to have the legion in readiness in the event of a mob attack. Carlin refused to do so but promised to protect the city from violence. In response, JS expressed his trust in Carlin’s promise. After Carlin issued a warrant for JS’s arrest and extradition on 2 August, JS apparently lost confidence in the state executive and instead looked to the legion to protect the Saints.
Although the letter bears the date of 15 August, it was composed on 14 August. JS may have postdated the original letter to 15 August, or may have misdated it when he copied it. When JS gave the letter to on 14 August, he instructed her to “deliver it to Gen. Law tomorrow.” On the evening of the fourteenth, Emma took the letter to , arriving at about six o’clock. That evening, she and the Saints learned that, contrary to rumors, had not yet issued a writ for JS’s arrest. On the morning of 15 August, soon after reports arrived that a militia was traveling to Nauvoo, Emma personally delivered the letter to . Law responded in a letter he wrote that afternoon, affirming that he was ready to command the legion in the defense of the Saints.
, who had been with JS at ’s house on 13 August before returning to on 14 August, probably copied the original letter, which is not extant, onto a loose leaf, or he may have later obtained the original letter. He subsequently copied the letter into JS’s journal in the Book of the Law of the Lord, probably between 14 and 20 August, and that copy is featured here.
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.
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.)
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.)
should not do this and shall urge the necessity of force; and I if I by any means should be taken, these are therefore to command you forthwith, without delay, regardless of life or death to rescue me out of their hands. And further, to treat any pretensions to the contrary, unlawful and unconstitutional and as a mob got up for the purpose as religious persecution to take away the rights of men. And further, that our chartered rights and privileges shall be considered by us as holding the supremacy in the premises and shall be maintained; nothing short of the supreme court of this , having authority to dis-annul them; and the Municipal Court having jurisdiction in my case. You will see therefore that the peace of the City of is kept, let who will endeavor to disturb it. You will see also that whenever any mob force or violence is used, on any citizen thereof, or that belongeth thereunto, you will see that that force or violence is immediately dispersed and brought to punishment; or meet it, and contest it at the point of the sword with firm and undaunted and unyeilding valor; and let them know that the spirit of of old seventysix; and of George Washington yet lives, and is contained in the bosoms and blood of the children of the fathers thereof. If there are any threats in the let legal steps be taken on the part of those that make the threats: and let no man, woman or child be intimidated nor suffer it to be done. Nevertheless as I said in the first place we will take every measure that lays in our power and make every sacrifice that God or man could require at our hands to preserve the peace and safety of the people without colition [collision?]. And if sacrificing my own liberty for months and years without stooping to the disgrace of persecution and violence, and s mis-rule and corruption I bow to my fate with cheerfulness and all due deference in the consideration of the lives, safety and welfare of others. But if this policy cannot accomplish the desired object; let our charter, and our Municipality; free trade and Sailors rights be our motto, and go a-head David Crockett like, and lay down our lives like men, and defend ourselves to the best advantage we can to the very last. You are therefore, hereby authorised and commanded, by virtue of the authority which I hold, and commission granted me by the of this , to maintain the very letter and spirit of the above contents of this letter to the very best of your ability; to the extent of our lives, and our fortunes; and to the lives and the fortunes of the ; as also all those who may volunteer their lives and their fortunes with ours; for the defence of our wives, our children, our fathers and our mothers; our homes; our grave yards, and our tombs; and our dead and their tombstones, and our dear bought American liberties with the blood of our fathers, and all that is dear and sacred to man. Shall we shrink at the onset? No, let every mans brow be as the face of a Lion; let his heart be unshaken as the mighty oak, and his knee confirmed as the sappline [sapling] of the forrest; and by the voice and loud roar of the cannon; and the loud peals and thundering of Artillery; and by the voice of the thunderings of heaven as upon mount Sinai; and by the voice of the Heavenly Hosts; and by the voice of the Eternal God; and by the voice of innocent blood; and by the voice of innocence; and by the voice [p. 132]
Section 13 of the Nauvoo charter granted the city council “exclusive power within the city . . . to pass such ordinances as may be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the powers specified in this act.” Section 16 designated the mayor and aldermen as “conservators of the peace within the limits of said city,” and section 17 authorized the municipal court “power to grant writs of habeas corpus in all cases arising under the ordinances of the City Council.” In July 1842, Nauvoo’s city council passed an ordinance authorizing the municipal court to investigate all writs presented for the arrest of Nauvoo citizens. Based on this ordinance, JS petitioned for a writ of habeas corpus when King arrested him on 8 August. On that same day, the city council passed a new habeas corpus ordinance that gave the municipal court even more power to investigate arrest warrants. Thomas Carlin later challenged these ordinances and their uses. (Act to Incorporate the City of Nauvoo, 16 Dec. 1840; Ordinance, 5 July 1842; Petition to Nauvoo Municipal Court, 8 Aug. 1842; Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 8 Aug. 1842, 99; Thomas Carlin, Quincy, IL, to Emma Smith, [Nauvoo, IL], 7 Sept. 1842.)
In July, two men who signed their names as “Aldrich & Chittenden”—possibly Mark Aldrich and William Chittenden—had written JS from Quincy, apparently in response to a nonextant letter in which JS asked for advice regarding a possible mob attack. The authors stated that the “first law of nature” authorized the Saints to defend themselves from violence. (Letter from Aldrich & Chittenden, 28 July 1842.)
Like other Americans, Latter-day Saints made frequent appeals to America’s Declaration of Independence, written in 1776, and to the American Revolutionary War, waged under the command of General George Washington, most often in relation to the persecution they experienced in Missouri. Usually, such appeals focused on their rights as Americans and less frequently as justification for violent or potentially violent confrontations.a Appeals to the American Revolutionary War were common among nineteenth-century vigilante groups.b As the issue of slavery was politicized and constitutionalized in this period, abolitionists increasingly looked to the American Revolution. In doing this, they focused on applying its egalitarian ideals to the enslaved and, later, reignited its martial legacy.c
Brown, Richard Maxwell. Strain of Violence: Historical Studies of American Violence and Vigilantism. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1975.
Liberator. Boston. 1831–1865.
Proceedings of the Ohio Anti-Slavery Convention: Held at Putnam, on the Twenty-Second, Twenty-Third, and Twenty-Fourth of April, 1835. Putnam, OH: Beaumont and Wallace, 1835.
Nell, William C. The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution, with Sketches of Several Distinguished Colored Persons: To Which Is Added a Brief Survey of the Condition and Prospects of Colored Americans. Boston: Robert F. Wallcut, 1855.
It is not clear what legal steps JS had in mind. According to common law, in certain circumstances, threats amounted to assault. In November 1841, Nauvoo’s city council passed an ordinance criminalizing “profane or indecent language, or behavior” and the use of “unbecoming language towards any City officer when in the discharge of his duty, or of menacing, threatening, or otherwise obstructing, said officer.” (“Assault,” in Bouvier, Law Dictionary, 1:97; Minutes, 13 Nov. 1841.)
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: Deacon and Peterson, 1854.
The phrase “free trade and sailors’ rights” was the rallying cry of the United States during the War of 1812. It neatly encapsulated two of the issues that led to the conflict, including the search and seizure of sailing vessels and the British practice of impressment. After the war, various political and social movements adopted and repurposed the phrase, transforming it into a generic patriotic slogan. (Gilje, Free Trade and Sailors’ Rights, 1–9.)
Gilje, Paul A. Free Trade and Sailors’ Rights in the War of 1812. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2013.
David Crockett (1786–1836) had adopted the term “go ahead” as his motto. Crockett had fought in the War of 1812, which was considered a “Second War of Independence,” and served as a member of the United States House of Representatives. He later moved to the Mexican state of Tejas and was killed in the Battle of the Alamo in the Texian war for independence from Mexico. During his life, and especially after his death, Crockett was mythologized as an American folk hero known as a rugged and brave frontiersman manifesting an independent spirit. (See Crockett, Narrative of the Life of David Crockett, 13; and Wallis, David Crockett, 129, 186, 289–300.)
Crockett, David. A Narrative of the Life of David Crockett, of the State of Tennessee. Philadelphia: E. L. Carey and A. Hart, 1834.
Wallis, Michael. David Crockett: The Lion of the West. New York: W. W. Norton, 2011.
The phrase “our lives, and our fortunes” echoes the concluding statement in the Declaration of Independence: “we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.” On 4 July 1838, Sidney Rigdon had concluded an oration, wherein he promised that mob violence would be met with violence, by stating, “We pledge this day to one another, our fortunes, our lives, and our sacred honors.” (Oration Delivered by Mr. S. Rigdon, 12.)