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THE MORMON WAR.from ih# Si. Louia Rtp»bllc»«.Ufol-mon Disturbances—8Ut*-meat flrom m Eye Wit-Bcn~§i(ni of Peace.■ At Nauvoo,on the 3d, all wai orderly and qiiiet Messrs Jonai and Fellows, deputation from Gov. Ford, returned to Quincy on the Qsprey, reporting every thing quiet. Thif boat wailed at Warsaw for them gentlemen toaddree* the people, where great manifesta-lion of excited feeling atill prevail*, the Inhab* (ante seeming bent upon the point that either tkemtelvee or At Mormon* must leave Ae country. The editor* of the Republican and Reveille left the Otprey at Quincy, to wait upon Governor Ford, and to communicate with the committee from Warsaw.The extra from the Mormon organ indulge* iu many lamentation*, for the death of the Prophet and hi* brother, and narrate* how the deed wa* accomplished. The murder was committed about six o'clock in the evening, by an armed mob, of 150 to 300 men, painted red, black and yellow, who surrounded the jail, forced it, and poured a shower of bullets into the room where the men were confined, each of the victims received four balls in his body, and John Taylor, editor of the Nauvoo Neighbor, wa* shot in four places, but not seriously injured. About three o’clock the next day, the bodies of “the noble martyrs” were received at Nauvoo. They were met—the paper say*—“by a great assemblage of people, east of the Temple, on Mulholland street, under the direction of the city marshal, followed by Samuel U. Smith, brother of the deceased, Dr. Richards and Mr. Hamilton, of Carthage. The wagons were guarded by eight men. The procession that followed in Nauvoo, was the City Council, the Lieutenant General’s Staff, the Major General and Staff, the Brigadier and Staff, commanders and officers of the Legion, and citizens generally, numbering several thousands, amid the most solemn lamentations and waitings that ever ascended into the ears of the Lord of Hosts, to be avenged of our e-i”mier!When the procession arrived, the bodies were both taken into the “Nauvoo Mansion.” Thoscene atlhe Mansion cannot he described: the audience was addressed by Dr. Richards, Judge l'hclps, and Messrs. Wood and Reed of Iowa, and Dot. Markham. It was a vest assemblage of some 8 or 10,000 persons, and with one united voice resolved to trust to the law for a remedy of such high handed assassination, and when that failed, to call upon God to avenge us of our wrongs.We copy from the “Neighbor” the following statement of facts which occurred prior to tho tragedy at the jail. It is from a member of the bar at Fort Madison, Iowa Territory, retained as counsel for the Smiths, and bears internal evidence of its correctness.M1Statement of Facts.At the request of many persons who wisli that the truth may go forth to the world m relation to the late murder of Joseph and Hy-rurn Smith, by a band of lawless assassins, I have consented to make a statement of the facts so far as they have come to my knowledge, in an authentic shape, as one of the attorneys employed to defend said Smiths a-gainst the charges brought against them, and other persons of Carthage, m the State of Illinois.On Monday, the 24th instant, at the request of Gen. Joseph Smith, 1 left Furl Madison, in the Territory of Iowa, andurrivedat Carthage, where 1 expected to meet die General, his brother Hyrum, and the other persons implicated with them. They arrived at Carthage late at night, and next morning voluntarily surrendered themselves to the constable, Mr. Bettisworth, who held the writs against them, on a charge of riot, for destroying the press, type and fixtures of the Nauvoo Expositor, the property of William and Wilson l.aw, and other dissenters, charged to have been destroyed on the lOihinst.Great excitement prevailed in the county of Hancock, and had extended to many of the surrounding counties. A large number of the militia of several counties were under arms at Carthage, the Head Quarters of the commanding Gen. Detning; and many other troops were under arms at Warsaw and other places in the neighborhood. The Governor was at Head Quarters in person for the purpose of seeing that tho laws of the land was executed, and had pledged his own faith and the faith of the State of Illinois that the Smiths and the other persons concerned with them should be protected from personal violence, if they would surrender themselves to be dealt with according to law. During the two succeeding days his excellency repeatedly expressed to the legal counsellors of the Smiths, his determination to protect the prisoners and to see that they should have a fair and impartial examination, so far as depended on the Executive of the State. On Tuesday morning soon after the surrender of the prisoners on the charge of riot, General Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum were both arrested on a charge of treason against tho State of Illinois. The affidavits upon which the writs issued were made by Henry Norton and Augustine Spencer.On Tuesday afternoon the two Smiths and other persons on the charge of riot appeared before R. F. Smith, a Justice of the Peace residing at Carthage, and by advice of counsel, in order to prevent if possible any increase of excitement, voluntarily entered into recog-■on* rocognbted h Oliva t jnost, if am Mthem, leading men m the Mormon Clinch.Making out the bond* and justifying bail necessarily consumed considerable time, and when this was don* it was near night, and the Justice adjourned his court otsr without calling on the Smiths to answer to the chaige of treason, or even intimating to their counsel or tho prisoners that they were expected to enter into the examination that night. In less than an hour after the adjournment of the coart, constable Bettisworth, who had arrested the prisoners in th* morning appeared at Hamilton’s Hotel, at the lodgings of th* prisoners and their counsel, and insisted that the Smiths shookTgo to jail. Mr. Woods of Burlington, Iowa, and myself, as counsel fbr the prisoners, insisted that they were entitled U be brought before the justice for examination before Uiey could be sent to jail. The constable, to our surprise, thereupon exhibited a mittimus from said justice as follows:STATE OF ILLINOIS, )Hancock Countt, The People of the Slate of Illinois, to Ae keeper of the Jail of said county, greeting: Wherbas, Joseph Smith and Hiram Smith,of the county aforesaid, have been arrested upon the oath of Augustine Spencer and Henry O. Norton, for the crime of treason, and nave been brought before me as a Justice of the Pence in and for said county, for trial, at the seat of Justice thereof, which trial has been necessarily postponed by reason of the absence of material witnesses,.to wit: Francis M. Higbee and others; therefore I command you, in the name of the people, to receive the said Joseph Smith and Hyrum Smith into-your custody, in the jail of the county aforesaid, there to remain until discharged by due course of law.Given under my hancj/and seal this 35 th day of June, A. D-, 1844. Signed;R. F. Smith, J. P.His Excellency did not think it within the sphere of his duty to interfere,and the prisoners were removed from their lodgings to jail. The recitals of the mittimus, so far as they relate to the prisoners having been brought before the justice for trial, and it there appearing that the necessary witnesses of the prosecution were absent, is wholly untrue, unless the prisoners, could have appeared before the justice without being present in person or by counsel; nor is there any law of Illinois within my know ledge which permits a justice to commit persons charged with crimes to jail without examination as to the probability of their guilt.On Wednesday forenoon the Governor in company with one of his friends, visited the prisoners at the jail, and again assured them that they should be protected from violence, and told them that if the troops marched the next morning to Nauvoo, as his excellency then expected, they should be taken along, in order to insure their personal safety.On the same morning, some one or more of the counsel for the prosecution, expressed their wish to me, that the prisoners should be brought out of jail for examination: they were answered that the prisoners had already been committed, and that the justice and constable had no further control of the prisoners; and that if the prosecutors wished the prisoners brought out of the jail, they should bring them out on a writ of habeas corpus, or some other due course of law. The constable, after this conversation, went to the jail with the following order to the jailor:STATE OF ILLINOIS, )Hancock Count tr. J s,‘To David BcllisworA, Constable of saidcoun-ty;You are commanded to bring tho bodies of Joseph and Hyrum Smith from the jail of said county forthwith before me at my office for examination on the charge of treason; they having been committed for safe keeping until trial could be had on such examination, and the State now being ready for such examinationGiven under my hand and seal this 16th day of June, 1844. f(Signed,) R. F. SMITH, J. P. [u. s.] And demanded the prisoners, but as the jailor could find no law authorizing a justice of the peace to demand prisoners committed to his charge, he refused th give them up, until discharged from his custody by due course of law. Upon the refusal to give up the prisoners, the company of Carthage Greys marched to the jail—by whose orders I know not—and compelled the jailor against his will and conviction of duty, to deliver the prisoners to the constable, who forthwith, took them before Justice Smith, the Captain of the Carthage Greys. The counsel for the prisoners then appeared, and asked for subpoenas for witnesses on the part of the prisoners, and expressed their wish to go into the examination, as the witnesses could be brought from Nauvoo to Carthage; the justice thereupon fixed the examination for 3 o’clock, on Thursday, the37lh inst.; whereupon the prisoners were remanded to prison. Soon after a council of the military officers was called by the Governor, and it was determined to march on the next morning, the 37th instant, to Nauvoo, with all the troops except one company, which was to be selected by the Governor from the troops, whose fidelity was more to be relied on to guard the prisoners whom it was determined should be left at Carthage.On Thursday morning, another consultation of officers took place, and the former orders for marching to Nauvoo with the whole army, were countermanded. One company was ordered to accompany the Governor to Nauvoo; the Carthage Grcvs, who had but two days be-cffbesn ost»1»ntiU lo the pris—iI other troops, including the#* sendail Golden's Point, from Warsaw, aprissatrs, end therendezvoused el aw, and who hadbeen promised that they should ba marched to Nauvoo, were disbanded. A guard of only eight men were stationed at the jail, whilst th* rest of the Qieys were in camp at a quarter of a mile'* distance and whilst his excellency was haranguing the peaceable chitens of Nauvoo, and asking them to give up all their arms, the assassins wore murdering the prisoners in jail, whom the Governor had pledged himself sod the lailh of the State to protect.H. T. REID.At a meeting of the City Council, held at the Council room, in the city of Nauvoo, on the first day of July, 1844,having received instructions from Governor Ford, through the a-gency of A. Jonas, Esq., and Col. Fellows, it was unanimouslyResolved, For the purpose of ensuring peace, and promoting the welfare of the county of Hancock, and surrounding country, that we will rigidly sustain the laws, and the Governor of the State, so lonjj as they and he sustain us in all our constitutional rights.Resolved, That to carry the foregoing resolutions into complete effect, that, inasmuch as the Governor has taken from us the public arms, that we solicit of him to do the same with all the rest of the public arms of the State.Resolved, To further secure the peace, friendship, and happiness of the people, and allay the excitement that now exists, we will reprobate private revenge on the assassinators of Gen. Joseph Smith andGen. Hyrum Smith, by any of the Latter Day Saints. That, instead of “an appeal to arms, we appeal to the majesty of the law, and will be content with whatever judgment it shall award; and should the law fail, we leave the matter with God.Resolved unanimously, That the City Council pledge themselves for the city of Nauvoo, and no aggressions by the citizens of said city shall be made on the citizens of the surrounding country; but we invite them, as friends and neighbors, to use the Savior’s golden rule, and “do unto others as they would have others do unto them,” and we will do likewise.PUBLIC MEETING.At a meeting of a large portion of the citizens of Nauvoo, convened at the stand in the afternoon of July 1, 1844: alter hearing the above instructions and resolutions of the City Council read, and being addressed by A. Jonas, Esq., and others, the meeting responded to the same with a hearty AMEN! The citizens then passed a vote of thanks to the Governor’s agents for their kindly interference in favor of peace among the 'citizens of Hancock County, and elsewhere around us. They also passed a vote of thanks to Messrs. Wood and Reid, the Counsel for the General Smiths, for their great exertions to have even-handed justice meted to the Latter Day Saints; they also passed a vote of thanks to Messrs. Chambers and Field—the former one of the Editors of the “Missouri Republican,” and the latter, one of the Editors of the “Reveille,” of St. Louis, for their honorable course of coming to Nauvoo for facts, instead of spreading rumors concerning the Latter Day Saints. Mr. Chambers made a very appropriate speech, containing inuendoes for the benefit of our citizens, that appeared, as the wise man said, “like apples of gold in pictures of silver.”— They also passed a vote of thanks to Messrs. Wood and Conyers, Mavor and Ex-Mayor; of Quincy, for their friendly disposition in j j establishing peace in this region, and we are ( j happy to say that all appears to be PEACE , j at Nauvoo.ivzance in the sum of five hundred dollars eacn,with unexceptionable security, for iheir appearance at the next term ot the Circuit Court I fore, been under arrest for insulting the com-of said county. The- whole number of per-1 manding General, and whose conduct had
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Centerville Wayne County Record
Centerville, Indiana, US
Wed, Jul 17, 1844
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IA, USA 20 Aug 2024
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