Volume 6 Chapter 27
Contents
Preparations to Defend Nauvoo—Mob Movements on Carthage Road—Governor Ford’s Review of Hancock County Difficulties—Joseph Smith’s Account of the Same Difficulties, Defense of His Own and Associates’ Course.
[Page 528]
Saturday, June 22 [continued].—Legion met as usual; and after receiving instructions, were dismissed until 6 P.M., when they met again.
Orders for Nauvoo’s Entrenchment.
At 7 P.M. I instructed General Dunham to cause the regiment of the 2nd cohort to turn out tomorrow, and work by turns three or four hours each, with entrenching tools, and to take the best measures in case of attack. I also gave orders that a standard be prepared for the nations.
Almon W. Babbitt arrived from Carthage this morning, having come at the request of the Governor, who thought it not wisdom to have Richards and Phelps and others of the City Council go to Carthage.
Edward Robinson made the following affidavit:
Affidavit: Edward Robinson—Threats Against Nauvoo.
State of Illinois,
City of Nauvoo. ss.
On the 22nd day or June, 1844, came before me, W. W. Phelps, clerk of the Mayor’s Court, in said city, Dr. Edward Robinson, who, after being duly sworn, deposeth and saith that while at Carthage, on the 18th and 19th instant, I heard several persons who had assembled together for warlike purposes, (having their arms and one cannon with them) say that they were gathering together for the purpose of destroying the property of General Joseph Smith, or, as they said, “Joe Smith,” and his followers, and the City Council, with the exception of one; and finally said they would destroy the town and exterminate the Latter-day Saints.
Edward Robinson.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 22nd day of June, 1843.
William W. Phelps, Clerk M. C.
James Olive made the following affidavit:
Affidavit: James Olive—Mob Movements on the Carthage Road.
State of Illinois,
Hancock County. ss
City of Nauvoo, June 22nd, 1844.
Personally appeared before me, Aaron Johnson, a justice of the peace in and for said county, James Olive; who being first duly sworn, deposeth and saith that on Friday afternoon, the 21st instant, about 3 o’clock, he was at his own house, about two miles from Appanoose. In a southeasterly direction, he saw a four-horse wagon with some men before it, all traveling towards Appanoose. They went about a quarter of a mile beyond my house; there met a two horse wagon and a company of men, about fifteen in number. Both parties then took the road towards the Big Mound. A part of the men were mounted and a part were on foot. The mounted men were forward; and after passing my house, they wheeled and rode back to the footmen who were some little distance behind, and said to them, “There are some fellows oh the Mound; you had better hurry on, and we will take those fellows and carry them to Carthage.” They used profane language. I watched them until they got near the Mound, and saw the guard on the Mound turn and run towards Nauvoo. After that the company went on to the Mound, and halted near the spot where the guard had run from.
On the same evening, about sundown, there was a man by the name of Milton Hamilton came into my house and told me to arm and equip myself according to the law and stand in readiness; that the Governor bad demanded Joseph Smith according to law, and that he would not come it (meaning that Joseph Smith would not surrender); that the General had issued orders for the militia to be in readiness to take said Smith. I asked him what general, and he observed that he believed it was Col. Williams. I asked him if it was done by orders of the Governor, and he said that was the understanding. He told me he acted under the orders of Captain McAuley; and further saith not.
James Olive.
[Seal]Subscribed and sworn to this 22nd day of June, 1844, before me,
Aaron Johnson, J. P.
Phebe Levett states that she saw Finch, Rollison, Foster, and Squire McAuley in the company who fired on the guard on the La Harpe road.
George G. Johnstone made the following affidavit:
Affidavit: George G. Johnstone—Militia Under Governor to Move on Nauvoo.
State of Illinois,
County of Hancock, ss
City of Nauvoo, June 22nd, 1844.
Personally appeared before me, Aaron Johnson, a justice of the peace in and for the county of Hancock, George G. Johnstone, living on Spring Creek in McDonough county; who, being first duly sworn, deposeth and saith that yesterday, Napoleon Hardin came to your deponent and said that the Governor had sent orders for the militia to be called out for today at 4 o’clock P.M., and to start on the 22nd to Carthage, there to wait until all were ready from the different counties in the state, and then they should march out to the prairie. They should stop on the prairie and send a flag of truce to Nauvoo, and demand the body of General Joseph Smith. If the people of Nauvoo refused to give him up, then they should exterminate the whole of them.
George G. Johnstone.
[Seal] Subscribed and sworn to this 22nd day of June, 1844, before me,Aaron Johnson. J. P.
Gideon Gibbs made the following affidavit:
Affidavit: Gideon Gibbs—Mob on La Harpe Road.
State of Illinois,
City of Nauvoo. ss
On the 22nd day of June, 1844, came before me, William W. Phelps, clerk of the Mayor’s Court for said city, Gideon Gibbs, and after being duly sworn deposeth and saith that on the afternoon of the 21st instant, about a half-mile southeast of the Big Mound on the La Harpe road, a party of about eight or ten men, in a warlike attitude, in company with two teams, passed your said affiant, and one of them said he fired at two men near the Big Mound. Thought he killed them both and your deponent saith no further.
Gideon Gibbs.
Subscribed and sworn to before me, this 22nd day of June, 1844.
William W. Phelps, Clerk M. C.
Luman H. Calkins made the following affidavit:
Affidavit: Luman H. Calkins—Nauvoo Conspiracy Against the Prophet’s Life.
State of Illinois
City of Nauvoo, ss
June 22nd, 1844.
Personally appeared before me, George W. Harris, an alderman acting in and for the city of Nauvoo, Luman H. Calkins; and being first duly sworn, deposeth and saith that about seven weeks ago I came on the steamboat Ohio from St. Louis to Nauvoo, when William Nesbit, who was on board, entered into conversation with your deponent.
I asked him if he knew anything about the conspiracy in Nauvoo to kill Joseph and Hyrum, and all that believed on them. He said he did. It was intended that they should be killed between then and the 1st of July.
I asked him who was at the head of the conspiracy. He replied he was sworn not to tell who the head one was. I asked him if there were any in Nauvoo concerned. He replied there was, and named the two Laws, two Fosters, two Higbees, Charles Ivins, and several others. I asked if it was to be made a public thing. He replied the first blow was to be struck in Nauvoo by those who were opposed to Joseph. I asked how many they could rely on in Nauvoo. He said they could rely on five hundred, if they could only get arms for them.
He said as soon as the first blow was struck in Nauvoo, there were about seven thousand men ready in Missouri to join them to exterminate all who believed on Joseph Smith. He also told me that the Die Vernon, when she came on her pleasure-trip to Nauvoo, that there were none but spies, and who came on purpose to see the places in order to know how to strike when the time comes to strike: and he also said “the Reformers” had got spies continually passing Nauvoo in order to spy out all that took place; that there was not a thing took place in Nauvoo but what was made known to them in St. Louis as soon as a steamboat landed.
I told him I should think he would be afraid to stop here. He said he should stay in Nauvoo and carry on his butchering as usual, as if there was nothing taking place; that he had as good a gun as any man ever put to his face, and that the first shot he should fire would be to kill Joseph and Hyrum. Said I, “The people will surely kill you then.” He replied he would rush through a thousand people to wash his hands in Joseph’s blood, and especially in Hyrum’s, if he was to be immediately cut into a thousand pieces. He said he should be willing to die as soon as he had killed them.
About five weeks since I had another conversation with William Nesbit, when he confirmed the whole of the foregoing conversation; and he also said he had made arrangements with Mr. Bostwick of St. Louis to send him a brace of the best pistols, for the purpose of being ready when he wanted them. He also said that he would kill Hyrum any time he could get an opportunity without being detected. I then asked him if Hyrum could be put in his way so that no man would mistrust him, would you kill him? He said, “By God, I would.” I asked if he would not be afraid to kill him in cold blood. He replied, “No, I would not; I would do it in a moment if I could get an opportunity.”
The day following I left for Galena, and returned on Tuesday, the 18th instant, and on the 19th I saw William Nesbit in the ranks, and I cautioned Richard Brazier to keep an eye on Nesbit, for he had sworn to wash his hands in Joseph’s and Hyrum’s blood.
Luman H. Calkins.
Subscribed and sworn to this 22nd day of June, 1844, before me,
George W. Harris,
Alderman of the City of Nauvoo.
At 12, noon, orders were sent to the different guards and pickets to let persons pass and repass without hailing until further orders.
I issued the following:
General Orders.
Mayor’s Office and Headquarters, of the Nauvoo Legion,
Nauvoo, June 22nd, 1844.
To Col. Jonathan Dunham, Acting Major-General Nauvoo Legion:
Sir.—You will proceed without delay, with the assistance of the Nauvoo Legion, to prepare the background [Eastern part] of said city for defense against an invasion by mobs, cause the Legion to be furnished with tents, and make your encampment in the vicinity of your labor.
Joseph Smith,
Mayor of the City of Nauvoo, and Lieut.-Gen. Nauvoo Legion.
To Col. Jonathan Dunham, Major-General in command Nauvoo Legion.
A Prophecy.
At 6 P.M. I prophesied that in the sickly seasons sickness would enter into the houses of the mob and vex them until they would fain repent in dust and ashes. They will be smitten with the scab, &c.
At 7 P.M. I received the following:
A Petition to Hear the Prophet Speak.
We, the undersigned citizens of Hancock county, respectfully request General Joseph Smith to preach on tomorrow, and that we have liberty of seats near enough to the stand to hear, inasmuch as we have an opportunity to hear him but seldom, and some of us have not heard him at all.
Yours respectfully,
James Hamilton and Co., Capt. at the Liberty Branch.
Nathaniel Case, Capt. 7th Co., 4th Reg., 2nd Cohort, N. L. from La Harpe.
Uriah H. Yager And Co., Captain at the Branch of Macedonia, 2nd Cohort.
Hiram Clark 1st Lieut. at the Midland Branch Company.
Z. D. Wilson’s Company.
Alna L. Tippett’s Company.
S. Hancock, Major of the First Battalion of the 3rd Regiment.
Warren Snow, Captain and Co., 4th Reg. 2nd Cohort of N. Legion.
At 10 P.M. I received the following letter by the hands of Captain Yates, who accompanied Elder John Taylor and Dr. John M. Bernhisel on their return from Carthage:
Letter: Governor Ford to Mayor and Council of the City of Nauvoo.
Headquarters Carthage, June 22nd, 1844.
To the Mayor and Council of the City of Nauvoo:
Gentlemen.—After examining carefully all the allegations on the part of the citizens of the country in Hancock county, and the defensive matters submitted to me by the committee of your citizens concerning the existing disturbances, I find that there appears to be but little contradiction as to important facts, so that it may be safely assumed that the immediate cause of the existing excitement is the destruction of the press and Nauvoo Expositor, and the subsequent refusal of the individuals accused to be accountable therefor according to the general laws of this state, and the insisting on your parts to be accountable only before your own municipal court, and according to the ordinances of your city.
Many other facts have been asserted on both sides as tending to increase the excitement; but as they mostly relate merely to private persons, and committed by individuals, and tend simply to show the present state of affairs, I will not further notice them in this communication.
The material facts to be noticed are that a newspaper called the Nauvoo Expositor was established in Nauvoo; that this newspaper was deemed offensive to the people of that city; that the Common Council, without notice or process to the owners, entered into a trial and heard statements not under oath, and evidence which was under oath, in relation to the character, conduct and designs of the owners and editors of the press; that, upon hearing such statements and evidence, the Common Council passed an ordinance or resolution declaring said press and paper to be a public nuisance, and ordered the same to be abated as such; that a writ was issued by the Mayor to the Marshal of the city for that purpose; that a military order was issued at the same time by the Mayor, who is also Lieutenant-General of the Nauvoo Legion, to the Major-General in command of that Legion, for a force sufficient to ensure the execution of the writ aforesaid.
It appears also the press was destroyed in obedience to the foregoing ordinance and writ, according to a return on the same by the Marshal in the following words: “The within press and type is destroyed and pied according to order on this 10th day of June, 1844, at about six o’clock P.M.—J. P. Greene, C.M.”
It appears also that the owners of the press obtained from a justice of the peace at Carthage a warrant against the authors of this destruction for a riot; that the constable charged with the execution of this process, arrested some of the persons accused, who immediately obtained writs of habeas corpus from the Municipal Court of your city, by virtue of which they were tried in Nauvoo and discharged from arrest, and that they have ever since refused to be arrested or to submit to a trial at any other place or before any other court, except in the city and before the Municipal Court aforesaid.
It has also been reported to me that martial law has been declared in Nauvoo; that persons and property have been and are now forcibly imprisoned and detained there, and that the Legion has been ordered under arms to resist any attempt to arrest the persons accused. I have not particularly inquired into the truth of these latter reports; for although they may become matters of great importance in the sequel, they are not necessary to be ascertained and acted upon at present.
I now express to you my opinion that your conduct in the destruction of the press was a very gross outrage upon the laws and the liberties of the people. It may have been full of libels, but this did not authorize you to destroy it.
There are many newspapers in this state which have been wrongfully abusing me for more than a year, and yet such is my regard for the liberty of the press and the rights of a free people in a republican government that I would shed the last drop of my blood to protect those presses from any illegal violence. You have violated the Constitution in at least four particulars. You have violated that part of it which declares that the printing presses shall be free, being responsible for the abuse thereof, and that the truth may be given in evidence.
This article of the Constitution contemplates that the proprietors of a libelous press may be sued for private damages, or may be indicted criminally, and that upon trial they should have the right to give the truth in evidence. In this case the proprietors had no notice of the proceeding.
The Constitution also provides that the people shall be protected against unreasonable searches and seizures of their property and “That no man shall be deprived of life, liberty or property, except by the judgment of his peers (which means a jury trial) and the law of the land,” which means due process of law and notice to the accused.
You have also violated the Constitution and your own charter in this: Your Council, which has no judicial powers, and can only pass ordinances of a general nature, have undertaken to pass judgment as a court and convict without a jury a press of being libelous and a nuisance to the city.
The Council at most could only define a nuisance by general ordinance, and leave it to the courts to determine whether individuals or particulars accused came within such definition.
The Constitution abhors and will not tolerate the union of legislative and judicial power in the same body of magistracy, because, as in this case, they will first make a tyrannical law, and then execute it in a tyrannical manner.
You have also assumed to yourselves more power than you are entitled to in relation to writs of habeas under your charter. I know that you have been told by lawyers, for the purpose of gaining your favor that you have this power to any extent. In this they have deceived you for their own base purposes. Your charter supposes that you may pass ordinances, a breach of which will result in the imprisonment of the offender.
For the purpose of insuring more speedy relief to such persons, authority was given to the Municipal Court to issue writs of habeas corpus in all cases arising under the ordinances of the city.
It was never supposed by the Legislature, nor can the language of your charter be tortured to mean that a jurisdiction was intended to be conferred which would apply to all cases of imprisonment under the general laws of the state or of the United States, as well as the city ordinances.
It has also been reserved to you to make the discovery that a newspaper charged to be scurrilous and libellous may be legally abated or removed as a nuisance. In no other state, county, city, town or territory in the United States has ever such a thing been thought of before. Such an act at this day would not be tolerated even in England. Just such another act in 1830 hurled the king of France from his throne, and caused the imprisonment of four of his principal ministers for life. No civilized country can tolerate such conduct, much less can it be tolerated in this free country of the United States.
The result of my deliberations on this subject is, that I will have to require you and all persons in Nauvoo accused or sued to submit in all cases implicitly to the process of the court, and to interpose no obstacles to an arrest, either by writ of habeas corpus or otherwise; and that all of the people of the city of Nauvoo shall make and continue the most complete submission to the laws of the state, and the process of the courts and justices of the peace.
In the particular case now under consideration, I require any and all of you who are or shall be accused to submit yourselves to be arrested by the same constable, by virtue of the same warrant and be tried before the same magistrate whose authority has heretofore been resisted. Nothing short of this can vindicate the dignity of violated law and allay the just excitement of the people.
I am anxious to preserve the peace. A small indiscretion may bring on a war. The whole country is now up in arms, and a vast number of people are ready to take the matter into their own hands. Such a state of things might force me to call out the militia to prevent a civil war. And such is the excitement of the country that I fear the militia when assembled, would be beyond legal control.
You are wrong in the first instance, and I can call out no portion of the militia for your defense until you submit to the law. You have made it necessary that a posse should be assembled to execute legal process; and that posse, as fast as it assembles is in danger of being imbued with the mobocratic spirit. If you, by refusing to submit, shall make it necessary to call out the militia, I have great fears that your city will be destroyed, and your people many of them exterminated.
You know the excitement of the public mind. Do not tempt it too far. A very little matter may do a very great injury; and if you are disposed to continue the causes of excitement and render a force necessary to coerce submission, I would say that your city was built, as it were, upon a keg of powder which a very little spark may explode.
It is my intention to do all I can to preserve the peace, and even, if obliged, to call the militia to prosecute the war so as not to involve the innocent and comprehend all in the same punishment. But excitement is a matter which grows very fast upon men when assembled. The affair, I much fear, may assume a revolutionary character, and the men may disregard the authority of their officers.
I tell you plainly that if no such submission is made as I have indicated, I will be obliged to call out the militia; and if a few thousand will not be sufficient, many thousands will be.
I sincerely hope that your people may do nothing which will make such a proceeding necessary. I hope also that they will be well-disposed to co-operate with me in allaying the excitement of the public mind. Immediately discharge such persons as you have under martial law. Let them go without molestation. Abstain from all injury to private property. Let people go where they please without swearing them first to take no part against you. All such proceedings tend only to inflame the public mind, and raise up ten men disposed to fight you for every one thus foolishly disabled.
Your committee assures me that you are sincerely desirous of preserving the peace; and if so, I hope you will co-operate with me in everything necessary to allay the excitement in the minds of the people.
The following-named persons are reported to me as being detained against their will by martial law: John A. Hicks, H. O. Norton, A. J. Higbee, John Eagle, P. J. Rolf, Peter Lemon, and T. J. Rolf. It will tend greatly to allay excitement if they shall be immediately discharged and suffered to go without molestation.
It is also reported here, and generally believed, (but whether true or not I have not yet learned) that there are many foraging parties abroad from Nauvoo committing depredations upon the cattle and property in the vicinity These acts, if correctly reported, must absolutely cease immediately, if you expect any person here to have the power to preserve the peace.
In case the persons accused should make no resistance to arrest, it will be against orders to be accompanied by others. If it should become necessary to have witnesses on the trials, I will see that such persons shall be duly summoned, and I will also guarantee the safety of all such persons as may thus be brought to this place from Nauvoo either for trial or as witnesses for the accused.
If the individuals accused cannot be found when required by the constable it will be considered by me as an equivalent to a refusal to be arrested, and the militia will be ordered accordingly.
I am, gentlemen, with great respect, your obedient servant,
Thomas Ford,
Governor and Commander-in-Chief.
To which I wrote the following answer:
Letter: Joseph Smith to Governor Ford—Defending the action of the City Council in the “Expositor” Affair.
Nauvoo, June 22nd, 1844, 12 o’clock P.M.
To His Excellency, Thomas Ford:
Sir.—Yours of this date is received by Messrs. Taylor and Bernhisel. A part of the same delegation, Mr. Woodworth, who was detained yesterday, started for Carthage at 12 noon, this date, who, we perceive, had not arrived at your last date. Some documents conveyed by him would tend to counteract some of the views expressed in your Excellency’s communication, and we feel confident, if all the facts could be before your Excellency, you would have come to different conclusions.
Our “insisting to be accountable only before our own Municipal Court,” is totally incorrect. We plead a habeas corpus as a last resort to save us from being thrown into the power of the mobocrats, who were then threatening us with death, and it was with great reluctance we went before the Municipal Court, on account of the prejudice which might arise in the minds of the unbiased; and we did not petition for a habeas corpus until we had told the constable that on our lives we dare not go to Carthage for trial, and plead with him to go before any county magistrate he pleased in our vicinity, (which occurrence is common in legal proceedings) and not a member of our society, so that our lives might be saved from the threats thus already issued against us.
The press was declared a nuisance under the authority of the charter as written in 7th section of Addenda, the same as in the Springfield charter, so that if the act declaring the press a nuisance was unconstitutional: we cannot see how it is that the charter itself is not unconstitutional, and if we have erred in judgment, it is an official act, and belongs to the Supreme Court to correct it, and assess damages versus the city to restore property abated as a nuisance. If we have erred in this thing, we have done it in good company, for Blackstone on “Wrongs,” asserts the doctrine that scurrilous prints may be abated as nuisances.
As to martial law, we truly say that we were obliged to call out the forces to protect our lives; and the Constitution guarantees to every man that privilege; and our measures were active and efficient, as the necessity of the case required; but the city is and has been continually under the special direction of the marshal all the time. No person, to our knowledge, has been arrested only for violation of the peace, and those some of our own citizens, all of whom we believe are now discharged. And if any property has been taken for public benefit without a compensation, or against the will of the owner, it has been done without our knowledge or consent, and when shown shall be corrected, if the people will permit us to resume our usual labors.
If we “have committed a gross outrage upon the laws and liberties of the people,” as your Excellency represents, we are ready to correct that outrage when the testimony is forthcoming. All men are bound to act in their sphere on their own judgment, and it would be quite impossible for us to know what your Excellency’s judgment would have been in the case referred to; consequently acted on our own and according to our best judgment, after having taken able counsel in the case. If we have erred, we again say we will make all right if we can have the privilege.
“The Constitution also provides that the people shall be protected against all unreasonable search and seizure.” True. The doctrine we believe most fully, and have acted upon it; but we do not believe it unreasonable to search so far as it is necessary to protect life and property from destruction.
We do not believe in the “union of legislative and judicial power,” and we have not so understood the action of the case in question.
Whatever power we have exercised in the habeas corpus has been done in accordance with the letter of the charter and Constitution as we confidently understood them, and that, too, with the ablest counsel; but if it be so that we have erred in this thing, let the Supreme Court correct the evil. We have never gone contrary to constitutional law, so far as we have been able to learn it. If lawyers have belied their profession to abuse us, the evil be on their heads.
You have intimated that no press has been abated as a nuisance in the United States. We refer your Excellency to Humphrey versus Press in Ohio, who abated the press by his own arm for libel, and the courts decided on prosecution no cause of action. And we do know that it is common for police in Boston, New York, &c., to destroy scurrilous prints: and we think the loss of character by libel and the loss of life by mobocratic prints to be a greater loss than a little property, all of which, life alone excepted, we have sustained, brought upon us by the most unprincipled outlaws, gamblers, counterfeiters, and such characters as have been standing by me, and probably are now standing around your Excellency—namely, those men who have brought these evils upon us.
We have no knowledge of men’s being sworn to pass our city. And upon receipt of your last message the Legion was disbanded and the city left to your Excellency’s disposal.
How it could be possible for us now to be tried constitutionally by the same magistrate who first issued the writ at Carthage we cannot see, for the Constitution expressly says no man shall twice be put in jeopardy of life and limb for the same offense; and all you refer to, have been, since the issuance of the habeas corpus, complied with for the same offense, and trial before Daniel H. Wells, justice of the peace for Hancock county, and, after a full investigation, were discharged. But, notwithstanding this, we would not hesitate to stand another trial according to your Excellency’s wish, were it not that we are confident out lives would be in danger. We dare not come. Writs, we are assured, are issued against us in various parts of the country. For what? To drag us from place to place, from court to court, across the creeks and prairies, till some bloodthirsty villain could find his opportunity to shoot us. We dare not come, though your Excellency promises protection. Yet, at the same time, you have expressed fears that you could not control the mob, in which case we are left to the mercy of the merciless. Sir, we dare not come, for our lives would be in danger, and we are guilty of no crime.
You say, “It will be against orders to be accompanied by others, if we come to trial.” This we have been obliged to act upon in Missouri; and when our witnesses were sent for by the court, (as your honor promises to do) they were thrust into prison, and we left without witnesses. Sir, you must not blame us, for “a burnt child dreads the fire.” And although your Excellency might be well-disposed in the matter, the appearance of the mob forbids our coming. We dare not do it.
We have been advised by legal and high-minded gentlemen from abroad, who came on the boat this evening to lay our grievances before the Federal Government, as the appearance of things is not only treasonable against us, but against the state on the part of Missouri, unless the same has been requested of Governor Ford by the Federal Government. And we suppose your Excellency is well aware by this time that the mass-meetings of the county declared utter extermination of the Mormons, and that the Legion was not called out until complaints were made to the Mayor, and the citizens were afraid of their lives, and losing their confidence in the authorities of the city, and that nothing on the part of the city authorities had been wanting, legally and judiciously, to allay excitement and restore peace. We shall leave the city forthwith to lay the facts before the General Government, and, as before stated, the city is left open and unprotected; and by everything that is sacred, we implore your Excellency to cause our helpless women and children to be protected from mob violence, and let not the blood of innocence cry to heaven against you. We again say, if anything wrong has been done on our part, and we know of nothing, we will make all things right if the Government will give us the opportunity. Disperse the mob, and secure to us our constitutional privileges, that our lives may not be endangered when on trial.
I remain most respectfully, your Excellency’s humble servant,
Joseph Smith,
Mayor, and Lieut.-Gen. N. L.
Share This With Someone
