On November 7, 1836, Joseph Smith Jr., Frederick G. Williams, and Sidney Rigdon addressed a petition-letter to Arial Hanson, Esq., a Kirtland justice of the peace, asking that he resign his commission and leave the county; to the letter were added the signatures of seventy-one residents. So egregious were the actions and attitude taken by Hanson (most particularly against Mormons)—according to the petition—that the complaint characterized him as “a pest & public nuisance to Society” and more than once pointed to his “ignorance stupidity & incompetency.” The petition further claimed that, rather than uphold his oath to defend the law and protect citizens against violence, he was “in league with” the mob:
In adition to you[r] ignorance & in competency have you not Sir forgotten the duties of a peace maker & the solemnities of an oath that bound you to lift your voice against all violation of law & acts of violence against the peace & happiness of the citizens of the United States by making a league with a mob who have driven defensless women & children from their houses & homes & trampled upon the rights granted to them by the Laws of God & man and have you not Sir used all your influence to increase there miseries by encouraging mobs & inflaming the indignation of a lawless banditti by conveying secret letters full of falsehood & misrepresentations to increase there suffering & to strengthen the hands of [murderers struck through] maurauders to put at defiance the Constitution of the United States which you Sir was bound by the Solemnities of an oath to defend. In thus Saying we arraign you before the bar of your own conscience & ask you in the presence of the Searcher of all hearts despise not the eternal realities do you not know Sir that when the great Arbiter of heaven & earth Judges your case that he will pronounce you guilty of these blackest of crimes & that you will be left with out excuse Therefore be not Surprised that we your petitioners should urge upon you in the most powerful manner in which language can express that you should depart forthwith out of Kirtland and we presume that your presence would be as little mised as any other man that ever Left this place except that injustice & cruelty might find them Selves deprived of one of there strongest advocates and righteousness might find it Self a back in a place where it never before was priviledged to Show its head. Should you be so Kind as to comply with this our humble petition we will ever pray that you may never come back again.1
Although the petition failed in its stated purpose, it highlights the power and authority of a justice of the peace and, in the case of the Mormon residents of Kirtland, the need for a sympathetic, or at least objective, officer of the law.
Five months before the petition to Hanson, on June 28, 1836, Frederick G. Williams had run for and was elected justice of the peace in Kirtland, thus becoming, in all probability, the first member of the Church to be elected to public office.2
It is hereby Certified that the number of Electors on this Election amounts to Two Hundred and fifty-five[.]
Thomas W. Donovan[,] Caleb E. Cummings[,] Clerks
Ezra Homes[,] John Johnson[,] Squire Eggleston[,] Judges of Elections
We do hereby certify that Hardin Cleveland had 114 Votes for Justice of the Peace[,] Wm W. Branch 1 Vote[,] and Frederick G. Williams 141 Votes for Justice of the Peace[,] 2 fraudelent Votes excluded[.]
Caleb E. Cummings[,] Thos W. Donovan[,] Clerks
Ezra Homes[,] John Johnson[,] Squire Eggleston[,] Judges of Elections
Frederick G. Williams was according[ly] Proclaimed as Elected Justice of the Peace and one of the Poll Books sealed and put under Cover as the Law directs transmitted to the Clerk of the Court of Common Pleas of Geauga County by John Johnson one of the Trustees[.]
August 5th 1836 Frederick G. Williams gave notice that he had received his Commission as Justice of the Peace dated the 28th of June 1836[.]
Although Esquire Williams served as justice of the peace for only a little less than fifteen months (he resigned his commission on September 25, 1837),4 the official nature of this elective and highly respected magisterial office etched his name into the government record books of Geauga County, Ohio, on more than two hundred extant documents, which include attesting to 174 deeds,5 presiding in 12 court cases (he probably presided over more than 500 cases, but those records are now lost),6 testifying and certifying in three additional court cases,7 performing nine wedding ceremonies,8 certifying the 1837 plat of the City of Kirtland,9 and issuing certificates and administering the oath of office to elected officials.10 These duties brought him in contact with hundreds of people in the Kirtland area,11 many of whom were members of the Church.
Origins and Duties of the Justice of the Peace
According to Carrington T. Marshall, the office of justice of the peace traces its beginnings to 1363 in medieval England. In 1389, it was decreed by the crown that “they should be the most sufficient knights, esquires and gentlemen of the land.”12 Justices were selected not on the basis of training in the law but because of their wisdom and honesty, and soon came to be addressed by the title of esquire:
From all these things it is certain that Justices of the Peace were for centuries in England officials of the highest standing and respectability, and performed assignments of the greatest input.
Justices were appointed and commanded by the king, and were charged not because of any knowledge of the law or training in legal administration, but because of wisdom and honesty.13
In America the same basic attributes prevailed in defining a justice of the peace. These qualities made the justice of the peace an important officer in the judicial court system. “Speaking of Justices of the Peace in America: The chief qualification of a Justice of the Peace was honesty, wisdom and common sense, and the human elements in the administration of justice was paramount.”14 The position of justice of the peace in Ohio, the essential frontier of America during the first half of the nineteenth century, could be described as a combination of judge, small-claims arbiter, and notary public, with strong emphasis on peacemaker: “They were the peace makers of the community. In the vast majority of cases, the Justice of the Peace was the mediator and caused litigants to compose their differences and to become friends and neighbors. The Justice of the Peace wrote deeds, wills, contracts, administered oaths, performed marriages, issued warrants of arrest.”15 Carrington Marshall goes on to explain that "although a justice of the peace occupied the lowest stratum in the judicial system, in the sense that he had jurisdiction over matters of the least importance, involving the smallest sums and only public offenses of minor gravity, ‘it is not . . . a court of no importance.’”16
On December 9, 1800, the jurisdiction of the justice of the peace in Ohio was limited to cases that involved sums of $20 or less. Four years later that ceiling was raised to $35. “On February 12, 1805, it was increased to $50, and in 1809 it rose to $70.”17 By the time Frederick G. Williams was elected a justice of the peace in 1836, the amount had risen considerably higher, for the docket of Oliver Cowdery includes one case in the amount of $200.18
A justice of the peace had jurisdiction anywhere throughout the county in which he was elected and was not restricted to just one township. In 1790, there were nine justices of the peace in each county of Ohio.19 In the first half of the nineteenth century, Ohio boasted approximately 1,336 townships, and there were usually two justices of the peace per township, but some had as many as five.20
As a recognized magistrate or judge, a justice of the peace presided in his own courtroom. A vivid description can be found of what the life of a justice of the peace was like in Kirtland during Esquire Williams’s tenure from a fellow justice named J. C. Dowen, Esquire. Dowen, in a statement written many years later, says he held court not only at his home but also in a public place, namely, the John Johnson tavern in Kirtland. In addition to identifying where he held court, Esquire Dowen gives many details about the duties of a justice of the peace in 1830s Kirtland.
I came to Kirtland, Ohio, from Oneida Co., N. Y., in June, 1832. I bought the Allen farm one mile south of the Mormon Temple, in Kirtland, July 6, 1832. In 1833, and again in 1836 I was elected Justice of the peace on the Democratic ticket. I have been a full-blooded Democrat and temperance man all my life. I was stweard [sic] of the Methodist church, some said I was boss, and all hands, I refused three-fourths of the demands for warrants. I tried over two hundred cases. I frequently held court at my house, but generally at Johnson’s brick tavern at the flats. Bissel, one of Ohio’s ablest lawyers, who lived at Painesville, was always counsel for the Mormons in important cases. He had 52 cases before me. Bissel said squire Russell, who proceeded me, by noticing drunken fights had made over one thousand dollars cost to the town. He told me if two men fought over a bottle of whiskey, and one man killed the other, not to notice it, and he would see me through. There was a distillery opposite the temple, and I never saw so much drunkenness elsewhere. I threatened to complain to the state authorities.21
It is likely that Frederick G. Williams, Esquire, engaged in the same kinds of activities at the same types of places: for example, holding court in his own home and perhaps at the Johnson tavern as well.
To aid him in his duties, Williams may have referred to the standard judicial publications of his day. In addition to William Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England in four books, he may have used Abram Van Vleet’s The Ohio Justice and Township Officers’ Assistant (1821) or Joseph R. Swan’s A Treatise on the Law Relating to the Powers and Duties of Justice of the Peace and Constables, in the State of Ohio, with Practical Forms (1837).22
Blackstone (1723–1780) wrote his monumental work in the eighteenth century, but his work was still the standard reference book on the law throughout the nineteenth century. It appeared in various editions, including some with references to American cases. Swan’s A Treatise on the Law was likely published while Williams was serving as justice of the peace. As its full title indicates, it provided examples of forms to be used in both civil and criminal cases.23
Joseph R. Swan’s A Treatise on the Law: Abbreviated Table of Contents
This how-to manual for justices of the peace would allow a newly elected justice, such as Esquire Frederick G. Williams, to learn and carry out his duties. The range of responsibilities is wide and varied, as can bee seen in the volume’s length (over five hundred pages, with a detailed table of contents that runs fourteen pages). An abbreviated look at the contents of Swan’s treatise illustrates how varied Esquire Williams’s duties as justice of the peace were.
Part First
Chapter I.
Justices of the Peace
Chapter II.
Jurisdiction in Civil Proceedings
Chapter III.
Of the Different Actions
Chapter IV.
Of the Parties to Actions
Chapter V.
Of the Commencement of Suits
Chapter VI.
Of the Bill of Particulars and Claims to Be Filed with the Justice
Chapter VII.
Of the Proceedings before the Trial When a Suit Is Commenced by a Summons
Chapter VIII.
Of the Appearance and Adjournment, When Suit Is Commenced by Capias
Chapter IX.
Of the Attendance of Witnesses
Chapter X.
Of the Competency and Incompetency of Witnesses
Chapter XI.
Of the Examination of, and Proof by Witnesses
Chapter XII.
Of Presumptive and Hearsay Evidence
Chapter XIII.
Of Admissions
Chapter XIV.
Proof by Writings
Chapter XV.
Depositions
Chapter XVI.
Of the Decision of a Cause, and the Effect and Form of Judgments
Chapter XVII.
Fees and Costs
Chapter XVIII.
Of the Docket
Chapter XIX.
Appeal
Chapter XX.
Certiorari
Chapter XXI.
Of the Stay of Execution
Chapter XXII.
Of the Issuing, and Forms of Executions
Chapter XXIII.
Of Proceedings under a Fieri Facias
Chapter XXIV.
Of the Service and Return of an Execution against the Goods and Body; and of Escape
Chapter XXV.
Of Trial of the Right of Property Taken on Execution
Chapter XXVI.
Of Transcripts; and of the Docket, Etc., of a Justice Whose Office Is Vacant
Part Second
Title I.
Accord and Satisfaction
Title II.
Account Book
Title III.
Acknowledgment of Deeds
Title IV.
Administrators and Executors
Title V.
Apprentices
Title VI.
Arbitration
Title VII.
Assignment of Claims Not Negotiable
Title VIII.
Attachment
Title IX.
Bailment
Title X.
Banks
Title XI.
Bastardy
Title XII.
Constables
Title XIII.
Contempts
Title XIV.
Contracts Generally
Title XV.
Coroner’s Inquest
Title XVI.
Elections
Title XVII.
Forcible Entry and Detainment
Title XVIII.
Frauds
Title XIX.
Guaranty [Principal and Surety]
Title XX.
Guardian and Ward
Title XXI.
Husband and Wife
Title XXII.
Infants
Title XXIII.
Insane Persons, Idiots, and Lunatics
Title XXIV.
Interest
Title XXV.
Liens
Title XXVI.
Limitation of Civil Actions
Title XXVII.
Marriages
Title XXVIII.
Parent and Child
Title XXIX.
Partnership
Title XXX.
Payment
Title XXXI.
Promissory Notes, Negotiable Bonds, and Bills of Exchange
Title XXXII.
Sales
Title XXXIII.
Set Off
Title XXXIV.
Strays
Title XXXV.
Tender
Title XXXVI.
Trespass upon Lands
Title XXXVII.
Trial of the Right of Property, Taken on Execution by a Sheriff
Title XXXVIII.
Work and Labor
Part Third
Chapter I.
Proceeding in Criminal Causes
Chapter II.
Criminal Causes
Part Fourth
Forms of Conveyances, Etc.
A Justice’s Docket
For trials of various types, the law required a justice of the peace to keep a docket in which he recorded a summary of the particulars of cases brought before him: names of the individual litigants, charges, dates, summonses and warrants, witnesses, sums involved, costs associated with the case, judgments rendered, any follow-up (such as the defendant being remanded into the custody of the jailer or the case being referred to the Court of Appeals), and whether the execution (such as the constable being ordered to bring in property to satisfy the debt) was fulfilled or left unpaid.
Unfortunately, the whereabouts of the docket of Esquire Williams is currently unknown and presumed lost or destroyed; this situation is common for the vast majority of dockets of the early justices of the peace.24 Fortunately, however, we can catch a glimpse of Williams’s activities from three dockets that are extant, belonging to other Kirtland justices who handled cases that had originated with Esquire Williams. Two such dockets are found in one volume: the first half used by Oliver Cowdery, which encompasses pages 1–227, and the last half used by his brother, Justice Warren A. Cowdery, pages 228–416. A third extant docket, George Ranney’s, contains two cases originally brought before Esquire Williams. Ranney (1786–1860?) was a justice of the peace in Kirtland, Ohio, between 1841 and 1843.
Oliver Cowdery served as a justice of the peace from June 14 to September 15, 1837, barely three months. Although Cowdery stated, “I hereby assign this docket to Frederick G. Williams, Esq. a justice of the peace in and for Geauga County, [signed] Oliver Cowdery, September 15, 1837” (p. 227), beginning on the following page (228), all the subsequent cases were presided over by Warren A. Cowdery, the justice of the peace who was elected as Williams’s replacement.25 The last entry on the last page in the docket (p. 416) is signed by W. A. Cowdery, March 19, 1838.
There are six primary sources that document Frederick G. Williams’s activities as a justice of the peace in Kirtland, Ohio. These are listed and described briefly below. A longer description with examples can be found in the following chapter.
1. Book C of Marriages in Geauga County, Ohio. Located at Geauga, Co. Courthouse, Chardon, Ohio.
These are printed sheets with areas left blank for the clerk to add the details. Members of the LDS Church who performed marriages, besides Frederick G. Williams, include Oliver Cowdery, “a Justice” (p. 231); Sidney Rigdon, “a minister” (p. 188); Joseph Smith Jr. (no title is ever given [p. 188]); and Jonathan H. Hale, “an elder of the church of latter-day saints” (p. 210). Both Frederick and Oliver performed marriages as justices of the peace. However, contrary to a widespread view, we now know conclusively that it was just as legal for them to perform the weddings as for ordained elders of the Church to perform them. Much has been said about the 1835 challenge to Sidney Rigdon’s authority to perform weddings, and, by association, Joseph Smith’s (and the Church’s) legal authority to perform weddings has similarly been called into question.26
A notice of the three marriages performed by Esquire F. G. Williams on April 13, 1837, was published in the LDS Messenger and Advocate 3 (April 1837): 496, which, as noted earlier, included the marriage ceremony of Wilford Woodruff.
2. Kirtland Township Trustees’ Minutes and Poll Book, 1817–1838. Lake County Historical Society, Mentor, Ohio. A microfilm copy exists at the LDS Family History Library in Salt Lake City, #0877763.
Frederick G. Williams appears in the Kirtland Minutes and Poll Book on several occasions, beginning on October 12, 1830, at an election of state and county offices, which also took up local issues. His name appears as elector (or voter) #78 (of a total of 111) on page 72 and elector #93 (of a total of 111) on page 74. The latter vote was for “recording votes for or against the Sale of the School Lands belonging to the Western Reserve in the State of Ohio given at the Election of State and County offices on the 12th of October 1830.”27
3. A Map of Kirtland City. Geauga County, Ohio, [May 18,] 1837, Surveyor Willard W. Beals, F. G. Williams, Justice of the Peace. Located at the Geauga County Archives and Records Center, Chardon, Ohio. This is Kirtland as the Mormons envisioned it would become, not as it actually was. There is a very similar, although not identical, plat of Kirtland City located at the Church History Library.
The map of Kirtland City is also found on microfilm in Deeds of Geauga County, Ohio, Book 24, between page 99 and 100. Microfilm #0020240, Family History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City.
4. Docket of George Ranney (1786–1860?). Donated to Brigham Young University in 1987. Vault MSS 788, Harold B. Lee Library. Ranney was a justice of the peace in Kirtland from 1841 to 1843. Esquire Ranney transcribed two cases into his docket that had originated in Esquire Williams’s court.
5. Oliver Cowdery/Warren A. Cowdery Justice of the Peace Docket. Located at the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery, San Marino, California.
The docket of a justice of the peace was not a calendar or list of pending cases to be tried. Rather, it was a book wherein entries were recorded that summarized or abstracted the cases that had come before the justice. For that reason, the cases do not always appear in chronological order. There are a total of 230 cases presided over by Oliver Cowdery in his docket, which covers the three months he served as justice of the peace in Kirtland, Geauga County Ohio. Frederick G. Williams appears in Oliver Cowdery’s docket thirty-six times.
The existence of Oliver Cowdery’s docket is a priceless treasure that gives us a window through which we can gaze into the private, day-to-day financial needs, obligations, and transactions of the Kirtland residents. It clearly shows that there was a consistent need for liquidity or cash in the community, which was usually obtained through personal loans in the form of promissory notes for small sums of money to be repaid with interest in a short amount of time, sometimes in only three days, but sometimes in three months time, or a year. The docket is also useful as an approximation for what the missing Frederick G. Williams docket might have contained in terms of types of cases, caseload numbers, and their frequency. If we assume not the 230 cases in 3 months (nearly 77 cases per month for Oliver Cowdery) but a more modest 50 cases per month for Williams, that would yield 150 cases per quarter (80 less than for Oliver Cowdery). That would translate to 750 total cases for Frederick G. Williams’s entire commission of 15 months (50 cases times 15 months).
Of course, the total might have been higher, or it might have been lower. Another justice of the peace whose docket should be considered for establishing an approximation of F. G. Williams’s caseload, is W. A. Cowdery, Oliver’s older brother. Over a six-month period, from September 15, 1837, to March 19, 1838, his portion of Oliver Cowdery’s docket book reveals that he presided over 189 cases, or an average caseload of 31.5 suits per month. We must remember that during that time frame there were far fewer LDS residents in Kirtland who needed the services of a justice of the peace, since the vast majority of Church members had left Kirtland for Missouri, including Joseph Smith Jr. and his counselors in the First Presidency, Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams. But if Esquire Williams’s caseload was only 32 cases a month, his total would have been some 480 cases (32 times 15). I personally feel that that number is too low and would prefer to use the average between Oliver and Warren. So if we take Oliver Cowdery’s average caseload per month of 76.5 and Warren A. Cowdery’s average 31.5 and join them together, we have 108 cases between them, which, when divided by two, gives us 54 cases each. If we assume President Williams’s caseload was comparable, then he would have had 810 total cases over his career as a justice of the peace (54 cases times 15 months).
6. Deeds Geauga, Co., Ohio, Books 22–33. Chardon, Ohio. Microfilm at Family History Library, Salt Lake City and Brigham Young University, #0020239–#0020244.
The county recorder copied the contents of the deed into his book when it was brought to him for recording. It was the practice to include the date when the deed was received as well as the date when the deed was recorded, together with the county recorder’s signature. There may be some deeds to which Frederick G. Williams attested that were never brought to the county for recording, and thus we would have no record of them in that archive.
There are 175 entries in these records where Frederick G. Williams appears as the justice of the peace. He also appears as one of the witnesses in most of those cases. In addition, his son Ezra Granger Williams appears as a witness three times, and his daughter Lucy Eliza Williams appears once.
Esquire Williams Resigns
Because of Frederick’s impending move to Missouri, he resigned as justice of the peace on September 25, 1837, which means Esquire Williams served for almost fifteen months. His last few weeks in office were busy, executing and certifying deeds, holding court, performing weddings, and administering oaths of office. These activities are chronicled more fully in chapter 27, “Heartbreak in Kirtland: The Move to Zion.” It is unfortunate that his docket has not survived. If it had, we would have a much more complete picture of Frederick G. Williams’s busy life in Kirtland, Ohio.
Notes
1. The original handwritten petition (which is “a true copy of the original,” as attested to by the signature of Deputy Sheriff Edward Dep found after the signer’s names) consists of three sheets of paper and is located at the Lake County Historical Society, Mentor, Ohio.
2. Prior to joining the Church, Frederick G. Williams had been elected to public office as town clerk of the newly formed civil organization of the township of Warrensville, Ohio, in 1816; he was reelected three times, serving until 1822. See Municipal Archives in Cuyahoga County, Guide to Records, vol. 18, part 2 (Cleveland: Cuyahoga County Archives, 1938), 245. Williams had also been active in some county affairs as seen by his several petitions to the county commissioners for the construction of a road. See Cuyahoga County Commissioners Records, vol. 1 (Cleveland: Cuyahoga County Archives, n.d.), 30, 41–43. He was elected as justice of the peace in Geauga County in 1836.
In Kirtland, F. G. Williams’s first attempt at public office came during the election of April 6, 1836, when he ran for overseer of the poor. He and two other candidates each received 147 votes. Williams lost when the three-way tie was decided by “casting lots as provided by law in such cases.” Kirtland Township Trustees’ Minutes and Poll Book, 1817–38, 139, Lake County Historical Society, Mentor, Ohio.
3. Kirtland Township Trustees’ Minutes and Poll Book, 1817–38, 143.
4. In the Kirtland Township Trustees’ Minutes and Poll Book, 1817–38, 155, we read the following: “Notice is hereby given to the Township Clerk that I have resigned my commission as a Justice of the Peace for Kirtland Township Sept 25, 1837 Attest S. Smith T. C. (P. T.) F. G. Williams.”
5. Geauga County, Ohio, Deed Record Books, books 22–33, microfilm #0020239–#0020244, Family History Library, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, and Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
6. F. G. Williams’s docket is missing, but some cases begun in his court were transferred to the courts of at least three other justices of the peace. See Docket of Oliver Cowdery and Warren A. Cowdery in one volume, located at the Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif., Mormon File. A typescript of Oliver’s portion of the docket, with selected transcriptions of the Warren A. Cowdery portion, was prepared in 1989 by David R. Benard, under the supervision of John W. Welch, entitled “Oliver Cowdery’s Docket: Kirtland, Geauga Co., Ohio, June 14, 1837, to September 15, 1837,” Howard W. Hunter Law Library, Brigham Young University. The pagination in the original docket was preserved in the transcribed copy. See also Docket of George Ranney (1786–1860?), Justice of the Peace in Kirtland, Ohio, 1841–43, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Lee Library.
8. Book C of Marriages in Geauga County, Ohio, 210–31, located at the County Courthouse, Chardon, Ohio.
9. See Geauga County Ohio Deed Record Books, book 24, inserted between pages 99 and 100 on film #0020240.
10. F. G. Williams issued certificates attesting to the qualifications of Vinson Knight as town clerk and Newel K. Whitney as town treasurer. See the report in the Kirtland Township Trustees’ Minutes and Poll Book, 1817–38, 152, Lake County Historical Society, Mentor, Ohio.
On September 22, 1837, Williams administered the oath of office to Sylvester Smith as town clerk, pro tempore. Kirtland Township Trustees’ Minutes and Poll Book, 1817–38, 155.
11. The court cases he presided over, an estimated 500, would have brought him in contact with hundreds of people. His service attesting to deeds brought him in contact with several hundred more. Although frequently the same people were involved, each deed recorded the names of a minimum of three individuals, besides the justice of the peace: the seller (usually the husband and his wife are named, but sometimes more individuals appear), the buyer (typically only one person is named, but there are multiple buyers listed on some deeds), and the two witnesses (more often than not, the justice of the peace and one other individual). For example, of the five deeds attested to by Williams in September 1836, the minimum would be three different individuals involved in each deed, for a total of fifteen; but there are in fact twenty-four different named participants in those five deeds. See the “Chronological Listing of Frederick G. Williams’s Activities as Justice of the Peace.”
12. Carrington T. Marshall, ed., A History of the Courts and Lawyers of Ohio (New York: American Historical Society, 1934), 489.
13. Marshall, History of the Courts and Lawyers, 490.
14. Marshall, History of the Courts and Lawyers, 491.
15. Marshall, History of the Courts and Lawyers, 491. Today in many states across America there are similar lesser courts presided over by judges who do not have to be attorneys. In Utah, they deal with such things as “class B and C misdemeanors, infractions, ordinance violations and small claims. Alcohol- and drug-related charges, including DUI, are handled in justice courts. Traffic citations account for an overwhelming majority of cases.” “‘Justice Courts’—Courts Fill a Niche but Endure Criticism,” Deseret News, March 9, 2003, A1, 12.
16. Marshall, History of the Courts and Lawyers, 496.
17. Marshall, History of the Courts and Lawyers, 495.
18. Docket of Oliver Cowdery and Warren A. Cowdery, 122. A case to collect an outstanding bill of $200 was heard on July 25, 1837, involving John M. Hanson vs. Jacob Bump. A notation indicates that the case was transferred to Arial Hanson, justice of the peace, and the debt was eventually recovered and paid in full by note on October 30, 1838. See also John W. Welch, “Oliver Cowdery as Editor, Defender, and Justice of the Peace in Kirtland,” in Days Never to Be Forgotten: Oliver Cowdery, ed. Alexander L. Baugh (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2009), 270–77.
19. Marshall, History of the Courts and Lawyers, 492.
20. Marshall, History of the Courts and Lawyers, 496.
21. Statement of J. C. Dowen, justice of the peace in Kirtland, a six-page, typewritten document, dated and witnessed on January 20, 1885, part of the Mormon MSS Collection, Chicago Historical Society, microfilm copy at Lee Library, film 298 #79. Dowen died shortly thereafter on February 2, 1885, in his 89th year. The entire letter is written in capital letters.
22. Abram Van Vleet, The Ohio Justice and Township Officers’ Assistant (Lebanon, Ohio: 1821); Joseph R. Swan, A Treatise on the Law Relating to the Powers and Duties of Justice of the Peace and Constables, in the State of Ohio, with Practical Forms (Columbus: Isaac N. Whiting, 1837). Another typical resource, published after Frederick G. Williams’s term as justice of the peace, was Humphrey H. Leavitt, The Ohio Justice’s Guide (Steubenville, Ohio: J. Turnbull, 1843).
23. I am indebted to John W. Welch, BYU professor of law, for bringing to my attention Swan’s A Treatise on the Law.
24. “The dockets of the Justice of the Peace were to be turned over to any Justice of the Peace elected under the new constitution. After a lapse of only 130 years, every one of the many dockets which must have been in use in 1803 have disappeared.” Marshall, History of the Courts and Lawyers, 494.
25. The Kirtland Township Trustees’ Minutes and Poll Book, 157, has the details of the election “held in Kirtland October 14, 1837, for the purpose of electing 2 Justices of the Peace, one in the place of F. G. Williams who resigned his commission on the 25th day of Sept. last past, one in the place of Oliver Cowdery who has removed from the state.” The results: “It is therefore hereby declared that Warren A. Cowdery & Thomas Burdick are duly Elected to the offices of Justice of the Peace, the said Cowdery in the place of F. G. Williams & the said Burdick in the place of Oliver Cowdery.”
26. M. Scott Bradshaw addresses Sidney Rigdon’s difficulties performing weddings and concludes that the 1835 challenge was motivated by a prejudiced judge. According to Ohio’s laws, Rigdon and Joseph Smith Jr. (or any other LDS elder) were legally authorized to perform weddings as ordained elders of the Church. Rigdon continued to perform weddings but used his (apparently) valid license as a minister of the Baptist church. See “Joseph Smith’s Performance of Marriages in Ohio,” BYU Studies 39, no. 4 (2000): 23–69.
27. Frederick G. Williams, including his former property, are referenced on the following pages: 72 (October 12, 1830 vote), 74 (October 12, 1830 vote), 117 (March 3, 1834 “Lands formerly owned by F. G. Williams on Lot 29”), 121 (March 30, 1934, “as far as the Bridge by Dr. Williams”), 139 (April 4, 1836, unsuccessful run for Overseer of the Poor), 143 (June 28, 1836, successful run for Justice of the Peace), 145 (October 24, 1836, named juror “for ensuing years”), 152 (April 7, 1837, filing of certificate that certifies qualifications of Vinson Knight as officer), 152 (April 10, 1837, filing of certificate that certifies qualifications of Newel K. Whitney as officer), 155 (September 22, 1837, administers oath of office to Sylvester Smith), 155 (September 25, 1837, resigns commission as a Justice of the Peace), 157 (October 14, 1837, replaced as JP by Warren Cowdery).
The second volume of the Minutes (April 1838–March 6, 1846) also references Frederick G. Williams’s former property on the following pages: 43 (March 1, 1841, “F. G. Williams land on Lot 30”), 74 (March 6, 1843, “and the land formerly owned by F. G. Williams in Lots 29 & 30 Tract 1), 76 (March 6, 1843, redistricting continued, “and the small Lots sold from the Williams Farm lying on the State Road in Tract No. 1”).
