Source Note
Laban B. Fleak, Letter, Keokuk, Lee Co., Iowa Territory, to Thomas Reynolds, September 6, 1842. Published in Warren A. Jennings, “Two Iowa Postmasters View Nauvoo: Anti-Mormon Letters to the Governor of Missouri,” BYU Studies 11, no. 3 (1971): 282–83.
Historical Introduction
For the next couple of months after the initial extradition attempts, Joseph Smith stayed in hiding, staying mostly in the homes of friends and family, such as his uncle, John Smith, who lived in Lee County, Iowa.1 Fleak’s letter reminds us that Iowans were just as anxious as Illinoisans to capture Smith and deliver him to Missouri.
Document Transcript
Keokuk I. T. Sept 6th 1842
His Excellency Thos Reynolds
Sir
Yours of the 20th ult for Mr Ford came duly to hand—last night & I am sorry to say that the letter was not handed me until Mr. Ford was on his return to Missouri2
However I do not know that I could have been of any material service to him, for those renegades look upon me with suspicion
Nothing short of a reward or a regiment of Militia will get him from his hiding place.3 A reward will, I think make or find a “Judas” among them. They laugh at the idea of his being removed by a hundred men, in short they say that “Brother Joseph” shall never be taken to Missouri. Our Sheriff is on the alert but I do not think he /Smith/ will make his appearance, soon, again on our side of the River. He was in our Town about two weeks ago, late at night. I do most sincerely hope that you will be the means of bringing the renegade to justice. I am as well satisfied, as is this whole community, that Rockwell, by the order of Smith, is the person that attempted the assassination of Boggs as I am that there is such a place as Paris.
You have not much to expect from Gov Carlin, he is about half Mormon himself or at least appears so from his sycophancy, when he meets those Smiths.
Should Smith make his appearance again in our Town he will be arrested, as every thing is in readiness to convey him accross the Desmoines river & in the mean time should any thing occur that would be important to be known by you I will advise you of it immediately. Be good enough to command me at all times.
. . .
L. B. Fleak
. . .
1. Benjamin E. Park, Kingdom of Nauvoo: The Rise and Fall of a Religious Empire on the American Frontier (Liveright, 2020), 128.
2. This is Sheriff Edward R. Ford, who Reynolds commissioned on July 22 to carry writs to Governor Carlin for Smith and Rockwell’s arrest. See Warren A. Jennings, “Two Iowa Postmasters View Nauvoo: Anti-Mormon Letters to the Governor of Missouri,” BYU Studies 11, no. 3 (1971): 282 n. 18.
3. Governor Carlin would, later in September 1842, offer “a reward of two hundred dollars” for the apprehension of Smith and Rockwell. Morris A. Thurston, “The Boggs Shooting and Attempted Extradition: Joseph Smith’s Most Famous Case,” BYU Studies 48, no. 1 (2009): 26. As early as June 24, 1842, Joseph Smith writes to Governor Thomas Carlin noting that “It is rumoured and strong evidence exists that Bennett and David [Kilbourne] and Edward Kilbourn[e] have posted Bills in Galena calling upon the people to hold meetings and have themselves in readiness at a moments warning to assemble and come here and mob us out of the place and try to Kidnap me.” “Letter [from Joseph Smith] to Thomas Carlin, 24 June 1842,” 234, Joseph Smith Papers, Church History Library, accessed September 5, 2025, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/letter-to-thomas-carlin-24-june-1842/3.
