Complaint, 24 May 1842 [State of Illinois v. C. L. Higbee]

Source Note
JS, Complaint, before
Ebenezer Robinson
25 May 1816–11 Mar. 1891. Printer, editor, publisher. Born at Floyd (near Rome), Oneida Co., New York. Son of Nathan Robinson and Mary Brown. Moved to Utica, Oneida Co., ca. 1831, and learned printing trade at Utica Observer. Moved to Ravenna, Portage Co....
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, [
Nauvoo
Principal gathering place for Saints following expulsion from Missouri. Beginning in 1839, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased lands in earlier settlement of Commerce and planned settlement of Commerce City, as well as surrounding areas....
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], Hancock Co., IL, 24 May 1842, State of IL v. C. L. Higbee (Nauvoo, IL, Justice of the Peace Court 1842). Copied 8 Nov. 1962; typescript; certified by Richard and Pamela Price; one page; typescript in possession of Richard and Pamela Price.

Upon appeal, this complaint and other case documents from the justice of the peace court were forwarded to the
Hancock County
Formed from Pike Co., 1825. Described in 1837 as predominantly prairie and “deficient in timber.” Early settlers came mainly from mid-Atlantic and southern states. Population in 1835 about 3,200; in 1840 about 9,900; and in 1844 at least 15,000. Carthage ...
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, Illinois, circuit court and filed in 1842. The document remained in the custody of the circuit court until sometime between 1962, when Richard and Pamela Price created a transcript of it, and 1968, when the Prices obtained photocopies of all of the case documents except for this complaint, which was missing from the case packet and apparently on loan to a county commissioner. Further attempts by the Prices to locate and obtain a photocopy of the document in 1979, 1983, and 1998 were unsuccessful.
1
Richard Price, Independence, MO, to “Clerk of the Circuit Court,” Carthage, IL, 24 Oct. 1983; Richard Price, Independence, MO, to “Archivist of the Hancock County Circuit Court,” Carthage, IL, 21 Aug. 1997 ; Price and Price, Joseph Smith Fought Polygamy, 1:144–145, 158–159.
Comprehensive Works Cited
Price, Richard, and Pamela Price. Joseph Smith Fought Polygamy: Volume 1. Independence, MO: Price Pub. Co., 2000.
The location of the document is unknown.

The text featured here is transcribed from the transcript produced by Richard and Pamela Price in 1962 from the original document.

Footnotes
1. 1
  Richard Price, Independence, MO, to “Clerk of the Circuit Court,” Carthage, IL, 24 Oct. 1983; Richard Price, Independence, MO, to “Archivist of the Hancock County Circuit Court,” Carthage, IL, 21 Aug. 1997 ; Price and Price, Joseph Smith Fought Polygamy, 1:144–145, 158–159.
  
  Price, Richard, and Pamela Price. Joseph Smith Fought Polygamy: Volume 1. Independence, MO: Price Pub. Co., 2000.
Historical Introduction

See Introduction to State of Illinois v. C. L. Higbee.

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J. Smith’s Affidavit Filed September 14th, 1842 . . . Clerke

State of Illinois)	SS [scilicet]
County of Hancock Formed from Pike Co., 1825. Described in 1837 as predominantly prairie and “deficient in timber.” Early settlers came mainly from mid-Atlantic and southern states. Population in 1835 about 3,200; in 1840 about 9,900; and in 1844 at least 15,000. Carthage ... More Info )

Before me, , one of the Justices of the Peace for said personally came Joseph Smith, who, being duly sworn according to law, deposeth and saith, that at sundry times, in the City of , aforesaid, one has slandered and defamed the character of the said Joseph Smith, and also the character of , his wife, in using their names, the more readily to accomplish his purpose in seducing certain females, and further this deponont saith not.

Sworn to. and subscribed before me, in the aforesaid, this 24th day of May A.D. 1842. J. P.

-[Signed]- Joseph Smith

We hereby certify that the above is a true and exact copy of the original affidavit as found by us in the archives of the circuit court in the courthouse at , Illinois, on November 8, 1962.

Richard Price

Pamela Price

Richard and Pamela Price [p. [1]]