Letter to Thomas Carlin, 24 June 1842
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Source Note
JS, Letter, , Hancock Co., IL, to , [, Sangamon Co., IL?], 24 June 1842. Featured version copied [ca. 24 June 1842], in JS Letterbook 2, pp. 233–235; handwriting of ; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS Letterbook 2.
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Historical Introduction
On 24 June 1842, JS wrote a letter to governor explaining ’s improper conduct in , Illinois, and asking the governor for direction on what the Latter-day Saints should do if a mob from entered the city. JS wrote the letter after being informed of rumors that Bennett was working with Missourians to kidnap him. In 1839, JS and others escaped from Missouri custody after being imprisoned for various charges, including treason, and since then at least one attempt had been made to extradite him back to Missouri: In June 1841, JS was served an arrest warrant, signed by Carlin, which was intended to lead to JS’s extradition, though he was quickly released after the warrant was ruled defective. Later, after JS was rumored to have been involved in a failed assassination attempt on former Missouri governor in May 1842, fears that Missouri would again attempt to extradite him increased.JS also wrote this 24 June letter in his capacity as lieutenant general of the to report the conduct of , one of the senior officers in the legion, and to discover whether Bennett had resigned his commission. In addition, JS seemed concerned that Bennett might begin spreading slanderous rumors about him that would influence ’s opinion. Although the Saints had held Carlin in high regard for welcoming them to in 1839 and helping them obtain the charter for , the relationship had become strained after Carlin issued the arrest warrant for JS’s extradition to . Hoping to deflect any negative reports Bennett might convey to Carlin, JS used this letter to provide his own account of what had happened with Bennett.The letter featured here echoed a letter JS wrote the day before to members and “all the honorable part of community.” That letter also provided information about ’s conduct, asserting that Bennett was a fraud and a liar and specifically explaining when JS had known about Bennett’s improper behavior and what JS did to address it.The original letter to is not extant. copied it into JS’s second letterbook, likely soon after the letter was composed, but did not include Carlin’s location in the copy. Carlin received the letter within a few days and responded on 30 June, answering JS’s specific questions, but it is not known whether the letter was sent to Carlin in , Illinois, where he was located on 22 June, or to , Illinois, where he answered the letter.
Footnotes
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1
For more information about Bennett’s conduct, see Letter to the Church and Others, 23 June 1842.
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2
Memorial to the United States Senate and House of Representatives, ca. 30 Oct. 1839–27 Jan. 1840; Transcript of Proceedings, Richmond, MO, Nov. 1838, State of Missouri v. JS et al. for Treason and Other Crimes (Mo. 5th Jud. Cir. 1838), in State of Missouri, “Evidence,” [1].
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3
“The Late Proceedings,” Times and Seasons, 15 June 1841, 2:447–448; “Assassination of Ex-Governor Boggs of Missouri,” Quincy (IL) Whig, 21 May 1842, [3]; Letter to Sylvester Bartlett, 22 May 1842. The Nauvoo City Council had established a city watch on 20 May 1842 apparently, at least according to one source, because of fears that Missourians would enter Nauvoo and retaliate for the assassination attempt on Governor Boggs. On 26 June 1842, JS and other church leaders “united in Solemn prayer that God . . . would deliver his anointed, his people. from all the evil designs of Governor Boggs. & the powers of the state of Missouri, & of Governor Carlin. & the authorities of Illinois.” (Mayor’s Order to City Watch, 20 May 1842; “The Mormons,” Sangamo Journal [Springfield, IL], 3 June 1842, [2]; JS, Journal, 26 June 1842.)
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Quincy Whig. Quincy, IL. 1838–1856.
Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.
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4
A proclamation issued by JS and his counselors in the First Presidency in January 1841, for example, mentioned Carlin as one “who will long be remembered by a grateful community for their philanthropy to a suffering people.” However, after the extradition attempt, JS accused Carlin of being deficient in “moral courage.” (Proclamation, 15 Jan. 1841; Letter to Smith Tuttle, 9 Oct. 1841.)
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6
Letter from Thomas Carlin, 30 June 1842; Thomas Carlin, Commission, Springfield, IL, for George Woodward, 22 June 1842, CHL.
Carlin, Thomas. Commission, Springfield, IL, to George Woodward, 22 June 1842. CHL.
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1
Document Transcript
Footnotes
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1
Bennett married Mary Barker in 1826. The couple had a daughter, Mary, who was born in 1827 or 1828, and a son, Joseph, who was born in December 1828 but died shortly after birth. In his 23 June letter to church members, JS stated that Bennett had “two or three children,” but the letter did not identify the children by name. (Smith, Saintly Scoundrel, 5–6; Letter to the Church and Others, 23 June 1842.)
Smith, Andrew F. The Saintly Scoundrel: The Life and Times of Dr. John Cook Bennett. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1997.
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2
The Nauvoo high council held a series of meetings in May 1842 to investigate charges of adultery and fornication brought against several church members, including Bennett. (Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 20, 24, 25, 27, and 28 May 1842; Testimonies in Nauvoo High Council Cases, May 1842, CHL.)
Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 1839–1845. CHL. LR 3102 22.
Testimonies in Nauvoo High Council Cases, May 1842. CHL.
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3
By this time, JS had apparently been sealed to several women in Nauvoo. Bennett may have had some knowledge of these sealings and may have been referring to plural marriage in his accusations against JS. JS’s practice of plural marriage, however—which included a proposal, a religious ceremony, and at least one witness—did not resemble Bennett’s claims about JS’s conduct. (See, for example, Mary Elizabeth Rollins Lightner, Affidavit, Minersville, Utah Territory, 23 Mar. 1877, Collected Material concerning Joseph Smith and Plural Marriage, CHL; and Presendia Lathrop Huntington Kimball, Affidavit, Salt Lake Co., Utah Territory, 1 May 1869, in Joseph F. Smith, Affidavits about Celestial Marriage, 1:7.)
Collected Material concerning Joseph Smith and Plural Marriage, ca. 1870–1912. CHL.
Smith, Joseph F. Affidavits about Celestial Marriage, 1869–1915. CHL. MS 3423.
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4
The woman referred to here was probably Catherine Fuller Warren, who testified before the Nauvoo high council that she became acquainted with Bennett around May 1841 and that he seduced her. (Catherine Fuller Warren, Testimony, Nauvoo, IL, 25 May 1842, Testimonies in Nauvoo High Council Cases, CHL.)
Testimonies in Nauvoo High Council Cases, May 1842. CHL.
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5
Catherine Fuller Warren testified that Bennett also had improper relations with Melissa Schindle, Matilda Nyman, and Margaret Nyman. (Catherine Fuller Warren, Testimony, Nauvoo, IL, 25 May 1842, Testimonies in Nauvoo High Council Cases, CHL.)
Testimonies in Nauvoo High Council Cases, May 1842. CHL.
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6
This letter was from Hyrum Smith and William Law, who had obtained their information from “a respectable gentleman from the neighborhood where Bennett’s wife and children resided.” The letter is apparently not extant. (See Letter to the Church and Others, 23 June 1842.)
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7
According to Willard Richards, the women involved with Bennett “subscribed and swor[e]” to their conduct “before an alderman of the City.” ([Nauvoo Masonic Lodge], Nauvoo, IL, to Abraham Jonas, [Columbus, IL], 21 June 1842, Letters pertaining to Freemasonry in Nauvoo, CHL.)
Letters pertaining to Freemasonry in Nauvoo, 1842. CHL.
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8
This affidavit, dated 17 May 1842, is reproduced in Letter to the Church and Others, 23 June 1842; see also JS, Journal, 19 May 1842.
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9
This affidavit, dated 19 May 1842, is reproduced in Letter to the Church and Others, 23 June 1842.
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10
Bennett left Nauvoo for Springfield, Illinois, on 21 June 1842. ([Nauvoo Masonic Lodge], Nauvoo, IL, to Abraham Jonas, [Columbus, IL], 21 June 1842, Letters pertaining to Freemasonry in Nauvoo, CHL.)
Letters pertaining to Freemasonry in Nauvoo, 1842. CHL.
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11
Three days after JS composed this letter, Bennett wrote a letter stating that because JS was “indicted for murder, treason, burglary, and arson, in Missouri,” Bennett would gladly “deliver him up to justice, or die in the attempt.” (John C. Bennett, Nauvoo, IL, 27 June 1842, Letter to the Editor, Sangamo Journal [Springfield, IL], 8 July 1842, [2].)
Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.
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12
Carlin answered JS that he had not received a resignation of Bennett’s Nauvoo Legion commission. (Letter from Thomas Carlin, 30 June 1842.)
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13
According to Bennett, JS had asked him earlier “to write to Gov. Carlin for his protection, which I agreed to do, and accordingly did, asking the Governor whether he would be protected from any illegal act of violence,— to which the Governor replied that ALL citizens should receive equal protection, but that he knew of no privileged man or order of men, and that the dignity of the State should be preserved according to the strict letter of the constitution and the laws.” Bennett refused to show Carlin’s reply to JS, “as open hostilities had commenced between us.” Writing to JS on 30 June 1842, Carlin gave a report similar to Bennett’s account of the exchange between him and Carlin. (John C. Bennett, Carthage, IL, 2 July 1842, Letter to the Editor, Sangamo Journal [Springfield, IL], 15 July 1842, [2], emphasis in original; Letter from Thomas Carlin, 30 June 1842.)
Sangamo Journal. Springfield, IL. 1831–1847.
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14
In his reply to JS, Carlin denied having any “hostile or revengeful feelings, towards any man, or set of men on earth,” but he admitted that at times he “may have used strong expressions” to refer to JS, especially after he was told that JS had prophesied that Carlin would “die in a ditch.” (Letter from Thomas Carlin, 30 June 1842.)
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15
The Kilbournes were brothers living in Montrose, Iowa Territory. They had previously accused church members, including JS, of theft and land fraud. David Kilbourne was the postmaster of Montrose, had platted the town in 1837, and operated a store with his brother, Edward. In May 1842, David wrote a letter to Missouri governor Thomas Reynolds urging JS’s arrest for the attempted assassination of Lilburn W. Boggs. On 15 July 1842, however, Edward Kilbourne denied that he had conspired with Bennett to bring a mob against JS. According to Edward, he had only seen Bennett twice between fall 1841 and July 1842. Although he had spoken with Bennett on one of those occasions, Edward said “there was no mention made of mobs.” (David Kilbourne and Edward Kilbourne, “Latter-Day-ism, No. 1,” Hawk-Eye and Iowa Patriot [Burlington], 30 Sept. 1841, [1]; David Kilbourne and Edward Kilbourne, “Latter-Day-ism, No. 2,” Hawk-Eye and Iowa Patriot, 7 Oct. 1841, [2]; David Kilbourne and Edward Kilbourne, “Latter-Day-ism, No. 3,” Hawk-Eye and Iowa Patriot, 14 Oct. 1841, [3]; Baugh, “Remembering the Mormons in Lee County, Iowa,” 177–178; “The Mason-Remey and the Kilbourne Collections,” 310–311; David Kilbourne, Letter, Keokuk, IA, 22 Sept. 1853, microfilm 960,050, U.S. and Canada Record Collection, FHL; David Kilbourne, Montrose, Iowa Territory, to Thomas Reynolds, Jefferson City, MO, 14 May 1842, Records of Governor Thomas Reynolds, 1840–1844, MSA; Account of Meeting, 15 July 1842.)
Hawk-Eye and Iowa Patriot. Burlington, IA. 1839–1851.
Baugh, Alexander L. “Remembering the Mormons in Lee County, Iowa: Marking the Past in Montrose and Keokuk.” Mormon Historical Studies 4 (Fall 2003): 175–184.
Editorial Department, “The Mason-Remey and the Kilbourne Collections,” Annals of Iowa 15 (Apr. 1926): 307–813.
U.S. and Canada Record Collection. FHL.
Records of Governor Thomas Reynolds, 1840–1844. MSA.