APPEALS, TO SUPREME COURT OF MISSOURI
[page 200]
[On March 15, 1839, the following appeals and petitions were made
to the Supreme Court of Missouri:
Recently there has fallen into our hands a part of a small volume
entitled Expulsion of the Mormons from the State of Missouri, which contains all these petitions
in full.
We think our readers will be interested in these historic
documents, especially as the leading facts set forth, in them have never been
disputed even by their enemies]:
STATE OF MISSOURI,
Liberty, Clay County,
March 15, 1839.
To the Honorable Judge Tompkins, or Either of the Judges of the
Supreme Court of Missouri: Your petitioner Caleb Baldwin, begs leave to
represent to your honor, that some time in the month, of November he was taken
prisoner in Far West by General Clark, and marched to Richmond under a strong
guard without any charges being preferred against him, and brought before the
honorable Austin A. King, and underwent a partial examination ex parte in its
nature, under the high hand of oppression, and was not allowed the privilege of
being examined before the court then sitting, neither had he the privilege of
introducing any testimony before said court.
Your petitioner would further state that the said Austin A. King,
while acting in his official capacity as committing magistrate, did tell your
petitioner that there was no law for him your petitioner, and that he could not
stay in the State. Yet your petitioner was held by a strong guard by the said
Austin A. King, and after a long examination the said King committed your
petitioner to the jail of Clay County together with others of your petitioners,
where he has been restrained of his liberty near four months, for the crime of
treason against the State, without the least -shadow of testimony against- him
to that
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amount, or
any testimony that was sufficient to have held a man in confinement a single
moment. And your petitioner can show before your honor that he has never committed
treason against the State of Missouri,
nor any other crime, but has always held himself in readiness to submit to
every shadow of law. And now sir, these are charges too heavy to be borne with
submission. And the family of your petitioner has been driven out of the State
since his confinement, without any means for their support. And now sir, in the
name of the great God I adjure you, to grant me the State writ of habeas
corpus, directed to some proper officer, and bring your petitioner before your honor
that he may be discharged according to law. And your petitioner as in duty
bound will ever pray.
CALEB BALDWIN.
STATE OF MISSOURI, Liberty, Clay
County, March 15, 1839.
Personally came before me Caleb Baldwin, and made oath that the foregoing matters
and facts contained in the above are true, to the best of his knowledge.
March 15, 1839.
Sworn to before me Abraham Shafer, a
justice of the peace within and for Clay
County in the State of Missouri, this 15th day
of March, 1839.
ABRAHAM
SHAFER, J. P.
To the Honorable Judges of the Supreme Court for the State of
Missouri: I petition to you, gentlemen, or either of you, for a writ of habeas
corpus to bring me before your honors, there to investigate and lay before you
the situation and circumstances of your petitioner, who is now falsely
imprisoned in the Clay County jail, Missouri. Your petitioner begs leave of
your honors here to set forth some of the most prominent points which have led
to this false imprisonment.
Your petitioner deposeth and saith that he was a lawful citizen of
Daviess County, and that some time in the month
of August last, whilst peaceably at work on his farm, he was
202 JOURNAL OF HISTORY
threatened day
by day by the citizens of Daviess
County that if he did not
deny his religion they would either exterminate him or drive him from the
county. Your petitioner verily believed that it was the threats of some few
foul perpetrators until some time in the month of August, when they not only
met from that county, but from other counties, with an armed force of rising
three hundred rank and file, and before the militia could be raised under
Generals Atchison and Doniphan, they had marched within two and a half miles of
your petitioner's house, who was assisted by a small number of the same church
to which he belonged. Generals Atchison and
Doniphan succeeded in dispersing this lawless band, but no sooner was this done
than they commenced gathering in Carroll
County, where they
succeeded in driving from seventy to a hundred families, commonly called
Mormons, from that county.
The first news your petitioner got of this extraordinary
transaction was by the way of the militia under Colonel Dunn, who informed your
petitioner that this same band, about four hundred strong, well armed and
prepared for war, with a field
piece, a six-pounder, was then within fourteen miles of your petitioner's
house; the advice from the general officers and judges was, that the people called
Mormons should stand in their own defense until the militia could be called out
to quell this lawless band, who had threatened to exterminate the Mormons or
drive them from Daviess County.
This advice was adhered to by the Mormons; they met the enemy, and
without the firing of a gun, or the shedding of blood, took the cannon from
them. This band becoming enraged, divided into small squads and fell upon
individual Mormons, turned them out of doors, and burned their houses; and, as
many of these marauders were from different counties, they burned many of the
other citizens' houses, supposing them to belong to the Mormons. Your
petitioner declares and says, that through the whole transaction he was not
away from home,
APPEALS TO
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his wife
being very much out of health. This scene being exaggerated by the many false
representations called forth a large body of militia; your petitioner, on the
twenty-ninth [thirtieth] day of October, went to Far West, Caldwell County,
where, on his arrival, he found a large body of militia encamped near that
place; be was informed by George M. Hinkle that the officers desired, to see
him; your petitioner replied, he could not be detained, for his wife was sick.
Hinkle replied I should not be detained long. Accordingly I went,-met Generals
Lucas, Doniphan, and Wilson, when Hinkle observed, "Here is the prisoners
I agreed to deliver you." General Lucas then drew his sword and ordered us
into the camp; from thence your petitioner was moved to Jackson County under a
strong guard and from thence to Ray County where he was put in irons; here for
the first time he was made acquainted with the charges against him, and then
delivered over to Austin A. King, judge of the fifth judicial court, who sat in
the capacity of conservator of the peace: he put your petitioner on trial with
some fifty or sixty others under a strong, armed force, thence calling on
renegade Mormons for testimony; and when their testimony was found insufficient
to prove to the court that they had not fully and fairly denied the faith, and
become willfully malicious against the prisoners, they were put on trial
themselves. This, together with the exterminating order of the governor, so
intimidated the witnesses that some have since acknowledged that they swore for
the time being to save their lives. You're petitioner was kept two weeks in
irons; in the meantime there was an armed force continually harassing the
Mormons in Caldwell and Daviess counties, taking prisoners, promising
protection to those who would swear against the present prisoners, and those
that would not would be put on trial. After a scare of this kind for fifteen
days, your petitioner was informed that he could produce his testimony; no
sooner were their names given than they were driven by an
204 JOURNAL OF HISTORY
armed force
to the extremity of leaving the State or hiding up, so that they could not be
found, and this to save their lives, as their arms were taken from them, and
they threatened with extermination if they did not leave the State; therefore
your petitioner was obliged to submit to the evidence, false and ex parte as it
was in its nature, and abide the decision of the judge who pronounced your
petitioner to be guilty of treason, ordered him to be conveyed to the
above-named jail, where he has laid in close confinement for near four months.
Your petitioner begs leave to state a few facts to your honors
concerning his family in the meanwhile. On the third day of November his wife
was put to bed with a son, whilst Cornelius G. Gilliam, with one hundred
painted men, surrounded the house, screeching and howling in the attitude of
the Delaware Indians, he (Gilliam) calling himself after the Delaware Chief,
and it was with the utmost difficulty that the militia could keep him out of
the house. In this situation your petitioner's family remained, threatened day
by day to leave the country or be exterminated. Accordingly when her babe was
eight days old, she was informed she could stay no longer, that she must not
only leave the county but the State-that she need not flatter herself that she
would ever see her husband again, for if they could not find law to kill him,
they would kill him without law. She was stripped of
her beds and bedding, and of her household furniture, then placed in an open
wagon with six helpless children to make the best shift she could to get out of
the State. The last news your petitioner received from her she was on the bank
of the Mississippi River in a tent, depending on the charity of the people for
her support; this being the fifth time that your petitioner and family have
been unlawfully driven from their house and home since they arrived in the
State of Missouri, which was on the sixth day of September, 1831.
Your petitioner further states, that there is a slight prob-
APPEALS TO
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ability of
there being a court in Daviess County at the next term, as there is no place to
hold it, therefore your petitioner begs leave to say to your honors that his
health is fast declining, and as the life of your petitioner and family depends
upon his liberty, he will therefore earnestly pray your honors to receive his
petition and forthwith issue a writ of habeas corpus, directed to the sheriff
of Clay County, Missouri, commanding him to bring the body of your petitioner
before your honors, so that his case may be heard and fairly investigated. And
your petitioner pledges himself to prove the above-named items, together with
many more, too numerous to mention in this petition. As your petitioner
considers himself innocent of any crime, he will
therefore the more earnestly pray your honors to receive his petition and grant
him the writ, etc.
LYMAN WIGHT.
STATE OF MISSOURI, CLAY
COUNTY.
Personally appeared before me, Lyman Wight, and maketh oath and
saith, that the facts stated in the foregoing petition are true, as far as
stated from his own knowledge, and as far as stated
from the information of others he believes to be true. Given
under my hand this fifteenth day of March, A. D. 1839.
Subscribed and sworn to before me, Abraham Shafer, a justice of
the peace within and for Clay County, in the State of Missouri, this fifteenth day of March, 1839.
ABRAHAM SHAFER, J. P.
To the Honorable Judge Tompkins, or Either of the Judges of the
Supreme Court for the State of Missouri: Your petitioners, Alanson Ripley,
Heber C. Kimball, Joseph B. Noble, William Huntington, and Joseph Smith, jr.,
beg leave respectfully to represent to your honor, that Joseph Smith, jr., is
now unlawfully confined and restrained of his liberty, in Liberty jail, Clay
County, (Missouri) that he has been restrained of his liberty near five months,
Your petitioners claim that the
206 JOURNAL OF HISTORY
whole
transaction which has been the cause of his confinement is unlawful from the
first to the last. He was taken from his home by a fraud being practiced upon
him by a man by the name of George M. Hinkle, and one or two others, thereby,
your petitioners respectfully show, that he was forced, contrary to his wishes,
and without knowing the cause, to the camp which was commanded by General
Lucas, of Jackson County, and from thence to Ray County, sleeping on ground,
and suffering many insults and injuries, and deprivations, which were calculated
in their nature to break down the spirits and constitution of the most robust
and hardy of mankind. He was put in chains immediately on his being landed in
Richmond, and there underwent a long and tedious ex parte examination; not only
was it ex parte, but your petitioners solemnly declare that it was a mock
examination; that there was not the least shadow of honor, or justice, or law,
administered toward them, but sheer prejudice, and the spirit of persecution
and malice, and prepossession against him on account of his religion; that the
whole examination was an inquisitory examination.
Your petitioners show that the said Joseph Smith, jr., was
deprived of the privileges of being examined before the court, as the law
directs; that the witnesses on the part of the State were taken by force of
arms, threatened with extermination or immediate death, and were brought
without subpoena or warrant, under this awful glaring anticipation of being
exterminated if they did not swear something against him to please the mob, or
his persecutors; and those witnesses were compelled to swear at the muzzle of
the gun, and that some of them have acknowledged since, which your petitioners
do testify, and are able to prove, that they did swear false, and that they did
it in order to save their lives. And your petitioners testify that all the
testimony that had any tendency or bearing of criminality against the said
Joseph Smith, jr., is false. We
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are
personally acquainted with the circumstances, and being with him most of the
time, and being present at the, times spoken of by them, therefore we know
their testimony was false, and if he could have had a fair and impartial and
lawful examination before that court, and could have been allowed the privilege
of introducing his, witnesses, he could have disproved everything that was
against him; but the court suffered them to be intimidated-some of them in the
presence of the court, and they were driven also, and hunted, and some of them
entirely driven out of the State. And thus he was not able to have a fair
trial; that the spirit of the court was tyrannical and overbearing, and the
whole transaction of his treatment during the examination was calculated to
convince your petitioners that it was a religious persecution, proscribing him
in the liberty of conscience, which is guaranteed to him by the Constitution of
the United States, and the State of Missouri; that a long catalogue of garbled
testimony was permitted by the court; purporting to be the religious sentiment
of the said Joseph Smith, jr., which testimony was false, and your petitioners
know that it was false, and can prove also, that it was false; because the
witnesses testified that those sentiments were promulgated on certain days, and
in the presence of large congregations; and your petitioners can prove by those
congregations that the said Joseph Smith, jr., did not promulgate such
ridiculous and absurd sentiments for his religion, as was testified of, and
admitted before the Honorable Austin A. King; and, after the examination, the
said prisoner was committed to jail at the same time, those things have no
bearing on the case, that the said Joseph Smith, jr., was pretended to be
charged with; and, after the examination, the said prisoner was committed to
the jail for treason against the State of Missouri, whereas, the said Joseph
Smith, jr., did not levy war against the State of Missouri, neither did he
commit any covert acts; neither did he aid or abet an enemy against the
208 JOURNAL OF HISTORY.
State of
Missouri during the, time that he is charged with having done so; and, further,
your petitioners have yet to learn that the State has an enemy; neither is the
proof evident, nor the presumption great, in its most indignant form,, upon the
face of the testimony on the part of the State, ex parte as it is in its
nature, that the said prisoner has committed the slightest degree of treason,
or any other act of transgression against the laws of the State of Missouri;
and yet said prisoner has been committed to Liberty jail, Clay County
(Missouri), for treason.
He has continually offered bail to any amount that could be
required, notwithstanding your petitioners allege that he ought to have been
acquitted. Your petitioners also allege that the commitment was an illegal
commitment, for the law requires that a copy of the testimony [mittimus]
should, be put in the hands of the jailer, which - was not done. Your
petitioners allege that the prisoner has been denied the privileges of the law
in a writ of habeas corpus, by the judges of this county. Whether they have
prejudged the case of the prisoner, or whether they are not willing to
administer law and justice to the prisoner, or that they are intimidated by the
high office of Judge King, who only acted in the case of the prisoners as a
committing magistrate, a conservator of the peace, or by the threats of a
lawless mob, your petitioners are notable to say, but it is a fact that they do
not come forward boldly and administer the law to the relief of the prisoner:
and further, your petitioners allege that immediately after the prisoner was
taken, his family was frightened and driven out of their house, and that, too,
by the witnesses on the part of the State, and plundered of their goods; that
the prisoner was robbed of a very fine horse, saddle, and bridle, and other
property of considerable amount; that they, (the witnesses) in connection with
the mob, have finally succeeded, by vile threatening and foul abuse, in driving
the family of the prisoner out of the
APPEALS TO
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State, with
little or no means, and without a protector, and their very subsistence depends
on the liberty of the prisoner. And your petitioners allege that he is not
guilty of any crime whereby he should be restrained of his liberty, from a
personal knowledge, having been with him, and being personally acquainted with
the whole of the difficulties between the Mormons and their persecutors; and, that
he has never acted, at any time, only in his own defense, and that, too, on his
own ground, property, and possessions; and that the prisoner has never
commanded any military company, nor held any military authority, neither any
office, real or pretended, in the State of Missouri, except that of a religious
teacher: that he never has borne arms in the military rank, and in all such
cases has acted as a private character, and as an individual.
How, then, your petitioners would ask, can it be possible, that
the prisoner has committed treason? The prisoner has had nothing to do in Daviess County, only on his own business as an
individual. The testimony of Doctor Avard concerning a council held at James
Sloan's was false. Your petitioners do solemnly declare, that there was no such
council; that your petitioners were with the prisoners, and there was no such
vote nor conversation as Doctor Avard swore to; that Doctor Avard also swore
false concerning a constitution, as he said, was introduced among the Danites;
that the prisoner had nothing to do with burning in Daviess County; that the
prisoner made public proclamation against such things; that the prisoner did
oppose Doctor Avard and George M. Hinkle against vile measures with the mob,
but was threatened by them if he did not leave them alone, that the prisoner,
did not have anything to do with what is called Bogart's battle for he knew
nothing of it until it was over-that he was at home, in the bosom of his own
family during the time of that whole transaction; and, in fine, your
petitioners allege that he is held in confinement without cause, and under an
unlawful and ty-
210 JOURNAL OF HISTORY
rannical
oppression, and that his health and constitution and life, depends on being
liberated from his confinement.
Your petitioners aver that they can disprove every item of
testimony that has any tendency of criminality against the prisoner, for they
know it themselves, and can bring many others also to prove the same.
Therefore, your petitioners pray your honor to grant to him the State's writ of
habeas corpus, directed to the jailer of Clay County (Missouri), commanding him
forthwith to bring before you the body of the prisoner, so that his case may be
heard before, your honor, and the situation of the prisoner be considered and
adjusted according to law and justice, as it shall be presented before your
honor, and as in duty-bound, your petitioners will ever pray.
And farther, your petitioners testify that the said Joseph Smith,
jr., did make a public proclamation in Far West, in favor of the militia of the
State of Missouri, and of its laws, and, also, of the Constitution of the
United States; that he has ever been a warm friend to his country, and did use
all his influence for peace; that he is a peaceable and quiet citizen, and is
not worthy of death, of stripes, bonds, or imprisonment.
The above-mentioned speech was delivered on the day before the
surrender of Far West.
ALANSON RIPLEY.
HEBER C. KIMBALL.
WILLIAM HUNTINGTON.
JOSEPH B. NOBLE.
JOSEPH SMITH, JR.
STATE OF MISSOURI ss.
County of Clay
This day personally appeared before me, Abraham Shafer, a justice
of the peace within and for the aforesaid county, Alanson Ripley, Heber C.
Kimball, William Huntington, Joseph B. Noble, and Joseph Smith, jr., who, being
duly
APPEALS TO
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sworn, doth
depose and say that the matters and things set forth in the foregoing petition,
upon their own knowledge, are true in substance and in fact, and so far as set
forth upon the information of others, they believe to be true.
ALANSON RIPLEY.
HEBER C. KIMBALL.
WILLIAM HUNTINGTON.
JOSEPH B. NOBLE.
JOSEPH SMITH, JR.
Sworn and subscribed to before me, this fifteenth day of March,
1839.
ABRAHAM SHAFER, J.
P.
We the undersigned being many of us personally acquainted with the
said Joseph Smith, jr., and the circumstances connected with his imprisonment,
do concur in the petition and testimony of the above-named individuals, as most
of the transactions therein mentioned we know from personal knowledge, to be
correctly set forth, and from information of others, believe the remainder to
be true.
AMASA LYMAN.
H. G. SHERWOOD.
JAMES NEWBERRY.
CYRUS DANIELS.
ERASTUS SNOW.
ELIAS SMITH.
To the Honorable Judge Tompkins, of the Supreme Court for the
State of Missouri: Your petitioner, Alexander McRae, would beg leave
respectfully to represent to your honor, that he has been confined and
restrained of his liberty near five months, part of the time in chains; that
your petitioner alleges his confinement to be unlawful and unjust, for the
following reasons: In the first place, your petitioner is confined on the
charge of treason against the State, which crime, according to
212 JOURNAL OF HISTORY
the
constitution of the State, as well as of the United States, can consist only in
levying war and committing overt acts, or in adhering to the enemies of the
same, which your petitioner declares he has never done, for he has yet to learn
that the State has an enemy; that your petitioner on the examination was not
allowed the privileges of the law in being examined before the court; that he
was threatened and intimidated and was not allowed the liberty of speech and
the rights of conscience; that the examination on the part of the court was
tyrannical and overbearing toward your petitioner, such as was not lawful and
warrantable in a free government; that the witnesses of your petitioner were
intimidated by an armed force that had been for a length of time harassing and
driving the Mormons from their homes and possessions, and this fact was known
by the court, and yet the court employed this same armed force as a pretended
guard to guard your petitioner, and suffered them to practice many abuses upon
the witnesses of your petitioner, and participated largely himself in the same
spirit of persecution; therefore, the witnesses of your petitioner were driven
out of the place and some of them out of the State. Your petitioner solemnly
declares that he never witnessed a more partial, and unjust, and unlawful
transaction than was practiced upon your petitioner; that the whole transaction
was nothing more nor less than a spirit of persecution against your petitioner.
Your petitioner heard the court say that there was no law for the
Mormons, and that they could not stay in the State. Your petitioner declares
that there is no evidence against him whereby he should be restrained of his
liberty; that the family of your petitioner have been robbed of their property
and driven out of the State since your petitioner has been confined, and that
they are now destitute of the necessities of life, and that they consist of a
weakly woman and two small children, the oldest only three years of age, and
that your petitioner's health is declining in
APPEALS TO SUPREME COURT 213
consequence of
his confinement. Your petitioner therefore prays your honor to grant him the
State writ of habeas corpus, directed to the jailer of Clay County, (Missouri),
commanding him forthwith to bring before you the body of your petitioner, so
that his case may be heard, and that your honor dispose of the case of your
petitioner as you may deem just and proper, and as in duty bound he will ever
pray, etc.
ALEXANDER McRAE.
STATE OF MISSOURI,
Clay County,
}
Personally appeared before me, Alexander MacRae, and maketh oath
and saith that the facts stated in the foregoing petition are true as far as
stated from his own knowledge, and as far as stated
from the information of others he believes to be true. Given
under my hand this fifteenth day of March, A. D. 1839. ALEXANDER
McRAE.
Sworn and subscribed to before me, Abraham Shafer, a justice of
the peace within and for Clay County, in the State of Missouri, this fifteenth day of March, 1839.
ABRAHAM SHAFER, J. P.
To the Honorable Judge Tompkins, or Either of the Judges of the
Supreme Court of the State of Missouri: Your petitioner Hyrum Smith, would beg
leave respectfully to represent to your honor, that he has been confined and
restrained of his liberty near five months, some part of the time in chains,
that some time in the month of last October there was an armed force under the
command of General Lucas, who encamped in the vicinity of Far West in Caldwell
County, when and where your humble petitioner was taken from his own house, and
from the bosom of his family, and was driven by force of arms into the camp of
General Lucas, from thence was under a strong guard carried to Jackson County,
and thence to Richmond, Ray County, where without the issuing of any precept
214 JOURNAL OF HISTORY
or warrant
by any judicial officer, or without any specific charge alleged against him
your humble petitioner, and there he was brought before Austin A. King, judge
of the fifth judicial district of the State, when after a lengthy examination
ex parte in its nature, for he does aver, that he had ample testimony to have
disproved all the testimony that was brought against him, but was prevented
from so doing by the great excitement which all that time displayed itself in
Ray County, and that too in such a manner as to intimidate the witnesses, which
prevented them from giving in their testimony. Many of them were threatened
with violence, and were pursued, and driven out of the county, and some even
out of the State; under such circumstances Judge King committed your petitioner
for treason against the State, and removed him or caused him to be removed to
the jail of Clay County, Missouri, and where he has been kept in close
confinement up to this date. Your petitioner,
positively declares that he knew nothing personally of the difficulties in Daviess County. All he knew of them was by
report. Your petitioner declares that about the middle of October, he learned by
a small company of militia under the command of General Doniphan of Clay
County, that a large armed force having cannon with them, were coming to
Daviess County to exterminate the people called Mormons from the county, your
petitioner having much property there, he went by himself to take care of it
and to secure it from being destroyed; and after he had preserved his property
he returned to his home in Far West, in Caldwell County. Your petitioner also
declares, that the burning of houses and plundering in Daviess County,
he had no hand in, and knew nothing of it only by report. Your petitioner also
states, that he had no stated in testimony. Your petitioner also states, that
he has made no speech, neither in public nor private, nor anything in anywise
whereby the most wicked and prejudiced person on
APPEALS TO
SUPREME COURT 215
earth
could interpret into treason, in Daviess
County, or any other.
Your petitioner also states, that he never has aided in a civil nor in a
military capacity; he never has borne arms nor done military service at any
time, in all his lifetime up to this date, but has been lawfully exempt from
all such service; the family of your petitioner has been robbed of all their
sub- stance for their support, both of food, raiment and household furniture,
and has been driven from the State- with, constant threatenings of death, if
they did not leave the State, by a lawless band of banditti that was let loose
upon the Mormon people without restraint, whilst your petitioner is restrained
of his liberty, without scarcely the least shadow of testimony of evil against
him, whilst his family have been driven from their home, and even from the
State, and all their property and effects for support taken from them by a mob,
or this law-less banditti before mentioned, which facts are notorious to the
most part of the people in this part or region of country.
Your petitioner states that his health is fast declining in
consequence of his confinement. Your petitioner states that one term of court
has passed by since your petitioner has been deprived of his liberty, yet no
charge has been preferred against him. Your petitioner thinks the proceedings
are unlawful in this whole transaction with your petitioner, therefore, your
petitioner prays your honor to grant to him a State's writ of habeas corpus,
directed to the jailer or sheriff of Clay County, Missouri, commanding him
forthwith to bring before you the body of your petitioner, so that this case
may be heard before your honor, and the situation of your petitioner may be
considered and adjusted according to law and justice, as it shall be presented
before your honor, and as we are in duty bound will ever pray. HYRUM SMITH.
March 15, 1839.
Personally appeared before me Hyrum Smith and maketh
216 JOURNAL OF HISTORY
oath and
saith, that the facts stated in this foregoing petition are true as far as
stated from his own knowledge, of others he believes to be true, given under my
hand this fifteenth day of March, A. D. 1839.
HYRUM SMITH.
Sworn to before me, Abraham Shafer, a justice of the peace for
Clay County, Missouri, this fifteenth day of March, 1839.
ABRAHAM SHAFER, J. P.
STATE OF MISSOURI,
County of Clay, ss
This day personally appeared before me, Abraham Shafer, a justice
of the peace within and for the County of Clay aforesaid, Alanson Ripley, Heber
C. Kimball, William Huntington, Joseph B. Noble, and Hyrum Smith, who being
duly sworn, do depose and say, that the matters and things set forth in the
foregoing petition, upon their own knowledge are true in substance and in fact,
and so far as set forth upon the information of others they believe to be true.
ALANSON RIPLEY.
HEBER C. KIMBALL.
Wm. HUNTINGTON.
JOSEPH B. NOBLE.
Sworn and
subscribed to, this fifteenth day of March, 1839, before me.
ABRAHAM SHAFER, J. P.
EDITOR'S NOTE [Heman C. Smith]
It was from this case, the State versus Joseph Smith, jr., et. al.,
before Judge King referred to in the foregoing statements, that the testimony
was taken and published by order of the legislature of Missouri and presented
to Congress in 1841, appearing in [Senate] Document [189], Twenty-sixth U. S.
Congress, Second Session, and Document Containing... Evidence, [a publication of the Legislative Proceedings, of the General Assembly of the State of Missouri,
House of Representatives, Thursday, November 22, 1838].
