The middle years of the Mormon sojourn in Illinois were ones of rapid growth and expansion as converts from the eastern states and England swarmed into the bustling city of Nauvoo.¹ But with this growth came familiar economic problems.² As early as March 1840, Joseph Smith had determined to abandon the impractical Law of Consecration,³ and increasingly afterward he and the other leaders hoped and planned for a more diversified and self sufficient economy.⁴ But providing the city with a stable business life was a formidable task, one that the Saints would not fully master before their exodus in 1846.⁵

From the first, land speculation and housing construction were, as in Kirtland, important enterprises because of the incoming converts.⁶ Many of the immigrants were impoverished upon arrival and had no cash to buy land or housing. The per capita wealth was depressed by their coming.⁷ Currency was chronically lacking, making trade by barter and payment in kind common.⁸ Hanna Ford commented in February 1844 that despite the scarcity of hard money, supplies in the city were generally plentiful.⁹ [p.128]

Drawn into the gospel net was a host of skilled craftsmen—textile workers, bootmakers, and cabinet and carriage makers—who clamored for industrialization.¹⁰ Church leaders responded by gaining a charter from the legislature to incorporate the "Nauvoo Agricultural and Mechanical Association," an institution for pooling Mormon resources to manufacture flour and produce lumber and other needed commodities.¹¹ At a trade meeting in November 1844, Brigham Young and others spoke of the need for independence by manufacturing everything they would require.¹² But the Saints were reluctant to invest in these new enterprises,¹³ so that through 1844 leaders were still searching for ways to promote them.¹⁴ Successful industries were those of the small craft and home variety—a steam mill, grist mill, match factory and leather works, bakery, meat-packing plant, brick yards, and others.¹⁵ There is no evidence in the non-Mormon newspapers that these businesses competed successfully outside Nauvoo.¹⁶

Due to the dearth of coin and the inability to produce profitable exports, prices were generally high in Nauvoo. David Jenkins reported in September 1841 that staples cost more than in eastern cities, with coffee, sugar, muslin, and calicoes nearly double in price. Woodwork, including bedsteads, tables, chairs, and other household goods were also high.¹⁷ People were still complaining of high prices in 1843, and John Taylor admitted that prices were 25-50 percent higher than elsewhere.¹⁸ A few determined to relieve the money shortage by providing an imitation variety,¹⁹ but when this found its way into non-Mormon hands, the general distrust of the community was increased.²⁰

By the summer of 1844 the Nauvoo economy was hurting. The editor of the Missouri Republican, who visited in July, said that there were but a few workshops or "manufactories" and that provisions were scarce.²¹ Sidney Rigdon indicated that there were more houses available than buyers and that building trades were therefore languishing.²² Many had to leave the city to find employment elsewhere.²³ Despite this, leaders tried to maintain an optimistic front in their correspondence.²⁴ But even boosters such as Orson Spencer had to admit that many were impoverished among them.²⁵ As Rigdon observed, from an economic standpoint the Saints were in need of the good will of non-Mormons,²⁶ but their activities associated with the kingdom tended repeatedly to alienate them from their neighbors.

[p.129] A turning point in Mormon-non-Mormon relations in Illinois came in June 1843 after events at Dixon and the legal and political maneuverings that followed. When Joseph and Emma Smith visited Emma's sister near Dixon, Illinois, nearly two hundred miles east of Nauvoo, Joseph was taken into custody by two deputies, Reynolds from Missouri and Wilson from Carthage, under an extradition order issued by Governor Thomas Ford.²⁷ The state of Missouri, with encouragement from renegade Mormon leader John C. Bennett, sought Smith for alleged involvement with Orrin Porter Rockwell in the attempted murder of Lilburn W. Boggs.²⁸ After suffering abuse and insults from the deputies and being denied legal council for a time,²⁹ Smith succeeded in contacting Cyrus Walker, a leading lawyer and candidate for congress on the Whig ticket. To secure Walker's legal assistance, Smith pledged that he would vote for him.³⁰ According to his official history, Smith only committed his personal vote, but Walker understood otherwise since the Saints had followed the lead of their leader unanimously in other elections.³¹

Walker secured writs against the deputies for threatening Smith's life and placed them in the custody of the sheriff of Lee County.³² But in the meantime word had reached Nauvoo of the arrest of the Mormon leader, and 170 members of the Nauvoo Legion hurried to Monmouth, where they expected to prevent the deputies from taking him into Missouri.³³ Smith had instructed Major General Wilson Law as early as August 1841 that "if I by any means should be taken [into custody by Missourians] these [orders] are to command you forthwith, without delay, regardless of life or death, to rescue me out of their hands."³⁴ Smith was convinced that a return to Missouri would place his life in jeopardy.

The deputies charged upon reaching Nauvoo that they had been taken there by force,³⁵ although they were well treated and dined at the prophet's table.³⁶ The incident caused alarm in the press,³⁷ so that Governor Ford sent Mason Brayman as a special representative to Nauvoo to learn the truth about the charges. He concluded that the legioneers had exerted no overt force themselves but that the sheriff of Lee County had done so.³⁸

In a court presided over by friends at Nauvoo Smith was released from custody.³⁹ But the editor of the Quincy Herald wrote that if it was true that two hundred armed Mormons had effected the release of Smith "it is high time that the laws were most rigidly enforced, without respect to persons."⁴⁰ [p.130]

Jubilant that their prophet had been rescued, the whole town of Nauvoo turned out to welcome his return.⁴¹ Shaken by his encounter with the Missouri deputy, Smith promised a crowd that in the future he might appeal to a higher law: "If our enemies are determined to oppress us & deprive us of our rights & privileges as they have done & if the Authorities that be on the earth will not assist us in our rights nor give us that protection which the Laws & Constitution of the United States & of this State garrentees unto us: then we will claim them from higher power from heaven & from God Almighty." Smith said with respect to the deputies who had taken him into custody: "I SWEAR I will not deal so mildly with them again for the time has come when forbearance is no longer a virtue. And if you are again taken unlawfully you are at liberty to give loose to Blood and Thunder. But act with Almighty Power."

Much in the spirit of Sidney Rigdon's 4th of July address in Missouri Smith warned his enemies still further:

the time has come when their shall be such a flocking to the standard of Liberty as never has been Nor never shall be hereafter.…Shall the Prophecys be established by the Sword? Shall we always bear? NO. Will not the State of Missouri stay her hand and in her unhallowed persecutions against the Saints? If not, I restrain you not any longer. I say in the name of Jesus Christ I this day turn the key that opens the heavens to restrain you no longer from this time forth. I will lead you to battle & if you are not afraid to die & feel disposed to spill your Blood in your own defence you will not offend me. Be not the aggressor. Bear untill they strike on the one cheeck. Offer the other & they will be sure to strike that. Then defend yourselves & God shall bear you off. Will any part of Illinois say we shall not have our rights? Treat them as strangers & not friends & let them go to Hell.

Smith believed that the Nauvoo charters were part of his guaranteed rights:

If I [am] under the necessity of giving up our chart[er]ed rights, privileges and freedom…I will do it at the point of the Bayonet & Sword.…Lawyiers say that the powers of the Nauvoo Charter are dangerous. But I ask is the constitution of the United States or of this State dangerous. No. Neither are the charters granted unto Nauvoo by the legislator[s] of Illinois dangerous, & those that say they are fools.…If mobs come upon you any more here, dung your gardings with them. [p.131]

The prophet concluded on a revolutionary note, saying "We will rise up Washington like & break of[f] the wait [weight] that bears us down & we will not be mob[b]ed."⁴²

The threat of an appeal to arms by the prophet was matched in August by a similar declaration from Missouri. J. Hall wrote from Independence, "If Illinois by her own authority cannot capture the prophet, it will be but a small matter to raise volunteers enough here to raze the city of Nauvoo to the ground." Hall asserted that he had it from high authority in his state that "Missouri will hold the whole state [of Illinois] responsible for the treatment of our messenger and the delivery of the prophet."⁴³

Smith feared additional attempts to take him into Missouri, and the city council passed a law on 29 June requiring newcomers to the city to give their names, former residence, and purpose. Any refusal or rendering of false information would be considered a violation of vagrancy laws. Nauvoo officers were empowered to enter hotels, houses, and places of amusement to inquire as to the intentions of all inhabitants.⁴⁴ At the end of July some of the citizens of Adams and McDonough counties responded by resolving that henceforth no Mormons could reside among them.⁴⁵ The spirit of suspicion, fear, and retaliation thus picked up momentum.

Only the impending election curbed further hostile exchanges as the two national political parties sought the Mormon vote in Illinois. Even the editor of the Warsaw Message spoke of the unfortunate treatment of the prophet, saying that Missouri's harassment involved a "relentless persecution."⁴⁶ Congressional candidates of both parties, Cyrus Walker of the Whigs and Joseph P. Hoge of the Democrats, visited the Mormon city and paid their compliments to the Saints.⁴⁷

According to Thomas Ford, J. B. Backenstos was sent by the Saints to Springfield to learn what they might gain if they remained in the Democratic fold. A prominent party leader, in Ford's absence from the city, reportedly promised that special favors would ensue and that the state militia would not be called out to enforce the extradition order from Missouri.⁴⁸

On July 29 Mason Brayman confirmed the promise, writing to Smith to say that although he could not speak for Governor Ford, he was certain that he represented his views. Brayman said that when he came to Nauvoo as a special investigator for the governor he sought to learn whether unlawful means had been used to arrest the prophet [p.132] and that Ford had not issued his writ for Smith's arrest out of hostility. He said that he was now convinced that Smith was not a fugitive from Missouri in the usual sense and that Governor Ford "will not in my opinion find least difficulty in refusing to issue another warrant, should an hundred be demanded." Brayman reassured the prophet, "Vote, preach, pray, and worship God as you please, so that you violate no law, you have nothing to fear from the Executive or his advisers."⁴⁹

Oliver Olney noted the day after Walker and Hoge had addressed the Saints at length in Nauvoo that the Mormon leaders met in the temple and decided to form a "Political union in favor of the Democratic Party.…In the name of the Lord They in union move together to lay a foundation to put in office Such men as they pleas." Olney quoted the leaders to say that they would "first rule the county By going with one of the regular partys By thus doing they have much strength Besides their own." Olney said Mormon political ambitions went beyond the county. He quoted the leaders saying that "the time is not far distant when they will sway the [s]cepter Over the American soil."⁵⁰

Thus before Smith had received Brayman's letter he had decided to go Democratic, despite his pledge to Walker. But no doubt the letter from Brayman reinforced this decision. On election day Smith told the Saints he would vote for Walker but "would not electioneer, would not controul or influence" the voting.⁵¹ He then informed them that Hyrum Smith had received a "testimony that it will be better for this people to vote for hoge & I never knew Hyrum [to] say he ever had a revelation & it failed."⁵² The result was a certainty. When election returns came in the Democrats carried Hancock County by over 1,300 votes. They also carried the state 7,796 to 7,222.⁵³ Ford held to his promise and wrote to the governor of Missouri that there was no legal justification to call out the state militia to arrest Smith.⁵⁴ But Ford wrote of this that "from this time forth the Whigs generally, and a part of the Democrats, determined upon driving the Mormons from the state."⁵⁵ The editor of the Davenport Gazette, speaking for the Whig party, denounced Hyrum Smith's revelation as a "ruse" and a "blasphemy."⁵⁶

Perhaps the prophet sensed that he had no genuine political allies in the state, even among Democrats, because he said on 13 August that "all our wrongs have arisen under the power and authority of democracy [the Democratic party] and I have sworn that these arms shall fall from my shoulders and this tongue cleave to the roof [p.133] of my mouth before I will vote for them, unless they make satisfaction."⁵⁷ In selling the Mormon vote for favors and attempted security to two different parties, Smith caused both parties to distrust him. The consequence was a still greater feeling of alienation between Mormons and their neighbors.

Anti-Mormon feelings were particularly intense in Hancock County at Warsaw and Carthage. Thomas Gregg, editor of the Warsaw Message, announced the election results on 6 September, writing, "Revelation now has the balance of power."⁵⁸ At Carthage two victorious candidates whom the Mormons had supported for school commissioner and clerk of the county court were met by armed men and warned that they would never be sworn into office.⁵⁹ Notices were posted that the Mormons must leave the state.⁶⁰ In an effort to determine ways to force the Saints to leave, a call was made for an assembly at Carthage on August 19.⁶¹ People met briefly on the designated day, then decided to reconvene on 6 September when they would be better organized.⁶² Most of those who came were Whigs, but there were a few Democrats,⁶³ the leaders being older citizens who had come to the county before the Mormons⁶⁴ or people who resided in the eastern half of the county and felt disfranchised by Mormon power at Nauvoo.⁶⁵ They all agreed that the Saints must no longer be allowed to hold the balance of political power in the county.⁶⁶

From the subsequent meeting came a declaration of independence from the Mormon kingdom. The old citizens affirmed that the prophet had "set aside…all those moral and religious institutions which have been established by the Bible." They felt that Joseph Smith had shown "a most shameless disregard for all the forms and restraints of law," by having his "city council pass laws contrary to the laws of the State" and by causing "the writ of habeas corpus to be issued by the municipal court of the city…in a case not provided for in the charter…thereby procuring his own rescue from the custody of the law." Further, they said, "citizens from the adjoining counties have been denied the right to regain property stolen and taken to Nauvoo." Of the election, they felt that men "of the most vicious and abominable habits" have been "imposed upon us to fill our most important county offices." To "crown it all," the disgruntled citizens added, Smith "claims to merge all religion, all law, and both moral and political justice, in the knavish pretension that he receives fresh from heaven divine instructions in all matters pertaining to these things." After deprecating Smith's recent escape from the Missouri officials, the citizens resolved that henceforth they would "resist all [p.134] wrongs which may hereafter be attempted by the Mormons, to the utmost of our ability," and would "stand by and support each other in every emergency up to the death."

At the conclusion was a call for armed assistance from Hancock and other counties and for the authorities in the state of Missouri to make another request for the prophet's extradition. This time they would cooperate in his apprehension. Addressing the heart of their frustration, they fumed that "it has been too common for several years past for politicians of both parties, not only in this county but also in the state to go to Nauvoo and truckle to the heads of the Mormon clan." In justifying their call to arms, they affirmed that when a government ceases to protect the people," the "citizens of course fall back upon their original inherent right to self-defense."⁶⁷

The Saints requested that Governor Ford give them public arms and protection from invasion.⁶⁸ But in their press they blustered, warning the Carthaginians that should they attack Nauvoo their lot might be that of Hannibal of old.⁶⁹ John Greenhow, writing for the Nauvoo Neighbor, threatened "Little Tommy" Sharp with the fate of Humpty Dumpty should his ambition become too exalted.⁷⁰ Such bellicosity did not help the cause of a non-Mormon like Thomas Gregg, who, although a fierce Whig partisan, deplored violence and insisted that the anti-Mormons must find a remedy "that will not interfere with the majesty and SUPREMACY OF THE LAW."⁷¹

There were those even at Carthage who lamented the growing belligerence and sought means other than violence to resolve the differences between the two hostile groups. Andrew Moore, an old citizen, said, "The Mormons are still making considerable stir here but not making many converts. They have ruled the elections in this county this last election and their is considerable stir here about it and some strong talk about driving them from the County." He said that "Them and the democrats have played a deep game here I mean some of the leaders of the democrats they have Screened Joe from justice to secure their vote…" But Moore, probably a Whig, said not everyone had joined the anti-Mormon mob spirit. There was still an alternative: "Our neighbors are some trading out to the mormons and leaving their is but few left in the settlement that was here when I Came to it and I think their will be few here if the mormons continue to come as they have been doing I we will all trade out to them and let them have the county."⁷²

Those determined to use violence were more resolute than those ready to cooperate with the Mormons, and soon violence would [p.135] become the order of the day. Joseph Smith learned on 8 December that two citizens of Nauvoo had been taken hostage by armed men from Missouri and Hancock County and was told that rumors were circulating that these men intended taking others. To protect himself and others against this possibility Smith, as mayor, ordered a portion of the Nauvoo Legion to be ready to enforce city ordinances and keep the peace. He also asked the city council to grant additional legal protection,⁷³ and the council responded with an ordinance stating that if any person came to Nauvoo with a legal demand based on old Missouri charges, he would be subject to arrest and, if convicted, to imprisonment for life. Pardon from the governor would only be possible with the consent of the mayor.⁷⁴

On 18 December a Nauvoo city constable arrested non-Mormon John Elliott for kidnapping. A writ was also issued for the arrest of Levi Williams, who was similarly charged with kidnapping. At Elliott's hearing, testimony was given that there was a conspiracy against Smith and others and that "some of them would be shot."⁷⁵ That same day two visitors to the city informed Smith that a group was collecting at Warsaw to protect Williams. Willard Richards in a sworn affidavit said that the group intended to attack Nauvoo.⁷⁶ The city council reacted by passing another ordinance which stipulated that all warrants issued outside Nauvoo must be examined by the mayor, with fines to be levied against violators.⁷⁷ This ordinance further embittered anti-Mormons, who vowed they would respond in kind.

With the flight of the non-combatants and mounting militancy among those who remained, any middle ground between Saints and the old citizens was barely possible by this time. Thomas Gregg, who had earlier stood for a temperate, lawful response, now published in the Warsaw Message his fears of "an irresponsible and growing power at Nauvoo." This threat must be "met rightly," he proclaimed in an Extra, noting that a crisis was irreversibly approaching in the county and adjoining counties.⁷⁸

In early 1844 anti-Mormons at Carthage found an opportunity to retaliate against the Nauvoo ordinance restricting outside legal process. When an officer of the county attempted to arrest Milton Cook of Hancock in January, he was prevented, and a cluster of armed men gathered around Cook and insisted that he not be taken to Nauvoo for a hearing.⁷⁹ Intra-county comity had thus broken down, and the drums of war sounded. In Green Plains men had been drilling since mid-September 1843,⁸⁰ and on 10 January 1844 militant Carthaginians announced their readiness to march on Nauvoo.⁸¹ [p.136] Meanwhile, frightened by these developments and disregarding the instructions of the governor,⁸² Smith called out the Nauvoo Legion to enforce city ordinances and chase down insurgents.⁸³ The editor of the Missouri Republican accurately observed: "It is quite evident that law has lost all its obligations in the county in which the Mormons are principally located, and an embittered and hostile feeling is taking possession of the minds of both parties."⁸⁴

Joseph Smith had been aware since July that there were dissenters within the fold who were opposed to his policies. The editors of his history quote him as saying, "I have secret enemies in the city intermingling with the Saints."⁸⁵ After the Dixon affair he was so distraught by his near capture that he wrongly accused Sidney Rigdon of informing his enemies that he would be in that vicinity.⁸⁶ In December he told his police force, "I am exposed to far greater danger from traitors among ourselves than from enemies without."⁸⁷

Feeling threatened on all sides, Smith and his followers took refuge in apocalyptic hopes. Orson Pratt in April 1843 cited prophecies of Daniel, who had predicted a time when the kingdom of God would "sway a universal Sceptre over all the earth." Then more power would be conferred on the Saints and the "condemnation and judgment of Some corrupt powers of the earth" would take place.⁸⁸ That fall Apostle Brigham Young told a congregation in New York that the "time is come for God to set up his kingdom" and that kings would come to "inquire after the wisdom of Zion."⁸⁹ Apostle Parley P. Pratt admonished the same audience that consensus was mandatory among them so that "a great nation may be saved from all nations." He said he longed for the coming of a messianic leader who could save the nation and the world: "If I were an infidel, I would like to have the Lord raise up a Joseph or a Daniel, or a Mordecai, or an Esther, to obtain political, temporal and spiritual power, and cause a change for the good of the world."⁹⁰ The Mormons had little confidence in democratic government at this time.

Convinced that legal appeals were in vain, Smith resorted to unpromising, desperate schemes to protect Nauvoo. He called on the citizens of several states to come to the rescue of his people.⁹¹ In a letter to the "Green Mountain Boys" of Vermont written in late November, Smith called for retaliation: "Whenever a nation, kingdom, state, family, or individual has received an insult or an injury from a superior force, it has been the custom to call the aid of friends to assist in obtaining redress." Smith said it was his intention to "humble and chastise or abase" Missouri for "the disgrace she has wrought [p.137] upon constitutional liberty until she atones for her sins." He pleaded with the men of Vermont, "by all honorable means to help bring Missouri to the bar of justice." He said his only desire was to "frustrate the designs of evil men…show presidents, governors, and rulers prudence…teach judges justice." He said he would "execute justice and judgment upon the earth in righteousness, and prepare to meet the judge of the quick and the dead, for the hour of his coming is nigh."⁹²

To secure legal sanction for his call to arms, Smith petitioned Congress to form Nauvoo into a federal district⁹³ and grant him authority to command federal troops in defense of the city.⁹⁴ He warned his closest friends that "if Congress will not hear our petition and grant us protection, they will be broken up as a government, and God shall damn them, and there shall be nothing left of them—not even a grease spot."⁹⁵

Actually, Smith already despaired for the nation, telling U.S. senator John C. Calhoun that "if the Latter-day Saints are not restored to all their rights and paid for all their losses…God will come out of his hiding place, and vex this nation with a sore vexation—yea, the consuming wrath of an offended God shall smoke through the nation."⁹⁶ He told Henry Clay, also a U.S. senator, that the "glory of America is departed."⁹⁷

The prophet announced his candidacy for president of the United States in January, saying that unless he was elected the nation would be doomed. George Laub recorded his prophecy that "if they elect him ruler of the nation he would save them & set them at liberty, but if they refuse they shall be swept off."⁹⁸ Benjamin Andrews wrote to the Saints in the east: "The Lord, the mighty God, has ordained him a deliverer and Saviour to this generation, if they will hear his council.…Gen. Smith is in every way calculated to preside over a great and mighty people."⁹⁹ Smith promised, "If ever I get into the presidential chair, I will protect the people in their rights and liberties."¹⁰⁰ He wanted a refuge for his people, but he also wanted vengeance against his enemies. He said that he would give the president power to send an army to suppress mobs, independent of a governor's request.¹⁰¹ He said there were wicked men in the church and elsewhere that the president should deal with: "We should lift up our voice against wickedness of all kinds. But will the rulers of our land do it? No, they will not; they will be cowards until [p.138] there is no man left to fight, and then they will be brave. When government will not do it, some man should take the helm of government who will do it."¹⁰² Orson Hyde would say in June that Smith was "God's messenger to execute justice and judgment in the earth."¹⁰³ Smith himself would promise at the funeral of King Follett in April that if dissenters felt justified in taking his life because he was a fallen prophet, "upon the same principle am I authorized to take away the life of every false teacher."¹⁰⁴

Smith sought the presidency also as a means of eliminating divisive pluralism. As early as 1842 an editorial in the Times and Seasons had argued that the absence of priesthood authority in America had led to

conflicting opinions, the clash of doctrines, the diversity of sentiment, and the woefully benighted state that the religious world presents itself in at the present time. Let the Melchisedec priesthood be introduced, and men be subject to their teaching, and their sectarian, narrow contracted notions would flee away… the anarchy and confusion that prevails among men would disappear, and the world would be organized upon principles of intelligence, purity, justice, truth and righteousness.¹⁰⁵

If Smith reached the presidency he would have the power to achieve these ends. His brother Hyrum told the Saints in April 1844: "We want a President of the U.S., not a party president, but a President of the whole people; for a party President disfranchises the opposite party. Have a President who will maintain every man in his rights.…We will try and convert the nations into one solid union. I despise the principle that divides the nation into party and faction."¹⁰⁶

Putting the prophet in the White House was calculated to dissolve all distinctions between sacred and secular and make them one. Brigham Young said in April: "The government belongs to God. No man can draw the dividing line between the government of God and the government of the children of men. You can't touch the gospel without infringing upon the common avocations of men."¹⁰⁷ A "friend to the Mormons" wrote in even stronger terms to the Times and Seasons that "the church must not triumph over the state, but actually swallow it up like Moses' rod swallowed up the rods of the Egyptians."¹⁰⁸ [p.139]

Despite the tremendous odds against them,¹⁰⁹ Smith and his people evidently hoped that by gaining a balance of power nationally (as they assumed they had in Illinois) they could actually win the election of 1844. The Council of Fifty, which would be the executive, legislative, and judicial arm of the Kingdom of God, was first outlined by Smith in 1842 but fully organized in March 1844.¹¹⁰ The council's first major task was to plan Smith's presidential campaign.¹¹¹ Elders were sent to several cities and states, and rallies and conventions were planned.112 Apostle Willard Richards wrote to James Arlington Bennett in New York that "General Smith is the greatest statesman of the 19th century" and urged Bennett to run with him as the vice-presidential candidate. He told Bennett to "get up an electoral ticket" in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and any other state within your reach." He informed Bennett they expected to win since "we will go it with the rush of a whirlwind, so peaceful, so gentle, that it will not be felt by the nation till the battle is won."¹¹³

Apostle John Taylor exhorted the Saints at Nauvoo in March that "we must do what we can to elect Joseph President and not be cowards."¹¹⁴ Elder Richards wrote to Elder Orson Hyde in Washington in May that "our faith must be manifest by our works, and every honorable exertion made to elect Gen Smith."¹¹⁵ Writing to Hugh Clark, an alderman in Philadelphia, in behalf of the "Central Committee of Correspondence for the election of Gen. Joseph Smith," Richards said that Mormons and Roman Catholics were "most obnoxious to the Sectarian world" yet had not persecuted each other. He urged the alderman to join them in establishing "Jeffersonian Democracy, Free trade and Sailors rights and protection of persons and property." Help us to elect Joseph Smith, he pleaded, "and we shall help you to secure those privileges which belong to you and to break every yoke."¹¹⁶

At a party convention in Jackson, Michigan, on 6 July, before news of Smith's death had reached them, the Saints voted not to "cease until a full & entire revolution should be effected in the administration of the government."¹¹⁷ Two days later Brigham Young wrote to Richards from Salem, Massachusetts, to say, "We shall do all we can and leave the event with God."¹¹⁸

As early as mid-April, James Arlington Bennett had written from New York to say that he thought the prophet had no chance to win, that the best that could be hoped for was the gaining of some political influence.¹¹⁹ Richards's reply, "we mean to elect him,"¹²⁰ revealed [p.140] the serious intentions of the Council of Fifty. But Mormons—despite a few hastily organized rallies—had no party organization, no patronage jobs to reward non-Mormons who would support the campaign, and a candidate who was not popular in the national press.¹²¹ Thus D. S. Hollister wrote from Wilmington, Delaware, on 26 June that he was greatly disappointed that he could rally little support in Baltimore, and on the 28th he said no delegates had been selected for the party convention from Philadelphia. He intended to attend the convention on 13 July but was doubtful that much had been done to prepare for it in other states.¹²²

James Arlington Bennett believed that the Saints would have better success at finding peace if they pursued another course. He had for some time urged them to establish a government of their own in the west. In April 1844 he urged Willard Richards: "The Mormons should settle out of the States and have an empire of their own. Not only thousands but millions would flock to an independent people. In this case a Patriarchal government with Joseph at the head would be just the thing. In unity there is power. Nothing could resist such a people."¹²³

In establishing the Council of Fifty, Smith set up a political agency for just such a "patriarchal" government. Whether it would be established in the United States, with Nauvoo as the capitol, or in the far west, the Saints would still rule. Plans were made in early 1844 to establish a settlement in Oregon or California.¹²⁴

As relations with Illinoisans grew worse in 1844, Smith authorized Lyman Wight to seek an alliance with Texans, to settle the "table lands" of Texas, and to establish a theocracy there. He told the Council of Fifty in March to "Send 25 men…and if [Houston] will embrace the gospel […] [We] can amend the constitution and make it the voice of Jehovah and shame the U[nited] S[tates]."¹²⁵

Thus Smith would either gain the White House or establish an independent government. George Miller, a bishop, described the two alternatives as they appeared at the time. He said they must "do everything in our power to have Joseph Smith elected President, and if we succeeded in making a majority of the voters converts to our faith and elected Joseph Smith President, in such an event the dominion of the kingdom would be forever established in the United States. And if not successful, we could still fall back on Texas and be a kingdom notwithstanding."¹²⁶

Smith did not relish force as a means to power and told the Saints in May: "it will not be by the Sword or Gun that this kingdom [p.141] will roll on—the power of truth is such that—all nations will be under the necessity of obeying the gospel." Yet he added, "The prediction is that army will be against army—it may be that the Saints will have to beat their ploughes into Swords. It will not do for men to set down and see their women & children destroyed patiently."¹²⁷

If possible, Smith preferred to gain power through the electoral process. The editor of the Times and Seasons said that Smith's election would curb the increasing secularism in the nation:

There are peculiar notions extant in relation to the propriety of mixing religion and politics, many of which we consider wild and visionary.…We cannot but think that the course taken by many of our politicians is altogether culpable, that the division [between church and state] is extending too far, and that in our jealousy lest a union of this kind should take place, we have thrust God from all of our political movements.

The editor said that he feared the nation would soon become "directed by human wisdom alone."¹²⁸

In case he did not win the election and the Saints had to seek their refuge in the west, Smith memorialized Congress in March to allow Mormons to raise an army of 100,000 volunteers to protect American emigrants going to the far west.¹²⁹

The prophet's ambition for the White House, according to Thomas Ford, brought him into "conflict with the zealots and bigots of all parties."¹³⁰ Ford's contention seems plausible given the aspirations of the down-state Whigs, who entertained the idea of a reconciliation with the Saints. A. G. Henry said "the Mormons are worth coaxing a little. They are violent against Van & intend to go for Clay."¹³¹ But later a Whig booster said "our Mormon neighbors cannot be relied on. Joe is a candidate for President he will not vote for Mr. Clay."¹³²

Mormon political isolation was now complete, as neither party could hope for their support. In 1844 the Mormon prophet placed himself at the head of his own political party, dedicated to carrying out his will in national politics.

Meanwhile, the conviction hardened in Hancock County that the Mormon question had drifted long enough. The determined attitude was evidenced in the return of Thomas Sharp as editor of the Warsaw newspaper in January and the marked increase in its circulation the next month.¹³³ Many were now ready to listen when Sharp insisted that non-Mormons must unite to curb the "encroachments [p.142] of the fanatical band located in our midst."¹³⁴ Although some were primed to expel the Saints immediately by force, others were hesitant and awaited the next move of the Mormons.¹³⁵

Sharp was in the vanguard of those dubious of delay. He lashed out at Mormon marriage practices¹³⁶ and depicted as futile any tendency to temporize.¹³⁷ He was unmoved when, in a belated attempt at conciliation, Smith repealed the law against "foreign" legal processes.¹³⁸ If the Mormons want peace, he said,

they must cease from screening each other from the operation of the law—cease from sham trials, intended to let off offenders by a mere nominal penalty—cease from releasing persons in custody of state officers, by their city Habeas Corpus—cease from insulting the laws, and desecrating public morals by substituting for the laws of the state a set of abominable ordinances, which give to all who believe in their validity a free scope of licentiousness—cease from threatening the liberties of our citizens by their city authorities & cease from dictating who shall be our county officers. These are the only terms on which they can have peace.¹³⁹

For an agitator like Sharp the emerging schism at Nauvoo over plural marriage was made to order. As soon as Mormon dissenters began to differ openly with Smith, Sharp was ready to champion their cause. Noting at the end of April that two had been charged with conspiracy by the Nauvoo Neighbor, Sharp warned, "Let Jo dare to harm one of them and he will awaken a spirit to which resistance will be useless."¹⁴⁰

The leader of the Mormon rebels was William Law, a former member of the First Presidency¹⁴¹ who had first quarreled with Smith during the August election. Law publicly opposed Hyrum Smith's political revelation, contending that Hyrum was angling for a seat in Congress if he could deliver the Mormon vote for Hoge.¹⁴² Also prominent in the opposition to Smith were Wilson Law, William's brother, formerly a commander of the Nauvoo Legion¹⁴³; Robert D. Foster, a physician, land owner, and brigadier general in the legion¹⁴⁴; and Francis and Chauncey Higbee, two sons of former high councilor Elias Higbee, recently deceased.¹⁴⁵ Nearly all had quarreled with Smith over polygamy, some claiming that he had "tried to get their wives away from them and had many times committed adultery."¹⁴⁶ Foster expressed the disillusionment with Smith that the dissenters felt, writing to him in June: "You have trampled upon [p.143] everything we hold dear and sacred. You have set all law at defiance, and profaned the name of the Most High to carry out your damnable purposes."¹⁴⁷

On 6 and 7 April at General Conference, doctrines were publicly advocated which the Laws believed were blasphemous—that there exists a plurality of gods, that God was once a man, that Joseph Smith was a god to this generation, and that the kingdom of God on earth required a human king.¹⁴⁸ Wilford Woodruff recorded in his diary as early as 24 March that church leaders had been told that the Laws, the Higbees, and Foster were part of a conspiracy to kill the entire Smith family. Hyrum said at conference that he did not believe this, that "they would not do any thing to injure me or any man's life."¹⁴⁹

Despite Hyrum's dissent, charges were leveled against the Laws and Foster, and they were excommunicated on 18 April.¹⁵⁰ The cryptic minutes of the Council of the Twelve Apostles indicate that Foster called Joseph Smith a "murderer, Bogus maker counterfiter, [and] adulterer." John Scott testified that William Law had "spoke[n] against Joseph," claiming that Joseph had gone to his wife "to attempt to seduce her—Joseph wanted her to come into the order." Scott also said that Law was angry that Joseph would not seal Law to his wife, Jane, which confirmed to him that Smith wanted her for himself.¹⁵¹ Law believed that the hearing was unlawful, since he was not informed of the identity of his accusers and since Sidney Rigdon, one of Smith's councilors in the First Presidency, was not present.¹⁵²

The dissenters responded to their excommunication by organizing their own church in May, with William Law as prophet.¹⁵³ They began holding weekly meetings on Sunday,¹⁵⁴ attracting approximately three hundred people.¹⁵⁵ The discontented group made plans to publish a newspaper at Nauvoo to defend their stand against Smith, and Francis Higbee described to Thomas Gregg the purpose of the forthcoming publication:

The paper I think we will call the Nauvoo Expositor; for it will be fraught with Joe's peculiar and particular mode of Legislation; and a discitation [dissertation] upon his delectable plan of Government; and above all, it shall be the organ through which we will herald his mormon ribaldry. It shall also contain a full and complete expose of his mormon seraglio, or Nauvoo House, and his unparalleled and unheard of attempts of seduction.¹⁵⁶ [p.144]

According to William Law, Smith sent Rigdon to him on 13 May "to negotiate terms of peace." Rigdon informed him that if they would "let all difficulties drop," church officials would restore William, his wife, and Foster to their "standing in the church and to all [their] offices." Rigdon acknowledged that the excommunication proceedings had been improper and said this would be published in the newspaper. Law demanded that Smith admit publicly that he had taught and practiced polygamy. He warned that otherwise he would "publish all to the world." Rigdon replied that he was not authorized to yield this much.¹⁵⁷

At the end of May several of the dissenters moved to bring Smith to trial at Carthage, leveling charges that included adultery and falsely accusing a visitor to Nauvoo of murder. These allegations led to two indictments against Smith.¹⁵⁸ Smith tried to avoid falling into the hands of his enemies at Carthage by making a secret trip to the town and demanding an immediate trial. His case was held over until the following month. The atmosphere in Carthage was extremely hostile. Sharp warned in his newspaper:

We have seen and heard enough to convince us that Joe Smith is not safe out of Nauvoo, and we would not be surprised to hear of his death by violent means in a short time. He has deadly enemies—men whose wrongs have maddened them—whose lives have been sought by Joe, and who are prepared at all times to avenge themselves.…The feeling in this country is now lashed to its utmost pitch, will break forth in fury upon the slightest provocation.¹⁵⁹

Thus it was that the Mormon prophet was backed into an inevitable corner. To journey to Carthage for trial would give his bitterest enemies an opportunity to take his life. But not to submit to the jurisdiction of those in authority in Carthage could bring retaliation against Nauvoo. When Smith sought to resolve this dilemma by once again utilizing his writ issuing powers at Nauvoo, the nonMormon community was outraged. As far away as Rock Island the editor of the Upper Mississippian warned ominously, "If the laws and authority of the state can thus be set at defiance by a single individual, it is high time that the people should know it."¹⁶⁰

Once more Smith tried to reconcile his differences with church dissenters as a way out of his menacing situation. On the day the Nauvoo Expositor was due for publication Smith sent Dimick Huntington to Robert Foster to propose a conference. He coldly [p.145] rejected the offer. Foster replied: "I have consulted my friends in relation to your proposal of settlement, and as they as well as myself are of the opinion that your conduct and that of your unworthy unprincipled clan are so base that it would be morally wrong & detract the dignity of gentlemen to hold any conference with you.¹⁶¹

When the Expositor appeared on the streets of the city the prophet was alarmed. The newspaper denounced the attempt to "Christianize a world by political schemes and intrigue" and urged church members to repudiate recent innovations in doctrine.¹⁶² Smith saw the publication as a threat to church unity and Mormon security. In a meeting of the city council he declared, "The conduct of such men and such papers are calculated to destroy the peace of the city, and it is not safe that such things exist, on account of the mob spirit which they tend to produce."¹⁶³

Smith moved that the newspaper and printing press be destroyed. The councilmen generally agreed, but a non-Mormon named Warren suggested that it might be better to impose a fine on the publishers rather than destroy their property. Smith disagreed, saying that no Mormon could otherwise safely journey to Carthage. He said he was "sorry to have one dissenting voice in declaring the newspaper a nuisance."¹⁶⁴ The council voted to destroy the paper and the press at once.¹⁶⁵ A large group of legionnaires and citizens promptly marched to the Expositor office, smashed the press, and scattered its type in the street.¹⁶⁶

Smith had made the mistake his enemies were waiting for. The public reaction was immediate and overwhelming. The editor of the Quincy Whig denounced the action as "HIGH HANDED OUTRAGE" and declared that it "really seems to us that their intention is to put the law at defiance." The editor exclaimed, "These people are unworthy to be trusted with power."¹⁶⁷ The Alton Telegraph decried the blatant act as "Mormon violence,"¹⁶⁸ while the editor of the Lee County Democrat in Iowa said that the destruction of the opposition press "has aroused the people of Illinois and…hundreds of them properly armed and equiped, hold themselves in readyness at a moment's notice to go to Nauvoo to aid…the authorities."¹⁶⁹ The editor of the Quincy Herald, a Democratic newspaper, published excerpts from the Warsaw Signal, which declared war and remarked that "the evidence speaks for itself."¹⁷⁰ H. H. Bliss of LaHarpe reflected the prevailing public disposition when he said that the issue is "whether the Law should have its corse on Smith or not."¹⁷¹ At Warsaw Tom [p.146] Sharp frenetically declared that "War and Extermination is inevitable. Citizens ARISE ONE AND ALL!"¹⁷²

William Law now headed to Carthage to charge Smith with instigating a riot. He insisted in his diary that he told the people of Carthage that legal process would be sufficient to correct Mormon wrongdoing.¹⁷³ Sheriff David Bettisworth of Carthage acted on Law's charges and went to Nauvoo to apprehend Smith. Bettisworth arrived in Nauvoo on 12 June, only to find that Smith refused to be taken to Carthage. He offered to stand trial before any judge, but the proceeding would have to be held in Nauvoo.¹⁷⁴ When Bettisworth insisted that Smith return with him, the prophet secured a writ of custody from a Nauvoo court. He was tried on 17 June in Nauvoo and was acquitted.¹⁷⁵

In assuming that by taking this step he had met the law's requirements, Smith misjudged the temper of the citizens of Illinois. One older citizen said that they would "not be caught with this trap. Joe had tried the game too often."¹⁷⁶ When Bettisworth returned without his prisoner, emotions reached a peak.¹⁷⁷ Samuel O. Williams, who was among the throng who received the sheriff, said, "Such an excitement I have never witnessed in my life."¹⁷⁸ Messages were sent to all the older citizens for three hundred miles around to gather to Carthage with arms for a march on Nauvoo.¹⁷⁹ Two emissaries were sent to Governor Ford to ask for support from the state militia.¹⁸⁰ If Ford did not respond favorably, the citizens were determined to form a "posse comitatus" and head for Nauvoo. Mormons were given the choice of surrendering their prophet or going to war.¹⁸¹

Within a week citizens began to collect from many directions. The Warsaw Signal reported how at "Carthage and Green Plains, the citizens are all in arms…throughout the county every man is ready for conflict. In Clark Co., Mo. many hold themselves in readyness.…From Rushville…3,000 men have enlisted for the struggle, McDonough County is alive and ready.…From Keokuk and the river towns…all are coming."¹⁸²

Meanwhile, Smith wrote to Ford to justify the action he had taken against the Expositor and offered to submit to an investigation before "any legal tribunal at the capitol."¹⁸³ On 17 June Smith placed Nauvoo under martial law and addressed the legion in a manner reminiscent of Missouri. He said, "I call God and angels to witness that I have unsheathed my sword with a firm and unalterable determination that this people shall have their rights." He added militantly, "I call upon all friends of truth and liberty to come to our [p.147] assistance and may the thunders of the Almighty and the forked lightnings of heaven and pestilence, and war and bloodshed come down on those ungodly men who seek to destroy my life and the lives of innocent people."¹⁸⁴ To further implement this call to arms, Willard Richards wrote to James Arlington Bennett to come "with as many volunteers as you can bring." He said, "If the mob cannot be dispersed, and the Government will not espouse our righteous cause, you may soon, very soon, behold the second birth of our nation's freedom."¹⁸⁵ In accord with this revolutionary thinking, Smith ordered on 22 June that a "standard be prepared for the nations."¹⁸⁶

Hoping to learn the facts and avert civil war, Governor Ford came to Carthage on 21 June. After a brief investigation of the charges and the Mormon defense,¹⁸⁷ Ford made the only choice open to him if he wished to avoid civil war. He decided that the Mormons had broken the law on several counts and violated the American constitution. He wrote to Smith on 22 June to argue these points, saying that the cause of the "existing disturbance" in Hancock County was the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor and the "subsequent refusal of the individuals accused to be accountable therefore…only before your own municipal courts."

Ford said, "You have violated the Constitution in at least four particulars. You have violated that part of it which declares that the printing press shall be free…It may have been libelous, but this did not authorize you to destroy it," a point on which scholars would later agree.¹⁸⁸ The dissenters should have been brought to trial for libel and given an opportunity to present evidence in support of the truth of their allegations, according to Ford. The second violation of the Constitution, in Ford's mind, was that the city council had not recognized the right of people to be protected "against unreasonable searches and seizures of their property except by judgment of [their] peers." The third point, he said, was that "your Council, which has no judicial powers, and can only pass ordinances of a general nature, have undertaken to pass judgment as a court and convict without a jury…The Constitution," Ford explained, "abhors and will not tolerate the union of legislative and judicial power, in the same body of magistracy, because, as in this case, they will first make a tyrannical law, and then execute it in a tyrannical manner."

Ford next took up the matter of Nauvoo's chartered rights and insisted that Smith had exceeded its privileges by initiating writs to free from legal process himself and others accused of crimes. Ford admitted that certain lawyers in the state had encouraged Smith in [p.148] his interpretation, in hopes of political favor. But, he insisted, "You have... assumed to yourselves more power than you are entitled to." He maintained that it was "never supposed by the legislature, nor can the language of your charter be tortured to mean that a jurisdiction was intended to be conferred which would apply to all cases of imprisonment under the general laws of the state or of the United States."¹⁸⁹

The Illinois governor thus struck at some of the anti-pluralistic aspects of the kingdom at Nauvoo: the concentration of the power of mayor and judge in the hands of one man who seemed to claim accountability only to himself; the intolerance to criticism; and the apparent indifference to rights of property.

In demanding that Smith come to Carthage, Ford seemed indifferent to threats made against his life. Ford may have later regretted this decision, but at the moment he wanted to avert civil war and establish the sovereignty of state law. In siding with anti-Mormons on this issue, he left himself open to charges made by the Mormons that he had been part of the conspiracy to take Smith's life.

Ford was most anxious that Mormons do nothing to further antagonize the old citizens and advised Smith: "All of you who are or shall be accused or sued [are] to submit in all cases implicitly to the process of the court, and to interpose no obstacles to an arrest, either by writ of habeas corpus, or otherwise." He said that Smith and others were required to submit to the authorities at Carthage: "I tell you plainly that if no such submission is made as I have indicated, I will be obliged to call out the militia; and if a few thousand will not be sufficient, many thousands will be."¹⁹⁰

Isolated, with no friends other than his own people, who were divided, Smith had either to submit to authorities at Carthage, where those who had proclaimed their intention to kill him waited menacingly,¹⁹¹ or flee to a refuge in the east or west,¹⁹² with the risk that the city would be attacked in retaliation.¹⁹³ Fearing for his life, Smith initially crossed the Mississippi River to go into hiding.¹⁹⁴ But pleadings from his wife and close friends, and a charge of cowardice, persuaded him to return and submit to trial.¹⁹⁵ His attorney, James Woods, arranged for Smith's surrender to state authorities, and he and fifteen others started toward Carthage on the 24th, only to find that Captain Dunn, acting on the governor's orders, wanted him to return to Nauvoo to encourage the Saints to surrender the arms given them by the state.¹⁹⁶ [p.149]

In Nauvoo, Smith said that he was going to Carthage "like a lamb to the slaughter."¹⁹⁷ He was aware of great risks, but his actions and statements afterward made it clear that he expected to remain among the living. His brother, who had argued that they should surrender to authorities, said, "Let us go back and put our trust in God, and we shall not be harmed," a belief Joseph shared.¹⁹⁸ Stopping at a plural wife's house en route out of Nauvoo, Smith spoke with some uncertainty but not despair. He said, "If I never see you again, or if I never come back remember I love you."¹⁹⁹ He saw his death as a possibility, not an inevitability.

The party reached Carthage at midnight, and Smith was placed under guard at the Hamilton Hotel. On the following morning Governor Ford marched the Mormon prisoner in front of the Carthage Greys, who showed their mounting hostility by threatening him with their rifles.²⁰⁰

At the preliminary hearing on the perjury charge, Smith met the legal requirements and might have been released, but his enemies acted quickly and charged him with treason, thus requiring that he be held over in Carthage.²⁰¹ Tensions continued to mount when Smith was placed in the jail at Carthage and clusters of armed men whispered their hatred of the Mormon leader.²⁰² Smith sensed his danger and told his lawyer, James Woods, on the 27th that he would "never live to see another sun."²⁰³

Yet he still hoped to survive. He wrote to his wife shortly after eight o'clock in the morning:

There is no danger of any "exterminating order." Should there be a mutiny among the troops, (which we do not anticipate, excitement is abating,) a part will remain loyal, and stand for the defence.…There is one principle which is Eternal, it is the duty of all men to protect their lives…whenever…occasion requires, and no power has a right to forbid it.…Should the last extreme arrive, but I anticipate no such extreme, but caution is the parent of safety.²⁰⁴

When he learned two hours later that he would not accompany the governor to Nauvoo to urge the Mormons to keep the peace, as planned,²⁰⁵ he was not dismayed. He wrote to Emma: "I just saw that the governor is about to disband his troops,—all but a guard to protect us and the peace.—and come himself to Nauvoo and deliver a speech to the people. This is right as I suppose."²⁰⁶ When two more hours had passed he addressed a letter to lawyer Browning: "Myself [p.150] and brother Hyrum are in jail on [a] charge of treason, to come for examination on Saturday morning 29th inst. and we request your professional services at that time."²⁰⁷ Smith had underestimated the intensity of personal hatred toward himself and his people. Thomas Sharp would later write that a "Committee of Safety" in Carthage had already determined upon "summary execution" of Joseph and Hyrum.²⁰⁸ They had to await their opportunity. After Governor Ford dismissed the troops at noon on the 27th, and militiamen from Green Plains and Warsaw, disappointed that they had not been led in an attack on Nauvoo,²⁰⁹ stopped at a crossroads to consider their alternatives, Sharp argued that now was the time to join together and rid themselves of the brothers Smith. At this some turned back, unwilling to kill men who were incarcerated and helpless. Others marched toward the jail, faces blackened, intent on murder. They were assured by a note from the captain of the Carthage Greys on guard that they would not meet serious opposition. Arriving at the jail, they brushed aside the few men stationed there and rushed up the stairs to the room where Joseph and Hyrum Smith with two apostles were held.²¹⁰

The accused, trapped inside, tried to hold the door shut, but some of their assailants managed to shoot into the room, killing Hyrum with a shot through the head. Joseph ran to the window, hoping for an escape, but armed men below fired at him as others did so from the door. The prophet was struck with four musket balls and fell out of the window to the ground below.²¹¹ Then one of the assassins stabbed him with a bayonet, making sure of the work.²¹²

The men who committed the cold-blooded murder of the Smith brothers were militia men who despised Joseph for his military pretense and politicos who feared the continuation of Mormon political power. They justified the killings as self defense, appealing to the American revolutionary tradition, saying that the prophet had placed himself above the law.²¹³ This was the same charge Mormons leveled against their tormentors. The murderers hoped that by killing the Smiths it would cause the Saints to dissolve their gathering and their political maneuvering.²¹⁴ But they misjudged the resiliency of the Mormon people.

Of the dissenters who had stirred the wrath against Smith to a fever pitch, the evidence is contradictory as to whether any were at the jail at five o'clock. The Laws and Foster were in town that morning, but Law said that they left and were in Fort Madison by the afternoon.²¹⁵ Others claimed to have seen them at the jail.²¹⁶ There [p.151] or not, William Law approved of the murder. He said that at the end the Smiths "knew no mercy…[and] they found none." He said that the man he had once sustained as a prophet of God had one aim—"to demoralize the world, to give it to Satan, his master." Ignoring his own part in swearing the writs which brought Smith to Carthage, he said, "God stopped him in his mad career & gave him to his destroyers." Law concluded, "He claimed to be a god, whereas he was only a servant of the Devil, and as such he met his fate.'"²¹⁷ Whether or not he came to the jail, Law, by transforming Joseph Smith from a god to a devil, eased his guilt for the part he played in the murderous affair. [p.153]