Chapter XXVI. Historical Landmarks

Charter of Nauvoo. The Legion. Douglas' Certificate. First City Election. First City Council, etc. A Unique Bill. Joseph's Military Commission. General Order No. I. The ' American Mohamet. ^fi '

GENERAL ORDER NO. I THE AMERICAN MO- HAMET.

Now rose Nauvoo — the beautiful — to the glory of the second Zion of the saints.

Says the record, under date of December 16th, 1840: "This day the charters of the 'city of Nauvoo,' the ' Nauvoo Legion,' and the ' University of the city of Nauvoo,' were signed by the Governor, having previously passed the House and Senate."-!

This charter was voluminous in detail and specific in its provisions, according to the inhabitants of Nauvoo all rights and privileges then pertaining to< other cities in Illinois. In section twenty-five of the act of incorporation is the specific charter of the afterwards famous " Legion." It is as follows:

"Sec. 25. The City Council may organize the inhabitants of said city, subject to military duty, into a body of independent military men, to be called the ' Nauvoo Legion,' the court martial of which shall be composed of the commissioned officers of

said Legion, and constitute the law-making department, with full powers and authority to make, ordain, establish, and execute all such laws and ordinances as may be considered necessary for the benefit, government and regulation of said Legion ; provided said court martial shall pass no law or act repugnant to, or inconsistent with, the Constitution of the United States, or of this State ; and provided also that the officers of the Legion shall be commissioned by the Governor of the State. The said Legion shall perform the same amount of military duty as is now or may be hereafter required of the regular militia of the State, and shall be at the disposal of the Mayor in executing the laws and ordinances of the city corporation and the laws of the State, and at the disposal of the Governor for the public defence and the execution of the laws of the State or of the LTnited States, and shall be entitled to their proportion of the public arms ; and provided also that said Legion shall be exempt from all other military duty."

The charter was duly attested by Stephen A. Douglass, then Secretary of State; and thus may be said to have commenced the singular relationship of Douglass with the Mormons, which resulted in his being made a Senator of the United States by the potent unity of their votes.

The Prophet, commenting upon the charter, says: "The city charter of Nauvoo is of my own plan and device. I concocted it for the salvation of the church, and on principles so broad that every honest man might dwell secure under its protective influence without distinction of sect or party." \

On February ist, 1841, occurred the first municipal election in Nauvoo, when the following persons were elected by majorities ranging from 330 to 33'/ votes: Mayor, John C. Bennett; Aldermen, Win. Marks, Samuel H. Smith, Daniel H. Wells, Newel K. Whitney; Councilors, Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, Sidney Rigdon, Charles C. Rich, John T. Barnett, Wilson Law, Don Carlos Smith, John P. Greene, Vinson Knight.

Two days previously Joseph had been elected sole trustee for the church. This being an act creating said office, the purview of its functions are doubtless exactly set forth in Joseph's notice of such election to the County Recorder of Hancock County, which states :

"At a meeting of the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints* at this place [Nauvoo], on Saturday, the 30th day of January, a. d. 1841, I was elected sole Trustee for said church, to hold my office during life (my successors to be the First Presidency of said church), and vested with plenary powers, as sole Trustee in Trust for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to receive, acquire, manage or convey property, real, personal, or mixed, for the sole use and benefit of said Church, agreeably to the provisions of an act entitled, ' An Act concerning Religious Societies,' approved Feb. 6th, 1835."

On Wednesday, February 3d, the City Council of Nauvoo organized, and their first public act thereafter was the passage of the following generously worded resolution, which was framed and presented by Joseph :

" Resolved by the City Council of Nauvoo, that the unfeigned thanks of this community be respectfully tendered to the Governor, Council of Revision, and Legislature of the State of Illinois, as a feeble testimonial of their respect and esteem for noble, high-minded, and patriotic statesmen, and as an evidence of gratitude for the signal powers recently conferred, and that the citizens of Quincy be held in everlasting remembrance for their unparalleled liberality and marked kindness to our people, when in their greatest state of suffering and want."

An ordinance organizing the Nauvoo Legion wras passed the same day, and on the following day a court martial of the officers of the State Militia within the city of Nauvoo elected Joseph Lieutenant-General of the Legion.

On Saturday, March 1st, the Prophet secured the passage of the following unique bill, drafted by himself, and entitled, "An ordinance in relation to Religious Societies : "

Sec. 1. Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of Nauvoo that the Catholics, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, Latter-day Saints, Quakers, Episcopalians, Universalists, Unitarians, Mohammedans, and all other religious sects and denominations whatever, shall have free toleration, and equal privileges in this city; and should any person be guilty of ridiculing and abusing, or otherwise depreciating another, in consequence of his religion, or of disturbing or interrupting any religious meeting within the limits of this city, he shall, on conviction thereof before the Mayor or Municipal Court, be considered a disturber of the public peace, and fined in any sum not exceeding five hundred dollars, or imprisoned not exceeding six months, or both, at the discretion of said Mayor or Court.

"Sec. 2. It is hereby made the duty of all municipal officers to notice and report to the Mayor any breach or violation of this or any other ordinance of this city, that may come within their knowledge, or of which they may be advised ; and any officer aforesaid is hereby fully authorized to arrest all such violators of rule, law, and order, either with or without process."

Here is Joseph's military commission :

Thomas Carlin, Governor of the State of Illinois, to all to whom these presents shall come : Greeting:

Know ye that Joseph Smith, having been duly elected to the office of Lieutenant-General, Nauvoo Legion, of the Militia of the- State of Illinois, I, Thomas Carlin, Gov. of said State, do commission him Lieutenant-General of the Nauvoo Legion, to take rank from the 5th day of Feb.,1841. He is, therefore, carefully and dilligently to discharge the duties of said office, by doing and performing all manner of things thereunto belonging; and I do strictly require all officers and soldiers under his command to be obedient to his orders; and he is to obey such orders and directions as he shall receive, from time to time, from the commander-in-chief, or his superior officer.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, and caused the great seal of State to be hereunto affixed. Done at Springfield, this 10th day of March, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and forty-one, and of the independence of the United States the sixty-fifth.

Lyman Trumbull, (l. s.) Secy of State.

By the Governor,

Thomas Carlin.

J

06 LIFE OF JOSEPH THE PROPHET.

It will be observed by the curious that this commission bears the signature of the since famous Lyman Trumbull. Indeed, it is not a little singular how many of the nation's most illustrious men have been, in just such examples, connected with the history of the Mormons. Douglas, however, was the man who figured most prominently during the lifetime of the Prophet.

The following first general order to the Legion, issued by its Lieut-General, embodying an opinion of Judge Douglas, is too valuable a unique of history to be omitted :

Headquarters Nauvoo Legion, ] City of Nauvoo, Illinois, May 4,1841. j General Orders:

Pursuant to an act of the Court Martial, the troops attached or belonging to the Legion will parade at the place of general rendezvous, in the City of Nauvoo, for drill, review, and inspection, on Saturday, the 3d day of July, at half-past nine o'clock, a. m., armed and equipped according to law. At ten o'clock the line will be formed, and the general officers conducted to their posts, under a fire of artillery. The commandants of the 1st and 2d companies, 2d battalion, 1st regiment, 2d cohort, are directed to enroll every man residing within the bounds of their respective commands, and not attached to any other company of the Legion, between the ages of 18 and 45 years, and notify them of their attachment to the service, and their legal liabilities.

As will be seen by the following legal opinion of Judge Douglas, of the Supreme Court of the State of Illinois, than whom no man stands more deservedly high in the public estimation as an able and profound jurist, politician, and statesman, the officers

and privates belonging to the Legion are exempt from all military duty not required by the legally constituted authorities thereof. They are, therefore, expressly inhibited from performing any military services not ordered by the general officers or directed by the court martial :

City of Nauvoo, Illinois, May 3, 1841. General Bennett.

Dear Sir: — In reply to your request, I have examined so much of the Nauvoo City Charter and Legislative Acts as relate to the Nauvoo Legion, and am clearly of opinion that any citizen of Hancock County, who may attach himself to the Nauvoo Legion, has all the privileges which appertain to that independent military body, and is exempt from all other military duty, as provided in the 25th section of the City Charter, and cannot, therefore, be fined by any military or civil court for neglecting or refusing to parade with any other military body, or under the command of any officers who are not attached to said Legion. The language of the laws, upon this subject, is so plain and specific as to admit of no doubt as to its true meaning and intent. I do not consider it necessary, therefore, to enter into an argument to prove a position which is evident from an inspection of the laws themselves.

I am, very respectfully, your friend,

S. A. Douglas.

The Legion is not, as has been falsely represented by its enemies, exclusively a Mormon military association, but a body of citizen soldiers, organized (without regard to political preferences or religious sentiments) for the public defence, the general good, and the preservation of law and order — to save the innocent, unoffending citizen from the iron grasp of the oppressor, and perpetuate and sustain our free institutions against misrule, anarchy, and mob violence. No other views are entertained or tolerated.

# ■* # T;ne militia companies of Hancock Co., and citizens generally, are respectfully invited to unite with the Legion, and partake of its privileges.

* * * The officers and troops of the Legion are directed to treat with proper respect and decorum all other officers and troops in the service of this State, or of the United States.

Officers are ordered to treat their troops with marked respect; and while they discharge their

duties with promptitude and boldness as officers, they must not forget or neglect to observe the requisites of gentlemen. * * *

Joseph Smith,

Lieut-General.

But the State of Missouri was not satisfied to leave the Prophet and saints in peace in the asylum of Illinois, which State at that period granted them generous refuge. Here is the beginning of the new record of persecution, which Mas at last fated to close with the martyrdom, when a Governor (Ford) came into power too ready to assist Missouri, and when the people of the hitherto friendly State also grew jealous of the rising power of- the Mormons.

Under date of June 4th, 1 841, says Joseph, "I called on Governor Carlin at his residence in Ouincy. During my visit with the Governor I was treated with the greatest kindness and respect ; nothing was said about any requisition having come from the Governor of Missouri for my arrest. In a very few hours after I had left the Governor's residence, he sent Thomas King, Sheriff of Adams Co., Thomas Jasper, a constable of Ouincy, and some others, as a posse, with an officer from Missouri, to arrest me and deliver me up to the authorities of Missouri."

But Joseph obtained a writ of habeas corpus, and, on a hearing before Judge Douglas, was discharged. His counsel on that occasion drew so vivid a picture of the persecutions and sufferings of the saints as to draw tears from many present, including Judge Douglas himself. " Great God ! " said his counsel,

O. H. Browning, in closing, "have I not seen it? Yes ; my eyes have beheld the blood-stained traces of innocent women and children, in the drear winter, who had traveled hundreds of miles barefoot through frost and snow, to seek a refuge from their savage pursuers. 'Twas a scene of horror sufficient to enlist sympathy from an adamantine heart. And shall this unfortunate man, whom their fury has seen proper to sacrifice, be driven into such a savage land, and none dare to enlist in the cause of justice? If there was no other voice under heaven ever to be heard in this cause, gladly would I stand alone, and proudly spend my last breath in defence of an oppressed American citizen."

Joseph now began to be spoken of by the "enemy" as a military prophet, and all sorts of reports as to his intentions of conquest flew through the land. Hence from this time to his death the journals, at home and abroad, styled him the " American Mohamet."

The reader, by this time, will appreciate that the life of this wonderful man is something more than a mere record of historic events. There is in it a marvelous subject and a personality making it to be a divine drama such as the ages have scarcely, if ever, witnessed before. Therefore let us leave for a while the merely historic thread to take a more comprehensive view of this " drama of the Gods," embodied in him and his wondrous subject and : hemes, and centering around him — as an archangel from the skies, come down to execute on earth the will and purposes of the heavens !