Footnotes
“Emigration Movements,” Millennial Star, Mar. 1842, 2:155; “Emigration,” Millennial Star, Oct. 1842, 3:112; Andrew Jenson, “Church Emigration,” Contributor, Oct. 1891, 441, 444–448.
Latter-day Saints’ Millennial Star. Manchester, England, 1840–1842; Liverpool, 1842–1932; London, 1932–1970.
Jenson, Andrew. “Church Emigration.” Contributor 12, no. 12 (Oct. 1891): 441–450.
No reliable count of Nauvoo’s population during the 1840s exists. Different estimates of the city’s population range from 12,000 to 15,000. In January 1843, for instance, JS estimated the population was about 12,000. Nearly three years later, however, an actual count of city residents reported a population of only 11,057. (Black, “How Large Was the Population of Nauvoo?,” 91–94; JS, Journal, 5 Jan. 1843; “Mobocracy,” Times and Seasons, 15 Nov. 1845, 6:1031; “Nauvoo,” Times and Seasons, 1 Oct. 1842, 3:936.)
Black, Susan Easton. “How Large Was the Population of Nauvoo?” BYU Studies 35, no. 2 (1995): 91–94.
Times and Seasons. Commerce/Nauvoo, IL. Nov. 1839–Feb. 1846.
Godfrey, “Crime and Punishment in Mormon Nauvoo,” 198–212. Available evidence does not suggest higher crime rates in Nauvoo than in surrounding areas with comparable populations, but critics of JS and the church denounced Nauvoo as crime ridden, causing city authorities to try to reassure observers that order reigned there.
Godfrey, Kenneth W. “Crime and Punishment in Mormon Nauvoo, 1839–1846.” BYU Studies 32 (Winter and Spring 1992): 195–228.
“Laws and Ordinances of the City of Nauvoo,” Wasp, 8 Feb. 1843, [1]–[2]. In the Wasp version of the laws and ordinances, section 1 in the second division omits the word “Alley,” which appears in the fair copy of the ordinance. The draft version of the ordinances indicates that that word was later added as an insertion and therefore did not appear in the original version of the ordinance. (“Laws and Ordinances of the City of Nauvoo,” 30 Jan. 1843, Nauvoo, IL, Records, CHL.)
This section expanded on a provision against rioting passed in March 1841. On 14 January 1843, the Nauvoo City Council passed an ordinance that regulated city elections and that included a provision authorizing election officers to preserve order during elections by fining “any person or persons, who shall conduct in a disorderly and riotous manner.” (Minutes, 1 Mar. 1841; Nauvoo City Council Minute Book, 14 Jan. 1843, 135.)
This section’s provisions likely arose out of various court cases based on ordinances only obliquely related to slander. Notably, the previous November, JS had accused Amos Davis of using slanderous language against him. In the absence of a city ordinance broadly outlawing such language, the city based its case against Davis on the 1 March 1841 ordinance titled “An Ordinance in Relation to Religious Societies,” which outlawed “depreciating another in consequence of his religion.” JS claimed that by slandering his character, Davis had deprecated his “moral and religious Character” in violation of the ordinance. Similarly, Thomas Hunter was accused of violating the Nauvoo city ordinance pertaining to religious societies by using “ridiculous and abusive language” toward JS. Although the municipal court convicted both men under the ordinances, the trials made clear the need for a more explicit prohibition against abusive language generally. The new ordinance explicitly prohibited all abusive language, removing the qualifications contained in the previous ordinances. (Complaint against Amos Davis, 29 Nov. 1842; Complaint against Thomas Hunter, 29 Nov. 1842.)