USA > Illinois > Hancock County > History of Hancock County, Illinois, together with an outline history of the State, and a digest of State laws > Part 33
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SEC. 14. All ordinances passed by the City Council shall, within one month after they shall have been passed, be published in some newspaper printed in the city, or certified copies thereof be posted up in three of the most public places in the city.
SEC. 15. All ordinances of the city may be proven by the seal of the corporation, and when printed or published in book or pamphlet form, purporting to be printed or published by anthority of the corporation, the same shall be received in evidence in all courts or places without further proof.
SEO. 16. The Mayor and Aldermen shall be conservators of the peace within the limits of said city, and shall have all the powers of Justices of the Peace therein, both in civil and criminal cases, arising under the laws of the State; they shall, as Justices of the Peace within the limits of said city, perform the same duties, be governed by the same laws, give the same bonds and security as other Justices of the Peace, and be commissioned as Justices of the Peace in and for said city by the Governor.
SEC. 17. The Mayor shall have exclusive jurisdiction in all cases arising under the ordinances of the corporation, and shall issue such process as may be necessary to carry said ordinances into execution and effect; appeals may be had from any decision or judgment of said Mayor, or Aldermen, arising under the city ordinances, to the Municipal Court, under such regulations as may be presented by ordinance, which Court shall be composed of the Mayor, or Chief Justice, and the Aldermen as Associate Justices, and from the final judgment of the Municipal Court to the Circuit Court of Hancock County, in the same manner as appeals are taken from the judgments of Justices of the Peace: Provided, That the parties litigant shall have a right to a trial by a jury of twelve men in all cases before the Muni- cipal Court. The Municipal Court shall have power to grant writs of lutbeas corpus in all cases arising under the ordinances of the City Council.
SEC. 18. The Municipal Court shall sit on the first Monday of every month, and the City Council at such times and places as may be prescribed by city ordinance, special meetings of which may, at any time, be called by the Mayor or any two Aldermen.
SEC. 19. All processes issued by the Mayor, Aldermen or Municipal Court shall be directed to the Marshal, and in the execution thereof he shall be governed by the same laws as are or may be prescribed for the direction and compensation of constables in similar cases. The Marshal shall also perform such other duties as may be required of him under the ordinances of said city, and shall be the principal ministerial officer.
SEC. 20. It shall be the duty of the Recorder to make and keep accurate records of all ordinances made by the City Council, and of all their proceedings in their corporate capacity ; which records shall at all times be open to the inspection of the electors of said city, and shall perform such other duties as may be required of him by the ordinances of the City Council, and shall serve as Clerk of the Mu- nicipal Court.
SEC.21. When it shall be necessary to take private property for opening, widen- ing, or altering any public street, lane, avenue or alley, the Corporation shall make a just compensation therefor to the person whose proper y is so taken, and if the amount of such compensation can not be agreed upon, the Mayor shall cause the same to be ascertained by a jury of six disinterested freeholders of the city.
SEC. 22. All jurors impaneled to inquire into the amount of benefits or dama- ges that shall happen to the owners of property so proposed to be taken, shall first be sworn to that effect, and shall return to the Mayor their inquest in writing, signed by each juror.
SEC. 23. In case the Mayor shall at any time be guilty of a palpable omission of duty, or shall willfully and corruptly be guilty of oppression, mal-conduct, or partiality in the discharge of the duties of his office, he shall be liable to be indicted in the Circuit Court of Hancock county; and on conviction he shall be fined not more than two hundred dollars, and the Court shall have power, on the
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
recommendation of the jury, to add to the judgment of the Court, that he be removed from oflice.
SEC. 24. The City Council may establish and organize an institution of learn- ing within the limits of the city for the teaching of the arts, sciences and learned professions, to be called the "University of the City of Nauvoo;" which institution shall be under the control and management of a Board of Trustees, consisting of a Chancellor, Registrar, and twenty-three Regents, which Board shall thereafter be a body corporate and politie, with perpetual succession, by the name of the " Chancellor and Regents of the University of the City of Nauvoo," and shall have full power to pass, ordain, establish and execute all such laws and ordinances as they may consider for the welfare and prosperity of said University, its officers and students; Provided, That the said laws and ordinances shall not be repug- nant to the Constitution of the United States or of this State; and, Provided, also, That the Trustees shall at all times be appointed by the City Council, and shall have all the powers and privileges for the advancement of the cause of education which appertain to the trustees of any other college or university of this State.
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 offi- cers of said Legion, and constitute the law-making department, with full powers and authority to make, ordain, establish and execute, all such laws and ordinan- ces, 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 Gov- ernor 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 defense and the execution of the laws of the State, or of the United 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.
SEC. 26. The inhabitants of the " City of Nauvoo" are hereby exempt from working on any road beyond the limits of the city; and for the purpose of keep- ingthe streets, lanes, avenues and alleys in repair, to require of the male inhabit- itants of said city, over the age of twenty-one and under fifty years, to labor on said streets, lanes, avenues and alleys, not exceeding three days in each year; any person failing to perform such labors when duly notified by the Supervisor, shall forfeit and pay the sum of one dollar per day for each day so neglected or refused.
SEC. 27. The City Council shall have power to provide for the punishment of offenders, by imprisonment in the county or city jail, in all cases when such of- fenders shall fail or refuse to pay the fines and forfeitures which may be recovered against them.
SEC. 28. This Act is hereby declared to be a public act, and shall take effect on the first Monday of February next.
Approved, December 16, 1840.
CITY ORDINANCES.
And we present below a few of the ordinances passed from time to time by the City Councils of Nauvoo:
AN ORDINANCE
Regulating the mode of proceeding in cases of habeas corpus before the Munici pal Court:
SECTION 1. Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of Nauvoo, That in all cases where any person or persons shall at any time hereafter be arrested or under arrest, in this city, under any writ or process, and shall be brought before the Municipal Court of this city, by virtue of a writ of habeas corpus, the Court shall in every such case have power and authority, and are hereby required to examine into the origin, validity and legality of the writ or process, under which such arrest was made; and if it shall appear to the Court upon sufficient testi- mony, that said writ or process was illegal, or not legally issued, or did not proceed from the proper authority, then the Court shall discharge the prisoner from nuder
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
said arrest; but if it shall appear to the Court that said writ or process had issued from proper authority, and was a legal process, the Court shall then proceed and fully hear the merits of the case upon which said arrest was made, upon such evidence as may be produced and sworn before said Court; and shall have power to adjourn the hearing, and also issue process from time to time, in their discre- tion, in order to procure the attendance of witnesses, so that a fair and impartial trial and decision may be obtained in every case.
SEC. 2. And be it further ordained, That if upon investigation it shall be proven before the Municipal Court that the writ or process has been issued either through private pique, malicious intent, religious or other persecution, falsehood or misrepresentation, contrary to the Constitution of the United States or of this State, the said writ or process shall be quashed, and considered of no force or effect, and the prisoner or prisoners shall be released and discharged therefrom.
SEC. 3. And be it also further ordained, That in the absence, sickness, debility or other circumstances disqualifying or preventing the Mayor from officiating in his office, as Chief Justice of the Municipal Court, the Aldermen present shall appoint one from amongst them to act as Chief Justice or President pro tempore. SEC. 4. This ordinance to take effect and be in force from and after its passage. HYRUM SMITH,
Vice-Mayor and President pro tempore.
Passed August 8, 1842. JAMES SLOAN, Recorder.
AN ORDINANCE CONCERNING MARRIAGES. .
SECTION 1. Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of Nauvoo, That all male persons over the age of seventeen years, and females over the age of fourteen years, may contract and be joined in marriage; Provided, in all cases where either party is a minor, the consent of parents or guardians be first had.
SEC. 2. Any persons as aforesaid wishing to marry, or be joined in marriage, may go before any regular minister of the gospel, Mayor, Alderman, Justice of the Peace, Judge, or other person authorized to solemnize marriages in this State, and celebrate or declare their marriage in such manner and form as shall be most agreeable, either with or without license.
SEC. 3. Any person solemnizing a marriage as aforesaid, shall make return thereof to the City Recorder, accompanied by a recording fee of fifty cents, within . thirty days of the solemnization thereof ; and it is hereby made the duty of the Recorder to keep an accurate record of all such marriages. The penalty for a violation of either of the provisions of this ordinance, shall be twenty dollars, to be recovered as other penalties or forfeitures.
JOHN C. BENNETT, Mayor.
Passed Feb. 17, 1842. JAMES SLOAN, Recorder.
-The foregoing, it will be observed, abrogates a law of the State, which requires a license to be obtained from the County Court. The second section was a mere scheme to put money into the pockets of the Recorder; and no penalty for its infraction could have been enforced by law, as every person solemnizing a marriage is required by State law to make return to the County Clerk, and when that is done the law is fulfilled.
Here is an ordinance investing the " Prophet, Seer and Revelator," and President of the Church of Zion, with all the rights, duties, responsibilities and emoluments-aye, emoluments-belonging to the liquor traffic:
AN ORDINANCE
For the health and convenience of travelers and other persons.
SECTION 1. Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of Nauvoo, That the Mayor of the city be and is hereby authorized to sell or give spirits, of any
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
quantity, as he in his wisdom shall judge to be for the health, comfort or conven- ience of such travelers or other persons as shall visit his house from time to time. JOSEPH SMITH, Mayor. Passed Dec. 12, 1843. W. RICHARDS, Recorder.
AN EXTRA ORDINANCE
.
For the extra case of Joseph Smith and others.
[Preamble recounting Smith's difficulties with Missouri omitted.]
SECTION 1. Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of Nauvoo, Accord- ing to the intent and meaning of the Charter, for the " benefit and convenience" of Nauvoo, that hereafter if any person or persons shall come with process, demand or requisition, founded upon the aforesaid Missouri difficulties, to arrest said Joseph Smith, he or they shall be subject to be arrested by any officer of the city, with or without process, and tried by the Municipal Court, upon testimony, and if found guilty, sentenced to imprisonment in the city prison for life, which convict or con- victs can only be pardoned by the Governor, with the consent of the Mayor of said city. *
JOSEPH SMITH, Mayor.
Passed Dec. 8, 1843 W. RICHARDS, Recorder.
Another of similar purport:
AN ORDINANCE
To prevent unlawful search or seizure of person or property, by foreign process' in the City of Nauvoo.
SECTION 1. Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of Nauvoo, To pre- vent kidnapping, illegal arrests of persons, or unlawful searches for property, that all writs issued out of the city shall, before they are executed within the limits of the city, be examined by and receive the approval and signature of the Mayor of said city on the back of said process, and be served by the Marshal of said city.
SEC. 2. And be it further ordained, That every officer who shall execute, or attempt to execute, any process as aforesaid, without first obtaining the approval and signature of the Mayor of said city, as specified in the first section of this ordinance, shall be subject to a fine of not less than five dollars nor more than one hundred dollars, or imprisonment not less than one month nor more than six months in the city prison, or both, as a breach of ordinance to be tried before the Municipal Court of said city. JOSEPH SMITH Mayor.
Passed Dec. 21, 1843. WILLARD RICHARDS, Recorder.
AMENDMENT.
SEC. 3. Be it ordained by the City Council of the City of Nauvoo, That noth- ing in the foregoing ordinance shall be so construed as to prevent, hinder, orthwart the designs of justice, or to retard the civil officers of the State or county in the discharge of their official duties; but to aid and assist them within the limits of this city. JOSEPH SMITHI, Mayor.
Passed Jan. 10, 1814. WILLARD RICHARDS, Recorder.
These two ordinances were so glaringly illegal and offensive, that it was deemed necessary to repeal, or at least make a show of repeal- ing them. That was done in this wise,-a repeal which re-enacts their chief features, only slightly varying the penalty:
AN ORDINANCE
Entitled "An ordinance to repeal certain ordinances therein mentioned."
Whereas, An ordinance entitled "An ordinance for the extra case of Joseph Smith and others," passed December 8, 1843, and, Whereas, the ordinance entitled
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
"An ordinance to present unlawful search and seizure of person and property by foreign process in the city of Nauvoo," passed December 21, 1843, have had their desired effect in preserving the peace, happiness, persons or property of the citizens of Nauvoo, according to their intent and meaning; therefore,
SEO. 1. Be it ordained by the City Council of the city of Nauvoo, That the aforesaid ordinances are hereby repealed.
SEO. 2. And be it further ordained, that nothing in the first section of this ordi- nance shall be so construed as to give license or liberty to any foreign officer, or other person or persons, to illegally disturb the peace, happiness or quiet of any citizen of said city, any ordinance to the contrary notwithstanding, under a penalty of not less than five hundred dollars, or imprisonment six months in the city prison.
JOSEPH SMITH, Mayor.
Passed February, 1844. WILLARD RICHARDS, Recorder.
The foregoing ordinances are copied verbatim from the Times and Seasons and the Nauvoo Neighbor, the official and recognized organs of the Church and city. Want of room forbids the copying of a number of other ordinances passed by the City Council, exem- plifying the peculiar genius of that honorable body for governing a city.
In concluding this chapter on Mormon affairs in Hancock county we throw together a number of items omitted in the course of the narrative, of more or less importance as parts of a complete history.
THE KINDERHOOK PLATES.
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The above are fair representations of two of the six plates of cop- per, held together by a small ring, which were dug from a mound at Kinderhook, Pike county, Illinois, by Mr. Wiley, a merchant of that place, about the year 1843. They were brought to Nauvoo, and exhibited among the Mormons, as well as at other places in the county, and regarded by the Saints as proofs of the authentic- ty of the Book of Mormon. The writer hereof saw and "hefted "
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
them, at the time, but is now unable to tell what became of them. They are probably deposited in some museum, where they should be, unless the angel who guided Mr. Wiley in procuring them, or- dered them replaced in the mound. Whether the prophet ever undertook their translation, we are not informed.
" SONS OF DAN."
" Both John and Orson Hyde believed in and doubtless knew of the existence of the Danite Band. The former, in his work on Mormonism, published ten or twelve years after that people left Hancock county, states thatin 1833, in Missouri, a " death society" was formed under the direction of Sidney Rigdon ; that its first captain was David Patten, one of the Apostles, known as Capt. Fearnaught ; and that its object was to " punish the obnoxious." They had some trouble to find a suitable name. " Daughters of Zion," was first adopted, but dropped, from its inappropriateness. " Genesis xlix, 17, furnished the name they finally assumed. The verse is quite significant : 'Dan shall be a serpent by the way, an adder in the path that biteth the horse's heels, so that his rider shall fall backward.'" And Hyde continues: ""'The Sons of Dan ' was the style adopted; and many have been the times they have been adders in the path, and many a man has fallen backward and has been seen no more."-[Stenhouse, p. 104.
From " Sons of Dan," they came to be known to the Gentiles as the " Danite Band." Brigham Young himself furnishes full con- firmation, as quoted by Stenhouse from the Deseret News, vol. 7, page 143:
" If men come here and do not behave themselves, they will not only find the Danites, whom they talk so much about, biting the horse's heels, but the scoundrels will find something biting their heels. In my plain remarks, I merely call things by their own names."
It is due to the Mormons to say, that in all their publications, they have steadily denied the existence of any such organization among them.
BEASTS IN THE LAND OF PROMISE.
The country (America) to which these " Wandering Jews," described in the Book of Mormon, were directed, was entirely nnin- habited. But " there were beasts in the forests of every kind," -among the rest the ox. Here is revealed a fact in natural history of which even Cuvier was ignorant. Oxen have heretofore been supposed to exist only in countries inhabited by man; but here they were found running wild in the forests of America !
WILLIAM W. PHELPS.
This man, notorious among the faithful at Nauvoo as one of the most blindly obsequious followers of the prophet, was a printer by
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
trade, and published at Independence the Evening and Morning Star. He was a ready writer, but usually dealt in the " hifalutin " style. He was supposed . to have been often employed by Joseph to adorn his compositions. For these many acts of kindness, his patron is said to have had a revelation in his favor, that he should live till Jesus came. The Salt Lake papers report his death in that city on March 7, 1872, aged over 80 years.
THE TITLES OF THE TWELVE,
As given by W. W. Phelps, and published in the Times and Seasons, in 1841 :
Brigham Young-The Lion of the Lord.
Parley P. Pratt-The Archer of Paradise.
Orson Hyde-The Olive Branch of Israel.
Willard Richards-The Keeper of the Rolls.
John Taylor-The Champion of Right. William Smith-The Patriarch of Jacob's Staff.
Wilford Woodruff-The Banner of the Gospel.
George A. Smith-The Entablature of Truth.
Orson Pratt-The Gauge of Philosophy.
John E. Page-The Sun-Dial, and
Lyman Wight -- The Wild Rum of the Mountains.
THE PROPHET AS A LINGUIST.
How he became a linguist is beyond comprehension, seeing he was so entirely ignorant of his own native English tongue. But he was fond of parading his acquirements in that respect before his wondering followers. In the Times and Seasons of May 1, 1843, we find over his signature a learned dissertation on the derivation of the name " Mormon: "
It has been stated that this word was derived from the Greek word Mormo. This is not the case. There was no Greek or Latin upon the plates from which I, through the grace of God, translated the Book of Mormon. Let the language of that book speak for itself. On the 523d page of the fourth edition, it reads :
"And now behold we have written this record according to our knowledge in the characters which are called among us the Reformed Egyptian, being handed down and altered by us, according to our manner of speech; and if our plates had been sufficiently large, we should have written in Hebrew; but the Hebrew hath been altered by us also; and if we could have written in Hebrew, behold ye would have had no imperfection in our record; but the Lord knoweth the things which we have written, and also that none other people knoweth our language; therefore he hath prepared means for the interpretation thereof."
Here, then, the subject is put to silence; for "none other people knoweth our language," therefore the Lord, and not man, had to interpret, after the people were all dead. * : *
* We say from the Saxon, good; the Dane, god; the Goth. goda; the German, gut; the Dutch, goed; the Latin, bonus; the Greek, kalos ; the Hebrew, tob; and the Egyptian, mon. Hence, with the addition more, or the contraction mor, we have the word Mormon, which means literally more good.
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HISTORY OF HANCOCK COUNTY.
AND ANOTHER.
In a correspondence with James Arlington Bennett, a " swell- head " relative of Dr. John C. Bennett's, residing at Arlington House, near New York city, the prophet made this display of his learning :
Were I an Egyptian, I would exclaim Jah-oh-eh, Enish-go-on-dosh, Flo-ces-Flos- is-is (O, the Earth! the power of attraction, and the moon passing between her and the sun); a Hebrew, Haueloheem yenau; a Greek, O'theos phos esi; a Roman, Dominus regit me; a German, Got gebe uns das licht; a Portugee, Senhor Jesu Christo e libordade; a Frenchman, Dieu defend le droit; but as I am, I give God the glory, and say, in the beautiful figure of the poet :
Could we with ink the ocean fill ; Was the whole earth of parchment made, And every single stick a quill, And every man a scribe by trade,- To write the love of God above Would drain the ocean dry ; Nor could the whole upon a scroll Be spread from sky to sky.
That beat Arlington. He had been appointed to some office in the Nauvoo Legion, and he had had some thought of coming to Illinois, and through the prophet's influence being elected Gov- ernor. But he never came.
AND STILL ANOTHER
of those grand displays is given in "Gen. Joseph Smith's Appeal to the Green Mountain Boys." This effort was published in the Nauvoo Neighbor about the last of Jan., 1843. It was an address " To the Freemen of the State of Vermont, the brave Green Mountain Boys, and honest men." The burden of it was a recital of his sufferings in Missouri, and a call for aid in obtaining redress for the same, but whether by the sword and bayonet, or moral suasion, is not stated. He starts ont by stating that he was born and raised in Vermont; that his father fought in the Revolution, etc., and after a rehearsal of Missouri outrages, and other matters, he injects the following learned paragraph :
Were I a Chaldean, I would exclaim : "Keed'-naob ta maroon le-hoam elauhay augh deyshemayaugh yah aur kan ion gua abadoo, yabadoo ma-ar'guan bomen tehoat shemayaugh elah." (Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, they shall perish from the earth, and from these heavens.) An Egyptian : "Sa e eh-ni." (What other persons are those ?) A Grecian : " Diabolos bassileuei." (The Devil reigns.) A Frenchman : " Messieurs sans Dieu." (Gentlemen without God.) A Turk : " Ain sheurs." (The fountain of light.) A German : "Sie sind unferstandig." (What consummate ignorance !) A Syrian : " Zanbok." (Sacrifice.) A Spaniard : " Il sabio muda conscio, il nescio no." (A wise man reflects, a fool does not.) A Samaritan : "Sannau." (O Stranger !) An Italian : "O tempa! O diffidanza!" (O the times! O the diffidence ! ) A Hebrew: "Antoub ail rancy." (Thon God seest me.) A Dane: " Hoad tidende ? " (What tidings ?) A Saxon: "Hwart riht! " (What right !) A Swede : " Hvad skilla!" (What skill !) A Polander : "Nav-yen-shoo-bah poa na Jesu Christus." (Blessed be the name of Jesus Christ.) A Western Indian : "She-mo-kah, she-mo-kah, ough-ne-gah." (The white man, O the white man, he very uncertain.) A Roman : "Procol, o procol este profani." (Be off, be off, ye profane.) But as I am, I will only add: " When the wicked rule, the people mourn."
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