EP 21 Jesse Perse Harmon Pt 5: 🥶 Alpheus 🤠 Posse 🚢 & The Maid Of Iowa

Family Search: Jesse Perse Harmon 🔗 

After the 1842 assassination attempt on Lilburn W Boggs, life in Nauvoo would never be the same. My work as police sergeant became increasingly complicated. Conspirators seemed to come out of the woodwork from the community itself. Protecting President Joseph Smith Jr. became a nonstop task day & night. We rode hundreds of miles in a posse of Nauvoo Legion cavalry to retrieve him from illegal arrest in Dixon, Illinois. The implosion of our community from forces inside and outside of her was imminent. We did our best to enjoy the small moments, as hell was breaking loose and our lives were being sanctified by the persecutions that rained down on us. 

Transcript

(Jesse) Well lookie there. You came back. It’s nice to see you again. Come on in. We are just having supper. Anna, look who’s here.

(Anna) Hello there. I am kinda surprised you came back…Jesse can be a talker.

(Jesse) Mhm. After 23 years of marriage Anna definitely knows my ability to chew the fat. Speaking of chewing, have a seat right there. 

Ansil, can you pass the taters and meat for our guest? Thank you son….lemme see, where was I, oh yeah, once again I am still Jesse Perse Harmon. This here is part 5 of my story. Here are the headlines of my life so far:

I was born on August 11, 1795, in the Vermont Republic. 

I was 15 when my mother died.

My brother Martin and I fought in the war of 1812.

Martin was mortally wounded at Lacolle Mill, and I buried him at Little Chézy (SHErZY), NY in April of 1814

(Jesse) what else am I missing?

(Sophronia) father, what about surviving that British cannonball attack? 

(Ansil) I like that bedtime story when it’s thundering outside.

(Anna) You 10 year old junior legion boys might be tough enough for that story Ansil, but it reminds your mama how close I came to not meeting your father. Thanks to that intervention from God Jesse and I were married in April of 1819. And in the fall of 1837 Jesse moved us to Kirtland, Ohio. We didn’t stay long there though did we dear?

(Jesse) No, we sure didn’t Anna. By the winter of 1838 we were scraping out a living in Springfield, Illinois.

(Sophronia) How long have we been here in Nauvoo father?

(Jesse) 2 years this autumn i reckon. (Chair scooting) that was an incredible meal Anna…and your bread is wonderful Sophronia.

(Ansil) I scrubbed the potato’s father.

(Jesse) No wonder they tasted so good Ansil. Thank you for helping mother.

(Ansil) Are you working tonight father?

(Jesse) That I am Ansil. Someone’s gotta work the night duty to keep Nauvoo peaceful. (Chair scooting) I will be back in a moment dear, I am going to walk our guest out to the buggy….after you.

(Anna) thank you for coming to supper

Boggs Assasination attempt

Are you familiar with a man named Daniel Boone? American frontiersman? explorer & settler of Kentucky? adopted Shawnee? Folk Hero legend? Strangely enough Mr Boone has a progenitor connection to this story. You see in 1823, Daniel Boone’s granddaughter, Panthea Grant Boone married a man by the name of Lilburn W. Boggs. Yeah, the same Boggs whose only term as governor was fraught with funding scandals, and sloppy handling of Iowa border issues. In 1838 Boggs became infamous for his “Mormon extermination order” that resulted in hostilities, $70.1 Million dollars in time adjusted property losses, the bloodshed of innocent men, women, and children, and the forced expulsion of 12k Mormons at gunpoint.

Boggs’s order will stand infamous in American history as the only formal and legal document issued by a state's governor, explicitly sanctioning extermination, violence, and displacement of a religious group. It is a particularly dark chapter in U.S. history and a unique case of legally sanctioned religious persecution.

SHOCKINGLY, Lilburn W Boggs’s extermination order remained in effect for One Hundred and Thirty Eight years…and wasn’t officially rescinded until Missouri Governor Christopher S. Bond declared it, an injustice, in 1976.

Less than a year after the extermination order, Joseph Smith Jr had negotiated and purchased over 20,000 acres from land speculator Isaac Galland. Of this acreage, over 3,000 of it sat along the eastern shores of the Mississippi River at a place called Commerce, Illinois. With a little sweat equity, this protruding knoll became not just livable, but lovely.  

In 1839 the swamps were drained, land plots surveyed, and roads were laid out. 

In 1840 the area was renamed Nauvoo. 

By 1842 an estimated 12-15,000 people were now calling the City Beautiful, their home. 

1842 was also an election year for a senate seat back in Jackson County, Missouri. Boggs was now running for this senate seat against several violent men. 

On the rainy evening of May 6, 1842, an assailant fired a single buckshot round at Lilburn Boggs as he sat reading the newspaper near a window in his home. 

Writer Monte B. McLaws, in the Missouri Historical Review, wrote that “while there was no clear finger pointing to anyone, Governor Boggs was running for election against several violent men, all capable of the deed…”

As any good “crisis opportunist”, the defamed and unrepentant John C. Bennett, took opportunity to make maliciously slanderous statements about Joseph to the newspaper. I spent time around Mayor Bennett. We thwarted his assassination attempt on Joseph during a Nauvoo Legion military exercise in 1842, while judge Stephen A. Douglas was present. Joseph’s wife Emma had an unsettled intuition about Bennett that was spot on. He was a highly polished and fast talking scoundrel. John was so self serving and two faced, he woulda kissed himself given the chance. John claimed in his letter to the newspaper, that Joseph had offered a cash reward for Bogg’s assassination. John’s comments, though blatant lies to those who knew him, found a listening ear in Sherriff Reynolds’ need for a perpetrator, a chase, and an arrest. 

The sheriff conveniently deduced that the assailant who shot Boggs was a close friend of Joseph’s, by the name of Orrin Porter Rockwell. A man history fondly refers to as Joseph’s destroying angel. 

Turkey Hunt & Justice:

In the autumn of 1842, my brother Alpheus & I decided to enjoy a father & son outing with our 10 year old boys Ansil & Henry. It was nice to be making a brief escape from the demands of our harvest season duties. The fall mornings along the Mississippi River are cool and the air is crisp & fresh. The region around Nauvoo seems to be bustling with wildlife. This morning we are riding horseback towards the outskirts of town on a hunt for some wild turkeys.

Jesse: Let’s tie up here Alpheus…we can walk the boys across the meadow there and do some hunting in those fields beyond the trees…(whispering) ok boys, we’ll need to watch where we step, and whisper or give hand signals if we need to communicate. The toms are a bit skittish right now. 

Alpheus: (whispering) Is that a new coat Jesse? Did you get that from Grant & Watts place on Main Street…the tailor by the Masonic Hall?

Jesse: Yes & Yes….in a round about way. Anna was tired of my drifter look. She said I hadn’t a new coat since Kirtland. I couldn’t remember actually. So she had it tied up in brown paper and string for my 47th birthday?

Alpheus: Birthday? I thought we agreed to discontinue those. You’re libel to get a gift wrapped pine box from William Huntington’s place if you don’t slow those down. 

Jesse: Ha. Funny you should mention that, Brother Huntington saw me wearing the coat the other day and said it was way too purdy to bury me in. Said he had a mind to take it outta my coffin if’n i was expired before he was. (Quietly Laughing)

Alpheus: Them sextons got a morbid sense of humor…God bless em for what they do…Speaking of expiring, I read that the ol demon hisself, Lilburn Boggs is actually recovering. Of all the bad luck. 

Jesse: Getting shot in the head couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. (They chuckle) That stinky water snake Bennett has sure been implicating Joseph by pushing his Rockwell theory into the newspapers. If Porter were involved, Boggs would’ve been beyond a Dr’s care and in need of a sexton.

Jesse: You boys got eyes on that Tom? Go ahead and take him Henry. 

Henry: Missed him.

Alpheus: We’ll get the next one, Henry. You’re doing just fine. Remember to let your breath out slowly as you squeeze the trigger. 

Jesse: (continuing the conversation) I’ve been thinking about that whole mess with Boggs. I mean, I’m not saying Porter wasn’t capable or willing to send Lilburn straight to hell...There’s at least 12,000 Mormons who have motive for the attempt. One thing we know about Porter, he doesn’t make “attempts.”

Alpheus: Yeah, that man is... efficient, let’s say. 

Jesse: Exactly. Porter doesn’t leave loose ends. I’ve spent time with him on the police force and running security for President Smith. Porter’s precise, calculated...he’s dedicated to his craft in a way that’ll earn him that destroying angel merit badge and leave historians with no doubt.

Alpheus: Dedicated to his craft? I like that. I was just sure and hopeful he would die. His own brother said he was as good as dead, and one newspaper even ran his obituary…if only. 

Jesse: Kinda hypocritical of Lilburn to be in favor of mob justice, until the barrel is pointed at him.

Alpheus: whichever one of you is taking the shot outta get on it. 

Ansil & Henry: I got it, Pa!…We got it! We both shot. 

Jesse: You sure did, Ansil & Henry. Good job, boys. Let’s pick up your prize and cross that clearing and circle down into that hollow….see if we can’t scare up another hen before we head back to the horses.

Jesse: It’s good to have a brother I can complain to. Now where were we in our tirade Alpheus?

Alpheus:
Boggs made a lot of enemies. It’s surprising and disappointing that Bogg’s is recovering. I am still holding out for gangrene or getting dragged from his boots in a stirrup. It’s truly unfortunate that he’s still alive. 

Jesse:
(sighs) i know what you mean. His death would have simplified things a bit. The only thing I can conclude is that hell doesn’t want him down there, any more than we want him up here.

By the end of August 1842, the lies John C. Bennett had published earlier that summer were being reprinted in newspapers across the country. This further endangered Joseph’s life and began damaging the church’s reputation, making proselytizing increasingly difficult. In response, a special conference was called by President Joseph Smith Jr. in August of 1842. At this conference a good many were called to go on missions and rebut Bennett's lies and disabuse the public mind. Alpheus and I were amongst those called…I had been blessed with the financial means to fund both of us on our journeys. 

We finished what we could of our harvests that fall of 1842, bid farewell to our families, and left on our separate ways towards the Wisconsin Territory. That was the last time I would see my brother Alpheus Harmon Sr. alive. 

According to an account by Henry William Bigler, “while preaching in Fulton County, Illinois….an elder came along from Nauvoo, his name was Alpheus Harmon or Harmin. We continued our journey together through Illinois into the north part of Indiana also the edge of Michigan. We then turned our course into Ohio. Not meeting with any opportunity to preach, and growing pretty late in the fall season, he (Alpheus) concluded to return home (perhaps felt discouraged) to Nauvoo. So we shook hands and parted, leaving our blessings on each other, he for Nauvoo and I to continue alone once more on my mission.…”

From the Journal of Nauvoo resident WIlford Woodruff:

“It was reported in Nauvoo that the winter weather came on suddenly and severely. On Tuesday, November 15, and exceedingly severe snowstorm hit the area. The worst ever known in the area at this season of the year. Many were caught without a sufficient supply of firewood.” 

“On Wednesday, November 16, the snowstorm continued. An exceedingly cold day. Both man and beast suffering exceedingly.” 

“Thursday, November 17, cold weather still continues. Many are suffering for the want of wood and …. The early winter has caught many unprepared.”

“The late autumn weather is so bitterly cold that the mighty Mississippi River has frozen over, William W. Phelps and i were able to cross on the ice.”

It appears that as Alpheus and our 23 year old nephew Asa (fondly referred to as Orsey) as they traveled across the open prairie between Carthage and Nauvoo in mid November 1842, this tremendous storm engulfed them. They could not see in the blinding snow and wind. Then the drifts became so high that their wagon and oxen could not move. It appears that the ever selfless Alpheus Harmon, bundled his nephew Orsie in all their extra blankets and wraps to make him as comfortable as possible. Alpheus then cut the oxen loose to find shelter for themselves. He then made a heroic attempt to find help for them as he traveled some 12 or 14 miles back toward Carthage, when being without Chart or compass, and as the snow fell so thick and fast that no landscape or marker or roads was visible. Lost and bewildered, overcome with hunger and cold, he fell asleep, laying on his face. By Saturday, November 19, they found Alpheus frozen to death, within two hundred yards of a house. 

Orsie was not found until the following Monday, November 21. He had wandered nearly 2 miles from the wagon before he perished. The oxen were found in a grove on the border of the prairie. 

The Middlebury People's Press, out of Middlebury, Vermont, recounted the event as follows:

“….We learned from the Southport (W.T.) Telegraph, that Alpheus Harmon, a Mormon preacher – one of the 300 commissioned by Joe Smith to spread the doctrines of Mormonism: and his nephew, Orsey Harmon, we’re frozen to death on Thursday, the 17th of November, on the Prairie between Carthage and Nauvoo, about 7 miles from the latter place. They were traveling across the Prairie towards Nauvoo with an ox team and wagon, and it is supposed they became bewildered in the storm. Mr. Alpheus Harmon was found on Saturday… and his nephew, a young man, was not found until the following Monday – it appears he had wandered some 2 miles from the wagon before he perished. The elder had just made the tour of Indiana and was returning to the city of the latter-day saints, where he had a wife and nine children anxiously awaiting his return; but while yet a short space intervened between him and his domestic fireside, death arrested him on his homeward journey.”

“….Hearing the news of [my brothers] death, I returned to Nauvoo.”

(Hand written account by JPH)

1843

By March 6, 1843 Sheriff Reynolds had apprehended Porter Rockwell for the Boggs assassination attempt, while Porter was visiting St. Louis Missouri.

In late May of that same year, Porter briefly escaped from the Independence jail where he was being held.

The weather in June of 1843 was excessively warm. The surface of the earth is considerably parched. The poor crops are drooping for want of rain and the Mississippi water levels are falling rapidly. This warmer weather made the ponds around Nauvoo very tempting, especially for ambitious young boys. On a Sunday afternoon, 10 year old George Carr one of my sister Sarah Carr’s orphaned grandchildren, was lured by this early summer scorching heat into the cool waters of one of these ponds and drowned on the 18th of June 1843. His 8 year old sister Sarah Naomi is now the only remaining member of their family. 

On June 17, 1843, Missouri Governor Thomas Reynolds coaxed our Illinois governor Thomas Ford to jointly issue an arrest warrant for President Joseph Smith on accusations of treason. 

Resident of Nauvoo, Wilford Woodruff recorded that….

…During the evening of Sunday the 18th of June letters were received from Judge Adams of Springfield, [Illinois], informing us that the governor of Missouri had made another demand for Joseph Smith at the hands of the governor of Illinois… two messengers were immediately dispatched to inform President Joseph SMITH of the above facts, as he was currently with his wife Emma, visiting her sister 200 miles to the north in Dixon, Illinois.

Hyrum (Danny): ride with speed brother Clayton.

William Clayton (Daniel): That we will do Hyrum.

Stephen Markham (Charlie): I will take a ball for Joseph if it comes down to that.

Hyrum: I know you would, Brother Markam. …Make HASTE on your journey gentlemen!

Stephen Markham(Charlie): We will spare no flesh, brother Hyrum!

Hyrum: God be with you.

William: God be with all of us! 

Needless to say, a very anxious week followed as we waited word from William Clayton & Stephen Markham. Then on the afternoon of Sunday, June 25, Hyrum Smith urgently requested that the Masonite fraternity to meet him at the lodge room….

Hyrum: “thank you for meeting on such short notice. William Clayton & Stephen Markham made it the 200 miles to Dixon by Wednesday. By Friday, the sheriff of Jackson County, Missouri and Wilson of Carthage had come upon President Joseph Smith, and taken him on surprise [in Dixon], presented each of them a pistol to his breast, and swore they would kill him if he made any resistance. Brother Markham, [true to his word], went to his assistance and they presented their pistols to him also and threatened his life, but  [willing to take a bullet for Joseph], Stephen [charged the men to either disarm them or force them to discharge their pistols on him]. They again pointed their pistols to Joseph’s breast and said they would kill him if Markham approached them. To save the life of Joseph he stopped. They then took Joseph into a carriage and started for Missouri. (Grumbling and angry sounds) I know. I know. There’s more….They got about 10 miles and they were stopped by the inhabitants who swore they should not carry Joseph Smith any farther without giving him the chance of law in the writ of habeas corpus, and they took out a writ against the sheriff Reynolds and Wilson of Carthage.

Brother Hyrum called for volunteers…”[Gentlemen…..gentlemen, There has been an intervention by God, but they are not yet out of danger.] Joseph is asking [myself] Major General Wilson Law to bring a force [from the Nauvoo Legion] to prevent his “being kidnapped into Missouri. Do I have any volunteers?” 

Jesse:

There was two or three hundred came out to go. The whole city flocked together. They made a choice of such as they wished. A company of near 100 horsemen [in a cavalry division, volunteered to go immediately by land]…and about 75 or 100 [foot soldiers were to travel] on board of the maid of Iowa.

Major General Wilson Law:

Gentlemen, Brethren, Men of the Nauvoo Legion….Today we ride to defend our very faith and protect our prophet. Once again, Joseph stands accused of a baseless charge, one we know too well is a mere cloak for persecution.

The Nauvoo Militia has made ready, we have taken up the cause to ensure no hand carries Joseph across that state line. We stand here today because we are loyal to Joseph, to our homes, and to the freedoms upon which this land was built.

You are the strength of Nauvoo, the backbone of this Legion! Today you ride with strength and precision; you ride with unity and purpose, and with unwavering resolve that Joseph will not be kidnapped into the dark shadow of Missouri.

Today we stand for justice & liberty, in the face of religious tyranny. With all your might and all our faith, you will bring Joseph back safely to the Saints of Nauvoo!

You outta know by now that us Harmon boys dont shirk a fight, and we are eager to serve wherever called. Papa had served in the revolutionary war, and my brother and I in the war of 1812. I made hasty arrangements at home and left with the cavalry division about 8 o’clock [that Sunday] evening.

Before dawn the next day the 100 some odd soldiers aboard the Maid of Iowa departed the shores of Nauvoo and traversed down the [Mississippi] River to the mouth of the Illinois [river] and up that river toward Peoria.

Meanwhile I had ridden into the night with the cavalry like our lives depended on it. We reached McQueen's Mills around midnight. Then we divided up into detachments and were directed to spread out riding slightly north and eastward to make sure that no road or path in our direction was left unattended. 

Our detachment left the main body of the camp and started about one a.m., on Monday, the 26th of June, under the command of General Rich. As far as I can remember we had with us: 

C. C. Rich, 

Hosea Stout, 

John Pack, 

Truman R. Barlow, 

James W. Cummings, 

Daniel Carnes, 

(Myself) Jesse P. Harmon, 

Alanson Ripley, 

Stephen Abbott, 

Charles W. Hubbard, 

A. L. Fullmer, 

Joel E. Terry, 

Alfred Brown, 

Dr. Josiah Ells, 

William Edwards, 

Thomas Woolsey, 

Osmon M. Duel, 

Dr. Samuel Bennett,

Brother Babcock, 

Isaiah Whitesides, 

Jesse B. Nichols, 

Stephen Wilkinson, 

Samuel Gulley

…and four or five others, on horses, with one baggage wagon drawn by two horses, 

We had been given instructions to proceed to Peoria, and there cross the Illinois river, and proceed up the east side of the river on the main stage road leading from Springfield to Ottawa. 

Just so you get these timelines into the proper “pony express” perspective, yunz gotta remember that we left Nauvoo Sunday evening at around 8pm. After dividing and dispersing our forces, our division traveled till about three o'clock in the AM Monday morning, then halted for about an hour and put out a guard while the horses rested and grazed. I suppose a few men got predawn power naps. At daybreak we again took up the line of march, and traveled through the day, mostly without a road, and the following night till near daybreak on Tuesday. Being nearly 65 miles out of Nauvoo we halted for an hour just outside of Ellesvilleand then rode through the village just before sunrise as the people were opening their shops.

…and I’ll tell you somethin, we rode hard all that morning. About noon we halted at Kic-a-poo Creek. Ain’t that the funniest name. Sounds like me stumbling through the horse pen late at night. Anywho….Hosea Stout and A. L. Fullmer were sent into Peoria to see Lawyer Charles C. Ballance and obtain what information they could get from him; At about two p.m., we were given orders to cross the Illinois river at Peoria (108 miles from Nauvoo).

Major General Rich:

Jesse, I want you and Alanson (Ripley) to take what supplies you might need and hold up here in Peoria at the steamboat landing along the Illinois River. If our estimates are correct, Cap’n Dan Jones and the rest of our men should be comin on the Maid of Iowa in the next 12-24 hours. 

I need you to:

-Hail em down. 

-Procure what information they have regarding the whereabouts of President Smith.

-Board the vessel with them and proceed north and east to the mouth of Fox River, near Ottawa. It’s about 80 miles up river.

Jesse: Yes Sir

Alanson:  I believe that is the most satisfying sleep I have ever had. After riding in a saddle for nearly 48 hours straight, I think I coulda slept through a stampede of elephants. Is it Wednesday ALREADY?!? Feels like we’ve had a week of Mondays.

Jesse: I don’t think that sleeping juice you drank hindered your dreamland any. We gotta stay alert, so lay off of that stuff this morning brother Ripley.

Alanson: You’re right Jesse….Hopefully we didn’t miss Cap’n Dan Jones passing by here in the night. 

Jesse: I personally dont believe Dan is willing to lose another steamer to the wilds of nighttime river running. 

Alanson: yeah, seems sensible. Especially increasing the risks by navigating into the dark of night with the Nauvoo Legion’s navy division aboard.

Jesse: (laughing) The Nauvoo Naval Forces. I like that brother Riply. Who’d of thought being so far inland, that a city like Nauvoo would have its own navy, and be using it to rescue its mayor. 

 Jesse: well lookie there! I see our steamer coming this way Alanson. Go ahead and give em the signal brother Ripley.

Dan Jones: Cap’n Dan Jones here. On Wednesday, June 28, 1843, we navigated the steamship Maid Of Iowa, up the Illinois River about ten miles. There we found Jesse P. Harmon and Alanson Ripley, who had come from the horsemen with an express instructing the company to proceed to the mouth of Fox River. We took them on board and proceeded on our way.

Dan Jones:

Thursday, the 29th of June

"At the hour of ten ante meridiem, we reached the township of Peru, Illinois, whereupon we encountered Mr. William F. Lane, bearing swift tidings from Brother Charles C. Rich. His report bespoke of a company holding Brother Joseph under their charge, having set forth from Fox River, turning their course directly westward towards a settlement upon the eastern banks of the mighty Mississippi by the name of Shokoquon. Their intent, as was conveyed, was to carry Joseph through the Iowa Territory by this path, thence onward into Missouri, their riverward passage by the Illinois having been thwarted by the presence of my steamship Maid of Iowa blocking the way.

Orders were thereupon issued commanding our return unto Quincy, and there to await further instruction. With alacrity, we commanded the steamboat to 'come about' and steered her prow downstream in the direction of Quincy. 

Upon nearing the confluence of the Spoon River, a new dispatch reached us, bearing this news: Brother Joseph and those who held him captive had been intercepted in Dixon by the local magistracy, who had issued a writ of habeas corpus. Furthermore, word came that Brother Lucien P. Sanger had brought his stage-coach to bear in conveying Brother Joseph thence to Quincy, within the bounds of Adams County. Haste was now MOST pressing, and our course was made with all due speed.

At Spoon River, we disembarked Brethren Alanson Ripley and Jesse Harmon, for they were bidden to travel the eighty-mile expanse by land, their course set for the City of Nauvoo, wherein abides the congregation of the Saints of the Latter Days."

If you’ll pardon a skosh of a backtrack, I just gotta have General Rich give you the skinny on what hoof pounding adventures the remainder of our division had after we parted ways at Peoria to board the Maid Of Iowa, on that Tuesday afternoon of one of the longest weeks of our lives. 

General Rich:

After crossing the Illinois River on Tuesday, our company pressed eastward, reaching the stage road near Washington, a small town about ten miles from Peoria. We rested briefly to feed the horses before resuming our march at dusk. We traveled about ten miles further to Black Partridge Point, where we camped for the night. At first light on the Wednesday, we were back on the road. By noon, we reached Magnolia, a small town where we dined and cared for our weary horses at Captain William Haws' establishment. We continued on and camped near the Illinois River, two miles below Ottawa, having covered over 200 miles in just over two days with the same horses.

Before sunset, I left the company and crossed into Ottawa, where I stayed at Brother Sanger's home. There, I learned that Brother Joseph had been to Pawpaw Grove, but unable to locate Judge Caton, he returned to Dixon, secured another writ of habeas corpus, and was now on his way to Quincy with Lucien Sanger's stage-coach. With this news, I sent orders for the Maid of Iowa to hasten back to Quincy.

By daybreak on (the 29th) Thursday, I rejoined my company and delivered the news. We turned back towards Nauvoo, stopping again at Magnolia for the night, where Captain Haws provided us lodging in his barn. The townsfolk of Magnolia supported our cause, even offering assistance from their artillery company. On (the 30th) Friday, we headed towards the Narrows, four miles above Peoria, recrossed the Illinois River, and camped nearby.

On (the 1st of July) Saturday, we traveled forty miles and camped near a farmhouse, enjoying the luxury of fresh milk that night. 

On Sunday morning we continued onward arriving in La Harpe, where we received the joyous news of Brother Joseph's safe arrival in Quincy and the favorable outcome of his trial. With hearts lifted, we sang, danced, and rode the remaining 24 miles to Nauvoo, grateful to the Lord for His providence and protection."

During the entire journey the heat was extremely oppressive; and as the necessity of the case was very urgent, the horsemen of the cavalry division had not time to sleep. It may be safely said to be one of the most rapid, fatiguing marches that is on record. For a bit of reference: A Pony Express rider typically rode about 75 miles per day, changing horses every 5 to 25 miles along the sections of their daily route. Our cavalry division traveled about 500 miles in seven days. Averaging over 71 miles each day, without fresh horses. 

That’s pert near unbelievable. I mean come on! Can you imagine the tender hooves and rubbery legs of the wearied horse perspective? Or the battle scars of rider vs saddle, with jostled kidneys and keister sores on the south end of a north bound Nauvoo Legionnaire. 

Reaction from Missouri to the failed extradition was swift and negative. Missouri Governor Thomas Reynolds felt the Legion had overreached its authority and demanded Illinois Governor Ford to call out the state militia to arrest Joseph Smith and extradite him to Missouri. Governor Ford did not comply, which increased tension between the two states and infuriated many of the non-Mormon residents of Hancock County. 

A statement of foreshadowing conflict was published from a small newspaper just 17 miles downstream in our own Hancock County, "It will be but a small matter to [gather] volunteers enough here to raze the city of Nauvoo to the ground; if the governor of Illinois fears to deliver up Jo Smith, there will be something serious between the two states.” Thomas C. Sharp, Publisher, Warsaw Signal (Ai Supernal)

Sarah lost her husband Oliver on 17 August 1843, 

In September 1843, a conference in Carthage, Illinois was organized to oppose growing Mormon political power.

The conference believed that Smith had too much power over the Legion and Municipal Court. The conference resolved to resist "peaceably if we can, but forcibly, if we must"; to call on the Missouri Governor to once again demand the extradition of Joseph Smith, and to oppose any politician from any party that would "truckle to the heads of the Mormon clan."

In Nauvoo, the Legion responded by drilling more intensely, requesting Governor Ford to provide more arms to the Legion, and a renewed recruitment push. In direct response to the Carthage conference, the citizenry of Nauvoo passed a resolution affirming Joseph Smith's role as the General, Mayor and Prophet stating, "if he has equals, he has no superiors." The resolution affirmed the professionalism of the Legion as a "well disciplined and faithful band of invincibles" and praised Governor Ford for not extraditing Smith.

In the September 30, 1843, trial against Orrin Porter Rockwell….evidence was never produced, because there wasn’t any. And with the defense of prominent lawyer Alexander Doniphan, a grand jury was unable to indict Rockwell. Adding frustration to accusation, Porter was subsequently convicted of jailbreak, while being held on a charge that couldn’t be proven. 

After being detained for 8 months in the Jackson County Jail, on charges of attempting to assassinate Lilburn W. Boggs, as well as the additional 2 months for attempting to escape, Rockwell was released on December 13, 1843. 

In the bitter cold of that winter, Porter swiftly & quietly made his way out of Independence, Missouri and traveled the 250 miles northeast to Nauvoo. He was free, and this harsh experienced at the hands of the Missourians, would prove to galvanize his very capable loyalty to Joseph and the mormonites for the remainder of his life. Let’s just say that when important things of a questionable nature needed to be done, somehow Porter made it so. 

Upon his arrival to the City of the Latter Day Saints, and somewhat inebriated, Porter found his way unannounced to a Christmas party being hosted by President Joseph Smith.

Jesse:

Hold it there my good man, this gathering is by invitation only….holy sassafras, have you been pickled in Missouri whiskey. Whoa whoa, Don’t you move a muscle or i will deck your halls…

Joseph: Hold on there Officer Harmon. It cant be! 

Porter: Joseph, please pardon my tardiness to your festivities. I’ve been a bit…detained.

Joseph: Well this ain’t no Missourian at all. Praise be to Almighty God!!! Ladies and gentleman…May i have your attention please? Fresh from the grasp of our enemies….I give you a MOST loyal friend, and my personal destroying angel…Orrin Porter Rockwell!!!

Joseph: Goodnight. Thank you for coming. Merry Christmas.

Jesse: Joseph, that was a fine and festive evening. You are always so gracious with your hospitality, even with those who hate you. 

Joseph: Do you hate me brother Harmon?

Jesse: hahahaha well thats not at all what I was referring to…YET I do hate to be leaving you, but my Mrs needs me to keep her warm tonight. 

Joseph: Aaaaah. Subtle Brother Harmon. Thats gotta be the most admirable reason to excuse yourself as I have ever heard. It’s been good to finally have you as a nearby neighbor Jesse. A long time coming. And thank you for restraining this drunken Missourian we fondly refer to as Porter. 

Porter: Sergeant Harmon, before you leave, you’ll want to hear what I have to say to President Smith. 

Jesse: Absolutely Porter

Porter: Joseph, there is a dark plan a brewing to apprehend you. It’s not just the $500 bounty put on your head by Governor Thomas Reynolds or any of the other Tom fooleries we got going on in either state.  One of your closest “friends” is an accomplice to this treachery. It’s just that….

Joseph: I know Porter….thank you. You and Jesse have been tireless at protecting me. “My life is more in danger from some little dough-head of a fool in this city than from all my murderous and inveterate enemies abroad. I am exposed to far greater danger from traitors among ourselves than from enemies without, although my life has been sought for many years by the civil and military authorities, priests, and people of Missouri; and if I can escape from the ungrateful treachery of assassins, I can live as Caesar might have lived were it not for a right-hand Brutus.(History of the Church, vol. 6, p.152.) (History of the Church, vol. 6, p. 164). 

(Jesse Perse Harmon, served as police sergeant from 1843–1846)

Thank you for joining us in part 5 of the life of Jesse Perse Harmon. In the upcoming & final installment of my life, you will experience organized and nationwide espionage against this city of the Latter Day Saints, at some of the highest levels of government, 

…how governor Ford intentionally utilized layered incompetence,

…the first assassination of a presidential candidate, 

…our final days in Nauvoo, and the hasty departure into our unknown futures,

…the heartbreak of losing family members,

…as well as our plight for religious freedoms that ultimately lead me outside of the United States with what remained of my family.