| 874 privilege to withdraw from the church, and remarked that the matter was perfectly understood between him and the heads of the church; and that he had resigned the Mayor's office and should resign the office he held in the Legion, but as there was a court martial to be held in a few days Joseph Smith desired that he would wait until that was over.
I was in the City Council on the 19th day of May last-I there heard him say what has been published concerning the teachings of Joseph Smith, and of his own course. I afterwards met him in company with Col. Francis M. Higbee, he then stated that he was going to be the candidate, (meaning candidate for the Legislature) and Joseph and Hyrum Smith were going in for him: said "you know it will be better for me not to be bothered with Mayor's office, Legion, Mormon, or any thing else." During all this time if he was under duress, or fear, he must have had a good faculty for concealing it, for he was at liberty to go and come when and where he pleased, so far as I am capable of judging. I know that I saw him in different parts of the city, even after he had made these statements, transacting business as usual, and said he was going to complete some business pertaining to the Mayor's office; and I think did attend to work on the streets.
I was always personally friendly with him, after I became acquainted with him. I never heard him say any thing derogatory to the character of Joseph Smith, until after he had been exposed by said Smith, on the public stand in Nauvoo.
DANIEL H. WELLS
July 22, A. D. 1842.
Sworn to, and subscribed before me a Justice of the Peace, in and for the City of Nauvoo, in said county, this 22d day of July, 1842.
GUSTAVUS HILLS, (L. S.)
J. P. & Alderman.
Daniel H. Wells, Esq., is an old resident in this place, and is not a Mormon.
The whole of these affidavits are given by gentlemen of the first respectibility [respectability], of unquestionable character, and of known reputation and veracity, and can of course be relied upon; and what light do they represent Bennett in, but that of a perjured wretch, a graceless vagabond, and a mean, vascillating [vacillating], unprincipled villian [villain], and a disgrace to human society; and if their testimonies, and the testimony of the City Council, cannot be relied upon, then indeed are we in a poor case;-corrupt, fallen, and dishonored,-But John C. Bennett is not the man to prove us so; we must have different testimony to his, and that of his partners in crime, to convict us of evil.
As John C. Bennett and the Sangamo Journal have called upon several persons, in this city, to come out and make disclosures, relative to the things about which they have been writing; they have responded to the call, and publish the following:-
CERTIFICATE OF ELIAS AND F. M. HIGBEE.
MR. EDITOR-
Sir, From a perusal of the St. Louis papers, I find from an article signed J. C. Bennett, stating that all who are friends to Mr. Joseph Smith he considers his enemies:-as a matter of course then, I must be one, for I am and have been for a long time the personal friend of Joseph Smith; and I will here say that I have never yet seen or known any thing against him that I should change my mind. It is true many reports have been and are put in circulation by his enemies for political or religious effect, that upon investigation are like the dew before the morning sun, vanish away, because there is no real substance in them.
Could Dr. Bennett expect any man acquainted with all the circumstances, and matters of fact which were developed both here and from abroad, respecting his conduct and character, previous to his leaving this place, for one moment to believe him-I answer NO! he could not. And all his affidavits, that came from any person entitled to credit, (I say entitled to credit, because some there are who are not entitled to credit, as Dr. Bennett very well knows) are in amount nothing at all, when summed up, and render no person worthy of death or bonds.
F. M. Higbee's knowledge concerning the murder of a prisoner in Missouri, I am authorized to say, by F. M. Higbee that he knows of no such thing--that no prisoner was ever killed in Missouri, to the best of his knowledge. And I also bear the same testimony, that there never was any prisoner killed there, neither were we ever charged with any such thing, according to the best of my recollection.
ELIAS HIGBEE.
July 22, 1842.
This is to certify that I do not know of the murder of any prisoner in Missouri, as above alluded to. F. M. HIGBEE.
July, 22, 1842.
CERTIFICATE OF MISS PAMELA M. MICHAEL.
Nauvoo, July 25, 1842.
Inasmuch as J. C. Bennett has referred the people to me for testimony against Pres. Joseph Smith, I take this opportunity to state before the public that I know nothing derogatory to his character, either as a christian, or a moral man.
Mr. Bennett made use of my name without my knowledge or consent. PAMELA A. MICHAEL.
(page 874) |
