Joseph Smith and the 1834 D. P. Hurlbut Case
2005; Brigham Young University; Volume: 44; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
ISSN
2167-8472
Autores Tópico(s)Archaeology and Natural History
ResumoJoseph Smith, the Latter-day Saint Prophet, was not a lawyer by training, but he became well acquainted with the court system in New York, Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois during his brief lifetime. Through his encounters with the law, he developed a distinct view of the law's prospect for delivering justice. At first, Smith had a firm belief that, through faith and God's assistance, he would find justice. He was willing to go before the courts to present his complaints with confidence that he would ultimately prevail against all challenges. But after 1837, when his enemies began assailing him with numerous vexatious lawsuits, he learned he could not rely on courts for his protection and rights. Important in Joseph Smith's legal experience was the April 1834 case of Ohio v. Doctor Philastus Hurlbut, Joseph's first appearance in the courts of Ohio and a rare occasion on which he took the initiative in a judicial action. In December 1833, Hurlbut, an excommunicated Latter-day Saint, had threatened publicly to kill Smith in Kirtland, Ohio. Coming in the midst of a wider persecution of the Saints in Geauga County, Ohio, during the winter of 1833-34, and occurring a short time after the Latter-day Saints in Missouri had been expelled from their Jackson County homes, this threat was one the young President of the Church was not willing to let pass. He filed an official complaint with Geauga County authorities, requesting them to prevent Hurlbut from carrying out his threat. As the prosecution proceeded during the first four months of 1834, Smith recorded his prayers for deliverance in his daily journal, revealing his strong belief that the Lord would fill the courts with the spirit of justice. Previous historical treatments of Ohio v. Hurlbut have focused primarily on Hurlbut's anti-Mormon activities and have commented only
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