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Transcript

After spending a number of months in prison in 1838 and 1839, Joseph Smith and his fellow prisoners are allowed to escape, and they make their way to Nauvoo. But Missouri will continue to haunt Joseph Smith throughout his life. Part of that haunting comes through a number of extradition attempts made by Missouri in an attempt to get Joseph Smith back to Missouri for trial. Lilburn Boggs, governor of Missouri, issues a requisition for Joseph Smith's extradition in 1840 and 1841. And the arresting officers can't find Joseph Smith. He knows that the arrest is coming, and he goes into hiding. During this period, Joseph introduced the teaching and practice of baptism for the dead. There is a great account from Lucy Mack Smith when she says that at this time, Joseph Smith comes to his father, Joseph Smith Sr., who is very sick, and Joseph tells him, "The Missourians are not going to catch me at this moment, and also the living can be baptized for the dead." Lucy Mack Smith says that Joseph Smith Sr. was very happy to hear both of those things and then asked if someone could be baptized for Alvin. And Hyrum Smith is baptized fairly soon after that. So the development of the teaching of baptism for the dead sort of goes hand in hand with these extradition attempts. The next year, in 1841, Joseph Smith on that occasion is arrested. He petitions for a writ of habeas corpus. This demands that he is taken before a local justice so the justice can determine the legality of the writ. Stephen A. Douglas is the justice in this case, and he determines that the arresting writ is invalid, and Joseph is allowed to be released.

Missouri’s First Attempt to Extradite Joseph Smith

Description
Historian Jordan T. Watkins explores the first attempt to have Joseph Smith extradited from Missouri to Illinois in 1841.
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