The trial, held at Carthage, proved to be little more than a pro forma hearing, and it was only a side trip to the jail that had any important significance for Clayton. On the morning of September 24 he left Nauvoo with a group of about fifty men. Several, including Clayton, were planning to surrender to the sheriff, expecting their trial to be perfunctory. When they arrived in Carthage the court was not ready, so the group went to the jail where the murder took place. An examination of the ball holes in the walls convinced Clayton that the Carthage Greys, ostensibly standing guard outside, had actually shot at the prisoners inside the jail. The two survivors of the massacre, John Taylor and Willard Richards, told the story of what happened and pointed to the positions the prisoners took to defend themselves. ``It filled me with melancholy feelings,'' Clayton wrote, and indeed it must have been dr
amatic for him as he seemed to relive the moments of Joseph's death. After returning to the courthouse, Clayton and eleven others were placed under arrest and went on trial. In a kind of comic-opera proceeding, the sole witness against them confessed that his affidavit was sworn out on the basis of rumor. They were quickly discharged and returned home by 6:30 in the evening. Clayton had little to complain of so far as his own confrontation with the law was concerned.
[Fillerup, Robert C., compiler; William Clayton Nauvoo Diaries and Personal Writings, A chronological compilation of the personal writings of William Clayton while he was a resident of Nauvoo, Illinois. http://www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/clayton-diaries]
[source: Fillerup, Robert C., compiler; William Clayton Nauvoo Diaries and Personal Writings, A chronological compilation of the personal writings of William Clayton while he was a resident of Nauvoo, Illinois. http://www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/clayton-diaries]
No comments:
Post a Comment