Ep 136 –

Happy new year and welcome to 2019 everybody! I hope your holidays were wonderful, or at least tolerable. That probably depends on how and with whom you spent them. Regardless, I hope you enjoyed yourself.

Let’s go ahead and pick up with the timeline where we left off. Last episode was a memorial dedicated to the celebrated Doctor Frederick G. Williams as he departed our timeline with his untimely death in 1842. We wrapped up 1842 to hopefully start 2019 with a clean slate in 1843.

However, something did happen in December of 1842 that we didn’t discuss last timeline episode, but you’ll see why today. We need to understand that Jo was under a lot of pressure to face the music when it came to his legal status. Not only was he amidst the chaos and turmoil of filing for bankruptcy, but Missouri wanted him extradited so they could try him on the Lilburn Boggs assassination attempt. If they could finally try him on all those old 1838 war charges of arson robbery and high treason, all the better. Governor Carlin of Illinois had sworn out a bounty of $200 on Jo and Pistol Packin’ Porter’s heads to get them arrested and extradited before he left office. Carlin didn’t want the fugitive stain on his record. The Governor of the Iowa territory was complying with Governor Reynolds of Missouri’s requests to have Jo extradited should he be apprehended in Iowa. Nauvoo was the only safe place for Jo while the Nauvoo city government continued to expand the powers of habeas corpus within the city boundaries, but that wouldn’t hold out forever until a state court granted legitimacy to the Nauvoo municipal court rulings that Jo was being held illegally.

Suffice it to say, Jo was in a predicament. Governor Carlin didn’t want to march the Illinois militia to Nauvoo as that would be sending some powerful messages to both the Mormons in Illinois and the Gentiles in the surrounding areas. It may result in a battle. What was Carlin left to do? Use the looming threat of uncertainty surrounding the incoming Governor Thomas Ford as leverage to make Jo conform with the law. Sure, Carlin had been handling the Mormons with kid-gloves. But how would Thomas Ford deal with them? The party nominee before Ford, Adam Snyder, had been the Democrat who curried favor with the Mormons, but he died back in May, meaning Ford had made no such promises. Thomas Ford was a giant unknown to Jo and the Mormons. With so many warrants out for Jo’s arrest, it was pretty well understood that Ford would make extraditing fugitives in his state his first order of business upon taking the office of Governor.

Jo only had one rational decision left that wouldn’t lead to him remaining in hiding, or escalating tensions that may lead to real conflict. This was a long time coming, preparations were necessary.

HoC Vogel 5:192

Saturday December 24, 1842.—At home afternoon. Read and revised my history with Secretary Richards, and walked with him to see sister Lyon who was sick, her babe died a few minutes before our arrival. From there we went to br. [E.J.] Sabine’s to compute expense money for our journey to Springfield, having just borrowed $100 of Nehemiah Hatch for that purpose. While there br. Richards asked if I wanted a wicked man to pray for me? I replied, Yes; if the fervent affectionate prayer of a righteous man availeth much, a wicked man may avail a little when praying for a righteous man. There is none good but one. The better a man is, the more his prayer will avail, like the publican and the pharisee; one was justified rather than the other, showing that both were justified in a degree. The prayer of a wicked man may do a righteous man good when it does the one who prays no good…

Monday, [December] 26.—In the morning held court, and I was afterwards arrested by General Wilson Law, on the proclamation of Governor Carlin, and Elders Henry G. Sherwood and William Clayton went to Carthage to obtain a writ of habeas corpus to take me before the court at Springfield.

Jo had resolved to appear in court at Springfield and gave himself up to be arrested by General Wilson Law. However, they had a 130 mile or 210 km journey ahead of them to get from Nauvoo to Springfield. The journey took nearly 4 days. The morning of the 27th, General Wilson Law transferred Jo to the custody of Dr. White-out Willard Richards, who joined in the company headed for Springfield.

It wasn’t just Jo, Wilson Law and White-out Willard who made the trip though, Jo had an entourage by this point. The company was comprised of Hyrum Sidekick-Abiff Smith, John Taylor, William Marks, Levi Moffit, Peter Haws, Edward Hunter, Theodore Turley, Dr. Tate, Shadrach Roundy, and Lorin Walker. They also accrued Jo’s younger brother, William along the trip when they stayed at his house the night of the 27th. They also met William Clayton and Henry G. Sherwood on their way after they’d made the trip to Carthage to acquire a newly issued writ of Habeas Corpus, from, I assume, Stephen A. Douglas. However, Clayton and Sherwood weren’t successful in attaining said habeas corpus writ. The company continued on in hopes that they’d be alright.

An interesting occurrence happened while staying the night at Crazy Willey Smith’s house. I only take note of it because it was important enough to record during the journey to the people who recorded it, otherwise this would completely slip mention or notice within the historical record.

Jo reported a dream he had that night at his brother’s house.

After retiring I stated that the purifying of the sons of Levi was by giving unto them intelligence that we are not capable of meditating on and receiving all the intelligence which belongs to an immortal state. It is too powerful for our faculties.

Then the intelligence that was poured out over supper must have kicked in because Jo had a pretty wild dream.

Slept with Dr. Richards on a buffalo skin spread upon the floor, and dreamed that I was by a beautiful stream of water, and saw a noble fish which I threw out. Soon after I saw a number more and threw them out. I afterwards saw a multitude of fish and threw out a great abundance, and sent for salt and salted them.

Dream divination is a pointless pursuit, unless the person reporting the dream takes great significance from said dream. Jo lived in a world where his dreams became heavenly visitors, so the simple fact that he had this dream recorded during the journey to Springfield shows that he likely saw real-world significance in his astral state. Who or what do you think Jo saw the fishes were? Was this dream a prophecy in his mind? Why the three different levels of fishes jumping out of the water? Why did he throw them back? Maybe Jo’s inner conflicts were represented by the fish he was throwing back. How many Mormons was he throwing back into the stream and abandoning if he gets extradited to Missouri? As I said, dream divination is pointless, but when the person reporting the dream believes in it, at least it’s worth briefly discussing.

The next day the massive posse of Jo and his bodyguards continued their journey to Springfield. Nothing particularly noteworthy happened during the trip, although it was all recorded and put into the History of the Church. Just one point worth mentioning, Jo and his friends had a hard time finding a place that would admit them. It was winter in Illinois, it was cold. The men needed places to sleep each night. This is a supposed interaction between Jo and a tavern owner.

I went into [a] tavern and plead our cause to get admission. The landlord said he could not keep us for love or money. I told him we must and would stay, let the consequence be what it might, for we must stay or perish. The landlord replied [“]we have heard the Mormons are very bad people and the inhabitants of Paris [Illinois] have combined not to have anything to do with them or you might stay.[“] I said to him, [“]we will stay, but no thanks to you. I have men enough to take the town, and if we must freeze, we will freeze by the burning of these houses.[“] The taverns were then opened, and we were accommodated,…

It seems that interaction alone reveals a lot about Jo’s character. The Mormons had a bad reputation across most of Illinois. The landlord denied serving Jo and his friends for understandable reasons, and Jo threatened the man with burning and pillaging the town if he didn’t admit them. The prophet was stressed at this time and was under arrest, albeit by his best friends, but that doesn’t excuse threatening people with death or complete destruction of all their property because they didn’t give you a place to sleep that night.

The next day when they left the tavern is a bit interesting as Jo had an interaction with General Wilson Law concerning the Sun and the Moon.

General Law asked why the sun was called masculine and the moon feminine? I replied that the root of masculine is stronger, and of feminine weaker. The sun is a governing planet to certain planets, while the moon borrows her light from the sun and is less or weaker.

Yep, Jo the progressive. His answer has roots in magic and occult just as much as it does blatant sexism.

Once the men arrived in Springfield on the evening of the 30th of December, the court had already been hearing the case for 2 days prior. Jo’s legal counsel had been defending him and presenting evidence in his favor in hopes of getting the State court to sustain the ruling of the Nauvoo municipal court that there was no evidence by which to arrest or convict Jo on the assassination attempt of Ex-Governor Lilburn Boggs.

Once Jo was there to represent himself, he spoke at length in the court of what trials he and the Mormons had suffered at the hands of the Missourians. Undoubtedly, he was attempting to gain their sympathies by telling the Mormon persecution narrative version of events. However, the court records from the November 1838 court of inquiry were a matter or public record at this point. The Judge had likely read all of the documents to see what the court of inquiry had found in its investigation, so the arguments that all of the problems Jo was experiencing were purely religious persecution likely didn’t hold water.

Jo, however, did make the case that prior to the court of inquiry, General Clark had acted improperly when he held the court martial and condemned Jo to be shot in the public square of Far West the next morning. The order was objected to by General Doniphan and Jo was instead taken to Richmond for the court of inquiry. Jo made the case that he never acted in the capacity of a military leader and that this court martial was nothing more than General Clark trying to murder the prophet in cold blood.

At the end of this day, Jo petitioned the state court for an official writ of habeas corpus in the matter. The court issued the writ and adjourned until January 5th of 1843 to ascertain the legality of the writ and determine if Jo should be extradited to Missouri or released on the writ. Now, just as we did with the November court of inquiry, I’m going to read extensively from the court documents to determine the outcome of this trial. You’ll find the entire court transcript on the Joseph Smith Papers linked in the show notes.

With Justin Butterfield and Benjamin Stephenson Edwards representing Jo and Josiah Lamborn as attorney general for the state of Illinois, this is how the case proceeded.

This case came before the court upon a return to a writ of habeas corpus, which was issued by this court on the 31st of December, 1842, upon a petition for a habeas corpus on the relation of Joseph Smith, setting forth that he was arrested and in custody of William F. Elkin, sheriff of Sangamon county, upon a warrant issued by the governor of the state of Illinois, upon a requisition of the governor of the state of Missouri, demanding him to be delivered up to the governor of Missouri, as a fugitive from justice; that his arrest, as aforesaid, was under color of a law of the [p. [121]] United States, and was without the authority of law in this, that he was not a fugitive from justice, nor had he fled from the state of Missouri.

Afterwards, on the same day, the sheriff of Sangamon county returned upon the said habeas corpus, that he detained the said Joseph Smith in custody, by virtue of a warrant issued by the governor of the state of Illinois, upon the requisition of the governor of the state of Missouri, made on the affidavit of Lilburn W. Boggs. Copies of the said affidavit, requisition and warrant were annexed to the said return in the words and figures following:

After which the court admitted Lilburn Boggs’ July 20th affidavit calling for the arrest of Jo and Porter Rockwell that started everything which lead to this trial.

The court then admitted the document from Governor Reynolds of Missouri calling on Illinois Governor Thomas Carlin to extradite the fugitives.

Whereas, It appears by the annexed document, which is hereby certified to be authentic, that one Joseph Smith is a fugitive from justice, charged with being accessory before the fact to an assault with intent to kill, made by one O. P. Rockwell, on Lilburn W. Boggs, in this state, and it is represented to the executive department of this state, has fled to the state of Illinois:

Now, therefore, I, Thomas Reynolds, governor of the said state of Missouri, by virtue of the authority in me vested by the constitution and laws of the United States, do by these presents demand the surrender and delivery of the said Joseph Smith to Edward R. Ford, who is hereby appointed as the agent to receive the said Joseph Smith, on the part of this state.

Since Governor-elect Thomas Ford had just taken over the mantle of Governor of Illinois as this proceeding was underway, a requisition by Ford was also admitted to the court as evidence of his compliance with the initial requisition from Governor Reynolds to Governor Carlin concerning the extradition warrant.

Now, therefore, I, Thomas Ford, governor of the state of Illinois, pursuant to the constitution and laws of the United States, and of this state, do hereby command you to arrest [p. 123] and apprehend the said Joseph Smith, if he be found within the limits of the state aforesaid, and cause him to be safely kept and delivered to the custody of Edward R. Ford, who has been duly constituted the agent of the said state of Missouri, to receive said fugitive from the justice of said state, he paying all fees and charges for the arrest and apprehension of said Joseph Smith, and make due return to the executive department of this state, the manner in which this writ may be executed.

Then the attorney general of Illinois, Josiah Lamborn laid out his case that the writ of habeas corpus issued on the 31st of December was not valid and that Jo should be handed constable Edward Ford for the purpose of extradition to Missouri. Lamborn went the route of keeping the authority of the extradition warrant at the state level, while Jo’s counsellors attempted to make the case that this be handled at the federal level because the issue crosses state lines. The purpose of Jo’s counsel making this argument was that Illinois should have the power to determine whether or not an extradition warrant from the governor of another state has any merit. Should the case be dismissed per the prosecuting attorney’s arguments, the state of Illinois had no jurisdiction to rule on the merit of the arrest warrant issued by Missouri state governor Reynolds. If this case could be dismissed, the extradition warrant would stand and Jo’s criminality would be determined in court in the state of Missouri with him in state custody. However, if Jo’s counsel could get the ruling that an arrest warrant from another state could be nullified by a court in the home state, that would set the precedent he needed to walk free and his writ of habeas corpus would stand. It’s a complicated bit of legal trickery, but it was an important question the court was seeking to answer this day in January of 1843.

The case was set for hearing on the 4th day of January, 1843, on which day Josiah Lamborn, attorney general of the state of Illinois, appeared, and moved to dismiss the proceedings, and filed the following objection to the jurisdiction of the court, viz:

“1st. The arrest and detention of Smith was not under or by color of authority of the United States, or of any officers of the United States, but under and by color of authority of the state of Illinois, by the officers of Illinois.

“2d. When a fugitive from justice is arrested by authority of the governor of any state, upon the requisition of the governor of another state, the courts of justice neither state nor federal, have any authority or jurisdiction to inquire into any facts behind the writ.”

Jo’s counsel began their defense by producing several affidavits claiming that Jo was in Nauvoo on the day Lilburn Boggs was shot, and therefore could not be held accountable as he was more than 300 miles away. This was not the argument the state was making, nor was it the charge against Jo. The charge was against Jo as an accessory before the fact, but proving such required a lot of evidence, for which there never was any beyond hearsay. Jo probably never created a letter with his signature telling Pistol Packin’ Porter to do the dastardly deed, especially because Port was illiterate, so any conviction that he did indeed conspire with Port would require evidence that simply didn’t exist. His counsel thought if they could make a strong enough case that Jo was nowhere near Boggs at the time of the assassination attempt that the jury would see collusion as an impossibility. However, many of the affidavits did include the fact that Jo was running military drills with the Nauvoo Legion all that day as well as the next. Kind of sends mixed signals when a person claims “I didn’t command one of my soldiers to murder my greatest rival because I was too busy running military drills.”

After the respective sides of the court made their opening arguments, Jo’s counsel began to contend with the claims of the prosecution by properly making Jo’s case. It was important to their case that Jo had never step foot in Missouri since the assassination attempt, as that would fulfill the requirement of him being a fugitive from Missouri having fled the state. If Jo could prove that he never stepped foot in the state since the assassination attempt, he could not be labeled a fugitive in need of extradition to Missouri. Here are the arguments Justin Butterfield made as Jo’s counsel. I’ve removed the legal citations for ease of reading. If you want the actual laws and statutes invoked by Jo’s counsel, check the show notes and you’ll find what you seek.

1. This court has jurisdiction.

The requisition purports on its face to be made, and the warrant to be issued, under the Constitution and laws of the United States, regulating the surrender of fugitives from justice…

When a person’s rights are invaded under a law of the United States, he has no remedy except in the courts of the United States…

The whole power in relation to the delivering up of fugi [p. 125]tives from justice and labor, has been delegated to the United States, and Congress have regulated the manner and form in which it shall be exercised. The power is exclusive. The state Legislatures have no right to interfere, and if they do, their acts are void…

All courts of the United States are authorised to issue writs of habeas corpus when the prisoner is confined under or by color of authority of the United States

2. The return to the habeas corpus is not certain and sufficient to warrant the arrest and transportation of Smith.

In all cases on habeas corpus previous to indictment, the court will look into the depositions before the magistrate, and though the commitment be full and in form, yet if the testimony prove no crime, the court will discharge ex parte…

The affidavit of Boggs does not show that Smith was charged with any crime committed by him in Missouri, nor that he was a fugitive from justice.

If the commitment be for a matter for which by law the prisoner is not liable to be punished, the court must discharge him….

The Executive of this state has no jurisdiction over the person of Smith to transport him to Missouri, unless he has fled from that state.

3. The prisoner has a right to prove facts not repugnant to the return, and even to go behind the return and contradict it, unless committed under a judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction…

The testimony introduced by Smith at the hearing, showing conclusively that he was not a fugitive from justice, is not repugnant to the return.

The judge presiding over this proceeding, Judge Nathaniel Pope, recognized how important this case really was. At the close of the arguments made by Jo’s counsel and the prosecuting attorney, he delivered a statement from the bench. I’ve decided to read it in its entirety because it really is important to summarize the arguments.

The importance of this case, and the consequences which may flow from an erroneous precedent, affecting the lives and liberties of our citizens, have impelled the court to bestow upon it the most anxious consideration. The able arguments of the counsel for the respective parties, have been of great assistance in the examination of the important question arising in this cause.

When the patriots and wise men who framed our constitution were in anxious deliberation to form a perfect union among the states of the confederacy, two great sources of discord presented themselves to their consideration; the commerce between the states, and fugitives from justice and labor. The border collisions in other countries had been seen to be a fruitful source of war and bloodshed, and most wisely did the Constitution confer upon the National Government, the regulation of those matters, because of its exemption from the excited passions awakened by conflicts between neighboring states, and its ability alone to adopt a uniform rule, and establish uniform laws among all the states in those cases.

This case presents the important question arising under the constitution and laws of the United States, whether a citizen of the state of Illinois can be transported from his [p. 127] own state to the state of Missouri, to be there tried for a crime, which, if he ever committed, was committed in the state of Illinois; whether he can be transported to Missouri, as a fugitive from justice, when he has never fled from that state.

Joseph Smith is before the court, on habeas corpus, directed to the sheriff of Sangamon county, state of Illinois. The return shows that he is in custody under a warrant from the executive of Illinois, professedly issued in pursuance of the Constitution and laws of the United States, and of the state of Illinois, ordering said Smith to be delivered to the agent of the executive of Missouri, who had demanded him as a fugitive from justice, under the 2d section, 4th article of the constitution of the United States, and the act of Congress passed to carry into effect that article. The article is in these words, viz: “A person charged in any state with treason, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice and be found in another state, shall on demand of the executive authority of the state, from which he fled, be delivered up to be removed to the state having jurisdiction of the crime.” The act of Congress made to carry into effect this article, directs that the demand be made on the executive of the state where the offender is found, and prescribes the proof to support the demand, viz: indictment or affidavit.

The reason why the concluding logic doesn’t quite hold is that Jo was not being tried on the old charges of arson robbery and high treason from the 1838 war in Missouri. This arrest and extradition concerned ONLY the assassination attempt of Ex-Governor Lilburn Boggs. Yes, Jo was treasonous while he was in Missouri, but this court wasn’t determining whether or not he was to be extradited on the old charges from 1838, even though the assassination attempt was definitely related to the war in 1838.

The court adjourned and reconvened on the next day, during which, the new Governor of Illinois, Thomas Ford was allowed to enter a statement into the public record.

The court deemed it respectful to inform the governor and attorney general of the state of Illinois, of the action upon the habeas corpus. On the day appointed for the hearing, the attorney general of the state of Illinois appeared, and denied the jurisdiction of the court to grant the habeas corpus.

1st. Because the warrant was not issued under color or by authority of the United States, but by the state of Illinois.

2d. Because no habeas corpus can issue in this case from either the federal or state courts, to inquire into facts [p. 128] behind the writ. In support of the first point, a law of Illinois was read, declaring that whenever the executive of any other state shall demand of the executive of this state, any person as a fugitive from justice, and shall have complied with the requisition of the act of Congress, in that case made and provided, it shall be the duty of the executive of this state to issue his warrant to apprehend the said fugitive, &c.

Governor Ford was using the same line of prosecution as the attorney general was, that this arrest warrant was issued by Governors Carlin and Ford on requisition of the Governor of another state, for which the Illinois Governor was required to honor.

Jo’s attorney then went on to make the point that Habeas Corpus was one of the greatest rights afforded by the Constitution of the United States. The line of argumentation here makes it seem as if the state of Illinois was conspiring against the Mormons to persecute their prophet. This is the point made by Justin Butterfield on behalf of Jo in response to the attorney general’s charge that the case should be handled at the state level in Missouri after Jo is extradited.

In supporting the second point, the attorney general seemed to urge that there was greater sanctity in a warrant issued by the governor, than by an inferior officer. The court cannot assent to this distinction. This is a government of laws, which prescribes a rule of action, as obligatory upon the governor as upon the most obscure officer. The character and purposes of the habeas corpus are greatly misunderstood by those who suppose that it does not review the acts of an executive functionary. All who are familiar with English history, must know that it was extorted from an arbitrary monarch, and that it was hailed as a second magna charta, and that it was to protect the subject from arbitrary imprisonment by the king and his minions, which brought into existence that great palladium of liberty in the latter part of the reign of Charles the Second. It was indeed a magnificent achievement over arbitrary power. Magna Charta established the principles of liberty; the habeas corpus protected them. It matters not how great or obscure the prisoner, how great or obscure the prison-keeper, this munificent writ, wielded by an independent judge, reaches all. It penetrates alike the royal towers and the local prisons, from the garret to the secret recesses of the dungeon. All doors fly open at its command, and the shackles fall from the limbs of prisoners of state as readily as from those committed by subordinate officers. The warrant of the king and his secretary of state could claim no more exemption from that searching inquiry, “The cause of his caption and detention,” than a warrant granted by a justice of the peace. It is contended that the United States is a government of granted powers, and that no department of it can exercise powers not granted. This is true. But the grant is to be found in the 2d section of the 3d article of the Constitution of the United States: [p. 130] “The judicial power shall extend to all cases in law, or equity, arising under this constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties made and which shall be made under their authority.”

Butterfield went on to articulate that this case falls well within the purview of the U.S. constitution, which supersedes any warrant issued by any governor of any state as it’s a provision governing the entire country at the federal level. Butterfield then went on to attack the affidavit by Lilburn Boggs as not having the proper wording which would authorize a proper extradition warrant by the Governor of Illinois. This was the point of technicality the entire defense was building its case on.

This affidavit is certified by the governor of Missouri to be authentic. The affidavit being thus verified, furnished the only evidence upon which the governor of Illinois could act. Smith presented affidavits proving that he was not in Missouri at the date of the shooting of Boggs. This testimony was objected to by the attorney general of Illinois, on the ground that the court could not look behind the return. The court deems it unnecessary to decide that point, inasmuch as it thinks Smith entitled to his discharge for defect in the affidavit. To authorise the arrest in this case, the affidavit should have stated distinctly, 1st. That Smith had committed a crime. 2d. That he committed it in Missouri.

It must appear that he fled from Missouri, to authorise the governor of Missouri to demand him, as none other than the governor of the state from which he fled, can make the demand. He could not have fled from justice, unless he committed a crime, which does not appear. It must appear that the crime was committed in Missouri, to warrant [p. 132] the governor of Illinois in ordering him to be sent to Missouri for trial. The 2d section, 4th article, declares, he “shall be removed to the state having jurisdiction of the crime.”

As it is not charged that the crime was committed by Smith in Missouri, the governor of Illinois could not cause him to be removed to that state, unless it can be maintained that the state of Missouri can entertain jurisdiction of crimes committed in other states.

More than anything this line of argumentation makes the case for the need for an interstate police force. The Judiciary act of 1789 created the federal marshal service that established a police force with federal jurisdiction, but they didn’t have the power to collect information necessary to effectively enforce laws across state lines. Federal marshals could merely arrest somebody in any state when provided the proper federal arrest warrant, but it wasn’t until 1908 when the FBI was founded that a federal investigative agency was put in place to centralize that investigative power into federal-level crimes, which is really what this was. Jo had crossed state lines as a fugitive having escaped prison in 1839 and he’d been charged with accessory to murder before the fact in a state where he didn’t currently reside. That elevated this whole issue to the federal level. Jo’s defense counsel had a case that this should be handled at the federal level. However, because the case was adjudicating the merits of Jo’s writ of Habeas Corpus issued just 6 days prior instead of the legitimacy of the extradition warrant, the counsel was making the argument that the writ of habeas corpus at the federal level superseded the warrants of arrest and extradition issued by the state Governors. Like I said earlier, it’s a complicated bit of legal trickery that could easily have been mitigated by an agency like the FBI, but that wouldn’t exist for more than half a century after this. Given this line of argumentation, Butterfield claims that Illinois determining the legality of a Missouri arrest warrant is unjustified making the analogy of

In the absence of the constitutional provision, the state of Missouri would stand on this subject in the same relation to the state of Illinois, that Spain does to England. In this particular, the states are independent of each other. A criminal, fugitive from the one state to the other, could not be claimed as of right to be given up.

Further stating:

It is the duty of the state of Illinois to make it criminal in one of its citizens to aid, abet, counsel, or advise, any person to commit a crime in her sister state. Any one violating the law would be amenable to the laws of Illinois, executed by its own tribunals. Those of Missouri could [p. 134] have no agency in his conviction and punishment. But if he shall go into Missouri, he owes obedience to her laws, and is liable before her courts, to be tried and punished for any crime he may commit there; and a plea that he was a citizen of another state, would not avail him.

Butterfield then went on to tear apart Boggs’ affidavit. Boggs wasn’t there to make his defense as he was confined to his home still recovering having been shot with three bullets barely half a year prior. You can be certain that if Jo were extradited to Missouri that Boggs would be there in person to testify as to the evidence he supposedly had incriminating Jo in the assassination attempt, but this court in Springfield, Illinois only had his affidavit to go on, which Butterfield was quick to reduce to nothing more than hearsay and accusations without evidence.

 Mr. Boggs having the “evidence and information in his possession,” should have incorporated it in the affidavit, to enable the court to judge of their sufficiency to support his “belief.” Again, he swears to a legal conclusion, when he says that Smith was accessary before the fact. What acts constitute a man an accessary is a question of law, and not always of easy solution. Mr. Boggs’ opinion, then, is not authority. He should have given the facts…Again, the affidavit is fatally defective in this, that Boggs swears to his belief. [p. 135]

The language in the constitution is, “charged with felony, or other crime.” Is the constitution satisfied with a charge upon suspicion?

With the case made that this is a federal issue not to be handled at the state and that the only evidence Governor Reynolds of Missouri had in the case was an affidavit taken nearly 2 months after the fact with absolutely no corroboration, Justin Butterfield was ready to make his concluding remarks.

The affidavit is insufficient—1st. because it is not positive; 2d. because it charges no crime; 3d. it charges no crime committed in the state of Missouri. Therefore, he did not flee from the justice of the state of Missouri, nor has he taken refuge in the state of Illinois.

The proceedings in this affair, from the affidavit to the arrest, afford a lesson to governors and judges, whose action may hereafter be invoked in cases of this character.

The affidavit simply says that the affiant was shot with intent to kill, and he believes that Smith was accessory [p. 137] before the fact to the intended murder, and is a citizen or resident of the state of Illinois. It is not said who shot him, or that the person was unknown.

The governor of Missouri, in his demand, calls Smith a fugitive from justice, charged with being accessary before the fact to an assault with intent to kill, made by one O. P. Rockwell, on Lilburn W. Boggs, in this state (Missouri). This governor expressly refers to the affidavit as his authority for that statement. Boggs, in his affidavit, does not call Smith a fugitive from justice, nor does he state a fact from which the governor had a right to infer it. Neither does the name of O. P. Rockwell appear in the affidavit, nor does Boggs say Smith fled. Yet the governor says he fled to the state of Illinois. But Boggs only says he is a citizen or resident of the state of Illinois.

The governor of Illinois, responding to the demand of the executive of Missouri for the arrest of Smith, issues his warrant for the arrest of Smith, reciting that—“whereas, Joseph Smith stands charged, by the affidavit of Lilburn W. Boggs, with being accessary before the fact to an assault with intent to kill, made by one O. P. Rockwell, on Lilburn W. Boggs, on the night of the 6th day of May, 1842, at the county of Jackson, in the said state of Missouri, and that the said Joseph Smith has fled from the justice of said state, and taken refuge in the state of Illinois.”

Those facts do not appear by the affidavit of Boggs. On the contrary, it does not assert that Smith was accessary to O. P. Rockwell, nor that he had fled from the justice of the state of Missouri, and taken refuge in the state of Illinois.

The court can alone regard the facts set forth in the affidavit of Boggs, as having any legal existence. The mis-recitals and over-statements in the requisition and warrant, are not supported by oath, and cannot be received as evidence to deprive a citizen of his liberty, and transport [p. 138] him to a foreign state for trial. For these reasons, Smith must be discharged.

The case was made, now it was up to Judge Pope to determine whether or not Justin Butterfield made a solid case on behalf of Jo that he should be discharged, or if the attorney general for the state had made a sufficient case to dismiss the trial, resulting in the extradition of Jo to Missouri to answer for the alleged crimes.

At the request of J. Butterfield, counsel for Smith, it is proper to state, in justice to the present executive of the state of Illinois, Governor Ford, that it was admitted on the argument, that the warrant which originally issued upon the said requisition, was issued by his predecessor; that when Smith came to Springfield to surrender himself up upon that warrant, it was in the hands of the person to whom it had been issued at Quincy in this state; and that the present warrant, which is a copy of the former one, was issued at the request of Smith, to enable him to test its legality by writ of habeas corpus.

Let an order be entered that Smith be discharged from his arrest.

And there we have it. Once again, Jo escaped the gallows by the skin of his teeth. Let’s be completely real here, that’s what was at stake. If this court dismissed the case, Jo was in custody of Illinois state officials now who would promptly transfer him to Edward Ford to be escorted to Missouri to stand trial. Let’s say the case was dismissed, just as a hypothetical thought exercise. Jo would have been transferred directly to Missouri within a week and would be held in jail until the state of Missouri was ready to try the case. That’s what had happened during the Liberty Jail stay, it wasn’t a result of a jury trial, Jo was confined for the sole purpose of thee state needing time to collect evidence to try the case. They’d had nearly 4 years to collect evidence on the 1838 Missouri war charges and the state was chomping at the bit to get Jo within state boundaries to try him. And that’s an important point. Missouri would never have tried Jo on the Lilburn Boggs assassination attempt in isolation, the assassination attempt was likely made as a direct result of how Boggs had dealt with the 1838 war. The Mormons were public enemy number one in the state and Boggs had botched the situation from the very beginning of his time as Governor of Missouri.

If Jo was taken to Missouri, his options were pretty limited. He probably would have been bust out by his bodyguards during transit, but that was a short-term solution as it would be seen as a hostile action by the Mormons leading to the Illinois militia knocking on Nauvoo’s door. If he made it to Missouri, there was absolutely no guarantee that he would even stand trial as Jo had thousands of enemies in the state who wanted him dead and didn’t want to wait for the lengthy legal process to hang him. Most likely, he would have been shot in transit or even in his jail cell while awaiting trial.

But, barring vigilante justice and the Nauvoo Legion springing him out of state custody in transit, what would it have looked like if Jo actually made it to trial? It would be the state of Missouri v. Joseph Smith with dozens of credible witnesses describing everything Jo had done in Missouri during 1838. Remember Justice Adams, the justice whose house Jo and the Danites surrounded and forced him to sign a letter under duress? How about the Mormons attacking Captain Bogart and his troops during the battle of crooked river? Would Jo be able to make the case that he wasn’t acting in a military capacity when he had 1,500 armed men standing off with nearly 4,000 Missouri militiamen before they surrendered Far West and Adam Ondi Ahmen? What about the testimony of the numerous defectors like Doctor Sampson Avard and Thomas B. Marsh, whose affidavits established the existence of the Danites? Then, to top it all off, you have the sympathy points of a recovering ex-Governor, who survived an assassination attempt, and it’s his word against Jo’s. Not only that, but this same governor had relieved the state of Missouri of their Mormon problem, Boggs was VERY popular for the Missourians who hated the Mormons, which was most of the Missourians. A court with him and all these other trusted government officials and militia commanders, against public enemy number one, the Mormon Prophet, even the one true Joseph Smith. How does that play out?

The truth of the matter is, Jo evaded death once again. He’d done so dozens of times by this point. How much further could he push it? When will this luck run out? Sure, we have historical hindsight, we know how this plays out, but they didn’t at the time; and that’s what’s really important here. How many more times could Jo escape the rat-trap before it finally caught him by the neck?

Brother Jake! You know him everybody. You’ve heard him on Infants on Thrones, you’ve seen his videos, and if you haven’t, you’re missing some truly incredible comedy and genius wit. Brother Jake suffered a major cardiac event at the end of November and has been recovering ever since. Here’s the latest update from his wife, Erica Frost:

Jake narrowly survived a sudden, unexplained cardiac arrest on November 28 that left him hospital bound for three weeks. 
Now Jake is making remarkable progress (his sense of humor appears to be intact), but he faces significant neurological limitations. His recovery will require intensive speech, physical, and occupational therapy. 
Erica and Jake are overwhelmed at the outpouring of love and support from friends and family all over the world; this fund was created at their urging and desire to help. Now that Jake is medically stable we have a clearer picture of what recovery will require, so we have been advised to raise the goal. 
We are hoping Jake can get back to being the devoted husband, father, brother, son, and friend we know and love. 
Go Jake Go!
**
**Here's Jake on a medical flight to Atlanta where he will begin inpatient rehab. 

And you can see the picture of him smiling on the flight if you go to gofundme.com/gojakego

Jake’s a great dude. The family set up a gofundme that reached it’s $20,000 goal in a few weeks, but as the update post says, they’ve increased it. Jake has a long road to recovery ahead. He’s apparently gained some mobility in his left side, but his right side still needs a lot of work to catch up. The entire Frost family has a long road ahead. If you know anything of the American health care system, you know that even $40k isn’t going to go very far, especially with inpatient rehabilitation.

In light of the increased goal, we’re extending our fundraiser for Jake through January, let’s see if we can’t get the Frost family the support they need. At the time of recording, they’re right around $11k short of the goal, are y’all willing to help the frost family make that extended goal?

How does this fundraiser work? You go to gofundme.com/gojakego and donate whatever you’re able and comfortable doing. Then, you forward your email receipt to nakedmormonism@gmail.com and you get a shout out on the show. But, if you donate $50 or more, you get written into a treasure dig. Donate $100 or more, and you get your likeness drawn into the treasure dig by Mark Elwood of theglasslooker.com. What does that look and sound like? Well, we’ve had 5 entries so far. Go to the Naked Mormonism facebook page and you can see our 5 entrants in their very own treasure dig. What does this treasure dig sound like? Well, without further ado, I present you the very first installment of Ground Gnomes Give.

Brother Jake Treasure dig

Bryan, Julie, Preston, Mike, Jay.

The cool autumn wind wisped across Julie’s cheeks. It’s the sixteenth day of the moon, that explains her dreams last night, the apparitions were of a frightful and blackened demeanor. But it’s a good night for conjuration and trading with the spirits, may we all hope the Lord favors us this day. She carried in a small pouch around her neck the conjuration stone, it never leaves her side. Julie has walked this path into the woods many times. Jay had gathered the fellow seekers to this hallowed ground numerous times, but never did Julie know who would attend the proceedings until she met them.

As Julie walks towards the opening in the path where she sees Jay and three others standing with a dog, she murmurs under her breath the same protection spell she’d recited before every conjuration.

The vipers’ iawe, the rockie stone

With words and charmes I breake in twaine,

I make the soules of men arise,

I pull the moon out of the skies.

She stepped into the opening. Stopping mid-sentence Jay gestured toward Julie and said, “Ah, yes, our prized peeper, Julie. Julie, this is Preston, Bryan and Mike.” He points to the dog and says, “this is Mike’s familiar, Raphael, he’s a good boi. Gentlemen, Julie is the most accomplished seer a hundred miles roundabout. With her help we ought to have a fortuitous night.”

Everybody exchanged pleasantries with nothing more than a simple nod to one another. Jay, fulfilling his usual role of facilitator, then spoke to each of the participants.

“Bryan, you have in your hands the parchment and pen, yes?” Bryan grunts in the affirmative. “You are to be the recorder. Your hand should bear record of what transpires in our gathering this night.”

“What is to be done with the parchment once the record has been made?” Bryan asked.

“What we are to do with any record of these sacred proceedings.” Jay quipped in reply before turning to the largest in stature of the group. “And you, Preston, have you the ceremonial dagger?”

Preston nodded in reply, “I have.”

“This is to be used only for the most sacred of purposes. Here I have twelve witch hazel rods.” Jay hands a parchment to Preston, but this parchment already contains writing. “You see here these symbols around the sigil? You are to carve each respective symbol into each of the twelve rods. These symbols utilize the rite of St. Peter to bind the spirit once conjured.”

“What have we to fear of this spirit? Why must it be bound?” Preston questions with incredulity.

Julie, Bryan, and Mike all stare at Preston, mouths agape, utterly stunned that such a question would ever be asked. Jay, a man never prone to outrage, stares dumbfounded at the direct question, all are completely silent in the awkward interaction. Mike’s dog senses the uneasiness and begins to growl at Preston, a familiar intent on guarding his master spirit from those uninitiated.

Jay composes his thoughts to reply to Preston’s brazenly offensive question. Does he know nothing of the magic he mettles with this night? “We are to heed the warning of Doctor Sibley. He tells us that ‘distinct from fiery spirits, are a species which properly belong to the metallic kingdom, abiding in mountains, caves, dens, deeps, hiatas or chasms of the earth, hovering over hidden gold, tombs, vaults, and sepultures of the dead. These spirits are termed by the ancient philosophers ‘protectors of hidden treasure,’… whence they exceedingly delight in mines of gold, silver, and places of hidden treasure; but are violently inimical to man, and envy his benefit or accommodation in the discovery thereof; ever haunting those places where money is concealed, and retaining malevolent and poisonous influences to blast the lives and limbs of those who attempt to make such discoveries;’. Therefore, Preston, protectors of hidden treasure are extremely dangerous for magicians to exorcise or call up. They envy us for our mortality and spare no occasion to possess the weakest of minds within the group. Preston, are you prepared to guard against all the buffetings of these spirits?”

“I…. I’m sorry. I didn’t know what spirits we’re invoking tonight. How was I to divine what this evening holds, I’m no seer?” Preston retorts while holding the ceremonial dagger in his right hand, palm down, across his stomach with his left hand, palm up, holding the blade. Jay steps back, knowing Preston’s intention of invoking a protection spell and not wanting to interfere.

“Ananizapta smitheth death,

Whiles harm intendeth he,

This word Ananizapta say,

And death shall captive be;

Ananizapta, O of God,

Have mercy now on me!!!”

Preston finishes the spell thrice repeated and makes a small incision in his left leg below the knee to complete the spell. A single drop of blood seeps from the wound, which Preston takes up with the edge of the blade. “Now we shall be properly fortuitous tonight.”

Julie, Bryan, Mike, and Jay all nod toward Preston respectfully. Anybody using blood magic is sufficiently adept.

Jay turns to the final participant with his guardian familiar. “Mike. You’re our most adept magnetist. Have you your trusted magnet around your familiar’s neck?”

(single dog bark)

“Raphael and I are ready.” Mike replied.

“Preston, have you completed carving the symbols into the rods?” Jay petitioned.

“I’m ready when all of you are.” Preston replied with indifference.

“Julie, have you your peep stone at the ready?”

“I’m always ready.” Julie replied confidently. She’d never let them down before and it was a favorable night for a dig.

Jay felt it necessary to further warn the group of what spirits they contend with this night. “You all know that the magician of Devonshire, Peters, exorcised a treasure spirit which crushed him and his associates into atoms in the twinkling of an eye, right? These astral conjurations we seek to invoke tonight are of the most terrifying sort. Julie, you are the one of us who can see beyond this realm. If the enchantment becomes to great, it will be up to you to break the magic circle and warn us. Lord help us that we may have time to flee before the spirits wreak vengeance upon our souls and we too become dissolutioned into atoms. Once the conjuration begins, we may only speak in terms of magic as any other communications will chase away the spirits, and with them they’ll cause their treasures to slip further into the earth. Do NOT break the magic unless we are in real danger.”

Everybody nods in understanding.

Jay removes from his satchel the prepared tokens of gratitude, the offering to the spirits that the veil between our world and theirs may be made thin. He works diligently over preparing the offering with mortar and pestle. As he compiles all the necessary ingredients, he speaks over the container the binding spell of protection.

“In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ + the Father + and the Son + and the Holy Ghost + Holy Trinity and Unseperable unity, I call upon thee, that thou mayest be my Salvation and defence and the protection of my body and soul, and of all my goods through the virtue of thy Holy Cross, and through the virtue of thy passion, I beseech thee O Lord Jesus Christ, by the merits of thy Blessed Mother St. Mary, and of all thy Saints, that thou give me grace and divine power over all the wicked Spirits, so as which of them I do call by name, they may come by and by from every coast, and accomplish my will, that they neither be hurtful nor fearful unto me, but rather obedient and diligent about me. And through thy virtue straightly commanding them, let them fulfil my commandments, Amen.”

Julie, Preston, Mike, and Bryan stand in a circle around Jay, watching silently as Jay worked his magic. Jay reached again into his satchel and removed a silver chalice. Into this vessel he poured the solution from his mortar and pestle. He first handed it to Julie, the seer, as she would need be the first to see the spirits contained therein. She partook and passed the chalice to Preston on her left.

As the chalice was passed from one treasure seeker to the next, Jay quietly spoke the binding spell over the supper while Bryan furiously scrawled the names of each invoked spirit on his blank parchment. “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of Sabboth, who will come to Judge the quick and the dead, thou who art Alpha and Omega, first and last, King of kings, and Lord of lords, Ioth, Aglanabrath, El, Abiel, Anathiel, Amazim, Sedomel, Gayes, Heli, Messias, Tolimi, Elias, Ischiros, Athanatos, Imas. By these his holy names, and by all other I do call upon thee, and beseech thee O Lord Jesus Christ, by thy nativity and baptism, by thy Cross and passion, by thine ascension, and by the coming of the Holy Ghost, by the bitterness of thy soul when it departed from thy body, by thy virtue, by the sacrament which thou gavest thy disciples the day before thou sufferedst, by the Holy Trinity, and by the inseparable unity, by the blessed Mary thy mother, by thine angels, arch-angels, prophets, patriarchs, and by all thy saints, and by all the sacraments which are made in thine honour. I do worship and beseech thee, I bless and desire thee, to accept these prayers, conjurations and words of my mouth, which I will use. I require thee O Lord Jesus Christ, that thou give me thy virtue and power over all thine angels (which were thrown down from heaven to deceive mankind) to draw them to me, to tie and bind them, and also to loose them, to gather them together before me, and to command them to do all that they can, and that by no means they condemn my voice, or the words of my mouth; but that they obey me and my sayings and fear me.”

As these words are muttered by Jay, Julie grips her seer stone in its protective pouch. The last time she removed this for peeping, she was accused of horse theft by an unwitting neighbor. She’s among friends this time, and this peeping was for a higher purpose, to see a higher realm. She slowly and methodically removes the pouch from around her neck and plunges her hand in to find her trusted peep stone. Her fingers find their home around the carved grooves worn into the stone through so many times of removing and replacing it from its pouch. She takes a small vial of anointing oil from her pocket and in one swift motion removes the stone from the pouch while pouring oil over it so as to protect from its magical powers wisping into the night sky.

As she anoints the stone she quietly murmurs to herself, “I beseech thee by thine humanity, mercy and grace, and I require thee Adonay, Amay, Horta, Vegedora, Mitai, Hel, Suranat, Ysion, Ysesy, and by all thy holy names, and by all they holy he saints and she saints, and by all thine angels and archangels, powers, dominations, and virtues, and by that name that Salomon did bind the devils, and shut them up, Elhrach, Ebanher, Agla, Goth, Ioth, Othie, Venoch, Nabrat, and by all thine holy names which are written…, and the virtue of them all, that thou enable me to congregate all thy spirits thrown down from heaven, that they may give me a true answer to all my demands, and that they satisfy all my requests, without the hurt of my body or soul, or anything else that is mine, through our Lord Jesus Christ thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God world without end.”

The conjuration is prepared. All have partaken of the supper and the vessel is now prepared to contain the peep stone for conjuration. Julie takes it in her hands and gently places the peep stone into the silver chalice while pouring the remaining anointing oil into the vessel. She brings the chalice up to her eyes to exclude the light from without. Jay stands comfortably awaiting the conjuration, Mike Bryan and Preston stand in a circle around Julie, not sure what to expect. They’ve never witnessed a seer of Julie’s reputation at work. Judging from how she expertly invoked the spirits, calling them by name, they know some real conjuration is sure to take place this dark night.

As it nears midnight and the Moon grows in power, the oil and stone within the chalice begin to form shapes in the darkness. Faint spiritual light dances across Julie’s eyes, but none of the spirits are yet bound to the treasure under their feet. Then, an arc of light shoots across the stone, leaving a trail of gold dust in its wake. “There!” Julie exclaims, pointing to an empty point on the ground a few rods away.

Preston grips the dagger and lunges for the spot Julie directed. He quickly scratches 26-20-39 in a triangle while Bryan writes the same number upon the center of the parchment. Jay urgently looks to Mike with wild eyes.

Mike knows what to do. He grabs Raphael’s leash and unlatches it; the spirits now dictate the familiar’s actions. Mike removes his horseshoe magnet from his satchel. Raphael immediately begins eagerly sniffing the ground where Preston carved the numbers into the soil. Mike follows his familiar, pointing the horseshoe magnet towards Raphael to communicate.

Finally, Raphael settled on one spot directly north of the 3-numbered triangle where he sniffed for what seemed like hours before finally sitting down looking at Mike to confirm. Without speaking a word, Mike looks at Preston with the carved hazel rods and points to the location Raphael sat. Preston darts to the location and stabs the first of twelve rods into the ground. Bryan quickly scratches the location on the parchment at the top of the 3-numbered triangle with the proper sigil in place. The same process continues until all twelve rods are in the ground. Raphael performed his familiar task and perfectly communicated it with Mike as the first 4 of the hazel rods were placed at the cardinal points while the remaining 8 were placed on the other points of a dodecagram.

Julie began expressing a little discomfort. As Preston stuck each rod into the ground the spirit became more resistant. The flashes of light contained in the chalice became brighter, her stone was starting to vibrate with so much power passing through it. Julie isn’t scared, but she knows the guardian spirit of this treasure is not an astral figure to be trifled with. The treasure concealed in the earth underneath the sigil must be valuable to be guarded so heavily. Jay can see that she’s beginning to look distressed. They’re on a limited schedule before the spell breaks and the spirit is loosed, or, worse yet, the spirit is too powerful and the enchantment breaks all of them.

Jay takes inventory of the situation. How much further can they go? What does the spirit require to loose it’s power? Is the group strong enough to withstand the buffetings of the conjuration? They could all feel the spirit. Jay casts his eyes to Bryan who looks back, neither of them sure what to expect. Bryan is ready to record the next process on the parchment. Mike crouches in waiting next to Raphael, magnets in hand, ready to begin the dig. Jay looks over to see Preston standing on the side with the dagger still in-hand. It’s a consecrated dagger, not to be defiled by setting on the ground lest it disappear into the ground from whence it came. Jay turns to Julie, wondering if the spirit is still within the binding sigil or if it’s yet fled with its treasures in tow. Jay can read her body language, the spirit is captured but far from subdued. The next and final step before the dig is ready to commence.

Jay walks over to Preston and takes the dagger from his hand, which Preston willingly grants. In return, Jay hands to Preston a large shovel. He then walks to Mike and Raphael, hands Mike a smaller spade, then to Bryan, taking the parchment and pen back to give Bryan his own shovel. The dig was near ready to begin.

Jay walks with the dagger to the northern point of the sigil and carves a small number 8 in the ground next to the hazel rod. He scratches on the parchment the corresponding point with a similar number 8. Then he circles to the Southeastern hazel rod and carves a number 2 and marks it on the parchment. Then to the Southwestern corner, forming a perfect concentric triangle with the other 5 numbers, he scratches a number 3 in the ground with the dagger, and the corresponding number on the parchment.

Julie begins to groan with discomfort. The spell is nearly complete and the enchantment is becoming stronger by the second. What used to be dancing lights in the seer stone are now angry cuts of fire, brighter than noonday sun, ripping through the dark firmament within the chalice. She can’t look away or risk breaking the spell, but the enchantment is nearly agonizing. She holds strong, the way only truly expert seers can.

Jay motions to Bryan, Mike, and Preston, they read his signal well. They each gather at the numbers Jay just scratched into the ground outside the sigil. They each take their spade or shovel and lift them in the air above the number, ready to drive each blade into the chilled ground at Jay’s signal.

Jay mutters in an otherworldly voice:

“Oh great and eternal virtue of the highest, who through disposition, these beings called to judgment, Vaicheon, Stimulamaton, Esphares, Tetragrammaton Olioram, Cryon, Esytion, Exision, Eriona, Onela, Brasim, Noym, Messias, Soter, Emanuel, Sabboth, Adonay, I worship thee, I invocate thee, I implore thee with all the strength of my mind, that by thee, my present prayers, consecrations and conjurations be hallowed; and wheresoever wicked spirits are called, in the virtue of thy names, they may come together from every coast, and diligently fulfil the will of the exorcist. Fiat, fiat, fiat, Amen.”

At the very moment the spell was complete, Jay scratched a number 5 onto the parchment in the middle of the sigil. It immediately caught fire and was consumed while Bryan, Mike, and Preston all simultaneously struck into the circle with their shovels and spades.

Noise climax

B R Y C E K E L L Y B L A N K E N A G E L

2 9 7 3 5 2 5 3 3 7 2 3 1 5 2 5 5 1 7 5 3

26 20 39

8 2 12

8 2 3

14

5

If you want your name in one of these or your likeness drawn into a treasure dig by Mark Elwood, you know how to do it. Have a good 2019 everybody.

JB Social media manager

BZ as audio engineer

AT of law offices of patorrez and opening arguemtns as legal counsel

Music written by Jason camsodkfpoqaweifu of aloststateofmind.com

NM production of GGLLC 2019 ARR

Copyright Ground Gnomes LLC subject to fair use. Citation example: "Naked Mormonism Podcast (or NMP), Ep #, original air date 01/03/2019"