Nauvoo, Illinois. Joseph Smith wrote letters to Thomas Ford, governor of Illinois, and Isaac Morley. (1)
[Lucy Mack Smith] Joseph Smith gives his last public discourse, on "the doctrine of multiple gods and his authority as a latter-day prophet." Richard L. Anderson points out that this was one of the two main points on which the Expositor had launched its editorial attack on 7 June, the other one being "the plurality of wives, for time and eternity. For the second doctrine, the Prophet chose calculated silence" ("Final," 322). (2)
-- Jun 17, 1844
Nauvoo, Illinois. Joseph Smith was arrested again (see June 12) along with 15 others for the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor and taken before Daniel H. Wells, justice of the peace, who discharged the prisoners. (1)
Nauvoo, Illinois. Joseph Smith wrote a letter to John Smith. (1)
-- Jun 18, 1844
Amid threats of violence concerning the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor, Joseph Smith, Jr., as mayor, declares martial law in Nauvoo and activates the Nauvoo Legion, a private militia of about 5,000 men. (3)
Nauvoo, Illinois. Joseph Smith stood in full military uniform on the frame of a building and gave his final address to the Nauvoo Legion. (1)
-- Jun 19, 1844
Nauvoo, Illinois. Joseph Smith met the Nauvoo Legion at the front of his home and gave orders to have a picket guard posted on all the roads leading out of the city, to have all the powder and lead in the city secured, and to have all the arms put into use. (1)
-- Jun 20, 1844
Nauvoo, Illinois. Joseph Smith prepared for the defense of Nauvoo against the growing mob, wrote letters telling those on missions to come home immediately, and advised his brother Hyrum Smith to take his family on the next steamboat to Cincinnati, Ohio. (1)
[Lucy Mack Smith] At least by this date, William is in the East with his wife, Caroline, who is slowly dying of kidney failure (dropsy). (2)
-- Jun 21, 1844
Nauvoo, Illinois. Joseph Smith exchanged letters regarding the growing crisis in Nauvoo with Thomas Ford, governor of Illinois, and prepared affidavits for him. (1)
-- Jun 22, 1844
Nauvoo, Illinois. Joseph Smith sent a letter to Thomas Ford, governor of Illinois, explaining the difficulties in Nauvoo and asking Ford to visit. Governor Ford addressed his reply to the mayor (Joseph Smith) and the Nauvoo City Council and concluded that the destruction of the Nauvoo Expositor was a violation of the laws protecting freedom of the press in the United States. (1)
Nauvoo, Illinois. Joseph Smith wrote a letter to Thomas Ford, governor of Illinois. (1)
[Lucy Mack Smith] Joseph, Hyrum, Willard Richards, O. P. Rockwell cross Mississippi River. (4)
[Lucy Mack Smith] Joseph and Hyrum Smith and Willard Richards flee into Iowa. (2)
[U.S. Religious History] Joseph Smith, accused of instigating a riot when Mormons smashed the presses of a newspaper critical of his secret doctrines on polygamy, fled from arrest. (5)
-- Jun 23, 1844
Nauvoo, Illinois. Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum Smith decided to turn themselves in at Carthage, Illinois, for a hearing. (1)
Footnotes:
1 - BYU Studies Journal, volume 46, no. 4: A Chronology of the Life of Joseph Smith
2 - Anderson, Lavina Fielding, Editor, Lucy's Book: A Critical Edition of Lucy Mack Smith's Family Memoir, 2001, Signature Books
3 - Wikipedia, 19th Century (Mormonism), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/19th_century_(Mormonism)
4 - Proctor, Scott and Maurine Jensen, editors, History of Joseph Smith by His Mother: Revised and Enhanced
5 - Cline, Austin, History of American Religion: Timeline, http://bit.ly/Fwgbe
Mormon History Timeline /Chronology
http://lds-church-history.blogspot.com/
