Chauncey Lawson Higbee (September 7, 1821 – December 7, 1884) was a member of the

Latter Day Saint movement The Latter Day Saint movement (also called the LDS movement, LDS restorationist movement, or Smith–Rigdon movement) is the collection of independent church groups that trace their origins to a Christian Restorationist movement founded by ...

Nauvoo, Illinois Nauvoo ( ; from the ) is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States, on the Mississippi River near Fort Madison, Iowa. The population of Nauvoo was 950 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Nauvoo attracts visitors for its h ...

, and a brother to fellow Latter Day Saint Francis M. Higbee. He later successfully ran for office, serving in the Illinois legislature. He was elected as judge, eventually serving on the state Appellant Court.

Role in the Church of Christ

Chauncey Higbee joined the

Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * Christianity, the Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ * Christian Church, an ecclesiological term used by denominations to describe the true body of Christia ...

in 1832. In November 1841, he was appointed aide-de-camp to Major General John C. Bennett of the

Nauvoo Legion The Nauvoo Legion was a state-authorized Latter-day Saints Militias and Military Units, militia of Nauvoo, Illinois, United States from February 4, 1841 until January 29, 1845. Its main function was the defense of Nauvoo and surrounding Latte ...

Charges of adultery

On May 29, 1844, the church's high council ordered the publication of testimony and affidavits which purported to be accounts of Higbee's trial before the high council two years earlier. According to the documents, Higbee had been accused of "adulterous sins" and tried on May 24, 1842. Included were statements from women claiming he had committed adultery by telling them that

Joseph Smith Joseph Smith Jr. (December 23, 1805June 27, 1844) was an American religious and political leader and the founder of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint movement. Publishing the Book of Mormon at the age of 24, Smith attracted tens of thou ...

secretly preached the practice of polygamy. In response, Higbee was

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in communion with other members of the con ...

from the church.

''Nauvoo Expositor''

In June 1844, Higbee became a publisher of the ''

Nauvoo Expositor The ''Nauvoo Expositor'' was a newspaper in Nauvoo, Illinois, United States, that published only one issue. Its publication, and the destruction of the printing press ordered by Mayor Joseph Smith and the city council, set off a chain of even ...

'', a newspaper critical of church founder

and other church leaders. After Smith ordered the destruction of the ''Expositor'' press, he was arrested on charges of riot and treason. Smith was killed while awaiting trial.

Later life

In 1854, he married Julia M. White. Higbee was a member of the

Illinois House of Representatives The Illinois House of Representatives is the lower house of the Illinois General Assembly. The body was created by the first Illinois Constitution adopted in 1818. The House under the constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 representativ ...

in 1854 and from 1858 to 1861 was a member of the

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adopted in 1818. Under the ...

. In 1861, Higbee was elected to the circuit court, and he was elected to the appellate court in 1877. In 1864, he was listed as a presidential elector for George B. McClellan.

Public honors

A public school in

Pittsfield, Illinois Pittsfield is a city in and the county seat of Pike County, Illinois, United States. The population was 4,206 at the 2020 census, a decrease from 4,576 in 2010. History Pittsfield was initially settled by settlers from New England. These sett ...

, was named in honor of Chauncey L. Higbee. Higbee's widow, Julia, donated money to aid in the building's construction in honor of her late husband. The building was constructed in 1908, and Chauncey L. Higbee High School served the community until a newer building was built in 1954. In 1955, the school was repurposed as Chauncey L. Higbee Jr. High, and was open until the last student was graduated from 8th grade in 1996. The building was demolished in 2014. A street in Pittsfield is also named for Higbee. The current Pittsfield High School (Illinois) is located at 201 E Higbee Street. Pittsfield High School (Illinois)

Notes

References

"Chauncey Lawson Higbee"

Joseph Smith Papers ''The Joseph Smith Papers'' (or Joseph Smith Papers Project) is a documentary editing project to collect, research, and publish all documents created by, or under the direction of, Joseph Smith (1805–1844), the founder of the Latter Day Saint m ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higbee, Chauncey L. 1821 births 1884 deaths Illinois state senators Judges of the Illinois Appellate Court Members of the Illinois House of Representatives People excommunicated by the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) People from Nauvoo, Illinois Nauvoo Expositor publishers Former Latter Day Saints 19th-century American journalists American male journalists 19th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly