Chauncey Lawson Higbee (September 7, 1821 – December 7, 1884) was a member of the Latter Day Saint movement in

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 census. Nauvoo attracts visitors for its historic importance and its ...

, 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 * When used in the plural, a New Testament designation for local groups of people following the teachings of Jesus Christ: "...all the churches of Christ greet you", Romans 16:16. * The entire body of Ch ...

in 1832. In November 1841, he was appointed aide-de-camp to Major General

John C. Bennett John Cook Bennett (August 4, 1804 – August 5, 1867) was an American physician and briefly a ranking and influential leader of the Latter Day Saint movement, who acted as mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois, and Major-General of the Nauvoo Legion in the ear ...

of the Nauvoo Legion.

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 secretly preached the practice of polygamy. In response, Higbee was excommunicated 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, that published only one issue, on June 7, 1844. Its publication, the destruction of the printed copies (which, according to the Nauvoo Charter, was the legal consequence of a ne ...

'', a newspaper critical of church founder Joseph Smith 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 current constitution as amended in 1980 consists of 118 re ...

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

Illinois Senate The Illinois Senate is the Upper house, upper chamber of the Illinois General Assembly, the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state, State of Illinois in the United States. The body was created by the first state constitution adop ...

. In 1861, Higbee was elected to the circuit court, and he was elected to the appellate court in 1877.

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 4,576 at the 2010 census, an increase from 4,211 in 2000. History Pittsfield was initially settled by settlers from New England. These settl ...

, 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) Pittsfield High School, or PHS, is a public four-year high school located at 201 East Higbee Street in Pittsfield, Illinois, a small city in Pike County, Illinois, in the Midwestern United States. PHS serves the communities of Pittsfield, Baylis, ...

is located at 201 E Higbee Street.

Notes

References

"Chauncey Lawson Higbee"
Joseph Smith Papers {{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 American legislators 19th-century Illinois politicians