William N. Grover

William N. Grover (born c. 1818) was a United States Attorney for the eastern district of Missouri and was one of five defendants tried and acquitted for the murder of Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement.

Murder trial

Joseph Smith, Jr. and his brother Hyrum Smith had been killed by an armed mob during their imprisonment in Carthage Jail on June 27, 1844. As a captain in command of the Warsaw Cadets in the Illinois militia, Grover was accused of having ordered his men to storm the jail and attack the Smiths. At trial, a jury acquitted Grover and four other defendants [Thomas C. Sharp, Mark Aldrich, Jacob C. Davis, and Levi Williams.] of the murders.

Law practice

In 1852, after an unsuccessful bid for election to the Illinois General Assembly, Grover moved from Hancock County, Illinois to St. Louis, Missouri. In 1863 he was appointed a United States Attorney for the eastern district of Missouri. By 1871 he had moved back to Warsaw, Illinois, where he lived until his death.

Notes

References

*Dallin H. Oaks and Marvin S. Hill (1975). "Carthage Conspiracy: The Trial of the Accused Assassins of Joseph Smith". (Urbana: University of Illinois Press)
* Marvin S. Hill. [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3945/is_200407/ai_n9408752/pg_1 "Carthage Conspiracy Reconsidered: A Second Look at the Murder of Joseph and Hyrum Smith"] , "Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society", Summer 2004.