- Josiah Lamborn
Josiah Lamborn (
1809-01-31 –1847-03-31 ) was the Attorney General ofIllinois from 1840 to 1843 and was the chief prosecuting attorney in the trial of five defendants were accused of murdering Latter Day Saint leadersJoseph Smith, Jr. andHyrum Smith .Lamborn was born in
Pennsylvania and educated atTransylvania University inKentucky .Cornelius J. Doyle, "Josiah Lamborn, Attorney General of Illinois 1840–1843", "Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society" 20:185–200 (1927).] In the early 1830s, he moved to Jacksonville,Morgan County, Illinois , where he became involved as a leader of the anti-Jacksonian wing of the Democratic Party.Lamborn was admitted to the Illinois bar in 1834. Early in his career, the
Illinois Supreme Court found his professional conduct to be "highly censurable", but chose not to disbar or otherwise discipline him. ["People v. Lamborn", 2 Illinois Reports 123 (1834).]In December 1840, Lamborn was elected Attorney General of Illinois. As Attorney General, he appeared argued before the state supreme court in 46 cases. During his tenure, it was rumored that Lamborn was corrupt and that he had accepted bribes. Lamborn failed to win the endorsement of the Democratic Party for reelection and his term ended in January 1843, when he was succeeded by
James A. McDougall .In 1844, Lamborn was appointed by Illinois Governor Thomas Ford as the chief prosecutor in the murder trial of
Levi Williams ,Thomas C. Sharp ,Jacob C. Davis ,Mark Aldrich , andWilliam N. Grover .Dallin H. Oaks and Marvin S. Hill (1975). "Carthage Conspiracy: The Trial of the Accused Assassins of Joseph Smith" (Urbana: University of Illinois Press).] The five defendants were accused of conspiring to assassinateMormon prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. and his brotherHyrum Smith . The defendants were acquitted of these charges.After his failure to gain re-election as Attorney General, Lamborn had begun to drink heavily. He died of
delirium tremens at White Hall,Greene County, Illinois . ["Historical Encyclopedia of Illinois" p. 327.]Notes
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