provisions empowered future governors over state affairs. However, Ford would not participate in the constitutional convention because he left office nearly bankrupt. Both he and his wife had contracted illnesses of which they would die in 1850. Illinois Mormon Expulsion Among members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ford's tenure as governor is remembered for the "Illinois Mormon Expulsion," particularly as Ford dealt with civic unrest over the Church's city of Nauvoo, Illinois, and with the death of their leader, Joseph Smith in 1844. Ford wrote extensively of his dealings with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints community, and was especially critical of their religion. He called Smith "the most successful impostor in modern times," and said he hoped that the increasingly popular Mormonism would not replace traditional Christianity. Ford took some steps to impede the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, but with little results. The conflict grew heated, with hundreds being driven from their homes, and mobs that eventually employed several thousands of people. At one point, Ford encouraged Joseph and his brother, Hyrum Smith, to go to Carthage, the county seat, to face criminal charges in the destruction of the newspaper, the Nauvoo Expositor. Once there, the Smiths were charged with treason, and Ford allowed two militia units to go home, thus assigning the duty to guard the two brothers to the Carthage Greys, an anti-Church militia that helped murder them on June 27, 1844. Ford denied responsibility for the mob murders. However, two men later gave affidavits suggesting Ford knew of the plot and could have approved of it. Dan Jones, a riverboat captain and one of the few eyewitnesses to both sides of the event, repeatedly warned Ford throughout the day of comments he heard from the guards and jailkeepers concerning their plot to assassinate the restored Church leaders. In response, Ford supposedly replied, "You are unnecessarily alarmed for your friends' safety, sir. The people are not that cruel." Irritated by the remark, Jones urged the necessity of placing better men than professed assassins to guard them. He stressed that they [the Smiths] were American citizens surrendered to his [Ford's] pledged honor. When Ford showed little interest in Jones' concerns, Jones commented, "[I] had then but one request to make; if you [Ford] left their lives in the hands of those men to be sacrificed, that the Almighty will