# Mark Aldrich

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mark_Aldrich
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Mark_Aldrich.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Aldrich
> Source revision: 1350063674
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|American politician (1802–1873)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name                      = Mark Aldrich
| image                     = Aldrich.gif
| caption                   = Mark Aldrich
| order                     =
| office                    = Mayor of [Tucson, Arizona](/source/Tucson%2C_Arizona)
| term                      = 1861
| predecessor               = 
| successor                 = 
| birth_date                = {{birth date|1802|01|22}}
| birth_place               = [Warren County, New York](/source/Warren_County%2C_New_York), US
| death_date                = {{death date and age|1873|9|21|1802|01|22|mf=y}}
| death_place               = [Tucson](/source/Tucson), Arizona, US
| death_cause               = 
| resting_place             = Tucson, Arizona
| resting_place_coordinates = 
| alma_mater                = 
| profession                = 
| spouse                    = [Teofila Trinidad Leon Aldrich](/source/Teofila_Trinidad_Leon_Aldrich)
| party                     = [Whig](/source/Whig_Party_(United_States)) 
}}

'''Mark Aldrich''' (January 22, 1802 – September 21, 1873) was a founder of [Warsaw, Illinois](/source/Warsaw%2C_Illinois), and a politician: [Illinois state senator](/source/Illinois_Senate) for the [Whig Party](/source/Whig_Party_(United_States)), the first American mayor of [Tucson, Arizona](/source/Tucson%2C_Arizona), and a three-term territorial senator in Arizona. He was one of five defendants tried and acquitted in Illinois of the [murder](/source/Death_of_Joseph_Smith%2C_Jr.) in 1844 of [Joseph Smith](/source/Joseph_Smith), who was the founder of the [Latter Day Saint movement](/source/Latter_Day_Saint_movement).

==Founding of Warsaw and political leadership==
Aldrich was born in New York and moved to [Hancock County, Illinois](/source/Hancock_County%2C_Illinois), in 1832, where he was one of the early developers of what would later become the town of [Warsaw](/source/Warsaw%2C_Illinois). Aldrich was appointed as the first postmaster of Warsaw, serving between 1834 and 1838. In 1836 and 1838 he was elected to the [Illinois Senate](/source/Illinois_Senate) as the representative for Hancock County.

==Early involvement with the Latter Day Saints==
In the late 1830s, [Latter Day Saints](/source/Latter_Day_Saints) began settling in Hancock County. According to Latter Day Saint leader [Joseph Smith](/source/Joseph_Smith), Aldrich spent two years trying to convince Smith and the Latter Day Saints to purchase a section of land south of Warsaw which Aldrich owned.<ref>Joseph Smith, [B.H. Roberts](/source/B.H._Roberts) (ed.). ''[History of the Church](/source/History_of_the_Church_(Joseph_Smith))'' '''4''':405, 471.</ref>

In 1841, Smith finally relented and some of the Latter Day Saints settled as Aldrich's tenants in what would be called [Warren, Illinois](/source/Warren%2C_Illinois). However, once the Latter Day Saints had settled there, Aldrich raised the rent and imposed a number of restrictions on the Latter Day Saints that had not been foreseen. As a result, Smith moved the Latter Day Saints settled in Warren to [Nauvoo](/source/Nauvoo%2C_Illinois), where the majority of Latter Day Saints had settled.

Aldrich was unsuccessful in his attempts to persuade Smith to continue their arrangement.<ref>Joseph Smith, [B.H. Roberts](/source/B.H._Roberts) (ed.). ''[History of the Church](/source/History_of_the_Church_(Joseph_Smith))'' '''4''':486, 471–72.</ref> As a result, Aldrich filed for [bankruptcy](/source/bankruptcy) on March 22, 1842.<ref>[Dallin H. Oaks](/source/Dallin_H._Oaks) and [Marvin S. Hill](/source/Marvin_S._Hill) (1975). ''[Carthage Conspiracy: The Trial of the Accused Assassins of Joseph Smith](/source/Carthage_Conspiracy%3A_The_Trial_of_the_Accused_Assassins_of_Joseph_Smith)''. (Urbana: [University of Illinois Press](/source/University_of_Illinois_Press)) p. 54.</ref>

==Murder trial==
{{see also|Death_of_Joseph_Smith#Responsibility_and_trial|label 1=Death of Joseph Smith: Trial}}
Following his disagreements with Smith, Aldrich became an opponent of the Latter Day Saint presence in Hancock County. He was a major in command of the Warsaw Independent Battalion of the Illinois State [Militia](/source/Militia).

Aldrich was later accused of having directed men under his command to storm [Carthage Jail](/source/Carthage_Jail) where Smith and his brother were being held in June 1844. Smith and his brother [Hyrum](/source/Hyrum_Smith) were shot dead by a mob that attacked the jail on June 27. On October 26, 1844, Aldrich was indicted for the murder of the two Smiths. At trial, Aldrich and four other defendants<ref>[Thomas C. Sharp](/source/Thomas_C._Sharp), [Jacob C. Davis](/source/Jacob_C._Davis), [William N. Grover](/source/William_N._Grover) and [Levi Williams](/source/Levi_Williams)</ref> were acquitted of the crime by a jury.

==Later life==
Aldrich ran for sheriff of Hancock County in 1846, but lost. He went to California during the [gold rush](/source/California_Gold_Rush) and settled later in [Tucson, Arizona](/source/Tucson%2C_Arizona). He was elected as the first American mayor of that city, following the US acquisition of the Southwest following the [Mexican–American War](/source/Mexican%E2%80%93American_War) in 1848.

In March 1861, Aldrich was chairman of the convention that declared [Arizona's secession](/source/Confederate_Arizona) from the United States at the start of the American Civil War.<ref>[http://members.tripod.com/~azrebel/page10.html The Forgotten Legacy: A Short History of the Confederate Territory of Arizona].</ref> Aldrich was later elected to three terms in the upper house of the [Arizona Territorial Legislature](/source/Arizona_Territorial_Legislature); during the 1866 term, he was the body's president. He died in Tucson on September 21, 1873.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82014896/1873-09-27/ed-1/seq-3/#&words=Aldrich+Mark&proxtext=Mark+Aldrich&y=10&x=22&page=2|title=Local Matters|date=September 27, 1873|newspaper=Arizona Citizen}}</ref>

Two different streets in [San Francisco](/source/San_Francisco) were named for him: Aldrich Alley (subsequently renamed) and Mark Lane.<ref>''The Chronicle'' 12 April 1987 p.7</ref>

==Notes==
<references/>

==References==
* [Marvin S. Hill](/source/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.
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20140626142739/http://josephsmithpapers.org/person?name=Mark+Aldrich "Mark Aldrich"], [Joseph Smith Papers](/source/Joseph_Smith_Papers)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aldrich, Mark}}
Category:1802 births
Category:1873 deaths
Category:Founders of populated places in Illinois
Category:Arizona pioneers
Category:Critics of Mormonism
Category:Illinois Whigs
Category:Illinois state senators
Category:Mayors of Tucson, Arizona
Category:Members of the Arizona Territorial Legislature
Category:Mormonism-related controversies
Category:American people acquitted of murder
Category:People from Warsaw, Illinois
Category:People of the California Gold Rush
Category:19th-century members of the Illinois General Assembly

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mark Aldrich](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Aldrich) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Aldrich?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.