May 1, 1844

Nauvoo, Illinois
Francis Higbee sued Joseph Smith in Carthage for being slandered on January 5, 1844, as a thief, fornicator, whoremaster, murderer, adulterer, and perjurer, with a "rotten stinking [venereal] disease" that kept Joseph from coming near him; he also claimed that Joseph urged other young people in Nauvoo to stay away from him.
Sources: 
LDS Church Archives, Joseph Smith Legal Papers series 
Sustaining the Law: Joseph Smith's Legal Encounters,  Gordon A. Madsen, Jeffrey N. Walker, and John W. Welch, 
Winter Quarters

Read peer-reviewed articles about Joseph Smith and other Church history topics from BYU Studies. Visit byustudies.byu.edu.