The Anti-Mormon Party was a short-lived political party in Illinois

Illinois

Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...

 in the early 1840s that espoused Anti-Mormonism. The party was formed in Hancock County

Hancock County, Illinois

Hancock County is a county located in the U.S. state of Illinois. According to the 2010 census, it has a population of 19,104, which is a decrease of 5.1% from 20,121 in 2000. Its county seat is Carthage. Hamilton is the largest city in Hancock County, with Carthage being the second largest...

 to oppose the political power Joseph Smith, Jr. held in Nauvoo, Illinois

Nauvoo, Illinois

Nauvoo is a small city in Hancock County, Illinois, United States. Although the population was just 1,063 at the 2000 census, and despite being difficult to reach due to its location in a remote corner of Illinois, Nauvoo attracts large numbers of visitors for its historic importance and its...

, as the mayor of the city, head of the Nauvoo Legion

Nauvoo Legion

The Nauvoo Legion was a militia originally organized by the Latter Day Saints to defend the city of Nauvoo, Illinois, . To curry political favor with the ambiguously-political Saints, the Illinois state legislature granted Nauvoo a liberal city charter that gave the Nauvoo Legion extraordinary...

, and prophet

Prophet, seer, and revelator

Prophet, seer, and revelator is an ecclesiastical title used in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that is currently applied to the members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles...

 to the city's Latter Day Saint residents.

The party was organized in July 1841 by Thomas C. Sharp

Thomas C. Sharp

Thomas Coke Sharp was a prominent opponent of Joseph Smith, Jr. and the Latter Day Saints in Illinois in the 1840s. Sharp promoted his anti-Mormon views largely through the Warsaw Signal newspaper, of which he was the owner, editor, and publisher...

, editor of the Warsaw Signal

Warsaw Signal

The Warsaw Signal was a newspaper edited and published in Warsaw, Illinois during the 1840s and early 1850s. For most of its history, the Signals editorial stance was one of vigorous anti-Mormonism and the advancement of the policies of the Whig Party....

. The June 23 edition of the Warsaw Signal printed a report that delegates had been elected to the "Anti-Mormon Convention" that was to be held on June 28. The meeting also resolved "[t]hat it is expedient to hold a county convention, for the purpose of nominating candidates for the offices of School and County Commissioners, in opposition to Mormon influence and dictation."

In 1841, the party nominated Richard Wilton for Hancock County School Commissioner and Robert Miller for County Commissioner. Neither candidate was elected in the August 1841 elections. By 1844, the party was being referred to as the "Central Anti-Mormon Committee" of Hancock County; the committee was led by Sharp, William N. Grover

William N. Grover

William N. Grover 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:...

, and Henry Stephens

Henry Stephens

Henry Stephens may refer to:*Henry Stephens , lumberman, merchant and financier in Michigan*Henry Douglas Stephens , Australian paediatric surgeon*Henry Louis Stephens , American illustrator...

.

The party continued its existence until it gradually died out after June 1844, when Joseph Smith, Jr. was killed

Death of Joseph Smith, Jr.

The death of Joseph Smith, Jr. on June 27, 1844 marked a turning point for the Latter Day Saint movement, of which Smith was the founder and leader. When he was attacked and killed by a mob, Smith was the mayor of Nauvoo, Illinois, and running for President of the United States...

 by an armed mob and the majority of Latter Day Saints subsequently made it known that they intended on leaving Illinois. The five men who were tried and acquitted of murdering Smith—Sharp, Grover, Mark Aldrich

Mark Aldrich

Mark Aldrich was a founder of Warsaw, Illinois, an Illinois state senator for the Whig Party, the first American mayor of Tucson, Arizona, and one of five defendants tried and acquitted of the murder of Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement.-Founding of Warsaw and political...

, Jacob C. Davis

Jacob C. Davis

Jacob Cunningham Davis was a U.S. Representative from Illinois and is one of five men tried and acquitted of the murder of Joseph Smith, Jr., founder of the Latter Day Saint movement.-Political life:...

, and Levi Williams

Levi Williams

Levi Williams was a member of the Illinois militia and a Baptist minister who was active in opposing the presence of the Latter Day Saints in Hancock County, Illinois during the 1840s...

—were all members of the Anti-Mormon Party.