To the Honorable the Municipal Court of the City of , in & State of
Your petitioner Joseph Smith Senior who has been arrested by & under the name of Joseph Smith Junior states on oath that he is now detained in custody& under as a prisoner & in the custody of in the said City of & State of , who claims to be the agent of the State of & that your petitioner was arrested by one , by virtue of what purports to be a warrant issued by his Excellency Governor of the State of , in the County of & State of , & by said your petitioner was delivered into the custody of said at & within the County of aforrsaid; That said supposed warrant so issued by his Excellency Governor as aforrsaid & the arrest thereunder & the imprisonment consquent thereupon by said & afterward by said is illegal & in violation of law & without the authority of law as he is informed & verily believes for the following besides other reasons, to wit;
1st The said supposed warrant so issued by the said of the State of as aforrsaid, does not confer any authority to arrest your petitioner, for that [p. [1]]