William N. Grover was an American judge and United States Attorney for the eastern district of Missouri. He was one of five defendants tried and acquitted in Illinois for the murder in 1844 of Joseph Smith, founder of the Latter Day Saint movement.
Murder trial
Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum Smith had been killed by an armed mob during their imprisonment in Carthage Jail on June 27, 1844. As a captain in command of the Warsaw Cadets in the Illinoismilitia, Grover was accused of having ordered his men to storm the jail and attack the Smiths. Grover had been a leader of the Anti-Mormon Party in Hancock County. At trial, a jury acquitted Grover and four other defendants of the murders. ==Law practice==